Chapter 2

And just when I thought New York and Miami were spectacular…

Horatio and his three CSIs landed at Heathrow Airport at six in the morning US time. As they trekked out of the plane, weary and hungry from their trip, Horatio was surprised at how much colder it was here in England and made a metal note to thank Eric later for reminding him about bringing jackets…although he felt a little bit like Kenny from South Park.

"So where do we go from here?" asked Wolfe as he blew into his gloved hands. "I'm starving."

"Patience is a virtue, Wolfe," said Eric teasingly. "Maybe we should see about renting a car."

"Do you know how to drive British cars?" Calleigh wondered. "The steering wheel is on the right side instead of left and you drive on the right side of the road." She pulled her white fleece beanie further down to cover her ears. "It bites that Alexx couldn't join us…she'd love this."

Horatio meanwhile was scanning the airport for surely Tamsin told somebody that they were coming. He certainly didn't want to try and drive a British car. At times like these I miss the Hummers; he thought but didn't say it aloud.

"Well I wouldn't drive an English car if you guys paid me," said Wolfe with a smile. "I'd crash us into a telephone poll."

"No need to do that, Mr. Wolfe," said Horatio as he spied a familiar person walking towards them. "Someone is already here."

Tamsin hadn't changed one bit as she embraced Horatio and shook hands with Calleigh, Wolfe, and Eric. She was still slender, petite, and friendly, except she had grown out her short dark-blond hair and had glasses on her blue-blue eyes. She grinned at all of them. "Welcome to Great Britain," she said. "You lot must be starving to death so I'll take you to this great eatery that I know and then we'll be on our way to Scampton village. You can get some rest and then we'll pay a visit to the airbase. Richard has left the gate open for us."

"Sounds good," said Horatio. "Everyone up for that?"

"Oh yeah," said Eric.

Tamsin nodded. "Good. Follow me."

She led them to her car and pulled them in before starting the engine and speeding away from the airport. Horatio, sitting in the passenger's seat watched her drive with keen interest while the other gawked over the scenery that passed by their windows.

While eating such British staples as fish and chips and Shepard's pie, Horatio looked at Tamsin who smiled back at him. "It's good to see you again, Tam," he said. "Thanks for the invite."

"Well, I had to get you out and about somehow now, didn't I?" she returned. After a moment she added, "You look good, Horatio. I see your red hair hasn't changed. I used to be jealous of your hair…if you don't mind me saying so."

Horatio chuckled nervously, hoping that the others didn't hear that remark. But then he remembered his thought from the days' previous and swallowed before asking it. "Tam…was there a reason you invited us to tour RAF Scampton?"

At this she leaned back in her chair and looked at him fretfully and he noticed that she was anxiously swinging her foot. "Actually, there is," she said after a moment of tense silence. "I was wondering, Horatio…do you believe in ghosts? Paranormal, that sort of thing?"

"Tamsin, I'm a police officer and a CSI. You know that my mind exists in one frame and not the other."

"I know, I know. I'm just saying." Tamsin took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "It's just…well, working at the airbase…it's…a bit scary."

That grabbed Horatio's attention. "Scary?" he asked. "Scary how?"

Tamsin didn't say anything. Horatio repeated, "Scary how?"

She took a deep breath and let it out and Horatio was stunned to see that she was shaking. "I think the airbase is haunted," she said. "I know that loads of people have told me that it was reported to be brimming with ghosts in the past…the ghost of Wing Commander Gibson's dog being seen and all that sort of thing. At first I thought they were just stories and I didn't believe any word of them at first but…" She began digging around in her purse for a cigarette and when Horatio saw that move he knew that she must have been really nervous. "…There were times were I thought I was being watched when I knew that I was alone," she continued. "I've heard noises, like someone was opening and closing the doors, and I've heard someone greeting me at one of the control towers whenever I happened to be up there."

"Are you sure that someone isn't just trying to scare you?" Horatio asked.

Tamsin shook her head. "No. No one is allowed to be at the airbase unless they are personnel."

She looked at Horatio desperately and he saw genuine terror in her eyes. "I wonder…do you think it's them? Gibson and the members of the Dambusters coming back to haunt us?" Horatio took her hand and smiled gently at her.

"I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all this, Tam," he said softly. "But we'll be happy to see if someone isn't just pulling pranks."

She sighed and smiled at him again, relief bringing some of the color back into her cheeks. "Thank you, Horatio," she said. "I was so afraid that I was going mad."

While they were waiting for Tamsin in the car Eric leaned over and tapped Horatio on the shoulder. "H, is Miss Shaw OK? She looked a little frazzled during lunch."

"She's fine," said Horatio though he knew she wasn't. "Eric, while we're at Scampton I need you and the others to be on a sharp lookout for anybody trying to pull pranks. There have been some incidents there while Tamsin was working."

"Incidents? Like what?"

"I don't know myself, but it's been enough to convince Tam that the airbase is haunted."

Eric went pale. "Haunted?"

- - - -- - - -- - - -- - - - -- - - -

After catching up on some much-needed sleep the four CSIs once again piled into Tamsin's car and they were off to visit RAF Scampton.

"So who were the Dambusters Miss Shaw?" asked Wolfe over the sound of the car's engine.

"They were an Royal Air Force squadron specially trained to bomb six Nazi dams during WWII," replied Tamsin. "No. 617 Squadron. They've become sort of a national institution here in Britain…everyone knows who they are."

"Were there any folk from the good ol' USA in there?" Wolfe asked.

"There were, indeed. Two of them: Joe McCarthy and Melvyn 'Dinghy' Young."

"What the hell is a dinghy?" laughed Eric.

Tamsin smiled. "A rubber boat," she answered. "Pilots had them in case they needed to bale out over water."

Tamsin drove the car up to a gate and waved to a thin man in a security guard's outfit and he nodded at her and opened the creaking gate. As they drove in, Horatio and the others stared in amazement at the old building.

"Oh my God, look at that," breathed Calleigh.

"I agree with you one hundred percent on that, Calleigh," said Eric. "Wow."

"That's the biggest airbase I'd ever seen," Wolfe pointed out.

Horatio had nothing to say at that moment, and it wasn't just because he was being rude. He'd seen airbases from the Second World War before back in the States but there was something more to RAF Scampton. It felt daunting and somehow intimidating, making every US airbase look very small in his opinion. And there was something else…something in the air that he couldn't explain.

He suppressed a shudder.

They got out of the car and continued to gawk. Tamsin grinned and walked a couple of meters away from the car before turning toward them and holding out her arms.

"Welcome, everyone," she said, "to RAF Scampton."