ON DEVIL'S BRAE (A Psychological Suspense Thriller) (Dark Minds Mystery Suspense) (33 page)

“Look, Steve, we’ve received an invitation from Duncan and Isabelle Macpherson to go and stay with them. But that’s not all. You remember that play we acted in the last time we were in Cheltenham? It was called The Holbein Legacy, and this is the most exciting part of all…guess what?” Diana said when she rushed into Steve’s workshop that morning waving a print of the email under his nose.

Steve paused what he was doing and looked at her with a patient, albeit puzzled, expression on his face. She looked flushed and excited.

“Well?” she asked.

“Di, how can I possibly begin to guess what’s in the email? Just tell me. I’m in the middle of rewiring this lamp, and it’s bloody tricky because there’s hardly any wire to play with. Chinese junk again.”

“Tssk, Mr Grumpy! You’re going to be impressed when I tell you. They’re only going to make a film out of the play! Can you imagine? And we’re invited over for a few
days’ visit to meet some of the film cast. I wonder who they’ve chosen to play our roles.”

This time, she did capture his attention. “I see what you mean. That is interesting. Let me have a look then.”

Diana passed the sheet of paper over to Steve and shot him a triumphant look. “I knew you’d be fascinated.”

Steve read the message through and looked up at Diana. “It says we’re invited because we were members of the original stage cast of The Holbein Legacy. We’re being asked to take part
in a day or two of filming and a photo shoot with the original cast. How extraordinary. That means they must be inviting all the others too. I wonder if anyone we know will be there and which film stars will come. It doesn’t say.”

“Not all the original members will come…Emily for one, if you remember.  She’s sadly no longer with us, and there are bound to be a few more we know nothing about. It’s so easy to lose touch.”

“You’re right. I’d forgotten about Emily. Do you reckon Duncan’s still a womaniser?”

“I bet he is. Despite Isabelle’s hooks in him, he always was quite the Casanova.” Diana laughed.

“So you’d like to go then? Visit the Cotswolds and stay at the Macphersons’? What about Poppy? And are you sure you want to go away? You haven’t wanted to lately if I suggested it.”

Diana looked pensive. “Steve, so many questions! I do like the idea of a few weeks or so away and seeing some of the old cast. Staying at the Macphersons’ swanky house and meeting some film stars will be amazing! But as for Poppy, I’m not sure. I don’t really think a two-year-old would be welcome in Isabella’s home, do you?”

“I’m not sure you can call it a home. It’s almost a stately home displaying Isabelle’s family treasures. And I agree. I don’t think we can take Poppy. Perhaps we could ask Robert and Libby if they’d help out for a few days. Or Geraldine…she loves kids too.”

“No, we’d better not ask Geraldine. As much as she loves Poppy, she has the bar at The Magic Teapot to run and her own grandson to look after. I wouldn’t want to burden her any more. No, Robert and Libby are a great choice, and they’ve offered before. Besides, it’ll be good practice for when their own baby arrives next year.”

“But Di, don’t forget we’ll be staying near Cheltenham. That’s what we’re talking about. Are you sure? It’s bound to bring back old memories, and I don’t want you upset.”

“Yes, I know, but what happened was a long time ago, and I’ve put it firmly behind me. Besides, as you say so often, I attract trouble, and there’s nothing I can do about that! So let’s do it. And I’m positive about Robert and Libby being happy in looking after Poppy.”

“If you’re really happy, darling, then I‘ll go along with it. Shall I leave you to ring and organise your cousin?”

“Yes, I’ll do it now. Are you coming in for coffee, or shall I make it and we’ll have it in the courtyard?”

“Give me five minutes, and then I’ll have conquered this Chinese puzzle. I’d like it in the courtyard, since it’s such a lovely morning.”

Diana left Steve with his wiring and headed towards the kitchen. She knew she was taking a risk revisiting the scene of a previous unsolved crime, but she was sure she could handle it.

Chapter 2

The drive from the south coast up to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire was one of Diana’s favourite scenic routes. It was no wonder thousands of tourists visited the area. The Cotswolds were well known for gentle hillsides (wolds), sleepy villages, and for being so typically English.  She loved the non-cemented dry-stone walls everywhere. The eighteenth- and nineteenth-century walls represented an important historical landscape and were a major conservation feature.

Diana spent some years in Gloucestershire in her twenties, which was when she first met Steve. She was already a member of Duncan Macpherson’s theatre company when Steve joined. Within days, the two young actors had fallen in love and spent whatever free time they had together. They explored the surrounding countryside in an old MG roadster, which was Steve’s pride and joy, and learnt a lot about the ways of the local farmers. During the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries—the medieval period—native Cotswold sheep were famous throughout Europe for their heavy fleeces and the high quality of wool they produced. Cotswold wool commanded a high price, so the wealth generated by the wool trade enabled wealthy traders to leave their mark by building fine houses and wonderful churches, known as wool churches. Whenever Diana caught sight of sheep on the hillside, she was reminded of this and thought it one of the classic Cotswold images.

Diana and Steve had arrived in England three days before and lost no time in driving down to Hampshire where Diana’s cousin, Robert, lived with his wife, Libby. Di was particularly fond of her cousin and his new wife, especially since she had played a hand in getting them together. Robert had suffered the loss of his first wife and baby daughter some years previously in a tragic accident. When Libby arrived on the scene, Diana thought the attractive nursing sister the perfect partner for her kind and considerate cousin.

When Diana first rang and asked if they would mind having Poppy for a few days, she heard the enthusiasm in Libby’s voice at once. Diana was relieved. Although she hadn’t left her precious daughter with anyone else before, she trusted Robert and Libby implicitly.

“We’d love to have her! She’s such a dear little thing and so good. We’ll have tremendous fun taking her out, and it’ll give Robert a good excuse to take time off. He’s been working extra hard lately and needs a change. When can we expect you? Is there anything special we need to get in for her?"

Diana ran through some details and then, after having a quick word with her cousin, said she and Steve were looking forward to seeing them a couple of weeks later. The intervening time flew past, and Diana felt her feet hadn’t touched the ground since she had first received the invitation.

Steve and Diana stayed with Robert and Libby for a few nights, and Diana swore Poppy remembered them from their previous visit a few months before. Within minutes, she was rushing around the English household, terrorising their Labrador puppy, Sam, and Diana was confident her daughter felt happy and safe there. Having settled Poppy, Diana and Steve left her on the living-room floor with Sam and set off for Havershall House. The drive up had been enjoyable but uneventful.  With barely a half hour to go, they were feeling relaxed yet excited at seeing a lot of the old co-members of the cast once again.

“It must be fifteen years since we were last here at the house,” Steve mused, changing down a gear to let a small herd of cows head into a field. He paused to wave at the herder and resumed their journey.

Diana nodded. “Easily. We finished the season of The Holbein Legacy and then did a short spell of Shakespeare for the festival. God, that was exhausting! I hated doing Romeo and Juliet
over and over again. And what about the Merchant of Venice…?” She laughed. “Remember Clare Thomson as Portia when she’d put on weight and her costume pants split up the back during her big speech? ‘The quality of mercy is not strained’ etcetera, etcetera, and eek! Suddenly there she stood, exposing a shocking pink pair of satin French knickers! All I can say is, it’s a good thing thongs weren’t in vogue then! And as for ‘mercy not being strained
’
, her bottom was certainly straining in those pants. Ha-ha!” She wriggled down into her seat, giggling, and Steve joined in.

“I do. What a fright we all had. Duncan nearly had a fit. Who was playing Shylock that time? Was it Russell? He nearly dropped his stage knife in shock…he was standing right behind her. No one knew whether to laugh or keep a straight face. Ah, good times. We had a lot of fun, even if the pay was appalling.”

Diana wiped her eyes. “Don’t make me laugh anymore. My mascara’s already run. I want to look presentable. No doubt all the others will be looking their best. I’m going to be up against some exquisite film stars, I bet.”

Steve took his eyes from the road for a second and glanced at her. “You look good to me, and there’s only a faint smudge under your right eye. That’s it, you’ve got it.”

Di dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and took the opportunity to drag a hairbrush through her long glossy hair. She smiled at her husband. “Are you sure?”

“Hun, how can I not be sure when I’m sitting next to the most gorgeous green-eyed woman in the world. You look perfect to me.”

“You’re only saying that because you know Duncan and Isabelle have enormous beds in their guest rooms, and we won’t have any little intruders tonight.”

Steve chuckled. “Yes, Poppy sure does pick her moments. But I honestly had forgotten about the beds. Things are looking better all the time!”

“We’re nearly there, according to that last signpost. It can only be another mile or so.”

They sat in silence until, rounding a bend in the road, they came across an imposing pair of gateposts set before a gravelled drive, flanked with huge rhododendron bushes. Diana looked around her. “I remember them and being told those old weathered posts have sat there for over two hundred years.”

He laughed. “They still look distinctly phallic to me!”

Steve steered the car between the gateposts and began the four-hundred metre or so drive up to the imposing building standing at the end. The present house standing in the grounds was a neo-classical design by Robert Smirke and was built in 1819. Over the years, the original house had been added to since its early beginnings, and Diana remembered there was a canal leading from an eighteenth-century water garden down to a lake. She had always admired the gardens, despite never having had the opportunity before to explore the vast acreage properly. With this visit she hoped to rectify that. Glancing up, she noticed a length of crenelated wall on the second floor. She assumed there would be an adjoining flat roof and vowed to explore it if she got the chance. The view would be stunning.

Someone must have been instructed to wait and welcome the expected visitors because before Steve could even consider where to go, a young man dressed in what could only be the household livery hastened down the steps from the front door to show him where to park their car.

Hiding a smile, Diana muttered to Steve, “I thought servants in uniform were a thing of the past.”

“Welcome. Welcome to Havershall House. I’m John, and Mr and Mrs Macpherson are waiting for you in the drawing room with refreshments. I’ll get one of the members of staff to show you to your room and escort you down when you’re ready.”

Steve and Diana’s room was on the west corner of the house, overlooking both the front and side gardens. The latter led to a proper maze, while in the front Diana could see the lake with the main lawn sloping down towards it. A fountain stood just off the drive with a statue of a wood nymph, a tiny deer at her feet. Surrounding the grassy areas and acting as a backdrop, lush deep woodland framed the area.

“What a gorgeous view,” she said. “I can see the lake from here. I hope we get a chance to explore later—I’d like to stretch my legs after our drive. How do you feel?”

Steve joined her at the window. “Fine, actually, but a walk around the grounds sounds good. Look who’s just appeared from around the corner of the maze hedge.”

Diana peered in the direction he indicated. “I think it’s Russell with Isabelle. Yes, it is. He hasn’t changed much, has he? A bit greyer than I remember, but we’ve all changed. She looks the same too, although she could be even thinner, if that’s possible. So, if Russell’s here, I wonder who else we’ll see.”

“Most of the old gang, I should imagine. Now, soon as you’re ready, we’ll go down. I remember from last time where the drawing room is. Doesn’t that sound old-fashioned? We don’t need a maid to show us.”

“Hang on a minute, those two intrigue me.”

“Why?”

“Well, think about it. Russell and Isabelle were never the best of friends when we were last here. I wonder why they’re together now.”

“Di, they’re two people simply strolling around the grounds. Perhaps they bumped into one another.”

“Yes, but—”

“But what?” he asked, irritation evident in his voice.

“Oh, nothing. I just think it’s strange because when Emily and Russell got together he was really off Duncan and Isabelle.”

“Remember, we’ve been away for a long time. People can change.”

“You’re right, I—oh, listen, Isabelle sounds like she’s having a whinge. Now why am I not surprised?” She laughed.