The Best Horror of the Year. Volume 4

“I was doing a bit of free thinking, I call it, searching for inspiration, letting my mind wander, and was not really aware of my surroundings. While I was daydreaming I realised that Murdock’s voice had stopped and the room had fallen very silent. Even when he’s not mumbling away to himself Murdock fidgets about and makes noises. He giggles to himself and coughs and sighs a lot. I couldn’t hear a thing from him so I looked round to see if he was alright.”

“And he wasn’t.”

“No, he really wasn’t. He wasn’t there at all.”

“He’d left the room.”

“He certainly wasn’t in it. It took me just a few seconds to establish that fact. Then I smelt burning and that worried me, as you can imagine. I thought the house might be on fire but then I saw smoke rising from over there,” he pointed, “just where Murdock had been sitting and I found a cigar end smoldering on the carpet.”

Franz leaned forward and rested his hand on his forehead in hope of concealing the smile that he couldn’t avoid. Jerry said, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, please continue.”

“Yes, well, I had to call Barbara then, because if I reached down for it I risked falling out of my wheelchair. I mean, I could have killed myself, it was that risky. My condition is very delicate. Luckily she heard me and ran up at once.” He pulled a peculiar face, like a cautious rat sniffing the air, then said, “There’s what’s left of the cigar. I thought I’d better keep it.” He stretched out and slid a large glass ashtray towards Franz.

After giving the tray and its contents a brief inspection Franz said, “Why?”

“Did I keep it? I suppose as some sort of evidence.”

“Evidence of what? Surely, at that time it didn’t occur to you that something had gone wrong.”

“Oh yes it did. No doubt about it. There was a feeling in this room. Barbara noticed it I think, but she didn’t say anything, so as not to upset me even more, bless her.”

“She could see that you were upset, then?”

“I couldn’t hide it. And she was furious about the burnt carpet. I tried to explain but she didn’t, couldn’t, understand what had happened and I was too confused to make much sense. I mean, I wasn’t sure myself. She got the message that Murdock had gone after dropping his cigar but she wasn’t much surprised because she’s said many a time that the man was a clumsy lout.”

“Well, let’s face it, she’s not far wrong.”

Jerry looked mildly disapproving of that. “Murdock has his faults, no doubt about it, but together we bring in the money. I may not be around much longer, and there’s seven years left before the mortgage on this house is paid. I frequently have to remind Barbara of that when she criticizes Murdock.”

“Anyway, you say he’s gone missing for the moment,” Franz said.

“I said he’s vanished.”

“And you saw and heard nothing when he went?”

“Umm, well, there was a slight sound, just before I looked round and found he had gone. At least, I think so.”

Franz was tired. It had been a long, hard day in the library where he had been doing some research since it had opened at nine in the morning. He took a discrete look at his watch and found it was now almost eleven in the evening. He got out of his chair and yawned. Jerry got the message and said, “You are leaving. I’m sorry to have kept you. It was good of you to come.”

“What was it though, this sound you heard?”

Jerry sought the precise expression to describe the noise he thought he had perceived, then said, “It was like a sharp inhalation and exhalation of air.”

“Of breath?”

“Almost certainly.”

“Like a sigh, then. Perhaps Murdock’s last sigh? Or gasp?”

“It’s no joke. I’m deadly serious about this.”

“I’ll go away and think about what you’ve told me but perhaps, if Murdock really has disappeared or had some sort of accident, wouldn’t it be better to call the police?”

“No, no way am I having anything to do with them. They’ll question me and I will have to tell the truth and they’ll think I’m mad. Do you think I’ve gone insane?”

“It crossed my mind,” Franz confessed, “but I think it more likely you just got it all wrong. Maybe you fell asleep for a short while that day and Murdock left without waking you.”

“He couldn’t do that. He makes too much noise, I told you. He bellows about and blunders into everything. Knocks things over.”

“He’s a big man. Anyway, I’m off now. I’ll have a fish about and I’ll be in touch.”

“What do you mean ‘fish about’?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll see if I can dig into things a bit, if you know what I mean?”

“I don’t. But that’s fine. Thank you Franz. I’m sorry to have off-loaded all this on you. But I felt I had to tell someone who was not too… judgmental.”

Franz slipped out of the room and almost ran downstairs. At the bottom he found his sister waiting for him.

“What do you think?” she said. “Has he told you the whole story?”

“He told me too much. More than I can believe.”