‘But you just said …’ said the Major Domo.
‘It’s complicated! I’m still working on it!’
‘Ishmael …’ said Penny.
I stopped, and took a deep breath. ‘Why kill October, out of all the principals? Did our killer target him, or did he just happen to be the only one on his own?’
‘This case keeps throwing up questions!’ said Penny. ‘Speaking of which … can we get out of here yet, Ishmael? The smell really is starting to get to me.’
‘Almost done,’ I said. ‘I’m looking for October’s head … Ah! Yes, there it is.’
‘Where?’ said the Major Domo.
She started forward and I stopped her with a look.
‘I need you and Penny to step back out into the corridor. This is a crime scene, in its own horrible way. The least the evidence is disturbed, the better. I’ll get the head.’
The Major Domo nodded stiffly and backed out of the room, followed quickly by Penny. I stepped carefully over and around the bloody body parts and broken pieces of furniture until I reached the far corner of the room. The head had been set down neatly, upright, suggesting it had been deliberately placed there, out of the way. I bent over the head for a while, studying it without touching it. The neck wound was ragged, indicating it had been torn right off the body. Something I would have said was impossible for anyone with merely human strength. There were no marks, no damage, to the head’s features. October’s face had been left intact, so whoever found it could see the sheer terror of his last moments.
When I was sure I’d seen everything useful, I grabbed a handful of the grey hair and picked up the head to check the back of the neck. No puncture marks. Then I took another look at the distorted face, stamped with the awful mark of the last thing it had seen.
‘Are you going to spend all night staring into his eyes?’ said the Major Domo, from the doorway.
‘Just thinking,’ I said. ‘October’s brain is still where it ought to be. Why didn’t the killer take it? What’s different about this kill?’
‘This was a principal,’ said the Major Domo. ‘No one’s going to miss a secret agent. October was somebody.’
I held the head out before me, facing the Major Domo. ‘Can you confirm this is October?’
She didn’t flinch. ‘Yes. That’s him.’
And then her mouth flattened into a thin line and she had to turn away. Her shoulders slumped, as though she’d been running on adrenalin for so long that her strength had run out. Penny put a comforting hand on the Major Domo’s shoulder. She nodded her thanks, but said nothing. She looked like she was just so very tired of having to be in charge.
I carefully put October’s head back where I’d found it, and retraced my path through the wreckage and carnage until I could step through the doorway and out into the fresher air of the corridor. I closed the door carefully. The Major Domo’s head came up and her shoulders squared. And just like that, she was back.
‘I’ll have the door guarded,’ she said.
‘First, pick some of your people with strong stomachs,’ I said. ‘I want that room mapped, showing where all the body parts ended up. Then have your people collect the pieces and put them in plastic bags. Properly labelled. You can store them in the kitchen freezer. Hopefully when all this is over, October’s family can locate an undertaker who likes jigsaw puzzles and is looking for a bit of a challenge.’
‘Probably best to double-bag the pieces, before we put them in the freezer,’ said the Major Domo. ‘We don’t want the food getting contaminated.’
‘Oh, ick!’ said Penny. ‘In fact, I would have to say the “ick” factor in this case is going off the scale.’
‘Better put guards on the freezer door too,’ I said.
The Major Domo looked at me. ‘You don’t really think October might put himself back together and try to get out?’
‘No,’ I said steadily. ‘But someone might try to get in, to destroy the evidence.’
‘Ah,’ said the Major Domo. ‘Sorry. It’s just that … I don’t know what to believe any more.’
‘You’ve had the House sealed,’ I said. ‘That’s a good start. I want every door and window locked. No one is to leave, I don’t care who they are. You should go and see to that, make sure your people do a good job.’
‘I never really believed in the Coronach creature,’ said the Major Domo, looking at me steadily. ‘I just thought it made a good story. I never dreamed anything like this could happen here.’
She walked away, not hurrying in case it looked like running. I watched till she was out of sight, then I opened the door to October’s room and stepped back inside. I gestured for Penny to join me. She did so gingerly, but everywhere she stepped the carpet squelched blood.
‘Tell me there’s a good reason why I’m ruining these very expensive shoes,’ she said.
‘The killer went out of his way to leave no trace of himself behind,’ I said. ‘But he never expected anyone like me.’
I took a deep breath, concentrating on the various elements of the room’s saturated air. There was nothing in the scents to disturb me.
‘It’s hard to get anything past the blood and other body fluids,’ I said finally. ‘But I’m not picking up anything animal. Maybe that’s the point of all this – to drown out everything else.’
‘What about fingerprints?’ said Penny. ‘You can see those, can’t you?’
‘Sometimes,’ I said. ‘But there’s just so much mess … I can tell you October had sex in here not long ago.’
Penny looked at me. ‘Are you seeing or smelling that?’
‘You really don’t want to know.’
‘Ick! Definitely ick! Can you tell who with?’
‘It’s just fluids,’ I said. ‘Could be anybody. Though my bet would be one of the escorts.’
‘I feel in urgent need of a stronger word than “ick”,’ said Penny.
I picked up various pieces of wreckage and examined them carefully. I couldn’t see any cutting marks; the jagged breaks and jutting splinters indicated all the damage had been done through simple brute strength. But not a single claw or bite mark. I was sure I was missing something, but I couldn’t think what. I threw the broken pieces aside, with perhaps more strength than necessary. They made a hell of a racket as they landed, which Penny kindly pretended not to notice. She leaned in close to the nearest wall, studying the claw marks.
‘These are really deep,’ she said. ‘Obviously made with an effort. But why? It couldn’t be part of a fight, because October wouldn’t have been able to put up much of a struggle against anything that could do this … Wait a minute, hit the pause button! Ishmael, I’d say these marks were made after October was killed. The blood splatter had started to run down the wall before it was interrupted. But if October was already dead, what was the point?’
‘Some kind of message?’ I said.
‘Like what?’ said Penny. ‘Don’t get in my way because I’m big and nasty? I think we already got that.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I think … this was all staged. Everything in this room was intended to horrify whoever saw it.’
‘And that’s a human thing, not an animal trait,’ said Penny. She glowered around the room, and made a loud aggravated sound. ‘Do you have any idea what’s going on here, Ishmael?’
‘Not yet,’ I said. ‘I’m still working on it.’
‘We were sent here to protect the principals,’ said Penny. ‘And I don’t think Coronach House is a safe place for them to be. We should just let them leave. The killer can’t chase all of them once they’ve separated. It could be that having them all together is what drew the killer here in the first place.’
‘But what if one of them is the killer?’ I said.
Penny looked at me sharply. ‘You mean the double?’
‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘If so, this could be our only chance to catch him.’
‘We were sent here to protect people, not catch a killer,’ said Penny.
‘What about Jennifer?’
‘Now it’s Jennifer and October,’ said Penny, meeting my gaze squarely. ‘Are you really prepared to risk the remaining principals’ lives just to identify who did this? Do we have the right to use them as bait in a trap?’
‘Let’s ask them,’ I said. ‘See what they think we should do. Although I can probably guess their answer.’
‘Can you blame them?’ said Penny.
‘They’d be better off staying,’ I said. ‘At least, here they’ve got us on their side.’
We closed up the room again and cleaned as much of the blood off our shoes as we could, then went back down to the reception area. Only to find word of October’s death had preceded us, and the whole place had descended into chaos. Security guards were glaring around them, pointing their guns at everything that moved, while trying to persuade their various principals to retire to their rooms and lock themselves in, so they could be properly protected. The principals huddled together, talking quietly, ignoring everyone else and refusing to be hurried into anything. They weren’t used to being in a situation they couldn’t control, but surprisingly they weren’t panicking. They seemed actually pleased to see Penny and me, and silenced the general uproar with a series of sharp orders. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me.
‘October is dead,’ I said bluntly. ‘Murdered. Like Miss Rifkin, only more so. Principals, you need to make a decision. Do you want to leave, or stay and help catch the killer?’
December didn’t even look at the others before speaking for the Group. ‘You want to use us as bait?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
To my surprise, all the principals nodded. None of them looked happy about it, but these were people used to making hard decisions under pressure and then living with the consequences.
‘We’ll stay,’ said December. ‘Until you find the killer.’
‘October was one of us,’ said November, her voice low but steady. ‘No one can be allowed to strike at the Baphomet Group and get away with it.’
The other principals nodded quietly in agreement.
‘We will retire to our rooms now,’ said December. ‘Lock ourselves in, and let our security staff do whatever they feel necessary to keep us safe. While you track down the killer, Mister Jones. But don’t take too long. The moment it seems to us you can’t do the job, we will replace you with someone who can.’
The principals gathered up their people with a series of looks, and headed for the stairs. The security guards moved quickly to surround them, sweeping their guns back and forth and trying to look in every direction at once. From the way some of them looked at me, I got the feeling they were happy enough to leave me in charge of finding the killer. They were used to protecting people, not solving mysteries. Baron came striding forward to join me, nodding briefly to Penny.
‘We have another problem,’ he said, without any preamble. ‘The chauffeurs and all of the House staff have locked themselves in the dining hall. And made it very clear they’re not coming out again until the killer has been caught. The Major Domo is currently shouting at them through the door, and getting nowhere.’
‘They can stay there,’ I said. ‘Less people around means less to complicate the situation.’
‘Less targets?’ said Baron. ‘Or less suspects?’
‘If the killing stops, then we’ll know where the killer is,’ I said.
The escort Scarlett came hurrying over to join us. I took in the determined look on her face, and just knew she was there to complicate my life even more. She planted herself in front of me and fixed me with a cold stare.
‘We’ve caught a journalist masquerading as one of the House staff,’ she said. ‘That may not be as important as finding a murderer, but I still think you need to talk to her. She gave herself away by asking too many questions, about things servants would know better than to discuss. We’ve got her trussed up in our private bar. Do you want to interrogate her?’
I needed another distraction like I needed two deep puncture wounds in the back of my head, but there was always the chance a reporter who’d spent the last few days asking everyone questions might know something I didn’t. I nodded to Scarlett, and then turned to Baron.
‘You’re Head of House Security, let’s see how secure you can make Coronach House. Check all the doors and windows are properly locked, and then tell your people out in the grounds to shoot anyone who tries to leave the House.’
Baron grinned. ‘They’ll like that.’
He hurried off to spread the good news, and I turned back to Scarlett. ‘All right, show me what you’ve got.’
‘You’re not the first man to say that to me,’ said Scarlett.
The first thing I noticed in the escorts’ private bar was that the atmosphere had changed. The good cheer was gone, replaced by tension and resentment. Several escorts were shouting angry questions at a young woman in a maid’s outfit as she sat perched uncomfortably on a bar stool, her wrists held together in her lap by a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs. It was Emily, the maid Penny and I had talked with earlier. She sat silently, sullen-faced and cold-eyed, stubbornly refusing to answer any questions. The escorts surged dangerously around her, like hounds who’d cornered a fox and were just waiting for the order to tear it apart. Emily glowered back at them defiantly.
The second thing I noticed was that half the escorts were missing. I looked at Scarlett.
‘Summoned by the principals,’ she said, without needing to be asked. ‘Nothing like the threat of imminent death to make people feel like being comforted. Or at least like having their minds taken off it.’
She yelled at the other escorts to knock it off, and the shouting died away. The escorts reluctantly fell back to allow me access to Emily. The maid looked at me in a supercilious sort of way, and smiled coldly.
‘Fooled you, didn’t I?’
‘I had a lot on my mind,’ I said. ‘So, you’re an investigative journalist.’
‘Of course!’ she said. ‘You think I’d miss a chance at the biggest story of the year? Maybe of the century? I thought it was all over when you started questioning me, but all I had to do was simper and bat my eyes and I could jerk you around by your dick just like any other man.’
Penny made a noise behind me, but I didn’t look back.
Emily sneered at me triumphantly. ‘You didn’t have a clue, did you? Mister Big Bad Secret Agent. And yes, I have heard of the Organization!’
‘Good for you,’ I said. ‘Can you tell me who they are?’
She looked at me. ‘Don’t you know?’
‘How did you get in here?’ I said.
‘Easy,’ said Emily. ‘I bribed one of the new maids to let me take her place and brief me on what I needed to know. It didn’t cost much. Far less than I was expecting. The House should pay its staff better. Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen and overheard all kinds of things. Fascinating things! Because those stuck up aristo-wannabes in the Baphomet Group never notice the servants who come and go around them making their pampered lives possible. We might as well be invisible, just part of the fittings and furnishings.’ She glared at me challengingly. ‘From the way the principals talk about you, I’d say they were scared of you. And I didn’t think the Baphomet Group was scared of anyone. Who are you, really?’
‘Pray you never find out,’ I said. ‘What did you hear about the Group’s secret meetings?’
‘I couldn’t get into the room while they were there,’ she said. ‘But someone had to go in afterwards to clean up the mess they made. And then it was simple enough to plant a few bugs. Because the security people didn’t see mere servants as any kind of threat. You wouldn’t believe some of the things those bugs recorded …
‘I was actually ready to leave. I had all I needed, and I was getting really fed up with being ordered around. But I couldn’t resist having a go at the escorts. The only ones who knew the principals with their defences down … and a little bit of sex always helps to s
ell a story. I thought they’d be happy to talk, for a little cash in hand. That’s what they’re here for, after all. Just meat for hire.’
Scarlett slapped Emily round the back of the head, almost knocking the maid off her bar stool.
‘Don’t be rude, dear. Even Daniel in the lion’s den had enough sense not to pick a fight.’
Emily glared at her. ‘I’m a professional!’
‘So are we, sweetie,’ said Scarlett.
‘Who do you work for?’ I asked Emily.
‘Strictly freelance,’ she said haughtily. ‘I go where the stories take me, in pursuit of the truth. Then if the story’s good enough, the editors come to me and pay my price. I’ve been chasing this story for years.’
‘But why choose this particular meeting of the Baphomet Group?’ said Penny. ‘Why here? And now?’
Emily shrugged. ‘Because this was the first meeting of the Group on British soil in decades. I jumped at the chance.’
‘And it’s just a coincidence that people started dying immediately after you arrived?’ I said.
‘The murders are nothing to do with me,’ said Emily, with a certain amount of dignity. ‘That’s not what I’m here for. Don’t think you can blame all this on me! There are lots of people with perfectly good reasons for wanting the principals dead, given everything they’ve done. I didn’t come here to kill anyone, I came here to expose the truth and save Humanity.’
There was a pause.
‘From what?’ said Penny.
‘Look at you,’ said Emily, her voice full of contempt. ‘Pretending like you don’t know. Paid lackeys of an Organization that doesn’t officially exist! Chasing around after the secret masters of the Earth, and cleaning up their messes!’
‘What is she talking about?’ asked Scarlett. She looked round at the other escorts, who seemed just as mystified as her. ‘The principals aren’t anyone special. They’re just businessmen and businesswomen.’
‘They’re not even men and women!’ snapped Emily. ‘Underneath their disguises, they’re all lizards! Descendants of the old snake gods who crawled out of the German Black Forest in the fifteenth century, infiltrated all the major families of Europe, and set about dominating our civilization. The Baphomet Group are just one of the many secret institutions who really run things. Grinding Humanity into the dirt for their own purposes. They are just lizards in human skins!’