Last Rites Read Online Free PDF

way of dealing with it.’

    ‘That’s your way of dealing with everything. You’d rather run or hide from problems.’

    ‘Did you come here to see how I was or to lecture me about my lack of moral fibre? Or were you just worried that if I died, you’d have two graves to put flowers on instead of one?’

    ‘Fuck you, Pete,’ Natalie hissed, getting to her feet.

    Mason thought about trying to stop her but decided against it. He watched as she walked across to the door.

    ‘Let me know when you decide to move out of London,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll come and wave you off.’

    Mason held her gaze for a moment then she pushed the door and stepped through into the corridor beyond. He heard her footsteps receding away in the stillness.

    ‘Shit,’ he murmured, under his breath.

    Inside the room, it was quiet once again.

9

    Walston, Buckinghamshire

    Anne Bailey’s footsteps echoed on the cold stone floor of the church as she inched her way inside, careful not to brush against the bloodied carcass of the flayed cat. She was breathing quickly and heavily, her heart thumping a little too hard in her chest. Anne leaned against the nearest pew and tried to slow her breathing.

    If only she had her mobile with her, she thought. She could have called the police from outside the church but she rarely carried the phone. Her daughter had bought it for her for her last birthday and Anne had protested at the time. What need did she have for a machine that could text? When would she ever do that? How often would she actually use the phone? It was all she could do to press the tiny digits with her swollen fingertips. Now, however, she would have given anything to have had the device in the pocket of her coat.

    For a second she thought about calling out the vicar’s name. If he was inside the church then he would come running. But another thought struck her.What if whoever had done this to the cat was still close by? Might they come running too? She turned and looked around her. There were so many dark corners inside the church. So many places where someone could hide. They might even be watching her now. Anne felt her chest tightening even more.

    Just get out, she told herself. Get away from here. Go back to your car and drive to the police station. The police will notify the vicar. Just get out.

    She was about to step back towards the main doors when she saw the blood on the floor near the font.

    Droplets of it gleamed dully. There was more on one of the stone pillars close by. She guessed it was cat blood. There had been so much of it that had dripped on the stonework beneath the poor creature. But, she reasoned, how had there come to be splatters of it inside the church as well? She moved towards the font, careful not to step in the spilled blood. Her footsteps echoed inside the cold building.The stained-glass face of Christ and half a dozen saints watched her impassively as she advanced.

    Anne felt light-headed and wondered if her blood pressure had risen higher than it should. She had her tablets in her pocket. She wondered for a second if she should just sit still in one of the pews and wait until help arrived. The vicar would be here soon anyway. It might be more sensible to wait for him. Let him discover why there were droplets of blood inside the church too. However,Anne disregarded her own advice and continued to advance towards the font, her eyes now fixed on the red streaks that had run down the stonework of the receptacle.

    The marble figure of Christ that hung on the large crucifix overlooking the altar also peered indifferently down upon her as she approached the font. If it had seen what happened inside the church then it was keeping the information to itself. The white lips were motionless, the eyes expressionless. Anne looked up briefly at the figure and shook her head in what was almost an apologetic gesture that He had been forced to witness such an outrage.

    She glanced once more at the blood on and