‘Robert understood that I was in danger of becoming the investigated, instead of the investigator,’ I said to Penny. ‘His warning is what allowed me to make my escape in time, and disappear.’
Penny nodded, understanding at last why I owed this man my time. Robert shrugged briefly.
‘Just what friends do for each other. Even if one of them might not be entirely human.’
He raised a bushy grey eyebrow, giving me an opportunity to explain myself. I just smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
‘Did you get into any trouble after I left, Robert?’
‘No. I was careful to cover my tracks as well as yours. They didn’t spend much time looking for you. All they had were a few suspicions, nothing specific enough to alarm them. Far as I know, no one in Black Heir has been interested in you for years.’
‘That’s good to know,’ I said. ‘Now; you went to a lot of trouble to reach out to me, Robert. So what’s the problem? What is it you need me to do? And why were you so keen that David didn’t talk to us about your daughter’s wedding, or the murder?’
Robert sat back in his chair, finding the most comfortable position he could for his old bones, and took a moment to consider his words carefully.
‘Something is happening here. Something bad. Something … out of this world. I don’t think it’s in my line or yours, Ishmael; and certainly nothing like the cases we used to work. But I’m still hoping you can help me, where the local authorities can’t. I’m here on my own, and … I’m not the man I used to be. Especially after my wife died, seven years back. You’d have liked her, Ishmael. She wouldn’t have taken any nonsense from you either. She worked at Black Heir, in accounting. Our daughter Gillian arrived not long after we were married, and I gave up fieldwork to man a desk. I had responsibilities … Now my Gillian is getting married; and she’s in danger.
‘There was a time I could have protected her myself. You remember what I used to be like, Ishmael. I could take care of myself, and anyone else who needed taking care of. But time is a thief. It takes everything from you, bit by bit, until you’re just a shadow of the man you used to be.’ He paused to look down at the old hands clasped together in his lap, as though they belonged to someone else. And then he looked back at me. ‘But Time hasn’t touched you, Ishmael. You look like you can still do what needs doing.’
‘Does it bother you?’ I said bluntly. ‘That I haven’t changed?’
‘I was relying on it,’ said Robert. ‘You’re everything I need you to be, to protect my daughter from the Bergin family curse.’ He paused again, looking carefully at me and Penny, to see if we were prepared to take him seriously. Reassured by what he saw in our faces, he continued.
‘It all began back in the eighteenth century, when the Bergin family was a lot more prosperous than it is now. They were rich, powerful, and much looked up to in the area. The eldest daughter was to be married, but the groom had been engaged to someone else. He broke that off, to marry the Bergin daughter. The spurned woman made all kinds of threats, but who was she, to stand against the mighty Bergin family? The marriage went ahead as planned. Half the county was there, to wish the young couple every happiness. But the woman he’d slighted sneaked into the church, and murdered both the bride and the groom, while they were standing at the altar. Stabbed them to death in a frenzy, before the family could drag her away.
‘They hanged her, right there in the church, too angry to wait for a trial and official justice.
‘But with her last words, the witch put a curse on the Bergin family. That no daughter of theirs would ever be able to marry, because an invisible demon would kill the groom on their wedding night. It would also kill anyone who tried to protect the bride, or get in the way of its vengeance. No more happy ever afters, for a Bergin bride.’
He broke off again, checking to see how we were taking all of this.
‘She was a witch?’ Penny said finally.
‘So they say,’ said Robert. ‘Though that might have been added to the story later, to explain the curse.’
‘I’ve encountered stranger things,’ I said. ‘Just how accurate is this story, do you know?’
Robert shrugged. ‘It’s obviously as much legend as history. But it’s definitely based on an actual event; a real double murder in my family. And quite a few grooms of Bergin brides did die on their wedding nights, in the years that followed. People have written whole books about it, trying to sort out fact from fiction.’
‘Those do seem to be quite a few last words, from a woman about to be hanged,’ said Penny.
Robert showed us his grim smile again. ‘There’s no doubt the details have been dramatized down the years, to make for a better story.’ The smile vanished as he looked at me sternly. ‘But it’s not just a story any longer. I believe in this curse, and so should you.’
‘What’s happened?’ I said.
‘For many years, the Bergin line produced nothing but sons,’ said Robert. ‘And the curse became just an old family legend. But now Gillian, my only child, is to be married. And I’m scared for her life, and that of her young man. Scared enough to put you at risk, Ishmael, by reaching out to you through my old contacts at Black Heir. I know the last thing you need is them taking a new interest in you. But there’s no one else I can turn to. No one else I can depend on.’
‘Take it easy, Robert,’ I said. ‘I’m here now. Anyone who wants to get to your daughter will have to get through me first. And you should remember, there’s damned few that can do that.’
Robert sighed deeply, as though a heavy weight had been lifted off him. ‘So you believe in the curse?’
‘Let’s say, I’m prepared to believe in it. Or something like it. How about your daughter, and her fiancé? Do they believe?’
‘No,’ said Robert. ‘Why should they believe in weird and uncanny things? They don’t know the world like we do. Hell, I didn’t believe in the curse … until the vicar who was to perform the ceremony was found dead, the day before yesterday. Murdered. Left hanging from his own bell rope, in the church where the marriage was to take place. It was only the endless tolling of the bell that made people realize something was wrong. I was one of the people who went to investigate. I was just down the road at the church hall, with my daughter, her fiancé, her bridesmaid and his best man.’ He stopped, and looked at me almost apologetically. ‘I know, I never used to be religious. But after my Helen died I found a great comfort in the church.’
He waited for me to say something, and when I didn’t, he continued. ‘The Reverend Allen was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die like that, left hanging in his own church just because he agreed to perform the marriage. Despite the legend.’
‘He didn’t believe in it?’ said Penny.
‘No,’ said Robert. ‘People around here mostly do but he said his church, his faith, was a match for any curse. And I laughed, and agreed with him. Now I wonder if I caused his death, by putting him in the firing line.’
‘Of course you didn’t,’ I said flatly. ‘We’re only responsible for the things we do, not the things other people do. How many times has this curse struck in the past? And when was the last occasion before this?’
‘I can get you the exact facts and figures if you want,’ said Robert. ‘But it’s got to be a hundred years and more since a Bergin girl tried to marry.’
‘And was her husband killed by this invisible demon?’ said Penny.
‘Torn to pieces on their wedding night,’ Robert said levelly. ‘The bride went mad from seeing it, and died soon after. No one else saw anything.’
‘The vicar being hanged doesn’t seem to fit in with that,’ I said carefully.
‘The church is right in the middle of town,’ said Robert. ‘With people coming and going all the time. But no one saw anything, or heard anything. Until that damned bell started tolling and wouldn’t stop. Like the Devil himself was summoning us, to come and witness his work.’
‘What about surveillance cameras in the
street outside?’ I said
Robert looked at me pityingly. ‘This is a small country town. We don’t have such things here.’
‘And no security measures inside the church?’ I said.
‘It’s a church, Ishmael,’ said Robert.
‘I have to ask …’ said Penny. ‘Is there any possibility that this could have been a suicide?’
‘The police say his neck was broken first, by a heavy blow,’ said Robert. ‘And then he was strung up afterwards. They’re treating it as murder, but we only have a limited police presence here. A single detective, sent over from the next town.’ Robert pulled a face. ‘I’ve talked to him. Detective Inspector Peter Godwin. Means well, I suppose. He said they’d send more people when they could, but I don’t think I’ll hold my breath. We wouldn’t have him, if the victim hadn’t been a vicar … There’s no clues, no evidence, no motives. Except perhaps a marriage that an old family curse doesn’t want to happen.’
He looked steadily at me and Penny. ‘The church where the Reverend Allen died is the same church where the first Bergin bride and groom were murdered, all those years ago. Where the witch put her curse on the family, before she was hanged.’
‘And you see a connection,’ I said.
‘Don’t you?’ said Robert.
‘Who else knew about the curse?’ said Penny.
‘Everybody!’ said Robert. ‘It’s a well-known story in these parts. I’ve got some of the better written books about it here in the house, if you want to look at them.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘The devil might be in the details.’
‘This could just be someone who knows the story,’ said Penny, ‘and is using it as a smokescreen to disguise their own purposes.’
‘Aye, it could,’ said Robert. He looked at me. ‘If the problem was straightforward, I wouldn’t need you. But this could be complicated in other ways too. Because of who I used to be, and some of the things I did for Black Heir. You can understand that, Ishmael.’
I nodded, but didn’t say anything. Because Penny was listening, and there were some things in my past I wasn’t ready to share with her.
‘When is the wedding supposed to take place?’ said Penny.
‘Tomorrow,’ said Robert. ‘And Gillian is determined to go ahead. The guests are all on their way, and we’re getting another vicar from two towns over. He doesn’t believe in the curse either.’
‘You’re not giving me much time to do anything,’ I said.
‘I tried to convince Gillian to postpone the wedding,’ said Robert. ‘But she’s stubborn. Takes after her mother.’
‘And her father,’ I said.
‘Aye. Maybe,’ said Robert.
‘What do you want me to do?’ I said. ‘What do you think I can do?’
‘You were always a first-class field agent,’ Robert said steadily. ‘And a damn sight more open-minded than most of the people we worked with at Black Heir. If it wasn’t alien in origin, they didn’t know what to do with themselves. I need you to find out what’s happening and put a stop to it. Whether it’s a curse, a murderer hiding behind an old story; or something from our shared past come back to haunt me.’
‘You think it might be?’ I said.
‘I retired from Black Heir twenty years ago,’ said Robert. ‘I can’t think of any old enemies, or unfinished cases, that might still pose a threat … But a lot of the things you and I did back in the day had consequences.’ He looked down at his wrinkled hands, clenched into fists. An impotent gesture, and he knew it. ‘I can’t protect my own daughter. So I had no choice but to send for a man who could.’
I nodded. ‘You need to understand, Robert. If I go looking for the truth, then that’s what I’ll find. No matter how far I have to go, or who it hurts. Are you sure that’s what you want?’
‘Whatever it takes,’ said Robert. ‘Just … save my daughter.’
‘And the man she’s marrying,’ said Penny.
‘Oh aye, him as well,’ said Robert. ‘Tom; he’s a good lad. An actor, but I don’t hold that against him. We all have to make a living. Aye … A good man for my daughter.’ He smiled quickly. ‘Or this marriage wouldn’t be taking place anyway.’
‘Then I’m on the case,’ I said.
‘Me too!’ said Penny.
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t do it without you.’
‘And don’t you forget it,’ said Penny.
I looked at Robert. ‘What are you smiling at?’
THREE
Loose Ends from the Past
Robert looked at the clock on the mantelpiece, took in the time, and rose stiffly to his feet. He made a series of harsh noises without realizing, just from the effort of stirring his old bones into movement. I thought again of the powerful and athletic man he used to be. It didn’t seem that long ago. I got to my feet, and Penny got to hers.
‘You’re welcome to stay here,’ said Robert. ‘There’s a spare room that hardly ever gets used.’
‘That would be fine,’ I said.
I hadn’t looked for a hotel in town, because I hadn’t been sure whether I’d want to take the case. And of course if it had been a trap, my captors would have supplied the room.
Robert led the way out into the hall, and started up the stairs. He made more noises, as he took his time climbing them. Penny gestured at the suitcases further down the hall, and I went back to get them as she started after him. By the time I’d retrieved the suitcases and caught up with them, they were still only halfway up.
The stairs were narrow wooden steps with no carpeting, all of which protested loudly under our weight. That’s an old agent’s trick, to make sure you always know when someone is coming. There were no prints or decorations on the wall, just flower-patterned wallpaper. Someone in this house really loved flowers, and I doubted it was Robert. Everywhere he went in the house it must have felt like being haunted by reminders of his dead wife. Presumably he found that comforting.
Robert stopped at the top of the stairs to get his breath, and Penny and I waited patiently until he was ready to lead us down the landing to the room at the far end. He pushed open the door to reveal a space so small you couldn’t even manage a decent wind up to swing a cat. Robert waited for me to nod approval, like a waiter presenting a bottle of wine he wasn’t sure about, and then led the way in. There was nothing in the room apart from a bed and a chest of drawers, with so little room between them and the wall that we had to enter in single file. The window was wide open, to let in some fresh air. I put the suitcases on the bed. There was nowhere else to put them.
‘I made the bed up this morning, just in case you were coming,’ said Robert. ‘The room hasn’t been used in a while.’
I didn’t need him to tell me that. My more than human sense of smell wasn’t picking up any human traces, just lots and lots of dust. I didn’t say that out loud. I’d always been careful not to reveal any of my extra abilities to Robert. He might have been my partner, but he was still Black Heir.
‘Bathroom is on the other side of the landing,’ Robert said gruffly. ‘The door opposite. All the hot water you want, but be careful when you flush the toilet. It doesn’t like surprises.’
‘Your daughter isn’t staying here with you?’ said Penny.
‘No,’ said Robert. He didn’t sound disappointed, but he must have seen a question in my expression. ‘Gillian’s at the hotel, in town. Said she didn’t want to be any trouble. I wouldn’t have minded; I would have been glad of the company. But … Gillian and her mother were always having words. Put two strong-minded women together under the same roof, and they’ll always find something to disagree over. They made up as fast as they fell out; but not the last time, just before Helen died. I think being in this house again brought back more bad memories than good, for Gillian. So she and her Tom took a room at The Swan.’
‘Just the one room?’ Penny said innocently.
Robert surprised me then, with another of his brief smiles. ‘I didn’t mind, though Gi
llian probably thought I should. Just so she could tell me to mind my own business. Young people always think they invented sex. The best man and the bridesmaid have rooms there too.’
‘We’ll go and have a word with them, once we’ve unpacked,’ I said.
Robert looked a little taken aback. ‘No need to rush off. I thought we could talk first, about old times …’
‘We don’t have the time,’ I said flatly. ‘Your daughter is getting married tomorrow, at …?’
‘Two p.m.,’ said Robert.
‘Then the clock is ticking, and we’re under the gun,’ I said. ‘We need to get started straight away. There’ll be time for reminiscences when this is all over.’
Robert nodded stiffly. ‘Of course. I don’t drive any more, so I’ll have to call for a taxi to take you back into town.’
He left the room and stomped off down the landing. Penny and I looked round the room. It didn’t take long. Penny waited till she was sure Robert was out of earshot, and then fixed me with a hard look.
‘We travelled all this way, just to sleep in an over-sized cupboard? That’s a single bed, Ishmael! And there is such a thing as too much togetherness.’
‘I’ve lived in smaller places than this,’ I said, just to be contrary. ‘I like a room where you can lie on the bed and put your hand on anything just by reaching out.’
‘Down boy,’ Penny said dryly. ‘Business first, pleasure later.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘A family curse, Ishmael? Really? In this day and age? What did you make of that story?’
I shrugged. ‘We’ve worked stranger cases. And England is famous for its ghosts and revenants. Echoes of events that won’t stay quiet. Loose ends from the past, still haunting the present.’
‘Speaking of which,’ said Penny. ‘Robert said he was worried that some of the things he did for Black Heir might be coming back to haunt him. What kind of things is he talking about, Ishmael? Were you involved in any of them?’
Till Sudden Death Do Us Part Page 4
