“Scott ran up the path and jumped over the steps two at a time. He stopped at the heavy wooden door. It was blocked by a rusty chain wrapped loosely around the handles. The chain was fastened by a padlock the size of a massive horseshoe. He pushed the door as far as he could. A child could have squeezed through the opened narrow gap afforded by the chain, but it was too small for Scott. He tried the lock. It snapped open in his hurried hands. Great security. Mind you, who in their right mind would want to break in here? The chain rattled on the stone floor. The door gave in with a creak of complaint. Scott hesitated for a moment and stepped over the threshold. Inside the air was thick with the smell of wet earth. The gloom made him stop.
   ‘Alex!’ the sound of his voice echoed through the darkness.
   Scott blinked several times to adjust his eyes and walked a few steps forward. The top floor formed a platform of a few feet in front of him and circled the perimeter of the crypt leaving a dark gap to the level below. Scott followed the steps down slowly, feeling them out with his feet first. A torch would have been useful here. He remembered looking at one of those pocket ones recently. He should have bought it then.”

Detective Inspector Scott is on a trail of a missing boy. At first it looks like a straightforward case of teenage runaway. But as the story begins to unravel, it makes Scott re-evaluate his personal situation. And with no shortage of suspects can the truth be more horrifying than he could have imagined?