by Robert Innes
Harrison swallowed nervously. “I love you too,” he lied.
“We’ll go together, yeah?” Callum said quietly.
Harrison’s insides went even colder than his skin. “What do you mean?”
“You and me,” Callum said enthusiastically. “This is how it was meant to be, I’m not alone now, I know that! We can go together, hand in hand!”
“No, Callum – we don’t have to do this, Come down!”
“We do!” Callum exclaimed, taking a firm grip on Harrison’s hand so he couldn’t pull away. “We’ll go together.”
Patil sped the police car round the corner and screeched to a halt outside the church. The second the car had stopped, Blake burst out and ran towards the deserted looking building.
“The lights are all off, Sir,” Patil said as she climbed out.
She was right. With the rain pouring down, the church looked gloomier than Blake had ever seen it.
“We should go in and have a look around though,” Blake said. “Come on.”
The four officers all started walking quickly towards the church. Blake was just beginning to wonder if there was in fact anybody in it, when Mattison suddenly cried out behind him.
“Sir! Look up there!”
Blake looked up to where Mattison was pointing. To his horror, he saw what looked like Harrison standing on the edge of the top parapet, holding hands with Callum.
“Harrison!” shouted Blake.
“Blake!” he heard Harrison yell through the rain.
Blake quickly turned to Gardiner and Patil. “You two, call for back up, stay down here! Matti, with me.”
He ran as fast as he could into the church, flinging the door open. The sound of it banging against the wall reverberated ear-splittingly around the large echoic building.
“How do we get up there?” Blake shouted.
Mattison looked quickly around. “Through there?” He pointed at an open door, inside of which looked to be a stone staircase.
Blake sprinted towards the door and began climbing the steep stone steps as fast as he could. Right now, Callum was the last thing on his mind. All he wanted to do at that moment was make sure Harrison was safe.
After what seemed like an age, Blake pushed the door to the tower open, immediately being blasted with the wind and rain. Callum and Harrison turned their heads at the sound of the door. Harrison looked absolutely terrified.
“Don’t come any closer!” Callum shouted. He didn’t look any less scared than Harrison, but his eyes seared with determination.
Blake caught his breath briefly as he heard Mattison catch up behind him. His eyes darted between the two men standing on the edge of the parapet and the distance between him and them.
“Come on, Callum,” called Blake, trying to sound calm. “You don’t need to do this. This isn’t what your granddad would have wanted, you must know that.”
“Callum!” pleaded Harrison. “Listen to him!”
“I never meant for things to go this far,” Callum shouted to him, looking down again. “But you better tell your officers to move, or they’re going to get hurt.”
“They’re not going anywhere, Callum,” Blake replied. “And neither are me and Matti. You know my name, yes? I’m Blake, this is Matti.”
“Hello,” Mattison said, apparently feeling the need to wave.
“I don’t care what your names are!” Callum retorted. “Leave us alone, this is the way it has to be!”
“No, it doesn’t!” Blake cried. “I’m guessing this isn’t just about your granddad, no? It’s about Imelda and Nigel? And Patricia? And Daryl?”
“Imelda and Patricia deserved it. So did Nigel!” Callum said, gripping tighter to Harrison’s hand as another gust of wind blew around them. “I didn’t mean for Daryl to die.”
“What happened?” Blake said, desperately trying to keep him talking. “I can help you if you tell me what happened.”
“What does it matter now?” Callum shouted.
“It does matter! Of course it does.” Blake began walking slowly, step by step closer towards them. “Tell me what happened to Daryl. The hemlock. He wasn’t supposed to take it? Did you accidently give him it? What happened?”
“Come on, Callum,” Harrison said encouragingly. “Tell him, like you were telling me. We can make this better.”
“A few weeks ago, Imelda was shouting at Granddad. Just about nothing, she was just being a miserable old cow, the way she always was. She said that he’d given Patricia an awful funeral, that she deserved ten times better. I don’t get how someone can have that much anger inside them, not when it isn’t based on anything. At least I’ve got my reasons!”
“You were trying to protect your granddad? That’s why you killed Imelda?” Blake said in disbelief. “She was only shouting at him, was that really a reason to kill her?”
“An hour after he’d left, he had his angina attack!” Callum exclaimed. “Work it out. Look, can you just leave us alone? This is a waste of our time.”
“You’ve got to tell me what happened to Daryl,” Blake said, slowly moving towards him. “He had a family, a mum and dad who loved him. I need to be able to explain to them why their son died, even if you didn’t mean it to happen. Tell me.”
“The day Imelda died, I’d been disturbed when I was trying to empty the wine away.” Callum sighed, tightening his hold on Harrison’s hand again. “The first two I’d gotten away with. Two old people died from a heart attack, so what? Nobody suspected a thing. But then Granddad got you involved, so I had to think. I had to get rid of any trace of the wine she’d drank. Anyway, Granddad came into the vestry just before I could pour it down the sink. He was stressing about Imelda dying and whether he’d done the right thing by telling you about it. And his chest was hurting, he said he was having pains. So I just dumped the wine goblet, along with everything else in the cupboard.”
While he was still looking straight ahead, Blake gestured to Mattison to get on the other side of them. Keeping an eye on Callum, Mattison sidled round Blake and slowly made his way to the other side of the tower.
“So, then what happened?” Blake asked.
“I took Granddad home, I had to look after him,” Callum said sadly. “The medication the doctor’s had given him after his angina attack didn’t seem to be doing anything, but he said he was alright, and he fell asleep on the sofa. I didn’t want to leave him, but I had to get rid of the wine in that goblet, before anything happened to it.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Blake said. “So, what, you went back to the church when your granddad was asleep?”
“It was late.” Callum nodded. “I’d left in such a hurry with Granddad, I’d forgotten I’d left the vestry door unlocked. When I walked in, Daryl was in there, right in the middle of drinking the wine. I couldn’t believe it. I tried to get him to spit it out, but he’d already swallowed it. I tried to make it better! I tried to fix it!”
“I know you did, Callum,” Harrison said, smiling at him. Blake felt a brief surge of affection for how well he was doing.
“So, what happened after he drank it?”
They all jumped as another huge roar of thunder boomed around them. It seemed to take a long time before the sound finally faded away.
“What happened after he drank it?” Blake repeated, edging ever closer to them.
“Well, he’d drank the lot,” Callum said, a tone of helplessness and regret in his voice. “There was nothing I could do. He said how unwell he was feeling and I knew what must be happening to him, so I-I just sat down on the ground next to him and talked to him. What else could I do?”
“That was the best thing you could have done, Callum. Good for you,” Blake said encouragingly. “And what did he say?”
“I asked him what he was doing there and why he was drinking the wine,” Callum said. “It was all I could think to ask him. He said that he’d been having a party while his parents were away. His friends had all gone home and he was depressed, and he wan
ted to drink more, but they wouldn’t serve him at the shop because he was underage. But he really wanted a drink, so when he saw the vestry door open, he said that he thought we might have something that he could take. He said he was sorry! Everything that was happening, and he said he was sorry.”
Blake had now arrived at the side of Harrison. They exchanged a brief look in which Blake tried to convey that it was going to be alright. “And then what?”
Callum glanced down at Blake, but didn’t react to how close he was. “Then he said again how ill he felt, and that he was hurting. Then he told me how much he hated his parents for arguing all the time. It didn’t feel like I was talking to a seventeen-year-old, he sounded so young and alone. I told him that everything would sort itself out, but by then his eyes had closed and he was just leaning over and moaning about how much he was in pain. I just kind of stood back and let it happen.” Callum now started openly crying. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life. Then he died.”
“And you moved him into the confessions booth?”
“It was all I could think to do.” Callum sobbed. “If I could make it look like all the others, then maybe I could –well- I don’t know! It just made more sense than leaving him there.”
“I see what you’re saying,” Blake said, his eyes briefly darting to Mattison, who was now just as close to Callum as he was to Harrison. “But this isn’t the way out,” Blake continued. “And you can’t take Harrison with you.”
“Harrison said he would stick by me,” Callum said resolutely. “Didn’t you?”
Harrison faltered. “Erm, yeah. Yeah, course I will.”
Callum seemed to notice the hesitation and looked at Harrison, hurt. “You don’t want to be with me, do you?”
“I don’t want to die, Callum,” Harrison said, sounding braver than Blake expected he felt.
“But I’ve got nobody,” Callum cried. “I can’t be on my own!”
“You’re not alone,” Blake said. “I’ve found out who your mother is. She’s here in the village, Callum. It’s Jennifer. She’s your mum.”
Callum stared at Blake, dumbfounded as below them, the sound of sirens pierced their way through the wind, and blue lights flashed from the approaching police cars.
“What?”
“She wants to have a relationship with you. And perhaps you can, in the future,” Blake said. “You have each other.”
Then everything happened at once. A huge fork of lightning flashed around them, striking one of the lightning rods on the top of the church. As the huge booming roar reverberated round them, Blake grabbed Harrison’s hand and pulled as hard as he could, throwing himself down on the ground. He felt somebody land on top of him, so he just gripped onto them tightly. He lay there, his eyes closed as the roar from the lightning strike slowly faded away. But the sound was soon replaced by screaming and shouting below. Blake opened his eyes cautiously, slowly raising his head to see Harrison, trembling and terrified, but alive. He pulled him in tightly and hugged him. “It’s okay, Harrison, it’s over. It’s over. You’re safe.”
“Where-Where-Where-is he?” Harrison stammered.
Blake looked up to see Mattison lying on the ground beside him. “Matti? Are you alright?
Mattison, just as slowly, raised his head. “I thought I had him, Sir.”
The shouting below them continued and Blake looked up to where Callum had been standing, and with his side aching from the force of him landing on the ground, stood up and looked down. There was chaos below them as numerous police officers ran towards the broken body on the ground, shouting to each other and the paramedics.
“I’m so sorry, Sir,” Mattison said, sounding utterly devastated. “I thought I had him, but he pulled himself free.”
“He let go of me,” Harrison mumbled. “He let go of my hand, then just…”
Blake held onto him tighter then moved his other arm to Mattison’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Matti. I know you did your best.”
As the rain poured around them, the officers below gathered around Callum’s body, twisted and still, lying on the ground as another sheet of lightning illuminated the scene below.
“Oh, give it a rest, you two,” Blake grinned as he sat at his desk, watching Mattison and Patil making eyes at one another from their desks across the meeting room.
“Not a chance, Sir,” Patil replied, standing up and walking across to Mattison, who was sat at his own desk. “It’s five O’clock. I’m finished for the day and somebody is taking me for dinner when they finish in an hour, aren’t they?” She wrapped her arms around Mattison and kissed him on the cheek.
“Yep. McDonald’s do you?” Mattison grinned cheekily.
Blake chuckled as Patil pulled a face of mocked outrage and tapped him lightly on the head with her hand. “No, it won’t. I’ll see you later.”
She leaned forward and kissed him fully on the lips, then waved goodbye to Blake, before walking happily out the room.
“Seems to be going well then,” Blake said to Mattison, once Patil had left.
“Yeah,” Mattison said happily. “I think we’re going to make a real go of things.”
“She likes you a lot, you know,” Blake smiled. “Don’t mess it up. No getting drunk and throwing up over her shoes again.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” Mattison said, shuddering at the memory. “No, we talked a lot after that night at the church. The way she was talking, I think she thought I’d been struck by lightning. She said it had made her realise that she didn’t want to lose me.”
“To be fair,” Blake said, standing up and putting a folder in a filing cabinet. “I thought we’d all been struck by lightning that night. But I’m pleased for you, Matti. I really am.”
He pulled his coat on from off his chair. “I’m off too. If Gardiner starts giving you hassle about leaving on time, you tell him that I’ve said you can go at six. Have a good time.”
“Thanks, Sir.” Mattison grinned.
Blake walked outside the station, just as Gardiner arrived for his evening shift.
“Michael,” Blake said, pulling his ecig out of his pocket. “You’re here early? I thought you were supposed to be seeing-“
“Don’t even get me started with that woman,” Gardiner snapped. “I’m sure Jacqueline is a lovely person, but for she’s too much for me. Honestly, one night getting drunk together in a pub and suddenly she won’t leave me alone.”
“Well, you better tell her,” Blake said. “She’s persistent.”
“I’m trying to divorce my wife,” Gardiner said stiffly. “I haven’t got the time or energy for all of Jacqueline’s – well. You know.”
“I do,” Blake said, trying not to laugh.
“So, I’d be obliged if you would inform your landlord that I am not a piece of meat,” Gardiner said pompously and walked into the station with his head held high.
Blake rolled his eyes. Trying to tell Jacqueline to back off from a man wouldn’t be an easy task.
As Blake walked home, he passed the church. He stopped and glanced up at the top of the tower where he had experienced by far the most terrifying moment of his career. The sky above the tower couldn’t have looked more of a contrast to that night. It was calm with gentle streaks of orange peeking out from over the top of the building as the sun began to set.
A crowd of people were starting to make their way out of the church, and as Blake watched them, he saw Jennifer Greene, dressed in a white cassock stand at the door, thanking everybody. As people sidled out, they shook her hand, and Blake noticed they were all wearing black.
Then he saw Harrison, dressed in a smart black suit with a white shirt and dark tie. He too shook Jennifer’s hand, and then made his way down the path towards the front gate, where Blake stood.
“How was the funeral?” Blake asked him as he approached him.
Harrison smiled as he looked up and saw him. “Oh, you know,” he shrugged. “It was nice. Jennifer wanted them both to be together. I thi
nk I was probably the only one here for Callum, but I wanted to be. I don’t know why.”
Blake nodded. “I understand. Do you fancy a drink?”
Harrison looked up the road and sighed. “Maybe later. There’s somewhere I want to go first. Want to come?”
“Sure.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, away from the church. It wasn’t an awkward silence. Harrison’s stride looked confident and Blake felt that he was pleased that Blake was there with him.
After about ten minutes, in which they made the smallest of chit-chat amongst them, they arrived at the top of the hill.
“Where are we going?” Blake asked.
“Right here,” Harrison said, as they came to a grey stone wall at the peak of the hill. He hauled himself onto it and stared out at the view before them. The sunset looked beautiful from this viewpoint and as Blake pulled himself onto the wall, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly tranquil as he felt his feet touch the ground at the foot of the wall, next to Harrison’s that were dangling just above it.
“So,” Blake said, when he had settled himself. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, you know,” Harrison said again, shrugging. “It’s probably put my therapy back by about six months, but at least I’m not thinking about my parents anymore.”
Blake nodded with a small smile but said nothing.
“Thank you by the way,” Harrison murmured.
“What for?”
“For saving my life that night,” Harrison said, as if this was obvious. “There was a moment where I thought I was a goner.”
Blake shrugged. “Just doing my job.”
Harrison turned to him, grinning slightly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Blake said, staring out at the fields in front of them. “But I’d have done it anyway.”
There was a few moments silence, then Harrison said, “I know how to pick ‘em, don’t I?”
They both looked at each other, then laughed. “Yeah,” said Blake. “That’s quite a talent you’ve got.”
Harrison nodded, smiling.
A few more moments of silence followed. In front of them, a starling murmuration had begun, and as the black mass twisted and danced around in the darkening orange sky in front of them, Blake sighed. “Look, Harrison-“
