The Dark Corners Box Set by Robert Scott-Norton

Author:Robert Scott-Norton [Scott-Norton, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Scott-Norton
Published: 2020-03-19T22:00:00+00:00

22

By the time they’d refilled the hole, and driven back to the vicarage, Seth’s muscles ached like he’d run a marathon.

Georgia and Joe were in bed, and Malc got both him and Seth a glass of water then stood at the sink drinking from his. Seth saw his friend’s hand trembling.

“Crazy night, huh?” Seth said.

Malc refilled his glass. “We need to tell the police what we found.”

“A missing body from an unmarked grave? No chance. Not after the way they treated me. They’ll assume I had something to do with it.”

“What about Olivia Gwinn?”

Seth was already shaking his head. “I don’t trust her.”

“You said she helped you at Adam’s house. What happened there?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I thought I heard something in the basement, but there couldn’t have been anyone there. She interrupted whatever it was at just the right time. But she’s not telling me everything. She’s dangerous. Perhaps as dangerous as the Adherents.”

“I doubt that.”

“I really think she might be,” Seth said. “Listen, I wanted to say I’m sorry. I’m clearly a target for the Adherents. They must be keeping an eye on me. I’m putting you at risk. You and Georgia and Joe are the closest thing I’ve got to family.”

“You do still have an actual family, you know.” Malc scratched the side of his head above the ear. “Kelly was targeted by the Adherents once. Perhaps now that we know they’re active again, we should warn your parents.”

Seth thought about how his parents would react if he were to turn up at their house after all this time. Would he even get past the front door?

“How easy do you think it is to hide a body?” Seth asked. “It’s got to be difficult hasn’t it? I mean, we’re not talking about a skeleton you could shove in a sports bag, we’re talking a body that was buried a hundred years ago.” Then more disturbing questions came to him. “Actually, how long does it take a body to decompose to a skeleton?”

Malc shook his head gently. A wry smile appearing. “You are the weirdest friend I’ve ever had.”

Seth ignored the jibe. His mind was racing, finding patterns in the events of the last few days.

“The missing body and the painting have to be connected. What do you think they want with them?”

“Why are you so sure they’re connected?”

“They have to be. The painting was taken by an Adherent, it was a targeted attack, nothing else was taken from the collection.”

“You’re sure of that?”

Seth paused. It’s true that he hadn’t done a full inventory of the basement, but it’s not as if he’d had much of an opportunity. “Lamont was killed for the painting. He was found by its empty vault. They knew what they were taking. Knowing the artist’s background, and the subject matter, I can’t imagine anyone other than an Adherent taking it. So, running with that train of thought, why take Adam’s remains?”

“Why do you think that was an Adherent? We haven’t even confirmed that the grave belonged to Adam.

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