Beyond Evidence (15 page)

Twenty Nine

A black mist

"Time is running out," Preston read this from the piece of paper.

"Do not listen to them," Lang read aloud too.

Patrick tried to make sense of the random words and sentences on the paper but he just couldn't understand them.

"Don't listen to who?" Lang continued.

"I have not got a cl
ue Jim. Honestly... I'm stumped." Patrick shook his head in frustration.

Patrick took the paper from Preston and looked at it feeling dumbfounded.

Time is running out for what?
He thought to himself.
Time is running out for who?

The men stood in Angela Nobles bedroom for sometime after Patrick had concluded the experiment. All three men were feeling completely lost with everything about the case.

The words on the paper were scattered, none of which had any kind of ability to make sense of the murders.

Preston cleared his throat.
"You said that you wanted to talk to us about Jodie?"

"Yes I did. I think I am going to take her away for a bit. She needs some time to get her head together, we both do."

"Do you think that is a wise move, we're in the middle of a triple murder inquiry?" Lang sounded annoyed.

Pa
trick looked dead into his eyes. "Yes Jim, a murder inquiry that is at a complete stand still."

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Pres
ton spoke out. "Look, I think it is safe to say that we all need a bit of a breather from this. Lets go for a coffee and then we can discuss it further. I don't think that we should talk about this here, out of respect."

Patrick cleared away the equipment that he was using during the experiment and left the room to hand back Angela's scarf to Mrs Noble.

"Paul, this is not working," Lang said when Patrick was out of the room.

"What do you mean?" Preston asked.

"This whole medium thing, it's just not working. I mean, do you think this is getting us any further?"

Preston regarded Lang's comment. Was it working having Patrick on the case? He really wanted to believe that it was. But for whatever reason, Patrick just wasn't coming up with anything that Preston and Lang could investig
ate, but then, neither were they.

Maybe Lang had been right. But then how would Lang explain his reading?
Research?

"All of this is giving me a headache. Let's call it a day and go for that coffee," Preston said.

"Fine, but this is not going to go away, we have to make a decision," Lang replied bluntly. They left Angela Nobles room and went down stairs into the living room, where they found Patrick comforting Mrs Noble.

The living room was decorated a teal blue colour, with a large glass lampshade hanging from the ceiling. There were several photo frames in different parts of the room all containing family photographs, all of which contained Angela either hugging another person or posing for the camera. There were a few of her in a graduation gown too.

Mrs Noble had been crying when Preston and Lang were upstairs and when they appeared in the room below, Preston was surprised to see that every single photo frame was lying on the floor.

Mrs Noble was no longer crying but instead she stared at each one, all face down on the brown shag pile carpet. Her expression
was one of shock with a hint of a smile, but only noticeable if one were to be looking for a smile.

"What happened here? Are you alright Mrs Noble?" It was Lang who spoke.

"I came down to hand back the belongings and all I could hear was banging, it was light but they were coming fast," Patrick said.

Lang looked up and could see that the bulb was missing from the glass shade hanging down from the ceiling. He moved his eyes down to see if he could place the bulb, only to find it smashed on the carpet.

"It was Angela, my girl. She was here," Mrs Noble said in a small trembling voice.

"What?" Preston felt disbelief.

"Did you witness this?" Lang asked Patrick.

"Yes, I walked in to see what the noise was and Mrs Noble was standing in corner of the room watching the frames falling over. The bulb smashed in its place in the shade and the glass fluttered down, almost like a feather." Even Patrick sounded stunned by the happenings.

"I think we should get this cleaned up," Preston walked over to Mrs Noble, still standing in the corner of the room, still staring at the frames on the floor. "Mrs Noble, I think we should clear up the glass," he took her gently by the arm.

Preston led Mrs Noble out of the room and Patrick looked around the room, as if he were looking for anything else that may be out of place.

"What has
actually
happened here?" Lang almost whispered.

"Angela's spirit didn't fully leave our presence by the looks of it, seems as if she wanted her mu
m to know that she is still here." Patrick said.

"Uh cut the crap Patrick, you sure she hasn't just gone nuts?"

"How the hell can you be so insensitive? Would you say that if it was your dad?" Patrick snapped back.

"Don't you dare bring my personal stuff into this
Patrick, all I am saying is this all looks a little staged."

Patrick couldn't quite believe that Lang was saying this, how could he think such a thing? "Tell me, what would she get out of doing something like this? I mean really, she would only be lying to herse
lf. And anyway, I saw it happen."

"Did you?"

"Oh so you think I'm lying now? So what's the point in me being here then if that's the case?" Patrick was beginning to lose his temper just as Preston returned with a dustpan and brush.

"What is the problem here?" Preston said as he closed the door behind him.

"Ask your colleague here, I'm going to wait in the car," Patrick replied. "Is Mrs Noble ok?" he asked just before leaving.

"Yeah, she is fine, she is having a cigarette at the back door," Preston replied as he bent down to sweep up the glass from the bulb.

Patrick nodded in satisfaction at the answer and left the house, he couldn't bare to be around Lang another minute, he was being so unreasonable at the current situation and it was all Patrick could do not to punch him in the mouth.

As he waited in the car outside, he thought about Angela. He rewound his memory to when Mrs Noble was stood in the corner of the room watching the frames falling to the carpet, one by one. She watched as if she were watching somebody make their way around her living room knocking the frames down.

That's what Patrick had done. He watched Angela knock the frames down, not in anger, but in desperation. She was trying desperately to tell the people who were alive and around her, who they were looking for. Not just Angela but Rebecca and Michelle were too. However the eyes of those who needed to see were clouded by the black mist that emanated from that
one
person that nobody had uncovered yet.

All the while, Patrick was being stared in the face by that black mist, every moment, every blink of the eye, every word exchanged, that mist was getting thicker and nobody could see through it!

Thirty

Taking a break

The short car journey to the cafe was silent. Preston felt like the situation had to be cooled off before any conversation took place. Lang didn't know what to say to either Preston or Patrick, mainly because he knew that Patrick was a genuine medium, which annoyed him because up until recent events he hadn't believed in spirits at all. Now he felt like he had been forced to believe it, after all it was proven to him on a personal note, but for some reason unknown to him, Patrick hadn't come up with anything sufficient to work on.

    
Patrick was just too angry to speak to anyone in case he said something he would regret. He was so angry at Lang's attitude towards him and his involvement in the case, he was trying his best to get as much spiritual evidence as he could for those girls and all Lang could do was criticize and make snide comments.

The car pulled up outside a small cafe on
Hyndland Road, near the centre of the West End. It was early afternoon by now and there was a break in the clouds as the sun shone through. There were little steel tables and chairs neatly arranged outside the cafe and the smell of fresh coffee and bread seemed to relax them as they got out of the car.

"You two go in and order, I'll grab us a table, I need a cigarette," Patrick said.

"Do you want a coffee?" Lang asked.

Patrick almost didn't want to answer him, he still felt so angry. "Yes please," he replied through gritted teeth.

As Preston and Lang were inside ordering their coffee's Patrick lit his cigarette and he instantly felt the nicotine spread through his veins, calming him. He knew that it was a psychological thing to
feel
the nicotine calming his nerves and his anger, but for now he would enjoy that feeling. As he drew on the tip, he watched the bustle of Hyndland Road pass him by. He watched people going about their daily routines, picking up groceries, meeting friends.... enjoying simple carefree days. Patrick couldn't remember what it was like to have carefree days. He watched every male figure that passed him. He pictured each one of them as the black silhouette in his dream.

He could be anyone, anywhere.

Why can I not figure this out?
He was shouting inwardly as he searched his mind for anything that would help switch the bulb on in his head.

Preston and Lang appeared at the table with a tray of hot coffees and some shortbread. They sat down and for a few moments the only thing that passed their lips was the coffee and shortbread.

"Patrick, I'm sorry for acting like..."

"An arse?"
Patrick abruptly finished Lang's sentence for him.

"Easy,
I was going to say for acting like an idiot," Lang replied.

"I think we should use Patrick's word," Preston laughed as he blew in to his coffee, which broke the tension.

"I really am sorry though, I think we all got a little stressed out back there, not being able to figure out those messages and then seeing all of those picture frames being scattered everywhere. I suppose I freaked out a bit," Lang said.

"Finall
y, you admit that it scares you," Patrick said triumphantly.

"Is that what the problem has been with you two all of this time? Jim's a big girl's blouse?" Preston was laughing loudly now.

"Aye, alright let’s not get carried away here, let's just get to the point of why we're having this coffee break. Patrick you wanted to talk to us more about Jodie?" Lang was desperately but modestly trying to shift the subject on to something else.

Patrick and Preston carried on laughing for a few more moments which happened to relax them all. It had been a
frustrating day and Lang's fear had broken the tension, much to his annoyance. Patrick and Preston composed themselves, allowing the laughter to subside while Lang sat quietly, waiting for the joke at his expense to be over.

"Ok," Patrick took a breath.
"I was actually going to ask if I could take a week or so off from the case."

"You want to take time off now?" Preston asked
, any trace of smile had now left him.

"Yes now. I need to take Jodie away from this for a while. Help her to clear her head, calm herself down." Patrick understood Preston's frustration but was firm with his words.

"I think that would be the best thing for all of us to be honest," Lang said.

Patrick looke
d at Lang, shocked at his words. "You agree with me?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I do. We all know that the lack of evidence on our side of the case is not looking good and you said yourself that stress can stop your senses from working properly. If Jodie is having problems, then obviously it is going to have an affect on you."

What Lang said was completely true, Patrick just couldn't believe that he was the one saying it instead of Preston.

"I've got to say I'm a little surprised that you are the one that is supporting me on this."

"Well, if you go away for a while, then come back with a clear head maybe you will actually come up with something feasible that we can investigate further," Lang said.

"No offence meant, I'm presuming?" Patrick raised one eyebrow.

"Not at all, you said yourself that you were stumped by those messages back at the Nobles household."

"I was. I still am. But I'm sure that I will be able to find something, even if it is just a small thing, to work with. I am sure I
can help catch this guy. I just need a week to rest my mind and help Jodie to rest hers."

Preston was quiet for a while. He listened to Patrick as he talked about where he was taking Jodie and how he was going to look after her.

"How did you manage to get a cottage in Loch Lomond?" Lang asked.

"My great Auntie owned it, left it to my Mum when she died. It's the perfect getaway, it overlooks the loch and it has a huge garden with decking and a built in barbecue."

"A cottage, you sure it's not a
mansion
overlooking the loch?" Lang laughed.

"I know. I don't know why we don't use it more often. When this is all over, you two should come down and see it."

As they finished their drinks and paid the bill, Preston finally spoke, "As long as it will be no more than a week. I understand that you have things that you need to sort out, but so do we. We have a murderer on the loose, I just want to catch him before someone else is killed."

Patrick suddenly felt guilty, he felt like he was abandoning everything to go on holiday.

"It's not as if it's a five star luxury cruise I'm leaving for, I will definitely be back in a week, I promise."

Preston knew that he couldn't force Patrick to stay. It wasn't as if he was an actual police officer or getting paid for what he was doing. As far as the press were concerned it was a police matt
er and that was all there was too it. Although, Preston felt uneasy about letting Patrick walk out at this particular moment he knew there was pretty much nothing he could do about it. He knew that because of the lack of physical evidence and witnesses to the murders of Angela, Rebecca and Michelle, that unless Patrick worked it out spiritually, the case had absolutely no chance of justice.

"I know you will. I hope a Jodie gets better," Preston said, but he kept his thoughts to himself.