4 Camera ... Action ... Murder!

by Faith Mortimer

  His eyes gleamed when he bent his head towards hers. “Were? I still am. I’ve set my heights at deputy chief constable before I retire. I don’t want the ultimate rank. We all need someone to take the aggravation for us from time to time, don’t we?” He gave her a saucy wink. “There’s still plenty of time.” His manner suddenly changed. “So where were we? We have a drowning, and you think it’s possible that the victim died in suspicious circumstances. My sergeant, Barbara Wilkins, attended the body earlier. I’m sure you saw her down at the lake. Unfortunately, she didn’t think to examine the boat more carefully this afternoon because there was no mention of any misdemeanour when she was first on the scene. She’s now rectifying that and is down at the lake right now.”

  “I didn’t hear your car arrive.”

  “No. That’s because we drove in through the other gate, the one near the lake. It’s handy having two entrances. I’ve had a look at the boat, and you’re quite right, it does look like it’s been tampered with. Barbara’s sorting out the fingerprints with the constable, but I doubt if we’ll find any, especially if this is a murder. The culprits will have wiped the boat clean.”

  Diana’s head flew up at his words. Murder! She and Steve had suspected a malicious prank or at worst some criminal act, but the thought of murder was a different thing altogether. Of course, it had passed through her mind fleetingly, but what possible motive could there be in wanting to harm Caroline.

  “Perhaps it’s misadventure,” she suggested in a weak voice.

  “It’s possible. It’s certainly one or the other. Someone may have wanted to warn her, play a nasty trick on her, which, unfortunately, all went wrong. Whatever it is, I like to think the worst first and work back from there. I’ve had dealings with Duncan Macpherson before, and he’s not always as straight as you might like to think. By the way, who was that scruffy little man you were talking to earlier? I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere. And what was he going to deny and let who take the flak? You certainly seem to have stirred things up again, darling girl. I thought marriage might have calmed you down.”

  Diana opened her mouth to argue and immediately closed it again. He was trying to wind her up, and she knew he was laughing inside at her. Some things haven’t changed then. She curled her fingers into the palms of her hands, pressing hard with her nails. Superintendent Lovell was not going to get under her skin this time.

  ***

  Watching Adam Lovell while he worked the crowd in the dining room, Diana recalled what a clever and slick policeman he was. Tall and fair-haired, he towered over the group, his rich, modulated voice explaining what he wanted from everyone. There was no doubt he cut a commanding figure, and Di noticed more than one woman present glance sideways at his handsome, craggy face with interest. She had no doubt which police officer most women would prefer to see out of the two conducting their enquiries. As Adam Lovell escorted the first person he wanted to talk to into the library, Diana’s old friend, Clare Thompson, shot a look at her, gave a thumbs up, and grinned. Smiling back, and knowing how tenacious Clare could be, Di reckoned Adam had a fifty-fifty chance once Clare’s turn in the library came. On second thoughts, make that sixty-forty in Clare’s favour, she corrected.

  Earlier, the accompanying sergeant, Barbara Wilkins, had slipped into the room and shared a quiet word with her boss. Judging by her body language, Di reckoned the police woman found Adam attractive, but there was an attitude about her, suggesting they often had more than just a few cross words. Di smiled ruefully. She knew Adam better than anyone else there. Despite his attractiveness and apparent bonhomie, he could be a devil to work or live with.

  Diana knew too that Adam often struck lucky because he took people by surprise. He didn’t give much of a damn for the niceties of the law. She smiled again. No, that was too grudging an assessment. Adam, like all good cops, made his own luck and wasn’t afraid of pursuing it no matter what unlikely direction it took him in. She realised with a start that she was exactly the same. She always thought no small stone should be left unturned when it came to serious crime.

  “What are you smiling at?” Asked a voice at her side. She turned to find Steve standing next to her. He looked tense and tired, and her heart went out to him. He too must be finding this difficult.

  “Hi, darling. Oh, it’s nothing much. I wonder how long this is all going to take.”

  “They’ve spoken to almost everyone now. Quite a few have gone home, like the outside caterers and the camera crew, since they didn’t arrive until the boats were already in the water. I believe the police want us to stay because we examined the boat beforehand and after the drowning. It doesn’t matter. We were planning on staying anyway. With the group whittled down now, things should progress a lot faster. I suppose they’ve fingerprinted everyone too. If there are greasy prints, they’ll still be on the boat. Water doesn’t remove them, only detergent will. But I expect you know that.”

  Diana nodded in an absent-minded fashion while shifting from one foot to the other. “I suppose they’ll do an autopsy on the body now.”

  “It’s already in hand. Once there are any thoughts of suspicious circumstances, it’s mandatory I believe. Adam said if she’d fallen from the boat and drowned with everyone watching, they wouldn’t necessarily bother, but because we found the boat had been tampered with, then it’s a different matter altogether. But anyway, an autopsy won’t show us anything new, we all saw Caroline drown. Are you all right? You look a bit shell-shocked. Is it because of him?”

  Di turned her gaze back to Steve and nodded. “I never really thought I’d see Adam again. Of course I’d thought about him once we decided to visit here again, but I supposed he might have moved on to another area. He’s done very well for himself, and earlier he told me he wants to be deputy chief constable before retiring. And knowing him, he will. What about you? Have you been civil to each other?”

  Steve laughed. “Of course we have. There’s no animosity between us now—you and he were a long time ago. He knows full well you chose the better man!”

  She giggled, relieved to break the tension which she had felt at first between them. “Fool. I bet he didn’t admit that. Adam is as big an egotist as you are. What did you talk about?”

  “Mostly about Caroline and how she reacted in the boat and why we removed the boat from the water. He didn’t ask anything more personal, if that’s what you mean.” Steve peered at her, and she guessed he wanted to see her reaction.

  She stood up straight from the wall she was leaning against. “No. I didn’t. He asked me much the same things, and I told him we’d seen the boat earlier in the boathouse, but we hadn’t actually touched it. So our fingerprints won’t be on it. Do you honestly think they’ll find anything?”

  Steve shrugged. “It’s difficult to say. Yes, the boat has definitely been tampered with, but by whom and why is for the police to find out. Not you and not me, so don’t you forget it. Come on, let’s see if there’s any food going. It’s getting late and I’m famished. We can also find out who’s staying overnight.”

  Steve discovered Isabelle had organised a substantial buffet, and he piled his plate with cold cuts and savoury pastries. Di eyed his supper and thought that whatever else one thought about Isabelle, she was always the attentive hostess. She helped herself to a small portion and poured a large glass of red wine to go with it. She cast a look around to see who remained. Apart from Duncan and Isabelle, who weren’t in the drawing room at the time, she could see Russell and his son, Sebastian; Clare, Joanna, Patrick, and surprisingly enough, Andrew, the producer from Lodestone. So there aren’t many of us left, she thought. She wondered why the producer hadn’t returned to London with the others and, curious, made up her mind to find out.

  Of course, in addition, there were the regular household staff of cleaners and kitchen workers. Most lived in the neighbouring village, and only the housekeeper was resident that Di knew of. Mrs Doreen Smith had been housekeeper at Havershall House for years, and Di
remembered her back when she and Steve last visited. Diana had seen her briefly that day, and apart from looking older and greyer, she was the same tall, thin dour woman she had been when Diana first met her. She ran the large house like clockwork.

  Di wandered over to a table standing in the corner by the open French windows and pulled a chair up to it. She could eat and watch everyone from where she sat. Toying with her salad, she considered who was there and why any of them—if it was true—would want to cause any harm to a young woman. Firstly, had they wanted to simply cause a fright with a bit of malicious fun, or had they wanted her to be injured or even die? Caroline had hit the water and disappeared within seconds. There had been no struggle as she had gone under water immediately. An autopsy would show she had drowned, that she was alive at the time of submersion and her lungs would be heavy and filled with fluid.

  The big question was, why?

  Looking across the room, she saw Steve was on his way back over to join her when Russell detained him with a question. “Have you got a minute, Steve?” The one-time actor now school teacher, was leaving the drinks table and held a glass of wine in one hand and a large glass of what looked like whisky in the other. He looked jumpy and on edge. He turned and handed the whisky over to Andrew Downs who had joined him. He too looked uneasy. No wonder though, Di thought. Everyone had been interviewed by the police, and even if innocent, there was always that feeling of unease when being questioned. Just being near the police gave some people the heebie-jeebies, and she wondered how many people there had been involved with the law during their lives.

  As Diana and Steve had left the UK and gone to live in Cyprus, she didn’t know anything new about Russell and his private life. When Diana first joined the acting company, Russell, being older, had been most sympathetic to the newcomer and showed his concern by taking a young and sometimes impressionable Di under his wing. She had always felt comfortable in his company despite him being a bit righteous and starchy at times and always insisting on ‘doing the right thing’. That evening, she remembered that when she and Steve met Russell after finding the boat, it was he who insisted on calling in the police. Di therefore thought it highly unlikely that anyone guilty would attract attention to themselves. Steve joined Russell and Andrew, and Di heard Russell introduce Andrew to Steve. She hadn’t realised until then that neither she nor Steve had actually spoken to the producer. Russell, on the other hand, seemed to know him, and the three soon had their heads together and were nattering about some old glamour film star of the forties.

  Patrick was sitting on a corner of one of the settees, looking moody and tetchy. No doubt his rows with Duncan and Isabelle were still fresh and uppermost in his mind. He seemed singly focussed on his play, and Di couldn’t see what reason he had to harm Caroline. She thought back to Caroline’s little speech when describing Patrick. “That old bore! Duncan will be champing at the bit to get away from him. I wonder what grief he’s giving Duncan now. If it isn’t about giving his girlfriend a better part in the film, then it’s usually a whinge about some old play of his…”

  Caroline didn’t seem to give a whit about Patrick or his feelings. Perhaps Golden Girl hadn’t been quite so sunny-natured after all, and Patrick might have been the brunt of her sharp tongue for some time. Could he have got fed up with her and her naughtiness? Had he wanted to teach her a little lesson, which had gone horribly wrong? Again, Diana couldn’t see him doing anything untoward, and Caroline had been right in one respect: Patrick, although pleasant enough, was boring and a bit of an old woman at times. Besides, when would he have found time?

  Then there was Joanna, Patrick’s long-standing love. She was at least forty, unmarried with no children, and although she said she had received plenty of acting roles over the last few years, Diana couldn’t remember any, apart from the commercials. She was always friendly and pleasant, but she had been hankering after a decent part ever since entering the theatre. Here was a younger and prettier Caroline landing a starring role almost immediately…and was it because she slept with the director or because Duncan was doing an old flame a favour? But this is all stereotypical and a huge coincidence, Di thought. Stranger things have happened and misadventure could have occurred through plain, simple envy.

  Di finished her wine and decided to have another glass. She wasn’t driving, and the alcohol was helping her unwind after the day. When she reached the table holding an assortment of drinks, Seb was there helping himself to a glass of large vodka. He looked briefly at her and then looked away, but not before Diana saw the pain reflected in his eyes.

  “Hi,” he mumbled. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine now I’ve had time to calm down and have something to eat and drink.” She paused, wanting to say something but finding it difficult. Perhaps it was better to be straightforward. “It’s funny, isn’t it? You think after seeing something like today, you’ll never want to eat again. But we need nourishment to carry on, to function. How are you? You must feel dreadful having tried to save her.”

  Seb rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. He looked sick and pale. “It was awful. I think it was the most dreadful thing I’ve ever had to do. We—John, the film crew, and I—kept diving down to try and find her. But there was nothing, not a trace. We couldn’t feel a bloody thing. And because it was so dark and murky in the water, we couldn’t see anything either. It was terrible. Just terrible,” he finished in a soft trembling voice and shook his head at the memory. Diana stared at the young man. She couldn’t miss the tears in his eyes. Tentatively, she put a hand on his arm.

  “You knew her, didn’t you? Cared for her. I mean before all this? Do you want to talk to anyone about it? I know there are professional people who can support you. Encourage you through it. It might help you come to terms with everything.”

  Sebastian shook his head, surreptitiously wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “No thanks,” he whispered. “I’ll be all right. It just takes a bit of getting used to. She was so nice and beautiful and full of life. We—” he stopped and Di waited.

  “Yes? You what?” she asked.

  “Nothing. I meant nothing. Excuse me, I need some air.” Sebastian pushed past her abruptly and left the room.

  Di watched the doorway long after his departure. What had he been on the point of saying? What had ‘we’ meant? There was no doubt he was extremely upset and verging on tears. She remembered Sebastian going to Caroline’s assistance when she was frightened and complaining about the boats. He had taken her hand and guided her back to land, putting his arm around her waist when he helped her over the uneven planks. Diana could still hear Caroline’s ringing laughter that afternoon when she and Sebastian flirted with one another, and she remembered thinking they made an attractive couple. Sebastian had shown her the most incredible tenderness during that one brief moment alone. Was that it? Was she right? Were they more to each other than anyone else knew? Well, well. Things are often not what they seem, Di thought.

  Feeling jaded, Diana needed to sit down again and made her way back to her chair. Steve was still talking to Russell and smiled in her direction. Diana yawned, wishing it was over and they could all go to bed. The day had begun early, and she was tired and dispirited. Clare wandered over from the direction of the open doors and planted her ample bottom onto a chair opposite. She was looking rumpled, and her red hair was wet and plastered over her head.

  Di couldn’t help giving a laugh when she saw her and her spirits lifted a little. “What have you been up to? You’re all wet.”

  “God! It’s so hot and airless in here. I went out and stuck my head under the fountain outside.”

  “But you could have simply taken a shower, you nutter!” Di giggled.

  Clare gave a voluptuous shrug, her large breasts jiggling in her soggy and thin strappy blouse. “It seemed a good idea at the time, and your policeman friend appreciated it. You should have seen him look!”

  Di raised her eyebrows at her words. “So, have y
ou pulled yet?”

  Clare threw back her head and gave a rich, throaty laugh. “I’m not sure. But give him time. They all give in in the end. It’s just a small matter of wearing them down, you know.”

  Diana did know. She had been on the receiving end more than once. “Well, the best of luck to you. May the best man win?”

  Clare chuckled. “You don’t mind? I seem to remember you and him—”

  “Good heavens no, that was years and years ago. Seriously, go for it if that’s what you want. Just be careful. Adam can be as…as devious as you!”

  Clare leaned forward and bent nearer the table with a snort of laughter. “Listen honey. I’m fine. I never want another serious relationship, ever. I’m happy to love them, use them, and leave them. It’s all the same to me. That way there’s no heartbreak, either side.”

  Diana stared at her. If only it had been that easy back then. She tossed her head and picked up her glass of wine. “Sure. So, have they finished with you? The police, I mean?”

  Clare nodded. “Yep, I’ll stay the night though, since I’ve had a bit to drink. I arrived quite late yesterday morning, the same time as Johnny and Jessica, our famous film stars. We spent most of the time gossiping together round the pool, except when we met for lunch of course. Afterwards, I chatted to that hunky young Sebastian then took a nap before dinner. I must say there are some good-looking men around here at the moment. There’s been a dearth in my life just lately. Things are certainly looking up. Your own Steve is worth a second look.”