“Come on,” said Alex, tugging at Mike’s arm. “We know they’re not here.”
The two men tramped back to the road, heading back to the centre of the village, which was only a few minutes walk. Stewart and Wheeler sped past them in the car, the former giving them a hard look as they went by.
“We’re not going to listen to him, are we?” said Alex.
“Course not,” replied Mike. “But I don’t know what else we can do.”
“What if Wheeler’s right and it’s not Malcolm?”
“Why did he have Isla’s cardigan and Hannah’s boots then?”
“I don’t know but what if this is some sort of distraction?”
“Most of the village went out on the search this morning…”
“Meaning there will be a lot of homes empty right now.”
“You know Alex, for a banker you’re not bad.”
His smile was wry. “That’s not something I hear often.”
CHAPTER 15
The police were still swarming all over Malcolm’s house, so Mike and Alex decided to start further down the street with Billy’s house. Mike wasn’t pleased with himself for this but like the Colonel had said, they couldn’t afford to rule anyone out.
They called the Colonel, who met up with them at the back of Billy’s house.
“Have the police found anything at Malcolm’s house?” Mike asked him hopefully.
“If they have they’re not letting me know,” he said, moustache twitching. “I told them I could assist in their investigation but they refused my help. Fools,” he sniffed.
“Have you heard about Malcolm?”
Sadness filled his grey eyes. “Yes, such a shock. I must have spoken to him just before he died. We never saw eye to eye but I didn’t wish that on him.”
“Was he alone when you last saw him?”
“No. I saw him join back up with alpha group. He seemed his usual self but one never can tell what goes on behind the mask. It’s shocking to know I’ve been arguing with a potential criminal all this time. I can’t help feeling guilty.”
“Why?” said Alex.
“He kept telling me our fallings out drove him mad. What if they did, literally?”
“I think it takes more than an argument over an extension to drive someone to abduct two women. He must have had a screw loose in the first place.”
“And he killed himself because he realised the net was closing in.” The Colonel sighed and looked at the ground. “I will never forgive myself for opening my big mouth.”
“You weren’t to know,” said Mike.
The Colonel shook himself out of it, his stiff upper lip returning. “So why are we here if we know Malcolm was responsible?”
“Because we can’t be one hundred percent sure he was yet, not until the police find more evidence. We remembered what you said about not ruling out any possibility. We want to be certain. Plus we need to do something and the police won’t let us near their investigation.”
“Yes, continue with our own investigation. I like it. Right, let’s get to it.”
They clambered over the stone wall that enclosed Billy’s back garden, landing in the grass, which was almost up to their knees. Although the Colonel was the oldest in their little group he was the most agile and got over the wall first.
“He really needs to sort his garden out,” commented the Colonel. “This is appalling, so disorderly. So unbalanced,” he shuddered.
A dilapidated shed leaned dramatically to one side, the roof already caved in. The entrails of old lawnmowers were scattered across the small patio, which was being overcome by weeds.
“He hates gardening,” said Mike.
“No shit,” replied Alex.
Mike did a double-take. His friend had changed rapidly in the last twenty four hours.
“It’s safe to say he’s not keeping anyone in there,” continued Alex, nodding at the listing shed. “Or anything else for that matter.”
“There’s nowhere else in the garden, which leaves the house but we don’t have a nice handy key.” Mike glanced sideways at the Colonel. “Or do we?”
“No, sorry,” he replied.
Mike went rigid. The Colonel had known about Malcolm’s key. What if he’d used it to gain access to his property and plant Isla’s hair and cardigan? But that didn’t matter because Isla’s jumper had been found in the workshop in the garden, which anyone could have accessed and Hannah’s boots had been found in the unit on Clachan Beag, which again anyone could have broken into.
He glanced sideways at the Colonel, watching as he peered through the window into Billy’s kitchen. He’d been the last one to see Malcolm alive too. Mike relaxed when he recalled him saying Malcolm had met up with alpha group, or had he? He only had his word for that. The Colonel lived right next door to Malcolm, it would have been easy for him to plant something. However he’d personally searched his home and found nothing, no trace of the two women.
His thoughts went back to the photo of Isla, the plain bare walls, just like the plain white walls of the Colonel’s extension. Now he realised why they were so familiar. But he knew they weren’t in there, it was impossible. Or was it? He would talk to Will, he’d helped him with the extension. It was probably a wild goose chase but he could afford to leave no stone unturned.
The Colonel caught him looking at him in the reflection of the window. “Something wrong Mike?”
“Wrong? No.”
The Colonel’s grey eyes studied him, Mike shifting uncomfortably as they felt to burn into his soul. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not but he thought he saw the Colonel’s eyes spark with wrath.
“I’m going to see Will,” said Mike.
“Why?”
“I’ve just had a thought. He helped Malcolm plan the workshop in his back garden, he might be able to shed some light on where Isla and Hannah are.”
“How on earth can he do that? Do you think Will could be in some way responsible?”
“Who knows and like you said, we have to check out every possibility. You two carry on searching the village, I won’t be long.”
Before either of them could object he vaulted the wall and tore down the road towards Will’s house, bursting through the front door without knocking.
“Will?” he called.
Neil appeared in the hallway, frowning. “Stop shouting, the girls are asleep.”
“At this time of day?”
“They’ve not been sleeping well because they’ve been so worried about their mother.”
“Oh, sorry. What are you doing here?”
“I’m the family liaison. They were upset when they heard about Malcolm. I’m your liaison too but you won’t stay still long enough for me to do my job.”
“Will and the girls need you more than I do. I take it Will’s in?”
“He’s in the kitchen but he’s not in a good way.”
“Thanks,” said Mike, dashing past him into the kitchen.
Will was slumped at the table, the essence of misery. He looked up when Mike entered, tears in his eyes.
“Neil told me about Malcolm,” he said. “The total bastard.”
“Yeah, I know,” Mike gently replied, not wanting to get into his theory. He pulled out a chair and sat down. “You helped the Colonel with his extension, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Did you see his plans?”
“Yes, it was a simple enough design. He wanted another room added onto his living room. Not a conservatory as such, more of a sun room. I think he just did it to annoy Malcolm, who’d started building his workshop.”
“Were there any secret spaces?”
“Secret spaces?”
“Storage for instance?”
“Mike, what are you getting at?”
“Nothing. I’m probably losing my mind but please Will, humour me.”
“The only space was a hatch under the floor for storage.”
“How big a hatch?”
; “Not big, about eight feet by ten. Why?”
“Dad?” called a voice from upstairs.
“Damn, that’s Amelia,” said Will. “She’s sleeping really badly, she’s so worried about her mum.”
“You’d better go to her,” said Mike, getting to his feet.
Sixteen year old Amelia appeared in the kitchen doorway, hazel eyes wide. She’d always come across as a lairy teenager, personally Mike thought she was a brat but right then she looked like a scared little girl. He was thankful for her timing because it meant Will would have to stay with her rather than join him on his search. He was being careful to bear in mind what Alex had said about him and if he was innocent he didn’t want to get him into trouble, not when he had two kids to consider.
“Oh hi Mike,” said Amelia.
“Hi Amelia. Nice to see you but I’ve got to go.”
“Wait,” called Will as he strode for the back door.
Neil appeared in the kitchen, sidling around Amelia to get in. “What’s going on?”
The look Mike threw Will warned him not to tell Neil anything because he’d stop him from searching the Colonel’s extension.
“Nothing,” Will replied. “Mike just stopped by to check how we are and to tell us about Malcolm.”
“Yeah, a shocking business,” said Mike, already heading out the back door. “See you later.”
He left before anyone could ask more questions. He’d half-expected Neil to follow but he remained behind with the family.
Mike ran down the side of Will’s cottage and headed back onto the street. The crowd that had gathered outside Malcolm’s house had dissipated, thanks to the heavy rain that was starting to move in. Mike felt fat cold drops hit the top of his head. He slowed to a stroll, not wanting to draw attention to himself. The police were still at Malcolm’s house, a constable on guard duty at the front door.
He waited until the constable was looking the other way before sneaking into the Colonel’s front garden, following the path that took him to the back of the house.
Work had quickly progressed on the extension in a short space of time. All four walls were now in place, as well as the door.
He tried the handle, which refused to open.
“Dammit,” he muttered.
He glanced around to make sure no police officers from next door could see him but the angle of the extension meant the door was hidden from view by the wall dividing the two properties.
He kicked the door and it slammed open. He hurried inside, knelt on the floor and began knocking on the wood, stopping when he found a hollow section. Heart thudding, he banged harder on the floor, hoping to hear a knocking back or voices calling up to him but there was nothing. Frantically his fingertips searched the floor, attempting to find the entrance to the cavity below. So intent was he on his search that he didn’t stop when he heard approaching footsteps.
“Mike,” said the Colonel. “What on earth are you doing on my floor? Did you kick my door in?”
“There’s a space under this floor,” he replied, getting to his feet. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“Well, to be honest I didn’t even think about it. It’s empty. I’m going to use it for storage.”
“Open it up.”
“As you wish.”
Mike watched him closely, careful to remain out of striking distance as the Colonel knelt on the floor and pressed down on one particular plank of wood, which released the invisible hatch. He raised it and moved aside. “See for yourself.”
Mike peered down into a space that was about eight feet by ten feet square, just as Will had said. It was completely empty, so pristine it looked like it had never been used.
“I had it installed to store valuables,” said the Colonel, closing the space back up. “If a burglar breaks into the house they’ll never find it. I kept quiet about it because there’s no point having a hidden store like that if you’re going to tell everyone about it.”
Once again Mike was mortified by his own behaviour. “Christ I’m sorry Colonel. That’s twice now I’ve trespassed on your property.”
“It’s alright. I’d probably do the same if I were in your position. May I ask what brought you back here?”
“Because you knew about the spare key to Malcolm’s house.”
“And that was the extent of your evidence?”
Mike nodded, deciding not to mention the fact that he could have been lying about Malcolm rejoining alpha team, he felt stupid enough.
“I can see why you would come to that conclusion but I’m not the only one who knows about that key. Joyce uses it to water Malcolm’s plants when he’s away on holiday. And if we know about it I’m quite sure others do too.”
“I’m so sorry. God I’m dumb.”
“Not dumb no, just desperate,” said the Colonel, patting his shoulder. “How about a whisky, stiffen the old nerves?”
“That’s really kind of you, thank you. I’ll pay for the damage.”
“I appreciate that and anything I can do to help, you know that,” he said, moustache bristling.
“You’re being very good about all this. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d called the police.”
“Now that wouldn’t be very community-spirited of me and I don’t want to pull them off the search for such a petty reason as my wounded ego. Come on, let’s have that stiffener.” He glanced out of the window at the darkening sky, rain streaking the glass. “Besides, it’s started to pour down.”
As Mike moved to follow his right foot got tangled in a dust sheet that had been left on the floor and he tripped. He cringed when his shoulder banged against the pristine cream wall.
Mike froze when he heard the thud was hollow.
He glanced at the Colonel, who had already gone into the kitchen, oblivious to what he’d done.
Mike leapt forward, snatched the key out of the door joining the extension to the rest of the house, slammed the door shut and locked it.
The Colonel spun on his heel, gaze questioning.
“Isla?” Mike yelled at the wall. “Isla, can you hear me?”
Nothing.
“Oy,” exclaimed the Colonel, banging on the door. “What the hell are you doing?”
Mike paused, knowing that if he did this and found nothing he would be prosecuted, the Colonel wouldn’t give him a third chance. But not checking would be a greater crime.
He remembered seeing some work tools just outside. Dashing into the garden, he snatched up a lump hammer and returned to the wall. He drew it back and slammed it into the plaster, which crumpled much too easily for a solid wall. It was then he realised it was only made of plasterboard.
Wrenching the hammer out of the wall he drew it back a second time and smashed it into the wall again. More of the plasterboard crumpled to reveal some sort of plastic sheeting running from ceiling to floor, covering the entire cavity. He raised the lump hammer again but it was pulled from his hands and he was dragged backwards by the arm that had wrapped itself around his neck.
“I’ve been remarkably patient,” growled the Colonel’s voice in his ear. “But you’ve used up all your chances.”
Mike had always doubted whether the Colonel’s stories about his time in the military were true. The way he was easily overpowering him made him realise that it hadn’t been a lie. But he had one advantage over the Colonel’s training - his height.
He planted his legs on the wall and pushed backwards. He was dragged to the floor where he landed on top of the Colonel. Although his neck wasn’t released the grip on him was loosened. Driving his elbow into the Colonel’s ribs, he was released entirely.
He grabbed the hammer, which the Colonel had dropped and struck the wall again, more plasterboard falling. Through the plastic he could see a shape, possibly a leg…
Mike cried out as pain exploded in his lower back. The Colonel drove his fist into his kidneys again, sending him to his knees. That arm went back around his throat, only this time it was squeezing the air
from his lungs.
“You should have stayed away Mike,” the Colonel’s voice whispered in his ear, the bluff gentleman soldier gone, replaced by some desperate psychopath. “I was content to leave you alone, although I did enjoy leaving Isla’s clothes for you to find. Such a brave girl. She didn’t cry until I cut off her ponytail. She was too afraid of what I was going to cut off next.”
Mike roared with pain and rage as he grabbed the Colonel by the neck and dragged him over his shoulder. He hit the floor hard, blinking up at him in surprise. When Mike made a lunge for the lump hammer the Colonel grabbed his leg and he fell, the thud he made when he hit the wood causing dark blue to jump before his eyes. He kicked the Colonel in the face, who was knocked onto his side. Before he could reach the hammer, violent red and black spiked across his vision. The Colonel had picked up a tin of paint and was bashing it off the floor. The noise was horrific, making Mike’s ears buzz, the colours it generated before his eyes blocking out everything and he could only grope blindly for the hammer.
The Colonel stomped hard on the middle of his back, pushing him facedown onto the floor. Mike twisted his head sideways so he could breathe better as that crushing weight on his back bore down harder. Jesus, was the Colonel actually standing on him?
“Sorry Mike,” said the Colonel, picking up the lump hammer. “You should have stayed at home.”
Mike looked towards the hole he’d created in the wall. Through the plastic sheeting he could see one small delicate unmoving foot encased in a black sock.
“Isla,” he breathed.
As the Colonel raised the lump hammer over his head, Mike bucked his body, sending him staggering sideways. Finding himself released he rolled onto his back, snatched up the tin of paint and swung it at the Colonel’s legs, who leapt backwards out of the way. The tin hit the wall, filling the room with another bone-shaking rattle, distorting Mike’s vision with wild, angry colours.
His vision cleared after the noise had died down to be confronted by a wild-eyed demon, the affable soldier and good citizen gone.
As Mike jumped to his feet the Colonel’s fist connected with his jaw, knocking him sideways. Seeing stars, Mike managed to stay on his feet and block the second blow to his face but he wasn’t quick enough to prevent the punch to his gut that creased him in two.
The Loch Page 22
