Chapter 6
The Letter
Part 1
The Letter
Part 1
There was a storm coming, Stark could feel that the wind had changed as he stepped through the glass doors of the HQ. The morning had been a scorcher, with high pressure & thunder was now in the air.
He made a quick dash for it, to the car from the steps & managed to jump in & close the door just before the rain came. James was however less fortunate & she swore to herself, scrambling into the driver’s seat beside him. Once in, she fumbled, with wet fingers, for the ignition key before eventually starting the engine & driving away off up the street. It was her turn to drive, for he wasn’t feeling himself.
Stark’s head was thumping almost in unison with the ticking of the grandmother clock, which was situated at one end of Miss Puckett’s living room. The pain killers, that he had popped earlier, before they had left, had not, as of yet, taken affect. Maybe it was developing into a migraine, he thought to himself, but he hoped not. One thing for sure was that it was affecting his train of thought. He tried with all the self discipline he could muster, without actually showing it, to listen to Miss Puckett’s every word. James had noted the conversation in detail, just in case. Even so, Stark had managed to get the gist of it.
Originally, some two weeks earlier, the local bobby had been called in after there was concern for a family who, after 12 months away, had not returned home. Without any real word of their exact whereabouts, it had started to worry the old lady. Supposedly they had left to visit friends, but after much thought she managed to obtain the friends address & telephoned, only to learn, to her dismay, that this was not true. Miss Puckett, a close family friend, was worried & puzzled for she had received a hand written letter, which had been posted locally, from the family the night before they disappeared, a year ago. It had told of their last minute decision to travel to Australia. She confessed that she had been surprised that Mrs. Drew had not mentioned it in advance, in person, instead of sending the letter. Indeed she had thought it most odd. However, due to the circumstances, & she explained how the sudden death of the father had affected them all, she had originally put it down to one of those things. Over the last few months her concern grew & after her telephone call to Australia she contacted the police.
When this was explained by the spinster James understood only too well, as her thoughts for a moment turned to the loss of her own father & then it was gone. Stark asked if they could take the letter for examination & the old lady handed it to the detective as he placed it in a plastic bag.
By now moving storm clouds had darkened the skies, like slow moving flocks of bats & the large conifers, that lined the driveway to the house, as if to guard, blew violently in the cross wind. James drove the car around the overgrown central island, situated three quarters of the way down the snaking gravelled drive, eventually entering the neat semi-circular court yard, in front of the large old house & parked.
Various shades of rain-filled greys adorned the heavens above, as if stroked onto the canvas of some noir masterpiece. A warning, if ever there was one, that something lurked below the facade as the volatile sky overhung the elegantly designed building. Through the rain soaked windscreen, which twisted & distorted their view, Stark & James surveyed the property. It was just possible to make out the front porch & in the torrential rain they both made a run for it, as thunder rolled over head.
Written by T.R.Vinnicombe (aka Dr. Peter Hodgkins) ©2009 all rights reserved & none of the contents of this site can be copied or used in any way without the written consent of the author. Published online by MicroHotStar 2009.
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