Page 104 of Murder Most Haunted

‘And you’ve been mine,’ said Bridie, simply. She pointed with a hand that shook slightly. ‘Under the bed.’

Midge sat for a while longer, holding her hand as the pair looked out into the dark night.

Bridie looked up and smiled at her. ‘I hope you aren’t going to handcuff me.’

Midge touched her face, gently. ‘You know I don’t have any.’

‘Do you have a handkerchief, Midge?’ asked Bridie.

Midge reached into her pocket and pulled out the one she had been working on. ‘It’s my latest one, I’ve been waiting to show you,’ she said, unfolding it. ‘It’s a hedgehog.’

Bridie took it. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.

Midge considered this as Bridie pulled the material up to her face and breathed it in, closing her eyes as she inhaled deeply.

‘I love you, Midge,’ she said, clutching the handkerchief.

‘I love you too, Bridie.’

They stared at each other for what seemed for ever until Midge walked to the door, opened it, and said to her wife, ‘Shall we, old girl?’

Bridie smiled, her eyes bright with tears as she reached for the rest of the tube of pills on the bed.

‘You go on and join your friends,’ she whispered. ‘These lights won’t turn themselves out.’

Chapter68

Extract fromThey Do It With Stringspodcast

‘The Tin House’: Finale

[Sound effect: echoing footsteps in a large, empty hall]

Noah:Welcome back, listeners, to the sixth and final instalment ofThey Do It With Strings, where we uncover the last piece of the haunting puzzle that has gripped the nation.

Our investigation into the White Lady of Atherton Moor has led us to the all-important journal of Dr Rawlings. Little did we know that deep inside those leatherbound covers, the clue to the ghost was hidden.

What seemed like a coincidence... a simple feather marking a page, was in fact the last desperate attempt of a haunted physician to rectify a grave and horrific wrongdoing. For this was no ordinary feather. He chose a feather of the brightest yellow, the pride of the canary – famed for its saving of countless lives in the mines.

And this is where the doctor was trying to lead us. Back to the old Atherton tin mines, and a seam deemed unsafe and shut down just after Beth Hallow’s tragic death.

Why?

The answer is simple, dear listeners.

The seam was closed so that no one would ever find the final resting place of Beth Hallow’s baby. Scattered at the bottom ofthe entrance shaft, the bones of Beth Hallow’s child have been hidden from the world for generations.

Could this discovery, made by your own intrepid explorers, mean the end to the hauntings of the White Lady of Atherton Moor?

The only way to know for certain is to keep subscribing toThey Do It With Strings. Remember – keep your curtains closed and your minds open.

Epilogue

A month later

The robin landed on top of the newly polished cemetery stone, its red breast bright against the white snow behind it. A new line had been added to the stone.

HERE TOO LIES THE CHILD OFBETH, BACK IN THE LOVING EMBRACE OF HIS MOTHER.