O’Reilly reached absently for one of his lumpy bags of sweets, this one from beneath a stack of unpleasant-looking photos. Alex tried not to look too hard but saw enough to know they were of Brother Percy – after his death.
‘Have you heard of it?’ Alex pressed.
‘No,’ O’Reilly said for both of them, dislodging a bright yellow sherbet lemon from its sticky partners and putting it in his mouth. A bump appeared in his cheek.
‘Well established,’ Alex said. ‘Emphasis on healthy living. Diet, exercise, rest, meditation, massage – the holistic approach. You get the picture? They definitely do not cater to loonies. I imagine the other paying guests would take a dim view of loonies wandering around. I’m not sure that’s an appropriate term for anything these days, by the way. But that’s where I went after a bad time in my life. Have you ever had a bad time in your life, Detective Lamb?’
His gaze slid away from her face. There was a stain of color over his cheekbones.
‘We all have,’ O’Reilly said. He made an attempt to shuffle the photos under a folder. His dark eyes weren’t happy and his naturally soft Irish voice got even softer. ‘You do know you shouldn’t have left this morning?’
‘Of course I do.’ Her mother used to tell her to reason unreasonable people into submission. ‘It’s not every day I’m asked to help cut down hanging people. I couldn’t do anything to help him and I didn’t want to stay there. And to be completely honest, I panicked. I’m not proud of that but it isn’t unreasonable.’
‘No, it isn’t,’ Tony said.
She was grateful to have him at her shoulder. Even his presence felt solid.
‘Did I hear you say you’d spoken to people about me, Detective Lamb?’
‘That’s right.’ At least he had the grace to sound slightly subdued. ‘That’s a normal part of an investigation. You do seem to be involved in what’s been happening here.’
O’Reilly cleared his throat.
‘What the hell does that mean?’ Tony said. ‘Involved? She’s been unlucky enough to come upon two dead men. Does that give you the right to go digging for dirt in her past? You won’t find any. Take it from me.’
Alex began to feel warm. Tony was a good man to have around when things got tough – at least for her. She gave him a quick smile.
‘You may walk on puddles around here, Dr Harrison,’ Lamb said, heavily sarcastic, ‘but what you think won’t go far outside your little village.’
‘Bill,’ O’Reilly said, ‘could you get back to the other thing we talked about? Did the search team arrive?’
Lamb said, ‘Yes, boss,’ stiffly, and gathered up his gloves and notebook from the table. ‘They’re combing the hill. They’ve got dogs too, which may not be useful but it can’t hurt.’ He nodded and left.
‘I’ll get another chair,’ O’Reilly said, hopping up.
The hall looked foreign to Alex. Transparent panels had been hung from an overhead beam and these already had a smattering of photos on both sides and a lot of undecipherable notes, arrows, rough charts and diagrams drawn in glaring orange.
Two other tables stood, one behind the other, with uniformed police working at computers. Phones rang intermittently. She hadn’t realized what a lot of activity there was, but hearing about reinforcements coming in to help with the investigation alerted her to just how much activity there was in the hall.
Tony took the second chair from O’Reilly and they all sat down.
‘So they’re searching the hill?’ Tony said. ‘What are they looking for?’
O’Reilly’s secret little smile returned. ‘That’s what we’re hoping to find out. Unfortunately we haven’t had any useful information from anyone who might know.’
Alex sighed. ‘Brother Percy could have been able to help with that.’ She didn’t elaborate and Tony avoided adding anything. ‘Too bad he wasn’t taken seriously when he tried to talk to a policeman yesterday.’
‘More than too bad,’ the detective said. ‘But I still wish you hadn’t run off this morning. It didn’t look good when we realized you’d gone. Why do you think darts from your pub have been used?’
The swift change of topic startled Alex. ‘How would I know? It doesn’t make any sense.’
‘I had to ask. I don’t want to scare you but it does seem that someone wants to connect you to these crimes.’
‘There wasn’t a dart this morning,’ Alex said.
‘How do you know that?’
‘I … well, I don’t know. But I didn’t see one. Do I need a lawyer?’
‘This isn’t an official interrogation,’ he said, ‘but you’re entitled to representation whenever you want it. Not that I have more questions at this point. I remind you that you came to me and initiated this conversation. That’s a good thing.’
‘Would I leave darts from my pub lying around at crime scenes?’ Alex said and heard Tony clear his throat. She met his eyes and saw a warning. She was saying too much.
O’Reilly propped his elbows and steepled his fingers. ‘I might be able to think of a reason why you’d do that.’
She was more rattled than she wanted him to see. Having to listen to Lamb trot out the things she wanted to forget had unbalanced her. Now she wanted to get away from here and not think about what O’Reilly was suggesting.
‘The first victim didn’t kill himself,’ he said. ‘The pathologist has demonstrated that there appears to have been a surprise attack and the victim couldn’t have had much chance to defend himself.’
‘That’s what we expected,’ Tony said.
Expecting to be stopped, Alex reached for the top photo of Brother Percy’s body. O’Reilly let her pull it in front of her. She stared at the full-color horror of it. At least the monk’s face was turned from the camera.
Without looking away, Alex pulled the kitchen knife from her pocket and placed it on the table. ‘I took that without knowing what I’d done,’ she said. ‘It’s what I used to cut him down.’
The man didn’t say a word.
‘Why are there bruises down there?’ Alex asked, pointing at marks above Brother Percy’s collarbones. ‘Shouldn’t they be up here where the cincture tightened … around …’ She covered her mouth.
‘Since this is going to get out anyway, you might as well get it from a reliable source,’ O’Reilly said. ‘He didn’t kill himself either. He was strangled then strung up. I’ll want to talk to each of you more later on. Please make sure we know if you decide to leave the area.’
NINETEEN
‘You’re not going up there.’ Will Cummings’ raised voice carried through to Alex before she’d had time to close the front door to the Black Dog. ‘She asked you to go riding with her? Why would Heather Derwinter want you to go anywhere with her, did you ask yourself that? That woman’s nothing but trouble. If she wants you up there she’s got some motive we haven’t figured out.’
‘You’re hard on Mrs Derwinter.’ This sounded like Kev Winslet. ‘She’s all right. She treats the people who work for them well.’
Cathy said, ‘Excuse us, Kev. Will’s decided to have a domestic in public. In case you’ve forgotten, Will, I went to the same school as Heather Derwinter.’
‘Toffee nosed, aren’t we?’ Will said. ‘So you think she’d want you as a member of any club she belongs to? Wake up, Cathy. How long d’you think it was after you left the school before she even got to the place? It was years. She found out you went there and now she’s pretending that’s a reason to be your friend. What a load of tripe.’
This didn’t sound like Will, who usually treated Cathy with respect.
‘What school was that then?’ Kev Winslet asked.
‘Drop it,’ Will said. ‘That was before Cathy’s parents decided I wasn’t good enough for them and—’
‘Shut up!’
Alex hurried into the bar before things got any more out of hand. She glared at Will, who still had his mouth open from being barked at by his quiet wife. She was relieved there weren’t
more customers.
‘You and Cathy used to live up there,’ Kev said to Will. ‘Heather would have known Cathy.’
‘That was probably before Heather was born. Leonard was just a little nipper. By the time Heather and Leonard got together we were long gone. And by the way, Cathy, you didn’t even finish at the academy so you and her aren’t sister alumnus or whatever rubbish you’re spouting about.’
‘That’s mean,’ Alex said, going to stand beside Kev Winslet at the bar. ‘Whatever’s going on here is none of my business – or anyone’s but yours and Cathy’s.’
‘Sorry,’ Cathy muttered. ‘I used to love to ride when—’
‘When you lived with Mummy and Daddy and had your own horse?’ Will broke in. ‘Know what I think? I think that woman wants to find out if there’s any gossip down here about the murder and she knows you’re in the middle of things. She just wants to use you.’
Cathy was pale but seemed resolute. ‘Thanks for the advice, Will. Maybe she’s got a right to be interested in anything that happens right now. She did get thrown from her horse and nobody’s said much about it but there was a dart involved. Heather said that.’
‘Good excuse for a so-called wonderful horsewoman taking a fall, if you ask me.’ Will threw down a tea towel and crossed his hefty arms. ‘Maybe she stuck it there. Have you thought of that?’
‘Oh, Will.’ Cathy shook her head. There were tears in her eyes.
‘You worked for Cornelius Derwinter,’ Kev said. ‘You had a good cottage on the estate to bring Cathy to after you were married. The Derwinters were good to you. Old man Derwinter even paid for you to take courses when you wanted them. And you used to say how cushy it was. Whatever the old man wanted, you did, and gladly. But it wasn’t enough for you, working for other people. You couldn’t wait to get to this place and run things. What was that all about – impressing Cathy to try to show you were as good as her and her family? Anyways, I didn’t intend to interfere. None of my business.’
‘What’s the harm in wanting to better yourself?’ Will said, clearly past caution. ‘We were only managers to begin with but I came into money. This was a good investment.’
‘Cathy, could I have a Britvic orange juice,’ Alex said, just wanting to stop this back and forth. ‘It’s been a difficult day.’
‘Now you’re back to being managers.’ Kev nodded around the bar. ‘You couldn’t hang on to this. You lost it. You’re lucky to be here at all. At least you’ve still got a chance to dig yourself out of debt.’
‘Kev!’ Alex shoved her face in front of him so he had to give her his attention. ‘Stop. Now. That’s history. We’re all very happy with the way things are.’
While Will continued to fume silently, Cathy emptied a bottle of Britvic orange into a small glass and put it in front of Alex.
Kev turned his back on Will. He nodded toward the front of the building. ‘Flies on a jam pot up on the hill,’ he said. ‘Never saw so many plods in one place.’
Alex had seen the swarm of police fanned across the hill, searching, and dared to hope they’d find something to make all this go away. ‘I wish them luck,’ she said. ‘I don’t see how they’ll find anything new, though.’
‘If we knew what they were looking for we might be able to help,’ Kev said, his florid face thrust forward and pugnacious. ‘Too much secrecy. It’s not as if we aren’t all involved – or our lives, anyway. Has anyone said what it is? The man’s wallet, maybe?’
‘They’re not saying anything. We probably won’t find out until it gets leaked to the press.’ This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to continue. ‘I’ll take this upstairs with me, Cathy. See you later.’
‘The coppers were by earlier looking for you,’ Will called after her. ‘I didn’t know you were out so I sent them up. It’s too bad you found that body.’
Alex raised her glass and said, ‘I think so, too,’ without turning around.
First she wanted to go to her rooms, take a bath and change her clothes. She had been a bit short with Tony when she said she was coming here before picking up Bogie from her mother. He hadn’t deserved that, but he’d heard what she’d heard before they’d gone into the parish hall and she owed it to him to give some sort of explanation. She wasn’t ready for that yet.
Halfway up the stairs from the closed restaurant, Alex paused. If she never said another word about her baby, or Michael, Tony wouldn’t ask. Darn it, if he didn’t have other plans already she’d invite him for dinner although it would have to be at her mum’s, which would probably thrill Lily.
Carrying on slowly, she balanced the glass against her chest while she punched in the number on her mobile. ‘Hey,’ she said when he answered on the first ring. ‘We need some downtime. I thought I’d ask my mum if I could have you to dinner at her house this evening. Sounds funny but I think O’Reilly would have a cow if I went back to the lodge at this point. Mum’ll be here working and she likes me at her place anyway.’
‘Sounds great,’ Tony said. ‘What time?’
Her key locked rather than unlocked her door. Alex reversed the process and went in. ‘Around seven?’
She didn’t hear his answer. Impotent rage threatened to choke her. ‘Tony,’ she managed to say, ‘they’ve bloody well turned my room upside down. They’ve searched it.’
TWENTY
The policeman who tapped on her doorjamb looked about eighteen, if that. His helmet under his arm, he showed his warrant card and said, ‘Constable Smith. You called in about some trouble.’
Alex walked toward him, deciding what to say. She gave a shaky cough. ‘I take it your people did this? Ransacked my room?’
His brown eyes got very round. ‘Excuse me?’
‘This.’ With one arm she took in sheets tossed on one side of the bed, the mattress thrown off so it came to rest against an easy chair missing its cushions and a chest from which all five drawers lolled open and the innards were scattered and trailing.
‘It’s a good job I don’t have any more personal things here than I do. If you’d waited until tomorrow, I would have made a run up to my house for more supplies – then it would have been more fun for you. What did you people think you were, kids in a sandbox?’ As seconds passed she became more furious. ‘What were you hoping to find?’
‘Fuck!’
Tony’s arrival and opening salvo struck her momentarily dumb.
He didn’t apologize. ‘What a damn nerve. And the police did this?’
He advanced on the much smaller copper.
Katie, grinning as only she could, turned her ears into pointed wings that stood straight out to the sides of her head and started sniffing around the room.
‘Sir,’ said the red-faced young man, his blush quite fetching on dark skin. He sounded very Welsh. ‘I don’t know what any of this is about. I came in response to this lady’s request. I’m on loan, out of Broadway. We’re helping out. If you have any complaints about the department, I suggest you contact them. Under the circumstances, I’m calling for back-up.’ He worked a police radio from beneath the heavy yellow slicker he wore over his uniform and pressed buttons.
‘Back-up?’ Tony sputtered. ‘Is that because we’re so bloody terrifying? Do you think we’re going to beat you up? Look at this place. Why throw the few bits and pieces off the desk? It’s just vandalism. You broke a bottle of perfume. Yes, that’s what we’ve got here, Alex, vandalism.’
Constable Smith had stepped past him on to the landing and continued talking without apparently hearing a word Tony said.
The mentioned perfume, the Je Reviens she favored, overwhelmed everything.
‘Right then,’ Smith said, facing them again. ‘Someone’s coming right away. They’ll be here quick enough. I’m sorry you’re upset. You should be, of course. I expect you’ll want to check for anything missing.’
‘Police,’ a very recognizable and officious voice said from the stairs. Detective Sergeant Lamb came into view, two steps at a time. ‘What’s all this,
then, Constable Smith?’
‘Room breakin is what it looks like, sir. Lady came back and found it like this.’
Alex began to have a nasty feeling she was making a fool of herself. She cleared her throat, half watching Katie curl up on the pile of discarded bedding. ‘I was told you – or some of your people – came up here looking for me earlier,’ she said. ‘Why would you do this? If you’d asked to look around I’d have let you.’
Glancing at the room, Lamb smirked and, from the corner of her eye, Alex saw Tony make fists. She rushed to stand beside him and hold his arm.
‘When you ducked out of the rectory early this morning we wanted to know where you were. A couple of our officers checked here. I assure you they were never in this room. We would have needed a search warrant for that and we hadn’t had time to get one – even if we wanted it. You can get back to the parish hall,’ he told the constable, who left without another word.
‘Maybe I made a big mistake,’ Alex muttered. ‘It seemed so obvious. But someone’s been in here. Why, Sergeant? Can you think why someone would search my room?’
He rolled from his heels to his toes, not settling his baby blue eyes on anything in particular. ‘Whoever it was could have made pretty certain you wouldn’t even know they’d been here,’ he said. ‘But this was done so it would be obvious.’
Tony muttered something under his breath and got the detective’s full attention. ‘You have something to add, Doctor Harrison?’
‘I said, no shit, Sherlock. Seemed appropriate given what I’m looking at.’ He showed no remorse. ‘I think you should be thinking about who’s trying to frighten Alex. So many things point to an effort to scare her off. The darts from her pub. What happened up at Lime Tree Lodge when she was on her own. Now this. Don’t you think someone wants to frighten her?’
‘Could be. Could be they even want to make her decide to leave.’ A flicker in his expression suggested Lamb hadn’t intended to say that much.
Alex wandered past him to the landing and held on to a railing over the stairs. Her legs didn’t feel steady and her heart beat too fast. ‘Why?’ she asked herself more than the men.
Folly Page 12
