Page 26 of Twisted Lies
‘One, two, three,’ she called as Bryant threw his shoulder against the top of the door and she kicked hard at the bottom.
The door burst open and bounced against the back of the two-seater sofa.
Kim pushed it aside and entered.
‘What th—?’
It was clear to her immediately that the house was empty. Not only of people but of possessions.
A gaping space was now where the TV and game system had been just a few hours ago. The photo above the fireplace of the boys had gone, leaving a rectangular piece of clean wallpaper.
She moved further into the house as a feeling of dread began to form in the pit of her stomach.
The kitchen diner showed plates and cups left on the side. All appliances were present except for a kettle, which she assumed had been next to the beverage canisters. There was no handbag or car keys, and a small cupboard with coat hooks had been left ajar. She opened the door wide to find a couple of pairs of men’s shoes and a man’s lightweight jacket. Keith’s jacket.
‘Check outside,’ Kim said as she headed upstairs, though she doubted there was anything there.
The upstairs rooms followed the same pattern. The larger furniture items had been left in the boys’ room. Their school uniforms had been discarded on the bed. Drawers had been opened and emptied. Bedside cabinets were bare. Some books and toys remained.
She ventured left into the master bedroom and saw the exact same picture. Shoes and clothing had been removed from one side of the wardrobe. All of Keith’s possessions appeared to have been left. No longer needed.
Kim moved on to the bathroom. The cabinet door was open. There was a single toothbrush but nothing for the boys. Towels and sheets had been left folded tidily in the airing cupboard.
‘Nothing to see outside, guv. Back gate is locked and secure.’
He took a quick look around the rooms as she tried to get her thoughts in order.
‘Took what they needed and didn’t hang around,’ he observed.
Hence Leanne’s instruction for them to return at 7p.m. She had already known what they were going to do. She remembered Leanne’s hushed words to her sister as they’d left for the morgue, obviously issuing instructions to pack while she was gone.
‘They certainly didn’t hang around, Bryant, but the question is why? What exactly does this family have to hide?’
Nineteen
‘I count thirty-seven,’ Keats said after his second check of the body.
Penn had waited patiently after Keats had discovered a single needle mark just one inch up from the man’s belly button.
‘And I have absolutely no idea why,’ he said, scratching his head.
‘There was a pricking torture once used under the guise of a test for the Devil’s mark during the witch-hunting trials,’ Penn offered.
Keats raised one eyebrow as he headed to his computer in the corner of the room. ‘Penn, how do you know this stuff?’
Penn continued: ‘It was felt that a witch would carry the mark of Satan and that the mark could be visible or invisible. Could be birthmarks, moles, warts and stuff, but if they found nothing obvious, the witch finders decided that if any part of the skin was insensitive to pain or did not bleed when punctured by the sharpest of implements, it must be an invisible badge of the Devil. King James the first said the absence of blood while pricking was an infallible sign of sorcery.’
‘Hmm…’ Keats said, staring at his computer screen.
Penn walked around the body. ‘The women would be stripped naked, have their hair shaved off then the witch finder would systematically pierce all of the poor woman’s body, until he could discover a spot that failed to yield blood or the accused no longer cried out in pain.
‘The test was always successful, because as a result of the continuous torture, the woman’s body would have become insensitive to pain through shock or because the woman would cease to give any indication of pain to make the torture stop.’
‘Very interesting,’ Keats offered.
‘I think—’
‘Not you, this,’ Keats said, tapping his screen. ‘Any fire involved with the witchcraft torture?’
