“It wasn’t appropriate that we had an affair while Jane was alive, but we still did.”
Carlotta looked into Charles’s eyes and then put her arms around him.
‘You’re right and I have missed you these past couple of days.”
She reached up and kissed Charles gently. Although he kissed her back, he suddenly started sobbing.
“Charles, come into the sitting room. I’ll get you a brandy. You look like you need one.”
Charles nodded and followed Carlotta, while trying to stop the tears.
Once she had calmed him down and got him his drink, she started speaking.
“Are you finding it tough going darling?”
“It’s not easy. Catherine is supposed to be looking after me, but she keeps crying and I feel so guilty. I’ve tried to comfort her, but end up crying myself. Even though I didn’t love Jane anymore, I am upset that someone could kill her.... and in such a brutal way.”
“But why do you feel guilty, Charles?”
“Because I’m hardly thinking of Jane. All I think about is you.”
Carlotta squeezed his arm gently.
“Oh, have the police spoken to you about Rachel?” she asked
“Rachel?” Charles exclaimed. “No, what’s Rachel got to do with Jane?”
“Nothing, well perhaps something. Calm down and I’ll tell you all about it. It’s nothing to really worry about.”
After Carlotta had told Charles about the slashed tires, he shook his head again.
“Do the police think it’s connected to the murder?” Charles asked. “Do they think that whoever killed Jane slashed Rachel’s tires?”
“I don’t think they know. It seems unlikely to me, but they think it’s a coincidence that the two things happened so closely together.”
“Don’t tell me that the police think you had something to do with it all?”
“They can’t see why I would want to kill Jane, but they did seem to have me as a suspect in Rachel’s case. They think that John put me up to it or I did it on my own accord to pay Rachel back because John is in prison.”
“That’s crazy, you never loved John.”
“No I didn’t, but the police don’t know that.”
“If only you could tell them that you love me.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Carlotta exclaimed. “If they knew that, they'd think I killed Jane to be with you or that you killed your wife to be with me or possibly that we conspired together.”
“I get that. We have to keep our mouths shut.”
“And you need to stay away from here, Charles; otherwise the police will suspect something.”
“I know, but I can’t bear to be without you. How long will it be before we can be open about us?”
“A while. A few months. We have to give it a decent interval.”
Charles stared at Carlotta and nodded sadly.
“Now you have to go, Charles. And don’t take this risk again, for both our sakes.”
Charles got up and walked towards the sitting room door.
“’Wait,” Carlotta exclaimed and rushed towards him. She threw her arms around Charles and brought her lips to his in a passionate kiss.
“Why do I feel I won’t ever be with you again?" Charles asked.
“You will be, darling, when the time’s right.”
Charles tried to smile and then walked towards the front door.
* * *
Chris Hawkins came home for lunch. He didn’t usually leave the office, but today was different; he wanted to surprise his wife.
Going into the sitting room, he saw Carly lying on the settee, a brandy bottle and an empty glass sitting right next to her on their coffee table. For a horrible moment he thought she was dead.
Chris rushed over to Carly, but almost immediately he saw that she was still breathing. He was angry that she had frightened him and he shook her quite harshly. Carly woke up, but looked a little groggy. She tried to sit up, but she fell back down.
“What have you done to yourself?” Chris shouted. “Carly, get up. Have you taken anything?”
He pulled her up so that she was propped up on the settee.
“What have you taken, Carly? Answer me?” Chris demanded.
“Just a few tablets with my brandy. I had a headache.”
“How many tablets?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember,” Carly slurred. “I just wanted to sleep and forget about him.”
“About whom? God, not Charles again. He doesn’t want you and I don’t know why I still do, knowing you’re in love with someone else.”
Chris took his mobile out and rang for an ambulance.
“I rang him up and told him I loved him,” Carly said. ‘However, he said to leave him alone. He said he was grieving for his wife and that I needed to concentrate on my own marriage. He doesn’t want me’
Carly burst into tears and Chris didn’t know what to do. She had slumped back down on the settee. He knew he should try to keep her awake, but for a split second he thought about just leaving her. He could let nature take its’ course. After all, she did take those tablets of her own accord, so she must have wanted to kill herself.
However, for some crazy reason Chris still loved Carly, so he pulled her up and then slapped her face to keep her awake. He decided he’d get her seen to and bring her home safely, but this was it. However much he still cared for her, he would ask her for a divorce. Chris decided that he couldn’t stay with a woman who didn’t love him anymore.
* * *
Diana Rackham sat alone in her kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. Should she tell the police what she knew or should she just leave it? She hadn’t even told her husband, Bert. He wasn’t very good at keeping secrets and she didn’t want the gossip to spread. It was, after all, none of her business and she would hate it if innocent people got into trouble with the police.
Diana had found out about Carlotta and Charles. She could see why Carlotta had been tempted. Charles was a very handsome man, even now that he was in his sixties. He was tall; Diana reckoned he was at least six foot. He had brown hair that was slightly graying, but that looked handsome on a man. A woman with graying hair nearly always looked old. That’s why she regularly went to the hairdresser to have highlights.
Charles had such an engaging smile and his hazel eyes always looked straight at you as if he was really interested in what you were saying. Yes, Charles was an extremely charming man and if she weren’t still so much in love with her own husband, Bert, she would certainly attempt to get Charles interested in her. But she was in love with Bert, even after so many years. It was very unusual these days, but she couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.
No, Diana hadn’t been surprised to discover that Carlotta was having an affair with Charles. They were two extremely good-looking people and you could feel the chemistry between them.
Diana had seen them kissing in a quiet little nook where they thought no one would see them. It was at a party a couple of months previously. The kiss was urgent and filled with passion, as if one of them was going to die and they wouldn’t see each other again.
However, how could they have taken such a risk at a party with Jane in the other room? She could have caught them at any time. After all, Diana had seen them kiss. But poor Jane was oblivious to it all.
Few men were able to resist the striking Carlotta Fox; not that Jane had been ugly, far from it. In fact she had been very pretty when she had been a young dancer. However, age hadn’t been as kind to Jane as it had been to Carlotta. There had been crow’s feet under her eyes and lines drooping from her mouth. Also, Jane had always put off going to the hairdressers and the grey was showing. She looked her age, unlike Carlotta.
One thing Diana couldn’t understand was how Carlotta could have had an affair with Charles and still pretend to be Jane’s best friend. It was cruel and she thought that Carlotta must have a heart of stone.
But what was she going to do with this
information? If she went to the police, both Carlotta and Charles would become immediate suspects and she didn’t think that either of them had killed Jane. They just didn’t seem like murderers to her, or was she being naive? However, they could be falsely arrested because of her and if the police didn’t find the real murderer, one of them, or both, could go to prison for life.
* * *
Percy didn’t know what to do with himself. Jane was gone and he missed her. He had hardly slept since she had died; he kept waking up and thinking about her. He had never loved a woman like he had loved her.
Percy thought back to when he was twenty eight. He used to go and watch Jane dance whenever he could. She was so beautiful; well at least he thought so. Most people didn’t look at her because of Carlotta. Percy didn’t think Carlotta was more attractive than Jane, but she had such a commanding personality that she had men following her everywhere.
Percy had been over the moon when Jane had agreed to go out with him. He had romanced her, doing everything he could to keep her, until finally she agreed to marry him. He was the happiest man in the world, but then came Charles. He was tall, handsome, enigmatic and before he knew it, Charles had swept Jane off her feet and she was lost to him.
Percy couldn’t believe it when Jane came to him six months previously. She had been desperate. She suspected Charles of having an affair; he had been paying her less attention than usual and staying out for hours on end when he should have been at home.
It didn’t take much persuasion for Percy to comfort her; after all he still loved her despite the fact that she had left him. It wasn’t long before they were having an affair.
Percy had never married, always carrying a torch for Jane and now he had her back. He felt that at last he had got his revenge on Charles for stealing the woman he loved. However, why didn’t Jane look him in the eye when they made love? Sometimes he thought she was pretending he was Charles, especially when she closed her eyes. How could she still love that man? He had never been faithful to her; Percy knew of the many affairs he’d had.
No, Jane had loved Charles until her dying breath and he couldn’t take it, it was unbearable. He had wasted his whole life on a woman who cared nothing for him. Percy threw his whisky glass against the wall.
* * *
John Robertson sat quietly in his prison cell. His cellmate had just come in with that day’s paper. John wondered how Jack could always get things that most other prisoners couldn’t lay their hands on. John supposed that he must know the right people. He was a bit afraid of him, but Jack had left him alone thank goodness. He had heard awful stories of what went on in jail, so was relieved that Jack wasn’t bothered about him. Jack was the silent type and he did have respect around the prison. John hadn’t been beaten up or worse and perhaps that was due to Jack.
Jack sat reading the paper. John glanced over and saw the name Oakfield Hall on the back of the page Jack was holding. What was it? He was desperate to know, but Jack wouldn’t ever give him the paper until he had finished reading it. John wished he’d hurry up.
Two hours later, John sat on his bed smiling. He had read the article about Jane’s death at Oakfield Hall.
Yes, Rachel, you’re getting your comeuppance at last. Because of you I’m stuck in here. You are paying for it now. Your hotel is going to go down the drain, with you not far behind.
Chapter 9
Meanwhile, back at Oakfield Hall Rachel hadn’t slept well again. At about seven in the morning she got up, knowing it was going to be a long and tiring day. Looking out of the window, she noticed that there were still reporters in the grounds, albeit not as many as the previous day. She wasn’t particularly keen on the press unless she was doing an arranged interview and she could see a battle coming up. She had to get a tow truck to take her car away and that would mean going outside.
Then Rachel remembered the phone calls from the night before and she shivered. Perhaps she should phone the Chief Inspector and tell him about them. It didn’t cross her mind to tell Josh as well. Taylor was the first person that had come to her mind that morning.
However, Tuesday morning proved to be busy for Rachel and although it kept her mind occupied, she didn’t get round to calling the police. With new guests arriving in the afternoon there was a lot to do around the hotel. Nobody had cancelled yet, although one gentleman had telephoned to make sure they were still open. She guessed he must have read the paper or seen the news.
The tow truck arrived around midday. Rachel had to face a barrage of reporters as she went outside to sort things out with the driver, but in her usual manner she coped well and didn’t give anything away. A few journalists wanted to know what had happened to her car and although she refused to answer, she had a feeling that this information would appear in the papers and would probably be linked to Jane’s murder in some way.
Rachel felt she was at an advantage because she’d had a great deal of experience with the press and knew how to handle them, but most of the other members of staff seemed nervous. Rachel told them that when they had to go out, they should walk quickly and say nothing. André however, loved the attention and Rachel was sure that he had made some comment or other on his way into work. She just hoped he didn’t do her hotel any harm.
Over a late lunch, when Rachel finally decided to sit and relax with Sarah and Steven, both of whom had worked very hard that morning, she decided to open her mail. It had piled up since the previous day, but with so much on her plate, she hadn’t bothered looking at it.
Rachel waded through the advertising circulars and the bills and then she came to a letter. It was typed on the outside and when she opened it, she was shocked and almost burst into tears.
“What is it?” Sarah asked, seeing all the color drain away from Rachel’s face.
“It’s this letter. Somebody really is after me, Sarah.”
Rachel passed the letter over to Sarah and she read it, with Steven looking over her shoulder. The words weren’t hand written, but were cut out of a newspaper.
YOU MAY THINK YOU’RE SAFE, BUT YOU’RE NOT. I’M KEEPING MY EYE ON YOU AND WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, I’M GOING TO GET YOU.
Sarah and Steven both looked at Rachel.
“Whoever wrote this is probably just trying to frighten you,” Steven remarked.
“Well, they’re doing a pretty good job. I’m going to ring the police. I’ve just about had enough.”
With that, Rachel got up and left the kitchen.
* * *
Chief Inspector Taylor read the letter for the second time and then looked sympathetically at Rachel.
“Somebody definitely wants to frighten you, Ms Fisher,” he said. ‘I just don’t know if it’s a prelude to something more or if this is all they want to do.”
“I’m sure that if they wanted to kill you they would have tried by now,” Detective Sergeant Wilson butted in.
Taylor gave her a sharp look. Helen was becoming too opinionated and they weren’t always the right opinions. He decided that he would have a quiet word with her later.
“Unfortunately, I don’t agree with my sergeant, Ms Fisher. I do think you should be on your guard.”
“But what can I do?”
“Try not to be alone as much as possible and report anything suspicious to me as soon as you can.”
“Alright,” Rachel replied.
She shivered a little, remembering some of the things James had done to her. Why was all this happening again? She glanced over at Helen, noticing that she was glaring at her. Rachel wondered what that was all about. Was it because the Chief Inspector had reprimanded her? Perhaps Helen blamed her, though for the life of her she couldn’t imagine why. .
“I’ll keep this letter if you don’t mind, Ms Fisher,” Taylor spoke.
Rachel nodded and suddenly wondered why he had gone back to calling her Ms Fisher and not Rachel. She had done the right thing putting him to the back of her mind. He really was an unpredictable man and yet she still couldn’t h
elp imagining what could have been.
“Ms Fisher, you seem to have drifted off,” Taylor remarked.
“I’m sorry. My mind is in a bit of a whirl. I have so much to do at the moment with the hotel and now all this. I don’t know if I’m coming or going.”
“We’d better leave you in peace then: Please remember what I said. Contact me if anything else happens.”
Taylor got up reluctantly. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he get Rachel Fisher out of his system? He didn’t want to leave her. He didn’t want Helen to be there either. He wanted to be alone with Rachel and to take her in his arms and kiss her until all her problems went away. Instead he got up, shook her hand and left with his sergeant trailing behind him.
Chapter 10
Diana Rackham was sitting in Slough Police Station on the edge of her chair. It wasn’t too late. Chief Inspector Taylor was out and she could still escape without seeing him. However, the officer at the desk would probably tell him that she had been looking for him and he would pay her a visit to ask what she wanted. No, she was wrong, it was too late now. She had to tell him about Charles and Carlotta. It was the right thing to do anyway. One of them could be the murderer and Jane deserved justice. But what if Charles and Carlotta found out it was her who spilled the beans about their affair? Wouldn’t they try to do away with her as well?
Once you kill, they do say it’s easier the second time.
Diana got up. This was far too dangerous. She had to leave.
Unfortunately, just as Diana made her decision, the Chief Inspector and his Sergeant came through the door. There was no escape as Taylor noticed Diana immediately.
‘Mrs. Rackham, have you come to see me?”
Diana knew she’d been cornered and there was no way she could leave now. She had to tell the Chief Inspector what she knew.
“Yes, Chief Inspector. I have some information which may be relevant in Jane Simpson’s case.”
“Really?” Taylor said, sounding surprised. “Well, come this way.”
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