There had to be something more concerning the shipment of arms and the attempted uprising in the sixties. Had Sir Winston been involved in some way? He had supposedly taken delivery of the guns to try them out for someone else up country. Was that someone else working for the government of Malaysia or was there something more clandestine?
Letting her mind relax as she took in the smells and sights, she had a sudden new thought. Oh my God! What an intriguing idea! How on earth had that entered her mind?
~~~~~
Miss Chalcot was not in her study. The hotel desk clerk informed Diana she would be in KL for most of the day. Walking towards the pool, she again passed the closed door of Miss Chalcot's retreat. Di wondered if she was telling her all she needed to know. What was she keeping hidden, possibly out of fear or embarrassment?
Di drew abreast of the next room, which was a reading room cum library. It was about the same size as the study next door, and as Diana looked round, she realised there was a narrow balcony overlooking the garden beyond. This part of the garden was shorter in depth than the front, with the tree line much closer. There was a small vegetable plot at the other end of the building, but directly beneath the balcony was an extended flower bed which originated from the front. The balcony was a strange addition to the house, only about five or six feet or so from the ground and not wide enough to place even a chair upon it. Di supposed it was added purely for cosmetic or ventilation reasons.
What Diana hadn't realised was that the balcony was an extension of the one belonging to the study. There was a small partition giving the study privacy, but the stone partition was only waist high with a plant-covered trellis along the top. Diana suddenly had a few 'what ifs' go through her mind. As there was no one in sight, she wondered if she could climb around the balcony onto the adjoining study part. Despite her pregnancy she was still relatively slim and active and decided she could do it easily without risking a fall. After another quick check, all was still clear, so she put a leg over. She remembered another time when she got caught with her leg over a bannister at boarding school and grinned at the memory. Perhaps she had never grown up.
Scrambling down she stood on the tiny 'balcony' and looked through the French windows. She had no intention of entering the study – it was private. She just wanted to look around and see if what she suspected was correct. Standing with her back to the window and looking into the forest opposite, there was a direct line, but someone standing there with a rifle would have had an almost impossible job of aiming at the victim inside. The angle was too great. Turning to look inside the room, she saw the furniture was pushed to the sides leaving a space in the middle and in front of the window. She didn't know if this was the same layout Sir Winston had preferred, but Diana suspected it was. The desk, according to Miss Chalcot, had belonged to her father, and where it was positioned now was the only possible place for it in the study due to the placement of fitted shelving and its enormous size.
So the shot that killed Sir Winston must have come from within the study, or…from the balcony. She looked again and decided that too would have been improbable. Whoever was in the study at the time would have seen the intruder climb up from below or over the partition carrying a rifle, and the tiny balcony was just too narrow. It was more of a ledge really. Diana decided she had seen enough and thought it time to retrace her footsteps. Taking it steady, she clambered back onto the other side of the partition. As she set her feet firmly back on the balcony, she got the feeling she was being watched. Feeling guilty, she cast a look around, but the garden looked empty, and it was too dark to see between the dense forest trees. Hormones, she decided.
As she entered through the French windows back into the reading room, she had another 'what if'. The wooden trellis on the partition looked in a fair condition and certainly not forty-odd years old. Supposing back in the sixties there hadn't been a trellis along the wall? It would have been easy for someone to come out from the reading room and position themselves against the wall and take aim at someone inside the study. Diana decided to try it for herself.
She had only held a rifle a few times in her life, and Di knew they were heavy, unwieldy things. It would have been easier to use a pistol of some sort but she knew that Sir Winston had been shot by a rifle, similar to the ones he had in his study. Diana simulated positioning herself against the wall on the balcony as if she was going to shoot someone and made a simple deduction. If this was where the killer had stood, then this narrowed the odds substantially…
Chapter 22
…Mother was all of a dither and Hermione was having a hard time with her. Even at thirteen years, I knew Mother was difficult at times, highly strung and prone to retire to her bed for long periods. She had seemed better since Father's demise; possibly overseeing to the estate with Hermione's help had been a welcome challenge and change from her life with Father.
I knew the dithering came about over Father's will and because of me. Father had been dictatorial and a bully right up to the end. His conditions made it difficult for Mother, his wife of many years, and she had some important decisions to make. Felicity and Emma didn't help much either. Felicity was about to leave for England in the near future, and Emma was still not herself, keeping to her room and never speaking to me unless she had to.
The will was straight forward. Father had left everything to Eleanor during her lifetime, providing Hermione left Kebun Pertama for ever.
If Hermione stayed, then Felicity and Emma were to receive an annual allowance until they married and on their marriage, a lump sum of £50,000. I, as Father's heir, was to inherit the remainder and Eleanor was to have nothing except personal possessions – her clothes and the jewellery she had received during her marriage. I would own the estate here and substantial houses in England, both in London and Yorkshire.
It was going to cause trouble and it did. Mother didn't seem surprised and said, "I'm perfectly happy to remain at Kebun Pertama, so long as Hermione stays here with me. I have no need of huge amounts of money, and we can carry on as usual running things here until Alex is old enough to take full control."
Felicity was annoyed, as it meant I, as the youngest, was to inherit the bulk of the estate. Emma was silent for a while then looking disgusted, she declared, "I'm jolly well leaving for England with Felicity." As she hadn't made any further accusations towards me, and now seemed as sane as the rest of us, Mother didn't know how to refuse her. The only stipulation she managed to make and get Emma to agree to was that she would go and stay either with Felicity or other members of the Chalcot family until she was twenty-one.
I didn’t think Mother could have coped with her, despite Hermione trying to persuade Emma to stay. I had a sneaky suspicion she was relieved when Felicity said she would take her to live with her. It wasn't that Mother didn't love us; it was just that sometimes she was like a child herself. Hermione was the only one who could get her to think rationally about her responsibilities.
I was only glad both women believed me to be innocent despite Emma's ravings. Even when she ventured a little too near the truth about my original feelings towards Paul Tan, I kept quiet about Emma's own involvement with him. At the time, I didn't think it would help anyone, least of all Emma, and Mother had enough to contend with without finding out one of her daughters had slept with a native!
So, the time came when Felicity's clothes and belongings were put into trunks with seemingly dozens of camphor moth-balls and Emma's followed suit. Felicity had relaxed in attitude towards me, probably because I hadn't made a fuss about Emma, and she was getting excited about marrying a man of some considerable means. Besides, £50,000 was a fair sum and would have bought quite a number of acres if she had been interested in becoming a land owner.
"I'm sorry to miss your wedding, my dear," Mother said on one of their last evenings together. "But you know how I hate travelling, and I can't bear to think of flying all the way back to England. Maybe I'll make a trip when I'm feeling a little better, or perhaps you'll come o
ut here for a visit sometime?"
"Of course Mother, that'd be lovely. Perhaps I'll make you a grandmother!"
Mother grimaced at the thought but gave a tinkle of a laugh. "How lovely, I'm sure."
During the conversation Emma said little, and I wondered if she was regretting her decision to leave KL which, as for Fizzy, had been her only home. She still worried me, and I would have liked us to be friends once again. It was not to be, as on the final day of their leaving she slid up behind me and cruelly pinched my cheek between her sharp finger nails.
"Don't think I've forgotten or forgiven you, dearest Alex. I still haven't fathomed you out, and perhaps I never will now. You're guilty of something, even if not Father's death and I know that's the real reason for not trusting you."
"Em, I've never done anything to hurt you, truly I haven't, at least nothing of my choosing. Perhaps if you ask Mother to explain--"
"Don't blame Mother. She's as woolly-headed and selfish as ever. Goodbye Alex, you'll never see me again."
As she left, I felt a huge lump and ache in my throat, my eyes filled with tears. I had to fight to stop myself from crying out at the unfairness of it all. If only she knew! It was all Mother's fault, all her idea. She had never been able to fight against our Father, and I had been her only weapon.
Once the chauffeured car had disappeared down our drive, I had rushed to the stables and saddled Cobweb. Tears coursed down my face as I sobbed in anguish. Mother had a lot to answer for.
Chapter 23
…"Hey Steve, look at this! Sir Winston is mentioned in this old newspaper cutting. I found it tucked inside some old estate bills Miss Chalcot gave me to look through for interest." Diana jumped up from where she was sitting on their balcony and carried the cutting over for him to see.
"Well, well! So he was working for the government all the time. It says here he had infiltrated the local rebel stronghold with men of his own. There's not much to go on, just a few lines, but at least we know for certain he wasn't a traitor. Not that I'd ever thought it, had you?"
"No, funnily enough. It crossed my mind fleetingly, but only for a brief second when he was so daft to leave the guns lying around in his study. Now I think he just had a brainstorm. He'd acted oddly all day after the shooting lesson with Alex."
"It always comes back to Alex. Strange don't you think?"
"Yes I do. For a kid of thirteen, he certainly got around. It's funny he never went to school here. He had a tutor of some sort for regular schoolwork, and was being taught the running of the estate by his father and Paul Tan. I know it was during the sixties, but it still feels old-fashioned don't you think? I suppose his mother and aunt ran things until he was able to take over. I wonder how long it was before some of the estate was sold off and this became a hotel? I'll have to ask Miss Chalcot."
"Where is she by the way today? I haven't seen her around."
Diana thought it prudent not to let Steve know she had been snooping around Miss Chalcot's study balcony during her absence. If he had known that she had been scrambling, climbing over balustrades in her pregnant state he would have had a fit. "I did look for her earlier, but reception said she was in KL."
"Probably out on business then. Do you fancy a walk? It's much cooler now. We could explore beyond the garden area, perhaps go down one of the tracks."
"That's a nice idea. I'll take my camera; perhaps we'll get some good views. I wonder where the river is that the children visited."
"I've no idea, but we could ask. Reading through the journals, I got the impression it was some way from the house, as they almost always rode there."
"And as we have no horses to carry us, we'll have to make do with our own legs. I'm ready, come on let's go."
Grabbing sunhats, camera and bottled water, Steve and Diana went downstairs. The reception area was almost deserted except for the sleepy looking clerk behind his desk and the office worker, Mira, whom they had met and chatted with a few times.
Today, however, she didn't seem quite as chatty. When Diana tried to ask her where the river and pool were she became vague, and seemed not to understand what Di was saying. "So sorry, Mem. My English is not so good, no understand." Her small fragile hands fluttered in agitation as she shuffled menus on the desk before her.
"Mira, your English is perfect. Sorry, perhaps it's me and I haven't made myself clear. We want to take a walk and wondered if the rock pool was far."
"Sorry, no understand," Mira repeated, hurrying back inside her office.
Diana looked at Steve with a surprised look upon her face. "What was that all about?"
Steve grabbed her elbow and guided Di outside on to the steps and down into the grounds. "Sometimes you can be quite dense you know," he whispered in her ear.
"What? What have I done now?" She looked puzzled, clearly wanting an explanation.
"Mira," Steve said.
"Yes, Mira so…Oh! I see. Yes of course you think--"
"Yes! Our Mira might be Paul Tan's Mira."
"Surely not, it's a mighty big coincidence don't you think?"
He gave a shrug. "I've no idea if it's a common name, but she could be his wife. She said she'd worked here for, what was it? Forty years I believe, and she would be about the right age if he was twenty-odd back then. Also, wasn't there something in the diaries about Lady Chalcot making a provision for Paul's widow? A pension or something: mark my words, I bet I'm right."
"Stop looking so smug. I hate it when you do this," Di grumbled.
Steve gave a laugh and gathered her up in a big hug. "I love it when you get cross and huffy with me. Your eyes glitter with indignation making me feel quite horny; shall we give the walk a miss?"
Di giggled and poked him in the ribs. "Behave! No, we need some exercise."
"But I've had loads of exercise. What about all the swimming and tennis?"
"It's not nearly enough. Come on let's get going and work up an appetite for dinner. You could be right I suppose. She might be his wife. But why the cold shoulder? She knew exactly what I was on about. Why pretend she didn't?"
Steve thought for a moment as they crossed the lawn leading to an orange-coloured dirt track which ran through the rubber plantation.
"She could have a number of reasons. The pool she might consider a private place, especially if she and Paul used to meet there. She works for Miss Chalcot, and I bet nothing much is missed that passes under her nose. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew about the idea of a book and objected to it. She's Malay, a different culture, different religion for starters."
"What if Alex was right all along. He suspected Paul Tan on and off for working against the country. Wasn't he part Malay and Chinese and his family originally came from Indonesia? Oh my goodness! What if he and Scarface, as Alex called him, were terrorists working for Sukarno all along? Just think Steve, what we might uncover. Do you think Miss Chalcot knows about this?" Diana said.
"I'm not sure." He paused before adding, "If any of this is true we could be heading towards trouble."
"Why?"
"Think about it, Di. Paul may have been working for the rebels. He got shot in the study. Sir Winston and Paul had an argument, they might have struggled with Alex's gun – or another – there was a case load to choose from. What if Sir Winston shot him? Alex would have seen it all. Whatever the reason, Paul was killed on Chalcot land. Mira might have a widow's pension and an estate job, but she could still bear a grudge against the family."
"And you think I have a vivid imagination!" Di said, looking at him proudly. "I'll make a sleuth out of you yet. Well, we have some work to do checking our facts and doing a bit more digging. I think we have to ask Miss Chalcot some questions and discover just what her worries about unsolved business are, and I'm sure Michael Browning knows more than he's telling us."
"He may be difficult to budge, being an ex-policeman."
"Are they subject to the Official Secrets Act? Would this apply in this case?"
"I would have thought s
o. I think the whole episode with British troops against Sukarno's Indonesians was named a 'Confrontation'. It was a virtual war in Borneo, known as 'The Undeclared War', and yet most British people have never even heard of it."
"I see. How come you do then?"
"I looked it up one day while you were reading the diaries. I thought it might come in handy as research. Various places in Malaysia were used as guerrilla training camps for dissident Malays."
They walked on in silence for some way following the track. It was obviously used as there were tyre tread marks in the soft, sandy dirt. Diana wondered if the track had been widened since the Chalcot children had raced their horses along it. Despite all the arguments and the odd quirks of the family, they had lived a good life. The estate, although still large, must have been vast back then, and money appeared to have been no object.
Steve and Diana walked steadily until they heard the sound of running water. It was coming from their right so leaving the track they crossed a copse of bamboo and some hardwood until they came to a clearing. In front of them was a cliff face covered in ferns and shrubs with a waterfall tumbling into a deep pool below.
"This must be it," said Diana, looking around her in excitement. "It's beautiful. No wonder they loved to come here for a swim. It beats a swimming pool any day. I'm hot and sticky now; shall we go for a dip too?"
~~~~~
Dinner that night was served on the terrace under a blue-black sky, studded with thousands of glittering stars. The house boys had strung dozens of coloured paper Chinese lanterns which revolved in the light breeze, casting their muted light over the guests as they sat down to a Chinese feast. On each table, the dining-room staff had filled sparkling crystal glass bowls with sweet-scented flowers which mingled with the perfume of the ladies present. At one end of the terrace, an eight-piece band was playing a medley of popular dance music.
Being a gala dinner, Diana had taken time to choose her dress with care. She had picked one of her new purchases for the occasion; an off-the-shoulder emerald green dress in silk, topped with a filmy silver evening stole to match the diamante trim on her skirt. She dutifully declined the chilled glass of champagne offered and instead took one of passion fruit juice. Standing at the edge of the terrace, she had a good position from which to see the other diners and was having fun admiring everyone as they arrived.
2 Children of the Plantation Page 16
