James Benn - A Blind Goddess

“Wait,” he said, pulling Sophia up the stairs. When he was at the top, he peered down at me. The knife was still at her throat, but his grip was relaxed. He had the upper hand, after all. “Let me see you lay it down.”

I withdrew the.38 from my shoulder holster. The butt was smeared with drying blood. I laid it on the floor and held up my hands for him to see. He nodded and I took the stairs. Bone stepped back as I came up and instructed me to close the door and put the carpet back over it.

“Now,” he said. “Go ahead of me, out back through the kitchen. If you try anything at all, Sophia will suffer a scar that will haunt her for the rest of her life, if it doesn’t kill her. Do you understand?”

“Sure,” I said, grabbing a dish towel to wrap around my cut palm as I passed through the kitchen. It was obvious he wasn’t going to kill her right away and lose his leverage. I went out the door and turned as Bone stayed in the doorway, looking around the backyard.

“Open the shed doors,” he said. Sophia whimpered beneath her gag. The shed was about twenty feet away, and I had a view of the road. It was still quiet, except for the distant sound of engines echoing along the valley. I had hoped for a dozen constables and maybe a Tank Destroyer or two, but we were alone in the midday stillness. I opened the double doors.

The shed was small, and I never would have guessed a vehicle could fit inside, but this was an Austin Seven, a tiny, black two-door British car about as long as I was tall. Bone ordered me to get in and pull it forward. I folded myself into the driver’s seat on the right and started it up. The engine sounded tinny and the frame shook. I drove it out of the shed and stopped. Bone whipped open the passenger door and dove in, pulling Sophia cruelly by her bound hands. She landed in a heap in the cramped back seat with him, moaning from an injury, fear, or both.

“Drive,” Bone said. “Right on High Street and then the next right. Like a Sunday excursion, Captain Boyle, or else I’ll have to put this knife to work. Now you, dear Sophia, you get down on the floor.” I heard more muffled cries as he pushed her down, out of sight.

“Let me guess,” I said, keeping my eyes on the road and the speed respectable. “You’ve done this before.”

“There’s much I’ve done before, Captain, but little that gave so much pleasure. Now be quiet.” He tapped the blade against my head and laughed. He was enjoying himself. I wondered if the danger was as important as the girls in his twisted mind. I waited for a minute, which seemed to go on forever as I drove this madman down a quiet country road. We were headed away from the main road and the town, probably already outside of any cordon the police managed to throw up.

“You ever come this close to being caught before?” I figured he wouldn’t mind bragging about his escapades. He didn’t even hesitate.

“This is nothing,” Bone said, as I caught a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror, checking the road behind us. It was clear. “Who was that in the police car anyway?”

“A canal man. He saw you that night, outside the Miller residence, arguing with Neville.”

“Ah, the inquisitive banker. He became unduly suspicious when he inspected the shop. Said my plans were wrong for a storeroom and kept asking why I needed so much space. I didn’t like it, I can tell you that much. There was something about him that said copper. So I removed the threat.”

“While casting suspicion on the Millers by dumping the suitcase,” I said. “Brilliant.”

“No,” Bone said. “The brilliant ones are those you never catch out. There are plenty, I promise you that. The canal man, now that is the kind of threat no one can plan for. Random. I remember the boat that night. Good moon, as I recall. He passed by just as Neville turned his back on me.”

“Big mistake on his part,” I said.

“I prefer to think of him as being maneuvered into position. Quite a difference, but not from his point of view, I admit. Here, take this left.” Another tap on the shoulder with his knife, and he was back to talking. It had to be lonely being a criminal genius, after all. “But when I saw the fellow point me out, I knew it was all over. This chapter, that is.”

“You acted quickly,” I said, trying to keep some admiration in my voice. “Some guys would have tried to bluff it out, or act indignant.”

“Yes. Those types are all in prison, or soon will be. That is not my desire. There, take that lane.” We drove down a narrow lane, leafy branches hanging low overhead. The track took us to a small cottage nestled along the canal, and I realized the turns we’d taken had brought us back to the water. There were no other buildings in sight. The canal was wider here than in town, and the walking path along it was overgrown, thick lush grasses growing along the bank. The cottage stretched out along the waterfront, soft limestone topped with an old thatched roof. Weeds grew on the path to the door, and two canalboats were tied up in front of the house.

“You had this all set up,” I said, taking in the isolated spot. “A bolt-hole.”

“Switch off the motor,” Bone said. “Notice how quiet it is here. No one about, except for the occasional traffic on the canal.”

“So you’re not really in the sweets business at all,” I said, trying for admiration, anything to keep him talking and maybe distracted.

“Oh, I don’t mind cooking them up. And the pony cart was an excellent prop. But as for business, I robbed two banks in my youth. All in the service of this. My life’s work, you might call it. My girls.”

“I bet you move around some,” I said, buying time, keeping Bone talking, looking for an advantage. “Find a remote spot for a hideout, then set yourself up where you have access to girls the right age. What else have you been? A schoolteacher?”

“Never mind that. Listen to me, Captain. We are going to go inside, all three of us. The same rules apply. Make one wrong move and Sophia will be mutilated. Make a very wrong move and I’ll slit her throat. Understand?”

“Once you do that, what do you think will stop me?”

“Your conscience will stop you before I slice into her. I love a good conscience. Such a great help to me. Now get out, open the door, and turn around.” I did, stepping back and facing the cottage. It was run-down, a damp chalky odor rising up from the stone. It didn’t look like a decent place to die, which I figured was what Bone had in mind for me. Maybe he had a weapon hidden inside. A pistol or a shotgun near the door. First me, and then when he was done with her, Sophia. A couple of bodies in the canal, and in a day or so he could head upstream towards London, and get lost in the city. I couldn’t let that happen, but I was unarmed, and he had Sophia in his grasp.

“What now?” I asked, glancing at the boats. One looked decrepit, but the other was in fairly good shape, about twenty feet long, narrow, with a low, enclosed cabin. It looked like any other vessel along the canal. I imagined Bone puttering away, admiring the scenery, two more bodies discarded behind him.

“Walk to the door. There is a large, flat stone under the window on the left. You’ll find the key there.” I moved to the door, stepping on planks set up as a walkway from the cottage to the boats. I knew if I opened that door I’d never come out under my own power, and Sophia would endure horrors before her end as well. I glanced back, as if checking my instructions.

“That window?” I said, pointing. We were all on the walkway now, the boats behind them, moored a few yards apart. Sophia’s eyes looked dead, the terror having exhausted her. Bone’s eyes glinted with excitement, the anticipation of what was to come.