Melody of Murder

by Stella Cameron

  ‘Where did that come from?’ He wasn’t about to discuss his business with Sonia. ‘We have to get back.’

  ‘No, you don’t understand.’

  With finger and thumb he rubbed tired eyes. ‘I don’t care. You’re going to go to the authorities with the truth and then we’ll all see what happens. Elyan will be all right and he’ll take care of you … at least until there’s someone else in your life.’

  ‘You don’t understand.’ Her voice rose until it broke. ‘We can’t let this happen. I want you to help me decide if the best thing to do is to hire someone to get rid of Percy. I know there are lots of people who do those things properly if they’re paid well. And I know how to make enquiries without involving us.’

  ‘That’s madness.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Us? There is no us and never will be again. I’m asking you to get these wild ideas out of your head and do the right thing.’ He didn’t add, ‘for once.’

  ‘It may take a while for the estate to be settled on Elyan, but it will be and then there’ll be nothing else to worry about. We’ll all be set forever. And I think Green Friday is beautiful. We can make it the social center of the Cotswolds. Everyone will come to our parties. And I’ll go back to my music, too.’

  He studied her eyes, looking for signs that she was high on something.

  ‘Haven’t you figured it out yet,’ Sonia said, holding her hands, palms up, toward him. ‘We can’t let anyone know the truth about Elyan. If we do, he won’t inherit.’

  Hugh shook his head, no. ‘I haven’t figured it out. I don’t know what will happen if Percy’s in jail and can’t get his hands on the money from Laura but it’ll be worked through until it goes to Elyan.’

  ‘We’ve got to do this before he does something really stupid and runs away with Annie. He doesn’t think I know what he’s planning, but Meeker did, poor gullible Meeker, and she told me, the way she did with everything.’

  He gave up and stood quiet, letting her run on.

  ‘Hugh, Elyan’s not Percy’s son, but no one has to find that out. Help me keep his future safe.’

  ‘And yours,’ he said under his breath.

  ‘Think about it. Look at him. He’s yours, Hugh, your son and they’re all going to find out if we let them. He’ll lose everything.’

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  The parish hall did not improve with familiarity. Grotty still described the place perfectly, even if Sybil had buried her anxiety about the police and brought in vases of flowers to put around. And there were home-baked flapjacks on a tray covered with fancy paper doilies.

  ‘Your Sybil Davis brought the flowers and the goodies,’ Dan said, indicating the roses on his desk. ‘Nice lady.’

  ‘Yes, she is.’

  ‘I do regret being hard on her, Alex, but old habits die hard.’

  She didn’t respond to that. ‘I came by to see if you could find something out for me.’ Passing a piece of paper across his makeshift desk, she added, ‘Dark blue Land Rover. It would be nice to know who owns it.’

  Tony put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Could be the vehicle that forced her off the road. She’s not at all sure but she did see it and think it was familiar.’

  ‘Thank you, Tony,’ Dan said, in a not particularly pleasant tone. ‘Bishop, follow up this plate, please.’

  A woman arrived at a trot and whisked the number away.

  Alex sat balling a Kleenex in her hands. ‘You have Sebastian in custody.’

  Dan allowed his head to drop forward. ‘Yes. I won’t bother to ask how you know.’

  ‘Thank you. You don’t think Sebastian had anything to do with this, do you?’

  He remained quiet.

  Alex said. ‘Did his wife commit suicide, or was—’

  ‘No, she wasn’t. And yes, she did. He’s still being questioned.’

  ‘Where’s Daisy?’

  Dan was silent so long, she stared at him until he met her eyes. ‘You’re a nice woman. You need hobbies – safe hobbies. You’re neglecting your painting and your first edition collection. Daisy will be fine. A message came in for the two of you. The Misses Burke would like to see you when you have time.’ He pushed a memo sheet to Alex.

  Alex stuffed the paper in her pocket.

  ‘I wonder what you know that I don’t know you know,’ Dan said.

  ‘Remember you made an offhand comment about wondering if there were one or two killers?’ Tony said. ‘Did you decide anything?’

  ‘Sit down,’ Dan said, ‘you’re hurting my neck. Doesn’t seem much point in holding back what I think you’ve already found out but if you make my life any more difficult than it is, you’ll wish you hadn’t. I can put a lot of persons of interest behind bars for a few uncomfortable hours.’

  Tony grinned and pulled at the front of his hair. ‘I think I’ve been warned.’

  ‘This is my own theory, but it’s getting harder to believe one person did both of them. They’re more different than they’re the same. With the exception of … well.’

  ‘The digoxin?’ Alex said and winced, avoiding eye contact with Tony.

  ‘I’m not sure it would be possible to keep anything under wraps in Folly,’ Dan said, but didn’t sound perturbed. ‘And it being mixed with alcohol in both cases – to speed up the result. This will be one of those cases where the pieces fall like dominoes once the first ones are shaken loose.’

  Bishop returned and handed another piece of paper to Dan. ‘I think it’s all there, guv’nor.’

  He mumbled something resembling thanks and stared at what she’d written. He looked up sharply. ‘Where are you staying at the moment, Alex?’

  ‘I’ve been at the Dog,’ she said, puzzled. She thought he already knew.

  He turned to Tony and looked strained when he said, ‘I think it would be a good idea if there was someone around Alex at the moment. Can you stay in the village?’

  ‘I’ll make sure she’s not on her own tonight,’ Tony said, and Alex frowned at him.

  ‘You should know what this is about,’ Dan said, flapping the paper he’d been given. ‘The Land Rover is a rental from Moreton-in-Marsh. A Mr Percy Quillam picked it up on the Wednesday evening of last week, after he arrived on the train from London. He said he needed it for at least a week or so. He gave his London address. Said that was best because he was on vacation here.’

  ‘We do think Elyan Quillam could have been driving it earlier this evening,’ Tony said.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Bogie made his ‘step-step, hop-and-tap, step’ way across the empty bar room. He seemed blissfully happy that his convalescence was taking place at the pub although he got impatient while he waited for his favorite customers to show up.

  He went to stare at the door again, sighed, and tucked himself under the entryway settle. Tony had gone out on a call, taking Katie with him, and neither Hugh nor the detectives had come down yet.

  When Hugh did appear and movement started, Bogie would cheer up. He wasn’t to know how early it was.

  Alex’s eyes felt as if they’d been rolled in fine grit. She had used some generic drops and blinked frequently but what she needed were several nights of uninterrupted and deep sleep – and to stop worrying that someone, maybe her or Tony, could accidentally swallow potential death.

  You had to get an overdose and be susceptible or already weak to suffer real damage, but time also counted and the one defense for that outcome was never to be out of sight of help.

  She was getting paranoid.

  It would do her good to drink bottled water and nothing else for as long as it took to know they were safe. Even the coffee in her mug took on sinister shadows, although she’d made it herself with instant boiling water and coffee granules. But what about other people? Should the entire village be warned?

  That was the job of the police and panic didn’t accomplish a thing.

  Elyan was someone she couldn’t help worrying about. She didn’t believe he had tried to harm her on the hill. Perhaps no one had. T
he driver might not have seen her. Elyan could also be in the killer’s sights.

  Alex pulled out her mobile and entered Elyan’s number, hoping he didn’t leave his phone on when he was sleeping.

  She need not have worried. He answered after two rings. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘It’s Alex. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. Was everything okay last night? Did you make it in without any trouble?’

  ‘Yes, and I’m already practicing like a good boy.’ He was quiet for an instant. ‘But don’t be surprised if you find me working in a London club shortly. A man has to earn his keep.’

  No snappy answer came to mind. ‘Don’t you wake the whole house when you play this early?’

  ‘I’m not sure any of them even notice. I play all the time.’

  Asking questions about the Land Rover was out of the question.

  ‘I was going to call you,’ he said. ‘Do you remember I told you about being interested in the old railway lines? There are lots of disused ones around here.’

  ‘Yes, I do. You sound excited. Does that mean you’ve made a find?’

  ‘I think so. On the computer after I got home last night. I’m going to check it out. I think there’s a railway graveyard a few miles from Moreton-in-Marsh. Sounds as if you might need wilderness gear but I’m going to take a look later this morning. My father rented a Land Rover to take fishing and hunting and I thought I’d borrow it. He’ll never actually go hunting or fishing, of course.’ He laughed. ‘I like driving bigger vehicles and a four-wheel drive could be useful for this.’

  Alex had heard every word he said but stopped thinking when he blithely talked about a Land Rover.

  ‘Would you like to come?’ Elyan said, and when she didn’t answer added, ‘of course you wouldn’t. I used to try dragging poor Laura along on my expeditions. She’d go sometimes. I think she felt sorry for me.’

  She heard him swallow. What a horrible time he’d had, and he was likely to go through a lot more.

  ‘When does Annie come back?’ she asked for something to say. He was a lonely kid. Eighteen, but not very worldly. Being kept away from people his own age added to that problem.

  ‘This afternoon.’ He sounded instantly cheered up. ‘I just want her to get here.’

  ‘I’ll come with you this morning,’ she said and instantly felt rash.

  It was his turn to be very quiet.

  ‘If you still want company?’

  ‘Well … yes, I’d really like that. Okay. How about ten? Where will you be? Where shall I pick you up? At the pub?’

  When would she learn she couldn’t rescue everyone who was unhappy? ‘I’m going to Wilkins’ on Hillop Street about half-nine and I’ll be through there by ten. It’s the dairy. Do you know it? I could wait outside if I get through early. I won’t drive.’

  ‘See you there.’

  She’d heard a definite lift in Elyan’s tone and felt better about trying to cheer him up.

  Sounds came from the restaurant kitchen and she walked back expecting to see Hugh. She hadn’t heard Lily come in but she was there making coffee while the woman who helped with breakfast for the inn turned bacon rashers in a frying pan.

  ‘Mum! When did you get here?’

  ‘You were on the phone so I didn’t interrupt. Our two eager beavers are down for breakfast. I’m glad Mrs Butters is on top of things.’

  ‘Dan and Bill are down already?’ Alex smiled at Mrs Butters who wore a yellow gingham wraparound apron over her clothes.

  ‘They are,’ she said comfortably.

  Alex hurried into the restaurant and found the two men at the isolated table they preferred when they didn’t eat in the snug. ‘I won’t interrupt you for long,’ she told them. ‘The mystery of the Land Rover and Elyan driving it is solved. He came right out and told me his father rented it to go hunting or something. Elyan says that’s never likely to happen but he enjoys borrowing the Land Rover. He wouldn’t have told me that if he’d been driving the vehicle that ran me off.’

  ‘Help is on the way,’ Lily said from behind Alex. ‘Coffee, gentlemen.’ She turned up their mugs, got an extra one from a cart and filled all three. ‘Breakfast will be up shortly.’ Lily glided away on the high-heeled black shoes she favored.

  ‘Join us,’ Dan said.

  ‘I’ve already had a cup.’

  ‘And you don’t need more than one in the morning? I envy you. Please sit and explain how you found out about Elyan.’

  ‘The more I think about what happened to me, the more I think it was an accident and the driver never saw me,’ Alex said. ‘I could only guess at the color anyway and I didn’t see a license plate on the hill. It probably wasn’t the same one.’

  ‘Yes,’ Dan said. ‘How did you happen to be speaking with Elyan, did you say?’

  ‘He’s interested in the old railways,’ Alex said and got ready to fib. ‘So am I, and he called to tell me he tracked down this railway graveyard. You know, one of those places they take old carriages to keep in case they can be sold for parts, or because someone decides to buy one to open a mobile coffee stand at boot sales. You know the sort of thing.’

  ‘I suppose he’s a trainspotter,’ Bill said, straight-faced. ‘I wonder how many numbers he’s got.’

  ‘I doubt he was ever allowed to do things like that,’ Alex said. She sat and put cream in a mug of coffee. ‘He says he likes driving this rented Land Rover because it’s a good off-road vehicle. I think I just made the wrong connections, don’t you … when I saw him in it?’

  ‘Could be,’ Bill said. ‘Might not be.’ He looked at Dan.

  ‘Different subject,’ Dan said. ‘Do you carry a liqueur called Jenever?’

  She thought about it. ‘We do have a bottle but it’s probably a bit old. Good grief, what do you want that for?’

  ‘It was added to the digoxin overdose that killed Laura Quillam. To cover up the taste.’

  ‘Dutch courage,’ Alex said almost under her breath. ‘It’s a spirit, not a liqueur. Old relative of gin and very strong. I understand it has the taste of gin or some say vodka. It couldn’t have come from here but I’ll check just to make sure. Was it … no it couldn’t have been in the tumbler Mrs Meeker …’ Some things were just too hard to say.

  Dan nodded. ‘Sorry to bring that up but we need to check. Laura drank the white one. I’m told they come in all kinds of flavors and they put a lot of odd stuff in it. Like herbs. Strange thing for a young woman to drink early in the morning – especially when she was singing.’

  ‘There was a lot of honey in it,’ Bill added.

  ‘They put a lot of different ingredients in it. There are berry kinds, too. Did she think she was taking something for her throat?’ Alex said. ‘She didn’t sound as if she had a sore throat.’

  ‘Could you check …?’

  ‘Yes, right now.’ Already on her feet, Alex turned back to the men. ‘I can’t remember who, but someone asked for Jenever recently. Hugh might remember who it was.’

  The detectives had left before Hugh showed his face, his puffy, red-eyed, grey face, which he would not even admit looked any different from usual. He recalled finding an almost empty bottle of Jenever when Elyan said Sonia liked it a lot.

  Alex stared at him and felt like sitting down. That’s right, it had been Sonia who had a thing for Jenever.

  ‘What is it?’ Hugh said. ‘You look worried.’

  She thought about it. ‘Nothing. Just a thought I had.’ And it was nothing, just one of those coincidental … She’d been caught out by coincidental things before. ‘Would you let Dan O’Reilly know we do have some Jenever, or a very little bit of it. If he has more questions, don’t hold back. He always has more questions.’

  Hugh turned his head as if he hadn’t heard a word she said and Alex shrugged. ‘I’m going out for a few hours. Elyan’s taking me to a railway graveyard.’ She grinned. ‘I’m broadening my education.’

  He snapped his attention back to her. ‘What?’

  ‘I’m
going out with Elyan Quillam to look at some railway carriages. The old ones are his hobby. In a rash moment I said I’d go with him. I felt sorry for him because he’s been through so much lately and we seem to get along well.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, which made her frown.

  ‘I’m happy to do it.’

  She spent the next hour going over orders with her mother before setting out for the dairy. Some discussions were best had in person. Somehow she wanted a nice way to let them know she loved their products, but not the racket they made early in the morning. Lily had been getting complaints from guests.

  When she got through to Tony, she was only yards from the loading bay at the dairy and leaned against a wall while she talked to him. She told him where she was going, expecting him to have too many questions – which he did. Turning the conversation to the detectives’ questions about Jenever distracted him.

  ‘She didn’t ask for the stuff,’ Tony said. ‘Sonia, that is. It was Elyan who asked.’

  Alex smiled. ‘He asked because Sonia likes it.’ Sonia was the kind of woman men felt a need to defend, even when there was nothing to defend, and evidently Tony felt defensive of her, too.

  ‘I don’t feel good about any of this,’ he said. ‘The potential suspects have become a shorter, tighter, list but I still don’t have it narrowed all the way down. Wells or Sebastian seem the most likely, but which one and why?’

  ‘Or Percy,’ she said. ‘I don’t like saying it. I don’t even know the man but looking at all this from the outside it seems as if he’s the one who wants to control everyone. Or am I missing something?’

  ‘I don’t know. I feel as if I don’t know anything, except I want you here with me. Where are these railway carriages?’

  ‘Near Moreton-in-Marsh. It’s not far. I know we can’t be gone long because he’ll want to be back in time to meet Annie. She’s coming down from London this afternoon. I’ll call you again later.’

  She rang off and went inside to greet Mark Wilkins, the grandson of the original owner of Wilkins Dairy.

  Less than half an hour later she re-emerged into a sunny day under a cloudless sky, just in time to see Elyan’s red and white Mini come along the road that lay behind the High Street buildings and turn onto Hillop Street.