When we finally arrived at the lounge, I was surprised to find Martin already there waiting for us. Looking more out of place than ever in the old-fashioned corridors, with his grubby T-shirt and his baseball cap turned backwards. He gestured sullenly at the closed door.
‘They won’t let me in,’ he said loudly. ‘I knocked, announced myself properly and told them you were on your way, and they still wouldn’t open the door!’
‘I will attend to this, Mr Martin,’ said MacKay. His back straightened with an audible snap as his military discipline reasserted itself, and he stepped forward to hammer on the door with his fist.
I looked thoughtfully at Martin. ‘How did you get here ahead of us?’
‘I’ve been working in this dump for years,’ said Martin. He smirked, almost proudly. ‘I like to go exploring during my off time and I’ve found all kinds of shortcuts. It’s not like there’s much else to do around here, after all, and we’re not allowed to go into town – in case any of the staff have a few drinks and start chatting to the locals about what really goes on here. Not that any of the locals would talk to us … Half the time it feels like we’re locked up along with the prisoners. And they get looked after better! You would not believe what gets brought in here to sweeten their natures and soften them up. Booze, drugs, women … Just for them! We never get a look in. If it wasn’t for my unlimited access to webcam girls and cute-cat videos, I’d have gone crazy long ago.’
‘Hush, Mr Martin!’ said MacKay. He knocked again, the sound thunderously loud in the quiet. ‘This is MacKay! Open the door, Doctor Hayley, Doctor Doyle!’
‘Go away!’ said Hayley’s voice, from the other side of the door. ‘We’ve put up a barricade and we’re not taking it down. It’s not safe out there.’
‘Not safe!’ said Doyle’s voice.
‘I know, dear, I’m telling them that.’
‘Well, tell them to go away and stop bothering us.’
‘I am, dear. You go and sit down and have a rest. You know your nerves aren’t good.’
I was tempted to smash the door in and kick their barricade aside; but I didn’t want anyone in the Lodge to know just how strong I was. I might need the element of surprise at some point. So I stepped in beside MacKay and nodded to him, and he stepped reluctantly aside.
‘Doctor Hayley, this is Ishmael Jones,’ I said loudly. ‘Please let us in. Things have changed and we need to discuss them.’
‘What things?’ said Hayley.
‘Baxter has been murdered. And his body has disappeared into thin air, just like Parker’s.’
There was a long pause. I imagined Hayley and Doyle looking at each other, raising their eyebrows and shrugging a lot. Finally there was the sound of heavy furniture scraping across the floor, as the two of them laboriously dismantled their barricade. It took a while, but eventually the door opened. MacKay strode straight in, so quickly and authoritatively that Hayley and Doyle had to jump back out of his way. The shock of being so openly defied had brought MacKay’s military aspect back to the fore, and he seemed to have completely shrugged off his former malaise. Martin slouched in after him, hands deep in pockets, looking like he’d much rather be anywhere else. Preferably somewhere with a bar. Penny and I brought up the rear, and I closed the door carefully behind us. Hayley immediately came forward, pushing a heavy table ahead of her, but I stopped her with a raised hand.
‘No barricade for the moment, doctor. Just in case we feel the need to depart this room in a hurry.’
She looked at me suspiciously. ‘Why would we want to do that? Aren’t we safe in here?’
‘I don’t know, doctor. But I’d rather have the option and not need it, than need it and not have it.’
She sniffed briefly, abandoned her table, and turned her scowl on MacKay. Doyle came over to stand beside her so he could join in the scowling. They clearly still considered MacKay to be their chief suspect as murderer. They had made a pretty good case. MacKay couldn’t have known that, but he did know a complete lack of trust when he saw it. He stared both the doctors down, unflinchingly, so they turned their glares on Martin. Who just dropped into the nearest chair and ignored them.
‘Can we get on with this?’ he said loudly. ‘There are far more important things I should be doing, some of them even work-related.’
‘If you’re here,’ said Doyle, ‘who’s minding the store? Anything could be going on out there and we wouldn’t know about it.’
‘The computers are in charge,’ said Martin. ‘The cameras are still watching and the microphones are still listening, so you’d better all be on your best behaviour. You never know what might end up on YouTube if you annoy me sufficiently.’
‘The cameras haven’t done a particularly good job of protecting us so far, have they?’ Penny said sweetly.
Martin pouted, and sank sullenly down in his chair. When he wasn’t lording it over the rest of us with the borrowed authority his computers gave him, it was easy to forget how young he was. Away from the security centre and very much out of his element, he looked more than a bit twitchy. Hayley and Doyle gave up on their glaring, as it wasn’t getting them anywhere, and took up their usual positions sitting on the sofa. I couldn’t help noticing they’d put away all their handwritten notes before opening the door. MacKay sat down stiffly in a chair next to Martin, in a way that suggested relaxing was against his religion. I pulled up a comfortable armchair so I could sit facing Hayley and Doyle; and Penny arranged herself elegantly on the armrest, draping her arm across my shoulders to balance herself as she did so. I looked at MacKay, and he nodded to me, so I brought Hayley and Doyle up to speed on what had been happening. Hayley looked more and more interested, while Doyle looked increasingly distressed.
‘I have come round to your way of thinking,’ he said, the moment I stopped talking. ‘I believe we should all stay here in the lounge, with the door securely barricaded, and wait for reinforcements. Now Baxter is dead, that just proves the killer’s work isn’t done.’
‘Do you really think it wise to remain cooped up in here, when one of us is almost certainly the murderer?’ said MacKay.
Martin started to get up out of his chair, and then sat down again when MacKay looked at him. He scowled around him impartially, seeming even more twitchy.
‘How long before the reinforcements get here?’ I said.
‘Maybe half an hour,’ said Martin, not even glancing at his watch. ‘We can hold out that long, can’t we?’
‘We’re not all here,’ Hayley said suddenly. ‘Where’s Redd?’
‘Gone off on his own,’ I said.
‘And you let him?’ said Hayley.
‘Baxter’s death upset him,’ I said. ‘I would have had to wrestle him to the ground and sit on him to stop him, and I don’t think that would have improved his mood any. Did you happen to see where he went, Martin?’
‘Upstairs,’ Martin said immediately. ‘He didn’t look like he was in the mood for company. He seemed to be looking for something, but I couldn’t tell you what.’
After that we all just sat around for a while, looking at each other and trying not to appear too openly suspicious of anyone in particular. The mood in the room was distinctly cold and uncomfortable, with suspicious looks and heavy thoughts on all sides. I sat with Penny, Hayley with Doyle, and MacKay beside Martin. Three separate groups, ready to throw out accusations or defences at a moment’s notice.
‘I want to go back to my screens,’ Martin said finally. ‘At least I’d feel like I was doing something useful.’ He glowered at MacKay. ‘You said you wanted me here so you could discuss things. Well, go on then, discuss.’
‘We should pool whatever information we have,’ MacKay said slowly. ‘In the hope someone will bring something new to the table. Perhaps you would care to start, Mr Jones. You must have more experience of dealing with murders and mysteries than the rest of us.’
‘This whole situation is one big mystery to me,’ I said. ‘It’s been a difficult case,
right from the start. Bodies that disappear, with no hard evidence, no clues and no clear motives. Without any of those traditional tools of the trade, any accusation is just guesswork. And all this ghost nonsense isn’t helping. It’s just getting in the way of working out what’s really going on.’
‘Are we not supposed to talk about all the weird shit that’s been happening, then?’ said Martin.
‘Not if it gets in the way!’ said Hayley. ‘What matters is identifying the killer before someone else dies.’
‘Before he makes more ghosts,’ said Martin. ‘Come on, people, feel the atmosphere. We’re practically hip-deep in ectoplasm!’
‘Then why haven’t I met one?’ I said. ‘I’ve seen two dead bodies and heard everything short of a spectral soft-shoe shuffle, but I haven’t seen anything even vaguely transparent.’
‘What about the things I showed you on my screens?’ said Martin.
‘I haven’t seen anything in person,’ I said.
‘Are ghosts persons?’ Penny said vaguely.
‘They used to be,’ said Doyle.
‘Stop that!’ I said.
‘They’re probably scared of you,’ said Martin. ‘Mister Big Bad Secret Agent.’
‘If the ghosts are a part of what’s happening, we can’t just turn our back on them,’ said Doyle.
‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘They might creep up on us.’
‘Really not helping, Ishmael!’ said Penny. She smiled encouragingly at Doyle. ‘Are you feeling better now?’
‘Better than I was,’ he said, smiling weakly in return. ‘I’m supposed to be the one who puts pressure on others. It never occurred to me how badly I might cope under pressure!’
‘You’re doing fine, dear,’ said Hayley.
‘No I’m not,’ said Doyle. He didn’t even glance at Hayley. Instead, his attention fixed on Penny. ‘It’s all about inner resources, you see. You can be as brave as you like when an interrogation begins, but no one ever really knows their true mettle until it’s tested. That’s what Alice and I look for and play on. The hidden weaknesses that the subject doesn’t even know he has – till we find them and exploit them. Now someone is playing us, and it seems I am not the man I thought I was.’
‘Stop it, Robbie!’ said Hayley.
He finally turned to look at her. ‘I’m sorry, Alice, but once this is over I’m going back to my old university and taking up my previous position again if they’ll have me. Either way, I want nothing more to do with this appalling profession you brought me into. I’m leaving, with or without you.’
‘Robbie, please. This is no time to be making life-changing decisions,’ said Hayley.
‘This is exactly the time,’ said Doyle. ‘When you’re so scared you can’t lie to yourself any more.’
‘We will talk about this later, Robbie,’ said Hayley.
‘No, we’ll talk about it now,’ said Doyle. ‘I was perfectly happy in my ivory tower until I met you. Because I wanted to be with you, I let you lead me out into the big wide world. But your world has been eating me alive from the inside … and I just can’t do this any more.’
‘I did all of this for you,’ said Hayley, ‘so we could have a good life together. Your work made our careers possible. You can’t just walk out on me, after everything I’ve done for you!’
‘Yes,’ said Doyle. ‘Look what you’ve made of me, Alice.’
He smiled at her sadly, while she looked at him with growing horror in her eyes.
I noticed Martin was looking at MacKay. It was obvious he didn’t like to see the old man appearing so tired and beaten down.
‘Cheer up, MacKay!’ he said loudly. ‘Look on the bright side, we’re not dead!’
‘But my career is at an end,’ MacKay said heavily. ‘Mr Parker died while under my care. Mr Baxter died while following my orders. No matter how this works out, our lords and masters will require my resignation. And without a job, I’m nothing. It’s all I’ve got.’
‘I thought that, too,’ Hayley said quietly. ‘The moment I heard Parker was dead, I thought whoever’s killed him has killed my career … Such a selfish thing to think, when someone has just died.’
‘I thought I had some good years still left in me,’ said MacKay. ‘But it seems I was wrong. I got old, and didn’t notice.’
And then he broke off, as the mobile phone in his jacket rang loudly. We all looked at him as he sat up straight in his chair, brought out his phone, and checked the caller’s ID.
‘It is Mr Redd,’ he said. ‘Of course. Who else could it be?’
‘I thought phones wouldn’t work inside the Lodge?’ said Penny.
‘Security phones are exempt,’ said MacKay.
‘Why is Redd calling you?’ said Hayley.
‘Because he is not with us, I suppose,’ MacKay said dryly. He put the phone to his ear. ‘What is it, Mr Redd?’
He listened for a while, nodding occasionally, then turned off his phone. He looked at it for a long moment before putting it away. He seemed oddly unsettled. As though the strange situation he was in had thrown him another unexpected curve.
‘Mr Redd says he knows who the murderer is. The only person it could be. He even knows how our killer is performing his nasty little tricks. But he isn’t prepared to name this person over the phone. He will only tell me face to face.’
‘How many times do I have to tell you people?’ I said loudly. ‘Breaking up the group and going off on your own is never going to end well! Look, if anyone is to go off and talk to Redd, it should be me. Because I have a much better chance of surviving whatever’s lying in wait out there.’
‘Unfortunately, Mr Redd was most emphatic,’ said MacKay. ‘He will only talk to me. He says if he sees anyone else, he will disappear again. If there is even a chance Mr Redd can name our killer, with hard proof to back him up, I have to listen. I have to do my job.’
‘Of course you do,’ said Martin. ‘I’ll go back to the centre, so I can follow you on my screens.’
MacKay paused, as he realized Hayley and Doyle were staring at him. ‘Is there a problem, doctors?’
‘We don’t like the idea of you leaving,’ Hayley said sharply. ‘Because as far as we’re concerned, you’re still our main suspect. Maybe you just want to talk to Redd alone so you can be sure of shutting him up.’
‘Mr Parker was in my care,’ said MacKay, and his voice was a very cold thing. ‘Finding his murderer is my responsibility.’
‘You did threaten to kill him yourself, once,’ Penny said diffidently. ‘And offer to have Baxter and Redd beat him up.’
‘That was part of the job then,’ said MacKay. ‘My job now is to see him avenged. I have to prove myself worthy of my position. One last time.’
‘You talk as though leaving your job would be the end of everything,’ I said.
‘It would be,’ said MacKay.
‘What about your family?’ said Penny.
‘The army was my family for many years,’ said MacKay. ‘The only one I ever wanted. When they were forced to let me go, my old home turned out to be a place I no longer recognized, my blood relatives nothing but strangers. So I came here and made the Lodge my new home, and those who worked under me became the closest thing I have to a family. I should have gone with them when they left …’
And just like that, his relationship with Martin made a lot more sense. Their constant squabbling and then standing up for each other was typical father-and-son stuff, even if neither of them had ever openly admitted it to each other. Martin was already glaring at Hayley and Doyle.
‘My screens showed MacKay was nowhere near Parker when he died.’
‘But your systems are a mess,’ said Hayley. ‘Your cameras come and go, your surveillance is full of holes …’
‘I would have to say you make a much better suspect than me, Doctor Hayley,’ MacKay said sharply. ‘You were failing to get anywhere in your interrogation. We all knew that. Mr Parker diverted your attempts to get inside his head, with r
idiculous ease. You have already admitted that a failure to break him could mean the end of your career. But if he was to die before he could be made to talk, then it couldn’t be your fault, could it?’
‘Alice was with me, in our room, when Parker was killed,’ said Doyle.
‘But then you would say that, wouldn’t you?’ said MacKay. ‘You would say anything for her, because she runs your life.’
‘You are the only one with the means, opportunity and motive,’ said Hayley.
‘Hardly,’ I said. ‘Given that we still don’t know how the murder was committed, or why.’
‘Who do you think it is, Mr MacKay?’ said Penny.
‘Much as I hate to point the finger at a man who is clearly suffering,’ said MacKay, ‘I would have to say I have never been able to fathom Mr Redd. A man who has always held his emotions very close to his chest, apart of course from his obvious devotion to Mr Baxter … A man like that might be capable of anything. Especially if there was enough money involved.’
‘And you still want to go up there and talk to him?’ said Penny. ‘On your own?’
‘That is why I have to talk to him,’ said MacKay. ‘To hear what he has to say. It is always possible that he feels the need to make a confession.’
‘But … unless you want us to believe there are two killers running around out there,’ Penny said slowly, ‘that would have to mean Redd killed Baxter as well as Parker. And I don’t believe he would do that, no matter how much money was involved.’
‘There’s always you,’ Doyle said bluntly.
Penny looked at him. ‘What?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I would have to go along with that. What …?’
‘We still don’t know why you’re here, really,’ said Doyle, ignoring me to stare coolly at Penny. ‘Why would an Organization field agent like Jones, one of those who famously work alone, turn up here with a partner? Except, of course, he did work with the previous Colonel, on cases so special we’re not allowed to know the details. Are you here to do the things he can’t, Penny? Are you a specialist? A professional assassin, perhaps?’