Doc Mortis

‘Hear what?’

‘That whispering,’ I said, whispering myself now.

Ameena tilted her head to one side and listened. ‘Just the wind,’ she said.

I shook my head. It wasn’t the wind. ‘I heard something. A voice. It was a voice.’

‘What did it say?’

‘Don’t know, didn’t hear properly.’

‘I didn’t hear a thing.’

‘Shut up, sssh,’ I urged.

Amazingly, rather than punch me in the face for speaking to her like that, she did shut up. We stood in silence, both of us listening for any unusual sound, but the whispers didn’t come again.

‘Maybe you imagined it,’ Ameena said.

I let her take my weight again. ‘Let’s hope not,’ I said, and together we staggered onwards into the darkness that loomed ahead.

Chapter Two THE OTHER HOSPITAL (#ulink_a0a41d5e-1f15-50d3-91d8-eb3d0ca95f7f)

‘She’s not here.’

The intercom on the nursing-home door crackled briefly, then fell silent. I stared at it, hoping I’d heard wrong.

‘What do you mean she’s not here?’ Ameena demanded, stepping closer to the intercom and pulling me with her.

‘I mean she’s not here. She’s out.’

‘What do you mean she’s out?’

I heard the woman on the other side of the intercom sigh. ‘Have a guess.’

‘Don’t get smart with me,’ Ameena snarled, before thinking better of starting an argument. When she spoke again her voice was measured and controlled. ‘Where is she?’

‘That’s confidential.’

Ameena looked to the sky and shook her head. ‘Is everything confidential today?’ she muttered. ‘Look,’ she began, speaking into the intercom again, ‘I’ve got her grandson here. He’s sick. Can we come in and wait for her to get back?’

There was silence from the other end for several seconds before the speaker gave another crackle.

‘Hello?’ asked a man’s voice. ‘Who is this?’

Ameena looked as if she was about to punch the intercom off the wall, but she kept it together and explained who we were and why we were there. Again. All the while I had to fight to stop myself puking on the front step.

‘So, that’s the grandson?’ the man asked when Ameena had finished. ‘He’s there with you now?’

‘Yes! That’s her grandson, and he’s—’

‘One moment.’

The speaker gave another brief crackle of static, then a click. Ameena stared at it, slack-jawed, apparently finding it hard to believe that anyone would dare hang up on her. ‘Hello?’ she said. ‘Hello?’

‘You need to leave,’ said another voice. I looked at the intercom, trying to blink it into focus, before I realised the sound hadn’t come from there. A middle-aged man with a bald head stepped out of the shadows behind us. Even through the blurriness, I recognised him at once.

‘Joseph.’

‘Joseph?’ Ameena repeated. ‘What, the guy you told me about? From the train? That Joseph?’

I nodded. The last time I’d seen Joseph had been on the train up to Marion’s house. He’d told me he was looking after me, helping in his own way to keep me safe. I still didn’t know whether to believe him or not.

The train wasn’t the first time I’d met him. He’d been in the police station Ameena and I had run to while being chased by Mr Mumbles. He’d appeared in the school and freed me from the chair Caddie and Raggy Maggie had tied me to. He was popping up all over the place lately. And now, here he was again.

‘That man you just spoke to, he’s phoning the police,’ Joseph told me. His eyes were locked on mine, never once moving to look at Ameena.

‘The police?’ I muttered. ‘Why?’

‘Someone spotted the fire at Marion’s house and called the emergency services. They found her... remains.’

I’d have felt sick, if I didn’t feel sick already. ‘They think I did it.’

‘They think you did it,’ Joseph nodded. ‘And they are extremely keen to get you in for a chat.’

Headlights reflected off the glass in the door, making us all look round. A car drove by, not slowing. It wasn’t the police. Not yet.

‘Should I turn myself in?’

‘If you go in you won’t come out,’ Joseph said. ‘You have to get away from here. Now.’

‘But I didn’t do anything!’

‘They won’t believe you.’

‘How do we know we can trust you?’ Ameena asked. She was supporting most of my weight, but she wasn’t showing any signs of struggling.

Joseph turned her way for the first time. A look of irritation flashed across his face. ‘Sorry, was I talking to you?’

I felt Ameena go tense. Her mouth opened. I spoke before anything came out of it. ‘I need to find out where my mum is.’

‘I know where she is,’ Joseph said. ‘I’ll take you.’

‘You sure about this guy?’ Ameena asked, making no attempt to keep Joseph from hearing.

‘I’ll tell you what I’m sure of, Kyle,’ he said. He normally looked quite a relaxed character. Mischievous, even. But now there was none of that to be seen. ‘I’m sure that men are coming to take you away and lock you up. I’m sure that they will try you for Marion’s murder and they will find you guilty.’

He stepped closer to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. ‘And I’m sure that, right now, I’m your only hope of seeing your mum again. One hour from now you can be in a holding cell, or you can be at your mum’s bedside. Your choice.’