‘When are you going to tell us what the police wanted you for yesterday – when they interrupted us for the second time in a day?’ Spiteful replaced enigmatic in Neve’s half-smile. She tipped her face up and looked at him through glittering narrowed eyes. ‘I bet you’d have been happy to get away from our discussion in Burford if it had been anyone other than the police tailing you. Are they on to you, Hugh? Or perhaps I should ask what you’ve done this time. Run out of clever ways to cover up for yourself, have you?’
She sounded disturbed, bizarre, but this wasn’t the first time he had thought Neve’s jealousy of and hatred for him came from a kind of craziness. Unlike with Perry, she had never been able to pester Hugh into giving her what she wanted.
‘I no longer discuss my private life with you, Neve. You’re a stranger to me, thank God.’
Perry took two steps toward him. ‘We don’t do this anymore, kiddies,’ he said, and his face was a cold mask. ‘The fighting’s over, remember? We agreed a long time ago that there’s only the business between the three of us. That’s the only reason I’m here. I didn’t want to come – I’m needed at the distillery.’
‘Perry,’ Hugh said, and it cost him too much to keep his voice level. ‘You can still speak after all. Good. You never used to be so quiet, cousin. In fact you were the noisy one.’
‘Right,’ Perry said, smiling slightly, his shoulders dropping a fraction as if he felt the tension passing. ‘If I remember rightly, that housekeeper of your mother’s used to look at you and say, “Still waters run deep”. I got, “Empty vessels make the most noise”.’
‘Violet had a saying for just about every occasion,’ Hugh said. As he drew level, he looked sideways at Perry. ‘She was good to both of us. We had a lucky life growing up.’
‘Yes, we did.’
‘I think I’m going to get sick,’ Neve said. ‘You sound soft, Perry, but then, you were the gentle one, too, weren’t you? And even though I didn’t live in the big house, I saw enough of it. Enough I knew the atmosphere in that place might give me a nose bleed.’
‘I remember Violet finding you a woolen cap with strings and crocheted flowers over the ears when you came without a hat,’ Perry said to her, still smiling. ‘It was the color of Colman’s Mustard. She tied it on and you were as pleased as punch. You must have been about five.’
She glared at her husband. ‘Are we done with memory lane? I probably didn’t have a hat because I didn’t have a mother or anyone else to take care of me. Now, Hugh, all we want from you is a fair hearing. You’re not a completely stupid man when it comes to business. Agree to the sale and you need never see us again … well, perhaps for document signing, but—’
‘You wouldn’t be needed for anything to do with the business, Neve,’ Hugh remarked. ‘Sometimes I think you forget your place.’
‘Over there,’ Perry said, quickening his strides. ‘One of the benches under the trees. I’m tired and we need a little privacy – and less sniping.’
Neve’s face had turned a rare shade of red. She didn’t usually blush. She was angry, and Hugh waited for her next salvo.
‘How’s your dad?’ he asked her. ‘Walter’s a good man. He did his best for you.’ He didn’t add that he did if he wasn’t drunk.
‘I don’t know how you have the nerve to ask,’ Neve said. ‘You made sure he got pushed out of his job even though he was the best master distiller you were ever likely to have.’
He didn’t argue. Neve had been born late in her parents’ lives and her father doted on her, even more so after her mother died, but he never got the hang of staying sober. David Rhys, Hugh’s father, had kept Walter Beath on, but when Hugh had needed, at least for a couple of years after his father’s death, to take over the distillery and learn the business – hands-on – the man’s behavior became insufferable. He had made the hard and unwelcome job Hugh had been forced to do appalling. Hugh had let Walter go.
‘Walter agreed it was time to retire,’ Perry said mildly, as if he’d forgotten Hugh had given the man no choice but to ‘retire’.
‘We’re not here to discuss that,’ Neve said. She reached the bench and sat close to one end.
Perry sat next to her leaving plenty of room for Hugh. Hugh remained standing.
‘This conversation could be a better idea than I’d thought,’ he said. ‘Let’s deal with the issue logically, sensibly. Selling Birnam Bricht to the South African consortium will accomplish what, and for whom?’
‘We are in the drivers’ seat – at the moment,’ Neve said quickly. ‘There will never be a better time to sell. We stand to make the kind of return we could only have dreamed of in your father’s day and if we don’t strike now, the opportunity will never come around again.’
Damn, you are not only a selfish, money-grubbing bitch, you are insulting. You have the gall to assume I’m the malleable dreamer you once knew. ‘Crap,’ he said with feeling. ‘That’s crap and you know it.’
‘Steady on,’ Perry said, his Scots accent growing thicker. He paused, blinking, before adding, ‘There’s no call to speak to Neve that way and I’ll not have it.’
Neve crossed her arms and looked into the distance.
‘Really?’ Hugh said. ‘There will never be a better time to sell? How do either of you know that? How does anyone know that? What’s the hurry, Neve? Are you and Perry having money problems – again – and you need a big infusion of cash?’
‘Sonovabitch!’ Neve shot to her feet. ‘We keep the company running while you flit about down here with the Sassenachs, sucking up and making another fortune out of buying up what they’re too thick to hold on to. And then you accuse us of … You know damn well we’ve put body and soul into Birnam Bricht. You owe us. Now it’s time to pay up and let us follow some of our dreams. It’s not always just about you.’
He considered for long enough to make them restless. The night and early morning of wild rain was finally giving way to a soft day. A pale sun didn’t bring a lot of heat, but it flaked the pond with silver and the diving and flapping ducks were having a great time. Three willow trees behind them dipped and swished in a careless breeze. Hugh closed his eyes and wished he were alone, or more honestly, he wished Perry and Neve were anywhere but sitting on a bench in front of him.
‘Perry’s been running things without you, Hugh,’ Neve said. ‘He hasn’t needed you and he hasn’t complained about shouldering the responsibility. But it’s coming to an end and soon. Look, there’s an easy way out. Come to an agreement with us about your share and we’ll make the decisions without you. That, or for God’s sake, stop dilly-dallying around and let’s sell while the selling’s good.’
‘Have the horses been kind to you these last couple of years, Perry?’ Hugh said. He didn’t like himself for dropping the question like that and wouldn’t have done it if Neve weren’t doing what she always did, trying to make sure that whatever happened she came out smelling like a rose and to hell with anyone else.
Perry gave Hugh a confused look.
‘He doesn’t have time for the races,’ Neve said. Her eyes turned hard and if he’d had any doubt she hated him, it would have dissipated then. ‘You dig at him, but he’s saved your rear end. He’s picked up the pieces you didn’t want to deal with. Why would you not want to sell? Tell me that. You’ll make plenty.’
‘And your interests are entirely altruistic? My, you’re a changed woman.’
‘We’d not see what you would out of the sale,’ she snapped. ‘And even if we do make a goodly sum – we’ll have earned it. You don’t even know a thing about the day-to-day running of the business.’
He laughed, dropped his head back and laughed louder.
‘Shut up, you idiot,’ she said. ‘You could always be such a fool. And this time you can’t laugh your way out of what we want now because you don’t have the upper hand anymore.’
He’d been about to enlighten them about what he knew of the business. They obviously had never considered that he took a de
ep interest and examined every communication from the company solicitors and accountants. He had bided his time deciding when and how he was going to step in and remove acting control from Perry. It would have to happen while making sure that his mother, living in Paris with her sister, wasn’t senselessly shocked. And the faithful employees of the distillery out of jobs with a closed distillery behind them all because Perry and Neve steadily drained assets from the business. Things were far from going under yet and he intended to make sure they didn’t even get close, but the process was going to be tricky.
‘Look,’ Perry said. He stretched his arms along the back of the bench and Hugh realized how thin he’d become. ‘Look, I will never forget how your father and mother took me in after my parents were killed. How could I? But I know Uncle David wanted to provide for me because he told me and the way he left his holdings proved it. I may not have your flair, Hugh, but a solid and knowledgeable plodder can do very well. That’s what I am and I want the best for Birnam Bricht.’
Hugh believed him, but he also knew Neve, as Perry’s heir, would come into his share should anything happen to him. In moments when his fears got away from him, Hugh wondered how hard Neve would find it to bleed Perry’s holdings dry. If Perry’s share became unencumbered, what would Neve be capable of to get her hands on it and leave him. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d left a man when she thought there could be a bigger prize on the horizon.
He smiled at Perry. ‘I know you want the best for the distillery,’ he said. ‘That’s the main reason I’m not comfortable with this proposed acquisition. I think it’s attractive on its face because the money looks huge. I don’t think it’s a fair offer – or I won’t until we’ve given them more time to show us how much they really want us.’
‘No!’ Neve said. ‘No, Hugh. You aren’t in the business in a real sense. You don’t see what goes on. It’s going to get harder to keep up with competition and before we know it, someone else in the running will get this offer and take it. Waiting is too risky.’
Ignoring Neve, Hugh said, ‘Perry, I’m not ready.’ He stuffed his hands in his pockets to conceal curled fingers. Neve’s desperation told him he was right to stand firm. ‘But I’d like you and I to discuss it all further. And I am fully aware of the day-to-day running of the company. I’m aware of everything and it’s probably time for me to take a more active role. No, I’m not moving back to Scotland or usurping your position there, but I hold a considerable majority and I will exercise that. I’ll also exercise my mother’s portion.
‘Please hang in with me. I’m very invested and nothing’s changed. I’ve got to get back to the pub before the mid-morning rush. Can we talk later?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Perry said, and Hugh thought the man was relieved.
‘I didn’t want to do this,’ Neve said, standing up and moving in closer to Hugh. ‘Your business is your business but when it looks like getting in the way of what we need to do, it’s mine, too. I’ve been trying to reach Sonia Quillam. She’s not answering her mobile. She’s not back in London or Paris. And without drawing attention to you I can’t make an all-out effort to find her.
‘The police aren’t saying a lot but we know Percy Quillam was found dead somewhere off Trap Lane above Green Friday. It’s not news to you that Sonia and I keep in touch. After all, we have something in common.’
‘Why do you keep in touch?’ he asked, standing his ground but with a tightening of his scalp. ‘Sonia can’t mean anything to you.’
‘As I said, we have something in common. We were catching up while she was in Paris with Percy and she told me she was coming here to see you. That’s how I found out where to find you, and what you’ve been doing here. She’s been staying at Green Friday but now she’s gone. You had to know she was there. She told me that when you were together in London, short time though it was, you had sex like rabbits. She laughed a lot about that – said you like it rough.’
She wanted him to ask again what she had in common with Sonia and she wanted him – desperately – to get angry. He didn’t do either.
‘I wasn’t going to press this, but who is your accomplice, the person who tipped you off about the police being after you in Burford yesterday?’ This was Neve at her triumphant worst. ‘Where is Sonia, Hugh?’
FIFTEEN
Alex didn’t look any more comfortable than Bill Lamb felt. She hovered in the doorway from a comfortable sitting room into a kitchen where he could see brass pots and pans hanging from a ceiling rack. He had not been in Tony Harrison’s house for a long time and then only briefly. It was the kind of warm, well-furnished home he’d like himself.
Lush gardens came up to the windows on the far side of the kitchen and while Bill looked, Tony Harrison, with Radhika in front of him, came from outside through a sliding glass door. They walked directly into the sitting room and whatever uncertain thing Bill had been feeling about seeing her in this setting ebbed at the sight of Radhika’s smile.
‘Hello, Bill,’ she said. ‘Tony and Alex have a beautiful garden.’
Automatically, he held an arm out to her and she walked into his hug. Over her head he couldn’t miss the smile that passed between Alex and Tony. The time for pretending he and Radhika weren’t seriously involved was completely over. He kissed her forehead.
‘The new house will need a lot of work in the gardens,’ she said. ‘But there will be plenty of time for that.’
‘Yes,’ was all he could think of to say. They had many decisions to make and gardening was way down the list of concerns, at least for him.
Radhika moved away from him and sat on a striped brocade couch. She grew quite still and looked at the floor.
‘Bill got here as quickly as he could,’ Alex said in a rush. ‘I think a lot is starting to break in his case, so he’s been very busy.’
Radhika nodded and gave him another smile. ‘He works so hard.’
‘It took a while for your message to catch up with me,’ he said. ‘The officer who took your call said you want to tell me something, but you wouldn’t say what it was about.’
‘It could be nothing,’ she said. He was struck afresh by what a fragile figure she made even though he knew she detested giving that impression.
‘We should leave you to it,’ Tony said.
‘No!’ Radhika’s sari scarf slipped from her head and her eyes became huge. She blinked rapidly. ‘I think we are all … I would feel better if we sat as friends. Of course, if I must go to the police station to tell it, I understand.’ She started to get up.
‘Sit down, please, Radhika,’ he told her, suppressing a grin. Always proper and willing to do what was right, she could still amuse him with her very serious demeanor. ‘Let’s do what you suggest. I’m beat anyway. It can’t be that serious.’
‘I’ll make tea,’ Alex said. She all but jogged into the kitchen.
Bill took off his jacket and settled into a chair with his feet outstretched. Tony joined Radhika on the couch.
‘I’m probably not supposed to ask,’ Tony said, ‘but there hasn’t been much reported on Percy Quillam. There must have been a post-mortem by now.’
‘Under the circumstances, yes. It doesn’t always happen so quickly unless there’s a question of foul play.’
‘Murder?’ Radhika said. ‘For certain? I did hear suicide mentioned. Such a sad, difficult thing to deal with for his family.’
Bill didn’t remind her that Percy’s only daughter was dead, his only son in a psychiatric prison facility and his wife yet to be located. ‘The pathologist’s findings haven’t been made public yet,’ he said.
‘Mm.’ Tony hiked an ankle onto the opposite knee and looked thoughtful.
‘What does that mean?’ Alex asked, coming in with a tray of mugs. ‘Mm usually means something.’
‘Just having my own thoughts,’ Tony said and again Bill saw a look pass between the two.
They would know soon enough. He was surprised the word wasn’t out already
. ‘Percy Quillam was murdered. It’ll be all over the press at any moment.’
Alex finished passing out tea, set the tray aside without picking up her own mug and stood with her arms folded. ‘How long had he been dead when I found him?’ she asked, and he could see what was on her mind.
‘He’d been there long enough for the killer to be well away.’ He had yet to read the final post-mortem report or speak in greater depth with Molly Lewis – the essential details had been given to him on the phone. ‘But we will know much more later.’ He concentrated on Radhika, wishing they were speaking alone and not understanding why she wanted Tony and Alex with her.
‘You must have contacted people about Percy Quillam,’ Alex said. ‘Do you know where Sonia is yet? There’s talk around the village that she’s now considered a missing person.’
Bill considered how much he could say. ‘We haven’t found Sonia. Percy’s agent – I think you’ll remember Wells Giglio – he’s coming in from Paris. He was expecting Percy to return there.’
‘So, he knew Percy had come back to the UK,’ Alex said. ‘We heard that he was ill in Paris but that must have been made up for convenience.’
‘Perhaps he knew Sonia was here,’ Radhika said, glancing at Bill, as if asking for approval, he decided. ‘He could have come to see her.’
‘Well, possibly.’ She was repeating remarks already made between his team members. Giglio was flying into Gatwick tomorrow. He said he intended to find accommodations near Green Friday, ‘In case Sonia returns,’ he’d said. On the phone, the man sounded as if he were crying.
‘Perhaps we should open our other house,’ Alex said. ‘Lime Tree Lodge. We haven’t started getting it ready to put on the market yet and it looks as if we may need additional comfortable places to put people. They can’t all stay at the Black Dog – even if that was a good idea which it isn’t with you there, Bill – and perhaps someone else from the police.’
Trap Lane Page 13
