House of the Dead, page 11
“Why are you killing the people Dani and Greg saved?” he murmured. “What do you get out of it?”
He recalled the name of the website. Will the police save them?
“You’re trying to show the viewers of those feeds that the police can’t save everyone,” Tony said. “But people know that. No one thinks the police are infallible.”
No matter how much he needed to understand the motive behind the events that had taken place in the last couple of days, he couldn’t. The GameMaster was an enigma.
“I’m back at square one,” Tony said to himself.
He looked through the windscreen and was surprised to see Dani coming back across the car park.
She opened the driver’s door and got in.
“That was quick,” he said. “Is David still sedated?”
“He isn’t there,” she said, starting the engine. “His aunt took him home an hour ago.”
“Do we know her address?”
Dani nodded. “She lives in Heslington. Shouldn’t take us long to get there.”
They drove south-east across the city, towards the University and York Science Park. Tony had been to Heslington once before, with Alina, and had found the suburban village charming, if busy. Due to its nearness to York University, the streets had been packed with students.
David Goddard’s aunt lived on a street that was well away from the main road, however, and when Dani and Tony arrived, the place was quiet. The street consisted of mostly detached houses separated from the pavement by small, well-manicured lawns and neat, tarmac drives.
“Her name’s Louise Slater,” Dani said as they got out of the Land Rover. “Husband Alan. She’s Elaine Goddard’s sister. That’s all I know.”
Tony nodded. He had his notebook in hand this time. If David did have any information on the GameMaster, he wanted to make sure he wrote it down word-for-word.
Dani knocked on the door and a tall man in his fifties, wearing a dark blue jumper and jeans, answered.
“Alan Slater?” Dani said.
The man nodded.
Dani showed him her warrant card. “I’m DI Danica Summers and this is my colleague, Dr Tony Sheridan. May we speak with David?”
“Yes, I suppose so. We were expecting someone from the police to come to the hospital but no one did.”
“I’m sorry, sir, we’ve been very busy. And I was under the impression David was sedated for a while.”
“Yes, he was. All right, come in.” He stepped aside to allow them into the house, then led them to a large kitchen where David Goddard sat at a pine table while a woman with dyed blonde hair set a sandwich and a glass of orange juice in front of him.
She looked up when she saw Dani and Tony, then at her husband. “Police?”
Alan Slater nodded.
“It’s about time. We thought you’d forgotten about poor David.”
“Of course we haven’t,” Tony said. “We were told he was sedated.”
“Yes, he was. Wouldn’t you be sedated if you’d been kidnapped and then rescued, only to discover your entire family has been killed?” She lowered her voice when she said the last part, but Tony had no doubt David could hear her.
“Wait a minute,” Mrs Slater said. “You’re the man who rescued him. I saw you on the news. You’re the psychologist who put that serial killer away in America.”
“Canada,” Tony said. “And it wasn’t just me who rescued David. There was an entire team—“
“Come and sit down.” She led Tony to the chair opposite David. “Would you like a cup of tea? How about a sandwich?”
“A cup of tea would be nice. We’re both parched.” He said the second part to remind Mrs Slater that Dani was also in the room.
“I’ll put the kettle on.” Mrs Slater went to sink and filled the kettle.
Tony looked across the table at David. The boy’s eyes were red and dark circles sat under them. He looked older than his twelve years, and Tony knew that his recent experience would scar him for the rest of his life.
“Hi, David.”
“Hello.”
“Do you remember me?”
The boy nodded.
“I suppose you don’t really want to remember what happened, do you?”
“I try not to think about it, but sometimes I can’t help it.”
“Of course. That’s normal when something bad happens to us. It sticks around in our heard for a while.”
David nodded and looked down at the surface of the table.
“Do you think you could remember some things for me? Some really important things?”
“Okay.”
“What’s the last normal thing you remember? Before everything went wrong?”
“I remember going to bed. But when I woke up, I wasn’t in my room.”
“Oh? Where were you?” Tony wanted to open his notebook and write, but decided not to. He wanted this conversation to be as relaxed as possible. If he had to keep looking down at his notebook, he’d break the connection between himself and David.
“I didn’t know at first. It was dark and everything was moving. Then I could see better in the dark. It was a van. The back of a van.”
“Oh, right. Was there anything in that van? Apart from you, I mean. Was there anything else there with you?”
David nodded slowly, his gaze still fixed to the table. “There was a ladder. It was rattling around a bit. And there was a toolbox, like the one my dad has.”
“I see. What about smells? What did it smell like in the back of the van?”
“It smelled funny. Like a sweet smell.”
“Right. Like some kind of chemical?”
David nodded again.
Judging by the red marks on the skin under the boy’s nose and around his mouth, Tony surmised the GameMaster had chloroformed the boy while he was asleep before bundling him into the van.
“I wanted to get away but my hands were tied behind my back and my ankles were tied as well.”
“What happened next?” Tony said.
“The van stopped and the doors opened. There was a man standing there.”
“Was he wearing a mask?”
David shook his head.
“Could you see his face?”
David nodded.
Tony felt a jolt of surprise. Had the GameMaster slipped up? He must have known that letting David see his face was a huge risk.
“Can you describe him, David?”
Tony looked over at Dani, glad to see that she had her notebook in her hand with her pen poised above it.
The boy nodded.
“Can you remember what colour his hair was?”
“It was blonde. Like mine.”
“And what about his eyes? What colour were they?”
“Blue.”
“Same as yours.”
David nodded.
“Is there anything else about his face that you remember? Anything that sticks out in your memory?”
“He had a scar like Harry Potter.”
“Oh? What did that look like?”
“Like a line on his forehead. Over his eyebrow.”
“Right. Do you remember which side of his face it was on?”
The boy shook his head.
“What about his nose? Was it big or small?”
“Just normal size.”
“His mouth?”
David shrugged. “Normal.”
“Was he tall or short?”
Expecting the reply to be, “normal.” Tony was surprised when David said, “He was tall.”
“That’s helpful. You’re doing really well, David. Was the man as tall as your uncle?”
David looked over at his uncle. “He’s taller than Uncle Alan.”
“Oh, right. Was he thin?”
David shook his head.
“Fat?”
“No, he wasn’t thin or fat. He was hench.”
“Hench?” Tony wasn’t familiar with the term.
“He means muscular,” Mrs Slater said. “All the kids are saying it these days.”
“Ah, I see. So, he was hench,” Tony said to David. “Was he wearing something that showed off his muscles?”
“He was wearing a black jumper and black jeans.”
“And what did he say to you, David? Did he speak at all?”
“He untied me and told me there was no point trying to run away because we were in the middle of a forest and there was nowhere I could run to.”
“I see. What was his voice like?”
“A bit deep.”
“Did he have an accent?”
David thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Not really.”
“So, he sounded like he was from around here?”
The boy nodded.
“What did you see, David? What were the surroundings like?”
“Lots of trees.”
“Nothing else?”
“A caravan.”
“Can you describe it?”
“It was white and it had windows but they were black.”
“Were they tinted?”
“No, they’d been painted with black paint.”
Tony nodded his understanding. “And what happened next?”
“He made me beans on toast.”
“In the caravan?”
“Yes.”
“What was it like inside?”
David shrugged. “Like a caravan.”
“Was it neat, or was it untidy?”
“Neat.”
“Were there any pictures on the walls? Or personal items that belonged to the man?”
“No. I don’t think he lives there. I think he just goes there sometimes.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There wasn’t much in there. Just some food in the cupboard and in the fridge, but not much.”
“Did you eat the beans on toast?”
David nodded. “I was hungry.”
“What did the man do while you were eating?”
“He kept saying stuff. Weird stuff that I didn’t understand.”
“Do you remember what he said?”
“He said I was special and I was going to have a hard life but I’d be better for it because I’d have to fight to survive and that would make me stronger.” He shrugged. “I didn’t get it.”
Tony looked over at Dani to make sure she was taking all of this down. She was scribbling furiously in her notebook.
“What happened after you ate the beans on toast?”
“He said he had to go somewhere, so he chained me to a metal ring in the floor so I couldn’t escape.”
Mrs Slater’s hand flew to her mouth and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her husband comforted her.
“It was a long chain,” David said, seeing his aunt’s distress. “I could move around the caravan and go the toilet when I needed to.”
“Were you chained by the wrist?” Tony asked.
“My ankle. But he put padding around my ankle first, so it didn’t hurt.”
“And then he left the caravan?”
David nodded.
“Do you know what time it was?”
“No.”
“Was it light or dark outside?”
“I don’t know because the windows were painted black. I couldn’t see outside.”
“Did anything else happen while you were in the caravan alone?”
“No. I think I fell asleep. When I woke up, the man was back.”
“Okay. Did he say or do anything?”
“He told me to go to bed because it was night time.”
“Did he unchain you?”
“No. I went to bed but I didn’t sleep for a long time. I kept thinking about my mum and dad and if they were looking for me.”
Tony swallowed. The poor boy hadn’t known at the time that his parents were dead.
“Where was the man while you were in the bedroom?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him again until the morning.”
“So, he didn’t…” Tony paused, wondering how to phrase the question, “…touch you in any way?”
“No. He touched my ankle to put the chain on, but that was the only time he touched me at all.”
Mrs Slater let out a breath of relief and Tony realised that question must have been on her mind all this time.
“All right. So, what happened the next morning, when you saw the man again?”
“He gave me breakfast.”
“What did you have?”
“Weetabix.”
“Did he have breakfast as well?”
“No, just me.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
“He said he was going to take me to a room later and that it was underground. He said I’d be okay as long as I sat on the chair and didn’t move. He’d be watching me through a camera so he’d know if I moved.”
“He said you’d be okay?”
“Yeah, he said the police would find me.”
“And he gave you the flash drive.”
“That was later, when he put me in the room. He told me to give it to a detective when I was found.”
“I see. And you have no idea who this man was? You’ve never seen him before?”
“No, never.”
“He didn’t say anything that gave away his identity?” Tony knew the GameMaster was far too clever for that, but he had to ask anyway.
“No.”
Tony looked over at Dani. “Do you have any questions?”
She shook her head. “I think we’ve got enough for now.”
Tony looked back at the boy across the table. “Thank you, David. You did brilliantly.”
David shrugged and gazed down at the table again.
Tony got up. “Right, we’ll be on our way. Thanks for speaking to us, David.”
“There was one other thing,” the boy said, looking up.
Tony paused. “Oh? What’s that?”
“Before he closed the trap door in the ceiling of the underground room, the man said he was sorry about everything, but it was all the police’s fault.”
“Do you remember exactly what he said, David?”
The boy closed his eyes, remembering. “I’m sorry things turned out this way, David, but it’s all the police’s fault. They’ve done this to you.” David opened his eyes. “Then, he closed the door and I could hear soil hitting the ceiling.”
Tony looked over at Dani. She was writing in her notebook.
“Thanks, David. If you remember anything else, or just want to talk, I’m going to give your aunt and uncle my phone number, okay?”
“Okay.”
Tony gave his card to Alan Slater as the man saw them out.
“Take good care of him,” Tony said, as he and Dani stepped outside.
“We will.” Alan Slater thanked them and closed the door.
“What do you think that last part meant?” Dani said as they got into the Land Rover. “About the police doing it to David? Sounds delusional.”
“He’s projecting,” Tony said. “That’s why he let David live. He sees something of himself in the boy. Something happened to the GameMaster at some point in his life, and he blames the police.”
“Lots of people blame us for things that are their own fault. They don’t want to take responsibility, so they blame us.”
“No, it’s more than that. I think the GameMaster has survived some sort of tragedy. And he blames the tragedy on you and Greg.”
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
“Blames it on us?” Dani said. “Why would he blame a tragedy on me and Greg?” She respected Tony’s opinion, but to think that the events of the last few days had happened because the GameMaster blamed her and Greg for something sounded outlandish. They’d only ever tried to help people; they certainly weren’t responsible for any tragedy.
“I don’t know,” Tony said. “But it’s the only reason he’d tell David that everything was the police’s fault.”
“But why me and Greg?”
“Because everything that has happened so far is connected to you two. The families you saved together; the man Greg saved on the beach. The GameMaster has one aim: to destroy the good work you and Greg have done.”
Dani cast her mind back to her time with Greg, trying to remember a tragedy that had happened on their watch. “In police work,” she told Tony, “lots of bad things happen. But they aren’t our fault. It’s just the way things are.”
“You have to remember that he’s not rational. His actions prove that.”
“Rational or not, he’s killing people because of something he thinks Greg and I did. It doesn’t feel good, Tony.”
“Of course it doesn’t. But it means we’ve got a clue. You’ve met this person before. It might be in the dim and distant past, but you and Greg crossed paths with him.”
She tried to think of anyone from the past who might be the GameMaster but she’d been down this road before. No one had come to mind then, and she was still drawing a blank.
“I just can’t think who it could be,” she told Tony.
“Maybe it’ll come to you later,” he suggested.
Dani wasn’t so sure. If she’d crossed paths with someone like the GameMaster, surely she’d remember it.
When they got back to headquarters, they were met on the ground floor by an ashen-faced Battle.
“I need you in IT,” he said. “There’s another one.”
“Another one, guv?” Dani asked as they went up the stairs.
“On the website. Another video feed. I’ve got a team ready to go and a second on standby in case he pulls the same stunt he did before.”
Dani felt her muscles tighten as adrenaline coursed through her body. The video feeds brought with them a sense of dread and a terrible anticipation.
Battle took them to Toombs’ office, where the technician was in his usual seat. The laptop was open and the website showed a new square with a timer that was already at 4:00.14
“Four minutes,” Dani said, feeling the adrenaline surge increase. “He isn’t giving us much time.”
“We’re ready to mobilise,” Battle said. “And everyone has been briefed to look for anything at the scene that could help the victims out of whatever situation we find. He left them before, so he might do it again.”
An image flashed though Dani’s mind: Ian Radcliffe going straight to the lever that opened the water tank.
“Except this time, he probably won’t,” said Tony. “He knows we’re expecting it now, so he’ll change it up. He wants to keep us on our toes.”
