Dying to Keep a Secret: The India Kirby Witch Mystery (Book 6)

by Sarah Kelly

  India nodded. She caught sight of Laurence entering the courtyard from the other direction and felt sick. To think they had trusted him, when he’d been lying the whole time. And yet, looking at Charlie, she could have sworn there was something suspicious in his eyes, too.

  Xavier and India linked arms and took a look at Laurence’s art as people arrived. Alexander was sitting in a chair in the corner behind a pair of shades, reading a newspaper and ignoring everyone. Mrs Rowan and Mrs Clitheroe were giggling together like schoolgirls. Geoffrey Forsythe was sipping champagne and looking bored, while Muriel tried to tell him how wonderful one of Laurence’s landscapes was. The sandwich lady had turned up, too, and looked rather out of place in her skimpy outfit, which looked like she was going to a club instead of an art exhibition. And there were a few people India didn’t recognize, who had perhaps come from out of town as Laurence had hoped. She scanned them to see if she recognized any faces. There was a diminutive figure in glasses, an angular bobbed haircut in jet black, jeans and high heels. Mary. India thought she was running quite a risk in coming there, even with the disguise and the huge shades she had covering her face.

  “I just can’t wait for this to be over,” Xavier said in a low voice, leaning in to speak right in her ear. “Then we can go and get the bag from our room and take it down to the police station.”

  India nodded. “Me too.”

  At that moment, Laurence noticed them and rushed over. “Oh, so glad you could come!” He was truly alive, his eyes bright with joy and pleasure. “Please do look over my work. I so hope I’ll be able to sell something and get that pesky roof fixed.”

  “We hope so, too,” India forced out.

  Xavier steered India firmly toward a painting. “In fact, we’ll start looking now,” he told Laurence.

  “Jolly good,” Laurence said with a grin, then swanned off to go and speak to someone else.

  “Ugh,” India began to say, “I hope…” But then she heard a voice. Not out in the courtyard, but inside her head.

  India. India, help me

  Luis! India turned to Xavier with wide eyes, alarmed by the weakness in Luis’ voice. It sounded like he was about to die. “Zave, Luis’ calling me. He needs our help. Let’s go.”

  They hurried out of the courtyard through the door they came in, then dashed deeper into the garden, hoping to find a place between a cluster of trees where they could teleport from. Soon they found exactly what they were looking for.

  Take us to Luis! India hollered in her mind, gripping onto Xavier’s warm hands.

  And once they’d gone through that sickening fairground giddy feeling they got while teleporting, they opened their eyes to find themselves in a desert. Luis was on his back, his mouth open, dry and parched.

  “Luis!” India hollered, rushing to him. “What’s happened? Why didn’t you call us sooner?”

  He moved his head a little toward them, with great difficulty. “Wa…water,” was all he could manage to say.

  Xavier instantly produced some water out of thin air. “Here,” he said, stooping to pour it in Luis’ mouth.

  India watched, worried. “But… Luis… why couldn’t you conjure the water yourself? Or at least teleport yourself out of here?”

  Luis was drinking so deeply he didn’t even reply. But after a couple of minutes he stopped and looked up at her. “Tchort caught up with me. As soon as you made the spell in the dark coven to get Xavier and you out of there, I had to bridge it. They found me, and put some kind of spell on me. I couldn’t contact anyone telepathically. I couldn’t conjure anything. I couldn’t teleport. All I could do was walk. Walk through the desert. I found water once, but it all dried up. And I’ve been lying here for… I don’t know how long, trying to get a message to you.”

  India’s heart was racing. “Oh, no!” she said. “I’m so sorry! I only just heard you.”

  Xavier shook his head. “And I didn’t hear you at all.”

  “I feel just awful,” India said.

  “No time for that,” Luis croaked. “You need to get back wherever you were. I don’t know where, but I sense urgency. Like injustice is about to get its comeuppance. But I need to come with you.”

  India had a thousand questions, but Xavier was ready to go. He grabbed both their hands and in a flash, they were back among the trees in the gardens of Aston Paddox Hall.

  Luis was back to full health, in a linen summer suit, looking quite the gentleman. He grinned at them as he flexed his neck and cracked his knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

  CHAPTER 17

  When they got just outside the courtyard, they heard someone shouting.

  “Constable Middleton?” India whispered.

  “Where are they?” he barked. “Laurence, I demand to see them this instant!”

  “But… but… I don’t know,” Laurence said, sounding distraught. “Please… this is my fundraiser.”

  “I don’t care if it’s your great grandmother’s birthday party, I need to see them now.”

  Xavier shook his head. “He’s talking about us, isn’t he?”

  “Let’s go in,” India said, even though her heart was thumping up a storm and something definitely didn’t feel right. “We have nothing to hide.”

  “All right.”

  So they did.

  “There they are!” someone in the courtyard said, pointing at them.

  “Aha!” Constable Middleton said, already reaching for his cuffs. “Charlie! Hold that girl to the wall.”

  Charlie, the closest person to India, leapt at her and pushed her against the stone wall.

  “What’s going on?” Xavier said. He was about to jump to India’s aid, but Constable Middleton caught him. “Oh no, sonny boy. You’re under arrest for the murder of Felicia Drummond-Coe. And likely the murder of Liam Dancer, too, but we’ll get to that later.”

  Everyone gasped.

  “What?!” India hollered.

  “And you, too,” Constable Middleton said. “I’m coming for you with my handcuffs right now.”

  Mrs Clitheroe hurried forward, incensed. “And just what evidence do you have for this?”

  “A bag,” Constable Middleton said. “I took the liberty of searching through your home—”

  “How dare you!” Mrs Clitheroe shouted.

  “It was worth it,” the constable said, as he took out another pair of handcuffs and slapped them on India’s wrists. “I found a bag containing Felicia’s clothes, twenty thousand pounds, and plane tickets to make their escape to Florida.”

  “No!” Xavier said. “That’s not our bag, it’s Laurence’s!”

  Constable Middleton sneered. “Nice try.”

  “No, really!” India hollered. “Just listen, please, just for one moment.”

  “All right,” the Constable said, like he was dealing with a silly child. “We’ll listen to your silly story.”

  “Laurence killed Felicia,” India said.

  Another load of gasps rippled through the courtyard.

  “No!” Laurence said hotly.

  “It’s true,” Xavier said firmly. “He said he was going to a conference that night.”

  India shook her head. “But he wasn’t. He lied and told us he was staying in a room at the conference center, but actually he was staying at the Crabtree Hotel in Gillingsborough.”

  “I swear I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Laurence said, rushing over to Constable Middleton.

  The constable pushed him away roughly. “Shut up.” He nodded at India and Xavier. “Go on.”

  “He left a note for Liam to take a chest freezer upstairs while he was gone,” Xavier said. “Liam did that with help from Charlie.”

  “That’s true,” Charlie said.

  “Then Laurence pretended to forget some art supplies.” India pointed at Tom. “He called Tom, who drove him through the back roads and back to the Hall. And we know that’s the case because he nearly ran over Charlie, who was coming home from putting the freezer upsta
irs.”

  “Tom!” Laurence exclaimed. “Tell them it’s not true! This is all lies! Charlie, are you trying to frame me or something?”

  Tom only looked at the ground, his glass of champagne in hand.

  “And a woman at the hotel, Sophie, gave us that bag,” Xavier said. “You can check that out with her, Constable Middleton. She said that Laurence left it there, asking for it to be thrown away.”

  “He did have a motive,” Constable Middleton said, rubbing his chin. “Because Felicia was stealing from him. So he killed her and got the money back. But then… why would he throw the money away?”

  “I don’t know,” India said quickly, remembering something else. “But he killed Liam, too. Because Liam was bribing him. We saw them down by the ornamental pond, and Liam was demanding money or he’d go to the newspaper.”

  Constable Middleton turned to face Laurence. “Is this true?”

  Laurence’s face was white as a sheet. “No.”

  The constable sneered. “So you hired these private investigators to go off to Florida to look for Felicia, who you had already killed. To make yourself look innocent.”

  “Exactly,” India said.

  “It all makes sense.” Constable Middleton took the handcuffs off Xavier.

  “No, no!” Laurence cried. “Please, it’s not true!”

  Constable Middleton mocked him. “Please, it’s not true!” then slapped the cuffs on him. “Come on, Lord, you’re coming with me.”

  India stared out at the sea of faces in the courtyard, her pulse racing like it had never raced before. Something still wasn’t right. It wasn’t.

  “Give it up, Laurence,” Xavier said uncertainly. “Just confess.”

  India’s eyes landed on someone, and a bolt of lightning struck through her. “No!” she cried out. “It’s not Laurence, it’s Alexander!”

  The Constable stopped, looking impatient. “What now? Are you just accusing everyone for a laugh? I’ll arrest you again, you know.” He looked at Laurence. “Maybe I was too hasty.”

  Alexander was striding up to them, taking off his sunglasses. He was cool and casual, his newspaper tucked under his arm. “I heard my name mentioned?”

  “It makes sense now,” India said to Xavier. “The plane tickets. The ticket stub to come over here was dated a few weeks ago, so we thought it was Felicia’s. But actually… it’s Alexander’s!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Alexander said. “I only just arrived.”

  “Nope,” the voice of a woman said. Mary stepped forward. “He’s been here two weeks. I’ve been trailing him.”

  Alexander smirked. “Who’s this dreamer, then?” But when he took a good look at her, his eyes practically popped out of his head. “You!”

  Mary took her glasses off. “Yes, it’s me. And I’ve finally got all the information I need to write a huge exposé about you and see you behind bars for life.”

  “He’ll get that for murder, anyways,” India said.

  Alexander launched himself at Mary, going for her neck.

  Xavier rushed at them, diving in between and pushing Alexander off. They ended up on the ground together and Alexander laid a powerful punch into Xavier’s temple.

  “Argh!” Xavier shouted, then dealt him a powerful blow back.

  “Xavier!” India hollered. She was still in cuffs so couldn’t dive in to help.

  Constable Middleton hurried to take the cuffs off Laurence, then hurried over. Alexander was strong despite his wiry frame, and both Xavier and the constable had to work together to subdue him face down on the floor, his arms behind his back. Constable Middleton managed to put the cuffs on.

  “You’ll all die!” Alexander was shouting. “Every single one of you! You don’t know the powers I have in this world!”

  “Black magic powers?” India blurted out.

  “Yes!” Alexander shouted. “I could kill you in an instant if I wanted. Just you wait!”

  Everyone went silent.

  Alexander was still struggling so much that Constable Middleton had to sit on his back. “Enough of this magic talk. India, Xavier, explain more about Alexander.”

  “Alexander was the one who added the freezer to the bottom of the to do list,” Xavier said. “Laurence never ever wrote in the bottom margin.”

  Constable Middleton sneered. “That’s very nice. Now, some proper evidence, please.”

  “Oh, and it makes sense about the money now!” India said, realizing something new. “I don’t mean to disclose your financial situation, Laurence… and we’re very sorry for accusing you, but everyone knows that Laurence has no money to speak of. That’s why we’re here today, to raise the money to get the roof in the west wing fixed. So if it really had been Laurence, do you think he would have just tossed away twenty thousand pounds? I don’t think so.”

  “But to Alexander, that kind of money is nothing,” Xavier explained. “He’s a multi multi multi millionaire.”

  “Nearly a billionaire, actually,” Mary helpfully added.

  “I’ll get you killed!” Alexander spat in her direction.

  She simply folded her arms and rolled her eyes. “I’d like to see you try.”

  “But why would he want to kill his own daughter?” Tasha asked.

  “She was blackmailing him,” India said. “Mary mentioned that so many people were blackmailing him that they were practically on a payroll.”

  Mary nodded. “That makes sense. The two of them were never close, and he was so tight with money he would never give her any.”

  The Constable stomped on Alexander’s leg as he kept flailing about. “I’m still not hearing what I need to hear.”

  Xavier looked across the courtyard. “Tom, it’s time to tell the truth.”

  Tom looked up, fear all over his face. He looked at his wife, then down at his kids. “No,” he said desperately. “I can’t.”

  India was firm. “You have to. For Felicia’s sake. For justice.”

  Tom rubbed the back of his neck and looked like he was going to burst into tears. “All right. It was Alexander staying at the Crabtree. He told me he wanted a lift from there to the Hall, to take some papers Laurence was withholding from him. We went first in the afternoon, then he told me we’d have to do it again in the evening, as he didn’t find what he needed.” His voice cracked. “And in the stupidest moment of my life, I believed him. I knew something was up when I picked him up from the hotel. He was dressed just like Laurence, with his hair long and all. He told me not to tell Laurence.”

  The constable glared at him. “You’ll be arrested for that and will have to stand trial. Go and drive to the police station now. And if you try and do a runner, your face will be plastered on every newspaper in the land before morning.”

  Mrs Stone gasped. Tom kissed her on the cheek. “Sorry, Victoria,” he said, then began his walk of shame toward the gate.

  “If you’re innocent, there won’t be a problem,” Mrs Clitheroe rushed to console them.

  “So the first visit was to add the freezer instruction to the to do list for Liam,” India explained.

  Xavier nodded. “And the second visit was to… kill his own daughter. Then he packed her bag and took the money back to his hotel, to make it look like she’d run away.”

  Laurence ran out of the courtyard and vomited.

  “And he put the body in the freezer so when it was all found it would look like Laurence was the killer,” India said. “Ooh, and he pretended he was in California so Laurence would have to reach him by his cell, not his Florida numbers.”

  Xavier nodded. “Then he pretended to get a flight in from the airport. I bet if we track down that taxi driver, we’d find he came from some hotel, not an airport.”

  “All right,” Constable Middleton said. “But what about Liam?”

  This is where India’s memory went hazy, because of all the black magic business. “We thought we were watching Laurence and Liam, but we must have been watching Alexander and Liam. Liam must
have found out about the murder, and he was blackmailing Alexander. Then Alexander killed him.”

  “Is this true?” Constable Middleton said to Alexander.

  “Give it all up,” Mary said to him. “Your empire has crumbled, you sicko.”

  “Yes!” Alexander hollered. “Yes! But don’t you worry, India and Xavier. You will pay for this, very very heavily. All of you.”

  “No,” Xavier said. “You’re the one who’s going to pay.”

  Constable Middleton dragged Alexander up to his feet, and dragged him out of the courtyard. Alexander went quite willingly. India watched and saw Luis appear in his linen suit. He gave Alexander a smile and a chirpy little wave. “Have fun in prison,” he said, in a posh English accent.

  The whole place was stunned.

  Luis waltzed in with a breezy smile, then turned to Laurence, who had since come back in. “Lord Drummond-Coe, I am from Norfolk, and I came all the way here to peruse your art collection. Now, please show me the most expensive piece you have for sale. I should love to boast to all my friends that I own one of the best Drummond-Coe pieces in existence.”

  Laurence looked ever so taken aback. He stammered, “Oh… all right… then.” He took him to a huge statue of a woman lying down, which was totally lifesize and would also have been totally lifelike if she were not all in pure white stone. Even little fat bulges and cellulite had been immaculately crafted.

  Luis tipped his head on one side. “A hundred thousand pounds, I think I would be willing to pay.”

  “Oh… oh… er… but it’s only twenty thousand,” Laurence stammered.

  Luis laughed and drew out a check book and an expensive fountain pen. “Nonsense. That’s far too cheap. You must value your work more, Lord Drummond-Coe. I shall make this check out to you now.”

  ***

  “Ahh,” India said, leaning back in her chair in the grounds of Aston Paddox Hall, a year later. She and Xavier had accepted Laurence’s invitation to come and visit for a week, and Mrs Clitheroe’s subsequent invitation for them to stay a week with her, too. “My honorary grandchildren,” she always called them, since her own children and their kids lived in cities many hundreds of miles away.