Standing in the living room he saw no sign of life. He reached around the corner and tried a light switch. Nothing happened.
“Do you think he’s cut the power, Sean?”
“Only if he’s still here.”
Gardener turned to his colleagues. “Split into teams of two and make a search of each room. For God’s sake, be careful. If he’s still here he could cause mayhem. If he isn’t, he could have left a bunch of nasty little surprises.”
Gardener turned and surveyed the rest of the room with his torch. It was spartan, with only the bare essentials in furniture. The beam of light came to rest on two doors near a set of stairs.
Paul Benson stepped over, opened the cupboard door, staring inside. “Only a few coats here, sir.”
“What about the other door?”
Benson shone his torch down the stairs. “A cellar.”
“That must be where he had Mary.” Gardener addressed Simon Mason. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all, sir.”
He raised his rifle and stepped forward. Two of his men followed, one lit up the way.
Gardener waited less than a minute for his answer, but it felt like a lifetime. “All clear, sir.”
Gardener took the steps. Reilly followed. The tapping of their shoes sounded much louder than they probably were. He was about to speak when the room was illuminated. He glanced back up the stairs. Benson was at the top. “Didn’t think it would do any harm to try it.”
Gardener glanced at Reilly. “Why no lights upstairs?”
“No idea, boss. The element of surprise is pretty pointless if you’re not here.”
Gardener glanced around the room. It was bare. A few shelves, some tools. A chain was attached to the radiator. In front of it was a gun. He knelt down. The chamber was open and empty.
“What the hell is going on, Sean?” he asked, standing up.
With nothing more to see, each man climbed the stairs into the living room.
Gardener was gutted. For over thirty years Carter had been abducting and abusing women. Perhaps killed most of them. He’d been right under their noses. They had interviewed him, had him banged up for two days. Then they let him go. And that was the last they had seen of him. Houdini had nothing on Robbie Carter.
“We’ve lost him, Sean.”
“I don’t know about that, boss. He wasn’t by himself when Mary left.”
“No. Grace Browne was with him.”
“Exactly.”
Gardener was puzzled. “Am I missing something?”
“Knowing what we know about Grace Browne, I find myself asking one important question.”
“What?”
“Who’s got who?”
Chapter Fifty
Elsie lifted herself out of the armchair. She banked up the fire to last them through the news. She then turned up the sound on the TV.
Eric closed the door into the kitchen with his left foot, balancing a tray with two cups of cocoa and a saucer of chocolate digestives. He stepped back and drew the curtain between the dining room and the living room to keep the heat in.