Chapter 19

The next day, the day they were dreading, came around far too quickly, no sooner had they drifted off to sleep than Diane was waking them up with a tray of toast and coffee.

Gabbie was quiet and reserved, Lucy didn’t try and cheer her up, there was no point today. They’d decided to just let Gabbie react to the day in any way she wanted.

Both Diane and Lucy stashed many tissues about their person, pockets and bags filled. They’d be needed, definitely.

They set off just before 9 o’clock, Lucy sat in the back with Gabbie, who was increasingly withdrawn during the journey, eventually she ended up pressed into the corner of her seat with her head down, completely silent and uncommunicative.

Lucy had to admit to being concerned, but Diane had insisted they wouldn’t stage any kind of intervention today unless Gabbie was likely to hurt herself, so she stayed quiet and watched her like a hawk.

Diane drove straight there, not stopping at all on the way. The house was just outside a village called Kelloe, about 10 miles southeast of Durham. She pulled up outside the gates, a police officer was standing guard, the house and grounds were still being searched.

The officer had been told they were coming, so after checking ID he let them drive up to the house, which was about ½ mile off the road along a tree lined track, the trees were old, the trunks covered with moss.

The house was huge, with 4 bay windows either side of the double front doors. The number of boarded up windows showed it had definitely seen better days. About half the windows were either boarded up or shuttered, and Diane could see tarpaulins on the roof, presumably covering areas where the roof had collapsed.

Oh, poor, poor Gabbie having to live somewhere like this.

There was a detective on the steps in front of the house, he came down and met their car as Diane pulled to a stop, leaning into the passenger window he spoke to Diane and the girls.

“Well ladies, I won’t wish you a good morning, because it’s anything but, so I’ll just say hello.”

Diane and Lucy said hello, Gabbie merely looked up and blinked.

“Ok, so I’ve pulled everyone out of the house, we’ve photographed and videoed every room. Next week we’ll be pulling up floorboards and digging up the cellar, today though, we’re doing no work in the house while you’re here.

“I understand that the house is now your property Gabbie, so we obviously can’t stop you taking anything away, but we’d really appreciate it if you could let us look at anything you take, just in case it’s something important to the investigation.”

Gabbie spoke for the first time that day, “I’m only taking stuff from my bedroom, and a few photos from my mum’s bedroom, I won’t be taking anything else, I don’t want anything else. You’re welcome to watch us load the car though. Has Auntie Alice been yet?”

“No miss, you’re the first. Alice is due next weekend, when the floors should be back down. Then Katherine is coming with her lawyers to supervise as her possessions are put in storage, then the house is being handed over to your lawyer, I believe you’ll be selling it.”

“If I had my way, we’d be burning it down, but apparently I’m not allowed to do that.”

“Ahh, no, we can’t let you do that I’m afraid. I’ve some big lads around if you need a hand carrying stuff out to the car.”

Gabbie smiled, “I think we’ll be fine. I don’t think I’ll be taking much, but if we need help, we’ll definitely give you a shout.”

Lucy followed Gabbie into the house, Diane holding back, Gabbie needed Lucy right now, she’d be in the way.

Gabbie took hold of Lucy’s hand, “stay right by my side, I need to know you’re here with me or I’ll think I’ve entered one of my nightmares.”

“I’m here, I won’t let go of your hand.”

They walked down a corridor, everywhere was well lit, the police had mounted powerful LED lighting panels in all the rooms, presumably they were running off a generator, because Gabbie knew the electricity didn’t work in many of the rooms.

At the end of the corridor Gabbie pushed open a door, “this is pretty much the only room we used down here.”

As they stepped inside Lucy saw a huge dining kitchen. The appliances were not new, but everything was clean and well maintained, the table was solid, the worktops well-polished. She found herself looking down at the arms on one of the chairs, she could see the tape marks where he’d fastened Katherine to her chair, it sent a shiver down her spine, then she saw the blood stains on the floor, she pulled Gabbie into a hug, hoping she hadn’t seen the floor.

“It’s ok Lucy, I know what’s there, don’t worry, I knew the police wouldn’t have cleaned anything yet. Anyway, there’s worse to come, I need to take you downstairs, I’m sorry, but I need to see it all one last time.”

Diane followed at a discrete distance as Gabbie led Lucy through the kitchen and to a door which led down to a cellar. The police had been down here, there were more lights down the stairs and in the cellar.

“It seems so mundane in this light,” she heard Gabbie telling Lucy, “can we turn these big lights off, I just want the ceiling bulb.”

Diane flicked the light switch at the top of the stairs, that turned on the room light, Lucy turned all the police lights off.

Gabbie was talking, mostly to herself, Lucy held her hand tightly.

She pointed at a wooden cross against the far wall, it had manacles on each crossbar and a horrible looking neck-brace, “I hung there for 24 hours once because mum forgot about me and went to work, you can still see the marks on my wrist some days,” Gabbie said, rubbing her wrists subconsciously.

Across the room was a sawhorse, before she’d turned the lights off Lucy had seen it was blood stained. Gabbie’s blood? Oh dear god she hoped not.

“That’s where he raped my arse for the first time, I bled for days, mum just stayed in her room, I cried so much that night, that once I stopped crying I didn’t cry again for months, I thought I’d run out of tears, I think you know I’ll never run out of tears.”

“You can cry, I’ve got lots of tissues.”

“Not here, this place isn’t getting any more of my tears, I just needed to see this room. I was dreading coming here, that’s why I was all curled up in the car, I didn’t want to see this room, but I needed to see it, do you know what I mean. Like when I had to have Steve fuck my arse, I needed to see this, to fix it in my mind, now I can start rubbing out the image like Sophie said. Can you turn the lights back on please, it’s a lot less scary with the lights on.”

Diane went round the room and turned on all the flood lights, now Lucy saw the blood on the sawhorse and the cross, and manacles on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.

“Do you want to know the really scary thing?”

Neither Diane of Lucy wanted to know, but they nodded anyway.

“He didn’t install those manacles and leg irons. One time I was chained up facing that wall for 8 hours, I examined every millimetre of the surface, every crack, every paint chip, everything. The bolts holding them to the wall are very old, they’ve been there hundreds of years, probably as old as the house. He was only doing what his dad taught him to do, and his father before him. He was the last in a long line of paedophiles. I’m glad Jordan isn’t his and wasn’t introduced to this room.”

Lucy was speechless, her mind was racing in so many directions she actually felt dizzy.

Gabbie squeezed Lucy’s hand, “it’s ok Lucy, I’m fine, come on, I’ll take you away from here.”

“I’m supposed to be the strong one,” Lucy managed before the tears came, Diane rushed forwards but Gabbie stopped her, she pulled a tissue from Lucy’s pocket and wiped her eyes.

They made it upstairs and Gabbie helped Lucy to a chair, not the one her mum had been held in.

“Oh Gabbie, that room, it’s horrific, the thoughts of what you went through, it’s overwhelming, my mind is all a blur.”

“You can cry Lucy, you’re allowed to cry. I’m not giving him any more tears though, he’s not worth it.”

Gabbie turned to Diane, “can you do me a favour please Diane.”

“Oh yes, anything.”

“Can you get that policeman who spoke to us before, I need to ask him something.”

“No problem, will you be ok with Lucy?”

“Very soon we’ll both be fine, thank you.”

Diane left the kitchen, Gabbie felt in Lucy’s pants pocket and pulled out a couple more tissues.

“It’s ok baby, let them out, it’s good to cry, I always feel better afterwards.”

Diane returned with the detective a couple of minutes later.

“Oh hey, I’m really sorry, I’m not my usual self today, I totally forgot your name.”

“That’s ok miss, I’m DCI Morris.”

“Oh wow, that’s a pretty high rank to be dragging you inside here, sorry about that.”

“Not a problem, this is a very big case.”

“Really, I had no idea, I just thought it was a domestic incident.”

“Not any more, we’ve got the cold case team on it, found a few more bodies I’m afraid.”

Gabbie sat down, stunned, “good god, no. Babies?”

“We don’t know yet. You wanted to ask me something?”

“Oh, yes, sorry. Diane, can you stay with Lucy please, I need to go downstairs.”

Gabbie took DCI Morris down to the cellar.

“I assume you’ve been down here already.”

“Yes miss.”

“Gabbie, please call me Gabbie, miss seems so formal, and I hate formal.”

“Ok Gabbie.”

In the cellar Gabbie stood in the middle of the room.

“I guess mum told you what went on down here.”

“Yes, we know what you went through in here.”

“You have photos and films of everything?”

“We do.”

“You know that’s my blood on the sawhorse, and there’ll be lots of my blood in the gaps between the flagstones.”

“Mmm, yes.”

“I was going to ask you for something, but after what you said it’s not important any more, so I’ll tell you something instead.”

“Is it pertinent to the case.”

“To the case, and the cold case, you might want to record this.”

DCI Morris pulled his phone out and turned on the voice recorder.

“Video would be better, because I’m going to show you something, over here on the wall.”

DCI Morris followed Gabbie and pointed his phone camera where Gabbie indicated.

“I don’t know if you’ve thought of bringing an archaeologist down here. One day I was chained facing this wall for 8 hours, so I spent a long time looking at the bolts in the wall, they’re very old. I’ve looked at stuff online and they look just like the bolts used in Victoria jails, and even older ones. I’d say they’re as old as the house, and the house is around 400 years old.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Why would a house, a gentleman’s country mansion like this was, have manacles and leg-irons bolted to the wall and ceiling?”

“I see.”

“So, considering you’ve found other bodies, you should entertain the idea that my dad was doing the same thing as his father, and grand-father, and you get my drift.”

“Thank you, I have to say we hadn’t considered that, I do apologise for the oversight.”

“My dad was evil, I’m glad he’s dead.”

“What did you want to ask me?”

“I wondered if we could smash that sawhorse into a million tiny pieces.”

“Well, it is evidence.”

“For what, there isn’t going to be a trial.”

“I suppose not.”