The Revelation Room (The Ben Whittle Investigation Series Book 1) (4 page)

Ben and Maddie stepped off the bus
in Oxford High Street at nine-fifteen on Tuesday morning. After two fruitless
trips to the city on his own, Maddie had agreed to accompany Ben whilst his
mother helped Pastor Tom at the church. She’d perked up a bit when Tom had
asked her if she was any good at flower arranging. It was only a month ago that
Anne had completed a course to study the subject. No tip-off from Maddie!

Ben walked off toward the main shopping area. ‘The only
busker I’ve seen up to now is an old guy who looks like a university
professor.’

‘And what does a university professor look like, exactly?’

Ben grinned. He loved it when he made Maddie laugh. ‘Grey
hair poking out behind his ears. Long coat and a scarf.’

‘A scarf, huh? That’s a dead giveaway.’

‘College scarf.’

‘Did you ask him about Marcus?’

Ben nodded. ‘Yeah. But he didn’t even answer me. He was
either deaf or ignorant.’

‘He probably couldn’t hear you above his guitar. Come on,
let’s get looking.’

After three hours of searching the streets of Oxford, the
nearest they’d come to finding a busker was a preacher on a soap box banging a
tambourine to emphasise his beliefs. Ben sat down on a bench, which was a
narrow tilted strip of wood designed to offer no comfort.

‘They make them like this to stop people sleeping on them,’
Maddie said.

‘They’re all heart.’

Maddie sat down beside him. ‘They’ll make it a criminal
offence to be homeless next. They’ll shoot vagrants on sight for daring to
litter their precious city.’

‘They’ll chop off the hands of beggars to stop them
begging.’

‘Chop off the feet of tramps to stop them tramping.’

‘This country sucks.’

‘Like a kid’s straw in a milkshake,’ Maddie agreed. ‘Did you
see that Big Issue guy outside Debenhams?’

‘The big dude with the shaved head?’

Maddie nodded. ‘I wonder if he’s seen our busker?’

‘He looks like he might have eaten him.’

‘Swallowed him whole,’ Maddie agreed. ‘Shall we ask him?’

‘Do you reckon we ought to buy a Big Issue?’

‘We could give him a tenner. It might help to jog his
memory.’

Big Issue guy offered Ben a magazine and a smile that looked
capable of mincing beef.

Ben tried to smile back, but his lips refused to cooperate.
‘I was wondering if you could help me. I’m looking for someone.’

Big Issue scowled and squinted at Ben. ‘Are you a copper?’

Ben moved back a step. ‘Me? God, no.’

‘We’re looking for my sister,’ Maddie said. ‘Show him the
picture.’

Ben took Emily’s picture from the back pocket of his jeans
and handed it over. ‘It’s not very up to date. She’s nineteen now.’

Big Issue handed the picture back to Ben. ‘I ain’t seen her.
When did she go missing?’

Ben tucked the picture back in his pocket. ‘A couple of
years ago.’

‘Kids vanish all the time. The street just sucks ’em up.
Paedophiles and pimps everywhere.’

Maddie hooked her thumbs in the side of her bright red
dungarees. ‘She may have run off with a busker. A guy called Marcus.’

Big Issue shook his head. ‘Name don’t ring any bells.
Thousands of kids end up with some twat who offers them the world and then
takes them straight to hell.’

Ben sighed. ‘That’s reassuring.’

Big Issue treated Ben to a bloodshot stare. ‘That’s the way
it is.’

Ben turned to Maddie. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

Maddie ignored him. ‘She’s nineteen. You have a think about
that.’

‘I lost three toes in Afghanistan and got discharged from
the army without so much as a thank you. You think about that.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Serve your country, and what do you get? Treated like shit
on a shoe.’

Maddie touched his arm. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I’ve seen people with arms and legs blown off. All that
fucking bravado, and for what? No one gives a tin-shit. Welcome to the world.’

Maddie and Ben walked away. Big Issue called after them.
‘There
is
this one guy. I don’t know his name. He comes in a few days a
week. Usually on a Wednesday and Friday. Sometimes more. He’s  quite
young. Good-looking, I suppose, if you like that sort of thing. Wears a shitty
looking pinstripe suit and a straw hat.’

Maddie turned around and grinned. ‘And he busks?’

‘Busks. Deals shit. Yaps to all the girlies. Fancies
himself. Yep. A right regular arsehole.’

Maddie smiled a smile to open hearts. It caused a knot in
Ben’s stomach to tighten. ‘Where does he busk?’

Big Issue pointed across the street towards Boots. ‘Over
there, sometimes. Sometimes he stands outside the Methodist church.’

Maddie nodded. ‘Thanks so much for that. What’s your name?’

‘I’ve got all sorts of names, love. Most of ’em ain’t very
nice. But you can call me Gary.’

Maddie shook Gary’s hand. ‘I’m Maddie. This is Ben. Have you
got a mobile, Gary?’

‘Yeah. But I ain’t got no credit.’

‘If I give you some money for credit, could you give me a
ring the next time you see this busker?’

Gary nodded. ‘Okay.’

Maddie plucked a Big Issue out of Gary’s hand and wrote her
mobile number on the back. She handed it back to him.

Gary looked at it and grinned. ‘I hope you’re going to pay
for the Big Issue.’

Maddie turned to Ben. ‘Give him twenty pounds.’

‘Twenty quid? What for?’

‘Ten for his phone and ten for the magazine.’

‘But—’

Maddie scowled. ‘But nothing, skinflint. It’s my sister
that’s missing.’

‘Yeah, do the right thing, dude. You might need help one
day.’

Ben fished his wallet out and handed over the cash. Anyone
with half a brain knew the money would end up in an off-licence till.

Maddie smiled. ‘There. That didn’t hurt too much, did it?’

More than you’ll ever know
, Ben thought.

Maddie turned back to Gary. ‘We’ll be kicking around in
Oxford for the rest of the day. Would you call us if you see him?’

Gary promised that he would.

Ben thought the promise might as well be written in steam.

‘After today, it’ll take us about an hour to get here. So
call us straight away,’ Maddie said.

Gary nodded. ‘Sure.’

As they walked away, Maddie turned to Ben. ‘That’s a start.’

‘He won’t call.’

‘He might.’

‘Twenty quid’s a lot of money to pin to a donkey with
“might” for a tail.’

Maddie ignored him. ‘Let’s get something to eat. I’m
starving.’

Ben wasn’t. His stomach was too knotted to be hungry. They
went to McDonald’s where he spent most of the time lost in thought and twirling
cold fries between his fingers.

Maddie finished her meal and wiped her mouth with a
serviette. ‘Let’s give it until four. If we hear nothing by then, we’ll head
off home.’

‘I suppose.’

‘At least Gary can keep an eye out for him.’

‘If he doesn’t spend the money on booze.’

‘We’ll just have to trust him, won’t we? Come on, let’s do
another sweep of the streets and then sit down by the Methodist church Gary
mentioned.’

Ben thought if Gary had mentioned a busker in a hot-air
balloon, Maddie would have spent the rest of the day looking up at the sky.

By the time they sat down outside the Methodist church an
hour later, Ben’s feet felt as if they’d been fed through a shredder. ‘What
time’s the next bus home?’

‘Twenty past four or ten to five.’

Ben glanced at his watch. Another two hours. ‘Even if we
find this busker, and I join this stupid cult, it will be way too late for my
dad. I mean, it’s Tuesday now. He phoned Friday night and he sounded like he
was at death’s door then.’

Maddie smiled. The patient smile of a parent with an
inattentive child. ‘You don’t know that, Ben. You have to keep believing.’

‘Believing in what, exactly? Miracles?’

‘Believing that things will turn out all right.’

‘And what am I supposed to say to this busker if we find
him? Hey, mate, do you belong to a cult?’

Maddie laughed. ‘You’ll need to be a bit more subtle than
that. Just chat to him. See how the land lies. Convince him you’re searching
for answers. Tell him you hate modern living. Play it by ear.’

Ben’s stomach churned. ‘I can’t do it, Maddie. I work in an
office. Well, a converted coal shed. I’m no good at pretending.’

Maddie took hold of his hand. ‘You just have to trust
yourself, Ben. Take one step at a time.’

‘And then trip myself up.’

Maddie let go of his hand. ‘If you’re so bothered about it,
why don’t we do it together?’

‘Do what?’

‘Join the cult.’

Ben shook his head. ‘I couldn’t ask you to do that.’

‘You’re not asking. I’m offering.’

‘What about my mother? Who’s going to look after her?’

‘We’ll think of something.’

‘Like what?’

‘I could get my dad to ask Rhonda.’

‘Rhonda doesn’t even know my mum.’

‘Rhonda’s got a big personality. She’d cope. Trust me.’

Ben wasn’t so confident. ‘My mother has two modes: nervous
and hysterical.’

‘Your mother’s bearing up quite well, considering.’

‘That’s more to do with happy pills than anything else.’

‘If you don’t want me to help, then fine, I won’t,’ Maddie
said. ‘I’m not going to force you. It was just an idea.’

‘And what about your dad? How’s he going to feel if you put
your neck on the line?’

‘He’d understand.’

Ben stamped his foot to shoo away a pigeon that was paying
close attention to his trainers. ‘I don’t know. I think we should just go
home.’

Maddie plucked a strand of hair off her forehead. ‘And then
what?’

Ben didn’t have a clue. Infiltrating the cult was a
marvellous idea if this was a movie and he was an all-action hero. He stood
more chance of flying to the moon on a pig.

Maddie’s phone beeped. Private number. She answered it.
‘Gary?’

Ben groaned. What did he want? More money? A date with
Maddie? A medal?

Maddie smiled. ‘Thanks, Gary. Take care.’ She turned to Ben.
‘He’s outside Marks and Sparks.’

‘Who?’

‘The busker, dummy.’

‘Is he sure it’s him?’

Maddie nodded. ‘It’s the same guy. Let’s find out his name
and then take it from there.’

Ben’s stomach tightened. ‘Shouldn’t we work out what to say
first?’

‘No. We don’t want to sound like we’ve got a script. It’s
better to just go with the flow.’

‘Like a drowning man in a river?’

‘Ha
ha
, Ben. Very funny.’

The busker was singing
All You Need is Love
. Badly. A
few girls were gathered around him. He had the bluest eyes Ben had ever seen.
Deeper blue than Pastor Tom’s, but with the same sparkle. There was a straw hat
perched on his head. His skin was either tanned or unwashed.

‘He looks like a gypsy,’ Ben said.

‘Nothing wrong with gypsies. Have you got any change?’

Ben fished out some loose change and handed it over. Maddie
stepped forward and threw the money into a small plastic bowl sitting on the
ground. She turned back towards Ben. ‘Your generosity knows no bounds.’

‘I’ve already shelled out twenty quid.’

The busker finished his song to a smattering of applause
from the girls standing around him. He bowed and smiled at Maddie.

Maddie smiled back. ‘That was cool.’

He tuned his guitar. ‘Thanks.’

Ben imagined John Lennon spinning in his grave.

‘Do you do requests?’

‘Depends.’

‘On what?’

Busker tweaked a string and raised the guitar up close to
his ear. ‘Whether I know it or not.’

Maddie twirled her ponytail
.
‘
Living on a Prayer
?
Bon Jovi?’

‘Don’t know it.’

‘
Girls Just Wanna have Fun
?’

Busker grinned. ‘Is that right? I could do
Pretty Woman
if you like.’

Ben almost groaned out loud.

Maddie put her hands on her hips. ‘I’m Maddie.’

Busker seemed deep in contemplation for a few moments. And
then: ‘I’m Marcus. What’s Maddie short for? Madam?’

Maddie laughed and moved a few steps closer. ‘Cheeky! It’s
short for Madeline.’

Ben’s heart beat like an ostrich wing trying to take flight.
He gawked at Marcus as if the man had just revealed himself as Jesus Christ
Himself.

‘You should learn to play the mandolin, Madeline.’

Maddie smiled. ‘So what do you do, Marcus? Are you a
student?’

‘Do I look like a parasite?’

‘I take it you don’t like students, then?’  

Marcus strummed his guitar with a single downward sweep of
his hand. ‘Have you seen this city?’

‘Nice buildings.’

‘Inhabited by rats.’

Maddie wiggled her hips and sang the chorus of
We Built
This City.

‘Do you want to join my band?’

‘I thought you were a one-man-band?’

‘There’s always room to expand. Especially with a pretty
girl like you.’

Maddie grinned. ‘Flattery will get you everywhere.’

Marcus looked at Ben. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to
your boyfriend?’

‘This is Ben.’

Marcus looked at Ben as if he was trying to read his mind.
‘Do you sing? Or are you the dancing bear?’

Ben tried to smile. Tried to look nonchalant. Tried to
ignore the mocking look in the man’s eyes. He was a charmer. A magnet for girls
like Emily Hunt.

‘Are you from Oxford?’ Maddie asked.

‘Nope. You?’

Maddie shook her head. ‘No. We’re hiking across the country.
Trying to get out of the rat race.’

‘Can’t say I blame you.’

Maddie hooked her thumbs in the side of her dungarees. ‘I
had a job in a bakery. Up at four every morning. Too knackered to think most of
the time. I jacked it in after Christmas and me and Ben just hit the road.’