The Slay of the Land (The Heathervale Mysteries Book 1)

by Matilda Swift

  He wouldn’t have been persuaded, and she knew it. When they’d been together, he’d often told her about crazed friends and relatives who brought scraps of paper, copied-down messages, or once, memorably, an envelope of autumn leaves to the police station. Those people were always sure that they would get their loved one free. And Tony had been the one to tell them to leave it to the police.

  But right now the police didn’t seem to be looking in the right place. There was something about Fiona that didn’t add up. The woman was a far better suspect than some seventeen-year-old kid. Arrina just needed to find the evidence to prove it.

  As she leaned against her sun-warmed car, her heartbeat slowly recovered its natural rhythm. She promised herself that as soon as she sorted out all of the immediate problems in her life, she would eat right and exercise.

  But when would that be? Her student had been arrested, and her college was closed. She was suspended from her job, and she’d been excluded from the meeting on the access road. It was impossible to imagine that she would be able to sort through all those problems anytime soon.

  Arrina hunted through her bag for a brownie. It looked like her healthier life was still a good way off yet, so she might as well embrace the energising power of Julie’s chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.

  As she pulled a cling-film-wrapped square of gooey brownie from the depths of her bag, Arrina saw the charm bracelet sparkle underneath.

  She looked around the car park. Her desperate run across the black tarmac had caught the attention of several onlookers—sprinting in a beautiful vintage dress was not exactly subtle—and they were all now watching Arrina to see what she would do next.

  She stood as tall as she could, smoothed down the front of her deep-teal pinstriped dress with her free hand, and smiled at the people nearby. Then she got into her car and drove away. She wanted to get a closer look at the bracelet in her bag, but not with an audience watching her do it.

  She also didn’t want to be observed stuffing a whole brownie into her mouth, so she waited till she hit the road to consume her chocolatey treat. It was absolutely delicious. She was not sure she could go back to a balanced diet after all the stress-relieving indulgences of the past few days. Blueberries and cashew nuts had nothing on a mouth stuffed to bursting with chocolate brownie.

  Arrina chewed slowly as she headed to Fiona’s house. She was finally going to talk to the woman—not to pass on her condolences, but to find some concrete evidence that she could take to the police.

  She chewed the last of her brownie and swallowed. The lingering taste of chocolate made her feel as though Julie was with her, and that was all the confidence she needed to be sure she was doing the right thing.

  Arrina pulled her car into the long driveway of Fiona’s house and drove slowly up it. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. In the past, she had talked down parents who were threatening to sue the college, fought back against protesters at the gate, and faced the Parish Council and its onslaught of questions. She could certainly go inside Fiona’s large, elegant sitting room and talk to the woman over a cup of tea.

  All she had to do was stay calm. Fiona didn’t know that Arrina was on to her. She would be as polite and welcoming as always, and Arrina just had to smile gently and say how sorry she was about Hugo and ask a few slightly leading questions.

  That was it. That was all she needed to do. That was well within her capabilities.

  She took one more deep breath and drove around the bend in the driveway to pull up outside Fiona’s house.

  As the heavy rumble of her engine died down, Arrina became aware of how quiet the place seemed.

  The last time she’d been here, she’d seen Hugo’s green Land Rover and Fiona’s sleek Mercedes parked up alongside the house. Now, the shiny black saloon car was gone, and Fiona must have gone with it.

  Arrina rang the bell beside the sky-blue front door, but nobody answered. She glanced through the front windows of the house and looked for any movement, but it seemed that no one was home.

  She got back into her car and drummed her fingers on the wheel. She considered the second brownie in her bag, even thought about taking a sip of the sloe gin. If she had to wait very long to speak to Fiona, her nerves would overtake her.

  But the woman wouldn’t be long, surely. People in this village had eyes everywhere, and a grieving widow wouldn’t want the gossip that came from being seen out and about just days after her husband’s death. Especially not if she had secrets to hide.

  Arrina forced herself to relax a little and release her grip on the wheel while she took stock of the situation.

  Arrina had to find some more clues that she could give to the police. A bad patch in a marriage and money worries didn’t lead definitively to murder. If they did, half the village would have been killed by now.

  Arrina looked at the house again. It seemed to be utterly deserted. She knew that here, in the depths of the countryside, there was a good chance of a door or window being left open somewhere. She thought about letting herself in.

  But she’d already done enough sneaking around in that house and seen nothing of interest. Besides, if Fiona caught her breaking in, she wouldn’t talk to Arrina and would never reveal the clue that Arrina so desperately needed to get Olly free.

  Instead, Arrina decided to look at the evidence she already had—the charm bracelet she’d found buried in the grass outside Hugo’s office.

  She carefully lifted the bracelet out of the bottom of the bag. Her fingerprints were already on it from when she’d picked it up the day before. And it had been tumbling around at the bottom of her bag since then, in amongst the crumbs, ink stains, and old chocolate wrappers. All physical evidence had surely been destroyed. But she could figure something out from it. A bracelet like that had no business being abandoned in the grass—Arrina knew it was significant.

  The bracelet was delicate but well made. There were only a few charms on it, and Arrina was mystified by each—a small but highly detailed tractor, painted red; a cupcake studded with what seemed like real diamonds; and a long, thin cylinder that didn’t look like anything at all. She couldn’t imagine what sort of person might have collected these three objects onto a single chain, but she did know it wasn’t likely to be Fiona Hayes. The woman wore delicate gold and scatters of emeralds, which looked good against the warm tan of her skin.

  The leaf litter and soil that had clung to the bracelet had dropped off into the bottom of Arrina’s bag. As she held the delicate chain up to the light, it seemed brand new. There was a small scratch on one of the tiny links, but aside from that, it appeared to be unworn.

  The red tractor, the cupcake, and the strange cylinder all gleamed brightly. They looked expensive, but Arrina was sure that they didn’t match Fiona’s taste. She could believe that a wealthy man like Hugo had bought it but probably not for his wife.

  Perhaps the gossip mill of Heathervale had got the rumour about Hugo half right—Arrina knew Hugo wasn’t having an affair with her, but perhaps there was someone else in the picture. Arrina had a vivid mental image of a lithe young woman shimmying out through Hugo’s office window when Fiona came home unexpectedly. The charm bracelet could have slipped off her wrist in the struggle through the small gap and lain in the grass unnoticed.

  Perhaps this secret girlfriend could give Arrina some clues. Maybe Hugo had promised to leave his wife for her. If Fiona had found out about that, then she could have snapped and stabbed her husband in a jealous rage.

  Arrina put the bracelet down on the dashboard and watched it sparkle in the sun.

  Then a different flicker in the distance caught her eye. She looked up. But there was nothing there. She reached into her bag for the second brownie and unwrapped it while looking at the bracelet again. She prodded the cylindrical charm gently, wondering what on earth it might be.

  Another movement flashed at the edge of her vision. Arrina shuffled down in her seat, even though really, someone sitting in
side a silver-blue car was not likely to go unnoticed. She stayed very still and stared in the direction of the movement.

  It was coming from the side of the house—in between the wall and the treeline, just where Arrina herself had crept the day before. Arrina’s breath caught in her chest. Maybe Fiona was home. That could be her, following some trail of evidence that Arrina had left behind in her escape. Did Fiona know that she’d been overheard on the phone? Could she know that it was Arrina?

  If only she could rely on her car to start smoothly, Arrina would tear out of there and never look back. But she couldn’t sit like a lemon in the driveway while her engine spluttered and chugged out an announcement that might as well say, ‘Come and get me.’

  The figure by the side of the house was concealed within the shadows of the trees. The person there was kicking around in the grass and bending over to inspect the ground. Arrina realised what they were looking for. It was the very thing she’d found there herself—the silver charm bracelet. And whoever was looking for it was certainly not Fiona. The figure was young and spritely, just as Arrina had pictured Hugo’s mistress to be. It made Arrina’s stomach ache to be right about this. Hugo had seemed like such a good man, and now it turned out that even he couldn’t be trusted.

  She didn’t want to meet the hot young thing with whom Hugo had strayed. But as Arrina had already realised, the woman might have important evidence that could help set Olly free.

  As the figure got closer and neared the front of the house, Arrina wound down her car window. She picked up the bracelet and held it out over the driveway.

  ‘Are you looking for something?’ she asked loudly. The figure in the shadows leapt in surprise. Then, as the person stepped into the light, Arrina had a shock of her own.

  The young woman who emerged from the side of the house was none other than Maggie Lee, the young new Chemistry teacher she’d hired to work at the college.

  That was who Hugo was having an affair with! Arrina gasped. She blinked her eyes. And the delicate silver bracelet slipped from her fingers.

  26

  Maggie Lee was the other woman. The person Hugo had cheated with. The reason his wife had kicked him out. And perhaps the reason she’d killed him.

  So not only had Hugo’s death somehow been associated with the college but the end of his marriage before it. Maybe the locals were right to dislike the place.

  Arrina leaned her head out of the window of her car. She glanced between the shocked face of Maggie Lee and the bracelet on the driveway.

  The woman was less than half Hugo’s age. He’d cared about her enough to buy her an expensive gift. But he couldn’t have known her very long—Maggie had only moved to the village two months earlier. And how had they even met?

  Arrina’s thoughts struggled to fit this new information into the world that she knew. The hard edges of the news beat against her mind, leaving it raw and bruised.

  Maggie walked towards the bracelet. She moved with small, mouse-like steps, scurrying towards the car and the incriminating accessory beside it.

  The bracelet was the only evidence Arrina had. She whipped her car door open and snatched the trinket up from the driveway.

  ‘We need to talk,’ Arrina said. She tipped her head in the direction of the passenger door. ‘It’s best if we do it elsewhere.’

  She had no idea what Fiona would do if she found the two of them there in her driveway. Arrina needed some time alone with Maggie before speaking to Fiona. Arrina needed all the facts available so she could confront Hugo’s widow and find the crucial evidence that she’d committed the poor man’s murder.

  Arrina dropped the bracelet back into her handbag, which she put in the footwell behind her. Maggie climbed cautiously into the passenger seat, and Arrina drove away quickly.

  ‘There’s a quiet spot not far from here,’ Arrina said. It was a place where she sometimes met up with Julie when the two of them needed a break from their days. The overgrown lane led to an abandoned mill and looked out over the River Derwent. It was one of the quietest places in the village, and Arrina was sure that they wouldn’t be disturbed.

  She parked the car and sat in silence while the engine ticked and cooled. The two women unclipped their seatbelts but did not turn to face each other.

  ‘How long have things been going on with you and Hugo?’ Arrina asked. She looked straight ahead. A blackbird hopped on a fencepost in her sightline. It sang a bright, cheerful song that made Arrina wish she could close her ears.

  ‘I... don’t know what you mean,’ Maggie said. Her voice sounded like that of a child. Arrina had to remind herself that the woman was twenty-four—an experienced teacher who’d qualified young and looked younger still with her small-featured face and ribbon-tied ponytail. If she was old enough to have an affair with a married man, then she was old enough to deal with the consequences.

  ‘I’m not judging here,’ Arrina said and really tried to mean it. ‘We’re far beyond that. I just need the details of what happened between the two of you.’

  ‘Of... of what?’ Maggie asked. Her voice was shaking, and Arrina refused to look at her. The young woman was not much older than a college student. If Arrina looked over now, then she would soften and try to comfort the young woman. But Olly was the one who needed her, and she couldn’t let emotions get in the way of that.

  ‘Not the sordid ones,’ Arrina said, keeping her voice firm. ‘I just need to know the dates. When did it start? When did Fiona find out? When did Hugo give you this?’ Arrina reached around and fished the bracelet out of her handbag in the back seat.

  ‘Can I have it back?’ Maggie asked. Her voice wavered with oncoming tears.

  Arrina had to stop herself from shouting, I’ll be the one asking questions. She’d watched too many bad police shows with Tony. But she wasn’t a grizzled alcoholic cop, and the woman in the seat next to her wasn’t some drug-addicted prostitute. Arrina couldn’t keep up her hard front, and she pulled a tissue out of her bag.

  ‘I can’t give you the bracelet yet,’ Arrina said. ‘I may need to show it to the police. I think it’s evidence in Hugo’s murder.’

  Maggie’s sniffling tears broke into hiccupping sobs. ‘I didn’t kill him,’ Maggie said. ‘I could never... never...’ Then she buried her face in her hands and released a bawling cry that made Arrina wince.

  ‘No, no, no,’ she said with a soft, soothing voice. ‘I don’t think you killed him.’

  She felt a jolt of shock as she said this. She really hadn’t considered the possibility that Maggie was the killer. She’d pushed aside any suspicion of the pleasant young woman just as quickly as she’d dismissed the thought that Fiona could have done it before. But she’d realised stupidly late how wrong that assumption had been.

  Now here she was, parked down an isolated country lane, with a woman who claimed loudly not to be a killer. Which was exactly what the real killer would say.

  Arrina’s fingers crept to the handle of her door. She knew a back route between here and Julie’s farm. She could run there in a matter of minutes. And though Arrina had been feeling out of shape back in the car park of the village hall, she was suddenly sure that she could run for as long as she needed.

  Maggie’s sobbing subsided a little. She wiped away her tears and looked over at the bracelet.

  Arrina felt a prickle of fear as she saw the glint in Maggie’s eye. She might seem like a sweet girl, fresh from school, but the desperation in her stare made Arrina panic.

  ‘Please,’ Maggie said. ‘Please can I have the bracelet.’

  She had underestimated Maggie. There was a strength and passion beneath the woman’s pleasant exterior. And Arrina didn’t want to find out exactly what Maggie would do to get her way.

  Arrina tightened her grip on the bracelet. If Maggie wanted it so much, then Arrina could use that to her advantage. She would dive out of the car, throw the bracelet in one direction, and run off in the other. She glanced outside to make sure that the path she needed
was clear. Then she tensed her fingers, ready to pull on the door handle when the moment was just right.

  ‘I could never kill him,’ Maggie said. ‘Hugo Hayes was my father.’

  27

  Arrina sat in stunned silence. She turned the astounding fact over in her mind. Hugo Hayes was Maggie’s father. He was her father. This young chemistry teacher, who’d only just moved to the village, was the daughter of Hugo Hayes.

  ‘It feels so good to tell someone,’ Maggie said, wiping the tears from her face.

  Arrina stared at the young woman but saw no resemblance between her and Hugo. Then Maggie gave a relieved smile, and Arrina recognised Hugo’s charming crooked grin.

  Maggie pointed to the bracelet in Arrina’s hand. ‘The tractor represents Hugo,’ she said, her voice still quavering as she recovered from her tears. ‘He wanted me to learn more about the farm. I barely know a wheat sheaf from a corncob to be honest, but he was eager to teach me.’

  ‘Hugo was your father,’ Arrina said, unable to get the fact to sink in. ‘I thought you came to Heathervale to teach, but... Hugo was your father.’

  ‘I only met him a few months ago,’ Maggie said. ‘I didn’t even know about him until last year. Then I got in touch, and we met up a few times and got on really well. When I saw the job advertised at the college, it seemed like a sign to move here and get to know him even better.’

  ‘I don’t remember you mentioning any family in the area,’ Arrina said. In fact, she was certain that Maggie hadn’t said anything about it. And Arrina clearly remembered speaking to Hugo about the topic just recently. He’d said that aside from Fiona and Rory, his closest relatives were a pair of distant cousins in Bakewell.

  ‘No,’ Maggie said softly. ‘We decided to keep things private while everyone got used to the situation.’ She reached over and gently took the charm bracelet from Arrina’s fingers. Then she fastened it around her wrist and held the red-painted tractor between her finger and thumb. ‘Growing up, I knew the man who raised me wasn’t my biological father, but he’s a good man, and he always treated me like his own.’ She fingered the other charms while Arrina sat stiffly in her seat, still trying to make sense of what she was hearing.