Louise Marley

Why Do Fools Fall In Love

Chapter One

Halloween

      WPC Shelby Roberts had never believed in ghosts.  She had never believed in vampires, the Loch Ness Monster or little green men from Mars.  But at midnight on Halloween, in a crumbling four-hundred-year-old house, it was incredibly easy to forget what one didn’t believe in and suddenly think of a whole lot of things in which one did.

    Yew Tree Hall would have given Wes Craven nightmares, decided Shelby, as she paced the master bedroom, cursing the elderly heating system, which rattled like a smoker’s cough behind the ubiquitous oak panelling.  Every time a colleague downstairs clicked a light switch, the whole house dimmed.  And, as an owl swooped amongst the chimneys, screaming like a banshee, the police dogs prowling the gardens began to howl in chorus.

    In dire need of a large brandy and a whole packet of Prozac, Shelby would have felt a lot safer armed with a crucifix and holy water instead of her standard-issue police firearm.  Particularly as, at that very moment, the bedroom door smashed open behind her, accompanied by a rush of frozen air.

     Shelby spun round, swinging her gun up against her shoulder, aiming it into the dark chasm beyond.  “Who the hell is that?”

    Sergeant Rackham stepped out of the shadows and eyed her balefully.  “The technical phrase is, ‘Armed police, stop or I’ll shoot’.”