A Perfect Time to Murder by N. R. Daws

Author:N. R. Daws [Daws, N. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lizzie followed Kember with reluctance as he headed into a tunnel they’d yet to explore. He was a detective, a man, and would believe it possible to escape up the other shaft until the facts proved otherwise. Gas was seeping into the mine, that was undeniable, but the district run by Quayle might be worse and moving to there could be putting them in greater danger. She remembered the two headframe winding towers on the surface being close together, which gave her hope that the distance through the tunnel would not be too great.

She was right.

It seemed an eternity of bumping, scraping and tripping along the long straight tunnel but it could have been no more than five or so minutes. The width and height of the tunnel and its slippery rails underfoot suggested a major thoroughfare for transporting coal hewn from the main seam, and that assumption proved correct too as the opening of the upcast shaft came into the range of their lights. The closed shutter of the cage opening seemed twice as big as that of the downcast shaft and a line of empty coal trucks stood nearby. Shovel and pickaxe handles protruded from one of the trucks ready for use on tomorrow’s fore shift. The rails leading from the opening curved away towards the tunnel and into the coal-black void beyond.

‘I thought so,’ Kember said.

Lizzie heard Kember put down the cylinder with a clang and saw his beam directed towards another standing next to fire extinguishers and wooden boxes of emergency medical kit. As pleased as she was, she wondered whether it was worth prolonging the agony.

‘Was that your idea?’ she asked, still convinced their fate lay at the bottom of this pit.

She was surprised at how resigned she sounded, tinged with bitterness, but Kember seemed not to have noticed.

‘Partly,’ he said. ‘With two districts, there had to be more than one cylinder of oxygen. I suspect there are more nearer the coal face, which means we might be able to hold out for a few hours longer than I’d feared.’

He retrieved the new cylinder and set it down beside the other. It clanged with a different note and Lizzie saw the frown on his face.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘It’s the same size but much lighter,’ he said. ‘Someone’s been using it a lot because I think it’s almost empty.’

‘Quayle,’ Lizzie said, matter-of-factly. ‘He’d have been safe with the fan off if he used this oxygen while he did his safety checks. Pine wouldn’t have needed the other cylinder because as we said, he knew how long the checks took and could ride up to the surface for fresh air, coming back down at the last minute.’

Kember tapped the sides of both cylinders and Lizzie heard the difference in notes.

‘This one from Ramsey’s district is only half-full as well,’ he said. ‘He must have been sneaking sniffs whenever he could give Morris the slip.’

‘That doesn’t help our current predicament,’ Lizzie said.

Kember looked up at the point of the roof where the upcast shaft disappeared towards the surface.

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