‘And?’
‘And I found him behind the bus shelter. He was with another woman.’
‘Who?’
‘Don’t know. Never seen her before.’
‘What do you mean, with her?’
‘What do you think I mean? He was fucking her. The two of them, at it out there in the open without a frigging care.’
‘And did they see you?’
‘She did, but it didn’t bother her. They finished what they were doing then she got up and pissed off.’
The doctor was struggling. ‘So this friend of yours—’
‘He’s no friend of mine.’
‘—this chap then… your wife’s ex-husband… where is he now?’
Scott paused again, forced to question his own sanity once more. ‘He’s dead.’
The doctor seemed less surprised than he should have been. ‘Go on.’
‘It was frigging horrible. Made no sense. It was like the woman had mutilated him when they were… you know… The end of his dick was all mangled… blood everywhere.’
‘Is the body still there?’
Scott shook his head and gestured at the soldiers. ‘This lot took him away. Maybe that’s what this is all about. Like I said, the kids don’t know. I’ll tell them when the time’s right, but it’d be too much for them to take right now.’
Dr Kerr nodded. Scott watched him and wondered what he was thinking. He probably thinks you’re a crank. He thinks you’re as mental as you sound.
‘All these deaths…’ he said to Scott, his voice only just audible. ‘All along we were looking for someone to pin the blame on.’
‘I know. I was that someone for a while.’
‘I’d heard. But what you’ve just told me has confirmed what I’d been thinking for a while, something I couldn’t get the police to accept.’
‘And that is?’
‘That perhaps they should have been looking for something, not someone.’
‘I don’t get you.’
‘I think we’re dealing with some kind of parasite or disease.’
‘That’s transmitted sexually?’
‘Exactly. Sergeant Ross called me out last night when they found the last body.’
‘Which body?’
‘Young girl, Heather Burns. I only saw her in the surgery last week.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘Much the same as all the others, I expect, but I don’t know for sure. Sergeant Ross called me back before I’d even left the house. He told me not to bother, told me there were already people at the scene. They’d taken the investigation off him. He was fuming.’
‘Who?’
‘The same people who’ve just rounded us up, I presume.’
‘So where was the body?’
‘She was found in the bar of the pub.’
‘Jesus. That’s where Jeremy was staying last night.’
‘Jeremy? Is that—?’
‘Michelle’s ex-husband.’
‘Then it sounds like your wife had a lucky escape this morning.’
‘This is too much. I mean, I knew this place was fucked-up, but honestly…’
The doctor remained stony-faced. ‘Doesn’t matter how it sounds, fact is, it’s happening. Trace it back… did you hear about the police officer? Mary McLeod from the café? Poor old Graham, and that Polish lady.’
‘I heard.’
‘All the time they were looking for the person or persons who was doing this, but there might never have been anyone. I know how this must sound, but I think the killer – the germ or parasite or whatever – remains invisible until it’s too late.’
Scott felt strangely reassured. As far-fetched as it was, he’d thought similar. ‘So where do you think they’re taking us?’ he asked.
‘No idea. Somewhere isolated, perhaps? I think they’ll want us out of the way until they can round it up, stop it being passed onto anyone else.’
‘Until they round her up,’ Scott said, correcting him. ‘The woman who had sex with Jeremy, she must be the one who’s carrying it now.’
‘Unless they find her corpse.’ The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, then leant closer to Scott again. ‘You do realise the implications of this, don’t you Mr Griffiths? If no one sees it being transmitted, the damn thing could be inside anyone.’
25
The van stopped again, and all those inside knew that this was the end of the line.
School.
Tammy thought she was going mad when she realised where they were. She pressed her face against the window and watched as armed guards opened the school gates and allowed the van through. It was a bizarre collision of the normal and the surreaclass="underline" the banality of the out-dated school campus, now alive with military activity, their equipment everywhere. Right in the middle of the netball courts, near to the temporary classrooms, was a helicopter, and it didn’t take a genius to identify stockpiles of guns and missiles. What the hell was going on?
They’d reached some kind of checkpoint, manned by more soldiers, this time armed with clipboards, pens and tablets rather than guns. Scott craned his neck to see what was happening. At the front of the van paperwork was exchanged, lists of names compared… were the people of Thussock being processed? ‘Looks like I was right,’ Dr Kerr said. ‘They’re rounding everyone up.’
‘I guess.’
‘My money’s on that fracking site. Must be something to do with that. Problem is they never fully investigate these things before someone gives their high-powered friend a grant and tells them to get on with it, do they? It’s always profit before people, you know?’
‘I don’t reckon this has got anything to do with digging holes in the ground.’
‘You never know though, do you? I was dead against it from the start. I got on all the committees and went to all the public meetings, but did it make any difference?’
‘I doubt it,’ Scott said, wishing he’d shut up.
‘Damn right it didn’t. All the objections were just dismissed. It was an absolute bloody whitewash. You’d think they’d be legally bound to act on objections, wouldn’t you, but you’d be surprised.’
‘Nothing surprises me anymore.’
The doctor was about to say something else when the van juddered forward again, processing complete. It followed the narrow road towards the main school buildings, then curved sharply to the left.
A few rows behind, Phoebe watched with wide eyes as they drove deeper into the campus. She’d almost been on the verge of getting used to this place, but every last shred of familiarity had been stripped away today. There was the assembly hall which doubled-up as a gym, and the Portakabin classrooms, freezing cold even on warm days, the uncomfortable temperature keeping her awake during Maths. There was the dilapidated technology block and the music rooms, and the playing field and—
—and this looked less like a school now, more like something out of a science-fiction film. The relatively new leisure centre towards the back of the site had always seemed out of place, but now it looked positively alien. It was surrounded by armed guards, and much of the car park space had been filled with camouflaged temporary buildings. As she watched, another van similar to this one drove away from the leisure centre. Parts of the angular building were covered in heavy-duty plastic sheeting, like someone was trying to shrink-wrap the place.
The van stopped again. The driver turned in a tight circle, then reversed back into the space the other vehicle had just vacated. There was a delay, probably less than a minute but which felt inordinately long, before the back doors were opened and the van’s passengers were asked to move out, politely but very firmly, by more faceless military personnel.
The doctor returned to his wife. Michelle and the girls waited for Scott. He walked with them in silence.