Dead on Course

by Glenis Wilson

  The important part of the wedding now over, the rest of the evening, from eight o’clock until two o’clock, would be given over to a disco with buffet. And as the guests replaced their glasses on the tables and began to drift out, free to mingle, whilst staff cleared the dining room, I caught Mike’s eye.

  ‘I’ll start with Edward,’ I said in a low voice. ‘Can you casually introduce me?’

  ‘Sure.’

  We wandered out into the main hall and watched the rest of the guests as they streamed from the dining room and arranged themselves in happy, talkative little groups.

  Edward Frame, chatting to Brandon, patted him on the shoulder and walked off down the back steps to the car park. We meandered over to the window and watched him take out a cigarette and light up.

  ‘OK,’ Mike said. ‘I think I need to collect something from my car, don’t you?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’

  We in turn trailed off down the back steps and crunched over the gravel to the massed lines of cars. Making it look good, a few yards away Mike pressed his remote control and unlocked his car. Sliding in behind the wheel, he pretended to fish in the glove compartment. Moments later, he climbed out, relocked the car, and we strolled back, fetching up near Frame.

  ‘Lovely ceremony, Edward,’ Mike said.

  Frame swung round to see who it was. ‘Ah …’ He struggled to remember.

  ‘Mike Grantley. We met at one of Samuel’s dinner parties.’

  ‘Ha, yes, yes.’ He beamed. ‘Always a relief when a wedding goes off so well. Prone to cock-ups, I believe.’

  I couldn’t meet Mike’s eyes, but Edward didn’t see the funny side of his remark.

  ‘Can I introduce a friend of mine? Edward, this is Harry Radcliffe, my retained jockey. Harry – Edward Frame, Louis’ elder brother.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you.’ I shook his hand firmly. ‘Good of you to step in and give Lucinda away.’

  ‘Nice to meet you, too, Harry. Least I could do for my late brother. Lucinda has no other family, you see.’ We nodded solemnly in unison. We already knew.

  ‘Lucinda’s mother died a long time ago … cancer.’

  I dropped in the baited hook. ‘Louis never remarried?’

  ‘No, no …’ Edward took a long, deep draw on his cigarette. ‘Said he’d had the best wife a man could have, stupid to think he could ever replace her.’

  I felt a prickle of anger at the hypocrisy of the dead man. Jo-Jo wasn’t good enough to marry, but he’d had his full share of bedding her.

  ‘Surely,’ I said, ‘Louis was a comparatively young man; didn’t he have any female companionship?’

  Mike threw me a wry look and I suddenly realized this scenario I was putting forward could fit him, too. I’d have to watch what I said. I didn’t want to hurt Mike’s feelings or antagonize him.

  ‘Well … y’know …’ Edward smirked.

  ‘Yes?’ I prompted innocently, thanking heaven that he clearly had a fair amount of alcohol on board and it was clouding his discretion.

  ‘To be honest, it was me who put Louis on to it.’ He took another long pull at the cigarette and I hoped it would last out long enough for us to discover something useful.

  ‘I don’t have a lady of my own, either …’ Mike said.

  I gaped at him. There I was, trying not to step on his toes, and he was jumping straight in himself.

  ‘Ha, I see …’ Edward’s smirk spread wider. ‘Well, since you could say we’re all men of the world’ – he winked – ‘you could try Daddy Dating.’

  Mike blinked. ‘Say again?’

  ‘A website, my dear chap. I put Louis on to it. It specializes in finding the … “right” young ladies for older gentlemen.’ He dropped the stub of his cigarette and ground it out on the path. ‘You’d be surprised just how many, er … ladies, are looking for a …’

  ‘Father figure?’ Mike proffered.

  ‘You’re so right.’ Edward clapped Mike on the shoulder.

  ‘Louis found a lady, then, from Daddy Dating?’

  He turned and stared at me as though I was naïve.

  ‘Yes, of course. Jo-Jo was ideal for him. Oh, she wasn’t my, er …’ He struggled.

  ‘Your lady friend?’ I helped him out; the word ‘tart’ was inappropriate but he was clearly considering it.

  ‘That’s right.’ He smiled with relief. ‘Alice told Jo-Jo.’

  ‘Alice?’ Mike murmured.

  ‘My, er … lady friend.’

  ‘Also from Daddy Dating?’ I asked.

  He nodded.

  ‘Jo-Jo died in the car crash, too, didn’t she? I seem to remember reading it in the paper.’

  He sighed. ‘Terrible tragedy. She was a lovely person, really cared about Louis.’

  ‘At least they died together …’ Mike kept the thread of conversation going.

  Edward dropped his voice and leaned in closer to us. ‘And not just the two of them.’ We were treated to a blast of alcohol fumes.

  ‘No?’ We egged him on.

  ‘Oh, no. ’Course, with her being only a little late it didn’t get in the papers.’

  ‘Pregnant?’ I queried, practically whispering down his ear, inviting confidences. He swayed ever closer towards me and tapped a finger down the side of his nose.

  ‘But don’t let on. Wouldn’t want it to get out now, ’specially not today. Don’t want to upset Lucinda.’

  ‘Oh, no, no, ’course not,’ we chorused, shaking our heads.

  ‘As the grave, Edward,’ Mike said, raised a finger and moved it side to side, ‘as the grave.’

  In view of the circumstances, his choice of a reassuring phrase wasn’t in the best of taste, but it satisfied Edward who then excused himself to go and join the other guests.

  We watched him walk back into the hotel.

  ‘Yet another motive, Mike?’

  ‘Could well be. But how come it wasn’t made public, reported in the press? You know what reporters are like – titillation of any sort will add to their readership numbers.’

  ‘Mike, she was sitting in the passenger seat, at the front. Louis was driving like the proverbial bat and their car ploughed head-on into a ten-ton horsebox. Death was instantaneous. The firemen had to cut them out.’

  I had a sudden mental picture of Jo-Jo’s beautiful face, as it had been in life. The following picture that my vivid imagination was about to show me, I censored.

  The door opened behind us, and Lucinda and Brandon, hand in hand, Lucinda still clad in her gorgeous white gown, came down the steps to speak to us.

  FOURTEEN

  ‘We’d like to thank you both for coming.’ Brandon opened the conversation with words he’d obviously been repeating all afternoon and by now must have been totally sick of saying.

  ‘Thanks are due from us,’ I said. ‘It’s a beautiful place, and a pleasure to be here for your wedding ceremony. We wish you a long and very happy life together.’

  ‘Indeed we do,’ Mike added.

  ‘How kind.’ Lucinda smiled. ‘I don’t want today to end, it’s been so perfect. I suppose by now I should have changed, but you only wear a wedding dress for one day and I’m making the most of every minute. I shall keep my dress on until bedtime.’ And then she blushed. She struck me as an innocent little girl. She was the total antithesis of Jo-Jo. Brandon put an arm round her waist and gave her a quick possessive hug.

  ‘You do whatever you want, my love.’ He looked at her proudly. ‘It’s your day.’

  ‘You’re spending your honeymoon here?’ Mike enquired.

  ‘Only tonight. Tomorrow evening we fly to Barbados.’

  ‘Very nice, too.’

  ‘And then we’ll fly home to start our life together.’ Lucinda looked lovingly up at her husband.

  ‘And what’s your line of work?’ I asked Brandon.

  ‘I’m in partnership with Richard. We supply horse feed. You may have noticed our delivery truck – B and R Lutens?’

  ‘I can’t say I have.’
I shook my head. ‘I’m more into filling horses’ saddles than filling their stomachs.’

  ‘Well, maybe one day we’ll be able to supply Mr Grantley.’ Brandon gave Mike a wide, confident smile.

  Mike smiled back. ‘Actually, I’m very satisfied with my own supplier, thanks, but I’ll keep your firm in mind for the future.’

  ‘Great; that’s what I like to hear.’ He started to pat his pockets, ended up laughing. ‘What am I like? It’s my wedding day and I’m in all my finery.’ He gave Lucinda a hug. ‘I’ll slip one of my business cards under your door later. What room are you in?’

  ‘One-one-five.’

  ‘Now, no more business. How are you both enjoying the day?’

  ‘A lovely wedding,’ Mike murmured.

  ‘I think everybody’s enjoying the day,’ I said.

  ‘And there’s more to come. We have a disco starting at eight o’clock.’ Lucinda smiled. ‘Not sure how I’m going to dance around in my dress,’ she smoothed her hands down the white satin, ‘but it’s staying on. Right till the last possible minute before bedtime when I take it off.’ Then she glanced up at Brandon, charmingly turned bright red and giggled. He laughed at her discomfort and gave her another squeeze.

  ‘You’re in room one-o-five?’ I queried.

  ‘Yes, it’s the one with the lovely views over the golf course as well as the beach. It’s even got a fire escape in case of emergency.’

  ‘Not too likely these days,’ Mike put in, ‘not now they’ve introduced the no-smoking ban.’

  ‘Daddy smokes …’ Lucinda’s smile died. ‘Used to smoke.’ Her face crumpled. ‘I forgot,’ she gulped. ‘For a moment, I forgot … Oh, Brandon.’ She pressed her face into his chest.

  ‘OK, darling, it’s OK. Everyone understands.’ He shot us a quick glance. ‘If you’ll excuse us, I’ll take Lucinda for a little walk – go across the car park and look at the sea, probably.’ We nodded.

  ‘Look after her, Brandon,’ Mike urged. ‘She’s in a fragile state.’

  We watched them walk away.

  ‘Would have been better if they’d waited a bit before getting married – y’know, give Lucinda time to grieve.’

  ‘Maybe it’s better this way. She won’t have time to dwell on losing him.’

  Sombrely, we turned and went into the hotel.

  ‘Just catch the bastard, Harry.’

  ‘The thing is, Mike, does Lucinda think the crash was simply an accident? Or does she have any idea it could be murder? I mean, as yet we don’t have any proof it was murder.’

  ‘You’ll have to keep on digging. Jake Smith thinks it was murder. And what about that pair of false teeth on your doorstep? They didn’t get there by themselves.’

  ‘No. At the moment, they’re locked in my desk drawer at the cottage.’

  ‘And you say Jake denies all knowledge of them?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘So, who did put them on the doorstep?’

  ‘Someone who wishes me ill, that’s for sure.’

  We went on up the back stairs to our room. Whilst there was a pull-back in activity before the disco began, we might as well pace ourselves. It looked like being a long night.

  I shrugged off my jacket and switched the kettle on.

  ‘I’m for a cup of tea. Want one?’

  ‘Don’t ask damn fool questions.’

  ‘I take it that’s two teas, then.’

  We sat in the bay window and looked out at the darkening landscape with the sea stretching mysteriously away into the distance.

  ‘I’m going to start right at the beginning, Mike. Find out who the driver of the horsebox was. Yes, I know Jake said he was gutted by the accident, but he may have noticed something, somebody. Say I give him a call … what d’you reckon? Worth a try?’

  ‘Sure. Anything’s worth a try.’ Mike levered himself out of the chair. Kicked off his shoes, stretched out on one of the beds and closed his eyes.

  ‘Very relaxing, this place.’

  I smiled ruefully and silently promised myself that when this little caper was over I’d come here for a few days’ break and really appreciate it.

  I flung myself down on my own bed and reached for the telephone.

  Eventually, having been given an outside line and the trainer’s number, I found myself talking to Robson. I didn’t know him personally, only as a racing man. I told him who I was and asked him about the driver of the horsebox involved in the crash. This was one of the occasions I was grateful for being famous. It did seem to open doors.

  He was a blunt, no-nonsense Yorkshireman and didn’t bother asking why I wanted the information.

  ‘Bad business, that, Harry. Two killed. Didn’t stand a hope in hell. I told John it wasn’t his fault. He took it hard. But it’s like coming off a horse, is driving – you have a smash, you’ve to get behind the wheel straight away, otherwise you’re done for.’

  ‘And he’s driving again?’

  ‘Oh, yes. No good going soft. Next day, set off from Redcar down to Cheltenham. If box driving is your livelihood, you’ve no choice.’

  ‘And can you tell me his name? I know there’s data protection but …’

  He made a noise like a dog swallowing a wasp.

  ‘O’course I can tell you. His name’s John. John Dunston. OK?’

  With the greatest difficulty, I assured him that was OK and very slowly and carefully replaced the phone.

  ‘So?’ Mike had opened one eye and was watching me.

  ‘You’re not going to believe this.’

  ‘All right, I don’t believe it. But tell me anyway.’

  ‘Frank Dunston’s the bloke who finished Carl in the toilets at Leicester races, right?’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘The box driver’s name is John Dunston, his father.’

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Mike blew out a silent whistle.

  ‘Yeah, as you say, bloody hell.’

  ‘I think we’ve just gone from accident to murder. What do you think?’

  ‘What I think is, not only were Louis and Jo-Jo murdered, but we’ve also discovered the identity of the person who left the false teeth.’

  ‘And I’m sure you’re dead right.’

  We stayed in our room, chewing over the staggering information, until the sound of music filtered upwards and declared that the night was wearing on and the disco had begun.

  ‘Better show our faces, Harry.’

  ‘I’ve lost the appetite.’ I shook my head. ‘Thought I’d put all that mess in the summer behind me, now it’s come back to life. I ask you, of all the people it could have been driving that horsebox and it happens to be John Dunston.’

  ‘It didn’t just happen, Harry. It was a carefully planned-out killing. And Dunston’s not the brains at the back of it. You can be sure he’s had a handout – a big handout – to do the dirty business.’

  ‘Must have put on a convincing performance of being gutted. Even Jake bought it.’

  ‘Come on.’ Mike slapped my shoulder and headed to the door. ‘At least we know one more crucial piece of jigsaw. Let’s go and find a few more.’

  I followed him down to the St Andrew’s Suite which was now a gyrating swell of bodies. Standing out in the midst, dancing away in the white dress, was Lucinda. Maybe Mike was right. Bury the grief as soon as and get back in there. We found a spot to hitch ourselves and took a drink off Dan as he sped past.

  ‘Not on your own, Dan?’

  He grinned and gestured to the other side of the room.

  ‘No, Tom’s doing the honours as well.’ His grin grew wider. ‘That’s if he can keep his mind on the job. His wife went into labour last night and they’ve shunted her off to the hospital this morning.’

  ‘So why isn’t he with her?’ I asked.

  ‘He took her in, but they told him it’s likely to be a long job, so go home and ring later.’

  ‘Keep calm and carry on,’ Mike murmured.

  ‘Something like it. But I dunno about the keeping
calm bit. He’s a complete bag of nerves.’

  We all looked across to where a thin, harassed-looking young man was circulating with a loaded tray.

  ‘Working is better for him than biting his nails down, waiting about at home.’

  ‘You’ll note from that, Dan, that Harry is one of the world’s grafters. That’s why he gets on so well with you.’

  ‘Takes one to know one,’ chortled Dan, and disappeared to refill his empty drinks tray.

  ‘Where have you two been hiding?’ Chloe clutched my sleeve and gave it a little tug. ‘Naughty boys.’

  ‘Taking a pull,’ I said.

  ‘Hello, both,’ Samuel said. ‘Supping tea and having a bit of peace and quiet, I bet.’

  ‘You bet right,’ Mike laughed.

  ‘Ha, ha, nice if you can manage it. I doubt anybody will be getting much sleep tonight.’

  ‘I heard that.’ A buxom woman with chestnut hair, laughing her head off, deliberately bumped against my arm.

  ‘Barbara, didn’t know you were here.’

  ‘You know me, Harry. Love a good party.’

  I grinned back. ‘Tell me about it.’ Barbara’s parties usually didn’t end until it was time for morning stables. I nodded a greeting to the man she was dancing with.

  ‘Must find the gents. Can you point me in the right direction?’ he said.

  Mike took pity on him. ‘Have to go myself. I’ll show you. It’s down the lower-level stairs and to your right.’ He nodded to Barbara. ‘Good to see you. You all right?’

  ‘Oh, yes, Mike. Fine, fine. Got several new owners quite recently.’ In the present economic situation, it was extremely good going and showed confidence in her stables.

  ‘Well done.’

  ‘Seven new horses. Had to increase my feed order from B and R. They were pleased.’

  ‘Toilet?’ Barbara’s companion said in an aggrieved voice.

  ‘Sorry,’ Mike said hastily. They slipped away through the crowd as the harassed wine waiter worked his way past with yet another tray of drinks.

  ‘Chloe? Barbara?’