‘The second floor hasn’t been touched. It’s the old servant’s quarters, lots of small, dark rooms. The first floor, where we sleep, that’s had a lick of paint to brighten up the bedrooms and a new bathroom, but it’s still too…I don’t know what’s the right word, out of date, old-fashioned, creepy. I suppose all of them would do. When I’m in the house on my own I hear noises, creaking floorboards upstairs. I feel as if I’m being watched. Like, the hairs on the back of my neck prickle, as if there is someone staring at me from behind, yet whenever I turn around there’s no one there. I go up and investigate the sounds, same again, it’s quiet as a mouse when I’m up there. The only explanation is that it’s haunted; a house this old with its history is going to have some dodgy owners that died here and haven’t wanted to leave.’
Morgan smiled at her.
Annie stood up. ‘Can we look around? Will you show us where you hear the noises and feel like you’re being watched?’
Natalie stood up. ‘Yes, I suppose you need to see it for yourself, although nothing will happen when you’re here, it’s only ever when I’m on my own.’
Natalie gave them a guided tour of the downstairs, four lounges, a dining room, library which Morgan fell in love with despite the severe lack of books on the many shelves, then there was the kitchen, it was the size of her old primary school dining room.
‘Sometimes when I’m in here with my back to that door I feel like I’m being watched. It’s horrible, I turn around and no one is there but it’s just a weird feeling, you know.’
Morgan walked over to where she pointed, in front of the worktop, and slowly turned around – from here she could see out into the hallway and the foot of the stairs. As she stared every hair on the back of her neck began to prickle as a cold chill settled over her. She didn’t know what was wrong, but something was, and she needed to figure it out before anything happened to Natalie and her family.
‘Can we look upstairs?’
Natalie led them to the sweeping staircase. Annie reached out her fingers, trailing them along the wooden banister. Morgan noticed that Natalie didn’t touch it; she kept her hands by her side as she led them up to the first floor.
THIRTY-TWO
Marc listened to what Ben had to say about Luke Rigg, and from the expression on his face he didn’t look too interested in him as the main suspect, not until Ben told him that he’d been alone for a couple of hours before the fire began, and that his wife was convinced he had a thing for Sally Lawson.
‘It sounds good, it does, but what about the CCTV footage of the boy walking home with someone? Where are we with that, has the person of interest been identified? If not, we’re going to have to release the image to the press and see if any member of the public can name them.’
Ben had to stop himself from swearing out loud, he’d bloody forgot all about that. He nodded, gave himself a couple of seconds to recover then continued, ‘Boss, we might be barking up the wrong tree with the CCTV. Rigg has a motive, I think we have to at least rule him out. His wife seemed very genuine when she gave a statement. She said she was so embarrassed by his behaviour, and I got the impression that he has a violent temper, too, only she wouldn’t officially disclose that.’
‘I’m not convinced, all we have is a statement from his wife about all of this and you know as well as I do how bitter women can get.’
‘We also have the photographs on his phone that back up his wife’s statement, and also that he discovered the fire and took the photographs of them all dead. If the fire had taken hold of the house like it was supposed to, we’d be struggling to get much from the crime scene. He had no choice but to show us the photographs he’d taken otherwise it would have been incriminating anyway.’
‘Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. You really feel as though he could be a viable suspect, Ben?’
‘I do, at least we can get him in then bail him under condition of not going near the family home, so his wife and daughter are safe for the time being. Whilst he’s in custody we can get CSI to go through his house, we’re still missing Sally Lawson’s hand after all; he might have it in his freezer.’
Marc grimaced. ‘Christ, I hope not. Okay, let’s get a search team together, do you think he’s going to come in without any bother or are we going to need backup from section?’
‘If Cain and I go to arrest him, Amy and Morgan along with Wendy can sweep the house for evidence. I don’t think he’ll argue when he sees the size of Cain, but it won’t hurt to have a couple of officers there to back us up, and we’re going to need a van to transport him here anyway.’
Ben jumped out of the chair and made his way back to the office before Marc could change his mind.
Cain was eating a bacon bun; Amy was staring down into a plastic container filled with rice and chicken.
‘Where’s Morgan?’
‘To be honest, boss, I think she’s done a runner.’ Amy didn’t look up at him to gauge his reaction.
‘Don’t be stupid, where’s she going to run to and why?’
‘I don’t know, because she’s fed up with this job maybe, fed up with the bloody shite food the canteen has.’
Cain laughed. ‘She’s mad because I got the last bacon bun, aren’t you, Amy?’
‘Piss off.’
‘Seriously has she not been back?’
‘Not seen her, why?’
‘She only went to get some lunch.’
