by Rebecca Tope
‘We’d better go,’ said Jocelyn, the meal concluded. ‘You’ll be all right, won’t you?’
‘I expect so.’
‘Come on. Don’t be like that. Lover Boy’s probably hiding down the lane, just waiting to see us leave.’
‘Who?’ Alex frowned at them both. ‘Has Thea got a boyfriend?’
Jocelyn closed her eyes for two long seconds. ‘Sort of,’ she said. ‘It’s the chap in charge of the murder inquiry.’
Thea desperately wanted to ask Jocelyn if she would be all right. Parting from her was suddenly much more difficult than expected. Something vital was missing between her and Alex: the spark that linked married couples, despite the usual frictions and frustrations of ordinary life. They weren’t looking at each other and kept a space between them. When Alex hovered beside her, conscious of the injured ankle, trying to help her, she cringed away from him. It seemed blatant to Thea now, and horribly important. How they could sleep in the same bed, or even ride in the same car, was beyond her.
‘I’ll phone you tomorrow,’ Thea said. ‘To see how you are. And I’ll keep you posted on how it all turns out here.’
‘Yes,’ said Jocelyn. ‘You do that.’
They finally left at eight o’clock. Jocelyn’s car remained at Juniper Court until arrangements could be made to retrieve it. The sisters hugged gingerly, paying due regard to the damaged arm.
‘I’ll phone you in the morning,’ was all Thea could manage to say.
‘At last!’ moaned Hollis when she phoned him. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Tired,’ Thea admitted. ‘It’s been an extremely long day.’
‘Poor you. Well, give me ten minutes. I’m afraid the day isn’t done with yet. And keep the doors locked, will you? Don’t let anybody in except me.’
She laughed and promised to comply.
* * *
He was there in nine minutes, enfolding Thea in his arms the moment she’d opened the door. It felt like two pieces of jigsaw finally interlocking, settling down in their allotted places after a long frustrating series of setbacks. They clung and sighed and rocked for a whole long minute.
‘Hello,’ she said, eventually. ‘What happens now?’
‘What happens now is that I pull myself together, remember who I am and what I’m meant to be doing this evening. I’ve got a whole team of officers out there, waiting to make a move, all relying on me for their instructions. And everything’s been held up because of your highly annoying sister.’
‘Surely not? Why is she so important?’
‘Because I need to get you out of here, without attracting any notice.’
‘I see,’ she lied.
He smiled down at her and her heart went soft and light, and she had to swallow down the yearning simply to take him to bed and never let him go.
‘Oh dear,’ she said. ‘Why’s this so difficult?’
‘It’ll be fine. We’re almost there now. Just a few more twists and turns through the maze and we’ll be out in the sunlight.’
‘Lord, don’t tell me you’re a poet!’
‘No danger of that. I just have an unfortunate liking for metaphors. Look, we’ll have to go.’
‘We? Go?’
‘Yes, I told you. I can’t leave you here, it isn’t safe. I shouldn’t be telling you anything, by rights, but I can just say we’ve set up a sort of ambush at the barn. There’s almost enough evidence for a conviction, but my orders are to go for belt and braces.’
She watched her expectations shrivel, leaving her drained and passive. ‘Why can’t I just stay here and wait until it’s all over?’
‘Because there are a few unpredictable elements. We still can’t work out why Franklyn’s body was brought here hours after the killing. There’s some sort of message there, and one reading of it is that it’s a warning to anybody at Juniper Court.’
She was reminded of the Phillipses. ‘Have you contacted Julia again? Is Desmond answering his phone? Is it right that Flora’s been sent to Liverpool?’
He pulled a face. ‘Mrs Phillips is in serious trouble. She’s checked out of the hotel where she was staying with the three younger children, and didn’t leave word as to where she’d be. The Garda have been looking for her all day.’
‘She can’t be that hard to find, surely? You’ve got the number of her car, haven’t you?’
‘Ireland’s an easy place to lose yourself. They will be found, but it’s annoying, and time-consuming.’
‘And it looks bad,’ Thea agreed. ‘Maybe they’ve just gone to join Desmond. He’s off fishing in the mountains somewhere, isn’t he?’
‘So it seems. He’s certainly a dedicated fisherman.’
‘So they don’t know about Flora? She said she told each parent she was with the other one. Maybe Julia’s set off to try to find her, with Desmond not picking up his phone messages. That would make sense. It’s bound to be perfectly innocent.’
Hollis smiled forbearingly. ‘I’m not sure anything in this case is perfectly innocent,’ he said.
He explained briefly that the burden of suspicion for the murder of Nick Franklyn lay squarely on the Innes brothers, who were known to be part of the Rural Warriors, with Nick as leader. That there had been friction in recent weeks over the prioritising of campaigns. When questioned by the police, Frannie Craven had freely acknowledged her own involvement, and had described meetings where tempers had flared – in particular between the Inneses and Nick. She had listed nearly twenty local people who were either active members or regular sympathisers, including Cecilia Clifton, Flora Phillips, the landlords of both the nearby pubs and the Master of Foxhounds. But not Desmond or Julia Phillips.
The barn, owned by the Innes family, was one of the meeting places, where some of the more sensitive equipment was stored, including balaclava helmets, climbing equipment, placards and leaflets. When Valerie Innes, owner of the barn, had been questioned, she professed to have left her sons to their own devices, having been assured by them that they would not break any laws.
‘Did she know Nick was actually living there?’
‘She called him an illegal squatter, so I guess she did.’
‘But that husband of hers would have evicted him, surely? It must have been a direct ploy to stop him converting the barn.’
‘Too risky. If the media got the story there’d be a lot of sympathy for Franklyn and not much for Innes. It suited him better to bide his time and do things in his own sneaky way.’
‘But it gave you the idea that his sons could have had mixed feelings about Nick,’ Thea realised. ‘Family loyalty in conflict with their protest activities. And Jeremy’s basically a law-abiding lad, with a lot to lose. Plus a mother you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of. Does she know they’re your chief suspects, by the way? And what about the influential husband? What’s he saying?’
‘He’s tying himself in knots, pulling every string in Gloucestershire to protect them. He forced us to release Dominic before we wanted to. He’s got a top lawyer standing by to thwart every move we make.’
‘Hence the belt and braces,’ Thea realised.
‘Precisely.’ Hollis spoke with relish. ‘And we’ll get them, you see.’
‘But I still don’t think they did it,’ she said, surprising herself with this abrupt certainty.
‘Oh, don’t you?’
‘I can see the logic, from your point of view, and all the evidence and so forth. But we know they were all in the barn together on Sunday night, plotting their strategy. So there’s sure to be traces from Dominic and Jeremy anyway. Why them, incidentally, and not one of the others?’
‘There are only two others who ever met at the barn, and they can prove they were at home all Sunday night.’
‘What about Nigel Franklyn? You believe his story now, do you?’
‘I do, as it happens. It’s vague enough to be credible. And there’s no trace of him at the barn. He swears he didn’t know anything about it and I believe him. The cli
ent at Bisley backs up his story and says he was quite calm and focused. If he’d just killed his son and then hanged his dead body from a stable roof, I think he’d be in rather a state, don’t you?’
‘You’re saying the same person killed him then hanged him here?’
‘Actually, we’ve still got an open mind about that.’
‘And how many hours between the two events?’
‘Impossible to say for sure, but it must have been after midnight when he was killed. Possibly as late as three or four in the morning.’ He looked hard at her. ‘But you don’t believe I’m right?’
She shook her head. ‘It feels wrong to me. With all those people on Frannie’s list, it’s too simple to just dump everything on Jeremy and Dominic. It leaves too much out – like why take the body to Juniper Court?’
‘To divert attention from the barn. They must have hoped we’d never discover that Nick was dossing there.’
Thea wondered about this. ‘That would work if the suicide idea had stuck,’ she nodded. ‘They must have underestimated the intelligence of the police, in that case.’
Hollis grimaced. ‘Most people do,’ he said. ‘Sometimes with good reason, to be honest. If things had been busy, and the killer just slightly more clever, it could have worked.’
She nodded. The same set of thoughts went around yet again: that somebody had brought Nick’s body from the barn to Juniper Court, hiding somewhere until Thea left for her walk, and then lugging the corpse up into the loft. ‘But it’s so horrible,’ she shuddered. ‘I keep imagining the dead weight of him, being winched up like that.’
She heard her own words. Winched up. She had not in fact visualised it happening like that until now. She’d imagined the killer on the upper level, holding the rope and pushing the body over the edge with the noose around its neck, the roof beam taking the weight. Now she realised the body could have been at ground level, the rope slung over the beam, and hauled steadily up to where she had found it. ‘Could one person have done it alone?’ she wondered.
‘We re-enacted it,’ he said unemotionally. ‘It would be awkward, but possible.’
‘It sounds as if you’ve opted for the simplest explanation,’ she said. ‘A falling-out amongst the protesters. Dominic and Jeremy strangle Nick, and then leave him here as a warning to Desmond not to go ahead with his fish farm idea. Simple. Nick’s father maybe heard there was trouble brewing, which is why he was suddenly so keen to find him. Valerie’s such a control freak, she thinks she can just bully everybody into doing what she wants – is her husband as bad as her?’ She frowned. ‘That would be unusual. Women like that generally have wimpy little husbands.’
‘He’s not a wimp,’ Hollis smiled. ‘He’s a big noise in the Planning Office, as it happens.’
‘Heavens! That must make for some good old family rows.’
‘That’s where your theory might hold water. It seems he doesn’t discuss his work with anybody. He’s a Freemason, as well. Friends in high places. And a very nice slice of old money, inherited last year from his father.’
‘Those boys didn’t do it,’ said Thea again.
‘You mean, you’ve looked into their eyes and judged them to be pure?’
‘Pretty much that, yes,’ she said, meeting his gaze full on. ‘You’re taking Dominic’s attack on Jocelyn as indicating he’s capable of violence. But actually, it’s just the opposite. He was very uncomfortable with it, none of that craziness you’d have to have to kill somebody.’
‘But the method. Coming up behind his victim and grabbing them by the neck.’
‘Is that how it was with Nick?’
‘Must have been. A length of strong cord was pulled tight from behind him. No signs of any chance to defend himself. Not a bruise on him anywhere. Just quick and probably completely unexpected.’
‘Premeditated, then.’
‘Looks like it.’
They were still in the hall, talking fast, watching each other’s faces, aware of snatching time before Hollis got on with his job. Now he went to the front door, waving her to accompany him. ‘We should have left ages ago,’ he tutted.
‘But – how do you know they’ll be there? What are you going to do? Won’t I be in the way?’
‘We have information,’ he said inscrutably. ‘They’re meeting at the barn, and then there’s talk of making some sort of attack on Juniper Court, for reasons we still don’t understand at all.’
‘Something to do with Flora,’ Thea said. ‘Jeremy hinted at something when I saw him today. He was going to say more when one of his mates stopped him.’
‘Well, we won’t let it get that far. You’re going to sit tight in the car until it’s all over.’
‘And what about Hepzie?’
‘What?’
‘If it isn’t safe for me to stay here, then it isn’t safe for her. I’m really sorry, but I can’t just leave her. Not after what happened at Duntisbourne. Do you understand?’
He groaned with some melodrama, and ran a hand through his hair. ‘This is getting worse by the minute. Bring the damn dog, why don’t you. Just promise me she won’t bark or want to pee at the critical moment.’
‘Absolutely,’ Thea promised, with an inward tremor.
She sat in the front passenger seat of the Mondeo, with the spaniel on her lap. Within moments they were driving down a narrow track with dense trees on one side. ‘Where are we?’ she whispered.
‘Only a few hundred yards from the barn. Nobody’s going to see you here.’
‘That’s a relief.’
‘Listen,’ he told her. ‘I won’t have time to say this twice. You’re to stay in the car unless I expressly tell you to get out. If that happens, you’re to take the dog and run for the nearest trees or long grass or woodpile – anything you can find that’ll hide you. Stay down until I come calling for you. However long that takes.’
Thea giggled in spite of herself.
‘It’s not funny, love. As far as we know, nobody’s armed. This is all meant to be very calm and low key. But there are still uncertainties, and I don’t want anyone to take any risks. Understand?’
Thea hadn’t really heard anything beyond that sweet-sounding love, but she murmured assent, anyway.
‘I’ll leave the key in the ignition, so you can open the windows if you want.’
Then he was fishing in his pocket for a mobile phone. Thea had a disconcerting image of another one ringing loudly just outside the barn and betraying its owner to the killer inside. Then she remembered that they could be set to vibrate silently instead of ringing.
‘Jack?’ Hollis muttered into his phone. ‘I’m in place now. Can you talk?’
Apparently Jack could, as Hollis listened intently for a few seconds. ‘Right. Good. Give me two minutes.’
He opened his door delicately, whispering to Thea, ‘We’ve got them under surveillance now, in the barn.’
‘Good luck then,’ she said. An irritation was settling on her, compounded of disappointment and weariness. The man was playing silly games when all she wanted was his arms around her.
Hollis leaned back into the car. ‘Be very quiet!’ he ordered. ‘This is important.’
‘Good luck,’ she repeated, meaning it this time.
She waited in the car, annoyed with herself, but still sensing something ridiculous in the situation. Why hadn’t she just gathered up the dog and gone home the day she found the body? The ensuing week had been an ordeal of painful frustrations, with Jocelyn to cope with and Hollis simultaneously seductive and unavailable.
Slowly she began to doze, with Hepzie curled warm on her lap. Images flickered in her head, making little sense. She wished for a cushion, or permission to play music. Even a Radio Four play would have been welcome company. Outside the light was fading, the trees losing detail, all the more so for the steaming up on the inside of the windows as she and Hepzie breathed.
A man’s voice brought her awake, and without thinking, she wound down the window beside
her, the whirr of the electric motor sounding loud in the twilight.
‘They’re at the barn now, look,’ said the man in a low voice.
‘I said they would be. I don’t know why we had to come and make sure, when it was never in any doubt.’
‘Stupid buggers.’
A second voice replied. A voice that was more familiar to Thea. ‘They’re after the Innes boys, just like Frannie said. She’s a clever girl, is my Frannie. This is all thanks to her, you know. She’s really led them up the garden path with her stories of feuds between the lads. Lucky for you, mate.’
The first man laughed. Thea wondered how they could possibly not have noticed her, only a few feet away in a whacking great car. She tried to locate them, using the wing mirror, but could see nothing. Cautiously, she turned, sticking her head a little way out of the window.
There were footsteps and more conversation. ‘We can’t stay here,’ said the second man, who had to be Robert Craven from the voice. ‘We ought to get back. We’ve seen enough to know what they’re up to.’
And then Thea saw them, and they saw her. She pulled her head back, too late. ‘Flora!’ cried the man who wasn’t Robert. ‘Darling, what are you doing here? They said you were with Maggie.’
He ran to the car and pulled the door open. Hepzie raised her head and grinned. Thea met the man’s eyes and knew who he was at last.
‘Good God – Desmond Phillips,’ she said.
Chapter Fifteen – Friday
‘You’re not Flora,’ he realised, his jaw slackening. ‘Who are you?’
‘This is your house-sitter,’ said Robert, with a hint of amusement. ‘She does look a bit like Flora in this light, I suppose.’
