Still Death (A Lexie Wyatt murder mystery Book 1)

by Shauna Bickley

  ‘As I mentioned on the phone yesterday, I want to change direction and work on some more serious stories. Peter obviously wants me to continue with my usual feature and interviews, but I’m confident the new perspective will work well and at some point I’ll ditch the other stuff.’

  ‘You’ve talked to him about this?’

  ‘In general terms, yes.’

  Lexie kept her face as expressionless as possible. Veronica probably hadn’t mentioned this to Peter Webber in any detail at all and hoped she’d turn up something good to plead her case. Lexie couldn’t fault Veronica’s thinking. It was what she’d do in the same circumstances.

  ‘I’ve got a few ideas about the serious features we can start work on.’ Veronica gestured at a copy of the latest Icon lying on her desk. ‘This sort of thing is easy. I can do it in my sleep. It will take me a while to work towards the real journalist type stories and get Peter to see things my way, but it will happen.’

  ‘What stories did you have in mind?’

  ‘I thought I’d do the first piece on fashion.’

  It took all Lexie’s skill in poker-playing expressions to stop her mouth dropping open and her “couldn’t remember when she’d last plucked them” eyebrows from disappearing into her hairline. Veronica thought fashion was serious journalism!

  ‘What ideas do you have on serious pieces?’ asked Veronica.

  So fashion was Veronica’s only idea. Lexie pursed her lips. ‘I’m assuming Icon’s target audience is professional females, probably aged from thirty to forty-five.’ Lexie glanced at Veronica for confirmation. ‘So the stories need to appeal to that readership.’

  ‘I know that, which is why I’d start with fashion.’

  ‘People are always saying how much the workplace has changed over the past twenty years. The top end of Icon’s readership would have just started working around that time. How about a series centring on changes in the workplace?’

  Lexie noticed Veronica frowning and pushed on with her idea before Veronica could voice any objections. ‘For example, we could start with women’s roles in business and how jobs have changed. When the now forty-somethings started work, jobs for women were mostly secretarial, or teaching, nursing or the air hostess thing. They were in the workplace but didn’t have managerial roles and certainly weren’t included in senior management. With your contacts I’m sure we could interview some female CEOs and senior managers on how they view the changes that have happened in their working life. We could do another piece on what they think needs to happen over the next few years for more equality in senior positions. On a tangent for other features, we could segue into how today’s working woman copes with the stresses of modern life, how a top job might impact on a woman’s relationship in contrast to a male senior manager or CEO, and how they handle a top management role in conjunction with being a wife and mother.’

  Veronica had looked almost excited until Lexie mentioned the mother part. Time to change tack and also soothe Veronica’s ego.

  ‘That’s where your fashion idea would fit brilliantly. The fashion industry now has many more women in important roles, women designing clothes for women. I remember my mother talking about all the designers being male when she was younger.’ Phew, it appeared to placate Veronica. ‘It’s a mine of ideas. Something like this could run over a number of editions. We could do some interviews with women in politics as well, that’s a very emotive subject when talking about the disparity between the sexes.’

  Veronica sat back, her eyes sparkling. She could obviously see herself winning some media or journalist award. ‘There are some excellent ideas there. We’re obviously going to work well together.’ She played with a pen on her desk for a moment. ‘There are some changes happening in the magazine, and it’s likely there’ll be a place for a four-part feature. With these ideas we might be able to hook into that.’

  Lexie decided to tempt her new-found praise. ‘We could also start looking at ideas for other stories.’ She shrugged, as if the idea had just come to her. ‘Wasn’t there something in the news recently about a journalist who killed his mother?’ She took a breath and asked Evelyn to forgive her. ‘And wasn’t he involved in a hit and run. Perhaps we could use that as a starting point and look at news stories of the past where women have been killed or seriously injured by the men in their lives.’

  ‘Not a bad idea. However, we’d need to be careful with the cases we select.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I want to do some serious journalism, but I’m realistic. Beauty sells, celebrity sells. Old women don’t. Caroline, his girlfriend was very striking, some Asian heritage. I agree it’s a good place to begin, but let’s concentrate on the stories that make the news. Beautiful people. Famous people. Preferably the two together. There’s no reason why serious journalism can’t also be popular journalism.’

  Lexie nodded, she’d achieved her aim. She could legitimately do a bit of digging around. Nothing much, she certainly didn’t want anyone to know what she was doing. Nathan’s suppositions were still too clear, but her sense of fairness pushed her to wanting to know a little more. This could be her starting point and cover.

  ‘Once Jed’s got the WM software installed and your email set up, I’ll send you some files to give you an idea of what I want to do.’

  ‘Did I hear my name mentioned?’ Jed stood in the doorway smiling at them.

  ‘Alexandra’s going to be working with me on the serious stories. I’ve been sharing some of my ideas to give her a starting point for research and interviews.’

  ‘Are you using one of Webber Media’s computers?’

  ‘She’ll be using her own laptop,’ interrupted Veronica. ‘At least for the time being. We’ll see how things go to begin with. You can set it up, can’t you, Jed?’

  ‘Sure, not a problem.’ Jed leaned against the doorframe, looking like nothing was ever a problem. ‘Peter’s visiting tomorrow, isn’t he?’

  Veronica flashed him a look. ‘I had a call from him earlier confirming it.’ She turned to Lexie. ‘Actually, it might be a good idea for me to introduce you to him. He likes to keep tabs on who’s working for the magazine.’

  ‘You mean Peter Webber?’

  Veronica nodded. ‘Come over around the same time tomorrow morning, and you can come with me to pick him up.’

  There was an evident note of dismissal in Veronica’s voice, and Lexie picked up her bag. ‘Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  Jed followed her out of the house. ‘Peter’s a bit of a control freak. He has to know everything and everyone. It’s just his way.’

  He sounded as though he was used to making excuses for people, he probably had to do it a lot for Veronica.

  ‘You haven’t worked for a magazine or newspaper before then?’ he asked.

  ‘No, it’ll be a new line of work for me. Veronica said something about you working with computers.’

  ‘I did well before the dot-com crash. Created a couple of companies and sold them and then moved into applications.’ He waved his hands in a self-deprecating way. ‘I got lucky.’

  ‘I’m sure it was a lot more than luck. I’ve worked with enough small companies and entrepreneurs at Raines to know it’s a lot of hard work and sheer determination.’

  Lexie said goodbye to Jed, but as she drove back to Nettleford, something Veronica had said bothered her. Veronica had known Caroline was Patrick’s girlfriend.

  The following morning, Lexie followed the same routine and got the girls through showers and breakfast before she changed her clothes. If she was meeting the big man of Webber Media she might as well look the part. Veronica was always immaculate. Lexie had been like that while working at Raines; she could do it now.

  She pulled on a lemon sleeveless dress and checked herself in the mirror, smart but not over the top. From the wardrobe she selected a light jacket and then rushed out of the bedroom, calling to Tilly to pick up her bag for school. It would definitely be easier once she was jus
t doing the research work from home, although an occasional interview would be interesting.

  When Lexie arrived at Longcross House, Jed was just backing the Range Rover out of the garage.

  ‘Off somewhere exciting?’ asked Lexie.

  Jed got out of the car. ‘Just down to the station. My son Jamie’s been sick and the boarding school thought it would do him good to have a few days at home.’ He lowered his voice, although there was no one else around. ‘Just so you know, Veronica isn’t Jamie’s mother. My wife died when he was a toddler.’

  Lexie nodded, not sure what to say. She’d never seen Veronica as a motherly person, but she fitted the wicked stepmother role.

  Jamie came out of the house and Jed introduced them. Jamie hefted a backpack into the car and smiled.

  ‘By the way, I set up your laptop for you,’ said Jed.

  ‘Thank you, I could probably have done it, but Veronica said you were a whizz.’

  Jed laughed, although the sound was somewhat ironic. ‘Have a good morning. I might see you later, but I’d better be going now or we’ll miss Jamie’s train.’

  Lexie watched as Jed drove off. He and Veronica didn’t seem at all compatible. He was good-looking in his guy-next-door way, and while Veronica was undoubtedly striking, she was a total bitch. Lexie shook her head and walked into the house, calling out to Veronica to let her know she had arrived. No one answered so she went through the formal lounge and into Veronica’s office, but it was empty. She wandered back into the hall and called out again.

  Veronica came down the staircase. ‘Oh good, you’re here. Peter left a while ago so we’d better be on our way.’

  Lexie followed Veronica to the garage, which housed a number of vehicles. Lexie guessed the bright red Mercedes SL550 convertible was Veronica’s. Jed seemed to favour the Range Rover, but there was also a BMW 5 Series saloon and an Audi 6. Lexie contemplated what car she’d buy if money was no object.

  Veronica hadn’t mentioned where they were going, but Lexie couldn’t imagine a media mogul catching the train. They swept around the outskirts of Nettleford and took the bypass, obviously not the railway station. It was only when she saw the sign for Compton Cheyney, she realised they must be going to the airfield. She hadn’t yet seen it, or the new factory where Nathan spent his days. The business park was larger than she’d expected. She should get Nathan to show them around the factory one weekend. Veronica drove towards the far end of the airfield, leaving the business park behind. On Lexie’s right was a wide stretch of trees. The road Nathan had parked on must be hidden behind them.

  The compound appeared in front of them, just as Nathan had described. They were actually going into this mysterious place Nathan kept talking about. It would be fun telling him about this.

  Peter Webber owned a newspaper and several magazines, one of which delighted in salacious gossipy stories, but he guarded his private life jealously. He never appeared in any of the spicy magazine stories, although there were always rumours. She’d solved Nathan’s little puzzle. It was probably Peter Webber coming down, although goodness knows why he’d want to visit Veronica and Jed so mysteriously.

  They came to a halt at the gate in the tall wire fence of the compound. A man opened it for them.

  ‘Are they on time, Connor?’ asked Veronica.

  Connor didn’t bend down to look into the car, but Lexie guessed he nodded. Veronica drove on and parked.

  ‘Does Peter Webber come down here much?’ Lexie asked, as they got out of the car.

  ‘No. Last time was about six months ago. He doesn’t really do the country. Can’t say I blame him.’

  That didn’t fit in with the two recent visits she knew about, but then maybe other people used the compound.

  Connor was tall, at least six feet, dark-haired and clean-shaven. At first glance Lexie thought he had the muscles and build of a nightclub bouncer, but she reassessed that to ex-military.

  Another man appeared from a building attached to the hangar. He covered half the distance between them and the buildings before Connor spoke.

  ‘Have you heard from them yet, Ian?’

  ‘They’re about three minutes away,’ the man replied.

  Lexie’s heart did a peculiar thumpety-bump, and her mouth went dry. She couldn’t see Ian clearly as the sun had just come out from behind a cloud and she wasn’t wearing her sunglasses, but she recognised his voice. He was the man who’d appeared out of the shadows and spoken to her at the fire.

  He turned immediately and went back to the building. Had he recognised her? She rubbed her chest trying to get her heart back to its normal beat and swallowed a couple of times.

  Just then she heard the sound of an aircraft approaching. The Learjet came in smoothly, taxied and within a few minutes made its way into the compound.

  Nobody rushed around taking it into the hangar. The door opened and steps appeared as Veronica walked over and waited a few feet away from the aircraft. Lexie gave herself a mental shake but didn’t stray from the car. She’d let Veronica do the talking.

  Peter Webber wasn’t Lexie’s idea of an impressive businessman, but what she’d seen in London tended to bolster her belief they all thought too much of themselves and enjoyed too many business lunches. Peter Webber fitted the mould exactly. The man who climbed down the steps behind him looked far more impressive. He was dressed in an expensively tailored suit but had the look of someone who could handle himself in a fight. Peter obviously felt the need to surround himself with tall men who had a military background. He must have annoyed a lot of people.

  Lexie forced a smile on her face as Peter, the minder and Veronica came towards the car. Veronica introduced her, and Peter shook her hand briefly, nodded, and got into the front seat of the car. Lexie got into the back of the car next to the minder.

  He caught her glance and introduced himself as Sean. His voice was pitched so she could hear, but not loud enough to interrupt any conversation in the front of the car. However, after a brief moan about something the lawyers had told him that morning, Peter was silent.

  At Longcross House, Veronica parked on the wide gravel area in front of the house. Sean remained outside as they went into Veronica’s office. Peter pulled his laptop out of a computer bag and put it on Veronica’s desk as if it were his own.

  ‘How about a drink, Veronica,’ he said.

  She left to sort out some refreshments and Peter dropped onto the small couch by the window.

  ‘These seats are so uncomfortable.’ He got up and disappeared into the formal lounge. ‘Make sure the coffee’s strong,’ he called out to Veronica.

  Lexie followed him into the other room and looked at one of the paintings until Veronica came back.

  ‘How about we go into that sun lounge,’ said Peter. ‘It’s nicer than here.’

  He appeared very familiar with the house for someone who hadn’t visited for six months.

  Veronica led them to a room at the back of the house, calling out to someone, presumably the housekeeper or cook or whatever title she preferred, that they’d be in the sunroom.

  This was the first place in the house that actually felt like a family room. She guessed Veronica hadn’t got around to redecorating it, or had been prevented from making any changes.

  Most of one wall was French windows leading to a wide veranda. Beyond that were sweeping lawns and a private rose garden. The room was decorated in lemon with splashes of bright blue and gave the sense of being outside.

  They sat on wicker chairs surrounding a coffee table. The soft cushions replicated the room’s colour scheme. Veronica introduced Lexie more formally and talked to Peter about her ideas for changing her direction.

  ‘Roni, I’ve told you before, I’ll let you give this a go but softly softly. Let me see what you come up with before I look at changing the layout, and possibly,’ he emphasised the word, ‘consider whether this can be a regular feature. And it goes without saying you’ll continue to do your usual stuff.’

 
; Veronica nodded. ‘I understand.’

  ‘And don’t forget, no more bloody stuff ups like the photo shoot. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself without consulting me.’

  Lexie studied her fingernails as if they were suddenly the most interesting thing she’d seen all day. What had Veronica stuffed up? Lexie looked at the other woman out of the corner of her eye. Veronica wore far too much make-up to blush, but her lips had tightened. Definitely not something to talk about later.

  Veronica briefly mentioned Lexie’s background with Raines, but Peter did little more than nod to show he was listening. He swiftly moved the conversation to other work topics and people that meant nothing to Lexie. She wondered if there had been any point in meeting him.

  Peter’s phone rang and he glanced at the screen. ‘It’s the lawyers. I need to take this call.’ He picked up the phone and walked out onto the veranda.

  ‘Jed set up your laptop, it’s in my office, but I forgot to ask him to copy those files across. Have you got a flash drive with you?’ Veronica didn’t bother to wait for Lexie to answer. ‘There’s a folder open on my computer, the files are in that. They’re not on the shared drive so you’ll need to copy them. After that you can go. I’ll wait here for Peter to finish his call.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll start doing some research on the women in business idea and let you know what I find in the next few days.’ Lexie glanced outside. Peter strode up and down the lawn, one hand holding the phone, gesticulating vehemently with the other.

  Lexie made her way back to Veronica’s office but had only just pulled her external drive out of her bag when Peter Webber came in.

  ‘What do you mean you haven’t got the documents? I bloody well sent them to you.’

  Lexie hurriedly got out of Veronica’s chair and moved to the side of the desk as Peter pulled his laptop around to face the chair and sat down. ‘Right, are you at your computer? Good. I’ll send the stuff again.’ He swore under his breath.