Buried in the Past Read Online Free PDF Page A

the passengers.
    As the journey progressed, each stop brought new arrivals, replacing those who alighted. By the time they were nearing York, Perry noted that there were only two who had boarded the train at Durham. One, a young girl he guessed might be a student, and the other a man who had spent a considerable time talking quietly on a mobile phone.
    On the York platform, Ray walked over to the monitor that gave the information he needed for the Harrogate sprinter train that would take him on the final leg of his journey. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that both his fellow travellers seemed to have the same destination in mind. More from habit than any sense of danger, Perry examined them covertly. To the best of his knowledge , he’d never seen either of them before in his life. Their presence was obviously innocuous. Both Harrogate and Durham were large towns, and there must be a considerable number of passengers who commuted between the two regularly.
    Once he alighted from the train at Harrogate, Ray set off to walk in the direction he thought led towards his destination. As he crossed the station car park, he saw the man climb into the passenger seat of a waiting car, the young girl joining a queue atone of the rank of nearby bus stops. Perry reached the main road and hesitated, no longer certain that he was heading the right way.
    Time for more directions, and this time they were easier to understand. The information confirmed his memory and he set off at an increased pace. Not far behind him, in the car that had shadowed the train from Durham, the occupants tried to plan their next move.
    ‘What if she’s here? What if he knows where she is? What do we do if he gets to her before we can?’ Corinna asked.
    ‘We’ll have to deal with them both. There’s no other way.’
    She seemed to accept this, and concentrated on threading her way through the traffic.
    Perry reflected that the houses didn’t seem much different to when he had been here last. Not that he’d paid them close attention back then. His eyes had been fixed on his companion, his mind preoccupied with what was happening to them. Now, with luck, only a few minutes separated him from his objective, and when he reached it, the answer to a question that had occupied his mind every waking minute of his life behind bars.
    Although some aspects of the view had changed, such as hedges and trees being much taller, he knew exactly where to go. Towards the far end of the road there was a short double row of semi-detached houses at right angles to the main thoroughfare. There was no vehicular access to these properties; the only means of reaching them was via a broad pathway.
    Avoiding a couple of small boys on skateboards, who either had less than perfect control or were suicidal, Perry headed for two properties designed and built to contain two flats, one on each storey. He entered the small front garden and as he reached the door, looked for which bell to press in order to summon the occupant of the ground floor flat. Before he could do so, Ray paused, hearing footsteps behind him.
    He looked round, to see an elderly man wearing dark glasses and carrying a white stick. The man was walking up the path towards him. ‘Good afternoon,’ Perry greeted him, anxious not to startle someone with defective eyesight.
    The old man turned in his direction, his expression one ofsurprise. ‘Do you live here?’ Ray asked.
    ‘Aye, I do that.’
    ‘Are you on the ground floor or upstairs?’
    If the old man found the question odd, he didn’t let it show. ‘Ground floor. Just as well; my missus can’t manage steps any more.’
    ‘How long have you lived here?’
    ‘Why do you want to know that?’
    The old man’s suspicion was now patently obvious. Ray hastened to allay it. ‘I’m trying to locate the woman who used to live here. It’s a long time ago, but with moving house, her address got lost. I’d heard she’s moved. She’s my sister-in-law, you