Ancient Appetites by Oisin McGann Page B

Berto didn't stop at Warburton's?' he asked her.
    'I have no idea where one would find Doctor Warburton's surgery. But Roberto didn't stop anywhere until you assaulted him.'
    Nate sighed, gazing back up the passageway that Berto had taken.
    'There's one other thing,' Daisy added hesitantly. 'He said he came in here to take a look at Marcus's body? But Gerald and Doctor Warburton worked through the night on Marcus; Berto knew that. He was down there this morning after they'd finished the reconstruction process – to discuss the funeral arrangements.
    'Whatever Berto came in here to do, it had nothing to do with Marcus's corpse.'
    Nate nodded.
    'I knew he was lying. All right then, it's one more thing to think about. If you find out anything else, I want to hear about it. I'll see you at dinner. You'd best go back the way you came.'
    Daisy didn't move. Glancing behind her, she gave him a reluctant smile.
    'What?' he asked impatiently.
    'I followed Berto in here,' she explained. 'I don't know the way out. I'm completely lost.'
    For just the briefest moment Nate considered running off and leaving her there, but his conscience got the better of him.
    'Follow me,' he said in a resigned tone.
    It took more than ten minutes to find their way back through the twisting passageways to the wall of animal trophies where Nathaniel had come in. He checked through a spyhole to see that the way was clear and then opened the door. Stepping out, he brushed the dust from his clothes as Daisy negotiated her wide dress through the narrow doorway.
    It wasn't until Nate had closed the door that he looked up to see Daisy put a hand to her mouth, and turned to find Gerald standing, his hands in his pockets, staring at them with his head tilted to one side.
    'I know, I know,' he said, giving them a lecherous smile as he took out his cigarette case. 'There's a perfectly good explanation for this. But you'll excuse me if I prefer to let my imagination run riot.'

IX
SCREAMS IN THE NIGHT

    W ildenstern Hall dominated the horizon south of Dublin. For centuries it had remained one of the largest buildings in the country by expanding with each generation. The thirty-storey tower that now formed the main body of the building had been completed some fifteen years before. From the steel frame that formed its skeleton, rooted deep in the bedrock, to the steam turbines that powered its mechanical lifts, the building was decades ahead of its time.
    Its walls were lined with sculptured terracotta panels and at the top of the tower, arches and flying buttresses supported gothic turrets that jutted into the sky. Gargoyles gazed open-mouthed on the land beneath them, and as the sun set, the bats that nested in the eaves dropped from where they hung to take to the night sky and hunt.
    Wildenstern Hall was a looming, menacing sight for those who lived around it. It had been designed that way. Its rooms and corridors had seen countless dramas and this night they were to witness another. It was not the first time that screams had echoed through the hallways of this house – but it hadn't happened for a while.
    Daisy was sitting up late in her rooms, praying for patience as she waited for Roberto to come in and say goodnight, as he did without fail every evening before they both retired – like all good Christian gentry, she and her husband slept in separate rooms. He had disappeared again and she would not be able to sleep until she knew where he had gone – or at least, until he came back and gave her a half-convincing excuse. It wasn't jealousy so much as fear for his safety – that, and the unbearable thought that he was keeping some terrible secret from her. Well, perhaps there was a little jealousy too, but that was one of the deadly sins and she did her best not to harbour it.
    She heard a screeching cry of pain.
    There came another shriek as she pulled a dressing gown on over her nightdress and hurried out into the hall. Roberto was rushing up the hallway and