‘No, she would have killed me.’
‘And Haydock suggested with his wording that it would end soon?’
‘Yes. I saw Mum look at us, and I wasn’t sure what she was thinking.’
‘Maybe,’ Guinevere suggested, ‘she was thinking that Haydock had begun an affair with you and she was so mad he might have touched her daughter that she killed him.’
Tegen hung her head. ‘It has crossed my mind. She made this remark about hurting children being the worst thing in the world or something.’
She bit her lip again. ‘Then it’s all my fault. I only wanted some money. I would never have let him near me. I didn’t even like him. I just wanted a chance to get away from this dumb island.’
Oliver patted her shoulder. ‘Calm down now. We know nothing for sure yet. Your mother might not have thought anything of the kind. And besides, if she killed Haydock, why would she be sad now?’
‘Maybe she still loved him even though he wanted to end it? She killed him in a fit of rage and now she’s sad that he’s dead and she might go to prison.’ Tegen burst into tears. ‘If she does, what will happen to me?’
Oliver looked at Guinevere. ‘It’ll be all right,’ he said, but it didn’t sound like he believed it.
Guinevere said, ‘You’d better get back home and take a hot shower. You’re freezing. Don’t tell your mother a thing about what you told us. It might not be related at all. And please promise me you won’t rush off to LA. That online friend might be less welcoming when you’re on her doorstep.’
‘Why would you care what happens to me?’ Tegen said, but still she stood up straighter and ran off to find her way back to the B&B.
Oliver rubbed his face with both hands. ‘What a mess. Tegen thinks Kensa might have done it, which means they haven’t been together all of the time. What if Kensa did it and only accused my father to shift suspicion?’
Guinevere thought about it. ‘It’s possible of course. But … why kill Haydock? Did his words that it would be over soon really mean that he would end his affair with Kensa?’
Oliver pulled down his hands and looked at her. ‘What else can it mean?’
‘Well, he told Tegen that he wasn’t paying any more. What did he pay her for?’
‘To keep his secret of the affair with her mother.’
‘Right. So when would he not need her to keep that secret for him any more?’
Oliver tilted his head. ‘If the affair had ended.’
‘No!’ Guinevere shook her head impatiently at his slowness to grasp it. ‘Then Tegen could still have created a row by revealing there had been an affair. Think of Haydock’s wife and daughter. No, the other option is more likely.’
‘I don’t see another option,’ Oliver said.
Guinevere sighed. ‘Think about it. When does it not matter any more that people were to find out you’re having an affair with someone? When you’re revealing the relationship yourself anyway. Haydock was going to tell everybody he was choosing Kensa over his wife. He was getting a divorce. That was why Kensa was telling Tegen they’d be skiing at Christmas. Together, openly.’
‘What?’ Oliver stared at her. ‘But … Why would a man like Haydock who lived away from the island and had a career as a lawyer, a great wife, a daughter to be proud of, risk it all for an affair with an island widow? Would he really want to marry Kensa and run the B&B with her?’
‘Apparently the two of them had a lot of plans for the island and the B&B with the themed stays and all. Maybe Haydock was tired of his law firm and wanted to turn it over to Leah to spend more time here.’
Oliver grimaced. ‘I’m almost glad he’s dead now. Imagine him hanging around here all of the time.’
Guinevere shook her head. ‘You can’t wish somebody dead.’
‘All I’m saying is that I’m relieved that he didn’t get together with Kensa and came to live here.’ Oliver dragged the spade across the stone. ‘So in your scenario Kensa was looking forward to being presented as Haydock’s new girlfriend and perhaps bride-to-be. She was happy and expecting good things, not plotting murder.’
‘Exactly. It fits with her outrage when Haydock died and her grief now. She lost all of her prospects. She’ll have to continue the B&B alone and try to raise Tegen without her running wild.’
‘Yes, that LA scheme was a prime example of what Tegen can think up,’ Oliver said. ‘So we can cross Kensa off our suspect list.’
‘I think so. I don’t believe in Tegen’s guilt either. She knew of the affair and it was profitable to her. Even if Haydock had told her it would end, she might have thought she could still blackmail him with threatening to reveal things after the fact. She had no idea he’d choose Kensa for real, so no reason to think he would refuse to protect his secret. Besides, I can’t see Tegen stabbing a man face to face.’
‘Me neither.’ Oliver looked down at the rocks. ‘But by clearing all these other people we’re not exactly helping my father. If it wasn’t Kensa and we assume it wasn’t Tegen either, then whom do we have left?’
‘Jago,’ Guinevere said decidedly. ‘No matter how sympathetic he looks, he admitted to having been here on Cornisea, on the night of the murder. Leah said his boat was moored at the pier. Even that her father wanted to talk to Jago about something, looked for him before he went up to the castle for the re-enactment. And why did Haydock give him money earlier? What did Jago know or suspect? Or was Jago somehow working for Haydock? Keeping an eye on things on the island?’
Oliver stood thinking. Then he looked at her and said slowly, ‘Was Jago digging on the island for Branok’s stash, under Haydock’s orders?’
Guinevere held his gaze. That sounded like a plausible suggestion. She checked off on her fingers. ‘Jago can row out here easily. He knows the island well. As a former fisherman he’s used to being up all night.’
Oliver nodded. ‘My thoughts exactly. And he knows island legend better than anybody else. He might even have claimed he couldn’t be at the rehearsal so he could do his digging with nobody around to see him do it.’
Guinevere nodded. ‘It all fits. So you think he found the Branok ring here and turned it over to Haydock? For a lot of money, which Emma saw Haydock handing over to Jago. She told me so herself.’
‘Done deal then.’ Oliver gave a determined bang with the spade on the rock. ‘We have to talk to Jago right away and ask him what exactly Haydock was planning. For the island, the castle, my father. That might shed light on the whole muddy affair.’
Chapter Fifteen
They found Jago puttering in his small garden. He had just pulled some carrots from the earth and tossed them into a bucket that stood by his side. He looked up at them with a frown. ‘Hello there. Anything the matter? You look so serious.’
‘Yes,’ Oliver said. ‘My father is going to be charged with murder soon and he’ll probably have to await trial behind bars.’
‘Nonsense,’ Jago said. ‘He’s a man with a spotless reputation. He’s never been under suspicion of any wrongdoing before. Even if he has to stand trial, he’ll never be convicted. Lawyers always find a way out. They’re clever.’
‘Like Haydock was clever?’ Oliver pounced. ‘Did he tell you it was OK to dig on the island and deliver the finds to him? Did he tell you they were public property and not my father’s?’
Jago looked up at Oliver. There was no emotion in his face, no need to deny or defend his actions.
Oliver said, ‘Whatever he told you, Jago, it was a lie. The island belongs to my family and what you found there is ours, not Haydock’s. You should give it back.’
Jago leaned over the earth. His large hands dug in to wriggle another carrot loose.
Dolly was sniffing in the spot where there had been a hole the other day. It was closed again, the earth stamped shut. The dachshund squeaked and wagged her tail as if she detected something exciting.
Guinevere wondered if Jago used his vegetable patch to hide what he found on Cornisea. He had a perfect reason
to rearrange things around his own little cottage. And nobody would suspect Jago’s innocuous-looking beds actually held valuables.
Jago got the carrot out and dropped it in the bucket. It made a dull thud. He moved a few inches and began pulling at another carrot. It was as if he had forgotten all about his visitors.
Oliver said, ‘Don’t just leave me standing here, making a fool of myself.’ His hands tightened into fists by his side.
Jago scoffed. ‘You are a fool, son, if you believe I would ever do anything to hurt your father.’
‘Then help me prove his innocence.’
‘I wasn’t inside the castle when he got killed.’
‘I know. But you were on Cornisea. You might have seen something, someone.’
Jago said, ‘I’m not a spy for the police.’ His hands tensed into claws, then relaxed again. He seemed to force himself to breathe evenly.
Guinevere stared at his profile. What did Jago know? Why was he so dead set on keeping it to himself?
Oliver said, ‘I know you don’t like authority and you have a thing against Eal, but this is different. My father could get charged with murder. He could be dragged away from his books and his samples and his butterfly collection to be held in a small cell. Do you really want to risk that? And have you forgotten about the old island justice? If you hurt one of us, we’ll get back at you. My father is a prisoner inside his own castle right now because he might be attacked when he goes outside.’
‘Haydock wasn’t one of us. Island justice doesn’t apply to him.’
‘Somebody doesn’t see it quite that way.’
Guinevere’s thoughts raced to understand Jago’s position. She was inclined to believe him when he said he’d never hurt Bolingbrooke. But why then was he keeping quiet about what he knew of the night of the murder?
Earlier Jago had said Haydock had hurt people who had sacrificed everything for him. Had he known about the affair with Kensa and about Haydock not telling his wife and daughter the truth? Had Jago felt sorry for them? Was Haydock’s death a sort of justice to his mind? Then why did he deny island justice applied here?
Oliver said, ‘There’s a spot on Cornisea, between the rocks, where it seems someone has been digging and carving and looking for something. I’ll watch that spot and I’ll find out who was there.’
‘You can watch a watering hole for a long time, son, when the lion who drank there has moved on.’
‘Don’t give me riddles.’ Oliver stamped his foot. ‘Are you with us or not?’
Jago rose to his feet with lightning speed for an elderly man. He stood in front of Oliver, half a head taller than he was, and said, ‘You have a nerve to come out here and ask me if I’m with you. Where have you been all of those years when your father needed you? Because of you, Cornisea is in danger. Because of you, it has almost been lost. You never cared. Don’t pretend you care now.’
He picked up his bucket and walked away around the cottage.
Dolly tilted her head and made a low noise as she watched him go. She didn’t go after him as if she knew he was upset and wouldn’t like her near.
Or did the dachshund sense Jago was being less than honest in his indignation? What if there really were finds from Cornisea hidden right beside them, in this harmless-looking garden? Finds that could be the motive for Haydock’s murder!
Oliver stood motionless. ‘I feel like he just gave me a direct left and then a direct right.’
‘He means what he says,’ Guinevere said. ‘Even if it’s not actually true.’
She touched Oliver’s arm. ‘He seems to think he has helped your father to save the island and the castle while you were far away. Why don’t you try to find out more about that?’
‘I don’t want to talk to him now and be insulted again. My relationship with my father is my business, not his.’
‘Are you prepared to throw away the chance to clear your father’s name? To prove he’s indeed innocent? Just because your feelings got hurt?’
Oliver gave her an ugly look. ‘Don’t you start as well.’
‘You know it’s true. Running off never helped anybody. And LeFevre might already be on his way out here to arrest your father. To lock him up for his own protection against the anger of those people claiming the killer should pay.’
Oliver took a deep breath.
Guinevere was convinced he would storm off anyway. Then he suddenly started forward after the old fisherman, around the cottage.
Guinevere followed in a rush to prevent escalation. If she could.
Jago was washing his carrots under a tap at the back of his house. His large hands rubbed off the earth with tenderness like he cherished his home-grown food.
Oliver stopped and said, ‘OK, so maybe I’ve been away. But I’m here now and I want to help my father. He’s in more trouble than he realizes. He bumbles along thinking it will go away again.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong.’ Jago looked at him. ‘Your father never bumbled. He knows what he wants and he gets it, just like you did with your career far away. You’re exactly the same. He knows what he’s facing. He was here last night to ask me for help.’
‘And you didn’t give it to him. You pretended you weren’t at home. Why?’
‘Because what I can tell him won’t help at all.’ Jago rubbed his hands together. Muddy liquid dripped to the metal grate under the tap. ‘He’ll only lose a friend and gain nothing.’
‘You mean you’ll lose a friend because you’ll have to confess you stole from the island and he’ll be livid and never want to see you again.’
Jago looked at Oliver. ‘Your father won’t mind about the ring. He knows I worked hard all my life and I deserve something for my trouble. But he’ll mind about my plans for it. I don’t want him to know.’
‘So you did find the ring on the island and deliver it to Haydock. The money he gave you was for the ring.’ Oliver glanced at Guinevere. Their assumption had been correct. It explained what Emma had seen and for the whereabouts of the ring. Haydock hadn’t been able to hand over a receipt for it because he had never bought it in the usual sense of the word.
Jago didn’t deny anything. He put the cleaned carrots on a chequered cloth and was now washing the bucket. Dolly moved in slowly, stretching her nose to catch the drops of water on her snout. Then she pulled back again, shaking her head. Her body trembled with excitement over this little game.
Jago let her, but he wasn’t smiling. His light eyes darkened as he said slowly, ‘Haydock convinced me that the island needed more visitors. I worked with him to get an exhibition together of worthwhile things. We knew your father wouldn’t want to help so we had to do it ourselves. Kensa thought up the re-enactment so he would let her into his books and paperwork on Branok. We decided that there was so much and that it would appeal to people, so we could turn it into a nice story, if we had more things.
‘I looked for finds on the island, and the ring was the best I could come up with. It isn’t old enough, and the emblem isn’t even right, but Haydock didn’t care. He said people believe what they want to believe, that they see what they want to see. We would do the re-enactment to get the press writing about Cornisea and then we would build from that.’
‘So you were all in on it together,’ Oliver concluded in a bitter tone. ‘Kensa working in my father’s library to get the information about all the legends related to Branok and his secret stash, letting my father believe it was just folklore, legend, while you worked on the beach, among the rocks each night, digging up the valuables my father knew nothing about.’
Guinevere added, ‘You hid the valuables again, here, in your own garden. Nobody would think it suspicious if you dug into the ground. You were just tending your vegetables and flowers, right? Dolly noticed there was something wrong with the digging right away. I saw it because of her.’
Jago looked up at them with fire in his eyes. He pointed at the island in the distance with the arm on which the bracelet with its colours was. The
colours of Cornisea he wore like someone else wears a wedding ring, denoting an unbreakable allegiance.
Jago said, ‘That island is a treasure trove. It was inhabited even before the Romans came to Britain to conquer it. Or so legend says. We could find anything here. But your father sits on it like it is his.’
‘It is his,’ Oliver said tightly.
‘And what about us? The community? We’ve shared the island with him for generations. We live off the sea and the fish and what the tide brings in. It used to be goods from sunken ships, now it’s tourists. We have to live somehow. Your father is our protector, the castle the keep that watches over us at night. We feel safe in its shadow. But it must be a protector once again and not just a presence without purpose.’
Guinevere said softly, ‘Jago has a point. There’s a bond between the island, the castle, and the community. They all belong together. The tourists want to see the bakery and the fishermen cleaning their nets and they also want to hear the tales of Branok the Cold-hearted and the like. You have to work together to keep it alive for generations to come. It’s too important and too beautiful to lose.’
Oliver grunted. ‘You joined the club fast.’
‘I’m only saying you should listen to him. He does have a point.’ Guinevere focused on Jago’s eyes. ‘So you sold the ring you had found to Haydock?’
‘Yes, but only to use in the Branok exposition. Haydock was vain enough to want to wear it during the re-enactment.’ Jago grimaced in disapproval. ‘It didn’t even fit him well. But he was adamant he would wear it. He imagined himself to be Branok, I guess. He spoke like he was so sure of himself.’
Guinevere thought that that had been because Haydock was about to change his entire life: confess his love for Kensa, divorce his wife, live on the island, transform Cornisea into the place he wanted it to be. His open-air museum, as Meraud had called it.
Jago and the others hadn’t known a thing about that and had worked to save their beloved island, not knowing they were signing up to serve under its new king, Arthur Haydock.
Jago said, ‘I won’t do any digging any more, Oliver. It’s all over now. Kensa is heartbroken. I’m not sure she’ll even want to live here any more. If she leaves and the B&B goes downhill … Without a place for tourists to stay on the island it will be even harder to draw people in. Why come at all if there’s nothing to come for?’
Death Plays a Part (Cornish Castle Mystery, Book 1) Page 17
