Shadows of Deceit (28 page)

Eileen was shocked by this reaction. She’d not encountered his obduracy and anger directed at her previously,

“I’m sad that you’re like this Dermot, but obviously there’s nothing more I can say to you.”

She stood up and walked out into the corridor without looking back. Only outside of the room did she burst into tears.

Harry’s train slowly pulled into Broughton station later than it was scheduled to. There were only about six or seven other passengers that were ahead of Harry as he walked towards the ticket inspector,

“Are there any taxis available?”

“There may be one through the archway there.”

Harry walked outside and discovered that three passengers had already left in a taxi and the others either walked to their homes or were collected by relatives. He was alone. He returned inside and asked a guard how he could get to the Hydro in Peebles,

“Are you staying there tonight?”

“No I’m just meeting up with someone there.” Harry lied.

“Oh right. You see, the hotel has been sending out their own courtesy car to collect staying guests.”

“Will there be any more passengers arriving here today that may be staying?”

“No, this was the last train today. The landslip has made us cancel all further journeys.”

“A taxi then?”

“I honestly doubt if any will be back. I could ‘phone for one but you’ll have to wait a while.”

“Well that’s my only choice. Please could you ‘phone for me?”

“Give me a minute sir; I just need to see Davy Loudoun the Funeral Director. He’s collecting a coffin from the train.”

The inspector walked swiftly through the barrier and down the platform to the guards van. Davy Loudoun had just unloaded the coffin and with the assistance of two railway staff was pushing it on a wheeled trestle towards the barrier. Harry stepped back from the barrier and watched as the coffin was trundled through and then lifted into the back of a hearse parked outside. Davy carefully pulled the blinds of the hearse down so that the coffin was not visible from outside. The Guard then returned to talk with Harry,

“I’ve managed to get you a lift to Peebles sir. That is as long as you don’t mind travelling in a hearse?”

“No I don’t mind. Thank you.” Harry smiled.

“It’s the undertaker from Peebles, ‘Loudoun’s General Builder and Funeral Undertaker’ I’ll introduce you”

A few minutes later Harry was sitting in the passenger seat beside Davy as he pulled away from the station,

“Look I’ve got to go to the parlour first to unload then I can drop you at the Hydro. It’s on my way home. If that’s all right?”

“That’s absolutely fine. It’s kind of you to help.”

“Well I know that it’ll take ages to get a taxi out to Broughton this time of day, and they’ll probably charge you for both trips!”

“This is more interesting than a taxi ride and I’ll pay you as well.”

“No don’t worry, I’m working, so everything is covered in the funeral expenses.”

“When’s the funeral?”

“Monday. Are you staying at the Hydro tonight?”

Harry had to lie again,

“No, I’m just meeting a friend there then I’m staying with one of his relatives somewhere in Peebles.”

“OK. You should be able to get some food there anyway.”

Harry was happy talking with Davy as they made their way to the funeral parlour on the outskirts of Peebles. The last of the daylight disappeared making the distant hills merge into the dark blue night sky so that no silhouette of them was now discernible.

“Is your’s a family business Davy?”

“Aye, for about a hundred years almost. My brother, Angus, and I run it now. Dad, who was in charge, died about six years since. We’ve also got the construction side as well, you know, general builders in the area.”

“So you’re well known and respected in the community?”

“Well we like to think so. For generations the various local families have come back to us when needed. We try and offer an efficient yet compassionate service.”

Davy smiled as he recalled something,

“My Dad started issuing a local newsletter years ago, you know, just informing people what services we offered, building, planning, funeral services. Well Dad published this thing every quarter. At first it was called ‘Newsletter from Loudoun and Sons, General Builder and funeral Undertaker.’ It was delivered for free and he included bus and train timetables, useful telephone numbers and general chat about what was going on locally like drama productions, Kirk activities, films and the like. Well all the locals shortened the title to ‘Loudoun Clear’ so after Dad died we changed it to that.”

“Is it still being issued?”

“Yep, ‘Loudoun Clear’ is still going strong.”

“What about horses, do you still use horses for funerals?”

“Why yes, we’ve got four that we stable. Before the war the trend was switching to using vehicles but now with petrol rationing people have reverted to the old ways. To be fair, funeral directors are given a special priority ration of fuel if required but we rely on our horses again at the moment.”

“It must be a fascinating business, I’ve never really thought about it too much?”

“Well we’re always looking for fit robust men to be bearers if you’re ever out of a job!” They both laughed.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Dermot remained in his room for another hour before deciding to wash and dress. During this time he received a ‘phone call from Steve,

“… I see. And it’s all sorted Steve? …where?...I see, I’ll make a note. Good…I’ll meet you when you get back…”

Following this conversation he packed his bags, it was time to leave the hotel. Just before a taxi arrived to collect him he made an important telephone call himself “…Yes he should be at one of those addresses.”

He replaced the receiver onto the cradle, collected his bags and paid the bill.

The hearse eventually pulled into a yard on the outskirts of the Town. The building was a long single storey stone structure with an imposing stepped entrance flanked by pillars and a canopy.

“I’ll show you into my office, you can wait there. I should be no longer than ten minutes.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No thanks, my brother’s here.”

Harry was taken to the back of the building and shown into a large dark workshop that had a desk and chair pushed against a back wall. Davy switched on an angle-poise lamp on the desk.

“Take a seat here. You can amuse yourself by reading some back copies of ‘Loudoun Clear’ while you wait. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

Harry was then alone in the workshop. He flicked through the pages of the newsletters for a few minutes but didn’t really feel like reading. He turned his head to look around the room and then directed the lamp to the far end. It illuminated some long shelves fixed to the back wall. In front was a trestle supporting an almost completed coffin. Underneath the trestle were bolts of white fabric and stuffing material; for the coffin cushioning he presumed. His eyes then focused on some small reflective discs on the shelves. His curiosity got the better of him so he stood up and slowly walked across the room. The malevolent looking image of his shadow was projected larger and larger onto the back wall as he moved nearer. As he walked around the trestle he realised that the discs were in fact pairs of spectacles. He discovered about thirty pairs of them piled on top of each other, all of them carefully labelled with someone’s name and date of death. He picked one pair up to examine it. For some reason he shivered and felt oddly cold and fearful, a sensation he’d not experienced before. The hairs on his neck stood up as he trembled again. Despite enduring all the horrors of war on the battlefield he felt different here. This was too clinical; it was the cold unemotional side of death. Bodies were brought here and washed, embalmed and dressed for burial - all of their remaining possessions taken away to be reclaimed by relatives, or quite probably thrown away as rubbish. He felt uneasy being there, a sense of being an intruder, an outsider. These weren’t his people here, his family or members of his regiment they were unknown to him, and he felt he was trespassing. He replaced the spectacles and noticed his hand was now shaking. Several pairs then slipped and clattered onto the workbench below, at that precise second a loud screech echoed around the room and he felt a distinct pressure on his shoulder as though someone’s hand had touched him. He instinctively pivoted around to find a cat scurrying out of the office door into the corridor beyond.

“Bloody hell!”

The cat had been asleep inside the open coffin behind him.

“I see you’ve met Sexton then?” Davy said as he returned to the workshop.

“Met him, he nearly scared the shit out of me!”

“I should have warned you, he always sleeps around here.” Davy said smiling.

“I’m ready now to move on, or do you really need a toilet?”

Harry chuckled,

“No, I’m fine, I’ll make it. He certainly scared me though. Fresh air next please!”

They walked out to the courtyard,

“It’s in my car now; I’m leaving the hearse here.”

Soon they were on their way towards the hotel.

“Are you sure that I can’t pay you a fare for bringing me?”

“No, honestly. Thanks. I was glad of the company.”

Davy drove up through the grounds of the hotel and as they approached the building Harry could just make out its impressive edifice through the trees.

“Thank you again Davy.”

“Here’s my card in case you ever need to contact me again if you’re in the area. I hope your friend’s waiting for you. Bye for now.”

With that the car drove off down the gravelled drive.

Wondering what might be in store for him next, Harry entered reception. He took his mac off and strolled across to a large stylised map of the hotel grounds and surrounding area. He quickly found where Innerleithen was and how best he could get there. There was a main road and a minor road that ran either side of the River Tweed. The southern minor road towards Kings Muir would be quieter, he thought. The road then curved around the Cardrona Forest, then he would take the bridge over the river and he’d be there. Harry looked around the large reception hall and in the far corner were steps that led down to the pool and steam room. But firstly he went to the cloakroom and smartened himself up before walking purposefully across to the desk at the top of the stairs.

“Good afternoon, I’m waiting to meet a friend here later but was just wondering whether I’ve time to enjoy the pool and steam room?”

“Well sir we close the area at six thirty so you’ll only have about twenty minutes.”

“That’s OK. I just want to sample the pleasures. One thing though I need a costume, do you hire them?”

“We don’t normally sir but my colleague downstairs will find one to loan you I’m sure. We have quite a selection that guests have left in the changing rooms over the years.”

Harry paid the fee and was given a token to use downstairs. Within minutes he was handed a wire rack for his clothes, a towelling dressing gown and a pair of swimming trunks. There were four other men in the changing room; he didn’t feel out of place as they were all strangers to each other; all guests Harry thought. He handed the clothes rack to the attendant and entered the lobby of the steam room.

Immediately he noticed the band of mirror tiles three deep that circled the room at waist height. The ones closest to the steam room door were already wet with condensation, and he could clearly see the adhesive spots showing through. He felt rather excited that he had discovered the correct place. A man eased himself up from a deck chair by the steam room door and walked back towards the changing room. Harry immediately occupied the chair and looked around. As guests opened and closed the door clouds of steam billowed in and condensed on the tiles. The longer the door remained closed the greater the volume of steam emerged when it was eventually released. The problem was that too many guests were continually in and out of the facility to enable steam to reach all of the tiles. Harry decided to go and sit in the steam room himself for a few minutes. He left his robe on the deckchair and entered. By pulling the door hard behind him he released showers of very hot water droplets that had accumulated on the ceiling. These fell painfully onto the heads and shoulders of two women who were mainly responsible for constantly going in and out to shower. A minute or so later they decided to leave and get changed. Shortly afterwards the attendant called out that the facility would be closed in ten minutes and that guests should therefore make their way to the changing rooms. Soon afterwards only Harry and two men remained in the steam room. Again the attendant called out and reluctantly the two men also vacated the room. Harry was alone but was feeling too hot to remain there for long. When the outside lobby became quiet he went out and pushed the steam room door closed as tightly as he could. He scanned the tiles again for any signs of the map but apart from the dice patterns nothing else emerged. The attendant came back in,

“I won’t be long.” Harry said, “I’ve been travelling all day and I find this so relaxing.”

“Well sir I must close down the steam room now but you’re welcome to stay in here and relax for ten minutes if you want. The plunge pool behind you is still available if you wish to use it. I’ll call back in about ten minutes.”