Simon Green - The Dark Side of the Road

‘What’s going on?’ he said roughly. ‘Did I hear … Did somebody scream?’

I didn’t have the time to answer him, and Penny didn’t seem inclined to. We ran on down the corridor. Khan stumbled after us. Jeeves and Leilah were already pounding up the stairs, gun in hand, their faces professionally focused. They reached the top of the stairs just as Penny and I got to the end of the corridor. A quick glance back past them showed me Walter and Melanie, standing together at the foot of the stairs in matching battered old dressing gowns. Walter was demanding to know what was going on, his voice loud but his eyes vague, while Melanie did her best to hush and comfort him. Walter would have none of it. He started up the stairs, moving as quickly as he could, leaning heavily on his walking stick. Melanie followed him up, if only because she didn’t want to be left on her own.

And finally, I looked at the door at the end of the corridor. Sylvia was staring through the open doorway into a room full of darkness, her face full of horror. She turned abruptly to look at me with wide shocked eyes. She’d stopped screaming now, but probably only because she had both hands pressed to her mouth. I took a moment to look her over, to make sure she was unharmed. Sylvia was wearing an expensive silk wrap, but no curlers in her hair or cream on her face. She didn’t look like she’d been sleeping. She gestured frantically at the room before her, unable to force the words out. I took her by the shoulders and moved her gently to one side. She stumbled and almost fell, but Penny was there to catch her and hold her up as I peered through the dark opening.

‘Stay with her, Penny,’ I said.

‘Hell with that,’ said Penny. She checked Sylvia could stand unsupported, and then moved quickly forward to stand beside me, peering into the dark beyond the doorway. Light falling in from the corridor didn’t travel far.

Jeeves and Leilah finally arrived.

‘Stay where you are!’ I said sharply. ‘You need to keep everyone else out of this room. We can’t risk contaminating a crime scene.’ I turned to Penny. ‘Whose room is this? Who’s in there?’

‘This is Roger’s room,’ she said steadily. ‘He invited me in, earlier, but I didn’t want to go. This isn’t going to be good, is it?’

‘No,’ I said.

‘Is Roger dead, do you think?’

‘It seems likely,’ I said. ‘Someone in this room is dead. I can tell.’

The light was off in Roger’s room, and with the shutters closed over the window there was no interior light at all. Just the darkness, hiding something, like a child with a nasty secret. I could smell burnt meat, clearer than ever. I could hear flames crackling, quietly, but there was no light from the room’s fireplace.

Penny crowded in beside me, but made no move to push past me. ‘I can smell something burning now,’ she said quietly. ‘Where’s the light switch?’

I reached inside the doorway and fumbled around till I found the switch. I turned the light on, and Penny cried out, despite herself.

A blackened, charred body sat in a chair by the cold fireplace, facing the door. The body’s clothes had mostly burned away, and the exposed flesh was scorched and cracked. The face was an unrecognizable mess. Teeth gleamed whitely in the ragged mouth. The eyes were gone. I moved quickly forward into the room, ripped the top blanket off the bed, and threw it over the body. I pressed down hard, but I already knew it was too late. I heard bones crack, from where I pressed down too hard. I let go of the blanket and stepped back.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said to Penny.

She swallowed hard. Her face was pale, but when she finally spoke her voice was steady. ‘This is Roger’s room, but can we be sure that’s him?’

‘Good point,’ I said. ‘It’s getting so I don’t trust anything in this house.’

I pulled back one side of the blanket, just enough to uncover the charred right hand. A little smoke rose up. I found a gold signet ring; huge and flashy. I showed it to Penny, and she nodded quickly.

‘Yes. I know that ring. He was so proud of it, always so keen to show it off, and I was always rude about it because it was ugly. That’s Roger.’ She stopped talking and shook her head briefly, her mouth compressed into a flat line, and then she looked unflinchingly at the body. ‘I won’t cry now. Not when there’s so much that needs to be done. I’ll cry later, when there’s time. I promise you, Roger.’ She looked angrily at me. ‘Who would want to kill Roger, of all people? He isn’t important, not like your Colonel. I don’t think Roger had an enemy in the world.’

‘He did say everyone in his family hated him,’ I said carefully.

‘Well, yes, but they’re not here,’ said Penny. ‘And why would any of them want to kill James?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I can’t see any obvious connection between the two murders. It doesn’t make sense.’

Jeeves leaned in through the doorway, looked at the body, and scowled. ‘Did I hear right; that’s Roger?’

‘Yes,’ said Penny. ‘He’s dead.’

She went back out into the corridor, Jeeves moving quickly to get out of her way. I went after her and stood in the doorway, blocking it off.

‘Roger’s dead,’ Penny announced loudly. ‘The killer set him on fire.’

A small crowd had gathered together in the corridor. They all made sounds of horror and distress, and huddled together. Everyone present seemed honestly shocked by the news. Khan was comforting Sylvia, who was weeping quietly against his chest. She looked like a child who’d just discovered how harsh and cruel the world can be. Khan looked lost and bewildered, even as he patted Sylvia’s shoulder automatically. Jeeves and Leilah stood close together, their guns in their hands. Neither of them seemed sure what to do. Walter and Melanie had finally made it up the stairs to join the rest of us. Walter was breathing hard, and the colour in his face wasn’t healthy. He leaned heavily on his walking stick and on Melanie’s arm. She looked wildly about her, as though expecting to be attacked at any moment.

‘I can’t believe it,’ said Walter. ‘Two of my guests dead, in my own home … First James, and now Roger? What the hell is going on? Somebody tell me what’s going on!’

‘Hush, dear,’ said Melanie. ‘For God’s sake.’

Walter seemed to realize for the first time how upset his wife was, and he patted her hand, on his arm.

I stepped forward, to address Sylvia, who was still leaning heavily on Alexander Khan. ‘I know you’re upset, Sylvia, but I have to ask you some questions. How did you happen to be here?’

Sylvia slowly turned away from Khan to answer me. Her voice was higher than usual, but still reasonably steady. Tears ran down her face, though she didn’t seem to notice.

‘I heard those footsteps again. Just … walking up and down, going nowhere. But this time when they stopped, I heard a door open. And I thought: that’s different. So I went to my door and stood there and listened for a while. No voices, and I didn’t hear the door close. So I unlocked my door and looked out. I couldn’t see anyone, but I didn’t want to think I was just imagining things, so I stepped out into the corridor. And that’s when I realized Roger’s door was standing open. So I came down here, to see what was going on. I knew I shouldn’t, I knew it wasn’t a sensible thing to do, but … I couldn’t seem to help myself. I had to know … And then I looked in through the door … And saw Roger-’ She broke off, unable to go on.

Khan took her in his arms again. He glared at me over her shoulder. ‘Can’t this wait?’

‘I suppose so,’ I said. ‘It’s not as if any of us are going anywhere.’ I looked round at the others. ‘No one is to go into this room. We finally have an actual crime scene, and I don’t want anything disturbed. We never did find out where the Colonel was killed, but it seems clear Roger died right here.’