She felt instant anger and rage surge through her body. How dare he demand to know about Alain when obviously, Sarah was certainly not a former anything? This was turning into a nightmare. First, these three fluffy women hijacked them, and now this arrogant shit was trying to take over the whole investigation.
‘Alain and I have been friends for years. I rang him this morning after you disappeared. I told you last night I don’t think it’s right staying in Laurent’s home and searching his library, and I think Alain may be able to help. As I said, he’s a professional genealogist.’ She looked at Gabe directly and raised her eyebrows.
He pursed his lips thoughtfully and turned, as Josephine said soothingly, ‘We may have made the wrong assumption’, she looked at Mette and Marina in turn, ‘and we seemed to have stepped into something that perhaps we will not like.’ She turned to Gabriel. ‘We may have misunderstood Meredith, as she was uncharacteristically vague. She talked about George, a couple of books, and an old scandal, and the fact that you two were on your way here.’
Mete interrupted, ‘She asked us to keep an eye on you both. We jumped to the conclusion that a romance was developing.’
Gabe snorted in derision. Bede scowled at him.
Mete continued calmly, ‘We assumed that George was causing trouble between you, it’s what he does. We jumped to all sorts of wrong conclusions, I can see that now.’
‘Yes, you’ve assumed too much, and all of it completely wrong.’ Gabriel frowned at Bede, who scowled back at him. ‘George has nothing to do with why we’re here.’
The three women sat is rapt silence, while he and Bede explained why they had come. Marina finally spoke, ‘Well, that’s all very well, but Meredith did indicate you might be here because of James’s death, and we all’, she indicated the other two women sitting quietly by her side, ‘feel absolutely dreadful that no one went to the funeral. We weren’t even notified of the dreadful event until it was too late to do anything constructive, let alone fly out there.’
Gabriel was still frowning, but seeming a little more relaxed. ‘I understand all that, but I would just ask you to trust me with this, knowing I would never do anything to hurt Laurent.’
As one, the three women stood. ‘Lunch, I think, then back to the house. Marina knows where all the archives are kept. Mette and I will take Laurent out for an early dinner tonight, how does that fit?’
Gabriel crossed the room, kissed Josephine on the cheek. ‘Thank you for being just as intelligent as always, let’s eat.’
Later that evening in the library again, this time with Marina helping, Gabriel was translating the French aloud. He turned to Bede, ‘This confirms the letters, Bede, but I still don’t see it as a reason for murder. It was so long ago, and as you so rightly suspected, it would take a genealogist to work out who should be the patriarch if not Laurent. It’s time we talked to him.’
Marina turned to them both. ‘You found this information in an antique book in James’s library, Gabriel, there has never been even a whisper in the family before today. Are you suggesting a sort of take-over bid, and how would James have been involved?’ she demanded.
‘That’s what I don’t know, or even if it has any bearing on James’s murder. We’re scrabbling about in the dark here.’
Bede pulled her phone out of her pocket and took photos of the relevant pages. ‘I’m sending these to Alain now. I filled him in this morning, so he’ll be expecting something.’ She grinned at Gabriel. ‘I’ll remind him to be extremely discreet.’
Gabriel was now sprawled in the comfortable armchair beside the fireplace. His long legs straight out in front of him. He looked pensively up at Bede. ‘We need to talk to Martin and Hera, see if they have any information about anyone acting strangely, and we are going to have to talk to Laurent about all of this. I think we need a few more facts before stirring up a hornet’s nest.’ He looked tired suddenly, his eyes heavy lidded with dark circles. ‘Laurent is a scholar, not a murderer. He’s not even particularly ambitious, and never has been.’
Marina stood suddenly. She paced across the room, then back again. ‘You know, Gabe, you’re right. This just doesn’t make any sense.’ She looked at Bede. ‘Send that message and give your friend all the facts as we know them, but make sure he’s discreet.’ She was very pale, and her face was drawn.
Bede glanced from one to the other, ‘Alain is a professional, he’s always discreet. I thought we might need some professional help at some point, which is why I called him in the first place. But I’ll emphasise that discretion is needed.’
Marina suddenly rose from her chair. ‘I heard the car. They’re back, I think we should finish in here and wait for your friend’s report, Bede.’ She hurried from the room.
Gabriel, still sprawled in the chair, looked up across and Bede. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you had spent a year in Europe and months in Paris?’ He thought for a few moments then continued slowly, ‘To say nothing of a triple black belt in tae kwon do.’
Bede grinned at him. ‘It never occurred to me to be honest. It wasn’t until you started treating me like a halfwit that I got angry, and blurted out all that stuff to your mother and the aunts. I suppose you now expect me to apologise or something?’
Gabriel grinned. ‘No, I was thinking you might appreciate a training session with me downstairs. There’s a fully-equipped gym set up in the basement. This racing between hemispheres has played havoc with me. I need an hour of decent exercise.’
Bede grinned back. ‘Love to. Shall we go? It’s not even midnight.’ She surged to her feet.
Chapter Eighteen
Back at the Homestead
Hera was sitting at the breakfast table, looking pensively out of the window. In the last three days, she and Martin, with Meredith’s help, had entertained most of their nearest neighbours. They had decided that was the easiest way to start asking questions.
Martin has been presented as a long lost ‘cousin’, to be introduced to everyone in the area. Meredith had carefully selected the individuals to be invited to lunch at the sailing club, dinner at home, and finally a huge BBQ for the staff, and a general invitation to anyone who would like to attend. Of course, everyone who could, did any excuse for a booze-up on the weekend.
The weather was perfect, not too excruciatingly hot with a cool breeze. Martin had performed brilliantly. He had asked leading questions with a subtlety she admired, but there had been no surprises. He had introduced James’s death in a way to inspire sympathy. He had looked forward to meeting him, but had left it too late, etcetera. It had been a perfect ploy, everyone had been sympathetic, and willing to talk about James and that ‘dreadful day’, but there were no surprises. Nothing to add to what they already knew, there had been no stranger anywhere in the district, no strange cars seen at the sailing club or in the area at all.
Hera felt heaviness in the pit of her stomach. It confirmed what they all suspected. Someone he knew well, or at least someone who was no stranger to the district, had killed James. At that moment, Martin wandered into the room and helped himself to scrambled eggs, sausages, toast, and coffee before he sat down opposite her.
‘Well’, he said softly, ‘I think we can assume that unbeknown to either Gabriel or myself, someone from the Family has been keeping an eye on James for a very long time. There have been no new comers to the area for the last two years, is that right?’
‘Yes’, Hera frowned, ‘what do you mean unbeknown to you and Gabriel?’
‘Well, I think, in the interests of future relationships, you should know a few facts. Gabriel and I are, for want of a better word, fixers. I’m sure Meredith has told you about the structure of the Family. Justin has been a fixer for years since before my parents were married. It’s how he knew how my mother and father were feeling about each other, and seriously talking marriage. Part of our job description, if you like, is to know what all the disparate member
s of the family are doing. We have a fairly comprehensive network of informers set up all over the world, and they report to either Gabe or me every day by e-mail, SMS, or if it needs to be dealt with immediately, by phone.’ He paused, then continued, ‘Hence, the sat phones.’ He held up his hand to stop Hera’s interruption. ‘Now, the most salient facts are, given what we’ve learned or rather not learned, your family has obviously been under observation for at least two years, and not officially.’
‘But you just said Justin is a fixer.’
‘I said he was. He hasn’t been for about five years now, certainly not officially.’ Martin put down his knife and fork, and looked across the table at Hera. ‘Justin was relieved of his position when he turned sixty as a sort of retirement, but unofficially mostly because he had been making deals with some questionable people. No one wanted to make too much of a fuss if you like.’
‘Well, you’ve certainly been discreet. What you’re saying is that Justin is not to be trusted. If that’s the case, what was the thing about you and Gabriel chasing around Prague after him and some bloody book?’ She looked closely at him. ‘And if you have been keeping track of everyone in the family, surely you’ve been keeping track of us as well.’ She was furious and felt as if she wanted to push his face into the scrambled eggs on his plate.
‘Hera, I can see you’re upset. In fact, your cheeks are very red and your eyes are spitting sparks, I think I need to take the knives away from the table.’ He grinned at her then continued, ‘I’m sorry, but you do look very cross. I’ll explain, no, we didn’t keep tabs on your family because James kept us up to date. He made sure we knew mostly everything relevant here. Although we didn’t know Bede had spent a year in Europe in her gap year.’ He was very thoughtful. ‘James was obviously circumspect with some of his information.’
‘How did you know about that?’
‘I talked to Gabe, and I didn’t know about the triple black belt either. She must be pretty good.’
Hera settled back in her chair and grinned at him. ‘Well, should I tell you about my gap year as well, and my single black belt?’ Hera was now feeling more relaxed. She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly.
‘Shit, I asked for that, I suppose. You obviously spent it in Europe getting into trouble and having a wonderful time?’
‘Yes, of course, Bede came over for some of it. And yes, we did have a great time. James wanted us to learn how to be completely independent. I suspect that’s why he never did tell us much about the family. I don’t think he trusted everyone or maybe anyone.’ She looked thoughtful now.
‘No, he liked and trusted Gabe. I didn’t see as much of him as Gabe, but they always caught up when he was in Europe or the UK. In fact, he and Gabriel spent a lot of time together and have a couple of business arrangements together.’
Hera was silently fuming. She would have to speak to Bede. Had Gabriel told her any of this? She smiled sweetly across at Martin. ‘He didn’t mention any of that. He certainly didn’t say anything to Meredith. I know he was secretive, and he probably thought that keeping us in the dark was keeping us safe. But there is a part of me that would like to strangle him.’
Martin looked at her and wondered about the girl. She was young, early twenties, but obviously James’s daughter. She was as stubborn and determined as Bede.
He had spoken to Gabriel earlier, learned what they had found, and probably confirmed by now what they suspected. But did any of that have anything to do with James’s death? He suspected, as did Gabe, that it didn’t.
They would have to wait for Bede’s friend’s official report. But in the meantime, they really needed to find the mole here at the property. He turned back to Hera. ‘I suspect the spy has been in residence here at the farm, or very near for several years. How well do you know your employees? We need information on everyone employed here. We need to look at when each and every one of them started and to check their references. Can we do that now?’
Hera sighed. She suddenly felt ill, her stomach was churning, and she pushed her plate away. ‘Yes, of course, we keep the records in the office. We can go there now. Most of our employees have been with us for at least two years and some of them much longer. The aboriginal workers are all part of the same community and have lived on the property for generations. In fact, they were here first. I don’t think they would be a party to anything to hurt James. They’re friends more than employees, and totally loyal.’ She felt like snarling. ‘For a start, when would they have been approached and to do what? They would have told James immediately if anyone started asking questions, or suggesting anything for that matter.’
‘I tend to agree with you. Having observed them at the BBQ. But it might be a good idea to talk to them quietly, see if they’ve observed anything that has puzzled them in the past. In fact, anything that has puzzled them over the last few years.’ He paused, looking out the window as if thinking, then turned back. ‘Particularly over the past six months, can we do that discretely?’
Hera looked thoughtful for a few minutes. ‘Of course, that’s not a problem we can go tomorrow, to look at some of the artwork and the craft stuff they produce. While you look around and buy something, I’ll go talk to one of the elders. We’ll need to take the truck, I think, to make it look as if I’m doing the tourist thing for my distant cousin.’
‘Tell me about the art centre we’re going to. Where is it in relation to this property, and why do I have to buy some artwork?’ He continued to eat slowly.
‘It’s about thirty kilometres north of here, and you’ll love the artwork. Some of the young people work with us at different times. They stay here when we need extra hands. The centre is 100 per cent indigenous owned and run by the community. It’s an incorporated, not for profit organisation, managed by an executive committee, mostly the senior people. It’s a fairly small group, but they’re totally dedicated to their art. There is some support from the local council of course, and a small amount from the state government, but they’re working hard toward being totally self-sustaining. We try to help in any way we can. For instance, if someone from overseas buys a really large canvas or two or three, we package them up safely and include them with one of our shipments, either down to Perth, and even overseas if it’s called for. There are quite a few overseas visitors from time to time around here, staying at the sailing club mostly. Just wait till you see the paintings, you’ll just love them.’ Hera, smiling at remembered delights, reached across and patted his hand.
Martin looked at her thoughtfully for a full minute, and then spoke carefully, ‘Hera, you’ve never mentioned overseas visitors before. When was the last lot, and how close to James’s death was it?’
Hera surged from the table, cursing, ‘I never thought of that.’
Martin got up, and gently placing his hands on her shoulder, turned her to face him. ‘Take it easy, Hera, it may not be important, but we do need to explore everything. Did your inspector check that out? Do you know?’
‘It never occurred to me to ask, Martin, there’s too many things none of us thought to check out. It was the shock I think.’ She turned and headed to the office. ‘We can look at the employee records now, I think, if you’ve finished eating. They’re all on computer, so it shouldn’t take long.’
Martin looked up from the computer printout. ‘You have employed more staff than I realised from the socialising we’ve done over the last week.’ He looked at the list thoughtfully. ‘There are three males and one female who have left in the last year, and the excuses listed all seem to be a little spurious.’ He glanced up at Hera. ‘Do you know anything about them, and what they’ve done since leaving here?’
Hera glanced down at the list: Damian Black, Gerald Watson, Peter Watson, and Sienna Watson. ‘Well, the three Watsons’ behaviour was always a little strange. Bede and I suspected that Peter Watson and Sienna Watson were not brother and sister for a start. We thought pe
rhaps Gerald was actually Sienna’s father, and that she was running away from something, probably an abusive husband. Although Peter was nothing to write home about, and he wouldn’t have been my idea of a protector, but he did seem to care very deeply for Sienna.
Of course, we could be wrong about all of them. Neither Bede nor I were sorry to see them leave. They didn’t actually do anything suspicious. It was their manner. They were arrogant and stand-offish, probably kept to themselves for a good reason. They were all good workers though. And, no, I have no idea where they went after they left here. Damian Black’, she paused to consider her answer, ‘he was a bit of a mystery as well. He was an extremely good worker and very knowledgeable about Australian natives, especially Grevilleas, but his leaving wasn’t a mystery.’ There was something about the way she didn’t quite look at him while talking about Damian that Martin found disturbing.
‘Tell me more about him. I can arrange to have the Watsons checked out, but Damian interests me.’ Martin looked hard at her, and Hera was looking uncomfortable now. Her colour was high, and her eyes very bright.
‘Well’, she said almost defiantly, ‘he was young and good looking, and we had a connection of sorts.’ She cleared her throat, and drew a long breath. ‘James seemed to take exception to him suddenly, if you must know, and asked him to leave.’
Martin frowned thoughtfully at her for a moment then asked her to explain. ‘When was this exactly, and forgive me, but how did you feel about him?’
Hera’s colour was very high now, and she shrugged. ‘I met him at Curtin. He’s in the middle of a PhD and we became friendly. He was always very quiet and reserved, almost shy. He didn’t seem to know many people and obviously hadn’t been in Australia very long, although his English is very good. He is also really dishy looking, so I invited him to a few parties. He never seemed to have much money either, and I felt sorry for him. So I suggested that he look at applying for a casual job here in the summer break. He really is brilliant at what he does. His thesis is on the medicinal uses of various native plants. We were never intimate if that’s what you’re implying.’
A Conundrum Page 12
