Silent as the Grave

by Bill Kitson

  ‘What are you laughing at?’ she demanded sleepily.

  ‘I wasn’t laughing, I was smiling,’ I corrected her. ‘I was just thinking you’re the prettiest nurse I’ve ever seen.’

  She yawned and stretched. ‘Then you must need your eyes testing, I bet I look a wreck.’

  ‘Not from where I’m looking,’ I said and again there must have been a note of sincerity in my voice. This time her smile was cat-like. I found it irresistible. I leaned across and kissed her. For a moment I saw panic flare in her eyes, then some other emotion I couldn’t fathom.

  She laughed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. ‘You’re obviously feeling better. Do you feel up to taking a shower and going for some breakfast?’

  ‘I certainly do; if it’s allowed, Nurse.’

  ‘In that case,’ she told me with mock severity. ‘I’d make it a cold shower if I was you.’

  When we reached the dining hall most of the family had already eaten their breakfast and dispersed. Only Tony, Harriet, Charlotte, and Becky were seated round the large dining table. I responded to their questions about my condition and headed for the breakfast bar. Cathy had cooked kedgeree that morning. I adore kedgeree. I helped myself to a sizeable portion and sat down alongside Eve. Harriet was wearing a jacket of a very bright and distinctive combination of black, red, green, and yellow plaid. Apart from the gaudy check design and the garish mixture of colours the garment had another highly distinctive feature. The three silver buttons on the front of the jacket, each the size of a fifty-pence piece, were embossed with a large thistle pattern. I remarked in passing that the jacket was a good test for my improved health. ‘If I’d seen that yesterday I might have been ill on the spot,’ I muttered to Eve.

  She gave me a baleful stare. ‘Don’t you like it?’ she demanded.

  ‘Yes, but it’s not to be inflicted on someone with a weak stomach,’ I replied.

  ‘I’m glad about that, because I have an identical one upstairs so you’d better get used to it. Harriet and I bought them last summer in London.’

  I decided it was time to change the subject. I asked Harriet about Charlie and Sammy. ‘Charlie’s not in so much pain now but I wish this wretched fog would lift so we can get him to hospital. Sammy’s much better too. Her cold seems to have abated and her temperature’s back to normal. She said her throat felt a lot less sore this morning so I’ve allowed her to get up for breakfast. In fact she should have been here by now; I wonder what’s happened to her? Becky, when you’ve finished eating, go see what’s keeping Sammy will you please?’

  ‘Any news on the weather?’

  ‘According to the forecast on the radio the fog could be lifting. If so, we might get a snowplough out this way.’

  I smiled and said, ‘It looks as if most of our problems might be on their way to being solved.’

  I should have known better.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Becky left the table and went out in search of her twin sister. Ten minutes later, she and Sammy came into the dining hall together, chatting animatedly. Having greeted her nieces and enquired after Sammy’s health, Eve rose and announced she was going to her room. ‘I’m going for a shower,’ she told everyone. ‘Then I’m going to hunt through my wardrobe in the hope I can find something to wear that will not meet with too much disapproval from the style gurus round here,’ – she eyed me balefully.

  ‘I’m sure that you’ll look devastatingly lovely whatever clothes you decide to wear,’ I told her. I’m not too proud to crawl.

  Eve continued to stare at me. I think she was trying to work out whether I was being sarcastic or not. After a moment or so she seemed satisfied and turned to walk out. As she was leaving the dining hall, Polly Jardine walked in. The effect of the encounter on both women was both instantaneous and visible. They passed each other with just the curtest of nods and I was reminded of two cats circling each other, hackles raised, claws unsheathed; ready for a fight. I half expected to hear hissing and spitting sounds coming from the pair of them.

  Polly enquired politely about my health, without it seemed, being over concerned. I responded with equal formality and watched her as she disappeared behind the screen in front of the breakfast bar. I was intrigued by the effect Polly’s appearance had on Harriet. Whereas a day or two previously Harriet would have greeted her old friend with open affection her attitude now seemed more guarded. Polly’s scurrilous tales about Eve and me had rebounded on her, it seemed. I was glad of that as I considered Polly’s influence over Harriet unhealthy.

  I was feeling so much better I decided to visit Charlie in his room. I was fairly certain the boy would not be glued to the television set watching rugby at this hour of the morning. A brief visit might help alleviate his boredom and besides which I wanted to ask him a couple of questions. I spoke to Harriet before I left, ‘I thought I’d look in on Charlie if he’s up to receiving visitors.’

  ‘I think he’d welcome that,’ she said with a smile. ‘He’s going a bit stir-crazy up there on his own. Sammy and Becky visit him but another visitor would always be welcome. I just wish we could get him to hospital. At least there he wouldn’t feel quite so isolated and left out of things.’

  The effect of the cold, clammy, and decidedly miserable weather could be felt throughout the castle. I made my way slowly upstairs, for although I was feeling much better in myself I still ached in every limb. I paused when I reached the first floor and decided warmer clothing would be sensible. I had invested in some very stylish lambswool sweaters that autumn. One of those would be ideal for keeping the cold at bay. I turned and headed for my room. As I approached the door I could see it wasn’t closed as I’d expected, but was slightly ajar. I stopped and thought about this fact for a moment. I was convinced I’d closed the door when Eve and I had left to go downstairs for breakfast, or had I? The more I thought about it the less certain I became. I approached the door cautiously as I didn’t fancy another bang on the head, or anywhere else for that matter. I flung the door open wide and took a step back prepared for the worst.

  No violently inclined intruders burst out of the room to spring at me. There was no sound from within so I crept nearer and looked apprehensively inside. The room or at least the part of it I could see from outside the door seemed just as I had left it earlier. I moved step by step across the threshold and into the room itself. I sighed with relief and gazed round. I relaxed; it was obviously my imagination playing tricks. Nothing in the room had changed in the hour or so I’d left it vacant. Just to be on the safe side I swung the wardrobe door open. There was nobody inside. Not even a bank manager, I thought, with a rueful smile at my own hyper-active imagination. I also checked the shower room, going so far as to pull the shower curtain back. The room was as empty as the adjoining bedroom had been.

  I took a sweater from the wardrobe and sat on the end of the bed to put it on. It wasn’t easy for both my chest and arms were still sore and aching. As I struggled with the garment I berated myself for allowing the situation to affect my imagination. I thought about it and decided my mental state was still not back to normal otherwise I’d not have let a partly open door lead to such paranoid behaviour. I decided a body warmer would enhance the warming effect of the sweater and took one off its hanger in the wardrobe.

  As I put it on I felt a gentle bump against my hip. I investigated and found it was the Swiss army knife I’d bought a couple of months ago. I’m a sucker for gimmicks and this neat little device in its own webbing case with everything a man could need built into a gadget little bigger than a penknife had been far too tempting for me to resist. I smiled at my own slightly childish delight in toys and replaced the tool in my pocket.

  My wrestling match with the sweater had ruffled my hair into an unruly mess so I crossed to the dressing table to rectify the damage. After Eve’s remark about style gurus I wasn’t going to risk her sarcasm over my unkempt appearance. I picked up my hairbrush and tidied my hair. As I replaced the brush on the gl
ass top of the dressing table I glanced down into the well where the stool was stored and where female guests would sit whilst doing their make-up. It was this glance that triggered a suspicion that something wasn’t right. From the profusion of jumbled mental images of the previous days one picture slowly emerged as I stood there and I realized with a shock what it was. There was something missing. Something that should have been there had vanished. I remembered Rathbone arriving at Tony’s command with a giant tray containing mine and Eve’s meals. In order for the butler to have space to set the huge tray down on the dressing table Eve had moved everything off the glass top. The smaller items she had placed on the stool as a temporary measure. The largest item she had stored in the kneehole recess. That was the briefcase I had removed from Beaumont’s room following his murder.

  So when Eve and I left to go downstairs for breakfast I had closed the door properly after all. My feeling that an intruder had been inside my room wasn’t the paranoid effect of the blow on the head I’d sustained, or the consequent concussion. Maybe I should have been comforted by these facts but I wasn’t. I was as scared as hell.

  Another mental image formed itself, that of the early hours of the morning, the castle in darkness and silence; with me lying in bed, unable to sleep because of the pain I was suffering. I recalled the attempted surreptitious entry into my room and Eve’s foiling of it. At the time we’d both assumed it to have been another attempt on my life that she had frustrated. Perhaps there had been another motive for the intrusion. Maybe all the intruder had been after was the briefcase. That should have comforted me as well. It didn’t.

  I pondered matters for a short while. Just to be certain I went over every square inch of the room again to ensure Eve hadn’t moved the briefcase again to a more permanent resting place. I checked the wardrobe, lifted the lid on the ottoman, checked the chest of drawers, and even went down on one knee to look under the bed. This was a painful exercise in itself. After I got back to my feet, no mean feat, I stood for a moment to let my head stop spinning and the aches and pains in various parts of my anatomy subside. There had been nothing under the bed except a porcelain chamber pot and a considerable amount of dust. The latter caused me further distress as I began to sneeze. The pain this inflicted on my chest and back was excruciating. I sat on the bed until I had recovered somewhat then went to report the robbery.

  I crossed the corridor to Eve’s room and knocked on the door. After a few moments the door opened a couple of inches and Eve peered out. Through the gap in the door I could see she was clad in nothing more than a bath sheet. ‘What is it, Adam?’ she asked, her tone apprehensive.

  ‘I’ve been robbed,’ I told her dramatically.

  ‘How do you mean, robbed?’

  ‘I mean exactly that. Someone has been into my room whilst we were downstairs having breakfast. They’ve taken Beaumont’s briefcase.’

  ‘Good God. Give me five minutes and I’ll come across.’

  I went back to my room and sat on the bed. Five minutes passed slowly then another five dragged by before Eve appeared. She began a tour of inspection. After she had searched all the places I’d looked a few minutes earlier she agreed that I wasn’t hallucinating. She sat on the end of the bed alongside me and put her hand on my knee. My pulse rate had been fine for a couple of days and didn’t need raising any longer. I considered telling her this but opted against it. ‘I reckon that explains the break-in a couple of nights ago,’ I suggested, ‘when we thought they were coming to finish me off.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Eve’s tone was reluctant, ‘and maybe they intended to do both.’

  I hadn’t thought of that. I hadn’t particularly wanted to think of it. ‘Thanks, Evie,’ I murmured, ‘you’re such a comfort. I’d just convinced myself I was no longer in danger until you made that remark. You realize what this means?’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘If I’m still in danger, I’ll still need a bodyguard to protect me.’

  I have to admit Eve didn’t seem too upset at the news. ‘What do you suggest we do now?’ she asked.

  ‘I think we ought to tell Tony and Harriet what’s happened. It is their house after all.’

  When we reached the ground floor we bumped into Becky and Sammy. ‘Hi, girls, are you two busy?’

  ‘No, Adam,’ they chorused, ‘did you want us for something?’ They looked at me hopefully.

  I was mildly baffled by this sudden concern. ‘I was going to go see your brother,’ I told them, ‘but something’s come up that your auntie and I need to talk to your mum and dad about. Would you be angels and go sit with Charlie for a while? Tell him I’ll be up to see him in an hour or two when I’ve sorted this other problem out. Would you do that for me?’

  ‘Of course, Adam,’ the twins chorused, and turned to set off upstairs.

  I watched them go with mild bewilderment; then turned to see Eve smiling at me. ‘What’s with those two all of a sudden?’ I asked.

  Eve’s smile broadened, ‘Men,’ she said disparagingly, ‘you are supposed to be intelligent yet sometimes you can be as thick as two short planks.’

  That left me even more baffled.

  We found Tony in his study. ‘We need to have a word with you. Is Harriet about? She ought to be in on this as well.’

  ‘She went through to the kitchen to sort out menus with Cathy and Polly after breakfast,’ Tony said. ‘I’ll go get her if you like. Is it something serious?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes it is; both serious and disturbing.’

  When Tony returned with Harriet I explained what had happened. ‘Good grief!’ Tony exclaimed. ‘That’s dreadful. What do you think we should do about it?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking this over, and I reckon we ought to take expert opinion before we do anything. For myself, I’d recommend searching the castle from top to bottom. If we found the missing items I reckon we’d have a clue as to who’s behind all this but do you need to ask Pratt if it’s something we’re allowed to do. I’m not sure what rights people have when they’re staying in other houses than their own.’

  ‘I don’t much care what rights they might have,’ Tony said with unexpected severity. ‘I want this business cleared up and if we can find these things and get a line on the culprit I’ll take the chance.’

  ‘One thing in our favour,’ Harriet added. ‘I know the castle’s a big place but you can’t hide a briefcase easily. We should be able to find it without too much trouble.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry about people’s rights. Let’s just go ahead with the search. It might be an idea to get everyone together and tell them what we intend to do. Watch their expressions and see if anyone looks guilty or frightened.’

  Tony told the family after they had been gathered up and were sitting in the large drawing room. I watched everyone carefully. Eve watched everyone carefully. Harriet watched everyone carefully. After Tony had finished speaking and deputised various guests to different parts of the castle he sent them off in pairs to begin searching. Tony and Harriet, Eve and I were left alone with Lady Charlotte. ‘Well,’ Tony asked us, ‘what did you think?’

  ‘Nobody looked guilty to me. Nobody seemed in the slightest concerned that we might be searching their room. In fact they all looked perfectly innocent,’ Harriet told him.

  ‘I agree,’ Eve added. ‘Which seems to indicate they all believe we won’t find out anything untoward.’

  ‘I’m with both Eve and Harriet on that,’ I said. ‘And I’m afraid that means whoever took the briefcase has secreted it somewhere they’re confident we won’t find it; even with the most rigorous search.’

  ‘That’s what I like to hear,’ Eve said, ‘optimism at work; just what we need.’

  Our search of the castle was thorough. It took the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon before we congregated once more in the sitting room. My downbeat assessment of our chances of finding the missing object had been proved accurate. Whoever had stolen the briefcase had been right to be confident
that their hiding place was secure.

  I felt tired and depressed by our lack of success. Too tired and too depressed to visit Charlie as I’d promised. I summoned my two allies and explained the position to them. ‘Would you do another favour for me and go tell your brother what’s happened?’ I asked. ‘Explain to Charlie that I’m tired and I’m going for a rest and that I’ll see him in the morning.’

  ‘Of course, Adam,’ Becky said.

  ‘You mustn’t overdo it, Adam,’ Sammy added. She sounded a lot like my mother used to.

  After they left I turned to Eve despairingly. ‘Don’t look at me,’ she said with a laugh. ‘It’s not my fault if you can’t work it out. Now come on. You look as white as a sheet. Get up to your room otherwise you’ll be fainting on me again.’

  I let her take my arm to support me as we went upstairs. I didn’t think it tactful to point out that I didn’t need the help. When we got to my room, I turned to face her. ‘Thanks again, Evie,’ I said.

  I’d given her the chance to retire and get some rest herself. She ignored me. She pushed me through the door and watched as I kicked my shoes off and relaxed on the bed. Then she went over to the window and drew the curtains. She switched the bedside lamp on and sat in one of the armchairs by the window. She picked up the book by Miles Rowe then noticed me watching her. ‘Go to sleep,’ she ordered and opened the book.

  I woke up feeling both rested and cheerful. I sat up and looked round. Eve was asleep in the chair, the book she had been reading lying open on her knee. She looked peaceful as she slept. There was a slight smile on her face. Eve, it seemed, was dreaming and by appearances it was a pleasant dream. I was loath to wake her, so I sat watching her for a while. Whether being observed in this manner disturbed her I’m not sure but she stirred, the book slipped from her lap, and landed on the floor with a gentle thump. ‘Damn and blast,’ she muttered then looked up to see me watching her. ‘I thought I’d woken you up, dropping the book,’ she explained. ‘I didn’t know you were already awake.’