by Robert Innes
Blake looked at Polly inquisitively.
“I’m a Lomax,” she said, smiling nervously. “Or rather, I was, until I married Rupert.”
“Ah,” Blake said. “I see.”
“We like to look at our relationship as a modern day Romeo and Juliet,” Rupert said warmly, taking a grip of Polly’s hand. “Another drink, Blake?”
Blake nodded. “Please.” Rupert took Blake’s empty glass and walked across to the bar.
“Romeo and Juliet, eh?” Blake chuckled. “Two warring families, with an unaccepted love story in the middle. I can see that.”
“As you can imagine, my mum and dad didn’t take mine and Rupert’s relationship well,” Polly said. “Despite the fact that Rupert had absolutely nothing to do with the past hardships my family has had to go through, they just cling on to these resentments that should have been buried long ago.”
“Do you talk to your family much?” Blake asked her, blowing his vapour away from them.
“Not really, no.” Polly sighed. “They basically disowned me when we announced our engagement. They showed up to the wedding, and I stupidly thought that they had come to give their blessings. All they did was try and disrupt things as much as they could. In the end, we had to call the police to remove them before things got physical.”
“Which,” Rupert said, returning with Blake’s drink, “brings us to the hooded figure.”
Blake took a sip from his glass. It was a bit stronger than his first and the vodka sent a warm ripple down his body as he swallowed.
“It first appeared about a week after Polly told her family about our engagement. We were in our room, Polly had just got up to close the curtains when she saw it through the window.”
“It was just standing there, in the grounds, staring up at the mansion,” Polly added. “We thought at first it was some old gypsy woman or something, so Rupert went downstairs to see whoever it was off.”
“By the time I got downstairs, it was gone,” Rupert continued. “Then, as the weeks went on, it started appearing more and more. We’d be sat in the bar, or in our rooms and there it would be. Never doing anything, just standing there, clearly trying to unsettle us. We’d ring the police, but by the time they’d arrive, it was long gone. Then one night, I was on my own in the grounds. I had been down to the hut in between the lakes. We sometimes use it as a bit of a private staff room. We have a television in there, sofas, that sort of thing. I’d been watching a film as it happens and when it had finished, I locked up the hut and started walking back towards the mansion. But then I saw it. But it wasn’t just standing there this time, it was walking towards me from behind the lakes. I don’t know whether it had gotten in through the bushes or climbed over the gate or something. At first, I stood my ground, said that the police were fully aware and that if he or she knew what was good for them, they’d better get lost. I didn’t feel anywhere near as brave as I hoped I sounded though. Trying to see who was under that hood was impossible, it was just black. Couldn’t see a face at all. And then, they pulled a knife out.”
Blake raised his eyebrows in surprise. “A knife?”
Rupert nodded. “And all of a sudden, whoever it was began running towards me, the knife pointing right at me. I had no choice but to make a run for it. It was terrifying, I don’t mind telling you.”
“I bet!” Blake exclaimed. “Surely you told the police?”
“Of course. I ran back to the mansion, upstairs and straight into our room. Of course, by the time I was at the doors of the manor, I looked behind me and the figure was gone. But yes, I rang the police.”
“And?”
“As you can imagine, a family feud of this sort of nature was well known to the police around here,” Polly interjected. “We’d called them so much over the previous months in regards to this hooded figure. There’s been windows smashed, we had a chicken coop in the grounds that we woke up one morning to find all slaughtered. Of course every time they got here, there was nothing for them to see as it had long since scarpered.”
“They didn’t believe you?” Blake asked, surprised.
“No. Oh, they paid us plenty of lip service. ‘Investigations are on-going, we’ve spoken to the Lomax family,’ that train of thought,” Rupert replied, rolling his eyes.
“Has there never been any other witnesses that they could speak to?” Blake asked, bewildered.
“That’s the problem,” Polly said quietly. “Rupert and I are the only ones who have seen it.”
“You’re kidding? What, none of the guests, none of the other staff?”
Rupert shook his head. “Nobody. Or at least, nobody has come forward. Not even my delightful brother. He seems to think that we’re making excuses because the spa business hasn’t been going as well as we hoped, hence why you’ve managed to get such a cheap discount.”
“And yet, he or she was the first thing me and Harrison saw when we arrived?” Blake murmured, sipping his glass thoughtfully. “Why get careless now? I’ve seen it twice and I’ve only been here a couple of hours.” He sucked on his ecig and blew the vapour out carefully. “Do you think it is one of your family?”
Polly sighed. “I don’t know. Until that night where Rupert was chased with a knife, I would have said probably. They hate anything to do with the Urquharts, but I don’t think they’d ever try to kill anyone.”
Rupert exhaled. “Something we’ve learnt to agree to disagree on. Nobody else I know but the Lomaxes have that much hatred towards me or my family. Then, of course on top of this is the fact that our mother is extremely unwell at the moment.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Blake said. “Is she in hospital?”
“No,” Polly replied, glancing upwards. “She’s upstairs on the top floor of the manor. Cancer. She’s in a wheelchair, unable to walk, God love her. All said, it’s a pretty full on time for us at the minute.”
Rupert downed the rest of the contents of his glass and stood up. “I’m going to bed. Thanks for your help, Mr Harte. I appreciate it. Don’t feel you need to make that your last drink, Polly will have to charge you for them though. God forbid Duncan finds out I’m giving out freebies.”
“Of course,” Blake replied. “Goodnight.”
Rupert kissed his wife and walked out of the bar. As Blake watched him leave, he couldn’t help but think that Rupert looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Something about him looked haunted.
“I don’t mind handing out one more free drink, if you fancy another,” Polly said, tapping him on the knee. “Don’t tell anyone though.”
Blake was already starting to feel a little lightheaded from the strength of his second drink, but as he finished the contents of his glass, he felt his muscles relax after the long drive and the worry and shock of seeing Nathan began to melt away. He nodded and handed over his glass – he was, after all, on holiday.
“I’ll have one too if there’s one going,” said a voice behind him.
Blake turned to see Harrison standing in the doorway of the bar.
“Certainly,” Polly said, smiling warmly. “What’ll it be?”
“I’ll just have a pint thanks, if that’s okay?” Harrison asked, sitting down in the seat vacated by Rupert.
Polly nodded and went to fetch the drinks. There were a few moments silence between the two of them, which Blake filled by sucking on his ecig.
“So,” Harrisons said finally. “Did you manage to find that hooded bloke?”
Blake shook his head. “He’d gone by the time we got out there.”
Harrison nodded as Polly brought their drinks over.
“I’ll just be in the office if you need anything else,” she said, giving Blake a knowing look.
Blake smiled awkwardly. “Thanks.”
There was a few moments silence.
“How are you feeling?” Harrison asked him at last. “About Nathan, I mean.”
“I’m alright I think,” Blake replied. “I can’t pretend it wasn’t a surp
rise to see him. And not a particularly nice one either. Especially as he’s got his wife with him.”
“Tell me to mind my own business if you want,” Harrison began, before pausing. “Never mind, it’s not really anything to do with me.”
“Go on,” Blake said lightly, sipping his drink. “You can ask me about him if you want.”
Harrison looked slightly relieved at Blake reading his mind. “What happened? Like I say, you can tell me to-“
“It’s fine, Harrison.” Blake grinned. “I mean, come on. It’s not like I don’t know the ins and outs of your past couple of relationships.” That was an understatement, considering both of Harrison’s past relationships had ended up being scrutinised by Blake in separate police investigations. Blake took a long suck on his ecig. He had mentioned to Harrison in the past about how he had caught Nathan in bed with Davina but had never really elaborated on their relationship before.
“We’d been together for a few years,” Blake began. “I met him on a night out.” His mind flicked back in time to the strobe lighting and the dry ice machine that had been blowing white smoke around the crowded dance floor. “Something about him stood out. Probably the way he was dancing like an idiot, not caring about the looks he was getting. We started chatting and the next thing I knew we were back at his place. A few weeks later we were an item.”
Harrison took a sip of his pint and put it down on the table in front of him. “How long were you together?”
“About five years,” Blake replied. “It seemed to be going alright, I honestly thought he was the one, you know.”
“Oh, I know,” Harrison said grimly. Blake imagined he was remembering his relationship with his abusive ex-partner.
“Exactly. Look, I really don’t think you want to hear about my ex,” Blake said. “It’s not why we’re here.”
“It’s like you said though,” Harrison replied insistently. “You know all the ins and outs of my past relationships. And anyway.” He cocked his head to the side, with a small smile. “What are friends for?”
Blake chuckled. He couldn’t quite decide whether Harrison was feeling insecure or whether he was genuinely interested, but he had to admit it helped being able to discuss the shock of seeing Nathan with somebody.
“So when you found out he was cheating on you, it came out of nowhere?”
Blake took a long suck on his ecig. He remembered the day in question all too clearly. It had been freezing cold and he had been wearing a scarf tightly round his neck, his coat buttoned up right to the top. “I’d finished work early. I’d been going through a stage of not finishing till gone ten, eleven at night, sometimes later, having started from about the crack of dawn. So, that day I thought I’d surprise him. I went to the shop and bought a couple of bottles of wine, thought I’d suggest us going out for dinner, you know the sort of thing.”
Harrison nodded but didn’t say anything.
“But when I walked in, the first thing I saw was just this trail of clothes leading up the stairs to the bedroom. I mean, he often left his clothes lying around the house, but the last I’d checked he didn’t wear a bra or a mini skirt.”
Harrison grimaced. “And then you walked into the bedroom and saw what was happening?”
Blake nodded, taking a large swig of his vodka as a familiar sensation of resentment and hurt flooded through him. “He even had the nerve to say it wasn’t what it looked like. I mean they were both naked in bed, she was on top of him, but it wasn’t what it looked like. The weird thing is that I nearly believed him for a few seconds. There surely had to be a reasonable reason as to why my boyfriend, soon to be fiancé, was writhing around in bed with a woman?”
“What happened then?”
“Once I’d got my brain together, I just turned round and walked out again. I remembered to take the two bottles of wine with me and went straight round to Sally’s. And like I said, I’ve barely been in touch with him since that day.”
Harrison leant forward in his chair, holding his pint between his legs. “So there’s unfinished business?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Blake replied. “But there’s things I never said to him. I mean, Nathan – he said a lot of things at the time, but that’s what he does. He has the gift of the gab better than any man I’ve ever met, and that’s not necessarily a compliment by the way, but I never really told him how angry I was.”
Blake looked down at the floor as he realised that this was the first time Harrison had ever really been the listener since they had known each other. Up to now, Blake had been there, both professionally and as a friend, whenever Harrison’s life had been turned upside down, yet now here they were, with Blake pouring his heart out and Harrison offering support. “I don’t think he was ever really aware of how much I had to do in order to get over what had happened. I left my job, my house, and my friends, and just upped and left because I couldn’t handle facing him anymore. All that just to try and get over the fact that I didn’t have a relationship anymore.”
“And did it work?” Harrison asked gently.
Blake cradled his glass, the remaining ice cubes clinking around inside. Three strong vodkas in quick succession were making him slightly more loose tongued that he would have liked, but something at the back of his foggy brain told him there was no point in closing up now. “I thought it had,” he said quietly. He glanced up at Harrison, who again didn’t respond. He merely sipped his pint and gave Blake a sympathetic smile.
The tiredness of the long day soon began to catch up with them and so, thanking Polly, Blake and Harrison walked up the staircase to their rooms.
“What’s the plan tomorrow?” Harrison asked as they reached their corridor. “Do we have to get up early for breakfast?”
“I should think so,” Blake said, his eyes feeling heavy. “I’ll knock on your door if you like. Don’t feel like you have to get up early or anything though.”
“Oh, I always do,” Harrison replied as they arrived at his door. “The farm nailed that into me - ten is the latest I ever lie in.”
Blake nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
“Goodnight,” Harrison said. “And Blake? I’m really pleased we came here. I’m really looking forward to this week.”
“Me too.” Blake smiled.
Blake watched Harrison walk into his room and closed his eyes in regret at how open he had been about Nathan. He knew deep down that he didn’t just want to be friends with Harrison; his feelings for him were stronger than that. But seeing Nathan again had completely taken the wind out of him. There was so much he had wanted to say to him, so much resentment, so many questions that still needed asking.
Once he was in his room, Blake threw himself down on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. Despite how tired he felt, Blake lay awake long into the night, his head swimming with confused thoughts that made very little sense to him, and the mystery of the hooded figure wasn’t among them.
In contrast to Blake’s restless night, Harrison slept incredibly well. The bed in his room was far more soft and comfortable than his one at home. As soon as he had sunk into the mattress and his head had hit the large fluffy pillows, he had slipped into a deep satisfying sleep, meaning that when he woke the next morning, he felt refreshed and cheerful.
He leant across to the bedside cabinet and checked the time on his phone. It had just gone half past nine and already the smell of bacon and pastries from the restaurant downstairs had wafted its way into the room.
Once Harrison had got dressed, he walked out into the corridor. It looked a bit busier than it had yesterday, with people walking up and down the grand staircase chatting amongst themselves. In the morning light, the mansion looked even more attractive. The sun reflected off the sparkling chandeliers brilliantly and as Harrison walked into the restaurant, the large windows afforded him a panoramic view of the gardens outside.
A young waitress in a white blouse and a black skirt approached him. Harrison smiled cheerfully at her as she p
ulled out a small notepad and pencil from her pocket. She didn’t return the smile, instead merely opening the notepad and scribbling something on it.
“Good morning, can I get you a tea or a coffee?” she asked him flatly.
“Just a tea please,” Harrison replied.
The tired looking waitress scribbled his order down on the notepad. Harrison wondered if she was so tired, she was likely to forget the one thing he had asked for.
“Help yourself to the breakfast buffet over there, Sir.” She pointed vaguely to the other side of the restaurant with her pencil. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can get you.”
She snapped her notepad shut and strode off without another word, in a manner that suggested that asking her for anything should be very low on Harrison’s list of priorities.
Harrison strolled up to the pile of plates that were resting besides the line of heating cabinets where all the breakfast foods were sizzling in dishes. At least, he thought to himself, with Blake not having gotten up yet, he could unashamedly pile his plate without worrying about looking greedy. Sure enough, by the time Harrison had reached the end, his plate was piled with a selection of bacon, eggs, sausages, toast, fried bread, and, balancing precariously on top of the bacon, a large chocolate flavoured croissant.
He didn’t realise till he was halfway through his enormous breakfast that he was still ravenous from how little he had eaten the day before. As he chewed gratefully on an especially crispy piece of bacon, he considered what Blake had told him about Nathan the night before. It certainly didn’t change how Harrison felt about Blake, but he realised that it had felt extremely strange to think of Blake as having a past. Up to now, he had seen him as a tall, dashing and almost immoveable police officer who was far beyond letting silly things like past relationships get to him, but last night Harrison had seen a different side to him. Blake had seemed confused and perhaps even a little bit vulnerable. Blake was one of the most empathic people Harrison had ever met, and it felt almost a little unnerving to see Blake so out of sorts with himself.
