Cane and Betts


The police sergeant and his colleague stood guard at the site of the recent murder. The sergeant, Arnold Cane his name, was not ashamed of how he dismissed the negro woman and her skulking, probably widowed, friend. Yes it was sad news that her husband was missing but there are protocols to follow and he had his duty with the murder case at hand.


"Sarge, was it right to send those women away with the murderer still at large?" Asked his attending uniformed constable, his name being Stephen Betts.


"Betts, you can't help everybody. Concentrate on the job at hand and do your part by the book."


Betts ruffled his young growing mustache. "I don't like this, sir."


"I would be deeply concerned if you did, constable."


The young constable did not answer straight away. He searched about, looking down by the water where the body was found. Eventually he asked, "Should we have maybe told them the victim was a man in his forties?"


"That would not rule out the young lady's worry. It could still be her husband, you saw the ring. We need proper identification before informing the next of kin."


The young Betts would have come up with another rookie question but his mind and attention were firmly fixed on a faint blue glow some distance ahead of the direction the two women walked. He could not see the women now but along the bank the blue light seemed to be moving ever gradually to where he thought they would have reached by that moment. The constable did not take in any more of the words spoken by his superior and continued to watch the glow. There suddenly came a spark of lightning.


"Sarge, do you see that?" He spoke with nervous enthusiasm. The blue glow briefly turned into a bright light. A few seconds later it happened again, a spark followed by bright light then back to faint blue. "Sir," he spoke again.


Cane was watching cautiously, with a dose of police scepticism. "Probably just those women having fun with the mariners."


"The navy isn't around here today, sir," Betts panicked.


"Get a grip, man," ordered Cane. "You're an officer of the law, you'll do well to remember that. Act like one, this instance."


Betts grumbled, "I really don't like this."


Cane rolled his eyes, "Then go and take a look. I'll continue to guard here."


Betts stiffened although he would never admit it was through fear. "Are you sure, sir?"


"Yes," replied Cane. "Be a good officer and go check on those women." He grinned a typical Cane sly grin.


Betts swallowed hard, "Ok, I will." He nodded to the sergeant and proceeded to walk in the direction of the commotion. He could see them more clearly now, there was a man with them. They were still some distance away from him surrounding the blue glow.


The young officer did not immediately see the blue glow disappear entirely but he did notice the trio leaving the scene. By the time he had reached the road to question them they were already in a carriage and gone.


Betts exhaled deeply and returned to Cane. There was something strange happening and it was now their duty to solve it. However, Cane was nowhere to be seen when he returned.


"Sarge!" He called to no avail. Hearing a splash, Betts approached the edge of the water. Nervous frustration etched across his face as the young officer found nothing, no sign of his superior anywhere.


A low, deep cackle spooked Betts and he immediately went tense. A flicker of blue shot past his eyesight and he almost fell backwards. He ran back to the spot where he and Cane stood not twenty minutes before. The tenseness in his back remained as he felt the presence of a being close behind himself.


A low deep voice sounded all around him. "Be a good officer," it said in a mocking tone.


"Wh-who goes there?" Betts stammered. He turned slowly. Before he could let out that terrified scream that most men would, an invisible force lifted him off the ground and he was thrown against a nearby wall. He slumped to the ground, tears began filling his eyes.


The spectre stood over the cowering officer. "Pathetic," he hissed.


The spirit left the shaking body of Betts and stared out across the Thames as he had often done since materialising. A hint of a smile crept across his lips. He held up his left hand and watched a jolt of electricity dance between his fingers. "Thank you, Doctor." He said to himself. A veil of white fog-like light lifted from all around him. The spectre found he was now able to leave the bank. He proceeded up the river's edge away from Betts, his two trapped victims and the one he murdered from malice.


***


The Hexagon Puzzle Piece


"The air feels different," Polly exclaimed as she, Henry and Elizabeth made their way along the embankment.


Henry led the way. He now wore rubber-lined gloves to fit with his rubber suit under his coat. The rod he carried was now of a silver, copper and aluminium mix with a firm rubber handle, and much more deadly than the previous rod. He carried with him his tin box, more bottles of various liquids, a modified compass that was magnified to point towards ghostly matter - apparitions, vapours, ectoplasm and such. Henry wore his goggles down, he was anticipating an attack at any moment. He had offered the women a pair each but they had both politely refused.


"Different how?" Elizabeth asked nervously.


"Like how you feel when anxiety has been lifted from your heart," Polly replied. "Maybe I have been with Henry for too long, but my heart is telling me the Thames spirit is no longer here."


"Oh," replied Elizabeth. "Isn't that good?"


"No," Henry said suddenly. "If it's true, then not knowing where he is can have serious ramifications. If he's been able to leave his haunting spot, he could cause havoc all over London. We must find him."


Elizabeth fell silent, she did not know how to answer him. However, her heart was telling her that with the spectre gone they could now concentrate on finding her husband.


As they neared the previous day's location, they could see what from a distance looked like a pile of rags shivering in the early morning chill.


"What is that?" Polly asked.


"Who is that?" Responded Henry and he stepped into a jog to what could now be seen as a man hunched together in the floor. Henry knelt down beside the man and helped him into a sitting position against the nearby wall. "Are you hurt, officer?" He asked.


"That's the young policeman that was on duty with that ass yesterday," said Polly.


Betts did not reply to either of them straight away. He looked confused, and terrified.


Henry found the policeman's ID papers next to him on the ground, and after a quick glance, handed them back to him. "Officer Betts, what happened?"


"It w-was here... A-a phantom was here..."


"The spectre attacked them," Polly gasped.


"Where is your superior officer? The sergeant?" Henry continued.


"I don't know," Betts looked around and was visibly surprised to see it was now morning. Polly pulled out a flask from her bag and offered him some water. "Thank you," he muttered. "I left him for just a moment but when I returned, Sarge was gone. I don't know if it was the phantom, or something else."


"Hmm, we now have two missing persons," Henry said out loud but to himself. "What else can you tell us, Officer Betts? Where is the phantom?"


Betts dropped his head into his arms. "I don't know."


"Perhaps he needs a moment to rest, Doctor," Polly said as she placed the flask next to the policeman. "We could have Mrs Allan sit with him while we search the area."


"That is a great idea. Mrs Al-" Henry started but as they both looked around they discovered she too had disappeared. "Mrs Allan?" Henry repeated.


"Look, over there!" Polly pointed along the water's edge. "Where the devil is she going?"


Elizabeth was some distance away from them. Her head was bent down as if following a trail along the bank of the Thames.


"New plan. You sit with our friend, Polly. I'll check on Mrs Allan." Henry waited for the nodded reply and set off to catch up to Elizabeth. As he neared, he also saw what it was Elizabeth was following. There was crawl of ectoplasm leading away from the path down to the river and along the bank.


"I think this leads somewhere, Doctor," Elizabeth spoke as he neared.


"Indeed, let's hope it solves one of our mysteries." Henry took the lead, much to Elizabeth's relief. They followed the trail for ten minutes or so until they reached stairwell.


"Where do you think this leads?" Elizabeth asked.


"The sewers, I would suspect. Chambers for the maintenance crew. We shall investigate them." Henry took the first step down.


Elizabeth hesitated. "Are you sure?"


Henry turned and reached for her hand. "You were brave enough to follow the trail on your own accord. It is possible your husband may be at the end of this course, I know you feel it. Do not give up now."


Encouraged by the words, Elizabeth nodded and let Henry guide her down the steps. They came to a large steel door. It took Henry several attempts to force the hinges to move.


The door opened up to a dark passage with only the light of the morning sun. An object on the floor made Elizabeth forget her fears as she rushed into the hall to receive it.


"What is it?" Henry asked curiously.


Elizabeth turned around slowly and held up the red chequered handkerchief. "It's Richard's," she said softly. "He must be down here."


"Perhaps, but how?" Henry stepped past Elizabeth and held up his arm with the compass. "This place is full of paranormal activity, step carefully."


Elizabeth took another step forward and slipped, catching her balance just in time before toppling over. "Oh my," she gasped.


"Ectoplasm. This place is likely covered in it," Henry replied as he inspected the ground and walls.


A groan was heard in a room ahead and Elizabeth quickened her step to find the source. "Richard!" She called while ignoring the near-slips from the ooze. She was sure he was close and she was not going to let some slime stop her from reuniting with her husband.


"Mrs Allan! Be careful!" Henry responded close behind. There was little light now from the entrance and Henry jumped at the mere sight of a few scuttering rats. "It's been a long couple of days, I am definitely taking tomorrow off," he said quietly to himself even though he knew he probably would not.


There were several dimly lit rooms with old lanterns. Another time Henry would have questioned who lit them but now was all about keeping up with the ecstatic young wife who was in a desperate search.


A loud shriek from a room two doors down shook Henry into a run and he ran into a room with a platform surrounded by floor to ceiling pipes of various sizes. The room has a distasteful odour and Henry immediately knew it as part of the sanitation department.


Elizabeth was hunched over two dark shapes. "Doctor, they're here! Come quick!" She shouted over her shoulder.


Henry crouched down next to her and studied the figures of Mr Allan and Sergeant Cane. Elizabeth was pushing on her husband's chest pleading with him to wake up. "Gently. They're alive but they could be in a coma. We must not wake them with force."


Elizabeth moved back from her husband. "What do we do?"


"Carefully lay them on their backs and loosen their clothes, we don't want any restricted airwaves." He helped push the sergeant onto his back. "Hello, what's this?" Henry picked up a small hexagon shaped tin box. He examined it closely and pulled out another one from his pocket that he had found the previous day. They were an exact match, whatever they were they were somehow linked to the paranormal. He placed it in his left coat pocket for now, determined to find out who had been placing them and if there were any more. He turned back to Elizabeth to help but she had already loosened their shirts and jackets.


"I will do my best to keep them warm," she said to him.


Henry handed her his flask. "I will send Polly down to help take care of them. If they awake, keep them hydrated."


"Thank you, Doctor," Elizabeth said softly. "For everything."


"It's been eventful. Luckily, we don't get many like this," he smiled. "Stay spirited. I will send her with more lamps and return as soon as I am able to with help." He left the room and sprinted down the long steel hall.


By the time he had reached Polly again Betts was on his feet, albeit still shaking. Henry instructed Polly to take the lamps that would have been with the officers while on guard and go to Elizabeth to help the others. He gave her directions and a box of matches and sent her on her way.


"Right then, Constable, the Sarge is safe, we've found him. Now it is time you helped me," Henry said sternly before relaxing his mindset upon seeing the soft relieved look on the officer's face.


"Thank you, sir," Betts replied


"You're welcome. Now, you were the last to see the spectre. Where did he go?"


"Last night. That thing-" Betts' face went pale. "It was covered in some kind of electrical charge. It went west along the river. Towards Hammersmith."


"Then that is where I'll be going," said Henry stoutly. He directed Betts to the underground passage to help the group then turned his attentions west. Time to end the Thames Spectre before anyone else got hurt.


***