Masters of the House (25 page)

“But what did you think as time went by and her body still didn't turn up?”

“Well, after a time obviously I couldn't go on thinking that nobody here had been round to the back garden. I thought your father must have discovered it and buried it. I'd worked out he probably had some connection with Rose Morley's death. I thought when he found the body he was afraid the police would work out the link between him and Carmen if she was found in his garden, and somehow or other he'd got rid of her.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yes, it seemed to. So for a while I didn't believe the stories that were going round about him being out of his mind. Then I met Annie at the Irish Club, and something—I couldn't put my finger on it—aroused my suspicion. I think Annie's just not a good liar, thank the Lord.”

“I was always better,” said Matthew. “But she convinced most people.”

“Perhaps there was something inside me that told me there was another possible explanation for the disappearance of Carmen's body. Eventually I
had
to be sure. I baked a cake and
brought it round here. You were all playing noisily in the back garden. I came into the kitchen. There was a noise upstairs. Your father's door was open, and I think he gave some sort of groan or sob. I called up. There was no reply. I went up and—you know what I found. As soon as I saw him, I knew he couldn't have got rid of Carmen's body. So I knew that you must have done it—probably you and Annie. I decided at once that you had to be saved. That was how I saw it. You'd become trapped in a world of lies and deceit, and I had to restore your childhood to you. It was a penance: I would stop in England and give you normality again.”

The voice tailed away. She looked so tired she could fade into nothingness.

“The rest I know, don't I?” said Matthew.

“Yes, the rest you know. Do what you think best about it, Matthew. Your judgment is better than an ignorant old woman's. If you think it's better kept quiet, so be it. But remember Rob and Grace.”

“Yes, I'll remember them.”

“I'm sad I'll never see you married, with children of your own.”

Matthew shook his head.

“It's not something I've ever wanted. . . . I'm thinking of entering the church, Auntie.”

“The church?”

“Studying for the priesthood, or whatever I'm up to doing. I'm not sure I have the brains for it, but I think I want to try.”

She looked at him, bewildered.

“But why, Matthew?”

“I don't know. It seems somehow . . .
logical.
Almost like a sort of thanks. I suppose that means thanks for you, thanks for
being saved. It's difficult to explain. It seems what my whole life has been leading to.”

She shook her head.

“I'm a wicked woman to say it, and I never could if Father were here, but it seems like a waste.”

“If I thought that, I wouldn't want to go on living,” said Matthew, his mouth set in a determined line, as her own had been a minute or two before. “Don't worry your head about it. Try to get some sleep.”

“I think I could now.”

Matthew bent over and kissed her.

“Sleep well. We should have talked about this long ago, Auntie.”

“I never could. You were always so
straight.
I almost thought you'd have insisted I go and tell the police.”

“That's nonsense about my being straight. I was the biggest liar of the lot.”

“For others. And I think you hate lies now.”

“Because I had too much of them all that while ago. Sleep now.”

“Remember—lots of laughter.”

But when he got outside the room, he found the others assembled downstairs in the hall.

“What took you so long?” Greg asked, frowning. “What was there to talk about?”

“Something I've known a long time but never really understood. I'll tell you about it later.”

“Does it affect us?”

“Not now.”

“We thought we ought to go and see Dad,” said Annie with obvious reluctance. Matthew nodded.

“I suppose so.”

Jamie shuffled a bit, then turned.

“You've got to be prepared for a shock,” he said as they started up the stairs. “He's got a whole lot worse these last few months. There's no alternative to an institution now. Even if I wasn't going to live with Annie, I couldn't cope on my own.”

They paused outside the door. Then Jamie opened it, and they confronted the horror of the little room.

B
Y THE
S
AME
A
UTHOR

A Hovering of Vultures

A Fatal Attachment

A Scandal in Belgravia

A City of Strangers

Death of a Salesperson

Death and the Chaste Apprentice

At Death's Door

The Skeleton in the Grass

The Cherry Blossom Corpse

Bodies

Political Suicide

Fete Fatale

Out of the Blackout

Corpse in a Gilded Cage

School for Murder

The Case of the Missing Bronte

A Little Local Murder

Death and the Princess

Death by Sheer Torture

Death in a Cold Climate

Death of a Perfect Mother

Death of a Literary Widow

Death of a Mystery Writer

Blood Brotherhood

Death on the High C's

Death of an Old Goat

Scribner

Rockefeller Center

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright © 1994 by Robert Barnard

All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barnard, Robert.

The masters of the house/Robert Barnard.

p.   cm.

ISBN 0-684-19728-6

I. Title.

PS3563.A728M37    1994

813'.54—dc20         94-5853

ISBN 0-684-19728-6
eISBN 978-1-4767-3717-1