Missing Years ( Part 25 )

It was just after 09.30am on Thursday, the day before Ray Samuels’s proposed worldwide protest. DCI Spencer was nursing a very sore head, the two large tumblers of Whiskey had the desired effect last night, but not this morning, his head was pounding.

His day had gone from bad to worse so far, he’d heard about Laura Samuels early that morning, the hospital had said she was stable; she was now sitting up and speaking. They were doing tests to find out why she had stopped breathing, but Spencer couldn’t help thinking that there may be more to this than meets the eye.

Then an hour ago he had heard the news about Swan. A massive heart attack during the night apparently, his housekeeper had found him at 06.30 that morning. The Superintendent had called him to tell him the news; he also said he should continue with his work on Ray Samuels.

Then there were new reports of a serial killer on the loose, two bodies found in Kings Cross two nights ago and then last night two more were found in Barking, just 6 miles up the road. The reports said that they had been killed and then mauled by urban foxes, Spencer thought this unlikely as one of the bodies was found on the notorious Gascoigne Estate, not even urban foxes were silly enough to visit that estate after dark!

So much going on, so much to take in, what the fuck was going on?

His phone rang.

“DCI Spencer, how can I help?”

“Inspector, my name is James Conroy, I’m trying to get hold of Commander Swan, I’ve been trying all morning and then someone gave me your number, is he with you?”

“No he’s not, can I ask why you need to speak with him?”

“I’m head of religious studies at Oxford, we had a conversation the other day about Ray Samuels, he asked me to do some research for him”

“Did you know him well?”

“Yes, we served together in special forces some years ago, why do you ask?”

“I have some bad news for you Mister Conroy, Commander Swan had a heart attack during the night, I’m afraid he died early this morning”

The was a silence on the phone, which lasted for over a minute. Spencer broke the silence.

“Are you OK Mister Conroy?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I need to give someone the information that I have, who would be the best person to give it to?”

“Well, Commander Swan and I were working on the Samuels case together, so I suppose it’s me, let me get a pen and I’ll write it down”

“No, no, that would be no good, I need to meet up with you and give it to you personally, it’s VERY important”

“OK, where are you now?”

“I’ve been staying in London for the past few nights, I’m at the IBIS just off the A40, I can be with you in Romford by midday”

“Ok, let’s not meet at the station, there’s a pub opposite called the Golden Lion, I’ll meet you in there at twelve”

Spencer hung up, this was getting even more intriguing, Swan had someone doing research on Samuels? What kind of research, what was he trying to find out?

Trevor Wilson had moved on, he’d stolen a car early that morning and was driving towards Romford, the killings from the night before had made him strong again, he felt ready, ready to begin the fight, ready to take his rightful place alongside the others.

James Conroy left the IBIS straightaway; it took him just over the hour to get to Romford. Parking was a nightmare in this Market town, but he found a place in a quiet side road ten minutes’ walk from the pub. He got himself a pint and sat down, Spencer arrived five minutes later.

James spent a few minutes going through the conversation that he’d had with Swan just two days before. Spencer was keen to know how it was left.

“So, what did the Commander ask you to do?

“Well, he wasn’t sure if Ray Samuels was one of the good guys or something else, I said that I would do some more research and let him know what I found out”

“And, you’ve got some news then?”

“You have to understand Inspector that you are dealing with something quite extraordinary here, there is no exact science to this, I can only tell you the facts and my opinions based on those facts”

“I understand that, go on”

“There are many faiths in this world; all of them have their own views, mainly defined by ancient writing or scriptures. Christianity for example has the Bible, the Bible tells us about God and the Devil. The faith of Islam has the Qur’an and that tells of Iblis, which is a devil like creature whose main mission is to deceive Adams children (mankind), so every faith has a God and a devil or serpent”

“Ok, I’m with you so far”

“Good, did the commander tell you about the prophecies?”

“The one about the rain?”

“Yes, all three were exactly the same, He will come, then be taken by the rain, he will come back after many years, the same. He will lead his people from destruction. What if we have read this wrong, what if these weren’t prophecies but warnings?”

“Not sure I understand what you’re saying James”

“In ancient Hebrew writings going back thousands of years, the Rain was seen as the start of something evil. It would rain nonstop for days and days, there would be floods, people would die, whole villages would be washed away, people were afraid of the rain. Then there is the word “Samiel”, pronounced Samuel, it literally means in Hebrew, Poison of God!”

“Fuck me, so Ray Samuels may not be the saviour that we all think he is, he could be the complete opposite!”

“Exactly, but there’s more. In Revelations it speaks of the Devil or Satan being cast out of heaven to deceive the world, along with his angels or followers. So in the prophecies where it says HE WILL LEAD HIS PEOPLE, it could mean something very different, his people are other Devils!”

The two of them sat in the Golden Lion pub sipping their beer. Each of them afraid to speak what was on their minds.

Ray Samuels had returned to his dad’s house at 06.30, he had left Stacey at the hospital with her Mum. She was stable. He told Eddie what had happened during the night, but nothing about Swan.

Suddenly, as though he had heard a loud noise, he stood up and looked around him.

“He’s here Dad”

“Who Ray, whose here?”

“A friend!”