Lost Souls

52

The disappointment in the room was almost tangible, such was the weight it had placed on everyone’s shoulders.  MacBlaine had returned after hearing what the detectives had to say. He was angry and disappointed by what he’d been told.

    Katie sat hunched over the kitchen table, nursing a mug of coffee between both her hands like it might disappear at any moment. She looked deflated.

    MacBlaine paced back and forward, head down staring at the wooden floorboards, while Mr. and Mrs. Rusk sat opposite Katie in silence, not knowing what they could say to try and lighten the depressive mood that filled the air like a fine mist.

    Alex and Amber were on the floor playing a game of cards. Christopher and Jimmy were at opposite ends of the kitchen, waiting for a chance to comfort Katie alone. Both young men glared at each other appropriately.

    Finally, Grace Rusk sighed heavily, and mumbled quietly to no one in particular. “I guess we really should be pleased we found the children. At least that’s something we can always remember.”

    MacBlaine stopped pacing for long enough to glance in her direction. “We still don’t know who killed them though,” he said miserably.

    “We do!” Jimmy yelled across the room. “Douglas Galbraith murdered them all.”

    Michael Rusk turned to look at the raging youth behind him. He could see the pure hatred in Jimmy’s eye’s, he noticed the reddening complexion, and imagined the steam pouring out of his ears. “The police interviewed him Jimmy. They haven’t got enough evidence to charge him.”

    “They didn’t find any evidence Jimmy,” Christopher added.

    “He did it, and we all know he did it,” Jimmy glared at Christopher, who shrunk slightly under his gaze.

    Katie took a sip from her mug, and tried to block out the rising voices around her. She knew they’d done everything that they could have to bring Galbraith to justice, but she understood why the police hadn’t been able to bring him before a court. Even her dad’s friend from London agreed that Galbraith was in the clear for the children’s deaths, unless new evidence that linked them to their deaths came to light, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

    She agreed with Jimmy, she knew Douglas Galbraith was guilty, but he was going to get away with his hideous crimes.

    The loud banging on the front door took them all by surprise. For a while the room fell silent as the knocking grew louder and filled their heads.

    “Better get that someone,” Mrs. Rusk suggested, unable to haul herself from her chair to do it herself.

    “I’ll go mummy,” Amber offered happily, jumping to her feet, and throwing her remaining cards at her brother. “You win,” she giggled, as Alex tried to avoid the cards hitting him in the face.

    Amber sprinted to the door and pulled it open quickly, expecting to see maybe another policeman, or someone from the village coming to talk to them about their findings. Instead she gasped when she saw Douglas Galbraith standing before her, flanked by two huge men that were so hairy they could be doppelgangers for a pair of mountain Gorillas. She knew who Galbraith was from the descriptions of the man she’d been given.

    Without waiting for an invite, the three men pushed Amber out of the way, and stood in the hallway.

    Amber screamed, “Mummy. Daddy. That horrible man is here.”

    Galbraith and his men laughed a harsh bitter laugh. “So lovely,” Galbraith joked to one of the men.

    “Edible,” he replied, as he licked his lips at Amber, who dashed away, and into her father’s arms, who along with the others had arrived into the hall from the kitchen