Page 14

I waited for a human answer. None came.

Leaving an injured animal underground while I waited for a property surveyor wasn’t an option I could live with. Going deep enough to lose the exit would be stupid. I could manage the space between those two choices.

I propped the concealed wall fully open with the desk chair, switched on every light between the office and the front hall and returned to my car for the heavy torch in the boot. The front door remained open behind me. My phone still showed an active signal when I sent Arthur a second message with a photograph of the stairs. I explained that I’d found a hidden staircase and could hear someone below, then promised to call when I was back upstairs.

If I found a person, signs of forced entry or anything that made my skin crawl, I was leaving. An animal in distress justified a quick look. It didn’t justify pretending I was indestructible.

I tested the torch, put the old key in my coat pocket and stepped onto the first stair.

The bulb above me brightened.

The next one came on before I reached it.

“Motion sensors,” I said.

The third light came on while I was standing perfectly still.

“Fine. Unfriendly motion sensors.”

I kept one hand on the wall and tested each step before putting my full weight on it. The stone was dry and clean. No fur clung to the corners. No muddy paw prints marked the floor.

The whine came from below the turn.

I went only far enough to see the next section of stairs. They ended at a short passage lit by more electric bulbs. A dark shape lay near the wall at the bottom.

My grip tightened on the torch until I realised it was an old iron hook fixed into the stone.

“If you’re a person, answer me now.”

The sound stopped.

That was enough.

I turned towards the office.

The desk chair shot sideways.

It struck the filing cabinet and fell. The hidden wall slammed across the top of the stairs before I could climb two steps.

Darkness swallowed the staircase.

I ran up and hit the stone with both hands. The join had disappeared. No handle, lock or outline remained on this side.

“Open.”

The wall ignored me.

I pulled the old key from my pocket and pressed it against the stone. Nothing happened. My phone showed no signal now, and the message I’d sent upstairs remained marked as delivered. At least Arthur knew exactly where I’d entered and expected a call when I came back.

A light came on behind me.

Then another.

The passage below was inviting me forwards.

“You can stop being helpful at any time.”

A heavy scrape travelled along the floor at the bottom of the stairs. The strained sound followed, deeper than it had seemed from the office.