A Place of Hope (18 page)

‘Is he here?’

‘Who?’ But of course she guessed.

‘That idiot, of course. Toby Jones. I’m Mrs Corrish, his house supervisor. Don’t believe anything he’s told you. He’s more trouble than the other seven put together, that one is.’ She waited, arms folded. ‘Well, is he here?’

Emily didn’t oblige her with an immediate answer, because she wasn’t sure how to deal with this. She could see Oliver shaking his head at her.

The woman didn’t wait for an answer. ‘I knew the old lady had died, so when Toby ran away again, I waited for him to come back of his own accord, because this time there was no one here to feed him. He likes his food, that one does. Eats like a pig. Only he didn’t come home and when I drove here to find him a couple of days ago, the place was all locked up. Then a friend told me someone had moved in, so I came back.’

‘We’ve only just got here,’ Emily said.

‘I heard you got here yesterday.’ Mrs Corrish looked round scornfully. ‘Not much of an inheritance, a ruin like this. Still, the developers will knock the place down and the sooner the better.’

‘Developers?’

‘Don’t play daft. You must have heard from them.’

‘I’m surprised you know about it.’

‘Word gets around. Everyone round here knows. Barton and Halling have had their surveyors traipsing all over the property.’

Without my permission, Emily thought. How dare they?

Mrs Corrish was off again. ‘I came to put a stop to Toby sneaking off here, once and for all. I’m not having you or anyone else hiding him from me, listening to his lies, blackening my name. I treat him well. I look after them all properly. He’s just a troublemaker.’

On the other side of her, Chad stirred as if about to speak, his expression showing suppressed anger. Emily put one hand on his arm, shaking her head slightly. If Mrs Corrish was angry enough to pour out her feelings, let her. They might learn something. ‘I don’t know anything about that.’

‘I think you do. There’s nowhere else Toby could be. He used to visit the old lady whenever he could get away, and she filled him full of stupid ideas. He has to learn to behave himself,
he
does, to fit in as much as someone like him can. He’s lucky to have a place in a modern group home, you know. So I’ll ask you to fetch him out. And after this, please do not encourage him to come here.’ She stood there, arms folded, impatience in every twitch of her body.

‘Is this Toby a prisoner at the group home, then?’ Emily asked. ‘Isn’t he allowed out on his own?’

‘He’s in my charge, so it’s for me to say what he does and where he goes. Look, I’m a busy person, so stop pretending. I know you’ve got him hidden away. If you don’t fetch him now, I’ll report him and you to social services.’

Emily was furious at such rudeness and she could see why Toby was afraid of this bully. But she wasn’t afraid. ‘I only arrived here yesterday afternoon. I haven’t even managed to explore the whole house yet. I’m sorry, but I don’t know where your Toby is.’ Which was true. Sort of. She started to close the door.

Mrs Corrish’s hand shot out and she shoved the door open again with such force, Emily was jerked backwards. ‘I’ll come inside and check that for myself, thank you very much. Who knows what you may be doing with him?’

Chad moved forward, barring her way. ‘You’ll do no such thing.’

‘You either let
me
come in and look for him, or I’ll be back with the police and his social worker. Either way, I’m not leaving him here.’

Oliver moved forward to where she could see him. ‘Do you remember me, Mrs Corrish?’

She didn’t answer beyond glaring at him.

‘Yes, I see you do. I was Miss Penelope’s lawyer and now I’m acting in the same capacity for Ms Mattison. You shouldn’t try to push your way in or
we
might be the ones to call the police and report you for trespassing and causing a nuisance.’

She gave him a dirty look but took a step backwards. ‘I might have known
you
would be involved. You Taptons have certainly dipped your fingers into the Mattison pot.’ She shrugged and waved one hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘All right, then. Please yourselves. I
will
be back and I’ve got the law on my side.’

Emily waited in the doorway, watching the woman walk away.

Mrs Corrish opened the car door and took out some cigarettes, lighting one and tossing the match away. She took a deep drag and turned to get into her car. A gust of wind suddenly blew up from nowhere, whipping the cigarette out of her hand and sending it flying into the vehicle. With a shriek she dived into the car after it, cursing and yelling as she hunted for the lit cigarette. It took her a while to find it and pinch it out.

‘Serve her right,’ Emily muttered. Only after Mrs Corrish had driven off did she sag against the nearest support, which happened to be Chad. ‘Phew! What a harridan! Where’s Toby? Does anyone know?’

‘He ran off towards the back of the house the minute he heard that female,’ Rachel said. ‘I didn’t try to stop him.’

‘I don’t know where the hiding places are,’ Oliver said. ‘Penelope kept her secrets. I’ve had to deal with the Corrish woman before. She wasn’t making idle threats. She’ll be back with the police. She knows every trick in the rule book when she wants something.’

‘Why does she bother if she dislikes Toby so much?’

‘She’s paid to look after him. She gets all sorts of perks and extra payments because the members of the group are intellectually challenged. The trouble is, Toby’s operating at a higher level than the others and needs a more stimulating life. Penelope tried to have him assigned to her instead, but the authorities said she was too old to look after him, and I’m afraid they were right. But
he
used to look after her in some ways. They both acted as if she was his grandmother, and a beloved grandmother at that.’

‘Hmm.’ Then Emily remembered something. ‘What exactly do these developers want to do with my property?’

‘I don’t know. It was my son who was dealing with your inheritance, and Jeremy only brought me in when he needed someone to rescue you. I have the file at home, because I was going to look through it. Shall I go and fetch it? Barton and Halling are a national company, as you must know. If they’re interested in buying this land, they’ll be willing to pay an excellent price, I’m sure.’

‘
If
I want to sell.’

‘Yes. Your choice. I believe Miss Penelope refused to sell to them last year.’ He checked his watch. ‘Shall I fetch the file? I can bring some of my other things too and move in.’

Emily nodded. ‘Yes, please.’

He still lingered. ‘One or two people approached Penelope over the years about selling them parts of her land. But they weren’t developers, just individuals. I was acting for her then and the only place anyone could have got permission to build was where the outbuildings are, so that it wasn’t a new dwelling exactly, just a replacement. She didn’t want strangers living so close and always said no.’

‘The rules for building in green belt areas are a lot more flexible these days,’ Chad said. ‘Burton and Halling build good quality homes, at least, if you do want to sell part of your land and stay here.’

Emily glanced quickly his way. He’d sounded so sure of himself. But she didn’t comment on that. ‘It’s far too soon for me to know what I want to do. I haven’t even seen all the outbuildings yet. I’d love to see that file, Oliver.’

‘Food will be ready when you get back,’ Rachel told him. ‘But don’t expect a fancy meal.’

‘I usually warm up a frozen dinner.’

She grimaced. ‘That’s not my idea of an even half-decent meal. I can do better than that.’

‘Great.’ He beamed at them all and hurried across to his car.

‘That’s a lonely man,’ Rachel said abruptly.

‘I worry that we’re taking advantage of his kindness.’

‘Don’t. He’s enjoying being involved with us.’

‘I think you’re right.’ And her friend was a lonely woman, Emily knew. But she didn’t comment. If something happened between Oliver and Rachel, she’d be happy, but she didn’t approve of deliberate matchmaking. She’d been the target of it a few times herself, from well-meaning friends, and hadn’t enjoyed being pushed into dating some guy who didn’t attract her in the slightest. Or worse still, set up with a man at a dinner party, with everyone else watching how she got on with him.

She’d met Chad without anyone’s help and she was hoping something would come of it. If he was free. If she was lucky.

She hoped Rachel would find someone too.

After they’d gone back indoors, she locked the front door carefully. ‘Let’s get a cup of coffee then continue exploring the house. We’ll probably run into Toby on the way.’

Emily relaxed as soon as she entered the flat. It was cluttered and old-fashioned. The whole building was dusty, in need of repairs and not at all like a normal house, but for some weird reason, she felt at home here. Her other house had never made her feel like this. Indeed, she’d been going to sell it and look for somewhere more interesting to renovate once she’d retired.

Strange, that The Drover’s Hope
had fallen into her lap like this. She wasn’t usually so lucky.

George went to sit in his car to make the phone call, not wanting anyone to overhear his conversation. He struck lucky first time. She didn’t always answer her mobile when she was at work.

‘Ah, Sister Pauline. George Pilby here. No, don’t hang up. Can you talk or should I ring you later? You are still interested in certain outcomes, I take it? Good. I’ll ring you in two hours, then.’

He put the phone down with a smile of satisfaction. He’d hooked her again. Well, she didn’t take much hooking. She was a bitter woman, whose main focus was making money.

When he went back into the house, Marcia looked at him, an unspoken question in her expression.

‘The person I was ringing will be available in a couple of hours’ time,’ he said quietly.

‘I don’t know how you do it, George.’

‘Do what?’

‘Find people willing to bend the rules.’

He grinned. ‘Bend them? Pauline was smashing every rule she could, even before I turned up.’

‘You’re still taking a big risk.’

‘It’ll be well worth it this time. There’s far more at stake here than there was with my mother. And Emily’s not as easy to manipulate. Which makes her more interesting to deal with.’

Liz rejoined them just then and the conversation became general. And boring.

George sat it out, grateful for Marcia, who seemed able to maintain inane conversations for hours on end.

Oliver came back just as they were about to set off exploring the rest of the outbuildings. They’d already looked at the pub’s kitchens and other service areas, though they’d left the cellar till later. He was clutching a briefcase, from which he pulled out a folder and gave it to Emily.

‘Before we start, perhaps you’d look through these copies of recent letters sent on behalf of your cousin Penelope? I’ve put a marker at where she died and we sent a letter to inform you, as the heir. Barton and Halling made an offer for The Drover’s Hope
almost immediately after her death.’

She read them through quickly then looked at him in bewilderment. ‘I didn’t receive any of these earlier letters.’

‘They were sent to your home.’

She pointed to the date. ‘I wasn’t at home then. I was staying with my sister.’

Rachel leaned across to look at them. ‘I forwarded all your letters to Liz’s for the first fortnight you were away. There were some business letters with
Tapton and Associates
on the back.’

‘No need to ask who got hold of them, then,’ Emily said grimly.

‘Intentionally intercepting an individual’s mail is illegal, unless the power to do so has been gained through an interception warrant,’ Oliver said. ‘And the home secretary has to authorize that.’

‘George was probably dealing with his mother’s mail and my letters were forwarded with it.’

‘Nonetheless, opening someone else’s post is still illegal, even if it has been delivered to your address.’

‘And if I accuse him of that, make my complaint official, it’ll upset Liz. He relies on that. He insists he’s only trying to look after her since her husband died.’

‘Does she need looking after?’

‘I’m afraid so. She’s always been a bit of a weak reed.’ Emily tapped the papers. ‘I need to think about these.’

‘And the offer to purchase your inheritance?’

‘My immediate inclination is to say no. I know I haven’t been here long, but it feels like home – or as if it could become my home. I was looking to sell my other house and move somewhere anyway.’ She glanced out of the window. ‘I love the views, the feeling of peace, and I’ve always fancied doing a renovation.’

‘I think we’d better contact Barton and Halling, then, to let them know that their earlier letters went astray. Shall I do that for you in my official capacity?’

‘Yes, please, Oliver. But while it’s still light, let’s go and do some more exploring. We keep getting interrupted and I’m dying to see the rest of the house. Oh, and we must find Toby and reassure him that he’s safe here.’

In the rear bar, Oliver explained about the three exits from the rear of the pub into the courtyard. ‘There’s an exit from the utility room of the flat, which you’ve already seen, this one behind the bar, and another one from the other side of the old barn, which is at the end of that corridor. There’s a sort of circuit through the outbuildings, which are the oldest parts of the dwelling.’

He hesitated, then added, ‘I know there are some secret hidey-holes and perhaps even a secret passage, or how else would Toby have managed to stay hidden?’

A flurry of rain against the rather dirty window panes at the rear of the bar made Emily say, ‘Let’s try the undercover circuit first or we’ll get soaked.’

Oliver took them past the storerooms and stopped to point to the ground, where there were some large footprints. ‘Toby’s, I should think.’

‘Then we’d better rub them out.’ Emily moved to scuff her feet across them. ‘I’m not giving that woman any clues if she comes back with the police.’

‘You really shouldn’t shelter him,’ Oliver said. ‘And definitely not if the police are involved.’