‘I know,’ I said. ‘I am working on an idea.’
‘Is it a good idea?’
‘It’s an idea.’
‘Try me,’ said Stuart.
‘I think it all comes back to the jewel in the mummy, the original container and protector of the alien intelligence. The alien had to store its consciousness in the jewel to survive the starship crash, and it’s been in there for centuries. I think the jewel makes it possible for the alien’s consciousness to jump from body to body, but the alien itself remains inside the jewel. So, if we destroy the jewel … we destroy the alien.’
‘Nice theory,’ said Stuart. ‘Elegant, even. And simple. I like simple when there’s violence to be done. Do you really think it’ll work?’
‘It’s worth a try,’ I said. ‘The good thing about my theory is that if I’m right the alien’s consciousness can be destroyed but the host body, Chloe, will be left undamaged. In her own right mind again.’
‘I love this theory,’ said Stuart. ‘You know I’ve always admired your logic, Ishmael.’
‘No, stop … wait a minute,’ I said. ‘I’m missing something …’
I crashed to a halt and looked quickly around me. Stuart stopped with me, and called out to Penny and Bernard to wait where they were. They stopped and looked back. Penny glared up and down the corridor to make sure we were in no danger. Bernard didn’t seem too bothered about anything, as long as he had a pretty girl on his arm. They all watched closely as I strode up and down the corridor, trying to look at everything at once in the hope something would jar loose whatever it was I was trying to remember. It was important, it meant something, and it was right on the tip of my mind …
And then I stopped abruptly before one particular door. ‘This door was locked the first time Penny and I came up here,’ I said. ‘I had to break it down to check out the room. It was the only door up here that was locked.’
‘Professor Rose’s room,’ said Penny.
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘The man who took the jewel from the mummy. He kept this door locked because he’d hidden something important in here that he couldn’t risk anyone finding.’
‘But we searched that room!’ said Penny.
‘Not thoroughly,’ I said. ‘We didn’t know what we were looking for then.’
The door flew open. And there was Chloe standing in the doorway, blocking the way. Still smiling her horrible smile. ‘I heard you! You can’t have the jewel, it’s mine!’
‘You mean it’s you,’ I said.
‘Who is that?’ Bernard asked querulously. He sounded more frightened than confused. ‘That thing … it looks like Chloe, but it isn’t her. What is it?’
Chloe turned her smile on him and he flinched. Her smile widened. ‘Out of the mouths of the mentally impoverished … No, Bernard, I’m not your little Chloe. I’m the big bad wolf and I’ve eaten her all up. I’m also the reason why your precious Susan isn’t around any more …’
‘Susan?’ said Bernard. ‘I don’t understand. Susan is in our rooms.’
‘Well, yes and no,’ said Chloe. She scowled, as she realized Bernard didn’t understand. ‘Susan’s dead! I killed her! And now you’re all on your own … How ever will you cope?’
The alien couldn’t resist a chance to be cruel, but shouldn’t have taunted him. Bernard roared with rage and charged straight at Chloe. He hit her straight on and drove her back into Rose’s room. Chloe clamped both her hands on to Bernard’s head and they stumbled to a halt. I was already charging into the room after them, afraid I’d lost another victim to the alien, but Chloe snatched her hands away from Bernard and looked at him in disgust.
‘You’re no use to me! You’re too damaged!’
Bernard snapped out of his daze. He drew back his fist, and Chloe hit him with a vicious back sweep of her arm. The impact picked him up and threw him across the room. He slammed into the far wall with terrible force and slid down the wall to sit slumped on the floor, his head hanging forward limply. I couldn’t tell whether he was still breathing. Chloe spun round to face me, her smile back in place. Stuart moved in beside me and pointed his gun at her. She laughed in his face.
‘You know you can’t do it.’
Stuart pulled the trigger. The bullet narrowly missed Chloe’s head. She looked at him incredulously, then darted to one side. Stuart opened fire again, and again the bullet only just missed her. He kept firing as she dodged back and forth, and I realized Stuart was deliberately missing every time. He was intent on shaking the alien’s confidence and holding its attention, to give me time to come up with something. And then Stuart ran out of bullets. He lowered his gun and set about reloading, calmly and methodically.
‘Find the jewel, Ishmael,’ he said quietly. ‘Penny, your turn to keep the alien occupied. I’ll do what I can, but these are all the bullets I’ve got left.’
Penny picked up a handy crystal ornament and threw it at Chloe, who ducked it easily. She grabbed up one thing after another and threw them all at Chloe, and as she pressed forward Chloe backed away. Penny shot me a ‘Get on with it!’ look. I knew she couldn’t hold Chloe off for long, but I let her do it because she made the best bait. Chloe wanted Penny. I eased past both of them to take up a position in the middle of the room. The jewel had to be here somewhere.
Chloe tried to grab hold of Penny, to pull her close. Penny dodged away and kept throwing things. Chloe turned on me. Stuart sent a bullet right past her face. Chloe fell back, and Penny kicked her in the arse. The alien spun round to face her again.
I looked steadily around the room, not allowing myself to be distracted by what was happening. The jewel had to be here, or Chloe wouldn’t have holed up in this room to guard it.
Penny grabbed a blanket off the bed and threw it over Chloe’s head. And while the alien was temporarily blinded, Penny picked up a wooden chair and hit Chloe over the head with it. The chair didn’t break and Chloe didn’t go down. She threw the blanket off and Penny backed away, holding the chair out before her.
‘That always works in the movies … Are you getting anywhere yet, Ishmael? Only I’m slowing down and she isn’t!’
Chloe’s face was flushed an unhealthy colour, and she was breathing hard. The alien was burning up Chloe’s life energies to gain speed and strength, and didn’t care what damage that did to the host body. After all, the alien expected to have Penny’s body soon. I had to find the jewel before it was too late to save either of them. How was I supposed to find the damned thing? It wasn’t like it left a trail of scent, like Marjorie …
And then I remembered … The jewel had been hidden inside the mummy’s chest for centuries, sealed up inside the sarcophagus. So it must have picked up the same rich spicy scent as the mummy. Not enough for human senses to detect. But up here, away from the collection, it might be discernible to me … I breathed in deeply, turning my head slowly back and forth. Ignoring the growing commotion behind me. Until I picked up traces of the mummy’s scent, coming from inside the wardrobe before me.
I ran over to it and yanked the door open, and there were the four identical suits I’d seen earlier. I searched quickly through the pockets, and found the jewel in the inside pocket of the second jacket. I took it out. The jewel was a nasty purplish crimson colour, like blood that had gone off. Shimmering lights flickered deep inside it. I turned round and held the jewel up so everyone could see it. All motion in the room came to an abrupt halt.
Chloe stared at the jewel. She took a step forward, almost in spite of herself, and then stopped. ‘You can’t have that. It’s mine.’
I nodded to Penny, and she backed quickly away from the alien to stand with Stuart. He still had his gun aimed at Chloe.
‘It doesn’t have to end here,’ I said, to the alien inside Chloe. ‘No one else has to die. Get out of Chloe and put yourself back in the jewel. You’ll be safe there. And maybe in the future someone will find a way to get you home.’
‘Place myself in the hands of my enemies? Never!’
/>
‘Be reasonable,’ I said.
‘Never!’
I hefted the jewel in my hand and looked to Stuart. ‘Care to do the honours, Colonel?’
‘Love to,’ said Stuart.
Chloe surged forward, grabbing for the jewel. I tossed it lightly up into the air. Stuart fired once, and the jewel exploded into a thousand pieces. Chloe screamed briefly and then collapsed, crumpling bonelessly to the floor. But I could still hear the alien screaming, its horrid voice slowly disappearing in a direction I could sense but not name … Until it faded away and was gone.
Stuart put his gun away and hurried forward. He sat down with Chloe, lifted her up and cradled her in his arms. She stirred slowly, her eyes flickering.
‘Nice shooting, Colonel,’ I said.
‘It’s all in the training,’ he said.
‘Did it bother you that I was so close to the jewel?’
‘No,’ he said, not taking his eyes off Chloe. ‘It didn’t bother me at all.’
Penny came over to join me, and we leaned on each other tiredly. We’d both been running on adrenalin so long that we had nothing but fumes left to keep us going.
‘At least it’s over now,’ said Penny.
‘Is it?’ I said.
Penny looked into my face and pushed herself away from me. ‘You had to spoil the moment … What is it, Ishmael?’
‘I’m not sure,’ I said. ‘It’s just that … the alien always killed its victims the same way. By sucking the life energies out of them. But George was beaten to death. I can’t help thinking that means something.’
Stuart helped Chloe to her feet. She shook her head slowly and grimaced.
‘Are you all right?’ said Stuart. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Awful,’ said Chloe. Her voice sounded strained, from all the shouting someone else had done using her vocal chords. ‘I’ve got a head like you wouldn’t believe, and every muscle I’ve got is aching like I just ran a marathon … What happened? How did I end up here?’
Stuart looked at me suddenly. ‘Can we be sure—’
I knew what he was asking, and quickly shook my head. ‘Don’t worry, that’s Chloe. I’d know if it wasn’t, now I know what to look for. And you’d know, anyway.’
‘Yes,’ said Stuart. ‘I would.’
We both asked Chloe a few tactful questions, but it was clear she had no memory of anything she’d done while the alien was in control. Which was probably just as well.
‘Take her downstairs, Stuart,’ I said. ‘You could probably both use something bracing to drink …’
Chloe looked at Bernard, sitting slumped by the wall with his head hanging down. ‘He’s dead, isn’t he?’
‘Penny and I will take care of everything,’ I said.
Stuart led Chloe out of the room. I could hear her bombarding him with questions, all the way down the corridor. Penny looked at me.
‘You’ve got that look on your face. You’ve worked something out, haven’t you? What?’
‘All along I said the manner of George’s death spoke to rage as a motive. What person in this house has always had the most of that?’
We both turned to look at Bernard. His head slowly came up and his eyes opened. He smiled, briefly.
‘Took you long enough.’
I knelt down before him, so we could look each other in the face. Penny crouched down beside me. Bernard’s eyes moved from me to her and back again, but otherwise he didn’t move. His face was drawn and ashen, but his gaze was surprisingly clear and focused. I checked his pulse, then looked at Penny and shook my head slightly. Bernard managed a small chuckle.
‘No need for diplomacy, boy. I’m dying. I can feel it. Something important broke when I hit the wall. And yet … I’m thinking more clearly now than I’ve been able to in some time. Nothing like imminent death to concentrate the mind … Or maybe a candle always burns brightest just before it goes out. Susan’s dead, isn’t she?’
‘Yes,’ said Penny. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘And the thing that got inside Chloe?’ said Bernard.
‘Dead and gone,’ I said.
‘Good,’ said Bernard. ‘That’s good. There really was an ancient curse after all, and we brought it on ourselves.’
‘You killed George?’ I said.
‘Yes. Yes, I did.’
‘You were the only one he would have let back into that room while he was gloating over his mummy, so he could rub your nose in it one more time. You were the only one who could have been so angry with him and had the strength to bludgeon him to death like that. And then you used your own keys to lock the door after you. Did Susan cover for you while you changed out of your blood-soaked clothes?’
‘Yes. It’s a terrible thing to say, but neither of us ever really cared much for George. He was a trial as a child, and a bully as an adult.’
‘You should rest,’ said Penny. ‘Save your strength. Security will be here soon. We’ll get you a doctor …’
‘There’s nothing anyone can do for me now,’ said Bernard. ‘And nothing I’d want them to do. I killed my son.’
‘Why?’ said Penny.
‘Because he was an ungrateful little shit who took everything away from me,’ Bernard said flatly. ‘Including my own home. Everyone in this family has cared for the collection, but he obsessed over it. The damn fool embezzled money from his own business to pay for that mummy. I only found out by accident while I was searching his study. Marjorie had been dropping increasingly heavy hints about changes in George’s will … and I was looking for proof. Instead, I discovered George had left a hole in the family business accounts so big you could drive a tank through it. God knows how he planned to make it good again.’
I just nodded. I finally understood why Stuart had asked me to come to Cardavan House. But it didn’t matter after all.
‘But why kill George?’ said Penny.
‘I didn’t mean to,’ said Bernard. ‘I’m sure I didn’t. We argued, right there in front of the mummy in its coffin. I told him I knew about all the money he’d stolen. That he’d have to sell the mummy, or half the collection, to cover his debts. He laughed at me. Told me he’d never get rid of any of it. That the collection had always been more important than the family. He shouldn’t have laughed at me. I stormed out of the room, shaking all over. I was so angry … I just snatched up the nearest heavy object to hand, then strode back in and struck him down. I’m sure I only meant to hurt him, the way he’d hurt me. But once I started hitting him I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to. It only ended when I was too tired to hit him any more. I never knew I had so much anger in me.
‘Fortunately, I’d had enough sense to shut down the house’s security cameras before I went to the room where the mummy was. So no one would have to know what George had done to the family finances. I still had all the passwords because George never got around to changing them. When I went upstairs to change my clothes I kept expecting to bump into someone, and then I’d have had to explain what I’d done. But I never met anyone. I just … got away with it. And afterwards I forgot I’d ever done it. I’d forgotten so many things … but I think this time I wanted to forget.’
‘You locked the front and back doors, didn’t you?’ I said. ‘You still had a complete set of keys from when this was your own home.’
‘I didn’t want anyone leaving,’ said Bernard. ‘By that point I wasn’t sure why, I just knew something wasn’t right. It never occurred to me that the killer I didn’t want to escape was myself.’
‘No one else has to know,’ I said. ‘Chloe doesn’t need to know.’
Bernard managed another small smile. ‘Thank you for that. You know … dying is easy. It’s Alzheimer’s that’s hard.’
And then he just stopped breathing.
TEN
Afterwards
We stood together outside the front door of Cardavan House, waiting for the security people to show up. Penny and me, Stuart and Chloe. I found Bernard’s set of keys in one of his p
ockets. We all felt the need to step outside the house, to get some fresh air and put a little distance between ourselves and everything that had happened. A cold wind blew across the open ground, and the dark starry skies were still some time short of morning.
We filled Chloe in on most of what had been happening, and why. She took it in her stride, because working for Black Heir does that to you.
I didn’t say anything about Bernard’s confession. In my report, the alien could take the blame for all the deaths. So Chloe could remember her grandfather the way he used to be.
‘I was in the field all along, taking on an invading alien, and never knew it,’ Chloe said finally. ‘Not exactly the experience I thought it would be! How do you people manage? How do you cope with all the … madness?’
‘If you even start to say it’s all in the training, I will hit you …’ Penny said to me.
‘All right, I won’t say it,’ I said. ‘But I am thinking it very loudly.’
Chloe looked at Stuart. ‘I still don’t know who you really work for. And you’re not going to tell me, are you?’
‘Work hard for Black Heir for another twenty years,’ said Stuart, ‘and you might have a security clearance high enough to find out for yourself.’
‘You know you’re going to tell me eventually …’
‘Possibly. But eventually isn’t now. Do you remember anything from when you were under the alien’s control?’
Chloe frowned, and her hands twisted together. ‘Not really. Just … moments, like dreams. It seems to me that I called out to you for help. And you heard me, and came to save me.’
‘Of course,’ said Stuart. ‘I’ll always hear you, wherever you are.’
‘And now … I’m the last of the Cardavans,’ said Chloe. ‘No one else left. Apart from a few distant cousins.’
‘You still have me,’ said Stuart.
‘And the house,’ I said.
Everyone looked at me.
‘What?’ said Chloe.
‘Well, with Marjorie gone, everything will revert to the family,’ I said. ‘Which means you get everything. The house, the collection, the mummy …’