Under a Ghostly Moon (Jerry Moon Supernatural Thrillers Book 1) (11 page)

"
Yeah, it's your walk along Gallows Alley that interests me, Gulley.  Dick downstairs says you saw someone dump Dominic's body a few nights ago.  I'm guessing that it would have been about an 'hour before dawn' - any idea what day it was?"

"
I fink it were Thursday.  Aye, ‘twould be Thursday, 'cause the beer lorry called that mornin'."
Gulley grinned beatifically. 
"I likes the beer lorry, lots o' nice fumes, it makes I 'appy."

"
So - Wednesday night to Thursday morning then.  What about the person who dumped the body? Could you describe him?"

Gulley scratched his stubbly lantern jaw
. 
"Well, I was on the gallows walk, see, so I couldn't take much time to get a good look at he.  'Bout five feet 'n a half tall, pale faced lad, not too well favoured in the face, scrawny lookin' - wore those faded blue pantaloons 'angin' half-way down 'is arse, like they do these days, an’ a baggy smock thing on top."

"
Jeans and T-shirt?" asked Moon, trying to marry an eighteenth century description with twenty-first century clothing.

"
Aye, I fink that's what ye calls 'em,"
affirmed Gulley, frowning with concentration. 
"'Ad some kind o' writin' on it.  Never learnt to read meself...  Knows me letters though, began wi' a big 'J' for jackdaw."

"
Any pictures on the T-shirt, Gulley? Anything you might recognise?"

"
No, but I recognised 'im though."

Moon was startled
. 
"You did?"

"
Aye, many's the time I've 'ung 'ere o' an evenin' watchin' yon lad play wi' those long sticks an' shiny balls in this very room.  'E'd changed though, used to be one o' they young uns in black, now 'e'd cut 'is 'air an' it were goin' yeller at roots.  Nearly didn't recognize 'im 'cause 'e looked so diff'rent."

This was more promising than Moon expected
.  "You don't know his name, do you?"

Gulley
's face fell. 
"Sorry, mate, can't 'ear a bloody fing for that soddin' ‘jook-box’ most o' the time so I don't get t' 'ear their names often.  I'm fairly certain 'is wasn't one o' them strange nicknames like some o' 'em 'ave, more one o' yer Tom, Dick or 'Arries, ye might say."

"
Oh, well," Moon grimaced, "I suppose that was too much to hope for.  Thanks anyway, Gulley."

"
Think naught o' it,"
replied Gulley, returning to his gallows-corpse phase. 
"Murder is a terrible fing, I knows.  Do you fink you could unplug the ‘jook-box’ on your way out?  Wi’ a touch o’ luck they might fink it's broken."

"
Right you are," said Moon, removing the plug from its socket. 
Can't be much of an afterlife
, he thought as he headed down the stairs.

Back downstairs, Moon ordered a sandwich at the bar.  Kate looked at him strangely, "Did you enjoy your chats?" she asked as she pulled him a fresh pint of Ostrich.  Moon's eyes widened.  "How did you know?"

"
Well, I'm psychic enough myself to know when that presence in the window corner's active.  But several minutes of watching the close circuit TV feed from the camera in the pool room did confirm my suspicions.  Either you're a gifted psychic or a raving

nutter.
"

"
The former, I hope, although some days I'm not so sure."

"
Oh, yeah? Why did you unplug the jukebox then?"

"
You've got a three-hundred year old gallows victim in there and the jukebox is just under where he hangs.  I unplugged it to thank him for a favour and give him a chance of getting a little peace."

"
Now I know you're on the level.  Only a handful of people know that part of the pub was built directly over where the old gallows used to stand before they relocated them to the crossroads…  I'll see about moving the jukebox." Kate handed Moon his pint of Ostrich.

"
Thanks.  Old Gulley will be well pleased."

"
So you can actually see and hear these things?" Kate shook her head with awe. 

“
All I get is a vague inkling that someone's there… and sometimes the slight impression of words.  You're really lucky you know."

"
I'm not so sure about that.  I'm beginning to learn it comes with a lot of responsibility."

"
Doesn't everything?" replied Kate with a wink.

"
I guess so." Moon picked up his drink and turned to find himself another seat. A middle-aged couple in biking leathers had taken the table by the window.

"
Just out of interest..." Kate placed her hand on Moon's arm.  "What exactly were you talking to our ghosts about?"

Moon
didn't think it was right mention Uri's interest in Dominic's murder at this time so he decided to tell Kate half the truth.  "Something's hurting them, the spirits I mean.  It drains them like a glass of wine and leaves only the tiniest dregs of existence behind - so they've come to me for help and, for the life of me, I couldn't turn them away."

"
Sounds like you have something of a calling if you ask me."

"
Sonia told me something similar yesterday." Moon shook his head.  "I wasn't so sure about it back then, but I'm beginning to think I haven't got a choice."

Kate smiled a knowing smile
.  "Oh, there's always a choice.  But those touched by the gods usually find out that it's much better to go with the flow than fight it after the first few attempts." She looked up the bar to where a group of men in overalls had congregated; one of them was waving a ten-pound note.  "Damn, customers!" she said sotto voce.  "We must talk about this again sometime when I'm not stuck working behind the bar.  See ya later, Moon."

Moon left the Hangman's Rest at about four o'clock.  It was pointless for him to head back home if he was going to get to Sonia's for tea at six.  So he decided to pop into the town centre to get himself a bit of exercise and do some window-shopping.  As he passed what he would now forever more think of as 'Gallows Alley' he gave in to a compulsion to take a few steps into the entrance and have a quick look.  Nothing remained to show that a corpse had lain there.  The police had obviously been and gone, leaving not even a shred of incident tape to mark their passing.  "Returning to the scene of the crime, Mr Moon?"

Moon turned towards the voice with a start
.  "Er, no, sorry, I just couldn't avoid thinking about what I saw here last time I passed, Inspector."

"
No need to look so alarmed, Sir," replied Detective Inspector Whatley.  For it was he, standing at the entrance of the alley wearing what appeared to be exactly the same shirt, tie and wrinkled suit he had worn on Saturday night.  "You've a firm alibi for the time of the murder, which we've estimated happened some time between ten p.m.  last Wednesday and two a.m.  on Thursday morning.  Mr Llewellyn's body was then taken from the place where he was murdered and deposited here in the alley some time in the early hours on Thursday.  According to your statement, which we've verified with other members of staff at the hospital, you were busy saving lives in Casualty at the time." Whatley looked down at the cobbles of the empty alley.  "Bloody strange case, this one, Mr Moon, could make a body start believing in fairy tales."

The ghost of Dominic materialised out of the shadows of the alleyway and floated indistinctly in the afternoon sunlight
. 
"Hi, Moon, is this what they've decided to put on my case? He looks a bit iffy to me."
Whatley shook his head as if he was being buzzed by an annoying insect.

"
How do you mean, Inspector?" asked Moon, trying not to make eye contact with Dominic, who was flicking Whatley's right earlobe with a ghostly fingernail.

"
Well, you remember you mentioned the lack of blood on the scene on Saturday night, Sir?" Whatley quickly put his hand to his ear and looked round.

Moon suppressed a grin and nodded
.  "When you've seen as many trauma cases as I have you know how much a wound like the one in Dominic's neck can bleed."

"
Yes, the autopsy shows that the deceased's body was almost completely drained of blood.  That bite wound on the neck is also very odd - it's not consistent with any known type of animal.  We thought at first that it was probably rats but whatever made it was much larger and the bite pattern most closely resembles that of some kind of anthropoid, that's an ape to you and me."

Or possibly something closer to human, like a vampire
, thought Moon.

"
Bring that together with some of the rumours we've heard since we've started investigating Mr Llewellyn's death and it makes you start to wonder if there isn't something, well... supernatural about it all."

"
Too damn right!" agreed Dominic, "Me!"

"
Sorry, Mr Moon, did you say something?"

"
What kind of rumours, Inspector?" asked Moon, pretending to repeat himself.  He was fairly sure he knew the answer to his question but he wanted to hear it from Whatley's mouth.  The detective was obviously more than a little disturbed by what he had discovered for him to reveal key evidence to a member of the public.  Perhaps he thought Moon's journalistic research might throw more light on the matter. It could of course, but Moon didn't think this was the time to reveal the truth about Uri and the girls.

"
Well, there's some suggestion that there might be a vampire or vampires involved.  The source is unfortunately not a very reliable one but I was thinking it doesn't have to be a real vampire, just some lunatic who thinks he’s one.  You might not think it likely but there have been one or two vampire- inspired murder in this country in the past.  It's a very popular type of fiction and you only have to look on the Internet to find how many nutters there are out there who think they're the real McCoy.  Have you encountered anyone like that in your journalistic endeavours, Mr Moon? I expect a few of these Goth types would go in for that sort of thing."

"
A vampire? I wish!"
Dominic shook his head sadly and spread his vaporous arms out wide
.  "Just look at me!
And
I'm stuck in this bloody alley until someone solves my murder."

"
I haven't met anyone who thinks they're a vampire since I started my research.  There are plenty of Goths who like playing at being vampires, even Sonia, my girlfriend, has some fake fangs that she wears to concerts.  I have heard some of the rumours you mentioned but it seems that they were started by one of the local Goth bands to add credibility to their mystique."

"
That would be Uri Kievich and his two lady friends? What do they call their group?"

"
Blood Velvet
," replied Moon.  "I've heard one of their albums, they're very good."

"
Uri? No, it wouldn't have been Uri.  He's an old friend of the family,"
cried Dominic.

"
So you're sure that's all it is, a publicity stunt?" asked Whatley, fiddling irritably with one of his ears.

Moon wasn
't happy with lying to the police but if he told the truth at best he'd be drawn into this horrible business much more deeply than he wanted to be.  If the worst happened, he could end up struggling to prove his own sanity.  "Yes, I interviewed Uri last night and he told me all about the game they play with their fans.  It's all just harmless fun."

"
Nonetheless, I think I'll have to check up on this Mr Kievich a bit more thoroughly.  Do you know where he lives?" Whatley pulled a crumpled black notebook out of his jacket pocket.

"
Not sure.  Somewhere up by the Downs is all that I've heard." Moon was glad that was all he knew.  He still remembered the steely grip of Uri's hand around his own.

Friendly vampire or not, Uri was not someone he wanted to piss
off.  Perhaps he ought to try to get word to Uri that the police were investigating him - he'd been in Britain for over 500 years. Moon doubted he had immigration papers.

"
Damn!" Whatley pocketed his notebook.  "That's all I've heard so far.  He's ex-directory too so I guess the next stop will have to be the electoral register."

"
Why don't you ask inside the pub? They play there occasionally and have connections with some of the other bands who perform there as well.  I'm sure the landlady could at least let you have Uri's phone number."
And maybe have the sense to tip Uri the wink once your gone
, he thought.

"
I'll try that, thank you, Mr Moon." Whatley tilted his head to survey the rest of the alley.  "I'll be glad to get out of this stinking alley.  There's a nasty buzzing insect of some sort flying around down here and it's giving me a headache."

Moon glanced sourly at Dominic, who was doubling up with ghostly laughter
.  "I'd do that, Inspector.  Insects like that can be a real nuisance."