Free Ghostly Images by Peter Townsend Page B

fallen from her hair.
    Her eyes were exactly like the colour of the dark shadows the clouds cast on the cliffs behind her. He looked at the jagged wounds on her neck and chest and thought only a madman could have defiled such a beautiful creature. He knew she was dead but still touched her forehead gently with his hand. It was cold.
    He took a few deep breaths of the sea air as seagulls circled and squawked.
    Glancing around, the couple had their backs to him. The man was still comforting the woman who was sobbing uncontrollably. David turned to look at Eleanor’s body. She looked so delicate, just like when he first saw her at the castle. He closed his eyes and held his head in his hands, forlornly hoping this was only one of his nightmares and he would soon awake to normality. He opened them a few seconds later only to witness the same scene of horror. Hot tears began to sting the back of his eyes.
    His instinct was to lift her up and carry her. He was strong enough to do it without any problem, even on the very soft and powdery sand, but he realised the police would expect her body to remain at the scene.
    He thought it wise not to mention knowing Eleanor to either the couple or the police considering Mr and Mrs Jenkins dire opinion of the police and of Chief Constable Len Tanner in particular.
    David got to his feet. The couple had already started walking away. He caught up with them. The frail-looking man struggled to support his female companion. Incoherent mumbles came from her lips. When they finally reached the pier, David saw Ben Updike come out from the amusement arcade to smoke a cigarette.
    Ben looked up. “Is anything wrong, lad?” he asked David. “You look like you’ve seen a ruddy ghost.”
    “They just discovered a woman’s body.”
    “Is she…?”
    “She’s dead,” David confirmed.
    “Has she fallen from the cliffs?”
    David shook his head. “Someone has murdered her.”
    “Tanner usually has a cup of tea in Pier Café. I’ll go and get him.” Ben tossed his cigarette to the ground and ran.
    A few minutes later, David saw two police officers with Ben. David remembered Tanner from earlier in the year when he was investigating the trade in indecent photographs. David had also seen the younger officer who accompanied the chief now but couldn’t remember his name.
    The chief constable took some details from the couple and David and asked them to call in at the police station at eight that evening to give a full report.
    “Where’s the body?” Tanner asked, tugging at the chin strap of his helmet. “On second thought, you’d better come along and show us.”
    “The body is at the end of the beach on the rocks near Black Nab. We must hurry. The tide will be in soon.”
    They followed David as the wind increased. Now was the perfect time to do some swimming. He chastised himself for even thinking about it. Several minutes later, he pointed. “The body is just behind that large rock over there.”
    He watched grimly as the two officers approached Eleanor’s body. It was all too difficult to comprehend. He’d taken her photograph with the Tate camera. He didn’t need to take a positive print from the plate to verify the dark blemishes, over her neck, chest, and stomach.
    And now, four days later, she was dead.
     

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Chapter 16
    Wednesday 29 th August 1894
    B ACK AT HIS LODGINGS after his interview with Tanner, David went to the window and drew the curtain open. The silhouette of the pier stood out against the glare of the lamps. Turning his head, he looked into the eerie darkness and Black Nab, where Eleanor’s body was found.
    For David, Whitby had become an ugly place. While Eleanor had done some work with Hood, it didn’t mark her out as a bad person. She was a kind woman who loved her mother and worked hard to earn money to help her cope with the ravages of illness.
    David’s head reeled in shock. He desperately wished he could