by Holly Bell
‘And did they reciprocate?’ asked Thomas.
‘I had reason to believe that the family had become fond of me too, yes. And so, I took the plunge ....’
***
‘Marielle,’ began Hogarth, ‘I know that usually Elodie speaks for everyone but, strictly speaking, the only one I can ask is you.’
‘Oh? Is it something naughty?’ she asked hopefully.
‘It’s because of your age and gender,’ Hogarth explained.
‘You’ve got my attention.’
‘I’m going to ask you something. I would like you to talk about it with the others, and give me the answer tomorrow.'
‘All right,’ Marielle agreed, making herself more comfortable against the sofa cushions and regarding Hogarth expectantly.
‘Promise you won't answer until tomorrow?’ he asked.
‘I promise. What is it?’
Mike took a deep breath, then:
‘All that is Lucy Penlowr, will you marry me?’
Chapter 27
Answer, and a New Puzzle
‘Oh! How romantic!’ exclaimed Amanda rapturously.
Thomas, on the other hand, looked vaguely concerned.
‘What did she — they — say?’
‘I got my answer the next day. Marielle explained that they had failed to arrive at a consensus and, in a matter as important as this, that was essential.’
‘It was “no”?’ asked Trelawney.
‘It was “no”.’
Amanda’s face fell.
‘Oh, but why not?’
‘I asked Marielle that ....’
***
‘Look,’ said Marielle, ’maybe it’s not exactly a “no” but a “not yet’. Not until we can come home with you and marry you as Lucy Penlowr, our own name in our own homeland. While the people who attacked Growan House — the Flamgoynes and the Cardiubarns, right? — are still at large, that is impossible. Much as we love our life here, the fact is that we are refugees, we are still in hiding.’
‘I could come and live here,’ Hogarth offered impulsively.
‘No, you couldn’t. We wouldn’t let you. You have a life, a purpose, a mission. We won’t let you make that sacrifice.’
‘Then I’d be with you whenever I could.’
‘Long-distance relationships are near impossible,’ countered Marielle.
‘Then consider yourself free, but I will be back, I assure you, as often as I can,’ Hogarth assured her.
‘And you’ll always get a warm welcome,’ Geoffrey assured him.
‘Finally,’ Hogarth responded hopefully, ‘a vote in my favour.’
‘And you’ll always get a warm welcome from me too,’ Marielle put in.
Peter clapped him on the shoulder. ‘I’ll always be glad to see you, dear chap.’
‘We can have ice-cream,’ stated Zoe.
‘We can have tea and go to the beach,’ said Elodie comfortingly.
Hogarth was resigned to the best he could get for now.
‘That’s settled then.’
***
Trelawney was looking at Hogarth with narrowed eyes.
‘No. That wasn’t the whole truth, was it? About having to stay in hiding.’
‘Hm, I wondered when your legendary instinct would kick in,’ remarked Hogarth jovially. ‘Quite. Early, the next morning I came back to the villa, as I thought, discreetly, to find Harry waiting for me on the deck. He had been aware of my occasional dawn returns, and had kindly held his peace. And Vee too. Now I was glad of his presence. He must have read it in my face. Harry somehow knew Lucy had turned me down and asked if I knew why. I told him the reason I’d been given. We decided it didn’t wash with either of us.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Amanda, ‘the distance thing aside, in Lucy’s shoes what would make me say “no” to a proposal from a man I loved? One who was ready to come and live with me. I can only think of one thing.’
‘Did you pursue the matter with them?’ asked Trelawney.
‘Yes, I did. And so, arrived at the truth ....’
***
‘Is it that the boys can’t see me as brother-in-law? I do have reasonably decent prospects, you know,’ Hogarth said lightly.
Marielle smiled at that, but was silent.
‘Well then, Zoe can’t see me as a future provider of ice-cream?’
‘No. She likes you. Says you’re her new friend,’ she replied.
‘Elodie doesn’t see it as a prudent match?’
Marielle shook her head.
‘Of course, it’s not that.’
‘Is it ... Marielle, is it you? Is it that you don’t love me?’
She rolled her eyes.
‘Oh, don’t be such a twit.’
‘Sorry. I’m just trying to understand.’
There was silence. Nevertheless, Hogarth could tell that the five were in conversation. It looked serious. Finally, Peter turned to him, hands in pockets.
‘Can you give us some time? We’re going to hold a conference in the studio.’
‘Of course. I’ll wait. As long as you like.’
Hogarth sat down, tried to think, tried to distract himself, looking around the room. Occasionally he heard a voice from the studio. The ‘family’ had told him that they often talked out loud to one another when no one else was around. Suddenly, Hogarth heard an audible:
‘No!’ That was Zoe.
‘We don’t have to tell him.’ Marielle.
‘Maybe it's his decision,’ came the reasonable tones of Peter.
‘What if he ....’ that voice sank out of hearing: Geoffrey.
Finally, they returned. Hogarth stood up.
‘Elodie speaks for us all,’ said Peter, rocking on his heels.
‘I understand,’ Hogarth responded.
Hair tucked neatly behind one ear, feet together, she looked up at him, clear-eyed.
‘You want the whole truth? Then here it is: I am no fit wife for a policeman.’
Hogarth looked at her in surprise. ‘Why not? Because you’re …?’
She held out her palms.
‘I have blood on my hands.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘On the stairs that night. I killed Mordren. It was me.’
‘How?’
‘He was raising his wand. Someone had shot down a woman in black. Her body was on the stairs, her wand still in her hand. Shilpa, Mimi and Roger were on the flight above, in his line of fire. I had to save them. I had to get them out. I had to keep the children safe. Any of them might have been any of us. They didn’t deserve to die. It was as though time slowed right down. So slow, I had time to pick up the wand and aim it, and I just … felt it. Felt the power, the energy; the spark burst out from the wand towards him, and it hit him … in the heart. I just meant to stop him, stun him. I never meant and … there was this flash brighter than the sun, than fireworks, than anything I’d ever seen before, and he burst into a million pieces. And then time speeded back up, and we got the children down the stairs and out of the door, running, running into the night.’
She paused, looking at him hopelessly.
‘Now you know it all. The best and the worst. I am a killer. And I can never go home. I don’t deserve to go home. And I don’t deserve you.’
She looked at her palm.
‘Out damned spot. Not all the waters in the depths of Dozmary Pool can wash it away ....’
***
Amanda’s eyes were welling up. ‘Oh, poor, poor Lucy! How terrible.’
‘So, the case was solved? Lucy did it. Then why are you asking us?’ enquired Trelawney, bewildered.
‘Solved? By no means,’ replied Hogarth. ‘Of course, they were there on the stairs that night. The Lucy family: the entire Lucy family. Five suspects. But which one of them fired the spell that killed Mordren Dowrkampyer?’
Amanda and Trelawney looked at one another, currents of speculation hurtling through their minds.
Chapter 28
The Unusual Susp
ects, and the Shore at Dawn
No sooner had Trelawney closed the driver’s door than Amanda asked eagerly.
‘Well? Who do you think it was?’
‘What do you think?’ He turned on the ignition.
‘I don’t know. Maybe it was Zoe. She is the only one who is adamant about not talking about the past. And think of how she dealt with the arachnid incursion. She didn’t think twice about it.’
‘True,’ Trelawney conceded, pulling out into the road. ‘Although, surely there’s a big difference between a man and a spider.’
‘Maybe not to Zoe. Both detestable and both a threat, if only a perceived one.’
‘Hm, maybe she did do it, and the whole thing was too dreadful to remember. On the other hand, Marielle has enough fire to ... well, even without a wand!’
‘Yes. Then again, Geoffrey’s job is to protect them all. Maybe he’s so serene because he believed he did the right thing,’ Amanda suggested.
‘But it was the other children, the students, who were in danger. That seemed to be the focus. Elodie did keep saying they had to save the children; they had to get them out.’
‘You don’t think it was Elodie, do you? She’d want to protect Zoe. I mean Elodie was created expressly for that purpose by Zoe. And there was a threat to them all. Surely Dowrkampyer would have turned on them once he’d dealt with the students on the flight of stairs above.’
‘Surely the older ones — Marielle, Geoffrey and Peter — would feel that even more strongly,’ countered Trelawney, slowing down to let another car pass in the narrow lane. ‘To protect the little ones as well as the other children in the house.’
‘Maybe it was the only rational choice in a pivotal moment.’
‘That sounds like Peter,’ surmised Trelawney. ‘Checks and balances.’
Amanda sighed. ‘So we’re no further forward.’ As if in acknowledgement, a long snore could be heard from the back seat, as Tempest, overcome by the tedium of their thought processes, had taken refuge in slumber.
She reached back a hand and rubbed his tummy. ‘Aww, Mister Cuddly-wuddles.’ Amanda then looked at the inspector’s profile as he concentrated on the road. ‘If you had to put your money on one, who would it be?’
He thought.
‘It may sound corny but ....’
She couldn’t resist a smile.
‘The femme fatale?’
‘Maybe it’s too obvious,’ Trelawney conceded.
‘Or meant to be too obvious.’
‘But you know, Miss Cadabra, all the evidence we have is the testimony of the Lucy family, as conveyed by Elodie and Peter, and the bits and pieces other people said. We have Mike’s summary of the fire and police reports, and the few words of the three, now grown-up, children who escaped. Silence mostly. I feel ... I’m sure there’s a bigger picture to all of this. Something that we’re just not getting.’
‘I don’t see how we can find out any more. After all, if Uncle Mike has been trying all these years ....’
‘Hm ... maybe he didn’t talk to the right people. Or, more correctly, they didn’t talk to him. However ... there are a couple of people who just might talk to me. Hm, I need to think.’
‘You go running on the beach for that, don’t you?’ asked Amanda.
‘I do. Ah. I tell you what. How would you like to see it, where I go? It would be an early start,’ he warned her. ‘It’s best at dawn.’
‘I’d love to,’ she replied enthusiastically. ‘What time? I’ll be ready.’
***
Amanda opened her cottage door with an audible gasp.
‘Good morning,’ Trelawney, with an amused expression, greeted her quietly, so as not to disturb the occupants of the neighbouring house. ‘Yes. You can say it: you don’t recognise me with my —’
‘No suit! I mean, good morning.’
‘I know you think I was psychically attached to one when I was 23, but for practicality’s sake, I don’t run along the beach in worsted and Oxfords. At least, not for fun. Sweats and trainers do seem to work better.’
‘I’ll bet. Will I be ok in jeans and trainers?’
‘Absolutely.’
Once in the car, Amanda asked, ‘Do you run at this place every morning?’
‘As often as I can. I tend to give it a miss when it’s pouring with rain or freezing cold.’
‘Really?’
Trelawney chuckled at Amanda’s surprise.
‘Yes, really. I’m not quite as “well ’ard” as you apparently and generously give me credit for.’
‘I think you’re pretty tough and wise enough not to subject yourself unnecessarily to experiences you find unpleasant.’
‘Too kind.’
‘So, you do it to keep fit mainly?’ asked Amanda.
‘Hm, I suppose I do it because I ... I don’t know ... compulsion .... I hope not. I do feel the need to be by the sea as often as I can.’
Amanda was concerned.
‘How will you manage in Sunken Madley? So far from the coast?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. Laps around the village pond perhaps? There’s Madley Wood. Different, but I dare say with its own charm of nature.’ He glanced at her. ‘Don’t look so anxious. I’ll be fine. And of course, I shall be back here at least once a month. More if there’s an emergency.’
‘Where will you stay if you rent out your flat?’
‘My father’s most likely. Perhaps Mike’s. It won’t be a problem, honestly,’ Trelawney promised.
‘I’m sure your constable would put you up, at a pinch,’ Amanda suggested naughtily.
‘I think The Tail and Fin would be a more prudent option, don’t you?’ Trelawney replied ruefully.
‘I’m sure you’d be safe with her.’
‘Well, she looks like a small, blonde, gazelle, but you didn’t see her wrestle Big Benny ‘The Bike’ to the ground last Hallowe’en.’
Amanda laughed, but said seriously, ‘I doubt there can be that many homes where you would not be welcome, Inspector.’
They drove to the seafront, parked, got out, and began walking.
‘This place has a history of smuggling, I gather,’ said Amanda.
‘Indeed. From the 1700s, maybe earlier.’
‘If you’d been a policeman then,’ she wondered, ‘would you have been a Revenue man, going after the Gentlemen, as I believe the smugglers were called back then?’
‘Probably. The Peelers were only up in London and not until the late 1820s,’ Trelawney explained, referring to the embryo Metropolitan police force.
‘Do they still exist?’ asked Amanda. ‘Not the police, the Revenue men,’ she added as a humorous aside.
‘Her Majesty’s Revenue Cutters are no longer sailing ships,’ he pointed out with mock helpfulness.
Amanda put a finger to her chin.
‘I rather thought that might be the case.’
‘But yes, the Channel is still patrolled. I can guess your next question: when Lucy escaped that night, were there patrol boats out? Yes, most likely, there would have been. Of course, anyone is free to cross the Channel, but they are required to report to a port authority, to notify of their arrival. Failure to do so can result in a boat being impounded and possibly a hefty fine.’
‘And that night, they didn’t want it to be known that Lucy was entering the country, so the boat had to cross undetected.’
‘That’s right.'
Chapter 29
Caught in the Act
‘So, this is where you run?’ Amanda enquired.
‘Yes, sometimes on the sand, sometimes just in the edge of the water,’ Trelawney answered.
She looked doubtful. ‘Isn’t that cold?’
‘Yes, but there’s something about the feel of it. It’s hard to explain. My mother says it’s because I was born in a pool.’
‘In a pool? A birthing pool?’ It sounded to Amanda too unconventional for the inspector. But he replied,
‘Yes, at home. The Flamgoynes were furious.’
‘They thought you should have been born in a hospital?’
‘No, at Flamgoyne. But my father respected my mother’s wishes and, come to think of it, must have put his foot down pretty firmly on that one, yes, and so ....’
‘A water baby,’ Amanda jested.
‘Just so.’
‘And so you love to swim.’
‘I do. Especially here. Have you ever swum in the sea?’ Trelawney asked.
‘Not here. Except possibly when I was very little indeed. Since then, only abroad in the warmest waters. The shock of the cold, you see ... can bring it on,’ explained Amanda.
Trelawney nodded in comprehension. ‘Ah yes, the asthma.’ He looked at the waves and decided that it was calm enough for a suggestion. ‘How about paddling?’
‘If I’m careful and do it a bit at a time, get used the temperature.’ Suddenly Amanda looked at him brightly. ‘Do you think I could? Now?’
‘Why not? We have time.’
Amanda stripped off her shoes and socks, tossed them up onto the dry sand, and rolled up her jeans. She dipped first a toe in, then let the water lap a little more until, by degrees, her feet were immersed with each incoming wave.
‘Oh, it’s fun!’ she cried. She glowed with joy, and for a while was gently splashing around in the water, watching the gentle surf caressing her skin. Happily paddling, her arms spread wide, Amanda turned her face to the sky. Hence she failed to notice the oncoming wave that would surely have drenched her up the knees. Trelawney spotted it, knowing it would be too much, too soon for Amanda. He took two running strides and snatched her up into his arms just as the wave hit.
