The Inspector Returns

The Inspector Returns

The living room dining suite was filled with life, life as you’d expect it from your typical post marriage family. Ella, the mother, was trying to communicate with her husband; Marcus however was watching television and missed as he threw popcorn onto his nose and lost it to the dog before it hit the floor.

The children were tucked away with beers and takeaway hot wings and had become desensitised to the world around them. 

The phone rang and Marcus left in the middle of his wife’s sentence to answer it. He returned briefly his face disgusted.

“What?” Asked Ella

“Scammers.” said Marcus “As if they have nothing better to do than to waste our time! Inspector Spectre needs you to comply with his demands… leave the house blah blah blah…”

“I’ve not heard that one before, they must be short on ideas.”

“Well, I don’t think even gift cards would ‘help’ them he said gruffly. He cracked open a beer and joined his children on the couch. 

Ella raised her eyebrows at him “Oh, I guess we’re done talking then, I’m going to start the clearing up.”

At that second the doorbell rang and Ella could be heard beside the door talking softly to someone. 

“Save my seat, I’m going to shut out that racket.” Said Marcus.

“It is I that shall be doing that.” Said a deep voice and with no explanation the television switched off.

“Oh great going dad! What did you do?” 

“That’s enough Jacob, I don’t know what happened.” It was true, the remote was on the end of the couch and there had been no hint at a power cut. 

“I need to speak with all of you but I shall do so individually.” There it was again, a voice that had no business interrupting their viewing. 

Marcus looked at the man, then at his wife “Did you hire him?”

“I am from the Government, and I suggest you listen to what I say. Marcus, I’ll speak with you first.” He grabbed a folder from his inside jacket and began to write. 

“Who are you supposed to be? Inspector Goole?” He laughed at the man who did not crack a smile.

“This is not a laughing matter. The name is Spectre, and I am here to investigate the death of a woman discovered in your office this morning.” He waited for the other family members to leave before turning back to Marcus. “Does she look familiar to you?” He presented a photograph and Marcus felt his heart drop several notches - it was his secretary, the hardest worker, she had certainly been there the longest. 

“That’s my secretary, how did she die?” He asked, his voice breaking.

“That is still being investigated but I did find these items next to her.” In the second photo Marcus saw a stack of paperclips and what looked like a work contract. 

“Why Martha why?” 

“I think you know why. I’m not here to take you but you know what you must do.” 

Marcus looked down at his feet, he had promoted someone less driven and experienced to a higher role, he was surely endangering his reputation for business acumen. Marcus looked up to face Spectre and ask to be forgiven for the error of his ways, to turn back time, anything of the impossible would make his own life a little better. He would have to live with the pain on the inside, he could have, should have acted sooner but his actions had led him down a path where there was no glory, only penance, a life he would slowly rebuild, without his most loyal worker.

Marcus blinked a few times but he couldn’t see Spectre. His surroundings had changed A Christmas tree six foot high lavishly decorated and twinkling, the smell of festive foods wafting from the kitchen. Ella walked in dressed in an angel nightdress.

“Ella, where’s… Spectre?” He mumbled stirring on the couch.

“Oh, you fell asleep watching Spectre, that’s so like you, probably spent the whole night there.”

“No, Inspector Spectre, it was horrible.”

Ella gave him a confused look “We don’t know anyone by that name, nor have we ever met anyone.”

“I’m going to wake myself up a bit.” Marcus made his way into the kitchen. Ella stood checking the straightness of the decorations. A text message notification made her jump, which one of his children was contacting her this time? She hoped they wouldn’t miss dinner, it would be ready in half an hour.

The text read:

Stay where you are, we need to talk

It was sent from an unknown number; Ella looked up feeling annoyed, if one of her friends had changed their number they usually text her their name or told her directly; she did not like being kept in the dark like this.

Someone tapped on the back door asking to be let in. Ella starred at this stranger dressed in a black cloak with a white hood was he cold, homeless or someone rudely asking for directions. It was not possible to enter their back garden without a key to the gate so she was probably going to get some answers. 

“Leave now, or I will call the police!”

The figure did not flinch but looked hungrily through the glass at her before speaking as clearly as though they were in the same room “Call the police if you want to but without my help they will take your husband to prison and your Christmas will be ruined.”

“What are you talking about? Who are you and why are you tormenting me?”

The figure stepped through the glass as though it wasn’t there leaving it intact “I am Inspector Spectre, we need to talk.” Ella screamed for Marcus to act but it seemed he could not hear her. Spectre knew this already and sat staring at her more serious waiting for her to calm down.

“I must ask, do you recognise the person in this photo?”

A cold shiver ran down her spine as she recognised the man smiling. The glass covering the photo had cracked and the frames was heavily damaged.

“That’s Trevor, where did you get that picture? Why is it damaged?” 

“I found this on the floor next to his nightstand. He had been beaten to death with it and I found trace amounts of your husband’s blood. There is also… this.” He held up a pair of lingerie. 

“That’s mine you perverted creep!” She snatched them back but couldn’t help notice a spot of blood on the hem that definitely belonged to someone else. “What does this have to do with my husband going to jail if I didn’t listen to you? Now you have exactly three seconds to get lost or I’m calling the real police!”

“So, you don’t want my help, you’d rather keep this secret from Marcus? You’ll find there’s no way out of this situation whether you kick me out or not.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“That, you already know, you husband found out about your little problem and took care of it himself, Trevor will never bother you again and you’ll soon lose the two men in your life that meant the most to you.”

“Trevor is… was just a friend.”

“Are you convinced? Because I’m not…” Spectre left the sentence hanging, he did this deliberately giving her time to reflect upon her emotions… no matter how angry she had got, the stranger had remained calm and concise. 

She had cheated on Marcus, and left it too late to break things off, he would probably now go to prison for ten years or more and the children would feel lost without both their parents, they usually made Christmas fun. 

“What can you do to help me?” She asked now afraid there would be no way out of her situation. 

Spectre bowed his head and said solemnly “There is little you can do now, you must repent for what you have done and promise yourself you will not repeat this in the future, I may not be around to help you.”

“But you haven’t actually done anything! I wish I had never done it to begin with, I should have known Marcus is enough, he was great with the kids and still entertains the little ones…help me out you putrid beast!”

But Spectre had gone in fact so had the Christmas decorations. Jacob and Emily approached her “Mum, what are you doing on the floor?”

“I… I don’t want to talk about it. Bad dream that’s all.”

Emily looked concerned “We’re still going to be okay, even without dad. Come Madison, you’ll need to wash your hands before dinner.”

“Okay mummy, is daddy coming to join us?”

“Yes, he’s just parking the car. There wasn’t room on the street.” She added.

“How’s Freya?”

“Are you feeling alright mum? She’s fine, I’m here for my final night before our wedding. Decided in the planning there was nobody I’d rather spend it with than family.”

The Christmas cards and decorations had gone, a few Easter cards remained alongside a wedding invitation over the fireplace. Little Madison had added her easter touches by added paper egg shells in-between the cards and a fluffy easter chick she had made using felts and boggle eyes. The combination didn’t rally work but for her age Ella had to admire her granddaughter’s imagination and creativity.

“Are you okay mum?” Asked Jacob from the couch. “Still can’t believe it’s tomorrow huh? Listen, we’re going to order food in as a treat, what do you fancy?” He handed her the menu and left the room. There was a brighter light in the kitchen she would use.

They switched on the television and saw a well known advert they must have watched a thousand times already… so why was there a jolly fat man dancing in the background this time? They continued to watch with the sound off but he remained even when a new advert started.

“There’s got to be something wrong with the box, pass me the remote.” 

Emily unmuted the television and they could only hear the voice of the man now he was saying “Look between you.” They ignored this and continued to watch but the man said it a second time. The two of them rolled their eyes and pushed mute once again but this time the words “Look between you” came much louder as if someone was indeed sitting between them. In that very heartbeat they both looked between them and leapt off the couch in fright Jacob stumbled backwards into the television and it went out. Emily grabbed the man’s neck and tried to force their intruder into a headlock but she fell into the couch. The man stood up and face them.

“I am not here to hurt you, but I do need you to listen. There are mistakes in your past that I must draw your attention to.”

“Who are you and why are you invading our house!?” Asked Jacob his voice growing with each word he spoke.

“My name is Spectre… Inspector Spectre… I wonder, if you know the woman in this short video?” He held up a tablet, the screen looked like an old fashioned photo frame. The video was on a short loop but they definitely recognised it.

“Oh, you know Carla, how is she doing these days?” Asked Jacob

“Oh, she’s fine… dead, but otherwise now very much at peace.” 

“Did you say ‘Dead’ how do you know this?” Asked Emily giving him a look of deep mistrust. “Wait, you’re the first to know, that would mean You Killed Her! Right, Jacob you talk to this poor excuse I’m calling the police!” 

“It is not I that killed her, she took her own life and only Jacob knows why.”

“Ah Hell No! Get out Right now! What proof do you have? How do we know you’re not some corrupt inspector who commits the crimes and pins the blame on someone else?”

Spectre did not speak but instead grabbed a handwritten letter from his inside pocket. Jacob snatched it away without thanking him and smoothed it out. Emily came over at that moment and they read it together

‘Jacob, I’m writing one last time to ask for your forgiveness, I know you are set to marry Freya and I will not get in the way of that, but I would rather you were happy with someone I hate than kept miserable with someone I still love. 

I feel that I will never get the chance to say this in person so I will leave this behind when I am gone under instruction that it be delivered directly to you. I think back to our wedding day how you shouted for the congregation that I had let you down, then left me at the alter. I was heartbroken, embarrassed, angry, confused, lost, my trust had been broken and I thought you were the one for me. 

At long last with this letter in your hand I can explain what you were shouting about. It was not I who slept with your sister the night before our wedding but Freya. I wish only to inform you of the truth, maybe you’ll be the one to change her, maybe she’ll be different but in our childhood she was a lesbian with her heart set on marrying someone rich, to live an expensive lifestyle…

I hope that you can forgive me in death and know that I am no longer in the picture, I cannot choose your life path and my only regret in life is that I wished I had told you sooner… goodbye forever.

Carla

Ps. If angels are real, I’ll watch over you from time to time, if you wish me to stop, ask me to move on, I will understand’

Her signature was written in her own blood. Jacob thought back to his previous wedding and then looked at Emily.

“I honestly don’t remember, I think I was drugged.” Jacob did remember that horrible day his sister appeared to have had a stomach virus and it clicked. Jacob was quite successful and was fast tracking himself into riches with his latest patent everyone clearly wanted. He looked at the wedding invitation and dropped it into the fire. He sat back down with Emily and watched it turn the fire blue.

“Another bites the dust, but I can’t go back to Carla, but at least I’m avoiding the gold digger… Carla, if you can hear me, watch over me as often as you like, help me choose someone worthy of my personality.”

He stood up and held out one of his hands for Spectre to shake “I’ve no idea who you are but you’ve helped me a great deal.” He turned to his sister “and I know you are not to blame for what happened in any way.” She nodded then hugged her brother. 

“We shall always be together” she said

“You have done well, as a family I am impressed.” Said Spectre before appearing to fade into thin air.

Jacob went to grab his phone to delete Freya’s number but found himself at the table for Thanksgiving. Spectre had gone and the entire family were ready to tuck in. Each person recounted their experiences with Spectre each claiming to have seen a different person in the photograph and since checking this time around each of the murdered victims were still alive. 

Marcus phoned Martha and offered her a promotion starting Monday with a neat wage increase. Ella phoned Trevor and told him that they had to stop seeing each other because he always saw her as more than just a friend, that he would never learn to control himself. Jacob went next phoning his bride to be, waving to her on video screen she waved and said hello to everyone, perfectly happy until he told them they were waves of goodbye; that last time he checked, he was not a lesbian, and that another woman would best suit her.

“So you’re saying the wedding is off?”

He did not answer but rolled his eyes before handing the phone to his sister.

“Hey, remember me? You’re terrible in bed by the way!” She hung up just before Freya readied herself for an angry retort. She tried calling back but they blocked her number.

The family had no idea who Spectre was but they were forever grateful that they could return to their lives.