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By Root 338 0

The Sergeant rest his mind back to some of the curious beings he had encountered since he first met the Doctor, as a lowly Corporal. Nothing could be worse than the Cybermen, of course, though the Axons ran them a close second, and as for those plastic Daffodil Men with their great grinning heads..! Benton shuddered in spite of himself and brought his mind back to the job in hand. 'Just as well I don't believe in devils,' he thought wryly, 'or I'd be scared out of my wits.'

The path through the churchyard took him close to the wall of the church. How quiet it was. Surely in the early morning there should be a regular choir of birdsong. Suddenly he stopped. What was that?

Again it came, faintly; so faintly that if the birds had been singing he would surely have missed it.

'Help! Help!'

It could only have come from inside the building. Out of long habit and experience, Benton gave his surroundings a quick glance before making for the nearest door into the church.

Inside the vestry, he stopped. Silence. 'Hello!' he called.

'Help me! Oh, please help me.'

There was no mistaking the source. Benton hurried over to the old oak chest and tried the lid. Locked, of course. 'Hang on! Have you out of there in no time at all!' he said reassuringly, looking around for something to use as a jemmy. Seizing hold of the stand of a broken lectern which as leaning against the wall, he pulled off its wrought-iron base and using all his strength, managed to break open the lock.

Miss Hawthorne looked up at him. Her long ordeal had exhausted her, but her spirit was unbroken. 'And who are you,' she said, 'friend or foe?'

'Friend, I hope, ma'am,' answered Benton , helping her out of the chest.

'A true knight errant. Well, your damsel in distress may be a bit long in the tooth but she's very grateful.'

'Lucky I heard you,' said Benton , starting to untie her.

'It took me hours to work that gag loose—and oh! what a relief it was! Who are you?'

'My name's Benton, Sergeant Benton.'

'A police sergeant?'

'No, Army. And you're Miss Hawthorne, aren't you? I saw you on the telly with that Professor Horner.'

Olive Hawthorne took a deep breath and asked the question she hardly dared to ask. 'And what happened? At midnight , I mean.'

'Nobody seems to know exactly. But the Professor's dead,' and Benton told her everything he knew.

'Poor silly man...' Miss Hawthorne was obviously upset.

'But who shut you in that chest? Stupid thing to do. You might have suffocated.'

'Luckily the lid was by no means a close fit. I think it must have been Mr. Garvin, the verger'

'But why?'

'I have a theory... but come, we mustn't dilly-dally here. It could be dangerous.'

The Sergeant shook his head. 'I wish I knew what was going on. All hell seems to be breaking loose in this place.'

Miss Hawthorne paused at the door. 'You know, Sergeant, you speak more truthfully than you perhaps realise. Come on.' She started to open the door, but immediately held up a warning hand. 'It's Garvin,' she hissed. 'The one who tied me up. He's coming this way..!' Quickly she led the way to the Cavern door and down the steps into the Cavern. 'We can hide down here until he's gone,' she whispered, as she hurried to an alcove near the back of the Cavern. 'Great Heavens!'

'What is it, Miss?'

'The gargoyle. It's gone!'

'What gargoyle?'

'Sssh!!' The vestry door had slammed. 'We didn't close the chest,' Olive Hawthorne breathed into the Sergeant's ear.

They could hear Garvin's footsteps on the stone floor of the vestry. The door of the Cavern opened slowly and Garvin's head appeared. Apparently satisfied, he withdrew and the door closed. After a moment, again the slam of the outer door.

'Phew!' Benton started to move towards the exit.

'No, wait till he's clear.'

But Benton had stopped anyway, his eye caught by the strangely-marked stone let into the floor.

Miss Hawthorne joined him. 'The sign of the Evil One,' she said grimly. 'That proves it. You know who's at the bottom of all this?'

'Who?'

'The Reverend Mr. Magister. Our new Vicar. He's an impostor. I should have realised