by K E O'Connor
“If you change your mind, I’m happy to help,” I said, seeing two dots of color flare on Lady Camilla’s cheek, and realizing I was pushing my luck.
Lady Camilla’s chair squeaked back and she stood. “I need some air.” She left the room without another word.
I opened the door and let Flipper in. “Time for me to do some snooping. You keep guard.”
Flipper shook himself and laid down, his head on his paws and his gaze on the door.
As I’d been working through the filing cabinets in the study, I’d found something curious; there was a folder marked Katie Reynold. I hadn’t been able to look at it with Lady Camilla in the room, but now she was gone, I pulled it out and opened it. Inside, were papers and contracts from a firm of private investigators.
I hadn’t expected to see these. I leafed through the documents, seeing information on traces the firm had run, as they attempted to locate Katie.
There were too many documents to look at, so I made some copies and stashed the originals back in the cabinet.
Would Lady Camilla have bothered to employ a private investigator to find her daughter if she had anything to do with her death? It didn’t seem likely. Perhaps she really was worried about what happened to Katie but didn’t like to show it.
Lady Camilla said Katie was dead, but hadn’t said anything about where she was buried. Why would she be searching for her daughter if she knew for sure she was dead?
***
“Are you certain this outfit is suitable for my date with Henry?” Helen twirled in front of me, wearing a soft azure-blue dress and nude heels that made her legs look ridiculously long. Her blonde curls had been clipped off her face, and her blue eyes sparkled.
“You look lovely,” I said. “He’ll be blown away.”
“I don’t want to look like I’m making too much effort,” said Helen. “But I want him to know what he could be getting if he plays his cards right.”
“Have you starched his shirts for him?” I teased. “That will impress Henry the most. The way to a man’s heart is through a stiff collar.”
“It was the first thing I did,” said Helen. “I wanted to show him what a good housewife I’ll be for some lucky guy.”
“And you’re sure you’re not getting ahead of yourself?” I grinned, as I patted my leg and Flipper came to my side.
“Well, he is awfully nice,” said Helen. “There’s no harm in having a few daydreams. He could be the man I’ve been waiting for.”
“Or he could be a cheeky user who’s simply after someone to sort out his laundry for him for free.”
“It was only a few shirts,” said Helen. “It’s not as if he asked me to wash his boxer shorts for him.”
“If he ever does, make sure you show him the door,” I said. “You need a man who can wash his own underpants.”
“I’m not going to argue about that,” said Helen. “And since you and Flipper are going to be my chaperones for the evening, this is going to be extremely innocent.”
“I’m only coming out with you so we can talk about what I found,” I said, as I led the way out of the kitchen and into the garden.
“What did you discover from Lady Camilla about Katie?” asked Helen, as she pulled the front door shut behind her.
“She wouldn’t tell me anything,” I said. “But I found a file of paperwork from a private investigation firm. Lady Camilla hired them to discover what happened to Katie.”
Helen raised her eyebrows. “Why would she do that?”
“Because she’s worried about what happened to her,” I said. “It suggests she wasn’t involved in Katie or Johnny’s deaths because she doesn’t know what happened to them.”
“Or she’s putting on a good act,” said Helen. “Maybe she knows exactly what happened and paid a PI to make it look good. Make her seem like a concerned mother desperate to find her missing daughter and bring her home.”
“Would she be that devious?” I asked. “I read through the papers I copied and Lady Camilla has spent thousands of pounds with this firm.”
“You know her better than I do since I’m confined to below stairs,” said Helen, pulling an exaggerated frown. “She could be hiding the fact she killed her daughter and the unsuitable boyfriend.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Lady Camilla is emotionally distant and cold, but I think beneath her ice-maiden veneer, she’s worried about what had happened.”
“Oh, look, there’s Henry!” Helen waved wildly at the figure approaching us across the lawn.
“Just remember, play it cool,” I cautioned her, knowing I was wasting my breath.
“Henry! Over here!” Helen grinned, and sped up. “How exciting, our first proper date.”
Flipper growled and his hackles rose as Henry approached. That was unlike him, Flipper liked everybody.
“Don’t worry, it’s just Helen’s new boyfriend,” I said to Flipper. “She won’t forgive you if you scare him off by growling, though. But Helen won’t forget about you because she’s found herself a man, you’ll still get plenty of doggie treats from her.”
Flipper stopped growling and his tail wagged at the mention of doggie treats. It didn’t take much to win him over.
I slowed my pace, giving Helen and Henry a chance to say hello to each other without me interfering.
Henry kissed Helen on the cheek and presented her with a single yellow rose. His gaze went to me and he smiled. “I’d have brought you a flower as well if I’d known you’d be accompanying us.”
“Don’t mind me,” I said. “Flipper just needs his nightly walk. I won’t be getting in your way.
“You can come with us if you want.” Helen discreetly shook her head at me.
I got the point and didn’t want to be the third wheel in this new relationship. “Oh no, I think Flipper wants to go in that direction.” I pointed over my shoulder. “But have fun the two of you.”
Helen grinned at me, before linking her arm through Henry’s and walking away.
I turned and went in the opposite direction, letting Flipper lead the walk. It was the first time I’d explored the garden properly and was interested to see what was in the fifty acres of land Lady Camilla owned.
Most of it was laid to lawn, with established trees dotted around. Birds sung in the branches, as the last of the late evening sun crept down to meet the treeline.
Flipper paused and sniffed the air, before dashing ahead of me towards a small wooded area. He’d probably caught the scent of a pheasant or rabbit and decided to investigate. He never harmed them, but he did enjoy a good chase.
I sped up, attempting to keep up with Flipper, and found myself in the middle of a neatly tended wood. “Flipper, where are you?” I looked around in the dim light, feeling a chill run over me as the warmth from the sun no longer kissed my skin. Flipper was nowhere to be seen.
“Stop messing around. You never know, that horrible Ranulph might have planted animal traps in here.” And if he had, I’d shove him into one. Those things were barbaric.
I heard the rustle of leaves to my right, and Flipper shot out just ahead of me.
“There you are. Slow down!”
Flipper ignored me and shot ahead again, jumping straight over a wooden fence.
“Come out of there. If there’s a fence in your way, you’re not meant to jump over it.” I stopped by the edge of the fence and peered around.
Flipper looked over his shoulder at me and began to dig.
I groaned as I pulled myself over the fence and dropped to the other side. “Don’t tell me, you’ve found some buried treasure you just have to uncover.”
Clods of earth shot out from where Flipper was digging as I hurried towards him.
“Lady Camilla won’t like if you mess up her garden.” I stopped by Flipper’s side, narrowly avoiding getting a shoe full of earth.
Flipper looked up at me, dirt covering his muzzle.
“Fun’s over.” I grabbed his collar, but he dug his paws in and refused to mo
ve.
I’d been in this situation before, and there was no point in fighting Flipper; when he found something he wanted to dig up, he just kept on going.
I took a few steps back and looked around. The area had been left for nature, with thick patches of nettles, blobs of cow parsley, and long tufts of grass dotted about. I couldn’t hear anything other than Flipper’s continual digging. The quiet should have been calming, but I found it a little eerie. I glanced at the trees overhead, expecting to see a tree spirit glaring down at me - or a ghost - that wouldn’t have been such a shock. But there was nothing in the branches.
“You must come out of here!” Manfred came running through the trees towards me, his cheeks bright red and his carefully gelled hair standing up in a messy peak.
“Is something wrong?” I asked him.
“Lady Camilla wishes to use the garden.”
“There’s plenty to choose from,” I said.
“She doesn’t want a staff presence when she’s out here,” said Manfred, as he stopped by the fence and wiped sweat from his brow. “I saw you running in here just as I was going to round everybody up. You need to get back to the house.”
“If I stay in these trees while she’s out here, Lady Camilla won’t even notice I’m around.”
“She knows everything.” Manfred cast a worried look over his shoulder. “It’s time for you to go inside.”
“But Flipper needs his walk.” I looked back to where Flipper was still digging.
Manfred snapped his fingers at me. “Get back to the house.”
I pressed my lips together and glared at him. “Fine. We’re going. But don’t you think it’s a bit ridiculous that no one else can be in the garden when Lady Camilla’s out here?”
“I never question my employer,” said Manfred. He gestured for me to move away from the trees.
I beckoned Flipper to me, and he reluctantly left his digging, and we climbed over the fence.
“There’s nothing in there for you anyway.” Manfred smoothed his hair down. “It gets wild the farther you go from the fence. It’s meant for wildlife, not humans.”
“I guess I’ll never get to see that for myself,” I said.
“Our employer is very exacting,” said Manfred. “I’m not to blame here. I’m only following orders.”
“There’s exacting and then there’s...” I waved my hands about.
Manfred raised a dark eyebrow at me. “Best not to question her. Anyone who does doesn’t last for long. If you like living here, and you enjoy the work, my advice to you is to be quiet. Smile and nod and get on with the things you’re asked to do. I enjoy my time here, but many have fallen afoul of Lady Camilla because they asked too many questions, and don’t agree with her way of doing things.”
That comment raised my interest. Would that harshness have extended to a misbehaving daughter? “Some of her rules are ridiculous.”
Manfred nodded as we walked side-by-side out of the trees. “She’s an eccentric one. But I think she does it because she feels the need to exert power over people. And she’s lonely. So many people have left her. Lady Camilla is concerned that if she doesn’t hold on tightly to those left around her, they will go as well.”
“So she holds onto them tightly by being horrible?”
“I wouldn’t call it horrible,” said Manfred. “But she has a particular way of doing things. And she’s not flexible.”
“You’re telling me,” I said.
Manfred gave a discreet shrug. “I’d better go. Didn’t I see Helen walking off in the other direction with Lord Davenport?”
I nodded. “I don’t know where they were going, though. She could be anywhere by now.”
“Oh dear, Lady Camilla will be disappointed if she spots them.” Manfred hurried off ahead of me, and I stomped towards the house, still smarting at the way he’d ordered me around.
When we got back, I kicked mud off my shoes and then wiped Flipper’s paws clean. Didn’t want Lady Camilla complaining about dirt on the floor and insisting Flipper go in the kennels as punishment.
Lady Camilla and her stupid rules. Despite what Manfred told me, I wasn’t going to bow down and agree to every eccentricity she had.
And I was going to find out what happened to Katie and Johnny, even if that meant ignoring Lady Camilla’s orders and risking losing this job.
Chapter 9
It was the end of another long day working with Lady Camilla. For the first hour, I’d attempted to engage her in conversation, but had to admit defeat and accept I was going to get the cold shoulder from her. Maybe she was angry because I’d spent time in the gardens last night without her permission. Well, I wasn’t intending to apologize for that. Keeping fifty acres to yourself was selfish.
After Lady Camilla allowed me to finish my duties, I stalked to the kitchen with Flipper. I’d missed Helen that morning, she was either late getting up, or extra early, so I hadn’t had an opportunity to find out how her date with Henry went.
As I entered the kitchen, the huge smile on Helen’s face suggested it went well.
“Tell me everything,” I said, as I sat at the kitchen table and eased off my shoes. “Is Henry as wonderful as you thought he was?”
“He is rather lovely. He’s interesting and funny. I like him.” Helen turned from the stove and grinned at me. “And I guess it won’t do any harm that I’m going on another date with him this weekend.”
“Two dates in a week,” I said. “He must like you.”
“He seems to,” said Helen. “But he was a proper gentleman, he didn’t try any funny business when we were out together.”
“I’m guessing Manfred discovered you both and ended your date early, though.”
“Oh yes, the butler.” Helen grimaced. “He tried to chase me inside. But rather than abandoning the date, we walked out of the grounds and into Henry’s. There’s a low fence dividing the estates, so it was easy enough to get there. That way, Lady Camilla had nothing to complain about. We weren’t messing up the view on her grounds because we were on Henry’s land.”
“I bet she found something to complain about,” I said. “She’s barely spoken to me today.”
“You didn’t learn anything more about Katie?” Helen took the pot off the stove, and placed it on a heatproof mat in the middle of the table.
“I didn’t even bother to ask,” I said. “I did have another look through the papers I copied. The private investigation firm didn’t find anything about what happened to Katie and Johnny. They just vanished.”
Helen placed plates and cutlery on the table before ladling out rich smelling tomato pasta. “They must have needed to access money before they died. Surely there’s a record of their bank accounts.”
“There’s no mention of it in these papers,” I said. “They could have done cash in hand work, but neither of them appears to have done any more legal work. That would be easy to trace.”
“So what does that mean?” asked Helen, as she sat down.
“It suggests they died here,” I said. “And with their ghosts in the garage, and them trying to tell me something about the cars, I reckon they never left the estate. Maybe they were planning to elope together, but someone found out, and put a stop to it.”
Helen shook her head. “How awful. They’d found each other, but because it wasn’t approved of, they didn’t get a chance at happiness.”
“Since I can’t get anything more out of Lady Camilla, perhaps you’d like to try with Henry.”
“Try what with Henry?”
“Asking more questions about Katie,” I said. “Since they dated, they must have been close. He might have some inside scoop. Maybe even know about Johnny. Any information he has could be useful.”
Helen wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure that’s an appropriate second-date topic of conversation. I don’t want him to think I’m obsessing over his ex-girlfriends. Although, I would be interested to know who he dated in the past. I bet they’ve all been really glamorou
s.”
“None of them will compare to you,” I said, giving Helen a grin. “And I’m sure he won’t mind answering a few questions about Katie.”
“I’m not sure,” said Helen. “Maybe I can leave the questioning to you?”
“That would look odd, me asking him questions about Katie. You’ll be able to do it easily. Just drop him a few questions and see how he reacts.”
“How are you expecting him to react?”
I focused on my food, not wanting to make eye contact with Helen. “Well, maybe their relationship didn’t end well.”
“You want to make my new boyfriend a suspect in Katie and Johnny’s deaths?” Helen lowered her fork, and stared at me until I raised my gaze to meet hers.
“I didn’t say that,” I said. “But you don’t know him.”
“I know him well enough,” said Helen. “Henry can’t have had anything to do with it. He talks about Katie affectionately.”
“Which should make him a suspect,” I said. “He could still have feelings for her. And if she rebuffed him, he might have gotten mad and done something in anger.”
“That wonderful man doesn’t have a mean bone in his body,” said Helen swiftly. “I’m not going to jeopardize this relationship so you can poke your nose into his private business.”
“I don’t want you to jeopardize your relationship with Henry either,” I said. “But you don’t even have a relationship with him. You hardly know the guy.”
“I know him well enough to realize I want to keep seeing him,” said Helen. “And I don’t want to go messing things up so soon.”
“There’ll be plenty of time to do that later on when he realizes what an airhead you are.” I regretted the words the second they came out of my mouth.
Helen’s fork clattered to her plate, and tomato sauce sprayed across the table. “I am not an airhead.”
I tipped my head back and let out a sigh. “No, I didn’t mean that. But you’re not being rational when it comes to Henry. We need to make sure we don’t have to add him to the suspect list. He could be involved in two murders.”
