Death Marks (The Symbolist) (26 page)

Almost forcing the Dowager's frail body into the chair, Tess stroked the gnarled hand, the papery skin covered in age spots. 'Please milady be calm, be
—'

Mollified, the dowager almost smiled, 'You remind me of one of my cousins; he married an heiress from America. Turning abruptly to the nurse she said, '
Go - go - now - you - you traitor.'

The nurse turned, addressing Redd, '
Excuse me.'

His heart jumped, as he remembered her voice, at the hospital, the voice that talked to him at the end of the phone. It confirmed his suspicions, he had not been talking to the granddaughter at all; he had been talking to this woman - an imposter. He followed her outside, 'I take it you will be leaving nurse?'

'Oh no, this is just another tirade. She'll forget all about it; the Alzheimer's advanced.'

'At the hospital she insisted it was her granddaughter. I spoke to Julia on the telephone as well. I gather from your guarded answers, that you did not witness any crime?'

'No - indeed. The Dowager does not leave her room at night, let alone search the cellars. She can hardly walk Inspector.'

'I see, well thank you for your time. So you'll be here if I have any more questions?'

'Of course.'

'I don't have your full name?'

'Nurse Phillipa Trent.'

As he turned to go, he said, '
One more thing nurse, the dowager talks of another nurse, is she still here?'

'Oh no Inspector. She left in the middle of the night. Most probably couldn't take anymore of milady's tantrums. An Alzheimer's patient is not easy to nurse.'

Redd returned to the room. 'These cellars milady, where are they?'

'Underneath the mansion of course, where else would they be?'

Redd curbed a grin, at times; this lady was sharper than honed steel despite her dementia. 'Of course - but how do you reach them?'

'There's a lift to the ground floor, the cellars are in the East Wing.'

Jack said, 'Milady it has come to our notice that you have a chapel in the grounds.'

'Oh yes, we attended services regularly you know. Now it is derelict. Such a shame, what is the country coming to? People are no longer attending the church; goodness knows what is happening to the morals of today. I mean they do not even get married these days; they have partners - I ask you - partners? We used to attend St Stephen's church, but even that is falling down. The Vicar, there was so kind. Such a lovely man.'

Nodding Redd said, 'Then you won't mind if we have a look over the mansion and the church?'

'Of course I don't mind - I've been telling you, Ju - Juju is here, Nurse ... I've forgotten her name, oh, dear, never mind; she's here too. Look, I 'll be happy to show you the cellars.

'No - no milady we don't want to put you to any discomfort.'

'Don't insult me. Discomfort? You are talking to an athlete, an ex-Olympian. I would have you know I won eight gold medals - eight, so do not tell me about discomfort. I can run circles around you - you young pup.'

Feeding the fantasy, Redd said, 'An Olympic champion, I am impressed. I would like you to come along milady, but we have special exercises to carry out; however, we will report back to you.'

Mollified, the Dowager nodded. 'Then start straightaway, there's not a moment to be lost. I shall ring for the butler to show you the lift and cellars.'

His shoulders straight, coattails swinging the man escorted them to the lift. 'There's not enough room for us all, I'll meet you at the bottom and show you the cellars.'

In the lift, Jack murmured, '
We'd better go over the plans.'

Nodding agreement, Redd turned to Tess. 'Time to get Sweetpea. I'll just go find the butler. Won't be long.'

Minutes later, Tess charged through the main doors with an ecstatic dog straining at the lead. 'For God's sake Sweetpea don't let me down.'

Jack grinned; this was his first experience of the Greater Swiss Mountain dog, and he was electrified. 'My God he's a monster.'

Struggling, Tess said, 'Don't I know it? Now calm down - calm down.' She shook the dog's lead. 'Sit - sit.' At, which command, in his effort to get to Redd, he almost knocked over the butler. Ruffling the dog's fur, Redd looked up at the astonished man, who hurriedly brushed some dog hairs off his coat tails. 'We'll be okay now thanks. It'll take a couple of hours, I guess, to complete the search.'

Bowing slightly, eyes askance, the man hurried away.

Entering the cellar, and switching on the lights, Redd said, 'Okay let's do it. Mind the steps Tess, they're quite steep.'

The musty smell of moss and lichen, assailed them, as they entered the empty space. 'Right, now we're alone, a couple of important points. First, did you both hear the dowager rattling on about the Earl's friends - the common little man -coaches and lorries? That's Terry Sparkes he owns a fleet of coaches. Owen and McConnell have seen them here several times.'

Jack nodded, 'Yeah - so Sparkes would tie in with the Mystery Tour . Then there's Mainwaring - the list of suspects grow.'

Turning to Tess, Redd said, '
Let's get Sweetpea to smell the clothes.'

Taking the clothes from his briefcase, Jack bundled them under Sweetpea's twitching nose. Sniffing them, the dog sat down and whined. Puzzled Jack said, 'What's he doing?'

Tess grinned, 'He's waiting for me to give the word, once I do. There'll be no stopping him. Sweetpea. Search.'

Immediately, the dog leapt into action, his nose almost sweeping the ground, as he padded along the sides of the walls until he reached the far corner. He then sat and raising his head, whined, one paw raised.

Tess whispered, 'She's been here - look; he's pointing.'

Jack went forward. 'Jesus - that was quick - he should be in the K9 unit.'

Nodding, Redd walked over to join Tess. 'The corner is swept almost clean. Look here, the lichen has been rubbed off the wall.'

Jack grinned. 'Looks like we're getting somewhere.'

Redd grimaced. 'Still only supposition. We need significant cause to tear this place down.

Tess looked closely. 'Yes; I see what you mean; it's certainly disturbed here. But where would they have taken her?'

Tracing the plans with his finger, Redd muttered, 'There're three doors, the one to the left leads to the grounds, the other to the tunnel and two cellars and the other to some stairs.'

Jack murmured, '
They may have used them for meetings. This one leads to the tunnel and the Church. It must have been a priest's escape route - Queen Elizabeth the First.'

Nodding Jack said, '
Let's have a look in the cellars first.'

The first door offered no resistance, having only a rusted iron latch. Entering Jack said, '
Wine cellar, got some good vintages here of course.'

Walking along rows of wine racks, Red whistled, '
Must be worth a fortune. Okay nothing here, let's try the other one.'

The second cellar proved more difficult. Unperturbed, Redd pulled out a small bunch of pins and keys. Choosing a pin, he inserted it in the lock twisting it. The door swung open, to reveal a room cluttered with discarded furniture.

Tess peered in, 'Some good antiques and collectibles here. That chair over there is definitely Queen Anne and that vase there, is beautiful. Look, they've got a bookcase cabinet full of old books. They should be in a library.'

Redd touched her shoulder. 'No dismembered limbs here - let's try the tunnel.'

Swiftly, they entered the tunnel, wired for lights. Redd looked up at the slightly domed ceiling a foot above them. 'They've obviously strengthened the roof, and the walls are shored up - must have used these a lot.'

Tess nodded. 'But for what?'

Jack said, 'Away from prying eyes - especially if they're conducting pagan orgies.'

Eagerly, Sweetpea ran, stopping only to whine in places, his nose almost boring into the dirt wall, until he reached the door, his paws scrabbling on the latch.

Tess turned to Redd. 'Seems she came this way.'

Immediately, he ran forward to open the door. The dog bounded up the steps into a vestry. Once again, Jack gave Sweetpea the clothes to sniff. On Tess's, command, the dog loped, nose to ground, along a narrow corridor that led into the Church. Running to an altar atop a stone bench, the dog growled, sniffing oak and yew leaves strewn across the marble slab. Again, Sweetpea sat, raising his paw, panting, his long tongue hanging out from the side of lethal looking jaws.

Tess said, 'Someone or something was on the altar. It doesn't look good does it?'

Redd shook his head, Striding to the altar, he peered at the leaves. 'No signs of blood but I daren't touch anything - could be traces of DNA or something here.'

Tess almost whispered, 'Oh dear God, they didn't—'

'It's not the summer solstice yet. Maybe they carried out some kind of ritual.'

'Bastards.'

Jack said, '
What about the trestle tables then, looks like they've been laid for a banquet.'

Nodding, Redd walked over. 'Linen clothes, candelabra - maybe preparing for the Mystery Tour?'

Tess murmured, 'It's a thought - if Gemma was supposed to be going on it, plus the other victims were from the labs; it's a possibility.'

'Maybe they'll just show them around the mansion and then make their way over here for a buffet. It certainly is an ancient church; it would be interesting.'

Frowning Redd said, 'One thing is for sure; Gemma was here. I've a good mind to get the Forensic team out now. However, we've just not got enough to go on.'

Tess said, '
There's Sweetpea's tracking and the dowager does give quite an uncanny description of the M.O.'

Jack muttered, 'She has dementia Tess - not even circumstantial evidence. As for Sweetpea, we might believe in his tracking skills, but he is not a trained police dog. All it's done is to give us some leads. However, we do have Sweetpea reacting to Gemma's clothes. He's not police trained, but I think it's enough now to persuade Bill.'

Tess narrowed her eyes as she picked up a twig of yew. 'Maybe they are going to bring the guests here, and then take them elsewhere - but where? Maybe there are other cellars or caves.'

'If it's going to be a human sacrifice, the
earl and his cohorts are not going to build a Wicker Man in the grounds or anywhere else in the open for that matter. Lugh, the Arch Druid of my Grove, is building a large one in the grounds of his old mansion, but he hasn't got anything to hide.'

Shadows gathered in the corners of the old church as twilight deepened. Jack got the plans out of his briefcase, laying them on the trestle table. 'Let's have a look.'

Redd watched as Jack traced the tunnel. 'Nope - there's nothing else on here. But I can't get the Dowager's words out of my head, she rambled on about the pit, and the Devil living under the mansion, that she could hear him breathing - devil's music.'

Tess said, '
There're only the two cellars and they're not very big - cluttered as well. But she is confused - demented.'

Jack shrugged. 'Maybe, but she can be very clear - coherent. I mean she even remembered The
earl's friend - the coaches.'

'Yes, it's a past memory. People with Alzheimers do remember the past vividly, in fact as the disease progresses, they move more and more into the past. It's the present that's the trouble, they cannot retain anything for more than five minutes, sometimes even less. So this must have been going on for a quite a while.'

Redd scratched his chin, 'So where in hell is she talking about?'

'So far we've only found the cellars -
they're far too small and full of wine or clutter. They know we're on to them, so no way can they pull it off in the open air.'

Tess walked to the first pew and sat down. 'Like I said earlier, the druids packed the Wicker Man with humans and animals. It was so important Dan.'

'Yeah but twenty?'

'The Aztecs slaughtered thousands. These perps are fanatics; they've proven that with the dismemberment and decapitation of the victims. Maybe this is their grand finale - to shock the world. The rites are sacrosanct.'

Jack came back to the altar. 'What say we put someone on the tour, they could wear a tracking device and carry a mobile, we could track by a digital device or triangulation.'

Redd nodded. 'Good idea, trouble is the Earl will know us, as will Mainwaring or Titmouse, that's if they're in on it.'

Tess put down the twig on the altar. 'I could do it.'

'No Tess - too dangerous. I couldn't allow it.'

Brushing a lock of ebony hair off her brow, she said, 'Come on I'll be quite safe, I mean if I have the tracking gear on.'

Jack raised his eyebrows. 'What about Dove? She can take care of herself.'

Redd shook his head. 'Nah - they know her - they've seen Tess with me at the crime scene but I don't think it was long enough to take precedent. I hesitate—'

'Dan, there are twenty people's lives at stake here. You will have people in the grounds, the cellars, and the church. What can go wrong?'

'The fucking tunnel - that's what could go wrong.'

'The largest spaces for a Wicker Man are in the cellars, the tunnels are far too confined but they won't use the cellars - they're too small and we've been there.'

'Yeah, but there could be somewhere we just haven't discovered yet. Fuck, we need more time.'

Jack sat down on pew, 'How about DC Green, she's good.'

'Titmouse knows her Jack. If they see her, they'll call the fucking thing off.'

Sighing, Tess folded her arms across her chest. 'Look there's no other way. At least I'll be alert to anything going on. As you say, I'll have the tracking devices and mobile. There's only a tunnel and you could be down there in a shot.'

Jack got up from the pew, 'Hang on a minute, this is not going to work, he might remember you. Police have keen eyes - training.'

'I don't think Titmouse saw me, and if he did it would only have been for a second or two - he wouldn't remember me Jack. Look, I'll wear a hat, better still I'll wear a wig - change my make-up. I've actually got some blue contact lenses. I use them for clubbing - not that I do that very much now.'

Redd grinned, 'Great - blues eyes - blond - sounds great.' Then the thought clutched at his heart - Esther - blonde hair drifting in the breeze. Taking a breath he said, 'You'll be wearing the latest tracking devices. Make sure you don't drink or eat anything there on the day, it could be drugged.'

Tess nodded, excitement in her eyes, as she grinned. 'Understood. So let's do it.'

Redd knitted his brows. 'First thing though, is a team meeting. And I'll have to arrange for SWAT that's if Maddeley is agreeable.'

Jack put his hand on his shoulder. 'He will be - I'll be with you - we'll talk him around. Anyway, the team and SWAT will be invisible until they're needed.'