Death Shall Come

  ‘Well, if you’re going to put it like that …’ And then she stopped abruptly, and her eyes widened. ‘Oh, Ishmael … Could this be another vampire? Could something have just sucked the life out of them?’

  I knelt down and examined both necks carefully. ‘No bite marks. I suppose there could be more than one kind of vampire …’ I got to my feet again. ‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We need to go back and tell the others what’s happened.’

  ‘And leave Nicholas and Caroline here?’

  ‘You want to carry them downstairs?’

  ‘I don’t want to leave them here on their own!’

  ‘They’re not here,’ I said. ‘All that’s here is what they left behind.’

  We went back down the three flights of stairs. Not hurrying, because the sense of urgency was gone. Going back down into the heavy scents generated by the collection was like descending into a fog, filling my head with ancient smells. We strode through the gloomy corridors side by side, and didn’t see or hear anything along the way. Finally, I banged on the drawing room door and said my name loudly. There was a long pause, so Penny spoke up too. I heard the chair being dragged away, and then the door opened just a crack so Stuart could look out. He pulled the door back just enough to admit us, and the moment we were inside he slammed it shut and jammed the chair back in place. He even kicked it a few times, to make sure it was wedged in properly. I raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Did something happen while we were gone? Did you hear the footsteps again?’

  ‘No,’ said Stuart. ‘Just being cautious.’

  I broke the news about Nicholas and Caroline. Susan immediately collapsed in floods of tears. Bernard had to comfort her. He always seemed more together when he was thinking of someone else. He patted Susan’s arm awkwardly, but she didn’t even look at him. Interestingly, Bernard looked more angry than scared or upset.

  ‘Nicholas wasn’t a bad sort, really,’ he said gruffly. ‘I had more time for him than his father. George never could see that the lad just needed some space, to be his own man and go his own way. When I get my hands on the bastard that did this …’

  Chloe sat slumped in her chair, as though all the strength had gone out of her. She stared straight ahead, too crushed even to cry.

  ‘Nicky. Oh, Nicky, I’m so sorry …’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ said Stuart.

  ‘Yes it is,’ said Chloe. ‘I’m the one who persuaded him to come back. He didn’t want to. He was always terrified of this house. But I told him I didn’t trust Marjorie, that she was using her influence on father to steal our inheritance. If I hadn’t insisted he come home so we could work on father together, he’d still be alive.’

  ‘You never liked me,’ said Marjorie. There was a certain satisfaction in her voice at having her suspicions confirmed.

  ‘You stole our father from us!’ said Chloe.

  She surged up out of her chair and threw herself at Marjorie. She grabbed a good handful of Marjorie’s hair, and drew back her other hand to make a fist. Marjorie shrieked pitifully. Stuart grabbed hold of Chloe and pulled her away. She turned on Stuart, and then collapsed against him, burying her face in his shoulder.

  ‘You saw her!’ Marjorie said triumphantly, rearranging her hair with unsteady hands. ‘The bitch tried to kill me!’

  ‘Shut up, Marjorie,’ said Stuart.

  Chloe pushed herself away from Stuart. She still wasn’t crying, and when she spoke her voice was distant but steady.

  ‘Nicky was always so scared of this place. He had a dream once that told him he’d die here. I should have listened to him.’

  Stuart quietly persuaded her to sit down again, and then came over to me.

  ‘We have to leave the house. All of us. It’s not safe here. Someone is killing people and we have no defence against them.’

  ‘This is no time to panic, boy!’ Bernard said sternly. ‘We only have to hang on till Security get here. Can’t be long now.’

  ‘They’re not coming,’ said Stuart. ‘I told them not to.’

  The whole room went quiet. They all looked at him incredulously.

  ‘Why the hell did you do that?’ said Bernard.

  ‘I was afraid they’d complicate things,’ said Stuart. ‘There are security issues here … I know none of you want to hear that, but it doesn’t alter the facts.’

  ‘I think we can assume security issues aren’t as important now,’ I said carefully.

  ‘Of course not,’ said Stuart.

  ‘Then we’re leaving,’ Bernard said forcefully. ‘Right now, no arguments. Come along, Susan.’

  Everyone stood up. Stuart looked at me.

  ‘I had to protect my family … but now it’s time to go. Lead the way, Ishmael. There’s cars enough for all of us.’

  Stuart was right, people’s safety had to come first. I pulled the chair away, opened the door, and peered out into the corridor.

  ‘All clear, no one around. We head straight for the front door. No stopping, no side trips.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Susan said unhappily. Bernard had got her on her feet, but she was still dithering, refusing to move. ‘What if that awful mummy is still out there? Waiting for us?’

  ‘We’re a big group,’ I said. ‘We can handle one mummy.’

  ‘What if that’s the last thing Nicholas and Caroline ever thought …?’ said Chloe.

  ‘We don’t know the mummy had anything to do with their deaths,’ I said.

  ‘We don’t know that it didn’t!’ said Marjorie. ‘I never liked having that thing in the house. Everything was fine until George brought it here.’

  ‘Are you saying you believe in the curse?’ said Stuart.

  ‘Don’t you?’ said Marjorie. ‘Something wants all of us dead!’

  No one had anything to say to that.

  ‘Professor Rose is still wandering around on his own somewhere,’ I said. ‘Are we leaving him behind?’

  ‘We’ll call out to him as we go,’ said Stuart. ‘If he hasn’t the common sense to come and join us, that’s his problem.’ And then he stopped and looked at me. ‘Or are you suggesting Rose might be the killer?’

  ‘Let’s just say, I’d feel a lot happier if I knew where he was,’ I said.

  I stepped out of the door, gestured for the others to stay put for a moment, and called out to Professor Rose. My voice seemed to echo on and on in the hush, but there was no response. I gestured for the others to come out and join me. Penny was immediately there at my side. Marjorie was next out of the room, all set mouth and nervous impatience. Bernard got Susan moving with gruff encouraging words. Stuart and Chloe brought up the rear.

  For a long moment nobody moved. They all just stood there and looked at me. I gave them my best reassuring smile, and started off.

  I led the way through the dimly lit corridors, following the map in my memory, heading for the entrance hall by the shortest possible route. Stuart chivvied everyone on from the rear to make sure they kept up. Standard military thinking: keep people occupied so they don’t have time to feel scared. I kept a careful watch, but there was no one around. Just the endless painted eyes of artefacts watching from the sides.

  We reached the entrance hall without incident. The quick pace had taken a lot out of the group, but fortunately that meant they didn’t have enough breath left to complain. Penny’s suitcases and mine were still standing in the middle of the hall where we’d left them. It felt as if we’d left them there days ago. I strode quickly past them to open the front door. It was locked. I gave the door a good rattling, but it wouldn’t budge. The others milled around speechlessly, horrified by such a betrayal when escape seemed so close. Penny and Stuart came forward to join me.

  ‘How can it be locked?’ said Penny.

  ‘Someone doesn’t want us to leave,’ I said. ‘George’s house keys are still missing. Presumably taken from his body.’

  ‘Why would a mummy do that?’ said Penny.

  ‘It wouldn’t,’ I said.
/>
  ‘None of us could have locked this door,’ said Stuart. ‘We’ve all been together.’

  ‘Not all of the time,’ I said. ‘We don’t know when the door was locked, and we can’t trust everyone to tell the truth where their partners are concerned.’

  ‘You think I’d lie about something like this?’ said Stuart.

  ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘Didn’t you bring us here in the first place to protect Chloe at all costs?’

  ‘Wouldn’t you lie to protect Penny?’ said Stuart.

  ‘I’ve never needed to,’ I said.

  ‘That’s not an answer.’

  ‘I know.’

  I turned back to consider the locked door. It was really large and really heavy.

  Penny moved in close beside me. ‘Could you break it down,’ she murmured, ‘if you have to?’

  ‘Maybe,’ I said quietly. ‘But not without drawing a lot of attention.’ I looked back at Stuart. ‘How many other exits to the house are there?’

  ‘Just one,’ he said. ‘The back door, on the other side of the house. Follow me, I know the way.’

  He took the lead and hurried us along. No one objected. The others were genuinely scared now. Being locked inside a house is almost as scary as being locked out. Especially when you don’t know who’s got the keys. I brought up the rear, glaring at every shadow. When we finally got to the back door, it was locked too. Another large and very heavy door. I looked it over carefully, while Stuart did his best to calm and reassure the others. Penny looked to me for answers.

  ‘Someone was thinking ahead,’ I said. ‘They didn’t want anyone leaving.’

  ‘But why?’ said Penny.

  ‘I think we can now safely assume it’s not about stealing an expensive mummy,’ I said. ‘A thief would want us gone, to make it easier to escape with the prize. Someone wants us all dead … And I have no idea why.’

  ‘There is the curse …’ said Penny.

  ‘No there isn’t!’ I said. ‘And even if there was, what would it want with you and me?’

  ‘You’ve been thinking about it!’ said Penny.

  ‘Much against my will,’ I said.

  Stuart came over to join us. ‘We have to do something. The family’s getting restive. I don’t know how much longer I can keep them from doing something stupid.’

  ‘Could we smash a window?’ I said. ‘Get out that way?’

  ‘All the windows are security-sealed,’ said Chloe. She came forward to stand with Stuart, doing her best to hold on to her composure. ‘Unbreakable glass, to protect the collection.’

  ‘Including the living quarters on the top floor?’ I said.

  ‘All of them,’ said Chloe. ‘Once the value of the collection reached a certain point, grandfather became a little … paranoid. About thieves and other collectors. He had all the old windows taken out and replaced, while we were away. The first we knew about it was when we got back and grandfather presented us with a fait accompli.’

  ‘He didn’t discuss it with the family, because he knew they wouldn’t agree,’ said Stuart. ‘Bernard always went his own way. That was part of the problem.’

  ‘The safety of the collection had to come first,’ said Chloe. ‘Father always said he was going to put in some safety features, but once the collection was his he kept coming up with excuses to put it off. This damned collection … It does something to otherwise sane and sensible people. It clouds their judgement.’

  I turned away from the locked back door. I didn’t want to try breaking it open until I absolutely had to. Preferably without witnesses. But it didn’t feel safe to keep everyone just standing around.

  ‘Call the security people,’ I said to Stuart. ‘Tell them they’re needed. Now.’

  He nodded and took out his mobile phone. And then we all had to watch him walk up and down the corridor, trying for a signal. He finally got through, talked quietly and urgently, and then put the phone away.

  ‘They’re coming,’ he said flatly. ‘I told them to bring equipment to break into the house if need be. But it’ll take them at least an hour to get here.’

  ‘You should have called them immediately after George was killed!’ said Bernard. ‘They’d have been here by now.’

  ‘I suggest we go back to the drawing room,’ I said. ‘We can sit tight there till help arrives. The security people will get you away safely, and then Stuart and Penny and I will tear this place apart till we get to the bottom of what’s happening. Unless you know a better place to hole up, Stuart?’

  ‘No, the drawing room has to be the best bet,’ said Stuart. ‘It’s on the ground floor, easily defendable, with just the one door and no windows. We can hold out there for an hour or so.’

  ‘What do you mean by “or so”?’ said Marjorie.

  ‘In theory, the security people should be here inside an hour,’ said Stuart. ‘But they’ve never had to do it before. I kept telling George he should schedule some training drills …’

  ‘What about Professor Rose?’ Penny said suddenly. ‘Are we just going to leave him wandering around the house on his own?’

  ‘If he comes to the drawing room and identifies himself properly, we’ll let him in,’ said Stuart. ‘But I’m not sending out a search party. From now on, we stick together and watch each other’s backs.’

  Penny looked at me, expecting me to volunteer to go off and find Rose. But I didn’t.

  ‘You do think he’s dead!’ she said accusingly.

  ‘Either that or bait in a trap,’ I said.

  ‘For who?’ said Penny.

  ‘Good question,’ I said.

  ‘Since when have you been afraid to take a risk, Ishmael Jones?’ said Penny.

  ‘Someone is playing a game in this house,’ I said steadily. ‘And I’m not playing until I’ve got a better idea of the rules.’

  SIX

  Hidden in Plain Sight

  We turned on all the lights in the drawing room, made sure the chair was jammed up tight against the door, and then sat stiffly in our chairs and waited. Either for Security to turn up and rescue us or for something to happen. No one seemed to feel like talking. We all kept an eye on the door, straining our ears for any sound out in the corridor. The slow ticking of the old-fashioned clock on the mantelpiece dominated the room, counting down the minutes till our rescuers could get to us. I would much rather have been out in the house doing something, but I couldn’t just go off and leave the others. So I sat as still as I could and listened to people breathing, an occasional stirring in a chair or a suddenly crossed leg, and now and again the clink of bottle on glass.

  I was probably the only one in that room who wasn’t particularly worried. I’d seen my share of dead bodies and faced far more dangerous things than an elusive thief or a perambulating mummy. All I wanted now was to keep as many people as I could alive until help arrived. I kept a surreptitious eye on everyone, trying to get a sense of how they were coping. It still seemed likely to me that someone in the room was the killer; and yet everywhere I looked they all seemed far more like victims the killer hadn’t got round to yet. Fear and tension filled the room, along with barely concealed distrust. No one was looking at anyone directly, but they were all sneaking glances at each other when they thought no one was looking.

  Bernard was drinking heavily again. He had his own bottle of whisky and a glass, and was knocking it back steadily with no real appearance of pleasure. As though it was just medicine. Now Susan no longer needed his support and protection, his ability to concentrate was slipping away again and was limited to just what was in front of him. His gaze moved uncertainly round the room, as though he was surprised to find himself surrounded by people he wasn’t sure he recognized. I kept a careful watch on him. He was still a large man, large enough to make him dangerous if he ever really lost control.

  Soon enough, Bernard slammed his glass down hard on the arm of his chair, breaking the silence with a voice that was as much confused as angry.

  ‘Where’s Ge
orge?’ he said loudly. ‘This is his house now. He should be here looking after his guests, not leaving it up to me!’

  There was an awkward pause, and then Susan leaned forward to smile steadily at her husband. Her voice was entirely calm, as though nothing was wrong.

  ‘George is with Professor Rose, dear, discussing the latest additions to the collection. You remember the professor.’

  It wasn’t clear that Bernard did, but he nodded grumpily, filled his glass again, and went back to his drinking. Glowering at no one in particular. Chloe couldn’t look at him. Stuart looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say. Susan levered herself painfully up out of her chair, wandered round the room for a while, and finally ended up by the door. Penny and I looked at each other, and then got up and went over to join her.

  ‘When he gets like this, it’s easier to tell him a simple lie,’ Susan said quietly. ‘It saves time and avoids arguments. He hates being confronted with how forgetful he’s getting.’

  ‘How long has he been like this?’ said Penny.

  ‘Oh, he’s been drifting away from me for over a year now,’ said Susan. She seemed to be addressing the closed door as much as Penny or me. Perhaps that made it easier. ‘He gets more … troubled every day. There’s less and less of him all the time. When we went up to change for dinner earlier, I had to leave him for a moment, just to go to the bathroom, and when I got back he was sitting on the edge of the bed in his underwear, almost in tears. Because he couldn’t remember which clothes he was supposed to be putting on. I had to dress him. Just as I do every morning.’

  She shook her head slowly, bitterly. ‘I never thought our life would come to this. That I’d have to do … this sort of thing for him. That’s not my husband, I find myself thinking … Not the man I knew and loved. But some of him emerges now and again, just often enough to make it really cruel.’

  She didn’t wait for me or Penny to say anything. She’d had her moment of weakness, and now she picked up her burden of duty again and went back to sit beside what was left of her husband. Who didn’t appear to notice she’d ever left his side.