Laura watched as the pigeon took flight. ‘Get on with it Repton. Nothing can be that bad at our age.’ Laura picked up a twig.
‘The fact is, I believe I may have been the victim of date rape.’
‘What?’ Laura let the twig drop to the ground.
Sir Repton took a deep breath. ‘It was at a time of my life that I am not proud of. I was in the habit of hard carousing and would often frequent a small dining club in Islington.’ He paused.
‘And?’
‘On this occasion I awoke shortly after dawn outside a newsagent’s shop on Upper Street.’ He ran one hand over his grey stubbled chin. ‘The proprietor was about to start his delivery round and I wished him good morning. He was not a cordial man in particular and carried on with his work. I asked him if I could avail myself of his telephone as I found I had no money about my personage.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Even after all these years I still remember his words clearly. “Sling your hook you dirty loser,” he said.’
‘How very unhelpful of him.’ Laura waited for Sir Repton to continue.
‘So with no other course of action open to me, I found a telephone box and reversed the charges. Matilda was not best pleased at having to make the journey to collect me.’
‘What did you tell her had happened?’
‘She was not worried about my whereabouts as I often stayed out after the show and she tired easily of my thespian friends. I’m afraid it had happened before.’
‘How very long suffering of her.’
Sir Repton’s waxy cheeks grew pink.
‘So how does this relate to Ned Stocking?’
His brow was glistening. ‘Thinking back, I remembered that Jezebel had a small flat in the Islington area. And then I recalled what happened at the theatre the next evening. It was the last night of the run you see. Jezebel was playing Lady Macbeth to my… Scottish Lord. She was nothing if not punctilious about learning her lines.’
Laura crossed her legs. ‘And?’
‘It was during the third act. If you recall Lady Macbeth attempts to pacify her husband for the murders he had committed. “What’s done is done,” she says.’
Laura crossed her arms. ‘And?’
‘Instead of just saying those words, Jezebel added, so there!’
‘A bit off the cuff, I see. Was there any reaction from the audience?’
‘Those philistines? They wouldn’t have noticed. And to be fair I myself was so enraptured by the part I was playing that I pretty much dismissed it as a minor aberration. But you see, now it takes on more significance, don’t you think? What’s done is done. So there.’
‘So what you are saying is that you may have been with Jezebel the night before and have no recollection about what occurred between the two of you.’ Laura let the words sink in. ‘But why would she drug you?’
‘I cannot but presume that she was desperate to carry my child. And now I think about it, we would often celebrate after the show in my dressing room with a glass or two of champers, she could have slipped something into my glass.’
It was hard to imagine anyone wanting the child of the frail old stick sitting beside her, but back then he had been something of a matinee idol. ‘Didn’t you keep up with her after the run had ended?’
‘I never saw her again. You know what an actor’s life is like.’
They sat in silence for a while listening to the pigeon coo from the branches above them. Laura could only suppose the ludicrous date rape charge was a vain attempt on Repton’s behalf to make himself look less like a drunken Lothario living a life of seduction and debauchery, but the fact of Ned Stocking’s assertion remained.
‘The only way to be sure,’ Laura said, ‘is a DNA test. He won’t go for it if he’s not who he says he is and if he’s not who he says he is, he’s going on my list of suspects.’
‘You mean Matilda?’
‘If Ned is having an affair with Pom as I believe, then he must know what’s been going on. He could easily be involved in the whole thing. Don’t forget, Pom was only taken aback when she found out Tam was a director of the property company, but that’s not to say she didn’t play a part in the death of Matilda and therefore knew about her sister masquerading as the ghost.’ It was all suddenly making sense again in Laura’s mind and it did occur to her that Ned Stocking could have been playing the role of the ghost – he was also an actor after all, but she kept this to herself. ‘If on the other hand, he is your son,’ she continued. ‘He wouldn’t want your position as owner of Mount Cod jeopardised by Tam and Robert Hanley Jones.’
‘But –’
‘No more buts Repton, either way it’s vital we find out who he really is.’
Chapter twenty-seven
Jervis was tasked with finding out how to get a DNA test done and the next day he invited Laura and Sir Repton over to discuss his progress. As they were making their way to Mulberry Close with Parker and Sybil Thorndike on their leads, they happened to see Gladys walking ahead of them through the gate into the field.
They waited out of sight for some minutes; Sir Repton said he didn’t want to upset her by appearing to ignore her but at the same time they both agreed that it was too complicated to involve her at the present time. When they finally came out from their hiding place behind a garage, they could see Gladys striding up the hill in the distance.
‘She’s probably looking to see where to plant her fastigiate oak,’ Laura said.
‘She mentioned this tree to me. What is the meaning of it?’
As Laura rang the bell, she explained about Gladys’s memorial.
‘Oh dear,’ Sir Repton said. ‘I told her Matilda thought them very suburban in a parkland setting and was keen to have the one at Mount Cod chopped down.’
Jervis opened the front door and ushered them into the kitchen where Strudel was busy wiping down the draining board, a bright pink and blue floral apron covering her peach coloured dress.
‘Kettle’s just boiled,’ Jervis said. ‘I’ll fill the pot.’
‘Another dry day?’ Laura asked.
‘Christ no! We’ve modified the rules.’ He looked up at the cuckoo clock on the wall. ‘Nearly four; only an hour before the yardarm goes up.’
‘Please do sit,’ Strudel said. ‘I have this morning made a stollen cake.’ She flicked off the cloth that was covering a plate the middle of the table revealing a brown mound covered in icing sugar. It had looked pretty solid to Laura but as Strudel cut into it, the cake sagged and a gooey mass of raisons oozed out.
‘About the DNA test,’ Jervis handed Sir Repton a mug. ‘Dr Todhunter will do it privately for £99.’
Sir Repton took the piece of cake that Strudel offered him.
‘She recommends the split kit pack,’ Jervis continued. ‘One half with her, the other half she sends to the preferred doctor of the alleged child.’
Sir Repton nodded studiously, his mouth full.
‘You simply go into her surgery in Woldham and she takes a saliva swab.’ Jervis put his teaspoon in his mouth and mimicked the procedure so that one of his cheeks stuck out. ‘She bottles it up, gives it a barcode and bingo; results back in ten days.’
‘Jervis is making you an appointment for tomorrow morning at 10.30.’ Strudel handed Laura a slice of cake.
Laura took a tentative bite. It could definitely have done with more time in the oven.
‘I tell you what Repton, I can run you down there if you like,’ Jervis said.
Sir Repton’s mouth was full again, so he nodded in the affirmative.
‘Good, we’ve sorted that out,’ Jervis said. ‘But you are still no further on with your investigations; the Gladys ruse was a bit of a failure, I gather. Tell me, out of interest, were there any unnatural occurrences on the night of the party?’
‘Laura has convinced me that Rosalind was, in fact, Tam in disguise. She duped us in the manner of the finest stage performance. Oh unhappy times,’ Sir Repton moaned, as a dollop
of cake he was holding dripped onto the table. ‘My buttocks clench like a warhorse when I think of the moments leading up to Matilda’s death.’
Laura was impressed. ‘You’ve no idea what lengths Tam will go to,’ she concurred.
‘I’m sorry but not entirely convinced,’ Jervis said.
‘No, neither am I.’ Sir Repton wiped the mess up with his handkerchief and put it back in his pocket.
‘What?’ Laura glared at him and forced down another piece of cake.
‘The answer of course is an exorcism. In fact, I don’t know why we didn’t think about that before,’ Jervis said.
Sir Repton’s eyes lit up. ‘I could ask Canon Frank to assist us.’
‘That old charlatan?’ Laura huffed.
‘You must keep an open mind,’ Jervis said. ‘Don’t forget, you weren’t there when we had our encounter with… well with whatever it was.’
Laura gave a placatory nod. Why not let them have their exorcism and be done with it.
‘I’m sure Frank won’t charge – he’s a friend after all,’ Sir Repton said.
‘Charge you? Don’t be ridiculous,’ Laura said. ‘Not after the debacle of the séance, and we never got to the bottom of him kipping down uninvited. I’d say he owes you big-time.’
Sir Repton sat deflated like a puffball someone had trodden on and Laura felt suddenly sorry for him. ‘We need more witnesses,’ she said. ‘Why don’t we invite Gladys and Venetia too? Make a party of it.’ And afterwards, they could get back to the real problem of exposing Tam.
Laura rang Sir Repton’s room the next afternoon to see how he had got on with Dr Todhunter.
‘We didn’t need the split kit,’ he said, ‘because quite coincidentally Ned appeared last evening when I had left you and he took me to dine in Woldham. Very cordial of the young chap, I thought. We had an excellent pie at The George. So then I met him in Woldham this morning when Jervis dropped me off and we went to see Dr Todhunter together.’
‘So you killed two birds with one stone, or rather one DNA kit.’
‘Funny you should say that. You see that was the reason Ned had come to see me. Stone birds. He’s tracked down the eagles from the roof of Mount Cod to an antique shop in South Audley Street. He had a picture of them on his phone. They’re definitely the same. He’s contacted the police.’
‘So he came down from London to tell you this?’
‘I think he had an ulterior motive. You see, he’s in love with Pom.’
‘What did I tell you?’
‘I was most moved. It was the first true paternal feeling I have had. I must change my will.’
Laura listened as Sir Repton blew his nose. He had all but convinced himself. Again Laura remembered that it was Angel’s inheritance that had been her motivation for becoming embroiled in the first place. ‘Let’s not jump to any conclusions,’ she said. ‘Didn’t Jervis say it took ten days to get the results?’
‘How shall I pass the time?’
‘Where’s Gladys?’
‘She has gone to a clinic in London to have her varicose veins done.’
‘Gladys going private, I can’t believe it. Well, in that case, you’d better have dinner with Venetia and me.’
They had hardly sat down for the meal before Venetia began regaling them with tales of her televisual experiences.
‘I watched a thing about junkies in Canada last night,’ she said, taking a mouthful of bread roll.
‘Not more drug addict programmes?’ Laura said.
‘You can’t avoid them but I thought it was a cookery show with a girl called Molly but that turned out to be the name of the drug. It’s a pity about these people because they all love cooking but they’re so off their heads they never get round to it.’
‘On the subject of cooking, Canon Frank says we must only have a light repast the night before the exorcism. He will be with us the day after tomorrow, as there is no wedding that day. I have informed the others. Jervis is going to collect him.’ Sir Repton turned to Venetia. ‘I’m sorry you won’t join us cousin.’
‘No fear.’ Venetia huffed.
Mimi appeared carrying bowls of consommé.
‘A light repast?’ Laura wondered what had happened to Alfredo’s delicious croutons.
‘It might prove something of a problem,’ Sir Repton mused. ‘What with Strudel and Jervis, ourselves, and the Canon we will be quite a number and I don’t imagine Cheryl will want to make us all luncheon. I expect we will be done by then.’
‘Who knows but we should take some provisions.’ Laura took a spoonful of soup. She supposed it was another of Mr Parrott’s health directives and wondered what had happened about Vince’s order that Alfredo’s budget be increased.
‘Frank said we must not wash our hair between now and then and we must desist from the use of scented products,’ Sir Repton continued.
‘I wonder if Canon Frank is the best man for the job?’ Laura said. ‘Perhaps we should have asked Reverend Mulcaster? Anyway, I have a hair appointment tomorrow morning.’
‘And we must leave the house empty the night before in order that Rosalind feel secure in her domain.’
Mimi returned with the main course.
Laura looked at the small piece of white fish surrounded by elegantly positioned florets of grilled cauliflower on the otherwise empty plate. She was reminded of the fashion for cuisine minceur but could not remember who had said life was too short it.
‘I’ll have to speak with Victoria about this,’ she said. ‘But as for leaving Mount Cod empty the night before, that’s completely unnecessary and having us around has never put her off before. Even saying the name of the house was an affront to the plate in front of her. ‘No, we must go there tomorrow afternoon,’ she continued. ‘There will be things to do; the shopping for one and making sure all the rooms are open; the attics for example. We’ll pick up proper fish and chips in Woldham on the way.’
‘The attics. I hadn’t thought,’ Sir Repton said. ‘That could indeed take some time, I agree.’
‘I wish you hadn’t mentioned chips,’ Venetia said.
‘Will you not change your mind, dear cousin?’
Venetia shook her head and scraped the remains from the butter dish onto her cauliflower. ‘Not even chips could tempt me back.’
Chapter twenty-eight
Having an exorcism? Lawks a mercy Lady B,’ Dudley put on a pair of turquoise rimmed glasses and grabbed the hairspray. ‘You’d better have plenty of this in that case.’
As he shook the can, his young assistant Kelsey came over.
‘By the way Lady Boxford, I remembered you wanted to know what the man was like who was having dinner with that Cheryl woman of the, “Sun-in” foul up,’ she said. ‘Well me and Billy was walking down the High Street the other day when we saw her. She was on the other side of the road with him.’
‘You saw him?’ Laura said.
‘Yeah. He was wearing a check shirt and baggy cargo pants. I reckon he used the “Sun-in” on his hair too. Terrible brassy yellow it was.’
That’s Lance, Laura thought, putting Parker on his lead. There was definitely more to Cheryl and the handyman’s relationship than met the eye.
She put a couple of pound coins in Kelsey’s gratuity box and headed back to Wellworth Lawns.
By the time she had collected Sir Repton and Sybil Thorndike, it was late afternoon. He said he had tried calling both Cheryl and Lance but neither had responded, so they decided to pick up an Indian takeaway in Woldham on their way. Laura had a special place in her heart for Chicken Tikka and unlike fish and chips; it would keep warm in the Aga.
As they drove past the lodge there was no sign of the Land Rover and when they got to the house it was all locked up. Sir Repton knocked on the door to Cheryl’s flat but there was no reply.
‘Really, those two are the limit,’ Laura said, as they let themselves in and set about preparing for the next day.
Their primary task was to check the attics,
of which there were two, Sir Repton informed her.
The first was reached via a steep uncarpeted staircase next to the scullery off the kitchen. It led to a small landing. They picked up the dogs and ascended a further and even more precipitous set of creaking, uneven boards that led to three interconnecting rooms. They lay empty and had plainly not been used for many years. Laura tiptoed over a layer of dead flies through the narrow, low doorways. In the furthest room were two garret windows under the eaves.
Beside her, Parker sneezed and the last rays of sun illuminated a myriad of dust particles that danced in the light as she looked down onto to the stable block.
‘This may have been Rosalind’s room,’ Sir Repton said, peering out of the other window. ‘I can picture her hurrying with her corsets. Her poor chillblained fingers pulling the laces tight as she listens to the clatter of horses hooves below. And then again of course it could have been a window like this from which the poor child defenestrated.’ He pressed his forehead to the pane of glass.
‘I thought you said that the old house burned down?’ Laura said. ‘Anyway, come on, we’d better look at the other attic.’ She turned to go but noticed a wooden ladder in one corner leading to a trap door in the ceiling. ‘Where does that come out?’ she asked.
‘It takes one up onto the roof, but we don’t use it anymore. There is a newer one in the other attic. I’ll show you.’
They descended and passed through the kitchen and back down the corridor leading to the hall. Then they went up the main staircase and carried on down the passage past Flamborough Head. Laura had only glanced at the tapestry hanging at the end of the passage on her last visit but now Repton drew it aside to expose a door. He opened it, revealing the staircase to the second attic. As they reached the landing above, the heel of Laura’s shoe snagged on the threadbare magenta Axminster. She pulled at the shoe as she surveyed a series of closed doors to left and right.
She opened the first door to reveal a bathroom. Next to it was a single toilet. Further investigation revealed three small rooms. The first was filled with packing cases. The second had a single bed covered with a patchwork quilt of faded pinks and blues. They opened the last door. Inside was what looked to be a sitting room. Two tatty armchairs covered in floral cotton sat facing a tiny fireplace. Over the back of one was draped a white bath towel. A further two wooden chairs tucked under a small pine table stood against one wall. On the shelf above the fireplace stood a row of books held up at each end by plaster bookends in the form of ancient Egyptian cats.
The Haunting of Mount Cod Page 19
