The Gospel Makers (10 page)

Taking his glass with him, he went over to the desk, sat down on the chair in front of it and carefully began to unwrap the tissue paper. By the time the doorbell sounded, the Ark stood in pride of place and some ten sets of animals were laid out in front of it.

Hannah was waiting outside. ‘There’s a pleasant surprise!’ he said, kissing her. ‘Come in — I’ve something to show you.’

‘And I’ve something to tell you.’

She walked ahead of him into the living-room and he heard her exclamation of surprise. ‘What an exquisite thing, David! Where did you find that?’

‘In the house of an old lady who died recently.’

‘You mean you’ve bought it?’

‘No, but it’s too valuable to be left in the empty house.’ She took the drink he handed her. ‘And what were you doing there? Had the old lady met a nasty end?’

‘Not as far as I know.’ He paused. ‘But her son had.’

‘Explain,’ Hannah instructed, sipping her drink.

‘The body at the King’s Head. You might have read about it.’

‘I saw something in the paper.’

‘Well, while I’ve been looking into it — and it’s complicated enough in all conscience — Nina Petrie, as I told you, has been sussing out the Revelationists. Two entirely separate investigations. Then, out of the blue, I come across this.’

‘And you think there’s a connection?’

‘It’s possible, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Any luck with Nina’s sleuthing?’

‘I’ve called a halt to it,’ Webb said shortly.

She looked at him sharply. ‘Why?’

‘Partly at her recommendation and partly because of her change of attitude. She’s done a complete about-turn — can’t speak highly enough of them.’

‘I don’t think I like the sound of that.’

‘Nor did I.’

‘David, it’s because of the cult that I called.’ She opened her handbag and extracted a cassette. ‘At least, I assume this is their work. Play it and see what you think. I confiscated it from two fifth-form girls.’

Thus it was that Webb was able to hear for himself the mesmeric voice of Noah Bellringer which Nina had struggled to describe for him, and the message it imparted was honeyed poison.

This version was aimed at young people, warning them to trust no one, since everyone outside the movement was evil and would try to discredit the Revelationists. Parents and teachers in particular were liable to spread false stories, and must be treated with suspicion.

‘Remember,’ the persuasive voice emphasized, ‘Satan has always tried to harm those who serve the Lord. Didn’t our Lord himself say, He that is not with me is against me? You will meet scorn, ridicule and abuse on all sides but I say to you, Be strong! Trust only in the Lord and his servant Noah Bellringer and together we shall survive.’

The voice faded and after a minute there was a small click as the machine switched itself off.

‘Strong stuff,’ Webb commented. ‘I’d like someone to have a look at that; I’m pretty sure it contains subliminal material, probably in the background music.’ He looked at Hannah’s grave face. ‘Did you speak to the girls about it?’

‘Yes, separately.’

‘And what did they say?’

‘Very little. I felt I wasn’t getting through to them at all. Unfortunately, they’re ideal targets for the Revvies; their respective parents are too caught up in their own affairs — business interests in one case, marital difficulties in the other — to pay them much attention.’

‘So what will you do?’

‘I’ve arranged to see their parents — I’ve no intention of taking sole responsibility for this. Anyway, if the girls did go to that meeting — which so far they haven’t admitted — it was while they were under their parents’ jurisdiction. Of course you can take the cassette, but not till after I’ve played it to them.’

She paused. ‘I wonder if DI Petrie was subjected to something like that.’

‘I hope not. I should never have let her get involved in the first place; she’s just the sort they cotton on to — youngish, divorced, probably lonely. I’ll have an eye kept on them, but at least Nina’s safely out of it.’

*

At the precise moment of Webb’s comforting reflection, Nina herself was seated in the kitchen at Victoria Drive, a feeling of excitement pumping through her. There were ten of them round the table. Sarah and Mattie weren’t there but she’d met Ruth and Annabel, whom she’d seen at the meeting handing round coffee cups. They were all so friendly and welcoming; it was obvious she’d been accepted, as Daniel’s friend and almost certainly as a potential member of the Movement.

‘You join as an Initiate,’ Brad Lübekker was saying in answer to her question, ‘and progress to Seeker, like the young people here.’ His glance took in Liz, Lucy, and the boys who’d been talking to the schoolgirls on her first visit, now identified as Terry and Vince.

‘And then what?’ she asked.

Brad smiled. ‘I can see there’ll be no holding you! Gospeller comes next, but you need to take a four-week course to prepare for it.’

He refilled her glass with apple juice. ‘You see, as a Gospeller you’re required to write your own testament, or gospel, setting out your personal faith and experience of God. At the millennium, a selection of the most inspiring will be bound together to form a third and Final Testament.’

He glanced at her, pleased at her interest. ‘We all have knowledge of God, Nina, but only a fraction is revealed to each one of us. By pooling our spiritual knowledge, we aim to complete the jigsaw of God’s design and purpose for us.

‘As you’ll appreciate, people remain as Gospeller for several years, taking further courses during that time to assist their work. Daniel and Adam here are Gospellers, as are Sarah and Matilda, whom I believe you’ve also met.’

‘And after Gospeller comes Pastor,’ Adam put in, ‘and then, right at the top, the Elders of the Movement, Prelates — like Brad — and High Priests.’

‘And you say the Movement is world-wide?’

‘Virtually, yes, but we’re working against the clock. We must save as many as we can before the waters start to rise.’

Nina shuddered at the suddenly serious note in his voice, which dispelled the warm cosiness of their circle.

‘Let us pray,’ he added, ‘that none of us will be found wanting in the task that lies ahead.’

Unselfconsciously, they bowed their heads and Nina, listening to the words which poured so passionately from the Prelate, wondered how she could ever have doubted such a sincere and devout group of people.

Then it was time for her to go, and after she’d made her farewells, Daniel walked with her along the corridor to the front door. ‘It’s good to have you with us, Nina,’ he said softly. ‘I knew from the first that you were meant to join us.’

‘Did you?’ She looked up at him, and he suddenly bent and kissed her mouth. Her response was immediate but she held it down, fearful of the consequences of too swift a commitment. He was, after all, the first man to attract her since Ross had left. It was essential to remain in control.

‘Good night, Daniel,’ she said and, without looking back, ran down the steps and through the gate. Her mother, she knew, would be anxiously waiting. What was she going to tell her this time?

*

When Christina had arrived home that evening, there was a message from the school on the answerphone. Miss James would be grateful if Mr and Mrs French would call to see her at three o’clock the following afternoon, to discuss a problem that had arisen.

‘A bit high-handed, isn’t it?’ Christina said over supper. ‘We’re busy people, after all; we can’t drop everything the minute she lifts a finger.’

‘That’s hardly fair, darling. She’s never sent for us before — there must be a good reason.’

Edward had a high opinion of Miss James. In fact, he was more comfortable with her than with Miss Rutherford who, though admittedly the possessor of a double first, nevertheless struck him as woolly-headed, flapping around as she did, spraying hairpins in all directions. Miss James was quite different, sensible and easy to talk to and an attractive woman into the bargain, with that heavy, honey-coloured hair.

‘I don’t see why it couldn’t have waited till Parents’ Evening,’ Christina retorted.

Edward was struck by a disturbing thought. ‘I wonder if Stephie’s been playing up? She was behaving oddly last weekend — I told you — what with that vegetarian nonsense and throwing away all her make-up.’

Christina realized uncomfortably that she hadn’t given a thought either to her daughter or her behaviour since the night Edward mentioned it. She made no further comment, but when the meal was over, went up to Stephanie’s room.

As soon as she entered it she was aware of something different, something which, though she couldn’t at first put her finger on it, disquieted her. Then she saw that the pictures of pop stars which normally decorated the walls had been removed and in their place a solitary piece of crumpled paper was stuck up with Blu-tack. Moving nearer, she made out the smudged outline of a triangle with a semi-circle behind it.

For a moment she stared at it, trying to make sense of it, then, baffled, turned away and her eyes fell on the wastepaper basket. As Edward had said, it was full of the jumbled contents of Stephie’s make-up drawer — expensive and almost new lipsticks, the bottle of scent which had been her birthday present, eyeshadows, blusher and hair ribbons.

Instead of its normal clutter, the dressing-table was bare except for a small, empty jeweller’s box. Christina recognized it as having contained the gold cross and chain which Stephie had been given by her godmother at her confirmation. At the time she’d worn it constantly, though, Christina suspected, more as ornament than emblem, being the only form of jewellery permitted by the school.

But that was years ago and she couldn’t remember when she’d last seen it. So where was the cross now? Had it been lost, given away? Or had Stephie started wearing it again? And if so, did this tie in with the discarded make-up, the rejection of meat?

Sometimes girls went through a religious phase in their teens, Christina thought. That’s probably all it was, though it must have been a sudden and extreme conversion. Was this what Miss James wanted to speak to them about?

Looking round the bare walls, Christina had an irrational desire to see again the grinning face of Jason Donovan. She gave an involuntary little shiver and went hurriedly out of the room, closing the door carefully behind her.

Chapter 9

‘Ken? Bring the car round, will you? I want to see Miss Preston again.’

‘Right, Guv.’ Jackson raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t imagine what more the housekeeper could tell them, but no doubt Spiderman knew what he was doing.

‘Something else come up, has it?’ he asked, as they drove along Carrington Street.

‘It’s about the Ark,’ Webb said briefly.

‘The Noah’s Ark? That we found in the house?’

‘The very same. You said yourself it was an odd thing for an old lady to have. I want to know how long she’s had it and where it came from.’

Light began to dawn. ‘You think she might have been in touch with that lot the DI was looking into?’

‘That, my lad, is what I intend to find out.’

This time it was the owner of the bungalow who opened the door.

‘If you’re looking for my sister she’s in the back garden,’ she told them. ‘You can go round the side of the house.’

Webb thanked her and in single file they made their way through the narrow side-gate. The back garden was ablaze with multi-coloured chrysanthemums and dahlias and edged with bright-berried shrubs. In the centre of a paved area stood an old-fashioned sundial, and at the far end Webb could see a small pond with an artificial heron standing beside it. The effect was of a stately home garden in miniature, charming, but over-fussy for his taste.

Miss Preston, clad in cord trousers, sweater and boots, turned in surprise at their approach. ‘Good morning, Chief Inspector. I wasn’t expecting another visit!’

‘No, ma’am, nor was I, but there are a few more questions, I’m afraid.’

‘Then let’s sit on the bench in the sunshine,’ she suggested, leading the way to an old garden seat under an apple tree. ‘Now,’ as they all settled themselves, ‘fire away!’

‘First, I forgot to ask you what Mrs Kershaw died of?’

‘Oh, it was her heart — she’d been on tablets for years. She didn’t have an attack, as far as we know, just went peacefully in her sleep.’

‘I see.’ It seemed innocuous enough but he’d check with her GP. ‘The other thing I was wondering was whether she had any friends who came to visit her?’

‘Well, if you could call them friends. There were some young people who kept popping round. I thought she’d get tired of them for ever looking in, but she was always glad to see them. I suppose she’d missed the company of young people over the years.’

‘Were they children of friends?’ Webb asked, though he thought he knew the answer.

‘Oh no, nothing like that. The girl called one day collecting for charity, and while I was looking in my purse, she remarked on an old tree that was leaning over the path. She said it looked dangerous, and she had a friend who’d be willing to cut it down for us if we liked.

‘I went to ask Mrs Kershaw, and she told me to take the girl in to see her. Lucy, her name was. So it was all arranged and at the weekend a young man came round, and I must say he made a very good job of it. Didn’t seem to want any money for it, either. In the end he suggested Mrs Kershaw made a donation to the same charity, which she did.

‘And it went on from there. He and another lad started doing all sorts of jobs around the house — putting new washers on taps, changing plugs, clearing out gutters. The girls helped out, too, Lucy and a friend of hers — and gradually they started dropping in for tea or to spend the evening. Mrs Kershaw seemed charmed with them.

‘I was suspicious for a while, wondering if they were planning to burgle the house once they knew the layout. Nor did I like leaving the old lady alone with them, and even though I wasn’t needed, I made excuses for staying in the house. But I soon realized that I’d wronged them. They seemed genuinely fond of her and she of them. And they all came to her funeral, which is more than most people did.’

‘Did you ever join them for tea?’

‘No; once I’d left it ready, the afternoon was my own. In fact, I had more free time over the last few months than during all the years I was with her.’

‘What were the others called?’

‘There was Ruth and Vince, and the other young man was Terry, I think. Oh, and Liz, but she only came once or twice. I never heard any surnames.’

‘What did you think of them? Did you like them?’

Miss Preston hesitated, brushing a leaf off her cord trousers. ‘There was nothing about them to dislike.’

‘That doesn’t answer my question.’

She smiled. ‘I realize that, but I can’t really give a straight answer. They were always friendly and charming and yet — this sounds ridiculous — I felt they were too good to be true. And I suppose I resented them coming so often, which, again, was stupid, because it meant I had time to myself.’

‘You felt they were trying to ingratiate themselves?’

‘Yes, that’s it exactly! That’s just what I felt.’

‘Did they ever bring her presents?’

Miss Preston looked surprised. ‘Presents? I don’t think so.’

‘Miss Preston, Sergeant Jackson and I went round to the house last evening and we found an elaborately carved Noah’s Ark complete with animals. Quite a work of art.’

‘Oh — the Ark, yes.’

‘Can you tell us about it? Had Mrs Kershaw had it long?’

‘No, only a few weeks, but it wasn’t from the young people, that was from someone else. I’d forgotten about him.’

‘And who was he?’

‘I don’t know his name — that was the only time I saw him. He came to the house one evening a week or two before she died. He must have brought it, because I saw it for the first time after he’d gone.’

‘Had he any connection with the others?’

‘I shouldn’t think so — he was quite a bit older. But Mrs Kershaw never discussed any of them with me — she was a very private person. She didn’t say who the man was or why he’d called, and it wasn’t my place to ask.’

‘Did she make any comment on the Ark?’

‘Not in so many words, but she was obsessed with it — wouldn’t let it out of her sight. I had to bring it downstairs every morning and take it back up again at night. She couldn’t manage it herself, because of her stick. And often when I came into the room she was just sitting staring at it. To be honest, it gave me the creeps.’

‘One last question, Miss Preston. What charity was the girl collecting for?’

‘Oh, something to do with the Third World — I forget the name.’

In all probability, Webb reflected grimly, the ‘third world’ referred to was not the one usually associated with the phrase. He watched a group of blackbirds splashing in the pond, his mind revolving round what he’d just heard. Lucy and Ruth, Vince and Terry, Liz. Would those names mean anything to Nina? He was damn sure they would.

*

‘Hannah?’

‘Hello, Dilys! How are you?’

‘Decidedly twitchy, my dear.’

‘Oh, how so? The baby proving a distraction after all?’

‘Not in himself, I have to say. It’s probably just me. Hannah, I have a favour to ask. Could you possibly call round today or tomorrow? For tea, perhaps, or drinks if you prefer?’

‘Today’s out, I’m afraid. I’m seeing some parents this afternoon and there’s a meeting after school.’

‘Tomorrow, then? Please?’

‘You do sound edgy — what’s wrong?’

Dilys lowered her voice till Hannah had to strain to hear it. ‘It’s this nanny, Hannah. There’s something strange about her — really strange — and it worries me having her in the house.’

‘But surely Susie was —’

‘Yes, I know, I keep telling myself that.’

‘You don’t think —’ horror crept into Hannah’s voice — ‘you don’t think she’d do anything to the baby, do you?’

‘No, I don’t,’ Dilys said positively. ‘She dotes on him. That’s her only saving grace, as far as I’m concerned.’

‘But —’

‘Look, I can’t explain. I just want you to meet her and tell me what you think. You’re a good judge of character; if you tell me I’m being barmy, I’ll believe you and perhaps be able to get down to this blasted book again. Please, Hannah.’

‘Of course, if you’re as worried as that. Tomorrow, then, and tea would be lovely.’

‘Fine. You don’t know what a load that is off my mind.’

Hannah replaced the phone thoughtfully. Dilys had always had a hyperactive imagination — it was, after all, how she earned her living. But Hannah had never known her react so strongly to someone before. She would be quite interested to see this nanny for herself.

*

‘Excuse me, Miss Hendrix —’

Mattie, alone in the classroom at the end of the morning’s lessons, jumped and looked towards the door. Stephanie French and Marina Chase stood watching her hesitantly and her heart plummeted. She’d been expecting this for the last week.

‘Yes?’

‘We wondered if you could help us. Miss James has confiscated our cassettes and pamphlets — we thought you ought to know.’

‘Cassettes?’ Mattie echoed weakly, to gain time.

‘Yes, that we were given last week. She found out about them somehow, and sent for us to ask what they were all about.’

This was worse than Mattie had expected and her heart set up a loud, frightened hammering. ‘What did you tell her?’

‘Nothing.’ It was said with a touch of defiance.

‘Did you — mention my having been at the meeting?’

‘No.’

She felt a wave of relief. Would she have denied her beliefs if Miss James had confronted her with them? Oh, if only she had the strength that was needed to be a Gospeller!

No wonder the Prelate had taken her to task last night. She had, he implied, been handed these two young minds on a plate — an ideal opportunity to draw them in. And what had she done? Nothing! Even now, when they’d come to her for help, she was wavering hopelessly.

She said, ‘What do you want me to do?’

The girls looked at each other as though puzzled by her indecisiveness, as well they might be.

‘Could you get us some more? We’re supposed to play them every day.’

‘Yes, I’ll — I’ll get you some.’

‘Thank you.’ They waited uncertainly for a moment longer, and when she remained silent, went together out of the room.

Mattie put her head down on the desk and wept. What a weak, spineless fool! She’d been given the perfect chance to talk to the girls, have a discussion with them — they were obviously hungry for knowledge. She even had papers and tapes of her own she could have lent them. And what had she done with this heaven-sent opportunity? Sat with her eyes fearfully on the door behind them, longing for them to leave before someone came along. What kind of disciple was she? A failed one, that much was obvious. A failed disciple with a failed life.

She lifted her head, fumbling for a handkerchief and trying to control herself sufficiently to go along to the dining-hall. The only thing that kept her going, she thought, was her love of teaching and at that, she knew, she excelled. It was small comfort, but it was all she had.

*

When Webb returned to Carrington Street, it was to find a message waiting for him. Roderick Soames and his wife had been located in Scotland, given the news of Kershaw’s murder, and were flying home that evening. Thank God for that, he thought. He was counting on Soames for the answers to several outstanding queries.

He lifted the intercom on his desk. ‘Nina, could you spare a moment?’

‘I’ve got some names which I imagine are associated with your lot,’ he greeted her as she came into his office. ‘Lucy, Ruth, Vince, Terry, Liz. Mean anything to you?’

Nina said steadily, ‘Yes, they’re all Revelationists.’

He tilted his chair back, his eyes on her face. ‘What are they like?’

‘Very pleasant.’

‘A little more than that, Inspector, if you please.’

‘What do you want to know, sir? They’re in their early to mid-twenties, I’d say. The boys help out at the Youth Club; Ruth’s a doctor’s receptionist; Lucy and Liz are unemployed.’ She’d learned all that the previous evening. ‘Why?’ she added, when he remained silent.

‘Just that they’d been sniffing round the mother of our murder victim.’

‘Did she make a complaint?’

‘Far from it. Gave them tea and had them round for the evening.’

Nina nodded, as though she’d have expected as much, which for some reason annoyed Webb.

‘The housekeeper thought they were making a nuisance of themselves,’ he added shortly. ‘All right, thank you. That’s all.’

There was no need for the Governor to be so hostile to the group, Nina thought resentfully, forgetting it was she who’d originally implanted his suspicions. But they were warned to expect hostility and, to be fair to the DCI, there had been complaints that children were being alienated.

Momentarily, she thought of Alice and a quiver went through her. But she’d trust her with the Revelationists any day, of course she would. In fact, Daniel had already asked to meet her. The trouble would be trying to explain his presence to Mother.

*