Here’s the thing…

Every time I close my eyes, I see something different.

I’d like to think the cinema of my dreams is playing a double feature but it’s a bit like a comedy cartoon night on Fox.

But these dreams are nothing to laugh about.

Once again there’s a new installment of an old feature, and we’re back on the treasure hunt.

 

A shiver went down my spine, and I took it for the omen it was.

Nothing good came of being in a place where you were not supposed to be.

I shook it off.

“Does that look like someone we knew, once?”

He looked at the mannequin, then shook his head.  “No, should it?”

“Seems odd they didn’t come back to collect their stock.  I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as this when the cracks first appeared.”

“Here it was.  Walls crumbled, and in places the roof collapsed.  Two shop staff got hit by a falling beam.  One later died.  There was a long court battle over that.”

I did not remember much of what happened.  My mother said it was just another tragedy brought on by greed.  It was probably why I had such contempt for the rich.

Boggs did a rotation with his light, and in the direction of the marina, there was a central square over which was a skylight, only it was dirty and little light was getting through.  It was just enough to see that the plants had all overgrown and taken over, and it was strange to see pylons covered in creeper, and shrubs growing through seats.

There had been a pond in the middle of that square, but it was probably empty now, and if it had water, it would be contributing to the smell.

In the other direction, there was darkness, the mall heading towards the front entrance.

Boggs started walking towards the square.

That was when I realized he had brought an old map of the shopping center and had been looking at it when I joined him.

From the square, there were elevators and steps up to the second level where there were restaurants and entertainment areas, as well as the entrance to the multiplex cinemas.  The stairs went down to the carpark.

There were two levels of carpark under the main building, and it was the lower car park that had occasionally flooded.

When we reached the square, it seemed lighter than I first thought, but that had to do with the fact my eyes had adjusted to the semi-darkness, making objects clearer.  We had to brush past some of the tree branches to reach the pond.

I was wrong.  There was water in it, and it was reasonably clear.  I guess without man to pollute it, nature had taken over.  Here the aroma was more like a park after the lawns had been mowed.

Boggs had turned off his light as we approached the pond, and it was fortunate he had.  We both heard the sound of a brick, or rock hitting the floor, and a moment later, the faint glow of torchlight.

Other people exploring the wilderness.

“How many people know about that entrance?”

It sounded to me like they were coming back from the marina.

“I don’t know.  I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here if that’s what you’re thinking.”

It wasn’t.  Not my first thought, anyway.

He headed towards the stairs next to the elevator lobby, remarkably clear of rubble and undergrowth, and started walking down the stairs, into the darkness. I followed, reluctantly, and inwardly sighed in relief when he stopped on the first landing.  There was a rumor there were ghosts down on the car park levels.

We went just far enough down to be hidden from the other visitors.  Unless they decided to use this particular staircase.

The light was less intense as it approached the square, and then we saw two figures.

At least one was a male, tall, and smoking a cigarette.

“God knows why the boss wanted us to check this hell hole.  There’s no one here but us.”  It was the tall man speaking.

He waved his torch around, including once in our direction.  At the distance they were from us, the light had no effect.

“You know the boss, he has an active imagination.  Perhaps if he hadn’t buried the bodies down here, it wouldn’t be an issue.  Come on, this place gives me the creeps.”

Another man, and, now, I could see they were dressed in what looked like security guards’ clothes.  Why on earth would anyone want to keep an eye on this place?  And who was their boss?

Another wave of the torches and they continued their way towards the front of the mall.

“So,” Boggs said with a curious inflection in his tone, “there are bodies buried down here.”

“A figure of speech,” I said.  “No one would be that stupid to bury bodies down here.”

“Why not.  No one comes here, except adventurers like us, so it’s a perfect place for either the Cossatino’s or the Benderby’s to hide stuff down here.  How many people do you think either of them has killed over the years?”

Allegedly quite a few.  It was, when I thought about it, quite a good place to hide a body.  I just hoped we didn’t find one.

We waited another five minutes, just in case they came back, but they didn.t.  I followed Boggs up the stairs and we headed towards the center of the square.

“Where are we going?”

“To the Marina.  Got to check something first.”

…

“Love is simply a tenuous attachment looking for a reason to break.”

As a twice-widowed, twice-divorced cynic of marriage, I could have expected no less from my mother.

I’d just explained the latest reason for Marigold’s non-appearance at lunch, without having to tell her the truth, that Marigold hated my mother.

At times, so did I.  This was one of them.

I also hated the fact that we had become rich from my mother’s plotting and scheming, what she called strategic marriages and fortuitous deaths.

It left me a target, or so my mother said, and her opinion of Marigold was so low she had said from the outset that she had married me for my money.  Hardly, because of a watertight prenuptial she had to sign, one that only a woman who loved the man, not the money would sign.

For that reason, I believed I was the luckiest person alive.

“Let’s face it, you don’t like her.”

“She’s a schemer Rodney, mark my words.  She’s up to something, I can feel it.”

I shook my head.  “Not accepting your lunch invitation doesn’t mean she’s up to anything.  She had a prior engagement, and you always ask at the last minute.”

“My plans are nebulous.  I could be anywhere, anytime.  Right now, I’m here.”

I shrugged.  It was not an argument I was going to win.

I went back to my office after lunch, dejected.

Perhaps there might be something in what she said because Marigold had become a little distant over the past few weeks and oddly secretive about her movements.  I thought she was planning a surprise party or weekend away.

Candice, the PA who’d been with me ever since I’d made junior management ranks, followed me into the office.

“I can tell you lunch went swimmingly.”  Sarcasm wasn’t her strongest asset, and it dripped off every word.

She hated my mother, too, particularly in the way it affected me.

“She should have been living it up in the south of France with the rest of the meddlers.”

I could just see Marigold in my peripheral vision, and when I looked up, I could see her almost stomping her way towards my office.

Others were familiar with her visits and used to her moods.  I wondered what had happened.

Candice left as she came in.  She stopped in front of my desk and literally threw her cell phone at me.  I caught it just before it caused an injury.

“What the hell is that?”  I could see now she was extremely agitated.

“What?”

“On the phone, it was attached to an anonymous message sent to me.”

I swiped the screen, once again lamenting her lack of implementing security on her phone, and a still from a video was sitting on the screen.  I pressed the play icon and watched.  Three minutes of what appeared to be me with another woman, in bed, in a hotel room.  It certainly looked like me.  It had a date and time stamp, 9:53, three days ago, when I was in Salt Lake City.

“It’s not me, Marigold.”

“Sure as hell looks like you, Rodney. You care to explain where you were and who you were with, if not with that woman?”  It was accompanied by a belligerent look, daring me to have a cast iron alibi.

The thing is, I did.  But it was not one I could explain to her.  But what was more concerning was the fact there was a video and quite obviously a fake, and that it had found its way to her.

“I’ll go one better, Marigold.  I’ll give the phone to the IT tech department, and they’ll tell me who sent the anonymous message and verify whether or not it’s me.  You do want me to prove it’s not me, don’t you?”

Judging by the expression on her face, she did not, and it took a few seconds to realize why.  My mother’s iron clad prenuptial had only one failing, and it was null and void if I was caught cheating.  My mother had told me enough times.

“Of course.”  Less bluster now.  “I’ll leave it with you.”

Candice watched her leave before coming back into my office.

“What did you do?”

“More like what didn’t I do but apparently did.”  She sat down, and I handed her the phone.  “Have a look at the video.  It’s quite interesting.”

She did, and I watched her fascination turn from surprise to wide-eyed amazement.  Then she gave me a look that may have been misplaced in awe.  “If that’s you, then you’re leading a secret life.”

“Did you see the date and time stamp?”

“Yes.  It’s definitely not you.  But it begs the question, do you have a brother or twin you know nothing about.”

“Would you like to ask my mother that question?”  Her change of expression told me she didn’t.  “That leaves the tech guys down in IT.”

“Oh, lucky you mentioned IT.  I got a report this morning about the unauthorised use of the mainframe computer.”

“We know what those guys get up to, using it to run simulations, within acceptable limits.  They know that if they break the rules, it’s their loss.”

“This is different.  It was only reported because, apparently, while you were practising your sexual skills, you were also down in the computer room.  Your pass card was used, albeit an older one that you reported as lost about a month ago.  It was supposed to have been deactivated, and it wasn’t.”

“Then I guess I’d better go down to security and find out what it all means.”

Going down in the elevator, I had a few moments to ponder on how quickly my mind had set on the idea Marigold was hatching a scheme that would bypass the prenuptial agreement.  Perhaps the continual verbal battering that I could not trust her.

Of course, it didn’t help that she turned up with a so-called anonymous video file of me cheating, just the evidence she needed.  Perhaps I would more readily accepted her innocence had she not subtly changed in the last month or so.  I put it down to the conversation about children, the fact my mother wanted to become a grandmother, and Marigold’s reluctance to be a mother, a sentiment fuelled by a very bad experience with her own mother.  My mother wasn’t exactly a role model either.

And if it was a scheme, why would she readily hand over her phone with the evidence?  Perhaps I needed to have an open mind.  That meant definitely not telling my mother, though she seemed to have spies everywhere.  If I had been even thinking of cheating, she would have sent Boris, her fixer, to stop it before it started.

IT was one of three departments under my jurisdiction, and the current manager was one of my recruits.  I’d read about Gabrielle some months before when she was arrested for hacking several government computer systems to prove their vulnerability to foreign hackers and instead of being applauded had been vilified, and sent to computer Coventry.  No one would hire her.  I tracked her down, spent a few days talking about computers, hackers, and stupid people, and then hired her.

A computer genius of this calibre was impossible to find, and if I did manage to find one, it would cost far more than we could pay them.

“Rod, what brings you to the dungeon.”  Gabrielle was always pleased to see me.  I had wondered a few times if something else might have developed between us, but I was a married man and it never crossed my mind.  There was also a chance her open and friendly manner could be misinterpreted.

“It seems I’m in trouble.”  I held up the phone.  ” This has images of me, only I know it’s not me because I was somewhere else.”  I passed it to her.  “I believe this is the first time I’ve seen a deep fake video.”

She looked at the video, with similar facial expressions to Candice.  “It can’t be you.”  She’d also seen the time and date stamp.  “We both know where you were.  Let me check it out, and I’ll get back to you.”

When I arrived back in my office, Eric Dorning, the head of security, was waiting for me.  Candice simply nodded her head in his direction and shrugged, telling me Eric had not told her why he was there.

“Close the door, Rod.  It’s a delicate matter.”

And Seriously, he wanted the door shut?  I closed it and sat behind the desk.  “What can I do for you?”

“A key card that was believed missing was apparently used to gain access to the computer department.  Two issues, one that was not deactivated, and the other, that it was yours, and had an all-access clearance attached to it.  That it was lost is, at the very least,8 a suspension, while aspects of how and where it was lost are undertaken.  At worst, it could cause dismissal depending on the damage caused to the company.  As you are…”

I put my hand up to stop him right there.  The fact that my mother was a substantial shareholder and was in some small part responsible for my position in the company, I never asked for special treatment.  “I know what you are going to say, and don’t.  I am no different from any other employee, and if the course of action on your part is to suspend me while you investigate, then do so.”

“We don’t have to do that.”

“You do.  This can’t be kept under wraps, and everyone needs to know that no one in this company should expect or be given special treatment.  A short truthful statement about why I’m missing will suffice.”

“Your mother will not approve.”

“It’s not her call.  Am I being suspended?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should escort me to the front door and remove my key card and phone.” I put the card and the phone and company car keys on the desk, and stood.  I could see Candice observing, and she knew what it meant.  She made a face, then headed for the elevator.  I deduced that it meant she wanted to see me at the cafe up the street.

It was clear Eric did not want to suspend me because when I was unavailable, he had to report to my immediate superior, Victor Wellman, a man who was bitterly opposed to my appointment.  With this crisis, he would have all the ammunition he needed to get rid of me.  Eric had said as much on the way down.  He said he would call when the investigation was complete.

Candice had two cups of coffee waiting and a puzzled expression.  “What did you do wrong?”

“Losing a card key without adequately securing it at all times is a cardinal sin, and in certain circumstances, a stackable offence.  I’m guilty as charged.”

“What about the fact that after reporting it missing, they didn’t deactivate it?  If there’s blame, Eric is the one who should take responsibility for the current incident.”

“I hardly think any of that matters.  Wellman will use this to have me removed.  And he’s well within his right to do so.”

“You think he’s brave enough to take on your mother?”

“He’s the only one who is, but it may have unintended consequences.  But I’m not going to fight it.  I’ve had enough of politics and everything else.  I asked for no special treatment.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Take a few days off, see what’s bugging Marigold.  I have been missing lately, so perhaps we can catch up.”  If she was home.  To be honest, I had no idea what she did with herself lately.

I had expected to come home to an empty house.

After leaving Candice to contemplate her future, I took the subway, something I hadn’t done in a long time.  Then, it was a reasonable walk to our apartment.  I spoke the James, the only building concierge I knew, who was on a rare day shift.  It was odd to see the foyer in daylight on a weekday.

Then I went up to the apartment and let myself in.  I had expected to be alone, but after I shut the door, I heard subdued voices, followed by laughter.  Marigold.  And she was not alone.

I followed the sounds up the corridor to the end, our bedroom.  I put my head in the door and saw her naked, sitting on a man I didn’t recognise.  It was not hard to see what they were doing.

“Revenge sex, Marigold.  I can’t say I’m surprised.”

She squealed in surprise, or was it shock?

“When you’re done, pack your bags and leave.  You better not be here when I come back.  Goodbye, Marigold.”

I left, knowing she would not be able to catch me or follow me.  Whether she left or not didn’t matter.  I was never going back to that apartment again.

…

It took a week to unravel the conspiracy and see the reality.

The man with Marigold was one of Mellman’s recruits in a plan to get rid of me.  He had also recruited Marigold, who had tired of me because I was never home, and it was she who had taken the card key. 

Her ‘boyfriend’ was a graphics expert and had been the one to transplant my body and that of a random woman over a recording of him having sex with Marigold.  It took Gabrielle a week to work out how he did it and was more appreciative of his talent than she should be. 

He had used the card key to get in and was the one responsible for the unauthorised use of the mainframe.  He has also erased all the CCTV footage for the time of the transgression.

Wellman was silly enough to send the video to Marigold, thinking it would be untraceable and anonymous.  It may have seemed so to a novice like him, but it was easily unmasked by an expert like Gabrielle.

I never did understand why Mellman wanted to destroy my life because it couldn’t just be because my mother had used her influence to get me that job.  Not for a few months, anyway, when Eric had told Gabrielle that he had discovered that there had been another candidate for that role, a relative of Mellman’s.  Still, to me, it seemed over the top.

I could understand Marigold.  Perhaps if she had told me she didn’t want to be married to me anymore, I would have been disappointed, but I would have been sure she got a decent settlement, rather than what she ended up with.

But, in the end, I did get to do something I’d always wanted to do, and that was to try my hand at being a private detective.  Gabrielle had brought it up in one of our late-night conversations, the fact we were well suited to handling cases where people were wronged by deep fake videos and anonymously released revenge tapes.

We were both surprised but the number of people who called, texted, or emailed in the week after I posted an advertisement.

…

© Charles Heath 2023

I’m back home and this story has been sitting on the back burner for a few months, waiting for some more to be written.

The trouble is, there are also other stories to write, and I’m not very good at prioritizing.

But, here we are, a few minutes opened up and it didn’t take long to get back into the groove.

Chasing leads, maybe

…

A second later the light came on and I was temporarily blinded.

The woman had to be on the other side of the door, and coming into the room, I must have passed her. Her voice sounded quite old, so it must be the mother.

“Turn around, slowly.

I did. By that time my eyes had readjusted, and I could see a woman, still dressed, with what looked to be an Enfield WW1 rifle. Just as dangerous now as it was then, particularly at this close range.

“Mrs Quigley, I presume,” I asked. Remain polite and conversational and keep her from getting nervous.

“Who are you?”

“Sam Jackson.”

“Is that your real name?”

“Why would you presume to think it wasn’t?”

“You’re breaking into my house which means you’re a criminal, and criminals by nature are also liars. Why would I think you any different to the rest?”

Good question. “I knew your son.”

“Which one?”

“Adam.”

“He’s not here. He hasn’t been around since he gallivanted off overseas a few years back.”

“I saw him only a few days ago, in London. Not gallivanting, by the way, but with feet firmly planted on the ground.”

“He’s not here.”

“Do you know where he is?”

She didn’t know he was dead, and I didn’t think it was my business to tell her. That was Dobbin’s job, and I was surprised he hadn’t. Or, I only had her word for it he hadn’t.

“Are you hard of hearing.” Get into the middle of the room.”

I moved slowly into the middle, watching her edge slowly towards the writing desk while keeping the gun aimed at me. If I tried to run for it, and if she was any sort of shot, I’d be dead before I got three, possibly four paces. If I could get a shred of surprise.

I hadn’t seen the phone on the desk, and watched her pick up the receiver, and, with the same hand, started dialing a number.

“Put it down.” Another voice, another woman, coming from the doorway.

Jennifer.

With a gun in hand, pointed at the woman.

“What if I shoot him, or you?”

“You’ll be dead before either scenario happens. Just put it down. I’m not here to shoot anyone if I can help it.”

Of course, this was just like one of those scenes out of a comedic spy film. Guns pointing in all directions.

And, true to form, a click, and a voice. “You put your weapon down.”

He appeared out of the shadows and had the gun pointed straight at Jennifer’s head at very short range.

Adam Quigley, aka O’Connell, and very much alive.

Jennifer dropped her gun, but Adam didn’t take his gun off her.

“Hello Sam. How did you find me?”

…

© Charles Heath 2020-2021

Here’s the thing…

Every time I close my eyes, I see something different.

I’d like to think the cinema of my dreams is playing a double feature but it’s a bit like a comedy cartoon night on Fox.

But these dreams are nothing to laugh about.

Once again there’s a new installment of an old feature, and we’re back on the treasure hunt.

 

The passage heading towards the marina was littered with fallen rocks, timber beams, and roofing material. Much of the damage was in this wing, where the marina had started falling apart.

It was a problem with the foundations. A long and costly investigation had found that the marinas foundations had been inadequately built on a shifting base, made worse by the seasonal water flow.

It was interesting to learn that the event that caused the start of the problems had not occurred in a hundred years, but had been noted in an early newspaper report, and only that it was a phenomenon, 

No one at the time had any interest in building there, and it was understood when the navy built its marina, there was no mention of anything untoward happening that would preclude the construction.

And, over the life of the project, nothing had happened. It was why, when the mall was being touted, no one really knew anything about flooding because it hadn’t happened in living memory.  That only came later, after the damage was done.

We reached the end of the passageway and found the stairs leading up to the walkway around the marina was closed off. Someone had pulled a board away and we could peer through the crack.

There was daylight beyond, and we could see the large cracks in the staircase, and along the walls either side.  There were two sets of stairs up both at the end of a mall passageway, and, in between, there were steps down into the carpark.  To one side of that was an elevator lobby, but the elevators would not be working.

But, just out of curiosity, I pressed the button.  The light came on, but nothing happened, and, a second later, it went out again.

I looked up, but Boggs had not moved from the top of the stairs.

These steps were not blocked by a barricade, but there would be some difficulty stepping over masonry that had fallen from the roof, which now had a gaping crack and a few pieces of concrete missing.  I could see the steel reinforcing and it was rusting.

A few years, all of it would eventually come down.

“You sure this is safe,” I asked.

“Been here a few times.  I reckon it hasn’t changed much in years.”

He was looking at the map again, and I peered over his shoulder.  The stairs were there but looking down we could only see as far as the landing.  There were cracked and broken tiles everywhere, and the handrail had been bent severely out of shape by a boulder now wedged in the rail.

Boggs put the map in his back pocket and said, “Follow me.”  He started walking slowly down the stairs, flashing his cell phone light ahead so we could see if there were any hazards.

At the landing, we looked further down the stairs, and these were cleaner.  Also, the wall which kept the marina out had a crack in it, and it was damp which meant water was seeping in.  The smell was of mold, and I wondered if that could be good for our health.

I followed him down to the first level of the carpark.  In the distance, looking back towards the front entrance of the mall, way in the distance was the slatted entrance gates, light seeping in through the cracks. 

Between us and those gates were several cars, crushed by a huge concrete beam that had fallen on them.  I remembered, then, that there had been a husband and wife in one of the cars at the time and they’d been killed.  Their children had been luckier, the youngest had to go to the restroom, and that minute delay had saved them.

Still, it would not be good seeing your parents killed in front of your eyes.

“This place is giving me the creeps,” I said and shuddered. 

They said there were ghosts, and I now believed them.

“What are we looking for?: I asked.

“Evidence of the underground river.”

“That would be long gone by now, since they built this lot over it, and some of it falling into it.”

“We shall see.” 

He then went down the next flight of steps to the bottom carpark, and I followed.  There was less debris on this level, but it was much darker down here, and with only Boggs’ cell phone light, we couldn’t see much else.

“That’s strange,” Boggs said, having taken a dozen or so steps to the right.

“What is?”  I wondered what his definition of the word strange was.

“There’s supposed to be an open section here where the wall fell away, pushed by the water flow last time it flooded.  The report said that a section here wasn’t anchored properly with formwork, hence the ease in which it was moved.”

I looked at the wall.  It seemed to be still intact to me.

Boggs pulled out a pocketknife and tapped it against the surface.

The false concrete chipped and fell away, and a closer inspection showed stippled plaster over plywood, very damp plywood.  Boggs extracted a knife and worked on the wall, clearing a foot square, the damp plaster easily peeling away.

A false wall, one that no one would think twice about if they were not looking for it.

Boggs then scraped sideways until the blade hit metal, then he scraped around it until a gate-type bolt was exposed.  It didn’t have a lock.  It was rusted shut, so Boggs found a rock and hit it a few times, shaking it loose.  He opened it, then tugged on it.

Was he expecting a door to open?

“Give us some help here.”

We both pulled on it, and it gave way, showering us in plaster pieces.  At least we weren’t smothered in dust.

As it opened, light flooded in, almost blinding me.

I let Boggs open it the rest of the way while my eyes adjusted.

Then I tentatively looked out.

From where we were standing, we could see the two levels of the marina walkway, broken away at this end above the doorway, and a big hole in the side wall of what was the marina pool.  We could see, and smell the seawater, and beyond, the ocean.

Looking down, there was a sheer drop of about 30 feet, and under us, there was an opening.  At that 30 feet was flowing water, and through the water, I thought I could see clothes.

“Is that a body down there?”

It looked like one.

“No.  Don’t think so.  Someone probably threw a clothed dummy down there for fun, once when this was open.  I’d say it was closed up to make the place safer. Anyway, we’ll soon find out.  We’re going down to have a look.”

© Charles Heath 2020