JAKE'S PUNISHMENT

Chapter 30 - THE VISITORS

Donald showed the two uniformed policemen into the lounge

''Take a seat gents'' he told them ''can we offer you tea or coffee?''

''No thank you Sir'' one of the officers replied

''How can we help you, officers?'' Lorraine asked them

The second officer smiled at them both ''Mr. and Mrs. Hawksworth correct?''

''Yes that's correct'' replied Donald

''We're here because the parents of Jake Stephens came to the police station to ask us to come and talk to you, they think you may know something about their son's disappearance you see''

Lorraine signed with annoyance ''yes well they came to see us earlier today'' she told the two officers ''my husband and I made it perfectly clear to them that we know nothing about it at all''

''Yes madam, we are aware of that, but Mr. and Mrs. Stephens said that they weren't sure if you were telling the truth or not they said you both seemed agitated''

''yes of course we were agitated!'' Lorraine said, her voice becoming more shrill ''we were confronted by the parents of our son's killer and they came here uninvited, it was a shock and we weren't expecting it''

''It's ok love, calm down and let me do the talking'' Donald said to his wife. He turned to face the officers ''what my wife just said is correct, we were only agitated because it was a shock to come face to face with Jake's parents. You see we are still awfully upset and still trying to come to terms with our loss. The last thing we were ready for was a visit from them''

''I understand Sir but we still have a duty to investigate''

''Of course, well we will help all we can naturally but we just don't know where Jake is I'm afraid. I do feel bad for his parents but we simply can't help them''

''Could we have a look around the property please Sir?'' the officer asked

Donald and Lorraine kept calm ''why do you want to look around?'' Lorraine asked them ''you honestly think we have Jake here?''

''No of course not but we have to check, its part of our job''

''Do you have a warrant?'' Donald asked them

''No but we can return with one if we have to Sir'' the officer told him. The officer then smiled and tried to be jovial about it ''listen Sir between the four of us, no one at the station takes what Mr. and Mrs. Stephens are saying very seriously, we have dealt with so many hysterical parents over the years, crying about a missing son or daughter. We know it's nonsense but we just have to do it so we can tick a box and say we did our jobs you understand? so why not let us have a quick look around and then we can be out of your hair for good? Why bother with a warrant, why the need when we all know it's nonsense?''

''I take your point'' Donald told them ''we have nothing to hide so go ahead and have a look''

Lorraine glanced at her husband wondering how he could be so calm about it. What if they look in the basement she thought to herself

The two officers walked around the house, with Donald and Lorraine. They went upstairs first and started looking in all the upstairs rooms, going through the motions, searching every room but not really making that much of an effort. They grumbled about being hungry and late on their dinner break so Donald offered to make them some food and they said yes. Donald rushed off to the kitchen leaving Lorraine alone with the officers while they searched the rest of the upstairs rooms

Eventually, they finished upstairs and went downstairs. looked in the study, lounge, and dining room, and when they arrived at the kitchen, this was the moment Lorraine was dreading, the moment when they saw the door down to the basement. Even if Donald had had time to move Jake where else in the house could he hide him without them seeing? And anyway, even if the basement was empty when they looked, once they saw the prison cell with the toilet and sink they would surely be suspicious. That room was so obviously designed to be a prison, it even smelt like one. They would know something was going on. This was scary, how could they get out of it?

Donald was sitting at the kitchen table with the officer's food when they got there ''I made you some cheese and pickle sandwiches?'' he told them ''I hope that's alright?''

''Mr. Hawksworth I'd eat anything right now'' one of the officers said, sitting at the table and getting stuck into the food ''I am starving, it's so kind of you to make food for us Sir''

''It was no problem at all gents, my wife and I like to look after guests in our home and we can't send you away on empty stomachs can we?....did you find anything in any of the rooms?''

''Oh no Sir, and we didn't expect to really''

Lorraine looked towards the doorway down to the basement and realized the door was not there anymore, now there was just a bookcase there. She looked at her husband with surprise and he smiled at her and asked the officers if they wanted more tea.

Finally, the two officers left ''thank you so much for the sandwiches and tea Mr. Hawksworth'' they said on the way out ''this will see us through for a few hours now''

''Good night gents'' Donald replied with a cheery smile ''what a pleasure it was to meet you''

''We are so sorry we wasted your time Sir, but we had to investigate to keep Mr. and Mrs. Stephens satisfied''

''I understand and it's no problem at all, I am glad to see you chaps doing your jobs so well''

Donald and Lorraine stood and watched as the officers left and waved them off

''Thank god they left at least, I thought they would never leave '' Lorraine said ''I was so sure they would find the basement. How on earth did that bookcase get there? How did you have the time to put it there before we got down from upstairs and without making a sound too?''

Donald was looking very pleased with himself, the kind of look he had when he got top marks in his school exams and his parents were proud of him and treated him ''I'll show you how I did it'' he said, walking back to the kitchen with Lorraine and pushing a button on the wall

The bookcase started to sink down through the floor until it disappeared and the doorway to Jake's prison was visible again. ''Alex and I built the bookcase under the floorboards, just a quick press of a button, and the bookcase comes out and hides the doorway, then another press, and the bookcase goes back under the floorboards. In the future, if we have visitors who don't know about Jake we can hide the doorway with the bookcase''

Lorraine looked stunned ''Why did you not tell me about this?'' she asked him

''I was waiting until I needed to use it so I could surprise you, I knew this moment would come eventually and I knew how much of a surprise it would be for you''

''I was worried the whole time those officers were here, I didn't know how we could hide this and all the time you knew what to do''

''Yes love, I knew all I had to do was offer to make their food, I just needed a few minutes head start to the kitchen to put the bookcase up''

''I always knew you and Alex were amazing with gadgets but this time you have left me amazed' Lorraine said 'you think of everything and I'm very impressed''