Dont let him in, p.12
Don't Let Him In, page 12
‘He was probably as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I hope.’
‘He could still be down there.’ He meant inside the empty house next door. ‘But I doubt it. I could try to block this off now, somehow.’ He meant in case the man did return tonight.
Rebecca shook her head. ‘There’s nothing worth stealing here.’ Except the laptop, she thought, and she could take that with her, along with her rucksack. That would only take two minutes to pack and she just wanted to get out of there.
Rebecca dressed, then packed her own belongings and picked up her father’s laptop. Before they left, Alan turned on all the lights in the house, then switched on her father’s radio and placed it in the hall. It was the Radio 4 World Service and would be on all night. Two men were in earnest discussion about the state of the world and Alan said, ‘Just in case.’ He meant that their voices might fool the man into thinking someone was in the house, if he really was foolish or crazy enough to attempt to make his way back into it.
When they left, Rebecca turned back to look at the house, which was illuminated by the lights Alan had turned on, then she glanced at the house next door, which was dark and appeared lifeless. Was there a crazy man lurking inside? ‘Let’s go,’ she said firmly.
Rebecca had promised Alan she would call the police in the morning and report the intruder. They climbed into his pick-up truck and set off down the hill. It was three o’clock in the morning and no hotel would take her at this hour. It was as if he had read her mind.
‘Come back to mine,’ he told her.
‘But you’ve got work in the morning.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ he told her, ‘and you look like you need some sleep.’
Rebecca did not really have an alternative and was too tired to argue with him by then. He drove her to his home, a small old cottage set back from the main road at the edge of town, with a little cut along one side that he drove down, before parking his pick-up out of sight to the rear of the building. He opened the back door of the cottage to let them in and walked her straight to his room. Alan insisted on making her some tea to help her get to sleep but Rebecca was convinced that would be impossible after the night she’d had.
She was surprised to wake hours later in Alan’s bed to find it was the middle of the morning. Rebecca was momentarily disorientated, then a little relieved to find she was alone. Her life was already difficult enough without complicating it any further. She had a vague recollection of a polite argument in the early hours about who should have the bed and which one of them should take the couch. When Alan had insisted Rebecca should sleep in his room and showed her the large comfortable bed, she had blurted, ‘It’s a double; we could share.’ Then she’d made things even more awkward by adding, ‘To sleep in.’
My God, how quickly this man made her regress to the awkward teenager he had once known. What was wrong with her?
‘You take it,’ he said simply, and she hadn’t argued further.
It was half past ten. He must have left her sleeping and by now would be industriously installing a kitchen somewhere. If it felt strange to be padding around her ex-boyfriend’s house in her underwear and the baggy T-shirt she had slept in, how must it have felt for him to be summoned by a crazy woman in the middle of the night because he was the first person she had thought of in her moment of panic?
The house was small but nice and he kept it neat and tidy, in direct contrast to her ex. She walked into the kitchen and jumped. He was standing there by the kettle, which was just coming to the boil. ‘Morning, Shortbread,’ he said lightly, and the use of her teenage nickname would have made her smile if she hadn’t felt self-consciously underdressed.
‘I heard you moving around. Tea?’
‘Please. I assumed you were at work.’
‘I thought you might like someone with you when you go back to the house.’
‘Thanks. I’ll, er … just get dressed.’
‘Take your time,’ he said. ‘I’ll make us some breakfast.’
They drove back to her father’s house and Rebecca called Dominic on the way but the police officer’s phone went straight to voicemail, so she left him a message.
As they entered the house, she immediately sensed it was empty and hoped her instincts were correct. The prospect of sitting around there waiting for Dominic to respond was not an appealing one.
‘Why don’t we take a look?’ she asked, and her eyes went heavenwards so he knew she meant the attic.
‘Do you think we should,’ he asked, ‘before the police get here?’
‘Something tells me this won’t be their highest priority.’
He couldn’t dispute that, so they went up to the top floor, climbed the ladder into the attic, turned on the light and surveyed the scene. Rebecca found the large hole in the wall deeply unsettling and was thoroughly spooked by the thought of a man climbing into her home whenever he wanted and roaming the house while she slept.
Alan climbed through the gap and she followed. They were now in the attic of the house next door and technically trespassing but, since no one lived there officially, what did it matter? Alan had brought the hammer again and he kept it by his side as he looked down through the open attic door of the neighbouring property to ensure no one was waiting there. The opposite wall of the attic was untouched, so it was clear he had been using this house to move into Rebecca’s.
When he was sure no one was on the landing below, Alan eased his legs through the gap, bent lower until his fingers could grip the edge of the loft hatch, then lowered himself through the hole and dangled there for a moment, before letting go and dropping to the landing.
Rebecca followed him and, as she gripped the frame of the hatch and lowered herself, she felt his hands on her hips take some of her weight, then gently cushion her drop to the floor. There was an awkward moment as he kept hold of her for a second more than was needed and they exchanged a look before he let go.
The rooms on that floor were both empty, so Alan and Rebecca went down the stairs with him leading the way, his hammer at the ready.
They didn’t really expect to find anyone and a quick search of the old house confirmed their suspicion that the man was long gone. They guessed he had cleared out as soon as Rebecca had screamed at him. He had obviously departed in a hurry, because he had left behind the only evidence that he had been there at all; a tatty old sleeping bag and a battered night light in a first-floor bedroom. There were items of food in the kitchen along with a carrier bag he was using to keep rubbish in, which was full of old tins and an empty bottle of the cheapest wine you could buy.
The back door had a wooden frame with two large glass panels. The lowest one was smashed where he had forced entry, shielded by the backyard wall.
‘Well, he’s not here,’ said Alan. ‘When the police have gone, I’ll brick up the gap in the attic. I’ll call Connor and tell him he’s got squatters in the Apostles. I guarantee he’ll have metal shutters put up on every door and window.’
‘Thank you, Alan.’
‘You have to be able to sleep easily in your bed,’ he said, then there was a pause until he added, ‘but you’re welcome to stay at mine again tonight, of course.’
‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘I’ll be all right and you need your bed.’ She was grateful he didn’t push it. In truth, she would have quite liked the idea of spending more time with him but she was wary. Waking up in a less isolated part of town was an appealing prospect but there was a danger they might sleepwalk into resuming a relationship that probably should have been restricted to flirty reminiscences.
They left the house through the gap in the back door, then walked round to Rebecca’s front door and into her house. When a police car finally pulled up outside, it was Dominic. ‘I’m sorry for the delay.’ He seemed genuinely apologetic but he also looked stressed and on edge. ‘Another woman has gone missing.’
20
Rebecca could hardly argue that her situation was more serious than a missing woman.
‘What happened?’
‘She lives over the way.’ Dominic pointed at the cliff opposite the Apostles. ‘In the High Houses. She’s a solicitor and didn’t show up for work so they called her and got no response. It’s very uncharacteristic behaviour so they reported it. CID sent someone round. I think they were worried they’d find a body. She wasn’t in her home but her car is still there. She lives on her own and wasn’t in a relationship, as far as we know. Everyone is keen to locate her as soon as possible so we can rule out a worst-case scenario.’
‘I hope you find her and I appreciate you coming round at all under the circumstances,’ said Rebecca.
She invited him inside, then introduced Alan to him and the two men eyed each other warily.
For someone who was worried about a missing woman and claimed to be obsessed with catching a killer that preyed on them, Dominic Green didn’t seem too troubled by Rebecca’s story. He did briefly express concern when they showed him the hole in the attic wall. Once he was satisfied it had been caused by a rough sleeper and not a serial killer, his interest seemed to wane, though Alan reminded him that the man could be both. By then, Dominic had already convinced himself the intruder would most likely have moved on to a different town by now.
‘I’d do a house-to-house but the other houses are all empty,’ he told Rebecca before asking, ‘He didn’t actually assault you then?’
‘No,’ she admitted. ‘But he was in my room.’
‘Standing by the doorway? So he didn’t enter the room?’
Before she could confirm this, Alan said, ‘You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously.’
‘Oh, I am taking it seriously,’ he assured them. ‘And we will find him.’
Rebecca was surprised by his confidence. Everything he had said so far seemed to indicate that he did not think this was a big deal.
‘You sure about that?’ asked Alan doubtfully.
‘How far can he get realistically?’ asked Dominic. ‘He has no vehicle presumably, no money and no food or shelter. He has to show his face eventually.’
Alan did not seem reassured by this. ‘What about getting some prints?’
‘We only get usable prints from one in ten cases and he’s probably not even on our database.’
‘Well, he might be,’ said Alan a little indignantly.
‘Yes,’ conceded Dominic, ‘he might be.’
Rebecca decided to intervene. ‘Look, I don’t want everyone spending ages looking for a vagrant, if that’s all he is, particularly when you are searching for a missing woman,’ she said. ‘This guy might not be a threat to anyone but I would like to know for sure.’
‘We’ll get him,’ Dominic said with conviction.
Alan and Rebecca exchanged looks that revealed they did not share the policeman’s confidence.
Dominic continued, ‘Someone will report seeing him sooner or later. I don’t think this man is a killer,’ he told her. ‘His first reaction on seeing you was to run. He didn’t attack you.’ Then he added, ‘Thankfully.’ It was almost an afterthought. ‘He probably figured the place was empty, otherwise he wouldn’t have opened the door and walked in on you. Don’t get me wrong, it must have been pretty terrifying for you –’
‘It was.’
‘But I don’t think you were in any actual danger.’
Easy for you to say. You weren’t there.
She had to admit he was probably right, though it galled Rebecca to think that her terror might have been misplaced, even though she had no way of knowing it at the time.
‘Leave it with me, Rebecca,’ he told her.
An hour after his departure, workmen showed up to put metal shutters on every possible point of entry to the empty houses next to hers. They were thorough and Rebecca surveyed the results of their work with approval. Alan disappeared for a while to get materials to brick up the attic wall for her and returned just as they were leaving.
By the time he was finished the day was almost over. He wouldn’t entertain the idea of being paid for his time but Rebecca insisted on buying him dinner as a thank-you. He had lost a day’s work after all and eventually he relented.
‘I’ll have to get cleaned up first,’ he said, and they agreed to meet later at a pub he knew that served good food and overlooked the sea.
Now that the house was secure Rebecca felt safer and she spent her time reading more of her father’s book. She began it sitting on a chair, then lay down on the couch, with the laptop perched on a cushion that was balanced a little precariously on her stomach. She read until her eyes started to feel sore and heavy, the stress of the previous twenty-four hours having completely exhausted her. Without meaning to Rebecca closed them and dozed for a while until she opened them again with a start and realized what time it was. Christ, she was going to be late.
21
She was late. Alan had been waiting in the pub for fifteen minutes by the time she arrived but he didn’t seem to mind. ‘I had a pint,’ he said. ‘You look nice by the way.’
‘Thanks.’ This was surely a lie. She had quickly showered, hurriedly tied her hair back, then pulled on the only dress she could find that wasn’t horribly creased, before almost running down the hill to meet him.
‘You’ve had quite a day.’
‘It could have been worse,’ she reminded him. ‘A woman is missing. All I had to contend with was someone breaking in for food.’
‘You don’t think it’s linked in any way?’
‘My intruder has been living next door for who knows how long. I doubt he’d venture all the way across to the opposite cliff, abduct a woman, then come back for me,’ she said. ‘Or do it the other way round.’
‘She might not be missing. She could just have gone off somewhere I suppose.’ But he said this half-heartedly.
‘She is a solicitor. They’re usually pretty reliable, aren’t they? Anyway, time will tell. Let’s hope they find her.’
‘Do you feel happier now your house is secure?’ he asked.
‘Thanks to you, yes, and I am sorry I called you in the middle of the night. I don’t know how you got to me so quickly.’ He had managed to get from one side of the town to the other in moments, and she still couldn’t work out how he’d done it.
‘I may have broken a few speed limits,’ he admitted. ‘Anyway, you probably didn’t need me. I only came round to make sure you didn’t kill the guy.’ She laughed at that and sheepishly recounted her shouted threat to stab the intruder through the heart. ‘That sounds like the girl I used to know,’ he said dryly.
‘I am not scary,’ she mock scolded him.
‘Well,’ he said doubtfully, ‘maybe just a little.’
‘Careful,’ she warned him. ‘There will be knives on our dinner table.’
‘Then I’ll change the subject quickly.’ But when he did he was still referring to the intruder. ‘You were right about calling the police,’ he said. ‘Not interested.’
‘You weren’t impressed by PC Green then?’ she asked.
‘Were you?’
Rebecca had been disappointed Dominic seemed so underwhelmed by what she had experienced but perhaps he knew what he was doing. ‘He did have other things on his mind, but I’ll reserve judgement. Let’s see if he catches my intruder.’
‘He won’t.’ It was Alan’s turn to speak with conviction.
‘You seem very sure about that.’ She frowned. ‘Do you know him?’
‘Everyone knows him. He’s been our local copper for years. His father was a horrible git who used to run the chemist shop. Don’t you remember them?’
‘Not really,’ she admitted.
‘But then you were never in trouble.’
‘Nor were you,’ she reminded him, ‘unless you went off the rails later.’
‘You broke my heart,’ he said, deadpan, ‘so I turned to crime.’
‘Your only crime was a bit of underage drinking, as I recall.’
‘You did that too, though you never got drunk.’
‘I have a reassuringly high tolerance for alcohol.’ It was true. Rebecca was rarely drunk and her metabolism seemed to be able to cope with most things. Even the rare forays into drugs during her college years left her unimpressed. When everyone else was getting stoned on weed it seemed to have little or no effect on her.
‘I was never arrested,’ continued Alan, ‘but anyone who spent their late teens on the streets of Eriston will remember Dominic. He was always there to move you along. Eriston must be the only town in Northumbria that still has a beat bobby. I have no idea why.’ Then he said, ‘Don’t you remember the time we all had to run away from the lighthouse because Tony lit that fire?’
That did ring the vaguest of bells. ‘Was that him?’ She distantly recalled a police car pulling up by the edge of the field and a policeman getting out to break up their gathering. She’d have been sixteen then and going out with Alan. His best mate Tony had decided it would be a good idea to make a bonfire out of an old wooden pallet, only it must have been coated with something because it had started to smoke badly and the fumes were acrid. Her last memory of that incident was of them running from the burning pallet and across the field as fast as they could to get away from the policeman.
‘Yeah, that was him. You couldn’t get away with anything round here back then.’
‘Except murder,’ she said. ‘He thinks someone has been getting away with that.’
At that point the guy behind the bar came over to tell them their table was ready. Only when they were reseated and the barman had left was Alan able to lean forward and quietly ask, ‘Murder?’
Rebecca decided to tell Alan everything then, including the suspicion that her father might have been murdered. She could tell he was shocked. It was written all over his face. When he had heard her out, he said, ‘That’s terrible, Rebecca. I am so sorry. Who does he think might have killed your dad?’
‘He doesn’t know. He said he did but he doesn’t really. He just meant that it might be all down to one man.’
