by Adam Melrose
‘Your housekeeper seems nice?’ As soon as she heard the words come out of her mouth, she realised it sounded odder than a silence would have. Calm down, Bella told herself.
Evo looked at her quizzically, but that soon changed to a smile.
‘Yes she is, and luckily happy for me to call her by her first name, rather than the more formal Miss Veresum. That is too much of a mouthful for someone who doesn’t speak Italian.’ The smile vanished as quickly as it had arrived.
The enormous partner’s desk that currently separated them made it truly clear who was in charge, and reminded Bella to keep her wits about her. Unlike Evo’s momentary candour about mundane domestic life, that desk was definitely in keeping with the style and trappings of a billionaire.
Bella realised she was just going to have to commit everything she was about to hear to memory. She tried to remain calm and control her breathing.
‘Right Bella, where do I begin…’
Chapter 21
In the drawing room, Ava moved over to join Max and Matt.
‘Is everything going to be alright do you think? – Does one of us need to make an excuse and go and find them?’
Max shook his head.
‘No need, Bella will be fine. She will be good at pressing him for as much information as he is willing to give without annoying or alerting him. She’s a PA in a fashion house don’t forget. Her job is all about persuading people from a higher pay grade to consistently do what she wants, so she will know when to stop and not press too hard.’
‘Your right Max, of course. I was just worried.’
‘Bella would be delighted that you care Ava. I think she will be fine though. Another drink anyone?’
They all nodded. Max subtly moved his empty glass into wider view of the room whilst talking to Ava and Matt. The butler noticed, and soon their glasses were refilled.
Bruno had made an excuse to head to the loo, and had annoyingly been directed where to go by the butler. He had hoped to be able to have a snoop on his own. Having finished and washed up, he headed back. Entering the hall, he noticed there was no one around. He could hear the voices coming from the drawing room. On his way back he tried various doors, but they were all locked.
That’s a bit odd is it not, he thought to himself. Heading back to the drawing room he passed the open doors to the dining room. It was all set for the evening and the candles were already lit. There was one more set of doors to try; Bruno decided to risk it. He got to the large set of veneered double doors and tried the handle. It opened. He pushed the door open, closing his eyes a little in case the doors emitted a squeak or worse, triggered an alarm. Neither seemed to happen. When the door was open wide enough, Bruno stepped into the room, it was in total darkness. He reached for the wall and to his delight instantly made contact with the light switch panel. He let out a small chuckle to himself; he couldn’t even manage that at home when he knew where the light switches were.
The room was warm and had the same oak panelling smell as the rest of the house. Bruno flicked a couple of switches and the room revealed itself. It was almost as large as the drawing room, but instead of sofas and chairs taking up the majority of the space, there in the centre of the room was a full-sized billiard table. The balls were all laid out waiting for a new frame to be played.
Bruno quickly cast his eye around the room before turning to leave. That was his intention anyway. However he was stopped in his tracks. On the wall to his left was the most stunning oil painting; it was a landscape. Even from where he stood, Bruno could tell it was old. He didn’t know how old; he was not an art expert, but he had seen enough great works in his time in art galleries to recognise something when it was this special.
He wanted to go closer and get a better look, but knew he had better not. There may well be some sort of proximity alarm. With that Bruno took a step back, turned off the lights, quietly closed the door, and headed back to join the others hoping that his extended absence had not been noticed.
Across the hall, Bella had made herself comfortable and got herself as calm as she could be. In recent months, she had spent her every waking moment pushing and pushing for a truth she was convinced was being kept from her. Now that there was a chance to get to this truth, she was not about to blow it by panicking.
Evo sat himself down behind his desk, and lowered his chair so his eye level matched Bella’s; a polite gesture that she appreciated.
‘As I say, where to begin…’
Bella looked him straight in the eye and smiled in order to put him at his ease.
‘Anywhere you choose Evo.’
‘Alright then. Before I begin, I need to ask you to agree to total confidentiality in respect of what I am about to tell you. Not from your friends here tonight – I understand that would be too big of an ask, but from everyone outside this house; please don’t discuss what I am about to tell you with another living soul, ever.’
Bella gave an earnest look.
‘Of course Evo, of course.’
‘Well, I am not sure if you are aware, but I manage a hedge fund based in London.’
‘Chantmarle Capital – Yes I have heard of it; I have certainly read about it.’
‘That’s correct. Well, I am not sure how much you know about the financial world, but currently it is becoming increasingly difficult for hedge funds like ours to keep a competitive advantage. We still have our methods, but some of my people noticed that one of our competitors was always acting on the same information we had gathered. They were always just ahead of us over several different sectors and industries; after a detailed investigation we found – well – we found nothing at all. That told me one thing.’
Bella didn’t mean to, but she had interrupted before she could stop herself.
‘It told you that you had a leak somewhere inside the business, and the failure to find the leak or mole or whatever word is used these days in corporate espionage gave you cause for concern that you were not going to. You realised you would need someone on the outside to find your mole or leak problem.’
Evo sat still for a moment, his mouth slightly open before he composed himself.
‘I could not have put it better myself. What did you say you did for a living?’
Bella laughed, ‘I didn’t.’
Evo continued.
‘Well that is where your husband came in. I used a security consultancy to identify someone to lead the charge so to speak, and after an exhaustive search, I chose your husband.’
Now it was Bella’s turn to sit in silence for a moment. She was learning something new about her beloved husband, and hopefully moving things slowly towards finding out how he really died. Nothing the team had uncovered did anything to persuade Bella that she might be wrong. Her gut had been right all along. There was way more to her husband’s death than misadventure. Bella brought herself back into the room realising Evo was waiting for her to speak. She had missed what he had said, so went with the safe guess of, ‘OK.’
That seemed to work.
‘Because of not knowing who I could trust at the office, Pete was to be based here at Nalebury, but we had a cover story that he ran security for a house I own near Reading.’
‘So that is why Pete was out this way then, he worked from this building.’
Evo looked around the room and nodded, ‘Yes, he was based here. I should mention he did ask if he could tell you the truth once you were married, but I said no. He did want to though.’
‘And – the disused quarry where his body was found, that is yours too?’
‘I am afraid not. I have nothing to do with that.’
‘Oh, so you can’t shed any light on why he was found dead there?’
‘I am really sorry Bella, I cannot. Pete was not even supposed to be here that day. As far as I was aware, he was in London following up a lead.’
Not being able to think of what to ask next, Bella began to panic; silence crept into the room like an asphyxiating gas. Her worry tha
t she was missing a key question to ask grew with every moment, as did the tightening in her chest. She worried that with every second of silence, her chance to interrogate this secretive man was slipping away
In the end Evo spoke first.
‘Look, I am so sorry there is nothing more I can tell you. Pete was my lead investigation on this, helping me orchestrate the best approach to catching the culprits. He was superb at his job. I wish I had more to offer but I don’t. The rest of the details are specific to the hunt for the mole. If I thought for one second any of it was relevant, I would share it with the police, and with you guys. Thing is though, what I am dealing with here is white collar crime. It will most likely turn out to be someone taking some financial kickback for passing on information. That is quite different to murdering someone, not to mention I don’t think it would be worth anyone’s while.’
Bella thought for a moment.
‘Well excuse me for being so blunt Evo, but are you not a billionaire. Are the sums of money involved not at the level where someone might be prepared to kill?’
Evo looked a little taken aback.
‘You have done your homework Bella. On paper – yes – I am a billionaire, but the fraudulent transactions I am talking about are in the hundreds of thousands and maybe single millions, not more than that. Those sums are standard for a hedge fund to deal in, they are not exceptional, so I don’t think the risk ratio is up there for murder.’
Evo stood up.
‘If you don’t have any other questions shall we return to the others?’
Bella also stood up.
‘Of course. I really do appreciate you telling me all this. I know you were under no obligation to do so, and I do thank you very much.’
Evo came close.
‘It is my pleasure, and if there is ever anything I can do for you – please, you only have to ask.’
Bella looked directly into Evo’s eyes. They were kind eyes; there was a good soul in there somewhere, she thought. She gently put her hand on his, ‘Thank you Evo.’
They headed back to the drawing room. Evo walking with Bella, her arm through his like she had seen on so many romantic films. She appreciated the support; she was not used to high heels and the variation of solid, highly polished wooden floors and rugs that were not fixed down.
They stopped in the doorway and everyone swung round to face them.
‘I am sorry everyone for keeping you so long. Shall we go and eat? Please – follow us.’ Evo waved a hand gesture to back-up his sentence.
As Evo turned out of the room, Bella managed to signal a smile to the group. She wanted to show them that all was OK, so they would not be overly concerned with what had gone on in their absence.
They entered the dining room and Bella thought it very definitely a room decorated to a man’s taste. The panelling on the wall was very dark to match the floor. Large tapestries hung on two of the walls. One wall housed the two windows, and only a quartet of small oil paintings of hunting scenes. On the other wall with the fireplace hung three much larger portraits in oil of various smart looking gentlemen. The butler made sure Ava found her seat, whilst Evo showed Bella to her seat on his right at the head of the table. Opposite her, on Evo’s left, was Matt. With everyone being seated, the butler left and closed the doors.
Moments later, Bella placed her clutch bag on the floor after she had sat down. She noticed Evo, who was now also seated pressing a silver button in the floor with his foot. After a minute, the doors opened and the butler walked back in first, followed by three smartly dressed younger men all carrying various dinner related silver trays. Drinks were poured, and the commencement of a very enjoyable meal followed.
The party dined on Gravadlax followed by Rib of Beef and then some insanely delicious cream and fruit pudding. As the two designated drivers for the night, Matt and Max felt they had drawn the short straws when they saw the seriously special New Zealand white wine served with the fish and the 2005 Pomerol that was served with the beef.
The meal passed quickly and was as enjoyable as any meal where you were on your guard and working could be.
They adjourned back to the drawing room afterwards for coffee to finish off the night. Jonathan and the other couple made their good nights and retired for the evening. Ava took her seat as a natural lull in conversations fell across the room. Norton took this opportunity to follow a hunch. Deciding directness might be the best approach, he looked straight at their host who was sitting on the club fender by the fire and began.
‘We were out and about the other day and came across this old, abandoned tunnel which one of the locals said you own; is that correct? And – if so – what are you going to do with it?’
The instant Matt realised what Norton was doing, his mind went into overdrive, and it felt like his heart rate and blood pressure headed far north of what was normal and safe. Norton, what are you playing at? The question rang out loudly in Matt’s head, though to the rest of the room his face registered no change in mood.
As soon as he heard the word tunnel, Matt closely watched Evelyn – who by now had insisted everyone call him Evo, to see any tell-tale signs of being caught out.
‘Nothing… not even a flinch.’
He is either well prepared or has nothing to hide, thought Matt.
Evo looked very relaxed and turned more central to the room, rather than solely towards Ollie, with whom he had been talking.
‘Well, I was hoping to keep my ownership of the tunnel quiet, and I have gone to some considerable lengths to do so, but obviously my big secret is out. Yes – I do indeed own The Nalebury Portal. What do you think of it?’
Bruno who had not said much that evening chipped in.
‘Unbelievable is the word I would choose, perhaps remarkable also if I was pushed to choose two words.’
Evo grinned like a child with a new toy to show off to his mates.
‘Yes, it is a very strange place isn’t it. Pretty remarkable feat of engineering by the looks of things.’
‘What’s with all those stone theatrics on the façade?’ It was Joe’s turn to join the conversation.
‘Truth be told, I’m not sure. All I do know is that it wasn’t always forgotten and abandoned. It was once a major tourist attraction; even Royalty visited. I guess it was to make more of an occasion for those who had travelled so far to see the place. After all, there is nothing to see inside, especially back then when there was no electricity and only lamps to light your way.’
Joe continued, ‘Have you ventured inside?’
‘I have, a little way in. There is a roof collapse, so I have not been further than that. It’s not safe. You guys didn’t go in did you?’ Evo looked around the room.
Matt spoke up before anyone else, ‘No, we didn’t, we just admired the façade and then left.’
Evo gave a short nod.
‘Good, please be careful, it’s an extremely dangerous place, I would rather you stayed away from it to be honest. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.’
Matt decided it was his turn to push a bit more. He wasn’t happy that Norton had started this, but it had provided some information so he thought they might as well keep going.
‘Dangerous – do you mean these Shadow Tides?’ Matt was watching Evo even more closely now; mind you so was everyone else except for Ollie.
Evo’s face straightened a little.
‘No I do not, that is just an old wives’ tale dreamt up by bored villagers and the local press to dramatize some accidental drownings; there is no such thing as a Shadow Tide.’
Ava looked puzzled.
‘But they are referenced in relation to real deaths around The Portal are they not?’
‘They are by locals and the media. In reality all of those deaths were due to drowning, not anything supernatural. That tunnel is just a large hole in the ground that is two miles long and lined with brickwork. There is nothing else to it. It was a crazy thing to attempt when it was built, that is why so many peopl
e died. It was humans just pushing boundaries beyond what was possible, and as a result people died. Of course, that doesn’t make a good story in the pub does it, so it has to grow arms and legs.’
By now Evo was losing some of his sheen.
‘I am sorry, I know you were just asking, but all that sort of talk annoys me. I want to turn it into a tourist attraction, re-open it and run boat trips from this end all the way through to the other side and on for a few miles. It is already going to be a risky venture; I don’t need local gossip putting the project in jeopardy.’
Evo paused to take a drink from his large whisky.
‘Who put you on to this Shadow Tide nonsense anyway?’
‘We met some strange man. He approached us back at the car when we finished our walk back from your tunnel. He started ranting about the Shadow Tide and how the place was possessed and haunted etcetera,’ said Matt.
Evo took another drink from his glass and muttered.
‘For goodness sake – Did this idiot have a name?’
‘Yes, he called himself Alastor.’
Evo gave a single jolted laugh.
‘Oh him… he is a pain in the backside, enough said.’
After that Evo’s mood lifted and they all spent the next twenty minutes making small talk. Matt led the conversation into thanking Evo very much for all his hospitality, but that they should probably be leaving. They said goodbye to Ollie in the drawing room, and then all said thank you and goodnight to Evo on the doorstep. The evening had turned cold, and everyone’s breath was visible, the car windows had condensation on the outside. They walked across to the cars. Halfway, Bella turned back, returned to Evo and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
‘Thank you.’ She whispered before returning to the cars.
Ava lent forward from the back seat, ‘So is Ollie staying there the night then? I didn’t know he knew Evo that well?’
Matt glanced at her in the rear-view mirror, ‘No – neither did I to be honest.’
Before long they were all back in the hotel room. Bella and Ava both kicked off their high heels and flopped on the sofa. Max and Joe got everyone a drink. Everyone had plumped for a tall glass of cold water.
