Inside Evil

Chapter 7 - Part III

"Take a seat Karl," Martha replied with control. "I gather you're not actually on the Lingly case, otherwise you wouldn't be here seeking me out. If that's true, you're here unofficially. And, if that's true, then Susan can hear anything that you have to say on the matter."

Karl once again made a visible motion to leave, but with more insistence from Martha he finally sat uncomfortably at the table where Susan was. A small electric fire burned next to the three of them, and there passed a few moments when all that could be heard was the clicking of the heating and the increasing bubbling that came from the coffee machine.

"Now, answer Susan's question," Martha said, as she slid into a seat at the table and passed Karl a steaming cup of black coffee. The pair knew each other well Susan thought, Martha hadn't even needed to ask how he liked his drink.

"I really can't say anything Martha, you know that."

"Oh, for God's sake Karl. You're not on the case. There isn't even a case anymore, she's been dead and buried for weeks. Susan and I are trying to piece this all together and we're having no luck, so anything you can shed upon the matter will be of great help."

"OK," Karl said slowly, warming his hands with the thick rimmed mug. "I believe that your daughter did not die of natural causes." He chose his words carefully. "I don't have an answer," he continued, quelling Susan's sudden rising hope. "All I know is that almost 10 years ago to the day, there were a string of deaths in Ridgewood. None were ever explained, none ever had long and drawn out investigations."

"But I was here 10 years ago," Susan said, "I don't remember anything."

"Roger Fenwick?"

"But he just dropped dead of a heart attack."

"Did he? Three weeks later, Lillia Evans. Six weeks later, John Cooper. And, four weeks after that James Harrow."

"No, you've got this wrong. Lillia Evans moved south to look after her mother. John Cooper, well, actually I don't know anything about him. And it was well known that James Harrow was a hiker. That was the reason that he moved here. It was just an accident that he got caught out in the weather."

Karl raised an eyebrow. "So, you don't believe that your daughter simply died on the spot, but you believe that these people just moved or had accidents?"

Susan's mind was whirling. Lillia Evans had been a popular woman in Ridgewood, running several of the society groups. Her mother had become ill and she'd decided to move away to look after her. Although, now she thought on the matter in detail, Susan realised that Lillia had moved very suddenly, almost too quickly. Meanwhile, James Harrow and she had had a passing acquaintance. Before Best Books, Susan had frequented a little second hand bookstore down the street and it was there that she had often seen James scouting for hiking and footpath guides to the local area. He was always planning his next adventure into the wilds. But then he'd disappeared for several weeks, and when they eventually found his body, it had been perfectly preserved in a snowy trench several miles outside of the town.

"You're forgetting another," Martha said.

Karl placed one of his hands upon Martha's own and looked at Susan again, "And, Barry Wittle."

"No, what you're telling me is ludicrous," Susan said. "I just can't believe it, that all these people were murdered in some way? Barry disappeared, Martha, you said it yourself."

"Barry was dealing with some demons, much in the same way that Vanessa seemed to be. There was reasoning behind his disappearance," Martha replied, withdrawing her hand from Karl's.

There was once again silence in the air, apart from the constant ticking of the electric fire which was doing a poor job of heating the room.

"Why did you come back Karl?"

"I don't know, it seemed right."

"But you don't even know anything," Martha said. "You're not even here officially, so your superiors can't believe you. You stroll in here as if you have the answer to everything, but on closer inspection, you have nothing. My Barry is still missing, Susan's daughter is dead."

This seemed to unsettle Karl significantly. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, spinning the mug between his fingers.

"Thanks for the coffee," Karl finally said, pushing the chair out and getting to his feet. The air had become extremely hostile in a short matter of moments. "I'm sorry about your daughter," he said, looking towards Susan who gave him a mere nod. "It was nice seeing you again Martha."

"I'm not sure I could say the same Karl."

He looked dejected, and without saying another word crept towards the door, clicked open the latch and was gone with a rush of wind. The moment the door catch caught back with a small tinkle, Susan rounded on Martha. She was furious.

"What the hell is going on? How could you keep this all from me? I thought we were supposed to be doing this together."

"We are, I just didn't know how much of the past was relevant," Martha replied. "I don't know anything about the other deaths. I only know what I went through with Barry."

"But Karl?"

"Karl was Barry's best friend. They used to go fishing almost every weekend. In fact, Karl was a godsend for getting Barry out of my hair when I needed some peace and quiet. I didn't even think about mentioning it before. They fell out just before," Martha stopped sharp, "just before Barry disappeared."

"Why?"

"I don't actually know," Martha said with a questioning look. "I never found out what Karl had done to cause such aggression in Barry. But, from best friends they became almost worst enemies overnight. Barry almost pleaded with me to keep myself and him away from Karl."

"And the deaths, were there more after Barry's disappearance?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry. After Barry disappeared I wasn't really paying attention to everything else. I lost it for a while there, you know that."

"I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Susan said, her tone subsiding a little. "It's just so frustrating. I miss her, so much. I have no idea who she was, or what happened to her. All I have is an increasing fear that whatever we uncover is not going to set anything right.It's just going to make matters worse." 

*I will be posting one or two scenes a week as the story builds. However, if you can't wait that long, Inside Evil is available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks.

If you want to know more, visit geoffreywakeling.com, sign up to my newsletter, visit my Facebook or Tweet me. Thanks for reading, I appreciate your support.*