Here Comes the Rain Again (Dead Reckoning series - Part 22)

Continued from Episode 21 (Missing You)

The story so far:   Josiah, having rekindled a romance (on the rebound from Samantha Knight) with an old flame, Jeanette DeVille, has apparently disappeared since his supper with her, at Evanley Hall, last Saturday.  As the police were not remotely interested, Samantha persuaded Archibald to go to the Hall on the pretext of visiting his girlfriend, Precious.  Now Archibald has failed to return and D.I. Wood has made it clear that he is not going to investigate.  All seemed lost, until Samantha spotted the CCTV images of a jewellery theft, just as she was being escorted out of the Police Station:

 

“There had better be a good reason why that woman is sitting outside my office, once again, Sergeant, after I specifically told you to escort her OUT OF THE BUILDING!” D.I. Wood was clearly not happy.

“There is, sir” D.S. Stone nodded, miserably, “she saw the photo of those three, you know, the ones we’re looking for in that jewellery theft.” He took a deep breath and soldiered on, “she reckons it could well be that bunch up in Cheshire”

“What?  You mean where she’s sent her boss and Lurch to be with their girlfriends?”

“Yes, that’s right” D.S. Stone looked at his superior, gloomily, “Shall I bring her in?”

“This had better be on the level, Stoney, or on your head be it” D.I. Wood hissed.

* * * *

Archibald heard some light footsteps, apparently coming down stairs.  A few moments later, the sacking covering his face was lifted, gently, away and Precious was standing before him, holding a glass of water.

“Here” She whispered, “drink this.  But hurry, I shouldn’t be here!”

Archibald blinked in the sudden half-light and scowled at her, but leant forward to sip, gratefully, from the glass.  Eventually, he leant back to take a breath.

“What did you do to me?” He managed, between gulps.

“I’m sorry, I really am” Precious sounded close to tears, “I know it probably doesn’t’ seem like it, but I was trying to do you a favour!”

“Ha!”

“I mean it” Precious insisted, “if I hadn’t drugged you, well, it would have been the same as Mr. Oakshott”

“I’m worried about him” Archibald frowned at her, “he’s not answering when I talk to him and his breathing doesn’t sound right”

“I’ll go and look” Precious said, then, hearing heavy footsteps behind her, she quickly dragged Archibald’s sacking back over his head.

“What are you doing down here?” A dark voice asked.

“Just giving them a sip of water” Precious said in a trembling voice, “they need to have water”

“You’re too soft” The voice sneered. “They’ll get water, don’t you worry!”

“There’s something the matter with the older one” Precious went on, “I don’t think he’s conscious”

“That won’t do” The voice grunted.  There was the sound of footsteps heading past Archibald to the other side of the room, “She wants him conscious”

“What are you doing?” Precious asked, fearfully.

There was the sound of a tremendous slap, and then a groan.

“Oh!” Precious shouted.

“What’s happening?” Archibald cried out.

“Like I said, she wants him conscious” The voice said, flatly, “Tell him to shut up, unless he wants some.  Have you got your stuff together?”

“Yes” Precious replied, timidly.

“Good, now get out of here”

There was the sound of two sets of feet heading back up the stairs, and then silence, apart from the constant sound of dripping water.

“Mr. O.?” Archibald tried.

“Yeth, Archibald?”

“Oh brilliant, you’re back!” Archibald could hardly contain his excitement.

“I’m not shure that bwilliant ith a word I’d uthe” Josiah said, with difficulty, “I theem to ‘ave a fat lip, do you know why?”

“There was a bloke here” Archibald said, glumly, “I think he hit you”

“Right, right!” Josiah sighed, “to be expected, I thuppothe”

“I think you were out of it” Archibald explained, “I’d been trying to get you to answer for ages!”

“Thmall merthieth, then, Archibald, thmall merthieth”

“He said that ‘she’ wanted you conscious” Archibald reported.

“Who doeth?”

“I don’t know” Archibald said, miserably, “not Precious, that’s for certain.  I don’t think she’s too happy about all of this”

“Hmm, under the thircumthtanthes, I’m not thure that ‘conthious’ is where I want to be!” Josiah mused.

* * * *

“Right then, Mrs. Knight” D.I. Wood managed to make turn her marital status into a sneer, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how sure are you that you know who these three are?” He tapped the photos on his desk, impatiently.

“For this one walking toward the camera, I would say ‘8’, possibly ‘9’” Samantha glared back at him, “for the other two, because they’re facing away from the camera, the best I would say is ‘6’”

D.I. Wood sighed and shook his head.

“I’m not sure that’s enough for us to go haring off to Cheshire on some wild goose chase”

“I’m as sure as I can be, that this girl is Archibald’s girlfriend, Precious” Samantha said, firmly, “the scarf around her head makes it a bit difficult but the clothes, how she holds herself, they all lead me to believe this is her”

“Yes, but…” D.I. Wood shrugged.

“Look, if I’m right and this is her.  Then it follows, like night follows day, that these two must be Mrs. DeVille and, I would imagine, her driver.  We know that Precious said they were going shopping together, maybe this is their idea of shopping?” Samantha drummed her fingers on the desk, much to the Inspector’s annoyance.

D.I. Wood looked like a man who had bitten into a ripe peach, only to discover it was a lemon.  He sighed deeply and said:

“Right, Stoney, get on to the local plod in Cheshire and tell them they’ll be having the pleasure of our company.  See if you can get them to part with a couple of uniforms, just in case things get a bit hairy, will you?”

“Will do, sir!” D.S. Stone hurried out of the office.

“I’m telling you, Mrs. Knight, that if I find you’ve fed me a cock and bull story just to get your boyfriend back, I’ll fit you up with something, good and proper, even if it’s only ‘wasting police time’” D.I. Wood said, menacingly.

“You won’t be wasting your time, Inspector, I’m sure of that” Samantha matched him glare for glare.

* * * *

“Are you…are you alright, Mr. O.?” Archibald asked, hesitantly.

“Well…” Josiah chuckled, “tha’ depends on wha’ you mean by ‘alwight’”

There was the sound of a number of feet coming down the stairs.  Then there was the unmistakeable voice of Jeanette DeVille.

“Well, gentlemen” She began, “we’re so sorry to love you and leave you, but we have to go”

“You’re letting us go?” Archibald asked, hopefully.

“Ha! Not quite, young man” Jeanette giggled, “no, I’m afraid you two will be staying here.  I’m sure you’ll be excellent company for each other”

“I don’t know why you’re doin’ thith, Jeanette” Josiah managed, with difficulty.

“No, no, of course you don’t!” Jeanette screamed.  She rushed over and pulled Josiah’s sacking away, roughly.  He blinked in the dim light.  All he could see was Jeanette’s contorted face, glaring at him, and two other dim figures standing by the stairs in the distance.  To his left, he could make out Archibald slumped on a chair, his face covered by a sack.

“Do you know who I am?”  Jeanette was still ranting at him.

“Of courthe” He nodded, “You’re Jeanette”

“Am I?  Did she ever tell you, back when you were cosying up together, that she had a sister? Eh?  No, I’ll bet she didn’t” ‘Jeanette’ snarled, “I wasn’t the pretty one, I wasn’t the bright one, I was the one who was shoved down in the kitchen to do all the drudge work!”

“A thithter?” Josiah shook his head, and regretted it as a wave of pain hit him, “no, I didn’t know”

“Did I get a pretty name, like Jeanette?  No, I did not!  I was named after a bloody dusting mop!  Nenette, they called me, because they thought it sounded cute!  Bastards!”

“Nenette?” Josiah looked puzzled, “Then…I don’t underthtand, what’th happened to Jeanette?”

“She’s…somewhere else” Nenette said, grimly.

“We should be going” A dark voice behind her, said.

“Yes, you’re right” Nenette nodded.  She dragged Josiah’s sack back, over his face, viciously.  “Like I said, gentlemen, we’re sorry to love you and leave you, but leave we must.  But, don’t worry, we’ll leave you a little something to remember us by” She giggled for rather a long time.  There was a metallic clanking and banging and then the sound of footsteps heading back upstairs.

“Do you think they’ve gone, Mr. O.?” Archibald asked, after a while.

“I hope tho” Josiah replied.

“Good!” Archibald sighed with relief, “Somebody will come looking for us, soon, I’m sure they will”

“I really hope they hurry up, Archibald” Josiah said, tremulously.

“Why’s that, Mr. O.?”

“You may have notithed, that the drip of water hath turned into a guth?”

“A guth?  Oh, you mean a gush?”

“Yeth, a guth” Josiah confirmed, “and, there theemth to be water collecting around my feet, how about you?”

Archibald raised each foot and put it down, experimentally.  He was rewarded with a splashing sound and a distinctly damp feeling around his ankles.

“Yeah, you’re right!”  Archibald nodded, pointlessly, “what’s that all about?”

“You remember me telling you about Jeanette’th father, that he wath a naval dethigner?” Josiah chuckled, “you thought I meant…”

“Belly buttons, yeah, I remember” Archibald chuckled too.

“Well, if ath I thuthpect, we’re in the thellarth of Evanley Hall…”

“Fellers?  Oh, you mean, cellars?”

“Yeth, them” Josiah sighed, “well, if thath where we are, old Theperd Mountjoy had them made waterproof, tho he could ecthperiment with thip dethign”

“Ecthperiment with…oh, right, you mean he could play with his boats down ‘ere and stuff?”

“That’th it!” Josiah hesitated before continuing, “tho, you thee, a guthing tap and water collecting around our feet, it’th not a good thign, do you thee what I mean?”

“Erm, well…” Archibald thought, furiously, “you mean, this place is going to fill up with water?”

“Yeth!”

“And we’re tied to these chairs so we can’t get out?”

“Yeth, got it in one!” Josiah agreed, miserably.

“Oh bloody hell, Mr. O., what are we going to do?” Archibald whimpered.

“Get rather wet, I thuthpect, Archibald” Josiah managed a weak little smile.

Now read Episode 23