damp Graves - Book four in the bill reyner mystery series

Plot

Lost in the bowels of the earth, Bill and Newf find the unimaginable controlled by the unassailable – and hidden well enough to be almost undiscoverable. How could a house, a graveyard, a cave and a hospital all be so closely related? To save lives the puzzle has to be unravelled, and quickly. A fair maiden is being held firmly in the jaws of hell and Bill’s task is to rescue her, but he is outsmarted at every turn. He tries to match wits with an evil genius, only to discover he is playing right into the monster’s hands. Knowing the answer to his dilemma is not good enough when no one will believe the truth.

Excerpt from Damp Graves

We entered the park; there was already one car there. Probably the warm weather brought him out. ‘Park up there close to the Point,’ I ordered.

We stopped and climbed out. Walking to the Point I took a reading with the GPS, then dialed up a ‘goto,’ to find the distance to Worthington’s place. My theory was obviously wrong. With a distance of three and a half kilometers, tunnels would be impractical. ‘It’s not reasonable,’ I said aloud.

‘What ain’t?’

‘Well we’re too far from Worthington’s place or Dombroski’s.’

‘But it’s part of the same escarpment ain’t it?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So which way is it.’

I pointed.

‘Then let’s take a little trog in that direction.’

With the warm sun and the firm ground it was a pleasant walk. We walked over the rise and along the cliff edge. If there were any caves along the escarpment some form of access must be visible. We walked for about half an hour, I checked the GPS. Amazingly we were only a kilometer from Dombroski’s, but the way became barred by a chasm, probably half a kilometer across.

‘Nofin’ eh?’

‘Yeah, you’re right Newf. Let’s go back. We’ll get some of your second story gear and go do Worthington once and for all.’

‘A ram would be quicker.’

‘A ram?’

‘Yeah. A two-by-four. Lay it up against the front door and ease the car up to it. A little accelerator and poof el-busto.’

We reached the car. There’s no way Newf’s going to el-busto with my Rolls. Newf got in behind the wheel, for reasons I can only call providential I walked to the rear. I thought maybe there was a tow-bar. If so we could use that to nudge open a door, that and a pole. As I reached the back and examined the bumper with my eyes the engine started. I sighed, alas there was no tow hitch, nothing, just very expensive bumper chrome.

Suddenly with dirt flying and a squeal of tires, the Rolls took off like a jackrabbit. I stood agog unable to believe the events that unfolded. The car rushed up the small incline, the driver’s door opened and just prior to the car smashing into the rock wall at the cliff edge, the driver fell out.

Frozen to the spot I watched as the Rolls devastated the wall without stopping then disappeared from sight as it plunged to certain doom at the bottom of the escarpment. The crash boomed and echoed in the otherwise silent world. As the noise died away, I was left glaring at the gaping hole in the wall. Newf lay where he had fallen. I can’t describe the emotion that flooded through me. My lovely car, and that twit Newf. Pulling myself together I ran to him. I’m not sure whether I wanted to help him or kill him. As I reached him he rolled over onto his back and groaned.

‘The ground ain’t ’alf ’ard.’

I didn’t reply. I knew if I did I would probably pick him up and send him after the car. I walked to the broken wall and peered over the edge. She’d landed on her roof. Even from that distance I could see glass and pieces of car all over the place. It hadn’t burned.

‘Could o’ bin worse,’ Newf said as he caught up with me and looked down the cliff.

Next book in the series

From Bill Reyner's Photo Gallery

St Michael and All Angels Church Sidestrand Norfolk England. The building minus the tower was moved stone by stone to the new site in 1881. The old tower being left as a seafaring marker but it fell into the ocean in March of 1916.
 

See more in Bill's Photo Gallery