Dead Man Walking

  I like to tell myself I’ve never killed anyone who didn’t need killing; anyone whose death didn’t make the world a better and safer place. But how could I trust my morality when I couldn’t even trust my own memory? Sometimes I wonder whether I might be the biggest monster of them all …

  Penny waited patiently at my side, and finally put a hand on my arm. ‘Don’t frown so hard, sweetie, you’ll give yourself wrinkles. What are you thinking about?’

  ‘The past,’ I said. ‘And how it has a way of creeping up on you.’

  ‘I wish you wouldn’t freeze me out, Ishmael,’ she said. ‘How can I help, if I don’t know what the problem is?’

  ‘Not every problem has an answer,’ I said. ‘But I will tell you one thing, we are not going down to the basement.’

  ‘We’re not?’ said Penny. ‘MacKay seemed very certain that we were.’

  I smiled at her. ‘You know I don’t react well to authority figures. Especially when they start barking orders at me.’

  ‘I had noticed, yes. But you must admit he has a point. Things happened down in the basement that we don’t understand yet. I know you don’t want to admit it, Ishmael, but given that the killer left no physical evidence behind, isn’t it possible that Parker could have been killed by a ghost?’

  ‘If he’d been frightened to death, maybe,’ I said patiently. ‘But whoever heard of a ghost stabbing someone?’

  ‘Why are you so resistant to the idea that this spooky old place might be haunted?’ said Penny. ‘After everything we’ve seen …’

  ‘There’s no need for a supernatural explanation, when there are so many real-world suspects,’ I said. ‘A lot of people have a lot of good reasons for wanting Parker dead. That’s why we were sent here, after all.’

  ‘The Organization must have suspected there was some otherworldly aspect to this case,’ Penny said stubbornly. ‘Or why would they have chosen you?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’m still thinking about that.’

  ‘If we’re not going down to the basement,’ said Penny, ‘where are we going?’

  ‘To check the doors,’ I said. ‘Make sure they really are properly locked and secure. It occurred to me that if someone has hacked into Martin’s computers, they could have taken control of one particular door and its cameras so they could come and go unobserved.’

  ‘If there’s a door that hasn’t been affected by the lockdown,’ said Penny, ‘then our killer could escape at any time, long before reinforcements turn up!’

  ‘Sometimes,’ I said, ‘It’s all about crossing the i’s and dotting the t’s.’

  ‘Alien!’ said Penny.

  We started with the front door. I checked it carefully, but couldn’t see any sign of it being tampered with. It was very thoroughly locked, and while I rattled the door for all it was worth, just on the off chance, I couldn’t budge it an inch for all my strength.

  ‘Very solid door, that,’ Penny said solemnly.

  ‘Very,’ I said. ‘And a lot heavier than its size would suggest. Wouldn’t surprise me if it had a solid-steel core.’

  ‘Could you break it down?’ asked Penny. ‘If you had to? If something messy hit the fan and we had to leave in a hurry?’

  ‘Probably,’ I said.

  We made our rounds of the ground floor, but it turned out there was only one other exterior door. And the back door turned out to be just as heavy and just as locked. All the time we were going back and forth, I kept waiting for Martin to say something; to challenge us over where we were and what we were doing, and why I wasn’t following MacKay’s instructions. But he never said a word. I could hear Baxter and Redd searching through one room after another, but I couldn’t hear anyone else. All the corridors were equally empty, and almost suffocatingly quiet. The Lodge had the feeling of a very large house with very few people in it. Like we were just mice in a maze; moving this way and that, with no idea of what was really going on.

  ‘All right,’ said Penny, when we finally returned to the entrance hall. ‘What now? Check all the windows?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘A window without a shutter in place would be far too easy to spot.’

  ‘Maybe we should go down to the basement,’ Penny suggested tactfully. ‘What if there’s a hidden way in? Some secret tunnel connecting the basement to the grounds? That would explain how the killer was able to get to Parker without being noticed or detected.’

  ‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘In a house this old, a few architectural secrets should come as standard.’

  And that was when Baxter and Redd came striding into the entrance hall, having completed their search of the ground floor. I’d gone out of my way to avoid them, in the name of peace and quiet and not brawling in public. But now here they were standing right in front of me. And not looking at all happy about it. Baxter was scowling, as usual, while Redd was as coldly unreadable as ever. It bothered me that, while I usually had a pretty good idea of what was passing through Baxter’s mind, I had no idea at all of what was going on behind Redd’s enigmatic features.

  ‘Why aren’t you down in the basement, where you belong?’ Baxter said accusingly.

  ‘We’re just going there,’ said Penny. ‘Have you found anything?’

  ‘No,’ said Redd. ‘If anyone else is inside the Lodge, they’re really good at moving around without leaving any traces. Could be a ghost, or it could be a trained professional. Like an Organization field agent, for example.’

  ‘Right!’ said Baxter, fixing me with his fiercest glare. ‘What are you doing here? Spying on us? The ground floor is our responsibility; we don’t need anyone looking over our shoulder.’

  ‘Damn right!’ said Redd. ‘Unless, of course, you’re trying to hide some piece of evidence from us.’

  ‘This is what the killer wants,’ I said steadily. ‘Wasting time arguing with each other, instead of working together to find him.’

  ‘But what if he doesn’t need finding?’ said Redd. ‘What if he’s been right under our noses all along?’

  ‘If you’ve got something to say,’ I said, ‘say it. I’m listening.’

  ‘Everything was fine till you got here,’ said Baxter. ‘The field agent with the mysterious background, the trained killer with more dirty secrets than the rest of us put together.’

  ‘What is your problem?’ Penny said sharply. ‘You’ve had a mad on for Ishmael ever since we got here.’

  ‘Bax applied to be a field agent,’ said Redd, ‘and the Organization turned him down. Never said why, but then they don’t have to. I told him he was too clean for the kind of dirty work they do.’

  ‘We don’t need you here!’ said Baxter, glaring right into my face. ‘We’re all the security the Lodge needs.’

  ‘Really?’ I said. ‘The man you were supposed to protect was killed while you were busy seeing ghosts around every corner.’

  ‘I didn’t see any ghosts!’ said Baxter. ‘There aren’t any ghosts.’

  And he jumped me, his heavy hands reaching for my throat. He looked ready to do me some serious harm, so I quickly stepped inside his reach, grabbed two handfuls of his shirtfront, and threw him across the hall. He flew through the air surprisingly gracefully, given his size and weight, and hit the floor really hard. He rolled painfully for several feet, before coming to a halt. I expected the impact to slow him down, maybe even knock a little sense into him, but he just shrugged it off and scrambled up on to his feet again. He looked even angrier, if that was possible, and now he was grinning savagely. This was what he’d wanted all along: an excuse to beat and break and humiliate me. To prove to himself that he was the better man, more than a match for any damned field agent.

  He took up a practised martial arts stance and came at me again, more cautiously this time. He struck out at me with vicious speed and strength, his blows and kicks demonstrating reasonably good form; but to me, he might as well have been moving in slow motion. I avoided most of his attacks, and blocked the others with enough strength to make him grun
t with pain as well as surprise. And then I grabbed his shirtfront again, and threw him across the hall the other way. He landed harder this time, and took longer to get up on to his feet. He was breathing hard. I wasn’t. He came forward again, and I wondered if I was going to have to do him some serious damage to stop him. I didn’t want to have to do that. In his own obnoxious way, Baxter was just doing his job. And taking down one of our own people would have been exactly what the killer wanted.

  So I waited till Baxter was almost upon me and then hit him once, swift and hard, right under the breastbone. He never saw it coming, never had a chance to defend himself. My fist slammed in deep, driving all the breath out of him. He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes squeezing shut as all the colour drained out of his face. His legs gave up and he suddenly sat down on the floor, like a small child who’d just run out of steam. I waited a moment, to be sure it was all over, and then looked to see what Redd was doing.

  He started towards me, his face set and cold, and Penny stepped forward to block his way. He gestured sharply for her to stand aside, but she shook her head, smiling sweetly. Redd looked at her with an almost indifferent anger.

  ‘Get out of my way, girl. This is none of your business.’

  ‘Ishmael is my business,’ said Penny. ‘He belongs to me, just like Baxter belongs to you. I think we should all calm down and behave like grown-ups. Don’t you?’

  ‘Move!’ said Redd. ‘Or I’ll hurt you.’

  ‘Not on the best day you ever had,’ said Penny.

  He grabbed for her wrist, to throw her out of his way. She seized hold of his arm, swept around, and threw him neatly over her shoulder in a perfectly executed judo throw. He flew through the air and slammed into a wall, hitting it so hard even I winced. He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, dazed. Penny marched forward to stand over him, both hands planted on her hips. She sniffed coldly.

  ‘You can learn all kinds of useful things at a really good finishing school,’ she said. ‘So don’t try anything like that again, or I will show you the special ball-breaking kick the nuns taught me at St Theresa’s School for Exemplary Youngsters.’

  She turned her back on Redd and came back to me, smiling brightly. I nodded approvingly.

  ‘I knew you’d come in useful for something.’

  ‘Have you quite finished playing with your little friend?’ said Penny.

  ‘I think he’s had enough,’ I said. ‘I’m not a violent man …’

  ‘Oh I think you are, really,’ said Penny.

  ‘Only when I have to be,’ I said. ‘This hasn’t solved anything.’

  ‘Probably not,’ Penny conceded. ‘But at least they’ll now keep their distance while they’re being mean to us.’

  I picked Baxter up effortlessly. He made a low noise, as though he’d like to protest but didn’t have the strength. I carried him across the hall and set him down next to Redd, who looked like he was still trying to figure out what had just happened. I arranged them neatly side by side and then stepped back. Baxter and Redd glared up at me, like I’d cheated. Which, strictly speaking, I had. They were used to human opponents.

  ‘If I really was the killer, you’d both be dead now,’ I said. ‘Think about it.’

  I turned away, and Penny raised an eyebrow.

  ‘What now? Down to the basement in search of hidden tunnels?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘The lounge. I think we need to have words with Doctor Hayley and Doctor Doyle.’

  ‘I’ve got a few good words for them,’ said Penny. ‘But what if they don’t want to talk to us?’

  ‘I can be very persuasive,’ I said. ‘When I put my mind to it.’

  Penny shrugged. ‘Let’s just hope it doesn’t involve throwing more people around. I’m pretty sure that’s not conducive to a good working relationship.’

  ‘Almost certainly not,’ I said. ‘But if they should act up, you take Hayley and I’ll hide behind you.’

  ‘Not a chance,’ said Penny. ‘I get the feeling she could be seriously scary if she put her mind to it.’

  ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘She’s an interrogator.’

  When I slammed open the door to the lounge and marched in without knocking, Hayley and Doyle both looked round quickly. As though they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t. They clearly hadn’t expected to be interrupted. They were sitting on the big sofa again, with a whole mess of papers spread out on the coffee table. They put down the ones they’d been studying, and stood up to face us. Hayley had her usual aggressive face on, while Doyle looked calmer and more collected now he’d got something useful to occupy his mind.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ said Hayley.

  ‘Keeping busy,’ I said. ‘What are you doing?’

  Hayley and Doyle couldn’t help glancing at the papers laid out on the coffee table. I stepped forward for a better look, and Hayley moved as though to stop me. I gave her a look, and she stepped back again. You don’t get to be an experienced interrogator without being able to read people’s intentions. I looked at the papers; copious handwritten notes on everything they’d seen and heard, and what they thought it meant. Most of it was in the same hand. Hayley’s, most likely.

  ‘Why aren’t you using your laptop?’ said Penny.

  Hayley glanced across at it, lying closed at the far end of the coffee table. She shrugged, stiffly.

  ‘It occurred to me that if our killer has been able to hack into Martin’s computers, he’d have no trouble getting into mine. It’s easier to keep paper private.’

  ‘Unless someone walks in on you unexpectedly,’ I said. ‘I think you’d better talk me through this, Doctor Hayley. It’s good to share.’

  She sighed and sat down on the sofa, and after a moment Doyle did too. Penny and I sat down beside them, after Hayley made Doyle budge up to give us some room. I leafed quickly through the papers, with Penny leaning in beside me. It was all very detailed, very businesslike. Treating murder like just another puzzle to be solved. I started to say something, and Hayley quickly put up a hand to stop me. She gestured for all of us to lean in close and put our heads together. Penny looked at me and I nodded.

  ‘Why are we doing this?’ I asked politely.

  ‘So we can speak privately,’ said Hayley, her voice little more than a murmur. ‘I don’t want Martin hearing what we have to say.’

  ‘Why not?’ said Penny. ‘Don’t you trust him?’

  ‘I don’t trust anyone here,’ Hayley said coldly. ‘But especially not Martin. It could explain a lot, if someone has paid him to be not quite as attentive as he should be. But even if he is on the level, he’s still a sneak. I don’t want him running to MacKay and telling tales out of school. Robbie and I have been comparing notes on events, interpretations and possible motivations … and we think we know who the killer is.’

  ‘You’ve got a suspect already?’ said Penny. ‘Cool! Who is it?’

  ‘MacKay,’ said Doyle.

  I looked at Penny and she looked at me, and then we both looked at Hayley and Doyle.

  ‘Why?’ I said.

  Hayley counted off the points on her fingers. ‘Only MacKay has access to all areas of Ringstone Lodge. Including the security centre. He’s always very good about waiting for Martin to open the door for him, but he once let slip to me that he has a master key for every lock in the building, for emergencies. He knows the Lodge inside out, which means he could know special places where he could hide himself away any time he feels like it. And he’s an ex-soldier. He’d know how to kill a man with a knife, silently and effectively. If he can open the security centre door, he might well be able to do the same for the cell in the basement and know how to wipe all traces of what he’d done from the security systems. He was here before Martin, after all. Who knows what backdoor commands he might have installed in the computers?’

  ‘And, of course, Parker wouldn’t have been surprised to see MacKay,’ said Doyle. ‘Until it was too late.’

  ‘Not bad,’ I sai
d. ‘Logical, hangs together well. Makes sense, mostly.’

  ‘We never miss Agatha Christie on television,’ said Doyle. ‘We love all her mysteries … Not for the murders, you understand, but for the problem-solving element.’

  ‘The only thing missing,’ I said, ‘is motive. What reason could MacKay have to kill Parker?’

  Hayley and Doyle looked at each other.

  ‘You said it yourself, Ishmael,’ Hayley said finally. ‘A lot of people wanted Parker dead, before he could talk about all the things he’d done for them. All of them ready to pay good money to have Parker silenced. MacKay isn’t a young man any more. He put off retirement once, but age is creeping up on him. He can’t have many years left at Ringstone Lodge, and he must know it. This kind of pay-off would mean his inevitable retirement could at least be comfortable. But now I have a question for you.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ I said generously. ‘You’re on a roll. Go for it, ask me anything. Don’t let me stop you.’

  ‘Why did you bring Penny to Ringstone Lodge?’ Hayley said flatly. ‘What purpose does she serve?’

  ‘I am decorative and functional,’ Penny said sweetly. ‘I can do many things, including brightening a room just by being in it.’

  ‘It’s true,’ I said. ‘You’d be amazed what she can do.’

  ‘Organization field agents always work alone,’ said Doyle. ‘Everyone knows that. So what is she really?’

  ‘She’s my partner,’ I said.

  ‘I’m his better half,’ said Penny.

  ‘She keeps me human,’ I said.

  ‘You were the only agent to work in the field with the previous Colonel,’ Doyle said heavily. ‘Why did he decide it was necessary for him to involve himself in the dangers of fieldwork? And why choose you, out of all the field agents at his command?’