The Smoke In The Photograph (24 page)

They heard her screaming even through the closed front door. It split through Tyler like a crack in ice.

'Mrs Draper? Let us in,' he yelled while he continued to hammer at the door.

Addle pushed him aside.

'It's no good, we're going to have to break the fucker down.'

Addle took a few steps back and ran at the door full pelt. His shoulder connected with it hard enough to make him yelp in pain. Yet, the door did not even seem to budge. Instead Addle bounced off it and stumbled, nearly falling to the floor.

Tyler steadied his colleague.

'Again. We'll both try.'

Addle nodded.

The two men stood shoulder to shoulder, and charged at the door. Pain shot through Tyler as his shoulder took the full force of the impact. Yet, still the door did not give.

Both men bounced back and landed on their back on the porch.

Lights illuminated them. Tyler scrambled to his feet, quickly followed by Addle. They saw DCI Fluting’s car pulling into the driveway.

Pippa stood over her, grinning as she waved the blade of the scalpel in from of her. She spat a wad of blood onto Julia's dress.

'You're going to pay for breaking my nose. This is going to be really slow.'

Julia scrambled away from her on her back. The woman holding the scalpel followed. She soon felt the wall against her back and could move no further.

'Pippa, please don't do this.’

'My name is Ariel!' the woman screamed.

'Ariel, why are you doing this to me?' Julia asked.

The woman, Ariel, looked over at Steven's unconscious body and nodded her head.

'It's all his fault,'  her words were furious but tinged with a hint of sadness.

Julia didn't understand what it had to do with her husband any more than she had any idea what it had to do with her.

'Steven? What has this got to do with him?'

Ariel continued looking at Steven.

'He was just like all the others. Just like Rob. He dumped me.'

Julia tried to make sense of her words, but could find none.

'What?' she asked.

Ariel turned to her, her eyes packed with rage, and a single tear streaking her cheek.

'A whole year, fucking me behind your back, then one day that's it.' She pointed the blade of the scalpel at Julia. 'He chose you over me. He chose you!'

Her words had cut Julia deep. She knew that Steven and she had problems in their relationship, but she never thought he would be unfaithful.

She looked at Ariel and shook her head.

'I don't believe you, I don't believe any of this.'

Ariel roared with laughter.

'Oh, believe it,' she said, still giggling. 'I've done things with him you never would. Things that good girls like you don't do. Then he goes and fucks me over for you, his insane wife.'

Julia felt her own rage starting to boil deep within her. She had spent the last six months trying to persuade everyone that she wasn't crazy. She was damned if she was about to let a demented killer call her mad.

'I'm not insane.’

Ariel looked at her.

'Really. Then why were you locked up in a nut house, while I was in your bed, with your husband?' Her words were razor sharp.

Julia no longer cared about the scalpel. She no longer cared how many other women this bitch had killed. She wasn't going to take it anymore. She spotted her clutch bag on the floor to her left. In the struggle it had come open and the handle of the ceremonial dagger was poking out. Julia reached out and pulled the shining blade from the bag.

She sprang to her feet and charged at Ariel.

Sam jumped out of the car and saw Tyler and Addle picking themselves up off the floor.

Branning was out of the car and crossing the driveway to help them. Sam ran to catch up with her.

When they got to the front door, Tyler and Addle were brushing themselves off.

'Why haven't you broken the door down yet?' Sam demanded.

Tyler and Addle were both bent over, panting to regain their breath. Tyler looked at Sam and shook his head.

'We can't.’

Addle wandered down the step of the porch.

'What do you mean can't?' Sam asked.

Tyler thumped the door with his fist.

'The fucking thing won't budge, sir.’

Addle reappeared carrying a stone birdbath, about two feet high. He was struggling with it.

'What's that for?' Branning asked.

'Battering ram,' he said between catching his breath.

Sam had to admit it was the best idea they had. He took some of the weight from Addle.

'You two, get the other end,' Sam shouted at Tyler and Branning who responded fast.

'On three,' Sam said. 'One, two, three!'

They all charged at the door holding the heavy base of the birdbath in front of them. As it connected with the wooden door, a shockwave travelled through Sam's arms almost causing him to let go. He held on, and to his amazement the door did not give, not even a scratch.

'Again,' he yelled. 'Harder this time.'

The four of them backed up even further. Sam counted them in once more and they charged. This time the pain of the impact was unbearable. Sam would have let go had the bird bath not snapped in two.

'Fucking hell,' Addle shouted. 'How is that even possible?'

Sam stared at the door. Again it was unmarked. He shook his head.

'Put it down,' he said, letting go of Addle and his half of the broken bird bath. Tyler and Branning set their half down. Addle kept hold of the broken base and walked down the porch steps.

'Where are you going with that?' Sam asked.

'To put it through a window.’

Sam followed him. It was a good idea. As he and Addle reached the living room window Addle looked at him as if he was requesting permission.

Sam nodded.

Addle hurled the broken lump of concrete at the window. There was no shatter of glass. Instead the concrete bounced back towards them. Sam pushed Addle out of the way of its rebound. It landed with a thud near his feet.

Addle looked at the undamaged window with an expression of wide-eyed disbelief.

'Have they got bullet proof glass in?'

Sam shook his head. He had no idea. He was certain that Mrs Draper would have told them something like that.

Branning and Tyler came over.

'What was that light?' she asked.

Sam didn't know what she was talking about.

'What?' he asked.

'When that hit the window, it was like a camera flash went off near you,' she said.

'I saw something similar when we tried breaking the door down,' Tyler added.

Sam felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Something was going on in this house, something that was beyond his realm of understanding. He didn't know how to proceed from there. Mrs Draper was locked inside the house with a serial killer, and something seemingly supernatural was seeking to keep them out.

He turned to Tyler and Addle.

'Go round the back of the house. Keep trying to get in. We'll do the same here.'

'Yes, sir,' Tyler and Addle said in unison.

As they disappeared around the corner of the house he turned to Branning. She was looking at him quizzically.

'What's going on, Sam?' she asked.

How could he answer? He had never experienced anything like this before. All he had to go on was what Julia and Helga had told him.

'I don't know. Maybe it's Helen Swanson. Perhaps she wants to keep us out.'

Branning looked unsure. She had seemed unconvinced by the supernatural elements from the first time they were mentioned. She was clearly a skeptic.

'Why would she want to keep us out, if Ariel killed her?' she asked.

Sam looked up at the attic.

'Maybe she has plans for her killer,' he said.

Julia was sitting up with her back against the wall. Her face from the nose down was a mass of blood and she felt a searing pain in the middle of her face.

After she had charged at Ariel they had both dropped to the floor. The scalpel had flown from the frenzied woman's grip and slid across the smooth wooden floor. Ariel had lured to retrieve it. Julia took the chance and jumped on the other woman's back, pulling her hair and punching her in the side of the face. She had attempted to plunge the dagger into Ariel's back, but the woman struggled out of the way of the falling blade.

With a fierce strength, Ariel had shaken Julia off her back. Julia had landed hard on the floor. The dagger slipped from her grasp. Ariel kicked the weapon away. Before Julia had a chance to get to her feet, Ariel had kicked her in the face, breaking her nose. They were even on that score now.

As Julia scrambled to the wall and coughed up blood Ariel had retrieved the scalpel. Now she knelt a few feet away from Julia. She was smiling and waving the blade around.

'You know, you put up a pretty good fight? One of the best actually.'

Julia spat blood on the floor in front of Ariel.

'Drop the scalpel and we'll go again.’

Ariel laughed and pointed the scalpel at her.

'Before I met Steve, I used to use a straight razor. I found these in the supply closet in the hospital he used to take me to for sex. They were just too tempting.'

She looked to Julia as if expecting her to display some reaction. Julia refused to give her the satisfaction.

'Why did he choose you over me?' Ariel continued. 'Wasn't I woman enough for him?'

She looked over at Steven ruefully.

'Oh well, it's over now. Only one thing left to do.'

This was it, Julia thought. This was the end. Her life was over. She was just about to die. In her mind she had expected to feel fear, pain and loss when this happened. She felt nothing. She was numb to it all. She no longer cared.

Ariel lunged forwards with the scalpel raised.

The moment stretched into infinity in Julia's mind. She saw the other woman moving towards her in slow motion. She saw the flashes going off behind her, like camera flashes. She saw the purple smoke swirling around the centre window.

Time sped back up as that centre window exploded inward, showering the room with shards of glass. Ariel turned to look at what had happened. A huge shard of glass hit her in the face. Blood spurted from her eye as she screamed and fell to the floor.

Sam watched with wonder as the middle window of the attic imploded. He looked to Branning. From her open-mouthed expression he could see she was just as shocked as he was.

'Wait here.’

He ran across the garden and down the side of the house. He found Tyler and Addle throwing rocks at each window in turn.

'Any luck?' he shouted as he approached.

Addle shook his head.

'It's impossible, sir,' he said. 'They just won't break.'

Sam waved them over to him.

'A window just broke in the attic. Try and find a ladder to get us up there.'

Addle ran towards the large shed at the end of the garden while Tyler went to check the other side of the house.

Sam sprinted back to the front of the house where Branning stood waiting.

'Branning!' he shouted as he ran towards her. 'Get a fire engine here. We need to get up there.'

The young officer nodded and got her radio out of her pocket. She stopped and looked up at the broken window. Sam couldn't see what she was looking at yet, but from the look of shock on her face it couldn't be good.

'What's wrong?' he said as he reached her.

She pointed up to the window.

'Sir? Who the hell is that?'

Sam turned and looked up. A woman with blonde hair was standing at the window staring right at them. She was as solid as they were, but she seemed to shimmer, as if she gave off her own light.

Sam looked the woman in the eyes and she smiled then turned away from them.

'That was Helen Swanson.’

Julia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Helen had materialised from the purple smoke as the glass settled and Ariel collapsed to the floor. She shone like a candle against the blackness of the night. Her hair, which had looked flaxen in the photographs she had seen, now glittered like golden threads. She stood looking out of the window, with her back to Julia, but she knew who it was. Who else could it be?

Ariel lay bleeding on the floor, face down with a pool of dark red blood rapidly growing around her head. Julia didn't know if she was dead, but she certainly seemed unconscious.

Julia saw she was still clutching the scalpel. She needed to get that off her in case she came round.

Julia rose to her feet. The pain of her broken nose had become a numb feeling across her face, but her body ached as though she had run a marathon.

She shuffled unsteadily across the blood-splattered floor to where her attacker, the infamous Lincoln Ripper, lay.

Helen continued to stare out of the window. Julia wanted to say something to her but had no idea what to say. She bent down and grabbed Ariel's hand. She tried prying open her fingers to get the scalpel.

Ariel shot to her feet. Her face looked as though it had been painted in blood. There was no flesh colour to be seen, just shiny red blood. The shard of glass was imbedded in her skin just below her eye.

She screamed with rage and shoved Julia. Still unsteady on her feet, Julia went down hard onto her back, a searing new pain shooting through her spine.

Ariel leapt on top of her, straddling her. She used one arm to try to hold Julia's flailing limbs, and with the other she slashed the air above her with the scalpel, trying to cut Julia's throat.

'No, Philip. Not again. Not in my house,' the voice echoed around the room, as if it came from everywhere at once, as if the very foundations of the house were channeling Helen's voice.

Ariel, who had obviously not seen Helen standing at the window, turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw the figure at the window. Her weight shifted and Julia managed to pull herself free and scramble to the far side of the room.

She realised what Helen had just said.

'Philip?'

Helen turned to her. Her eyes were soft and loving when she looked into Julia's own.

'This is my little brother, Philip,' the everywhere voice spoke again.

Ariel shook her head furiously.

'That's not my name anymore,' she said. 'Philip is dead, and so are you. I killed you.'

Helen looked at her and smiled, nodding.

'Yes, you did. Right here on this very spot.'

Ariel gave a grin that was full of malice.

'You deserved it.  loved Rob, and he said he loved me too.'

Helen shook her head.

'He didn't know you. How could he love you?'

Ariel looked as though she would cry for a split second.

'You were the one Rob had an affair with?' Julia said.

Ariel looked to her in a rage, pointing the scalpel at her.

'Shut up!' she said. 'I'll deal with you in a minute.'

'Why all of those other poor women, Philip?' Helen said, making Ariel turn back to her.

'Don't call me that!' she screamed at Helen. 'My name is Ariel. I killed all of those other bitches because of you!'

Helen looked confused.

'Because of me?'

Ariel got to her feet.

'Every time I met a man, he'd go running back to his wife. It seemed I could only attract married men,' Ariel said, waving her arms around as she spoke. 'In all of those women I saw you. I saw Rob running back to you.'

Ariel burst into tears and dropped to her knees. With her distracted by Helen, Julia took the opportunity to inch towards the door out of the attic.

'I wasn't woman enough for them,' Ariel sobbed.

Helen looked at her. Her expression was one of pity.

'Don't blame being a transgender woman for the things you've done. You did these things because of who you are, not what you are.'

Ariel looked at her.

'You've got a nerve. You teased me for years. The names you called me.'

Helen looked full of grief.

'You ran away because I teased you?' she asked.

Ariel nodded.

'Yes. As soon as I could get the fuck away from you, I did. I went to Holland and I never wanted to come back. The only reason I did was because I was a wanted man over there, and after the sex change, I saw it as a chance to escape.'

'You did all of this to me, to all those other women, because I teased you when I was a little girl?'

'Yes,' Ariel said, her words coated in bitterness. 'You crushed me.'

A gleaming tear formed in Helen's eyes and rolled down her cheek.

'I'm so sorry,' she said. 'Little girls are mean to their little brothers. It doesn't mean they don't love them. You were my world. I was just a silly little girl.'

Ariel sobbed into her hands.

Julia had arrived at the door. She got up and grasped the door knob. She pulled it open slowly, so as not to disturb the scene unfolding in the attic, or alert Ariel to her escape.

Her hands, though, were still covered in blood. It made them slippery, and just as she had the door fully open, she lost her grip on the handle. The door slammed shut.

Ariel looked over. The sadness in her eyes was replaced with an animal-like rage. She charged towards Julia with the scalpel raised.

She brought the blade down towards Julia's face. Julia raised her arms just in time to defend her face from the surgically sharp blade, but felt it slice deep into the flesh of her arms, hitting the bone. Julia screamed from the pain. Ariel raised the blade to try again.

'No, Philip! Don't!' Helen's voice boomed around them.

Ariel spun on her heels. She was no longer human. She was just a twisted knot of hate made flesh.

'My name is Ariel!' she shrieked as she charged towards Helen. Her fury made her look like a charging bull. She held the scalpel before her, ready to sink it once more into Helen.

Just before the blade made contact, Helen disappeared. Ariel was too far into her charge. There was no way she could stop herself. Her shins connected with the window sill. Her momentum carried her forward. She didn't have time to scream before she was outside the house, falling, hurtling to the ground below.

Even from the attic Julia heard the fierce, damp thud as Ariel made contact with the ground.

She looked over to where Steven lay, still bleeding and unconscious. So many thoughts went through her head, how much she hated him for his betrayal, and for bringing all of this down upon her. She despised him for not telling her he knew Helen.

Despite all of this, when she saw him lying there so close to death, she knew she was not prepared to lose him either.

She got to her feet and crossed to the broken window. Blood was dripping from the gashes on her arms as she went. She was losing blood fast, and beginning to feel lightheaded.

She looked down into the garden and saw Ariel's body on the floor. Sam and the young female police officer were kneeling beside her.

'Detective Fluting?' Julia called down.

Sam turned around and looked up at her.

'She's dead.’

'Good,' Julia said. 'My husband needs an ambulance. And I think I might too.'

She held up her arms and then she fainted.