She moved over to the couch and placed her hand gently on Miriam’s shoulder. The light touch seemed to help, and Miriam shuddered and gulped down the rest of her tears. She pulled a tissue from her sleeve and wiped her nose.
‘Sorry. That’s the first time I’ve cried for Evelyn. I wanted to, but it hasn’t happened until now, as if I’d used my allotment of tears years ago.’
Lexie took her hand off Miriam’s shoulder but stayed on the couch. ‘I know people say you feel better for crying, but it’s the headache afterwards I hate.’
Miriam gave the merest glimmer of a watery smile and nodded. She looked around the room as if searching for something to say. ‘How are you settling in?’
‘Okay, I guess. I’ve unpacked most of the stuff, but it takes some getting used to.’
‘Nettleford?’
‘Not just that.’ She explained briefly that she’d worked full-time before they moved. She didn’t want to tell this woman more than necessary. Before today Miriam had barely been civil, but perhaps this was a breakthrough.
‘It’s hard moving to new places, never sure whether it’s going to work out, or if you’ll need to move on.’
Lexie felt that Miriam was talking about herself.
They spoke for a few more minutes before Miriam said they must go. ‘Grace, put those dolls back where you got them from. They belong to another little girl.’
‘That’s fine, Tilly’s not the best at putting things away.’
‘No, Grace knows she has to put things back in their proper place.’
Grace didn’t make a word of complaint and took the dolls to Tilly’s room. Lexie picked up a pair of shoes that fell off one of the dolls and followed her.
In Tilly’s bedroom, Grace neatly replaced the dolls from where she’d picked them.
‘Here, Grace, these shoes fell off the doll.’
Grace took the shoes, calm blue eyes surveying Lexie. ‘Thank you.’ She carefully put the shoes on the doll. ‘Now you look pretty. Ready to go out,’ she told the doll.
‘Do you like playing with dolls?’
Grace nodded.
‘You can come over sometime and play dolls with Tilly.’
‘I’ll have to ask Mummy.’
‘Of course.’ Lexie paused. She might as well ask a question. ‘Do you see your daddy much?’
It was like watching a shutter come down over a shop window. Grace’s face became blank.
She’d obviously said the wrong thing, depending on your way of looking at it, but she didn’t want to upset Grace. Lexie turned to go back to Miriam just as Grace spoke again, but she barely recognised the girl’s voice. It was savage and full of rage.
‘Do that again and I’ll kill you.’
Lexie spun round. Grace had a doll in each hand; the dinner-suited Ken doll was obviously meant to have spoken the words. The Barbie in Grace’s left hand pushed him back, plastic face to plastic face. ‘Just you try it.’
Grace stood for a moment, her usually gentle face contorted with rage. Then she put the dolls carefully back into the Barbie car. Once they were properly placed she stood up and walked past Lexie, her expression once again placid.
Nathan was late home that night. Lexie couldn’t relax. She put the children to bed and read Tilly the briefest story she could find.
‘Daddy reads for longer than that,’ said Tilly. ‘And Astrid used to read for ages and ages.’
‘Good for them, but that’s all you’re getting tonight.’
She switched the light off, ignoring the mutterings from under the duvet about how unfair it was when she only had a short story.
Lexie felt as if she were constantly worried now. This was stupid, she was becoming paranoid. The episode with Grace hadn’t helped.
By eight-thirty, she had rung Nathan’s mobile several times, but he hadn’t answered. He might be hurt. If she rang the police and Nathan arrived ten minutes later, she’d look like an overwrought idiot. He’d been this late once or twice but had always given her some indication what time he’d be back.
She rang his mobile twice more before he finally answered. ‘Lex, I’m fine. Got your messages. I’m driving. Be home in ten.’
As soon as she heard the car, she was at the door. The hall light spilled out onto the driveway. Nathan always had good colour, but tonight he looked pale, even in the shadows.
He slumped into a chair in the living room and let out a huge sigh. ‘What a night.’
‘What happened?’
He didn’t begin immediately, and Lexie clamped her mouth shut as she could tell he was thinking through the evening’s events.
‘I worked later than the others. You know we’ve started our first orders. It’s all okay, but there were a few things I wanted to check and I needed quiet to do that.’
Lexie stopped herself from hurrying him through the mundane stuff.
‘A plane came in.’
‘You are on the edge of an airfield.’
‘Yes, but they’re usually light aircraft from the flying club. Remember a while ago, I told you about a private jet landing after most of the businesses were closed.’
Lexie nodded, she kind of remembered. Hadn’t he said it was something to do with rehab and celebrities, or perhaps that was her?
‘Well, it happened again. Same private jet. It taxied over to the far side of the airfield and straight into that fenced-off compound.’
It was beginning to come back to her now. ‘So?’
‘I went to have a look.’
‘What? After you telling me not to interfere with Evelyn and Patrick?’
‘This is different. I like aircraft and I’m interested in a plane coming in and going straight into a hangar. Usually they sit outside for a while.’
‘But you can’t get into the hangar. You said there was a fence all around it, didn’t you?’
‘There is, but I drove around the outside of the airfield and parked further along the road. At that point there are a lot of trees, almost a wood between the road and the airfield. No one would be able to see the car as the sun had set and it was quite shadowy in the woods. I wandered through the trees and over to the fence to have a look.’
‘And was there anything to see?’
‘Not really,’ he admitted.
Lexie let out a sigh and shook her head. ‘Men.’
‘I only took a few minutes locking up the factory and driving round, but when I got to the compound it was empty.’
‘They’d gone?’
‘No, they were still in the hangar. Well, there were lights on inside, and two trucks and some cars parked outside, so I assume they were in there.’ He rested his chin in his hand for a moment, puckering his bottom lip with his thumb and finger.
‘And what else.’
‘I started back towards the car, but then I stopped and waited for a few minutes.’
‘You stood in the middle of the wood in the dark? What on earth for?’ His behaviour was becoming as strange as hers.
‘I don’t know. It was quiet. I needed a couple of minutes’ peace.’ He pulled a face. ‘I wanted to see if anything happened.’ And finally. ‘It felt as if there was someone else in the woods. They were quiet, but all the same there were a few faint noises.’
‘And you waited, even knowing someone was there?’
‘I didn’t know if anyone was there. It just felt like it. It could have been my imagination.’
‘And was it?’
He looked her in the eye. ‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘What the hell happened?’
‘I stood there quietly, listening.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘At some point it changed, it felt as if it was just me, so I started back to the road. The trees are quite thick at that point, and for a couple of minutes I lost my way. You wouldn’t in daylight as the wood is only a few hundred yards deep. I think I must have wandered parallel to the road because I walked for longer than it took me originally. Then I heard some whimpering.’
&nbs
p; ‘Oh my goodness.’ Lexie’s hand went up to her throat.
‘It was a dog. He was lying next to his owner. The man was out cold. I rang for an ambulance and the police turned up as well.’
‘Had he been attacked?’
Nathan screwed up his face as he spoke. ‘There are heaps of tree roots you can trip on and the dog’s lead was tangled around the man’s ankles. He had a huge bump on his head, but that could have been caused by the fall.’
‘Or from someone hitting him with something.’
Nathan nodded.
‘Did you tell the police about the plane and thinking you heard someone?’
‘No, I didn’t. Sure the plane landed, but it might not have anything to do with the old guy. If I’d told them about imagining there was someone else in the woods they’d have laughed at me.’
‘You’ve got a point there. How is the man?’
‘Not good apparently. The cops said if I hadn’t found him he would have been dead by morning, so if it wasn’t an accident then I’ve mucked up someone’s plans.’
‘Do they know who you are?’
‘If you mean the police, yes. But I told them I didn’t want my name mentioned, just to say it was a passer-by helping out. From their manner, I think they assumed I was somewhere I shouldn’t be and I was worried about you finding out.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘If it wasn’t an accident, then I don’t know.’
She wanted to yell at him for interfering in this and yet hadn’t she done the same thing by listening to Patrick? The compound could simply be fenced off because the owner of the jet wanted his movements kept private for personal reasons. Pop stars, actors, famous people, they all wanted a little privacy. This man, who was now in hospital, could have fallen over some tree roots or been tripped up by his dog. It happened. People fell and were okay, while others banged their heads. Fate. Chance. Bad luck.
She wished she could believe it was that innocent.
13
Lexie pulled up the kitchen blind and stared at the sky. It was mostly blue with some harmless looking clouds floating past. She thought of what Nathan had told her the night before. With the promise of a warm summer morning and birds hopping around the garden, she was sure they’d overreacted to what must be an unfortunate accident. Nathan said the woods were eerie at night.
‘Mummy, d’you think we’re real?’ Tilly wandered into the kitchen, still in her nightie.
‘Of course we’re real.’
‘But what if we aren’t? What if we’re people in someone’s dream?’
That was a bit head-spinning first thing in the morning. If someone dreamt about their family, it would definitely be a nightmare. ‘No. I think we’re real.’
‘But how do you know?’
That stumped her for a moment. ‘If you pinch your arm, it hurts, doesn’t it? You can feel it. If you were in a dream you wouldn’t be able to feel it.’
Tilly pinched her arm and considered the pale fading mark she’d made. ‘Hmm, s’pose so. Does that mean I don’t have wings and I can’t fly to school?’
Lexie looked down the back of Tilly’s nightdress. ‘Sorry, but I don’t see any wings sprouting. Now upstairs and get dressed.’
Tilly wandered out of the kitchen, not showing any signs of speed or enthusiasm for the task.
‘Daddy, have you been bad? Did Mummy put you in time out?’
Lexie peered out of the kitchen door. Nathan sat on the stairs, concentrating on his phone. Tilly folded her arms and stared at him. Nathan stood, still engrossed in whatever he was reading.
‘But you can’t get up until Mummy says you can.’ Tilly looked horrified at this wilful breaking of the rules.
‘It’s all right. Daddy hasn’t been naughty, but if you don’t get ready for school that will be a different matter.’
Nathan looked around as if only just aware of the conversation. He followed Lexie into the kitchen. ‘Hey, I’m really sorry, but in all the fuss last night, I forgot to mention that Ross and Sadie are coming down today to look around the factory.’
‘You’re not expecting them to stay here, are you?’
‘No, we’ve hardly settled in, and with the children I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m not sure where they’re staying, but they want us to go out to dinner with them tonight. Do you think you can find someone to babysit? I guess the alternative is to invite them here.’
Lexie raised her eyebrows at Nathan. She knew Nathan’s boss and his wife reasonably well, but she certainly wasn’t going to try and impress them by cooking in the oven from hell. ‘I’ll ask Helen about babysitters.’
Helen’s babysitter couldn’t make it, apparently Friday nights got booked up pretty fast, but Helen said she and Gareth didn’t have any plans and she could look after the girls for them.
‘You’re a lifesaver. Even thinking of trying to get that damn oven to do what I want is enough to induce nightmares, and as Tilly has so very kindly informed you, cooking is not one of my skills.’
Helen said the restaurant was a posh one so Lexie put on one of her favourite dresses, a dark red shimmery material that brought out the copper shades in her hair.
Ross and Sadie were already at the table when Lexie and Nathan arrived. As they sat down, a waiter brought a bottle of Krug to their table.
‘This is by way of a celebration and a thank you to Nathan for all his hard work.’
Lexie was thrilled for Nathan, and although he looked a little embarrassed she could tell he was happy.
‘It’s lovely of you to spend the evening with us,’ said Lexie. She turned to Sadie. ‘Did you enjoy the tour?’
‘I did find it interesting, but I also had an ulterior motive for coming along. We’re going to see the sculpture exhibition at Longcross House tomorrow.’
‘Lexie was there a few days ago,’ said Nathan.
‘What did you think?’ Sadie asked.
‘I was very taken with a couple of the exhibits.’
‘We know the sculptor, Dominique Santos,’ said Sadie. ‘We’re not exactly friends, but we’ve known her for a long time.’
‘I met her briefly at the exhibition,’ said Lexie. ‘Just to say hello.’
Ross joined in the conversation. ‘We’ve got a couple of her paintings. We bought the first one years ago at her original exhibition. You could see she had amazing talent.’ Sadie coughed politely. ‘I should rephrase that. Sadie could see she was talented. We bought another of Dominique’s paintings at her second exhibition.’
Sadie leaned forward. ‘Good thing we bought them back then. We certainly couldn’t afford one now. The two we’ve got are worth a lot more than we originally paid for them.’
Ross grinned at his wife. ‘What Sadie hasn’t told you is that at the first exhibition she wanted to buy a painting called Stargazer: Still Death, but I thought it was too big and too expensive, so we bought a smaller one in the same series called Stargazer: Still Life. One of Dominique’s later works in the larger size was auctioned recently and went for nearly three hundred thousand.’
‘That much!’ Lexie couldn’t stop the exclamation.
‘Still Life,’ said Nathan. ‘Aren’t they paintings of glasses and bowls of fruit?’
‘You’re right,’ said Ross. ‘It is a type of subject matter, but with the one we have Still Life is part of the painting’s name and it’s certainly nothing like a set of glasses.’
‘It’s amazing,’ said Sadie. ‘It just draws you in. When I spoke to Dominique about it, she said the inspiration was reading about the Big Bang and the moment of creation.’
Lexie nodded, trying to look as if she understood all this talk of paintings.
‘What did you think of Dominique?’ asked Sadie.
‘I only spoke to her for a few minutes at the exhibition.’ Lexie wasn’t keen on talking about the other meeting with Dominique, it wasn’t one of her best moments, and she hoped Nathan wouldn’t mention it. ‘She looks very vivacious, but when she talks she comes across as shy. Dif
ferent to what I’d expect from someone famous. I hadn’t heard of her before, but then we’re not really into expensive art. Certainly not until the children grow out of the sticky-fingers-over-everything stage.’
Ross and Sadie laughed. ‘That’s a good point, but at least you know where yours are right at this minute. With teenagers you’re never quite sure.’
Lexie had an idea and started talking about Portal and the effect it had on her. She finished with a sigh and said she wished she’d been able to ask Dominique a little more about it.
‘Why don’t you come with us tomorrow?’ said Sadie. ‘We could drop by your place and pick you up.’
Lexie was aware of Nathan’s stare but kept her gaze away from him. ‘That would be wonderful. As long as you don’t mind, I wouldn’t want to get in the way.’
‘Don’t be silly. As I said we first met Dominique a long time ago, but we’re not close friends or anything like that.’
As they drove home later, Nathan asked what plans she was hatching, angling for an invitation to see Dominique again.
‘No plans. I thought it was a good opportunity to meet Dominique again. I’ll be polite and behave myself.’
Lexie was telling the truth. While she hoped she always behaved herself, she didn’t have any idea why she’d inveigled her way into this invitation. She hoped she might be able to get something out of the conversation, but exactly what, she didn’t know.
She considered driving her car and following Ross and Sadie, but in the end she decided to go with them. It felt more official than trailing along behind.
This time they drove the whole length of the driveway to Longcross House. Lexie almost expected a butler wearing a black suit to announce them, but the double doors were already open. A man rummaged around in the back of a Range Rover parked in front of the house. He straightened as they pulled up.
‘Hello, can I help you?’
‘I’m Ross Moran. This is my wife Sadie and our friend, Lexie. We’re here to see Dominique Santos. She said this would be the easiest place to meet.’
Still Death (A Lexie Wyatt murder mystery Book 1) Page 11
