Deadlight Hall (Nell West/Michael Flint #5)(78)

The next moments were blurred. Both Michael and Nell snatched their phones to tap out 999.

‘The fire engine’s on its way,’ said Michael, who had got the call in first. ‘Only—’

‘Only it’s got to come through the road block that held me up,’ said Nell.

‘Yes. And if there really is a fire—’

‘Michael, don’t go up there to investigate,’ she said at once.

‘That’s the last thing I’m going to do. What I am going to do,’ said Michael, ‘is find something to smash a window and get out.’

He paused, as Nell’s phone rang. She waved to him to wait, spoke for a moment, then said, ‘It’s Jack Hurst. His wife gave him my mobile number, and he’s ringing to say he’s about fifteen minutes away. I’ve told him we think there might be a bit of a fire.’

‘What did he say?’ Michael was watching the stair, praying not to see any wisps of smoke.

‘He said, “Sodding duff electricals,” and something about dismembering Darren on Monday morning. But I’ve given him your number and he’s going to phone you and see if he can guide you through the basement to where you might be able to smash open a kitchen window or something.’

Michael’s phone rang almost at once, and Jack Hurst’s voice, horrified and slightly panic-stricken, fired questions. Was Dr Flint sure he was safe? That there was no smoke reaching the ground floor? No crackle of flames or smell of burning?’

‘No,’ said Michael. ‘It might be nothing at all, but—’

‘But we can’t take the chance,’ said Hurst.

‘The fire brigade’s on its way, but—’

‘That bloody roadblock. Yes, I know. I’m stuck in it at the moment – they’re letting single-file traffic through, but I’m in the big van so I might have trouble getting round. But the fire engine will find a way through, be sure of that.’

‘Yes,’ said Michael, who was not sure at all.

‘And we can get you out. What I’ll do, I’ll guide you down to the basement – there’s a garden door down there. It’ll be locked – in fact we’ve never opened it because we’ve never needed to and we haven’t got keys to it. But the top half is plain glass and if you can break that you should be able to climb through. Can you find a hammer or something? Those boys are sure to have left stuff lying around. I tell them time after time – “Tidy up as you go,” I tell them, but do they take any notice? Do they buggery, excuse my swearing, Dr Flint.’

‘Swear away,’ said Michael. ‘Hold on, I’ll see if there’s something I can use on the window. There’s a bit more light now – Nell’s parked so that her headlights are shining in.’ He walked into the main downstairs rooms. ‘Nothing yet,’ he said. ‘Paint brushes – they wouldn’t be heavy enough … Oh, wait, there’s a big old broom here. The handle should do it.’

‘Good enough. Back to the hall, and there’s a door set a bit back, near the stairs.’

‘I tried that a while ago,’ said Michael, ‘but it was as dark as the devil’s forehead, so I didn’t dare investigate. But if Nell can move the car a bit more … Wait a minute, I’ll tell her what we want.’

Nell was still at the window, and Michael explained, pointing towards the door.

‘That sounds fine,’ said Nell. ‘Once I’ve got the car’s lights lined up, I’ll try to make my way round to the back so I can help you climb out.’

‘Nell, it’ll be pitch dark!’

‘Michael, my love, did you think I’d drive out to a dark old house without a torch in the car?’ She brandished a large torch.

‘Well, all right. I’ll go down the steps,’ said Michael. ‘I don’t know if it’s straight down the rabbit hole, though, or whether it’s more a case of “Down, down, to hell, and say I sent thee thither”.’

‘No one but you would find an apt quotation at a moment like this.’

‘I don’t know about quotations, but I’m going to feel utterly ridiculous descending to hell clutching a broom.’

‘They’d probably let you sweep it out,’ said Nell. ‘Michael …’

‘Yes?’

‘Be careful.’

Before he could respond, she had gone back to the car. The engine fired, and Nell reversed and then drove the car back towards the house. Michael waved and indicated to her to move slightly to the left. This time the lights fell directly across the door.

He waved again, and sent a thumbs-up sign. ‘We’re all set,’ he said into the phone. ‘I’m about to plumb the depths.’

The door opened again, with only a small protesting creak, and a smell of damp and decay breathed out.

‘There’s a flight of stone steps inside,’ said Jack. ‘And at the bottom are several small rooms, with the furnace room at the far end.’

The furnace room, thought Michael. They fired the furnace that night to burn Esther Breadspear’s body.

He said, ‘Yes, I can see the steps.’

‘Go past the furnace room – you’ll recognize it because it’s got strips of iron over it and a round window. Then you should see the garden door. It leads to a small courtyard on the left of the house.’