Tales of Horror and the Supernatural 2 by Graeme Winton - HTML preview

4 Peterborough-Dean

“Right Phil. What do you see?”

“The cathedral murders.”

“Look at the victims. The murderer is working through cathedral dignitaries! Each victim has a higher standing than the previous!”

“Oh yeah!”

“Now, looking at the list, what position is next?”

“Shit!”

“Look at the geographical sequence.”

“Yeah—north to south.”

“Question is: What cathedral in the south of England?”

The forensics on the book wrapping and the note came back, and an arrest warrant for Luke Cunningham issued, but when the arresting officers entered Dronell Hospital he was gone.

Kelly strolled into the CID room and sat on the edge of Metcalfe’s desk with a paper cup of steaming coffee.

“Listen Phil, I’m going to Canterbury tomorrow because I’ve found out that the archbishop is to be in the Cathedral tomorrow, and I’m pretty certain that Cunningham will be there.

What, on your own?”

“I don’t want a strong police presence to scare Cunningham off,” Kelly said as he took a sip of coffee. “Tomorrow, could you tell Bell that I’ve gone to Lincoln to interview someone?”

“Okay mate.”

A storm set into the south of England as the detective arrived in Canterbury. He parked his car and walked to the Cathedral surrounded by people. Kelly surveyed the precinct area and then, seeing nothing out of place, he headed into the building.

A mass of people was following a guide around on a tour. Other people were strolling around marvelling at the building as, outside, the wind howled.

Kelly walked along the Nave then through the Quire not really knowing what to expect when he noticed a vicar kneeling in the Trinity Chapel before an altar. The man glanced round at Kelly and then returned his gaze back to the altar. The chapel filled with people as the tour flooded in from the Nave. Kelly looked desperately through the crowd, but the clergyman was gone. He pushed his way past the tourists and caught the sight of the Vicar leaving the Chapel. Following the man, Kelly saw him slip through the door to the Bell Harry Tower.

As the detective walked up to the Tower door an attendant stepped in front of him and told him that the Tower was closed due to the weather. Kelly flashed his warrant card and instructed the man to allow no one else through.

After climbing some 200 steps Kelly burst out onto the roof of the Tower. The wind was very strong and howled around the turrets. The heavy rain was making the roof surface slippery.

Kelly searched around, but couldn’t find anyone. He feared that Cunningham had jumped or fallen. He bent over the small perimeter wall to look over the north side when a strong gust caught him from the side and rendered him unbalanced. A shadow appeared from nowhere and pushed him over the side and then caught him in a powerful grip before he fell.

After he caught his breath, the detective looked up into the rain-lashed face of Cunningham, who looked much bigger and stronger than the man he had seen in the hospital.

Luke Cunningham put one of Kelly’s hands onto a decorative opening in the wall, but otherwise held him where he was.

“Why the cathedrals man?” Kelly asked.

“The only time my father allowed me out of my room when I was a child was to accompany him to a cathedral where I would stand around waiting while he spoke to Deans and the like. I grew to hate the places.”

Cunningham looked up into the pouring rain. “Your father—did you really hate him?

“Yes,” answered Kelly after a pause. “The Book—Falling Leaves?”

“The only book my father allowed in the house was the bible. When I was allowed out of the house in my late teens I went to the library and I found Falling Leaves—it struck a chord!”

Kelly gazed with pity into the man’s wild eyes as his mobile rang in his pocket, which was just audible over the sound of the wind. Cunningham became suspicious and suddenly leapt over the top of Kelly shouting that his father beat him to drive out the demons!

Metcalfe and Superintendent Bell were in the CID office of Thorpe Wood Police Station along with Kelly who was standing staring out of the window. Bell summed-up by saying that Cunningham murdered these men to gain a kind of revenge on his strict father—the Vicar, and that DCI Holding was a friend of the family. And when the father died, the son was committed.

“Yes,” said Kelly, “it was more of a desperate cry to be noticed from a sick mind.”

“What of the supervision at the low security hospital?” Metcalfe asked.

“The staff were just covering their arses—there was no supervision. The patients about to be discharged were free to come and go as they pleased.” Kelly answered as he looked at the two men. “Cunningham was seriously ill with this bipolar disorder and the murders stopped when he was in the high security hospital. And he gave himself up to me–the son of another kind of terrorizing Father. How he found out about my back ground is anybody's guess. But there was a lot more to him than just another murderer.”