صدایی در تاریکی

CHAPTER FOUR

A voice in the dark

It was seven when I woke the next morning, and still dark. I knew I couldn’t sleep any more and I felt uncomfortable on the small sofa.

There was no noise from upstairs. Mary was still asleep. It was too early to phone Linda in London. She would be angry if I woke her up at this time.

I decided to get up and go for a walk on the beach. I left the pub as quietly as I could.

There was a strong wind from the sea and I could hear the waves on the stones. At least it wasn’t raining.

I walked behind the pub and across the car park, through some long grass and then down to the sea.

About a hundred metres along I saw a car parked on the beach. There was no road and I couldn’t see how it had got there. It was a strange place to leave a car.

When I got closer I saw that it was an old car and the tyres were flat. It had probably not been driven for some time.

I looked up and down the beach but there was nobody around. I looked through the dirty windows.

There were some man’s clothes on the front seat: a shirt and some trousers and one black shoe. Had someone spent the night there?

That one shoe was strange. Perhaps the other one was under the seat? I tried to open the driver’s door but it was locked.

In the distance I could just see the church. I started to walk towards it. It was over a kilometre but I walked quickly and reached it in less than fifteen minutes.

I like churches and last time Linda and I had walked this way I’d wanted to go and have a look inside.

Linda said it was boring so we didn’t. In fact, the last time I’d been inside a church with Linda was when we got married.

I didn’t expect to find the church open at this time on a Saturday morning, but it was. I pushed open the heavy wooden door and went inside.

It was dark but there was enough light for me to see a large picture on a wall. I could just see a large whale with a man in its mouth. It must be the story of Jonah and the whale, I thought.

I couldn’t remember ever seeing a picture like that in a church before. Then I heard the church door open and I jumped. A voice in the darkness said:

‘You don’t usually see a painting like that in a house of God, do you?’ It wasn’t the first time I had heard that voice.

‘No, no. Is it Jonah and the whale-,’ I asked. I thought perhaps I shouldn’t be in the church so I went on: ‘I’m sorry, you see the door was open and I thought I-‘

The man continued. ‘Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. All I know is that you never know what might happen at sea.’ I looked at the picture again, the large body of the whale and the small, white body of the man in the mouth of the animal. Then I heard the door at the back of the church close. The man had gone. I tried to remember where I had heard his voice before.

I didn’t want to stay in the church any longer. I hurried outside and down to the beach. There was no sign of the man. It was still quite dark, but it was nearly seven thirty and the sky was beginning to change colour. I thought it was late enough now to call Linda again.

It was still difficult to see on the beach, but as I walked near the sea I saw something in the water. It was being pulled backwards and forwards by the waves. I bent down to pick it up. It was a woman’s shoe. I don’t know why but I immediately thought of the newspaper story about the woman’s body that had been found in the River Deben. It was a small yellow shoe with a low heel, just like the sort of shoes that Linda wore. At that moment I saw the other shoe - It was higher up on the beach and was completely dry. It hadn’t been in the sea. What worried me was that the shoes weren’t old. Someone had thrown them away. In fact the shoes were almost new. Whose shoes were they?

I walked and then ran back to the Ancient Mariner carrying the shoes. The door was open and Mary was washing glasses.

‘Morning, Mr Anderson,’ she said. ‘You’re up early. Did you sleep all right?’ She saw the shoes I was carrying. ‘What have you got there?’

I put the shoes on the bar. ‘I found them on the beach. How do you think they got there?’ Mary put down the glass she was drying and picked up one of the shoes.

‘Well, anyone could have-‘ and then she looked up at me. ‘You don’t think they belong to your wife, do you?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t think it’s possible. She’s still in London.’ I wanted Mary to tell me I was right. Of course they couldn’t be Linda’s shoes, I told myself.

But then Mary told me something that worried me even more.

‘Look, Mr Anderson, this is probably nothing important, but the postman came this morning and I told him about you staying here last night. I told him you bought the Parker’s house and he said he’s seen your wife now and then.’

‘Well, of course he has. She often comes here for the weekend.’

‘Yes, well, there’s more. The postman said he saw your wife in town, in Woodbridge, yesterday evening. She was with someone, he thinks. Of course, he could be wrong.’

‘Oh, my God. I knew it. Something is very wrong. She could be dead by now. She could have lost these shoes when-‘ I didn’t want to think about it. I looked inside one of the shoes. Yes, they were a size four. Lindas size. They must be hers.

‘Mary,’ I said, ‘call the police. I’m going back to the beach.’ I ran out of the pub and down to the beach again. I ran towards the church and as close to the sea as possible. I I tied to remember exactly where I’d found the shoes.

Then in the distance I saw something lying on the beach. It was about two metres from the sea and it looked like a body. I ran as fast as I could and, as I ran, I could hear myself repeating, ‘Oh no, no, no. Please Linda. You must be OK!’

As I reached the thing I saw it was grey and covered with blood. I fell down beside it. I didn’t want to look. There was a strong smell of fish. I looked. It was a fish. An enormous fish. I was crying now and saying to myself, Thank God, thank God it’s not you, Linda.’ I stood up and then I saw that the fish had no head. It looked as if someone had cut it off with a knife. I felt sick. Then I saw a man’s shoe. It had blood on it, and it was the same as the shoe in the car on the beach. I ran back to the pub.

Mary was putting the phone down as I came into the bar.

‘Mary, whose car is it on the beach? There’s a shoe in it the same as the one with blood on it.’

I was speaking so quickly that Mary didn’t understand what I was saying. She told me to slow down and explain.

‘What shoe are you talking about? That car belongs to Tom Parker. He doesn’t drive it, but he lives in it sometimes. I told you he was a bit strange. He likes to be near the sea.’

‘Well, there’s a fish down there on the beach. I thought it was my wife, at first. And its head’s been cut off and there’s a shoe under it. There’s a shoe like that in the old car. Have you called the police?’ I stopped for a second and Mary took my arm and sat me down.

‘Now Mr Anderson. You’ve found a fish without its head and a couple of shoes that probably belong to poor Tom. Now that doesn’t mean something has happened to your wife, does it?’ Mary spoke in a soft, calm voice.

‘Why don’t you phone her in London and find out where she really is? I’ll get you a cup of coffee.’

I phoned the flat but there was nobody there. I phoned Melissa, too, and her answerphone was still on. When Mary came back with my coffee I tried to sound normal.

‘Mary, I think something has happened to my wife. She isn’t in London as far as I know and you say she has been seen in Woodbridge. With this madman living in a car on the beach and driving taxis and killing fish I feel I must do something. Do you understand?’

She could see I was getting worried again. ‘Why don’t you go back to your house? I’ll phone PC Grant. He’s the policeman in Great Moreton. We don’t have a policeman in Little Moreton. I’ll tell him where you are and he can go and find you there.’

I had to agree to that and so I drove back to the house.