CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

Whatever Ethan had said to Nicholas, it had had the most profound effect, and the boy was spewing out information like a tap with no washer.

‘I thought it was cool to start with. Make a load of wonga for getting a shitty key copied?  I mean, who wouldn’t? It wasn’t till later that I got scared.’

‘Shame you didn’t think it through first, dick-head.’ murmured his brother. ‘What did you think they were going to do down there? Hold prayer meetings and plan World Peace?’

‘I didn’t care what they did! The place is a crap-hole anyway.’

‘So what was the story they gave you, Nicholas?’ asked Jon.

‘That they had crates and crates of booze and were happy to share it with us kids, if we just hung out with them. No strings.’

Kate’s gut tied itself into a small but painful reef knot. ‘And what sorts of activities were involved in this, “hanging out”?

Nicholas shrugged and sank back in his chair. ‘Just drinking, dancing together; bit of a feel and a snog.’ He bit his lip. ‘Although I think some of them went a bit further than that.’

‘We saw the condoms, thank you.’

‘Well, I didn’t know that was going to happen, did I? The old guys, well, they just watched, didn’t they? I mean, they never touched us. They just sat in the shadows and watched.’ The boy stared uncomfortably down at the table. ‘Some of the kids wanted to give them their money’s worth. Shock them, show them what they could do.’ He looked up, an almost embarrassed look on his acne-stained face. ‘It was the drink, wasn’t it? Most of them were hammered by that time.’ His eyes fell back to the table. ‘I split when I saw one of the men had a camcorder in one hand and his di…’

‘We get the picture, Nicholas.’ Kate brought that nasty train of thought to a close. ‘And you know that we have to stop this, don’t you? Before one of these kids gets, well, God knows what could happen to them.’

‘Yeah, but there were no names used, and the main man gave me readies for my trouble.’ He sighed. ‘But I’ll tell you all I do know, if you can keep this from Dad?’

From the consternation on the lad’s face, Kate knew that she’d been right. For all his jolly banter about the family baby, just possibly the good Reverend had something of a temper? She gave Nicholas her first smile. So, maybe he was still creepy, but she felt a slight softening in her opinion of him. ‘Tell us all you know, and I’ll keep what I say to your father to a minimum. And I’ll make sure he knows that you helped us.’

‘Just tell them, you arse-hole! And thank your lucky stars you are getting let off so easily,’ hissed Ethan.

Twenty minutes later they let the boys go. They had descriptions, locations of meetings, and best of all; Nicholas described the exact spot in the cellar where the ‘main man’ had sat. Any evidence found in that immediate area, and from what they had been doing, Kate was dead certain that there would be evidence, could later be linked to him.

Kate closed the interview room door, and exhaled loudly. ‘I can’t wait to tie this up with what Gary Pritchard has already got. From the sound of these perverts, we can’t waste a moment in getting them into the Custody Suite.’

Jon nodded. ‘Bastards! Just the thought of those slime-balls watching young kids makes me want to heave.’

Kate thought of her lovely sons. ‘I know exactly what you mean.’

‘Ma’am? Could we have a word, please?’ Two uniformed officers were walking towards them.

Kate acknowledged them then said to Jon. ‘Go check on the others, would you?’ She turned back, ‘Sure, lads, but make it snappy.’

The older of the two spoke first. ‘We were asked to check out a place called Windrush for you, ma’am.’

Kate recognised him as PC Andy English, a good copper who’d worked with her on numerous occasions. ‘Yes, and did you find anything?’

‘Not exactly, ma’am.’ said the younger man; a lad that she knew little about, other than his name was PC Ivan Goode.

‘But the thing is,’ continued Andy, ‘we spent a lot of time there, and when we left we wrote it off as a no-no, now we’re not so sure. We think it warrants a second look, but with a lot more bodies.’

‘What’s worrying you, Andy?’ Whatever it was, she trusted this man’s judgement.

He adjusted his heavy equipment belt, and raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. ‘Hard to put a finger on it, but I reckon it’s the bloke that showed us round more than anything.’

‘We think he directed us to where we needed to go a bit too carefully, ma’am,’ said Ivan. ‘I’m sure we saw exactly what he wanted us to see, and no more.’

‘Who is he?’

‘His name is Micah Lee, and he is not the kind of man you would want to upset.’ Andy sniffed. ‘I’m pretty good on reading people, ma’am, and that man was hair-spring taut. Oh yes, after initial anger at us showing up unannounced, he put up a good show; nice as pie, but underneath..,’ he paused for effect. ‘…boiling, he was.’

‘And he’s the owner of Windrush?’

‘No, he’s the caretaker. It’s owned by a man named Benedict Broome. Lee had no intentions of telling us about what was going on there, but he opened up a bit as we walked around, and told us that Broome has massive plans for the place. And Micah Lee seems to be working his socks off down there, but hell, Windrush is one scary dump.’

‘And dangerous,’ added Ivan. ‘It needs bull-dozing and starting again.’

‘What are these great plans?’

‘Broome wants to turn Windrush into a retreat. Somewhere for people to go and get away from life for a while. A remote spot where they would eat well, sleep well and relax. Lee was telling us about proposed water gardens, covered courtyards for silent contemplation, a garden of tranquillity, reading rooms, music rooms, quiet rooms.., you name it. You’d have thought Broome had millions to spend.’

‘Maybe he does?’

Ivan laughed. ‘Well, he’s not spending too much on labour! You didn’t see Micah Lee, ma’am! He’s out there with a bloody great shovel and a barrow, no sign of any workmen or helpers. It looked like he was doing it alone, and by hand.’

‘It was odd, ma’am.’ agreed Andy. ‘Although it was apparent that some major work in clearing the place has already been done.’ He frowned. ‘I think I’d like to see the plans and the planning permission reports.’

‘Then get them, constable. And as soon as possible, and bring them straight to me. Meantime..,’ she took the scruffy card that Goode offered her. ‘… I’ll speak to this Benedict Broome, then perhaps we’ll pay Windrush another visit.’

Kate watched as the two constables hurried down the corridor, and felt a little chill of apprehension drift over her. There was something about the old sanatorium that caused her concern, and over the years she had learnt never to ignore her occasional feelings of uneasiness. On the few times that she had, it had always proved costly.

She walked slowly back towards the lifts, and decided that Jon’s Windrush Guided Tour may come in useful after all. His prior knowledge, coupled with his strange ability, may prove to be a great help.