“One down, one to go!” I sat back against the tree.

I waited patiently for another hour or so before Marc appeared on the porch. My back had begun to ache and my joints were stiff from sitting in the same position for so long. I could clearly see Marc from my hiding place. He skipped down the steps leading from the porch and went round to the side of the house and out of my view. I then heard the wailing sound of the garage door being pushed up. The noise of a car rumbled into life.

Pen’s car swung into view, then onto the road. I could see it was being driven by Marc. As he drove off at speed, I got up and my knees made an audible ‘cracking’ noise. I stood and stretched, waiting just a few more moments until the sound of Pen’s car disappeared into the distance.

Once I was sure Marc had gone, I stepped out of the wooded area and went to the rear of Pen’s house.

Chapter Twenty

Murphy

Once round the back of the house, I stood on tip toe and rattled the windows in their frames.

All of them seemed to be securely fastened. I then went to the back door and pushed and pulled on its handle but without success. I cupped my hands around my eyes and peered through the windowpane in the door and into the kitchen. I couldn’t see any movement from inside, and if there had of been anyone else in there, they would have shown themselves while coming to investigate the sound of me yanking on the back door.

I didn’t know how much time I had to get in to see what the ruby slippers had to offer. I had to get in then out again without Marc or Steve returning, so I pulled the flashlight from my waistband and smashed the base of it against the window in the back door. I shuddered as the glass splintered noisily and scattered all over the kitchen floor. This hadn’t been my first choice of entry.

Marc and Steve would have known they’d had an intruder and I doubted it would have taken them very long to work out it had been me. But I needed to get in and out of the house as soon as possible. Once I had been in and done what I needed to do, there was very little they could do about it. Besides, I took a perverse satisfaction in them knowing I wasn’t planning on going anywhere until I had discovered what had happened to Pen.

I slid my arm through the broken windowpane and twisted the latch on the other side of the door. I eased it open gently and snuck in, closing the door behind me. I switched on the flashlight and it lit up everything I pointed it at in a warm cone of orange light. I panned it around the room and could see the place was dirty and messy. There were empty beer bottles scattered about the floor and discarded Pizza Hut boxes with half-eaten triangles of pizza lying in grease. I could see ashtrays overflowing with burnt-out cigarette butts perched on the arms of the couch.

Leaving the squalor behind me, I climbed the stairs and went up to Pen’s bedroom. I shone the light around the room and could see that her bed was unmade. There were dirty boxer shorts and clothes all over the floor. I crossed the room to where the display cabinet stood and was relieved to see it was still there. The ruby slippers winked on and off at me like a million minute cat eyes in the glare of my torch.

I pulled the glass door open and held the torch between my teeth so I could inspect the slippers. Without touching them, I carried out a visual inspection to see if there was anything obvious about them which I would notice straight away. I screwed up my eyes in the glare of the flashlight, but couldn’t see anything abnormal about them. I reached in and removed the left slipper from the display. It came away easily enough and I turned it over and over in my hands.

Nothing. I tipped it up, so I could see inside, half expecting to find another note, or a secret key which would lead me to some hidden chamber, and in turn, to Pen. I found nothing. I put the slipper back and picked up the right one. But as I tried to remove this slipper from the cabinet, I felt a little resistance. Gently, I tried to pull the slipper free, but it had been attached to something. I lent as far as I could into the glass structure and peered under the sole of the shoe. It was then I noticed a thin, black wire running out of the heel of the slipper and out through the back of the display cabinet. I placed two fingers inside the slipper and blindly followed the wire which led to the toe.

Here I could feel a little piece of hard, square-shaped plastic.

It suddenly dawned on me I had felt something like this before. Something I had handled countless times in the course of my duties as a cop. It was a miniature camera. I removed my fingers and studied the toe of the slipper.

Amongst the hundreds of tiny red sequins covering it, I could see the tiny black lens of a camera.

“Pen, Pen, Pen!” I whispered to myself, realising she must have gotten the idea from all of those stories I’d told her about my work.

“But what is it that you want me to see?”

I asked, as if she were standing right next to me.

“What was it you hoped to catch on camera?”

I placed the slipper back in position and pulled the display case away from the wall. I flashed the light behind it and could see the thin, black wire running out of the back and down beneath the gap between the wall and the edge of the carpet. I hunkered down and followed the wire which led me to a small closet. The wire disappeared around the back so I pulled the closet away from the wall and peered around it. Here I could see a small, square door which was shut flush against the wall. I squeezed between the wall and the closet and prised it open.

With the aid of my torch, I looked inside and saw a DVD recorder with its luminous display panel flashing a sickly green back at me. I could see that the machine was no longer recording, so I pressed the ‘Eject’ button and a DVD popped out.

I removed it and stood up. The fact that the camera was still in place and the DVD had remained untouched, assured me that neither Marc nor Steve were aware of its existence. To say I was curious to find out what was on the disc was an understatement.

“Where would be a safe place to watch it?” I was asking myself when I suddenly heard the front door slam shut downstairs.

I flicked off my torch and stood rigid in the darkness of Pen’s bedroom. I tucked the disc inside my jacket and felt the cold metal of my gun.

I kept it holstered and crept across the room, hiding behind the open door. I listened intently for any sound of movement from below. It was silent.

The only sound was the thumping of my heart in my chest, ears, and throat. It was eerily silent.

Then, I heard the sound of broken glass being crunched underfoot.

They’re gonna know someone’s in here now! I thought to myself as I pictured either Marc or Steve coming across the broken window in the back door.

It went silent again and I strained desperately to try and hear movement. Any sound would do, to give me some idea of how many were in the house and their whereabouts. I eased my gun from its holster and removed the safety catch. Then, suddenly the house was filled with noise. Somebody had started to play music at a deafening level. It was so loud that the thumping bass of the music shook the whole house. I recognised the song to be Jump Around by House of Pain. The music pounded like a swollen and blood-filled heart all around me. I immediately knew why the music had been turned on and played at such an ear-piercing level – it was to drown out the sound of them moving around the house in search of me. With the house in total darkness and unable to hear anything, it took away both of my most vital senses.

I crept out of Pen’s bedroom and disappeared up the landing with my gun poised.

Pack it up, pack it in...Let me begin, I came to win… the song bellowed around the house.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and I darted into another bedroom, my breath wheezing shallowly in my chest as I ducked down beside the bed.

…Get up, stand up, come on! Come on, throw your hands up…! continued the song.

The music thumped and pounded, and in the darkness it had a disorientating effect. I guessed that was the whole idea. I peered again into the darkness on the landing and I thought I caught a fleeting glimpse of someone pass outside the bedroom door at speed.

…I came to get down, I came to get down! So get out your seats and jump around…! The song screamed in my ears.

I got up quickly, moving back towards the door. I wanted to keep moving – to try and disorientate them.

…Word to your moms, I came to drop bombs…I got more rhymes than the bible’s got psalms…

I went back onto the landing and crouched at the top of the stairs. I felt something behind me in the blackness.

…Cos I got the lyrics and you ain’t got none…So if you come to battle bring a shotgun…!

There was a sudden explosion of pain in my ribs. I glanced round to see a boot launching out of the darkness at me. I was kicked viciously in the ribs again, and I sprawled down the stairs, crashing into every step on my way to the bottom.

Instinctively, I tried to grab onto something to halt my decent, and accidentally squeezed on the trigger of my handgun. It recoiled violently in my hand as it fired. The darkness flashed with sudden brightness as my gun went off and in that moment of light, I caught a sudden and terrifying glimpse of Marc charging down the stairs towards me. His face looked twisted out of shape. It was like his face had stretched somehow – giving him the appearance of a half wolf and man. His eyes blazed bright yellow.

I landed at the bottom of the stairs and cried out in pain. My lungs felt as if they had been set on fire every time I drew breath. The gun clattered out of my hand and spun away from me and into the darkness.

I gots the skill, come get your fill…

Cause when I shoot ta give, I shoot to kill… the music continued to throb.

I staggered to my feet. Marc’s fist connected with my chin and I flew backwards, crashing against the wall. I could taste blood in my mouth and my brain swam sickly in my skull from where I had been struck.

…I’m the cream of the crop, I rise to the top…I never eat pig cause pig is a cop…!

the music continued to boom.

It was so loud I didn’t even hear Marc approach as he grabbed me by my hair and yanked me off my feet. My eyes had begun to get used to the darkness and I could just make out the shape of his head a few inches from mine. He was so close I could feel his hot breath against my skin and it smelt of stale beer. Sensing his closeness, I rolled my head back and then slammed it forward into his face, my right temple crashing into his nose. I felt warm blood splash across my cheek. I couldn’t tell if it was mine or his. I pulled the flashlight from my jacket pocket and shone it widely about the room. Where was my gun?