Deadface

CHAPTER ONE

MANDY

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Mandy stands on the shoreline of the lake looking at the blood slowly drip down her face into the water. It holds for a moment on the surface, twirling and twisting, then dissolves slowly into the dark brown swirls of the still water.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It funny blood isn’t it? she thinks. But then she can’t remember why it wasfunny, or if it ever was funny at all. Where am I? She dabs at her head where the wound is and her finger instantly sinks into the open flesh becoming wet on touch. She looks at her red glistening finger and tries to recall what you have to do with an open wound. Hold itabove her head? No that’s a finger cut.Apply pressure to stopthe bleeding, she remembers. That’s what I need to do. Apply... Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Where amI?

“Hello there.”

She turns sharply making the blood flow down her nose more urgently. A woman stands in front of her smoking a cigarette.

She is her late twenties, very pale, almost stone white with short brown hair. She is wearing a long black raincoat, even though it’s boiling outside, thinks Mandy. Very strange. She has a cheap grey suit with a white shirt underneath thecoat. Mandy thinks she looks likes she pretending to be a detective, without the budget. The woman stares at Mandy carefully for a while, studying her, then stubs out the cigarette onto theshore.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t me to scare you then. I was justpassing by and I...

She points at Mandy’s head. “...shit. Are you alright?”

Mandy thinks for a moment, then makes a decision “I’ve hurt myself.”

The woman edges closer. “What happened?”

Mandy backs away her until her feetbeginto touch the water’s edge. She touches her wound again, dabbing awayat theblood.

“I don’t remember..it’s...I was...who are you?” The woman holds out her hand.

“I’m hear to help love.”

Mandy steps back now, both feet now in the water. Her red summer dress all wet around the hem. Mandy can’t feel the water though, she can’t feel the blood pouring down her face. Maybe she should go further in. Deeper into the lake, to see how far she can go.

“I need to get out to the country more.” The womansmiles, whilst keeping her distance, standing just to the side of Mandy. She lights another cigarette.

“See some sheep and other furry creatures. You know? I mean it’s bloody beautiful here isn’t it?”

Mandy nods and looks across the lake for what seems like the first time. The setting sun is reflecting across the water and there is just the hint of the distant hum oftraffic.

Mandy remembers sheep, and this place, and lakes, and cars, and journeys, and getaways....

“My husband Tony loves this place.” She blurts out. It’s coming back to her in flashes.

“Your husband?” The woman enquires.

“Yeah. Tony, he loves a bit of water. He’s says it like anold fashioned painting, you know like that police bloke used to paint.”

“Constable.” The woman laughs.

“That’s the fella.” Mandy likes her. She likes her laugh. “I’m Ruby by the way.” Says Ruby

“Amanda. Mandy to my friends.” Is she, my friend?she ponders.

The woman takes a long drag of the cigarette and seems distracted my something to the right of where she is standing.

“We need to get that cut looked at. Where’s your husband now love?”

In Mandy’s mind flashes of memory get replayed, she sees everything now, but it hurts like knifes and doesn’t make much sense. She walks nervously away from Ruby.

“I don’t remember.”

Another flash, burning bright.

“I might need you to remember Mandy.” Flash, beat, flash.

“I’m not sure.” Tears merging with the blood. “Did you drive here?”

Mandy stops. Another flash. More pain. “Yes...it didn’t take long. We argued...” “About what?”

“Well, you know how it is don’t you?” “Tell me how it is.”

I’m starting not to like her at all, Mandy thinks. Busy body that one. She’s also not really focusing on me. Keeps looking to her right. Am I boring her?

“Well, we have an arrangement you see, a division of skills. He does the driving and I do the sat nav. So, he says to me this morning, I’ve found this special place, romantic, smashing lake. So, I say what’s the post code? Then he saysit doesn’t have a post-code. I say well you’ve got to have a postcode, everything has to have a post code. If I can’tput the post code in the Sat Nav it doesn’t exist, does it?” Mandy stops clearly thoughtful. She looks across the lakeand a ripple forms in the center of it, a fish perhaps she thinks.

“He got angry then and called me The C word. He lovesthat word, one of his favorites that is.”

She rubs her wound again, blood on her hands.

“TONY?” She shouts abruptly, looking anxiously around her. “Why won’t this stop bleeding?”

Ruby flicks her cigarette into the lake. “Then what happened?”

Mandy looks at her for a moment, unsure of who she is,but carries on regardless.

“Err...he told me. He told me to go and enjoy the viewwhile he goes and gets the picnic basket. And then...” She islost in thought now completely. “And then...”

“There was no picnic basket was there?” Ruby lights another cigarette.

Mandy unexpectedly takes a deep breath and then is violently thrown forward as if something has struck her hard from behind. She screams and falls to the ground face down.

Ruby watches all of this, not moving, not reacting, just smoking.

Mandy sobbing turns around on the ground in pain. “Tony?” her voice surprised and shocked.

Ruby glances again to the right of her annoyed and distracted.

Mandy screams again and her body spasms as if she isbeing hit by something blunt and hard.

’Tony...please.” The blood on her wound is flowing freely down her face and onto her torso. Her head is held up inthe air for the briefest of moments, and with a forceful crack whipped to the right. Silence. Mandy’s eyes glazed andlifeless staring at Ruby.

Ruby takes a deep breath and her face watches for a moment thoughtful, before turning into a grimace of annoyance. She whips around to her right...

...a man is standing there with a mobile phone in his hand offering it to Ruby. He is dressed in a brown suit, in his late twenties and is Detective Constable Alan Johnson. Behind him there is a flurry of activity behind a cordoned off area covered in police tape. Near the edge of the lake shore a team of sixforensic officers are working studiously and carefully around the shoreline. Flashes from the forensic camera highlight the coming dusk.

Police cars, vans and motorbikes provide a almost safetysemi- circle around the area, protecting it from the viewing world. In the center of it all lies a body. It’s Mandy, her face and skin blue and drenched from the water. Her wound still visible butdried up and swollen. Her eyes now watery, stare onwards across thelake. Her neck broken at a strange angle as if she wanted to see the view so much, she twisted to hard away from herbody.

“What?” Said Ruby to the man annoyed.

“The Boss is asking how long you’re going to be.” Saidthe detective in a slightly sarcastic tone.

“As long as it takes.” Ruby lights another cigarette.

The detective speaks into the phone for a moment. Ruby goes to speak, but he holds his finger up in the air to silence her. After a moment he turns to her again.

“He wants to know how long that might be.”

Ruby lets out a long exhale of air and takes a long drag. “Jesus. I’m close alright. Five minutes max.” She turns away from the detective and looks to her left again....

...the ghost of Mandy is now standing very close to Ruby almost nose to nose. Ruby isn’t at all shaken by this but smiles gently at the ghost. Mandy is now clean apart from the wound, but the rest of the blood from a moment ago has vanished.

“What’s your name?” Says Mandy, eye to eye with Ruby. “I know you don’t I?”

“It’s Ruby, Ruby Deal.” “Ruby...Ruby...No. I’m Mandy” “I know.”

Mandy wanders back to the shoreline and puts her leftfoot over the water, so that her toes are millimeters awayfrom thelake.

“This is so strange. I feel so unusual. Is this...I meanam I..” She falters unsure of her meaning.

Ruby walks near her but staying behind. “What did he hit you with Mandy?”

“I love him so much.”

“I understand,but he did a very bad thing to you.” Mandy looks sharply atRuby. “Will I feel better soon?”

Ruby talks a gulp but keeps eye contact with Mandy, she can’t lose her yet, she thinks.

“I don’t know love. I really don’t.

Mandy seems to understand this and nods calmly. Glancing out to the horizon of the lake she begins to speak softly,almost whispering.

“It was the garden spade. We got it last week at B&Q. Brand new and five pounds off with myloyaltycard. Needed tolay down some turf, sick of the oldgrass.

After he..hit me and then hit me again... ...I can just remember through the red seeing him putting it back in the boot like he’d just finished a job around the bloody house, a tick of his list of chores...before he...before he...before.” She crouches down and puts her fingers gently into the water. There are no ripples from her touch, and the water doesn’t respond. Ruby watches for a moment.

“Thank you Mandy.”

Mandy smiles for a brief moment, before instantly her face morphing to confusion. She stands suddenly, her feet touching the water, but not affecting it. She points at Ruby accusing. “Who are you?” Almost screaming.

Mandy puts her hand to her head touching the wound, looking at the blood on herhand. Her eyes widening, fearful.

“Why am I bleeding? I can’t remember getting here. What have you done to me? Where’s my husband?”

Ruby turns her head to down to the ground for a moment, collecting her thoughts, resigned to the status quo as she always has to be.

“Your husband has gone to get help. You’ve had an accident.” “An accident?” Mandy looks worried.

“Yes. I’ll get you some medical supplies.” “Right”

Ruby is about to turn away. Mandy blurts out. “Don’t leave me alone too long yeah?”

Ruby smiles. “I won’t. Just look at the lake. Isn’t it lovely?”

Mandy glances at the lake and smiles like it’s the first time she’s seen it.

“Yes it is. So peaceful.” Ruby turns to her left...

...Detective Johnson glances at her but is still on thephone talking. The forensic team work away and Ruby’s eyes fall on Mandy’s body and lifeless face for a short while, before gesturing to Detective Johnson to hand her the phone. He hands it to her deliberately slowly and she snatches it off him.

“You got a pen?” She says into the phone.

On the other line sits Detective Inspector Ian Cook. He’s in his early sixties, gray and slightly overweight. He sits in his office which is pretty bare, covered in box files and it looks like it’s in the middle of a move. He has his phonein his hand.

“Hello Ruby, lovely to hear your voice too.” Silence.

“Yes I’ve got a pen.”

Ruby paces around as she speaks. “The husband killed her. He did it with a garden spade that they brought recently, before snapping her neck and dumping her in The lake. It should be in the boot or his car or it was before he moved it. I’d start there.”

The Inspector gently shakes his head. “He was the one reported her missing.”

“Closest to home, isn’t that what you alway say?”

“I suppose. Okay. We’ll bring him in and do over the car.”The Inspector rubs his eyes. “Are you absolutely sure about this one Ruby?”

Ruby stops pacing and bites her lip. She looks over to her left....

...Mandy is still looking out across the lake, blood dripping from her wound into the water...

...Ruby turns back. “ I have a reliable eye witness.” The Inspector nodsgravely. “Bastard. Did she say why?”

“A domestic spat I think...something about the sat navmaybe? Not sure. I got to her quite late in the day, I’m lucky Igot what Idid.”

Ruby glances over to the dead body of Mandy, glassy eyedand vacant. “Am I done here?”

“Yes. Of course. Thank you Ruby. I’ll write you a cheque when you come to the station.” The Inspector starts to pack a box lazily from his desk.

Ruby walks away from the crime scene away from the other police officers earshot.

“Yeah, I was meaning to talk to you about that. Having...some bank problems. Can you give me cash?”

The Inspector swears under his breath and rolls his eyes. “Yeah okay. This isthe last time though Ruby. Do you needa lift?”

“I do.”

“Give The phone back to DC Johnson and I willarrange transport. See you later.”

Ruby gives the phone over to Detective Johnson with a sardonic smile and lights another cigarette.

She watches as the detective has a hushed argument over the phone that he is obviously losing. Eventually he puts his phone in his pocket and looks to the skies.

He walks past Ruby seething. “Come on then”.

Ruby throws the cigarette onto the muddy ground then follows.

Inside The black BMW salon car, Ruby sits in the back seat. She observes how dirty the interior of the car is and starts to shiver. DC Johnson angrily opens the driver’s front door and slams down hard into the driving seat. He turns the key to the ignition and the car spurts into life.

“Put the heating on, I’m freezing back here.” Says Ruby shivering.

“It’s a bloody heatwave today. I’ve got more importantthings to do than being your bloody chauffeur.” He puts the carinto reverse.

“Really? I’m confused detective. What else do you have todo? You have the murderer and hopefully the weapon. What else do you need? A reconstruction from the Royal Shakespeare Company?”

DC Johnson switches off the engine and turns sharply over the seat to address Ruby

’I don’t know what fucking tricks you have up your sleeve for the boss to have tolerated you for so long. But there are changes ahead after he retirement tomorrow.”

Ruby looks surprised and immediately tries to hide it from him.

“Oh my. Your little spirit friends didn’t tell you that did they?

Well, well.” He turns back around smiling and looking at her through The rear mirror. “ I can’t wait now. New leadership coming, shaking things up and from what I heard she doesn’t like where the old boss gets his leads from.”

“I get results” Ruby instantly curses herself for rising to his bait.

Johnson sneers and gives a scornful chuckle. “Sometimes, lucky I call it.” He turns around again. “Tell me now, between friends. What’s The trick? How do you really do it?” Ruby looks at him for a moment and then turns and looks out of the car window...

...Mandy patrols the shoreline, rubbing her hands and looking around. She catches the eye of Ruby, but ignores her and stares back out across The lake....

...Ruby turns back to the constable smiling. “It’s simple Detective Constable. There’s no secrets, there’s no magic. The ghosts talk and I listen.” She lightsa cigarette and blows the smoke across to the front seat. Johnson coughs and waves the smoke away.

“Now driver take me to the theatre. I’ve a show in twohours where I have to persuade people that the dead still love them.”

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