Sinema: The Northumberland Massacre (40 page)

“Nothing’s impossible, son,” Hewitt said evenly, ruffling his collar against the bitter wind. He stood and surveyed the chaotic scene in silence for some time as fresh falling snow quickly coated his hat and shoulders. The faces of everyone who passed close by, including Hasslebrook’s, had a haunted sheen to them. Some mass primeval fear had been evoked from within this place. Even the air, despite the icy wind, felt … tainted somehow. They were doggedly going about their duty, ingrained training heaving them through this frozen hell, but this was one night that none of them would ever forget. The men and women around him would take these scenes to their graves, and would most probably have many a restless and sweat-soaked night from now on.

A young constable stepped out of a house across the road, clutching a Santa Clause hat close to his chest. He appeared dazed and confused as his gaze switched from the impossibly vivid red hat to the dark pandemonium around him. As Hewitt watched, squinting, he realised that the officer was weeping openly.

The events in Haydon would join the ranks of the Moors murders, the Ripper murders, Hungerford, Shipman, the Wests, but it would top them all by a long, long way. If it was Hannibal Whitman, then he had single-handedly managed to wipe an entire village off the map.

“This bastard has to be the devil himself,” Wilkinson muttered, his face deeply troubled.

Hewitt tore his eyes away from the young constable to the sergeant, then after a moment’s contemplation, said solemnly, “Maybe. He wears many disguises.” He continued to look upon the frenzied scene around them, then, as an afterthought, he added, “Well, what I say is, when you’re dealing with the devil, praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition.” His words were flat and humourless, and his sunken eyes settled on the black tree line of the woods beyond the borders of the village.

A killer was out there somewhere; a killer who was indiscriminate of age, race, gender or creed. This monster had to be stopped. As that thought consumed him, his chest began to tighten with the onset of another coughing fit.

The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace,
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace,
Hate your next-door-neighbour, but don't forget to say grace,
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

EPILOGUE

3
^rd
January.

The entry bell tinkled as the door opened to admit a new arrival. The DVD and Game store was crammed with wall and free-standing shelving, overflowing with games and films to rent or buy. Posters of films, past and present, adorned every square inch of wall and ceiling space; from classics like
The Maltese Falcon
,
Psycho
,
The Birds
,
Casablanca
and
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
, to modern gore-fests including,
Dog Soldiers
,
28 Weeks Later
,
Land of the Dead
and the
SAW
films, and everything else in-between. A big flashing red and blue neon sign on the far wall above the counter boldly declared, MOVIE MANIAC. To the left of the sign, a poster menacingly declared,
Man is the warmest place to hide
, and to the right;
A motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilised world. And severely annoy the other third
.

A skinny man with badly pock-marked skin and greasy brown shaggy hair stood behind the counter, reading
Empire
magazine, dressed in a faded
Snatch (Stealin’ stones and breakin’ bones)
t-shirt.

As the newcomer approached the counter, Perry kept his eyes glued to the interview of cult horror director, John Carpenter.

“How you doing, dickhead?” Whitman said, offering his startled underling a beaming smile.

“Jesus, man!” Perry said, clapping a hand onto the glass top counter. “Scared the shit outta me there! Was just reading an interview with JC – the unholy one.”

“Cool; I’ll have to have a read after you.” Whitman was clean-shaven with a recently cropped crew-cut and dressed in dirty-wash jeans and a
First Blood
t-shirt. One arm was tucked under his leather jacket in a sling.

“Hey, what happened to the arm?”

“Fell off my damn bike, would you believe?” Whitman said with an unconcerned wave of his free arm. “A branch skewered my arm. Nice gash in my other shoulder too. Got great scars to show you.”

“Bummer, man. Mind, you never could ride for toffee.”

“Your heartfelt concern is touching, fella.”

Perry grinned at him. “Good to have ya back, buddy.”

Shrugging off his jacket, he slung it over the counter and said, “Cuppa wouldn’t go amiss.”

“No probs, bro.” Perry disappeared into the back office and proceeded to fill a kettle. “So, you got the book finished then?”

Whitman pulled up a stool and sat at the counter, glancing around at the old place; the shelves, posters and wall-mounted flat screen televisions depicting a muted trailer for the latest
Disney
film. His eyes settled on a poster with the faces of Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman which declared,
The scariest comedy of all time!
Somewhat distant, he replied, “Aye, just about. Doubt it’ll ever get published though.”

Popping his head round the doorframe, Perry said, “Doesn’t matter, bud. It’s a major achievement just to get it written.”

“True,” Whitman said, but could not draw his eyes away from the screaming head of Gene Wilder with a shock of mad scientist hair.

There was a clattering of cups which finally broke the spell as Perry said, “Much poontang down there then?”

A hesitation, then, “There was one – a nineteen year old – very sexy, but … I had to cut her loose in the end.” An image of Lisa flashed before his eyes, her face twisted with rage and her eyes burning with fire. He had to shake his head to dislodge the disturbing vision.

“Knew you’d get some though; you always do, you jammy twat,” Perry was saying.

Whitman forced a laugh and arched his back, stretching out a nagging ache. “You got a way with words, buddy.”

“Fucking lyrical gangsta, me!”

“Knob.”

“Charming!” Perry shouted as he squeezed teabags and added some milk. Bringing two mugs through, one
The
Empire Strikes Back
and the other with the masked face of
Hannibal Lecter
, Perry continued, “I take it you weren’t that much out in the sticks not to hear about that crazy shit up in Northumberland?”

“They do have TVs and radios down there, you plonker.” Whitman took the Hannibal mug from his friend and stared into the brown, steaming liquid. After a moment, he muttered, “Terrible business.”

“That sorta crazier-than-fiction shit would make a helluva film, eh?”

Whitman’s snort was forced.

Casting the subject aside with a shrug, Perry said, “So, what’s next then?”

Whitman thought about this for a moment then, making eye contact once more with his friend, he said simply, “I’ll just walk the Earth.”

Sitting down, Perry smiled knowingly. “What ya mean,
walk the Earth
?”

“You know, walk the Earth, meet people ... get into adventures. Like Caine from
Kung Fu
.”

“Or Jules, eh?”

Laughing, they both took sips of their tea. Whitman glanced up over the rim of his
Hannibal
mug to study his friend. Perry was Perry, the Tarantino wannabe. Nothing had changed, except maybe a not insignificant part of himself, and that was certainly a change for the better. All was well. An easy smile touched his lips and he took another sip of tea.

THE END

CREDITS AND INSPIRATIONS (IN ORDER)

Storm – Robert Pack

The Wild Bunch – Dir. Sam Peckinpah

Good King Wenceslas – John Mason Neale

The Dream – Culture Club

Alien – Dir. Ridley Scott

Enter the Dragon – Dir. Robert Clouse

Scarface – Dir. Brian De Palma

Zulu – Dir. Cy Endfield

Apocalypse Now – Dir. Frances Ford Coppola

Where Eagles Dare – Dir. Brian G. Hutton

Natural Born Killers – Dir. Oliver Stone

The Great Escape – Dir. John Sturges

The Silence of the Lambs – Dir. Johnathan Demme

Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino

Nightmare on Elm Street – Dir. Wes Craven

War of the Worlds (2005) – Dir. Steven Spielberg

Jumanji – Dir. Joe Johnston

Get Carter – Dir. Mike Hodges

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – Dir. Peter Jackson

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Dir. George Roy Hill

Straw Dogs – Dir. Sam Peckinpah

300 – Dir. Zack Snyder

Father Ted – Created by Graham Linehan & Arthur Mathews

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas – Dir. Colin Higgins

Aliens – Dir. James Cameron

Easy Rider – Dir. Dennis Hopper

The Jackal – Dir. Michael Caton-Jones

Frankenstein – Dir. James Whale

In the Air Tonight – Phil Collins

Chariots of Fire – Dir. Hugh Hudson

The Prophecy – Dir. Gregory Widen

The Lost Boys – Dir. Joel Schumacher

People are Strange – Echo & the Bunnymen

When a Stranger Calls – Dir. Fred Walton

From Dusk Till Dawn – Dir. Robert Rodriguez

First Knight – Dir. Jerry Zucker

Star Trek the Motion Picture – Dir. Robert Wise

Spender – Created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail

M.A.S.H. – Dir. Robert Altman

Star Wars: A New Hope – Dir. George Lucas

Grease – Dir. Randal Kleiser

Throw Momma from the Train – Dir. Danny DeVito

The League of Gentlemen – Dir. Steve Bendelack

Opportunity Knocks – Original Host Hughie Green

(You’re the) Devil in Disguise – Elvis Presley

Platoon – Dir. Oliver Stone

Alien Autopsy – Dir. Jonny Campbell

Bladerunner – Dir. Ridley Scott

Jaws – Dir. Steven Spielberg

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Mandy – Barry Manilow

Doctor Who – Created by Sydney Newman

The Lone Gunmen – Created by Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan and John Shiban

James Bond – Created by Ian Fleming

Red Dwarf – Created by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor

The A-Team – Created by Stephen J. Cannell & Frank Lupo

Wild Wood – Paul Weller

Here Come the Marines – Dir. William Beaudine

The Searchers – Dir. John Ford

The Maltese Falcon – Dir. John Huston

The Sweeney – Created by Ian Kennedy Martin

Joe Versus the Volcano – Dir. John Patrick Shanley

An Ungentlemanly Act – Dir. Stuart Urban

A Nightmare on Elm Street – Dir. Wes Craven

The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover – Dir. Peter Greenaway

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – Dir. Stanley Kramer

Meet the Parents – Dir. Jay Roach

Mr Murder – Dir. Dick Lowry

The Goonies – Dir. Richard Donner

Sideways – Dir. Alexander Payne

Firestarter – Prodigy

Reservoir Dogs – Dir. Quentin Tarantino

Bagpuss – Created by Peter Firmin & Oliver Postgate

Day Trip to Bangor – Fiddlers Dram

Stormy Monday – Dir. Mike Figgis

Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

The Waltons – Dir. Walter Alzmann & Gwen Arner

Sherlock Holmes – Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Good Will Hunting – Dir. Gus Van Sant

Kill Bill – Dir. Quentin Tarantino

Sometimes They Come Back – Dir. Daniel Zelik Berk

The Funeral – Dir. Abel Ferrara

Fight Club – Dir. David Fincher

Cheers – Created by James Burrows, Glen Charles & Les Charles

A Bridge Too Far – Dir. Richard Attenborough

The Wild Geese – Dir. Andrew V. McLaglen

The Medusa Touch – Dir. Jack Gold

There May Be Trouble Ahead – Nat King Cole

Moby Dick – Dir. John Huston

Hostel – Dir. Eli Roth

Fargo – Dir. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Halloween – Dir. John Carpenter

Psycho – Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Evil Dead Trilogy – Dir. Sam Raimi

The Fog – Dir. John Carpenter

The Perfect Storm – Dir. Wolfgang Petersen

City Slickers – Dir. Ron Underwood

Don’t Fear the Reaper – Beautiful South version (orig. Blue Oyster Cult)

I Predict a Riot – Kaiser Chiefs

Gone with the Wind – Dir. Victor Fleming

The Stand – Dir. Mick Garris (Mini Series)

The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash

Paint It Black – The Rolling Stones

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – Dir. Guy Ritchie

Se7en – Dir. David Fincher

Da Doo Ron Ron – The Crystals

The Last Boy Scout – Dir. Tony Scott

Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man – Dir.
Jeff McGrath

The Phantom of the Opera (2004) – Dir. Joel Schumacher

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – Dir. Kevin Reynolds