Doctor Who_ Bad Therapy - Matthew Jones [27]
He opened his mouth to object, but Tilda was already waving the singer over.
‘Would you like to do the honours?’ The Doctor asked, handing Jack a box of matches. Jack struck one as the Doctor pulled a clean white handkerchief from his trouser pocket, and dangled it above the flame until it began to smoulder.
Jack took the hanky from the Doctor as flames spread across it, and quickly let it drop into the wastepaper bin before it could burn his fingers.
Jack felt a surge of relief as the letters and photographs in the wastepaper bin curled and blackened with the heat. For the first time since the blackmailing began he felt safe. No, more than just safe. He felt human again. Powerful and whole. He knew that these feelings were tied up with the Doctor. Jack wouldn’t have dreamt of following the old man if the Doctor hadn’t suggested it. He certainly would never have broken into the blackmailer’s hideout. Not in a million years. Somehow the impossible became possible when the Doctor was around. Or at least the unthinkable became a viable alternative.
Not for the first time Jack thought of asking the Doctor who he was, where he came from. But he dismissed the questions just as quickly as they formed.
The Doctor’s presence in his life felt fragile, as if he might disappear as quickly and as completely as he had arrived. Jack didn’t want to do anything that might push the Doctor away.
The flames started to rise out of the top of the bin. Jack’s eyes watered as the smoke began to fill the small cellar. The Doctor had found the secret room after searching the office above. He’d toured the perimeter of the room tapping the walls lightly until a hollow sound had revealed the existence of a concealed door. Jack had felt a thrill of excitement as he’d entered the passage. The Doctor behaved as if it were the sort of thing he did every day.
The Doctor had made light work of the small commercial safe they’d found in the corner. Letters, envelopes and photographs were neatly stacked and labelled on each of the shelves inside. Jack had been sorely tempted to take a voyeuristic glimpse at a few of the photographs, but the Doctor had quickly emptied the contents of the safe into the wastepaper bin. There was a revolver next to the papers at the back of the safe. Jack had never seen a real gun before. He’d reached out to touch it and had felt the cold metal under his fingers for a second before the Doctor had slapped his hand away.
‘Leave it,’ he’d said, his voice cold and hard.
‘I only wanted to look at it,’ Jack had complained, rubbing his stinging fingers and feeling a little hurt.
‘Looking is one thing,’ the Doctor had chided before wandering off to explore the rest of the room.
44
The Doctor now returned from examining a large glass globe like an outsized crystal ball, which sat on a small table at the other side of the room.
He was tapping his lip lightly with the handle of his umbrella, his other hand gripped his lapel. To Jack, the Doctor looked like a school teacher deep in thought.
‘It’s over,’ Jack whispered to him, as the flames started to shrink back in the metal wastepaper bin, leaving only smouldering ashes. ‘I’m safe.’
‘I wish I could share your certainty, but I rather suspect that the end is further away than we think.’
‘What do you mean? We’ve destroyed all the evidence, haven’t we?’
‘What? Oh, yes. The blackmailer’s hold over you and all their other victims is gone.’ The Doctor nodded, hurriedly. ‘We can talk about this later. We should leave now. There’s no sense in hanging around here waiting to get caught.’
‘Bit late for that, I’m afraid,’ a new voice said, before letting out a high pitched giggle.
A man was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was young, in his early twenties. His face was thin, emphasizing his prominent cheekbones. Large eyes stared unblinkingly at them from below a high forehead. Even in the fading light from the fire, Jack noted that his Brylcreamed hair was fiery red.
A livid wound ran down one cheek. It looked fresh, still smudged with blood.
Jack noticed all of this in