The Jonah (18 page)

‘Hey!’

Ellie whirled at the whispered sound that came from behind and saw Kelso’s face peering at her through the wooden slats.

‘You scared me!’

‘Sorry. It’s all clear over here. D’you want me to help you over?’

‘I can manage.’ Ellie stood and tossed his bag over the fence. Kelso caught it and waited for her to climb over. He was surprised at her agility, for she was on top of the fence in
two quick movements; but as she looked down at him, her balance became unsteady. He reached for her and caught her as she fell.

Kelso held on to her and Ellie secretly smiled: she had only pretended to be unsteady. She looked up at him and he hesitated before kissing her. His kiss was almost desperate, his reluctance to
attain the previous night’s closeness swept away by a demanding ferocity that left her lips, her cheeks, her neck, bruised and searing hot.

‘Ellie . . .’ He seemed to be drawing away, but she clung to him, using her weight to slowly bring him down. They sank to their knees, then they were lying on the ground, foliage
closing around them. She returned his kisses, her own desire aroused by his, the sweet memory of his naked body causing a hot flush that started around her chest but which moved down, tightening
her abdomen, then seeping between her legs like a soft warm shadow that played on the skin’s surface. Ellie pushed herself hard against him, one leg going over his thigh so that he filled the
inner cavity that yearned for his pressure, and his fingers touched her cheek, her neck, his lips never leaving hers.

His hand slid between the buttons of her jacket and she quietly moaned as he caressed her breast, the silky material of her blouse no barrier but a sensual ally to his touch. Fingers that
trembled only slightly found the buttons to her blouse and then his hand moulded itself around bare flesh, squeezing the nipple so that it rose to a tingling, vibrant peak.

She pulled her mouth away from him, gasping for air, her eyes half-closed, lips curled in a grimace that could have been pain or ecstasy. Daylight, dull though it was, filtered through the
leaves above her, creating a pattern of multi-shaded greens and greys. Her breathing became deeper, its pace increasing as his thigh pressed into her, vagina open and wet beneath the covering
material, secretions pouring through as muscles contracted. And then – oh God, no! – then she could no longer control the flow, and she pulled him on top, hands like claws against his
back, lifting her pelvis against him, her thighs wrapped around his leg. And she was coming, unable to stop, the rising orgasm too powerful to hold back. Kelso sensed what was happening and did not
try to prevent it; he pushed even harder, his hand crushing her flesh, his thigh rigid but moving. She cried out, called his name, and then – unbelievably – the moment was there. The
tendons in her neck became taut, her head pressed back into the soil beneath her, her back lifted itself from the ground, and she was climbing, floating, stretching, and small tears were forced
from the corners of her eyes, and she was clutching at him, and her release was shattering, explosive, soft, and warm, and calm, and gently sinking. One tear trickled down into her hair and a
softly shuddering breath passed between her lips.

‘Oh, Jim, I’m sorry.’

He put a finger to her lips and she saw he was smiling.

‘I couldn’t . . .’ she began to say.

‘It’s all right, Ellie,’ he interrupted. He kissed her and she responded with a warmth that overwhelmed any previous thoughts. ‘I couldn’t stop myself,’ she
managed to say at last.

Kelso chuckled. ‘I told you. It’s all right. It gave me pleasure, too, Ellie.’

‘Do you want me to . . .’

He shook his head. ‘It can wait, there’s plenty of time.’ He kissed her again and she could feel he had relaxed, his earlier tension dissipated.

‘I thought you’d changed. I thought you didn’t want me after last night.’

He sighed. ‘It’s not you, Ellie. I want you – I need you – badly. But I don’t want anything to happen to you.’ He looked troubled and she was afraid he would
lapse back into his earlier mood.

‘Nothing
will
happen to me. Can’t you see it’s all in your own imagination?’

‘I just wish that were true.’

‘Can you ignore me then, Jim, pretend I don’t exist? Pretend nothing has happened between us?’

She felt him tense as though he was going to roll away from her, but she hung on. He buried his face in her hair and held her close for several moments. ‘Maybe it will be different this
time,’ she heard him say. ‘Maybe all my bad luck has just run out.’

But when he sat up and she could see his face, there was still doubt in his eyes.

They came across the deep but narrow gulley soon after they had resumed their trek along the waterway. It was partially covered by undergrowth and it was only by chance that
Ellie spotted the opening, for she was on the opposite side of the waterway, studying the bank on Kelso’s side.

‘Jim, look!’

He followed her pointing finger, then knelt, clearing away some of the foliage to get a clearer view.

‘It could be what we’re looking for,’ he told her. ‘It leads off in the direction of the house.’ In fact, Kelso was relieved, for he knew that if they had not found
something soon, they would have journeyed beyond the house itself and their guess would have been proved wrong. ‘Can you get across?’ he asked the girl.

‘Easy,’ she replied, for the waterway had narrowed considerably by that point. She took a few paces back, then came running. Kelso reached for her as one foot thudded into the top of
the bank on his side, and pulled her in before she could fall back into the water.

Together they studied the gulley and Kelso caught Ellie frowning. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘It just occurred to me: no one would be allowed drainage into this kind of canal. It wasn’t made for sewage.’

‘Of course not.’

‘So – if there is a drugs factory on the estate – they couldn’t possibly risk using this canal.’

‘Unless they had no choice.’

Ellie raised her eyebrows.

‘This is the countryside, remember,’ he explained. ‘Eshley Hall is far enough outside the town for it not to be on main drainage. So they’d have to use a cesspit.
Depending on its size, it would have to be emptied three, four, perhaps five times a year. Even if it were a septic tank, it would need emptying at least once a year. And that would be
risky.’

‘So they would have to make use of the canal.’

‘That’s my guess. They’d have to have something to flush away their waste, but I’d assume they’d use this drain sparingly, and only for harmless stuff that could be
easily dispersed. The acid was a mistake.’

Ellie seemed happier. ‘A big one. Let’s hope you’re right.’

They pushed their way through the undergrowth, following the gulley, both aware and excited by the fact that it had been carefully concealed. Eventually, the ground rose sharply and it was Kelso
who uncovered the pipe protruding from a low point in the embankment.

‘I’ll bet this leads straight up to the house,’ he told Ellie. He knelt and caught sight of something lying beneath nearby foliage. ‘Look what we have here.’

Ellie shivered when she saw the dead vole. Its eyes were flat and glassy, its jaw stretched open wide as though it had protested its death. The body had not yet begun to decompose. Kelso prodded
it with a stiff finger.

‘I’d say it’s been dead for a couple of days at least. No visible marks to show the cause, but it certainly wasn’t old age.’

‘Poisoned?’

They looked at each other and there was grim satisfaction on both faces. ‘Could well be,’ Kelso replied.

He quickly climbed the embankment, then slid down again. ‘We’re fairly near the house,’ he told Ellie. ‘I want you to take this thing back and get it opened up.
Let’s find out for sure what killed it.’ He held up a hand when she began to protest. ‘If the vole died from chemical poisoning – particularly if it’s any chemical
used in the making of drugs – then we’ll have conclusive proof that our guess is correct. We’ll have enough to instigate a search of Slauden’s property.’

‘But why can’t we both take it back?’

‘Because I want to snoop around a bit.’

‘For what? This should be enough for now.’ She pointed at the dead animal.

‘I’d like to find out how they’re getting the raw stuff in. This close to the coast, it
has
to come in by boat.’

‘Then why can’t I stay with you? You’re just trying to get me out of the way again.’

‘For Christ’s sake, Ellie, I thought you were professional. The sooner we find out the cause of that vole’s death, the sooner we’ll know whether or not to move in.’
His voice softened as he went on: ‘Look, don’t worry about me – I’m not going to take any risks. I just want to look around, then I’ll get out.’

‘You looked around the other day – at Slauden’s invitation.’

‘He kept me well away from this side of the estate. I’m sure if I’d wandered away from the sanctuary, someone would have been there to point me back in the right
direction.’ He reached inside the shoulder-bag and withdrew a clear plastic container he had intended to use for any chemical samples he might have found. Picking up the small, stiff body, he
dropped it into the bag and sealed the top. Ellie took the package from him with obvious disgust.

‘Here, keep it in my bag – I won’t need it. Now get going, will you, Ellie? And keep this to yourself until you know what killed it. Then tell only me, okay?’

She moved closer to him. ‘You won’t take any chances?’

‘No way.’ He put a hand behind her neck and drew her lips to his. His kiss was tender. Ellie regarded him anxiously. ‘Promise?’

‘Ellie, I’ve tried for a long time not to feel this way about anyone, but now that I do, I don’t intend to let anything spoil it. I’m treading carefully – for your
sake and for mine – so will you scram and take a load off my mind?’

She touched his cheek and then she was gone, the shoulder-bag clutched to her side.

Kelso swiftly climbed back up the gradient and lay flat near the top, just his head and shoulders showing where the ground levelled off. He could see the big, grey-stoned manor house through the
trees no more than two hundred yards away. Edging his body over the top, the detective crept forward, keeping low and moving silently through the undergrowth. Cover ran out just about seventy yards
away from the building and Kelso kept himself hidden behind a stout oak. The ground sloped gently away to the main lawn area at the rear of the house. He wanted to get a closer look at the house,
perhaps even get inside, but decided it would be better to wait for a while to make sure there was no one around. He was immediately thankful for making the right decision: a motor cruiser had come
into view and it was heading for the boathouse at the end of the long garden. Kelso knew little about boats, but it looked to be the powerful, sea-going kind, about thirty feet in length and having
an upper deck. He remembered having seen the cruiser moored in the harbour on several occasions. So this was one of Sir Anthony’s little luxuries. Impressive.

He squinted his eyes to see if he could make out who the figures on the upper deck were, but the distance was too great. His binoculars were in the bag he had given Ellie and he silently cursed
himself for not having retrieved them before she had left. He would just have to wait patiently until whoever was on the boat came up to the main building. He crouched low, back against the tree,
head turned in the direction of the house, and waited. And waited.

Kelso glanced at his wristwatch. Over an hour had gone by since he had first heard the motor cruiser’s approach. Were they still in the boathouse, perhaps working on the vessel? They had
to be: no one had used the path up to the house. A heavy drop of rain fell from the leaves above him, splattered against the back of his hand. Terrific. Now he was in for a soaking. It could be
that they had used the path running along the riverbank on the other side of the boathouse, the building itself cutting off his view. But that didn’t make sense: the path only led into the
bird sanctuary. Tiny pitter-patter sounds around him made him turn up the collar of his reefer jacket, raindrops beginning to work their way through the leafy layers above. What to do? Observation
was one of the duties he liked least, even though it was something he should have become used to by now. He liked to be on the move, routing out or stirring things up rather than sitting and
waiting. Especially when it was raining.

He also knew he did not have much time: Ellie was impatient to bring in reinforcements, even though they had no firm evidence as yet. She believed the incident with the bulldozer the night
before was meant as a warning or to get rid of them completely, and she may well have been right; but she knew nothing of his background, only of what others had told her. Ellie could never
understand how unnatural happenings in his life had almost become commonplace to him. Maybe not ‘commonplace’, but he had learned to expect the unexpected. Still, he had to admit to
himself, the bulldozer starting up on its own was a little too far-fetched. And Ellie had said she’d heard a car. Even so, this was one operation he did not want jinxed, not just because of
his own reputation, but because she was involved. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself such feelings, and now he had become afraid once more. Afraid for her.

Kelso rose from his crouched position, keeping his back against the tree. He wiped a raindrop from his nose, then crept stealthily back into the thicker undergrowth, increasing his speed when he
knew he was safely screened from anyone who might be observing from the house. He quickly made his way down towards the water’s edge, thankful for the tall hedge that screened the area he was
in from the sloping lawns. The hedge ended several yards away from the river and he became more cautious. The strange building, constructed in the same style as Eshley Hall itself, was about a
hundred yards away and there was little cover between. He listened for a while, straining his ears to catch the sound of voices or movement inside the boathouse. He was too far away.