Helen Phifer - The Face Behind the Mask

‘Thank you, he’s getting so heavy you wouldn’t believe it.’

John disappeared into the kitchen and she flopped down onto the big, squashy sofa. Moving the cushions she formed a bed for Alfie and laid him down. John came in with a tray with two huge wedges of cake and she looked at him.

‘Did I ever tell you how much I love you?’

He chuckled. ‘Ah, you’re far too easily bought, and yes, I think you did mention that the last time I fed you.’

‘Good, because you need to know this stuff.’

John passed a plate to her and let her tuck into her cake. He asked her about Will and how the funeral had gone. She relayed Will’s antics to him and smiled to see him shaking his head with a grin on his face.

‘I kind of understand, though. He’s had to carry that guilt with him since the night it happened. As have you; you both have.’

‘I know. That’s why I couldn’t be too mad with him.’

‘Good, I’m glad you weren’t. Now then, enough of the small talk. I couldn’t help but notice you peering into a certain corner of the churchyard when we were talking outside. God forbid, but tell me is there something wrong at the cottage?’

‘Sorry, John, I didn’t come to upset you, but I did want to see you about something.’

‘I know you did. You’re very busy, what with your little prince there, but if something’s wrong I want to know so I can help you. I value your friendship far too much to turn my back on you when the going gets tough, so don’t worry about me.’

He grabbed hold of her hand and she squeezed his fingers.

‘There’s nothing obviously wrong that I know about. It’s more a case of feeling as if there is something not right.’

‘And you’re wondering about our terrible friend, Betsy?’

She nodded. ‘Just the thought of that horrible woman terrifies me. Alfie won’t settle in his own room. He’s started to wake up every night at a similar time, and I know babies do that – I’m not stupid – but it’s always cold in there, even with the heating on. I just wanted to check her grave hasn’t been disturbed and that nothing unusual has happened.’

‘It hasn’t, don’t you worry about that. I don’t even let them cut the grass by her with the lawnmower. I make sure they use the strimmer in that corner; believe me, I don’t want a run-in with her again. Once was enough for any of us.’

‘Well, I don’t know what it is then. I used to hear the laughter of the boys she killed before I had Alfie, but since he’s been here they haven’t been around. I don’t think that they would scare him either; they were good kids. There’s something else: I had a terrible dream about a white house with a blue door where something bad had happened, and the next night the exact house was on the local news because a body had been found inside of it.’

‘You’re a very gifted woman, not to mention a very tired new mother whose hormones are all over the place. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. If it was her in your house then I think you would know about it. She didn’t like you being in there. She wouldn’t stand in the background and do nothing; that’s not her style. As for your dream, it was probably your sixth sense telling you about it, trying to forewarn you that Will was about to get involved in another murder. Is he involved?’

She nodded. ‘He will be, although he hasn’t said anything yet.’

‘Sometimes you have to switch it all off, which I think you have managed to do quite well since Alfie’s birth. It’s probably just bits and pieces sneaking in when you’re not looking.’

‘You’re right. I’m so sorry to have bothered you, John. I’m letting it all get to me when really I’m just knackered.’

‘You’re never a bother to me – well, that time you and Jake turned up with a plastic box with the bones of that awful Betsy Baker inside you were – but I’ve forgiven you for that one, just.’

They both laughed.

‘Ah yes, that was very bad.’

‘Come on, eat your cake and drink your coffee while you have five minutes’ peace. I want you to tell me all about what you’ve been up to since I last saw you.’

They began to chat and Annie felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. John would have known if that evil woman was back. She didn’t like any of them and wouldn’t leave him alone when he had been the one to inter what was left of her body in hallowed ground. She was being paranoid and overprotective of her son.

***

Stevie hadn’t been lying when he’d said the house they were clearing out was a shithole. It smelt so bad inside, even Dean had put a protective mask on, and he was normally hardcore when it came to stuff like this. Wally had a much weaker stomach and was sweating so bad he could smell himself through the mask.

The house was full of junk – nothing of any real value from what he could see. They hadn’t started on the bedrooms yet, but they’d almost cleared the downstairs. If he was lucky, he sometimes found pieces of jewellery that he could stash and take down the pawnshop. As long as Stevie wasn’t watching. He knew that Stevie did the same because how else did he afford the tidy, white BMW that he drove when he wasn’t in the works van?

He could hear Stevie muttering under his breath and he smiled. That bastard Jacko better pay him after this. They loaded the last boxes of ornaments and books into the back of the van and leant against it to take a breather. Wally lifted the mask away from his mouth, taking in gulps of fresh air. Stevie did the same and began inhaling fresh air as well.

‘Jesus, how can someone live like that? All those years of dust and filth. I mean, your flat’s a shithole, Wally, but at least it’s not that bad. Well, it wasn’t last time I was in there.’

‘Thanks, man, that’s nice of you to say. Mine doesn’t smell as bad as that; at least I hope not.’

‘No, you’re right – sorry. It’s not quite that bad. I reckon we deserve a bonus for this job, me and you, Wally lad. What do you think?’

‘Just being paid would be a decent start. That wanker hasn’t paid me for two weeks. I’m on the bones of my arse. That’s my last fiver I pulled out of my pocket.’

Stevie shook his head. ‘Tight sod he is. Don’t worry, I’ll tell him when we get back to pay you.’

He went around to the front of the van and pulled out two bottles of water, throwing one at Wally.

‘Here, drink this, then we can get the upstairs cleared. I’m telling you now, if we find a purse or money under the mattress, I’m not telling anyone. It’s between you and me and we’ll split it. Whoever lives here can’t have any visiting family or they’d have sorted through the stuff themselves. You know how greedy folks are when someone dies; Aunty Wilma, who they haven’t seen for ten years, was the best aunty anyone could ask for.’ He pretended to cry and Wally laughed.

‘Let’s hope Aunty Wilma was a secret millionaire then.’

Stevie nodded his head. ‘Yep. Come on, the quicker we do this, the quicker we can get out of here.’

He locked the van and headed back inside the rundown terraced house. Wally sighed, pulled his mask down and followed him. It was hard to concentrate when all he kept thinking about was the clown suit. The house they’d cleared where he’d found it had been full of circus memorabilia. The woman who lived there had been in the circus until it shut down. He’d read the articles in the scrapbook she’d kept on the sideboard, below the huge print of her hanging from a trapeze in the centre ring of a circus.

Wally would have liked to have brought the scrapbook and the print home with him to keep. They were nice, but he couldn’t stash them like he had the clown suit. He couldn’t afford to buy them and there was no way Jacko would have let him keep them. He sold everything on at the rundown auction house he owned. If he didn’t come up with the cash he owed him, he could ask him for the stuff as part payment. It would be nice to start a little collection of his own.