The Perfect Murder: Spine-chilling short stories for long summer nights

‘He needs a hand up.’

Dave stared back, then moved out of the way towards Sheila who was putting in the code of the safe, allowing Jay to help the man.

‘Give me your hand.’

‘Get off me, I don’t need your help.’

Jay, surprisingly stung by the man’s reaction, snarled back. ‘I ain’t doing this to help you; I just want to get the fuck out of here.’

‘Let him help you.’ The softly-spoken pregnant woman put her hand on the old man’s shoulders as she knelt down. Her brown hair tumbled past her shoulders and her petite freckled face was warm and friendly as she smiled at the man. For the first time Jay looked at her. He froze as a jolt of recognition hit him. His mind began to race and the whole corridor seemed to press in on him. He scrambled to his feet, almost running backwards to where his father was standing, a wealth of emotion gripping his body. He yelled out, stunning both his father and the other people.

‘Fucking move it! Now!’

10.55 a.m.

‘Careful son.’ Dave spoke as he watched Jay place the explosives on the far side of the wall. Once it was done, he turned to everyone, gesturing them into the large walk-in safe.

‘In here.’

‘Are you fucking crazy?’ Mike looked at Dave with disbelief.

‘No, but if you speak to me like this again, you’ll be wishing I was.’

‘You really don’t expect us to hide in there do you?’

‘Listen, the steel safe is blast resistant. There ain’t no safer place than in there. Once the detonators explode the rest of the walls will crumble like a biscuit. And unless you want a concrete block on your head, I’m telling you this is the place to be.’

Mike looked unsure, but as he watched Dave push everyone else in he decided he didn’t have much choice.

Inside the massive walk-in safe, Jay looked at the pregnant woman. He walked towards her, breathing hard and feeling his chest tighten. He walked close to where she was holding the old man up. She looked at him and scowled as he spoke to her.

‘Are you okay?’ Jay’s voice was low and unsure.

The pregnant woman turned her head to face Jay. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She hadn’t even planned to come into the bank. Christ, she didn’t even have a bank account, only a Post Office account. The only reason she’d come in here was the heat of the day had made her feel dizzy and she’d needed somewhere to sit down. She was only seven months pregnant, but it felt so much more. Wanting to distract herself from thinking about having to go to the toilet, she snapped angrily back. ‘Okay? Do you think any of us are okay?’

‘I was only wondering.’

‘It’s a bit late to do that, don’t you think?’

She stared at Jay who turned away to speak to Sheila.

‘Sheila. It’ll be okay.’

Sheila shook her head in disbelief.

‘Maybe it’ll be all right for you, but what about us? You think if we manage to get out of here, we’ll be able to get back to our normal lives? What goes through that head of yours?’

Jay looked at everyone in the safe, he saw the hostile stares and felt the niggling sensation of shame and the only thing he could do was go back to his default position. ‘Shut the fuck up! All of you. Do you hear me? Shut the hell up.’

Dave hurried into the safe, hearing Jay shouting. ‘What’s going on here?’

Jay said nothing, turning his back on his father. Ignoring the atmosphere, Dave spoke to everybody. ‘Okay, listen, I need you all to go to the far end. Get down on the ground and keep yourself tucked up. It’ll sound as if everything’s coming down on us but we’ll be safe in here. When I say “up”, you get up as fast as you can. If you don’t come when I say, well …’ Dave pulled the trigger, letting them know without words exactly what would happen to them if they got out of line.

Jay held on to his knees, waiting for the explosion to sound. A moment later he felt a tremor which seemed to shake the whole of his insides. Clattering thuds, rumbles and roars. The old man next to him clung on to him, then realising what he was doing let go with an exaggerated movement. Then a hush. Inside the safe, the lights went down with nothing but silence, apart from the tense breathing of all inside. A voice cut through the darkness.

‘I’m going to put my torch on but I don’t want any of you to move and no one try to be smart by clicking any lighters or matches. There might be escaping gas and the last thing that I want to do is go up in a cloud of smoke.

The torch light spotlighted the terrified faces of the hostages as Dave went round them one by one.

‘Okay, let’s go.’

11.00 a.m.

The safe door swung inwards, allowing the piled up rubble of bricks to fall. Dave coughed and signalled the others to follow him as the safe filled up with smoke. He began to scramble over the pile of debris, being cautious to avoid going near the sparking wires. He grinned inwardly, seeing the large hole the explosives had made.

He turned, watching Mike and Jay help the three customers over the rubble.

‘Hurry up.’

‘You don’t expect us to go in there?’ Sheila, looked in horror as she peered through the dark hole in the wall backing on to a tiny walkway next to which was a small drop before the sewers bubbled and flowed menacingly.

The stench was overpowering and Jay fought against the desire to be sick. It was almost pitch-black but his father’s torch light showed him all he wanted to see. The walls were slimy with a thick layer of white and grey, so thick he couldn’t even see the brickwork. The drips of watery condensation trickled down from the rounded ceiling and a steam of heat bounced off the stinking sewers.

Dave snapped, losing patience with Sheila.

‘Just move it.’

‘It’s best to do what he says.’ Jay spoke to Sheila, trying to reassure her or perhaps it was himself he was trying to reassure.

Without saying another word, Sheila nodded and began to make her way towards the hole. Dave shone his light enough for everyone to get their foothold.

‘Right, I’ll go first, then you.’ Dave pointed to Mike. ‘Then you and you.’ He pointed to the pregnant woman and then to Sheila who nodded nervously. ‘And then you.’ The instruction was to Jay. ‘Oh and old man, you’ll go at the back.’

‘I told you, my name is Robert. And I’ve been a customer of this bank for the last forty years and …’

Dave interrupted the old man’s flow. ‘Why don’t I tell you something, Robert the customer. I don’t give a flying fuck how long you’ve been doing anything. I don’t give a shit. All I care about is not having any coffin dodgers holding us up. Right, now that’s cleared up I want everybody to follow me. Stand by the wall and wait for everyone else.’

One by one, everybody made their way into the dark passage of the sewer. The pathway was only just wide enough to be able to walk without having to turn to the side, but to everyone it seemed as if they were walking a tightrope as the sewage raced past them only inches in front. They pushed their backs against the wall, immediately feeling the cold wetness of the slimy walls.

‘Right, I want everyone to edge forward. Come on. Everyone keep up. It’s probably best if you hold onto the person in front. Old man, you better keep up because no one is going to play nurse maid. Now let’s go.’

But as Dave Cole edged along the pathway going deep into the passage of the sewers, what he didn’t see were the eyes of the person watching him from the other side.

11.15 a.m.

‘How long now?’ Mike spoke as he walked behind Dave.

‘How the hell should I know?’