The Patterson household were up early. Mike noticed the lights, upstairs and in the kitchen, as he passed the house with Tiny. He thought of Jill as he and the dog walked along the beach. She certainly was a good-looking woman, but it seemed as if she hated him. Of course, this made him all the more determined to make her like him.
'But how?' he muttered, throwing a stick for Tiny. The dog caught it just before it entered the water. Bringing it back, he dropped the stick at Mike’s feet. This went on for a good five minutes, until the last time Tiny dropped the stick, Mike didn’t pick it up. Tiny waited, wagging his tail, then gave a bark to remind Mike that the stick was there. Mike, though, was busy, his hand up to shade his eyes from the rising sun. He was watching a helicopter coming into land.
'Now that doesn’t look good,' he muttered, as the helicopter headed towards the field between Aunt May’s house and the castle. 'Come on, boy. Home.'
Quickly he strode off. He was nearly there when the helicopter landed. He watched as Jill Patterson ran out of her house, making a straight line for the helicopter. A policeman he recognised jumped out of the helicopter. Passing Jill, he gave her a brief nod, and headed towards Aunt May’s.
'Oh-oh.' Mike broke into a run. 'I’m here, Jim,' he shouted, just as the policeman raised his fist to bang on the back door. Hearing him, the policeman dropped his fist and waited, grim-faced, until Mike reached him.
'What’s up?’ Mike asked, his eyes on Jill, who obviously knew what was going on by the way she quickly scrambled up the helicopter ladder. Then he realised he’d left the house without his mobile.
'There’s been another body found, same state as the last one, Mike,' Jim said. He was deeply tanned from his holidays. Mike remembered him saying he and the wife were taking their first trip abroad.
'What, another scourging?'
'Yup… Only this time, he has a note in his hand.'
'Male!'
The officer nodded. 'Aye, and the note's addressed to you.'
'Me?' Mike felt a shiver rush up his spine. 'What does it say?'
'Nobody can understand it.'
'OK, give me a minute.' As the officer nodded, Mike quickly went into the house. It looked like Aunt May and Smiler were still in bed. Mike hurried up the stairs, struggled out of his joggers and T-shirt at the door, and threw them into the laundry basket so as not to incur Aunt May’s wrath if she saw them on the floor. He was never so tidy at home.
After splashing water over his face, he dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, grabbed his mobile off the dresser, slipped it in his pocket, put on his watch – a present from Aunt May that he was never without -- and ran back downstairs. Hastily he got pen and paper from the sideboard, and left a letter propped up on the mantelpiece telling them he’d left early. Locking the door behind him, he hurried to the helicopter.
He sat next to Jill, who gave him the briefest of smiles. Even that seemed an effort Mike thought. He could smell her perfume, tried guessing which one it was for future reference. Women like it if you give them a bottle of their favourite. But he couldn’t quite place it. If needed, he would ask Aunt May.
He liked the way she had her hair done in a French plait, which suited her. He noticed that tiny hairs on the back of her neck were still damp from the shower.
She must have felt his eyes on her. Turning to look at him, she said, 'What?'
'Nothing,' Mike replied innocently. 'Just looking at the view over your shoulder.'
'Huh.' she said, facing away from him.
'So, what’s all this about then?'
'You know as much as I do. The body of a young man has been found in the back yard of the police station.'
Hmm, Mike thought, that’s more than I know. 'So, it’s been dumped overnight?'
'I guess so.'
He sat back, 'Has anyone read the note?'
'Aye,' Jim said from the front seat. 'But like I told you, nobody can make any sense of it at all.'