A large section of the cellar had been covered with black plastic sheeting, held down at its four corners by cement blocks. It hissed like an angry thundercloud tethered to the floor as Mason walked across it, sipping his tea.
Sitting on a wooden chair in the corner of the room was Rosie, Jiff stood next to her and drank from his mug too and said nothing.
Mason nodded approvingly. ‘I’m going to make you chief tea-maker from now on, Daniel. You have many talents.’ Mason smiled at Rosie. ‘You both do. That’s why I’m sure one last push is what we need to find this flask.’
Mason put his tea down on the floor and motioned at Jiff to do the same. The two of them walked across to a chest freezer that was in the far corner of the cellar and both started to put on pair of black leather gloves which had been sitting on a chair.
The tiny red light in the bottom corner of the freezer’s front panel was illuminated, as bright as a cherry. Daniel was still wondering what might be inside as the two men stood at either end and heaved up the lid.
They lifted out Lawson’s frozen body, the ice cracking and falling from his shirt, his black hair brittle with frost.
Daniel heard Rosie gasp and he went to her and put his arms round her as the two men struggled with the heavy frozen body.
‘I’ve found it. The flask,’ he whispered as he hugged her close.
The body bumped down on the black sheeting like a rock when it was laid down.
Blood had frozen in icy pearls around Lawson’s mouth. The stump of his arm looked like the end of a frozen joint.
When the leather fingers of the men’s gloves peeled up off his body, they made little popping sounds.
The cold flowed like dust over the lip of the freezer as Mason bent down and rapped Lawson on his forehead. ‘Anyone home?’ He grinned and turned round to look up at Daniel. ‘About as talkative as your dad.’ Jiff laughed. ‘Course he might tell us a few things using the fit. Why don’t we give it a try? One big push. I’ve been saving him in case he might be useful. In case he wasn’t telling me everything I wanted to know.’
Jiff slapped the lid of the freezer shut. Mason sat down in a rickety wooden chair. He plucked an iPhone from his pocket and dialled a number.
When Frank’s face appeared on the screen in a Skype call, Mason beamed. ‘Who you got there with you, Frank?’
‘Rosie’s gran,’ came back the tinny reply.
‘And what are you doing?’
‘Having a cup of tea.’
‘So are we! Daniel makes the best, Frank. Even better than you!’
‘I doubt it.’
Mason turned the phone round so Rosie and Daniel could see the screen. With a free finger, he pointed at the frozen body of Lawson.
‘You don’t need him warmed up, do you? To help, I mean? How about the gloves? Do you need them?’
‘Stop,’ said Daniel quietly. ‘Just stop. We think we know where the flask is.’ Mason looked at Daniel for some time, saying nothing. Lawson’s body was already beginning to melt, drip-drip-dripping on to the black sheeting.
‘I knew it,’ said Mason. ‘I knew you were lying.’ He chuckled and slapped his hand on his thigh. ‘So show me where you think it is. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.’