Spiritwalker (3 page)

It wasn't long before the Sat Nav informed her that she had “
Reached her destination”.

            Anna indicated to turn right, in front of her blocking her passage were two ten foot high metal security gates with a keypad and intercom located on the wall beside them, she pressed the buzzer and waited.

“Can I help you?” a woman's voice answered with a slightly foreign accent.

“My name is Anna Cotter, Mrs Westhall is expecting me.” Anna replied

“Okay I open the gates now.

            Anna waited a moment for the gates to open sufficiently and drove through.  The avenue up to the house was lined on both sides with old oak trees, the leaves were just starting to turn and the autumnal colours were amazing as the evening sun danced through them.  The avenue gave way to a wide gravel drive, which continued around both sides of the house.  The house itself was a majestic Georgian three storey, with large stone steps leading up to the massive, oak front door.  It’s like something out of a romantic novel she thought to herself as she surveyed her surroundings.  The gardens were immaculately manicured with flower beds full of blooming roses.  To the right of the house, just beyond the garden was a wood, trees rocked gently in the warm evening breeze.  On the other side beyond the garden, the countryside rolled like green velvet for as far as the eye see.  She parked the car and was climbing the steps, just about to reach for the knocker when the door opened.  It was opened by a rather plumb, middle aged woman wearing a colourful short sleeved dress that revealed sturdy arms and hands white with the remains for flour.  Over her dress she was wearing an apron of equally colourful design. 

“Hi I'm Anna Cotter.” she said reaching out to shake the woman's hand.

“Please, please come in.  My name is Olana, Mrs Westhall not here but she be back soon.” The woman said wiping her hands on her apron before shaking Anna's hand.

            Anna walked past the housekeeper into the hallway.  It was obvious from the décor that Eva's talents were considerable.  The hallway was beautifully decorated, with lots of artwork on the walls and photographs of family and friends stood in silver frames on the mantle of a large white marble fireplace.  There was a coal fire burning brightly in the grate, giving the whole room a warm cosy feel. 

“Mrs Westhall tell me to make you at home, and to give you some food.”  Olana said in her thick eastern European accent.  “She be back soon, she collect her daughter from dance.  You like soup?”

“Thank you that would be great, I'm starving, didn't have much of a chance to get a decent lunch, I just a quick sandwich on the plane.”

She followed Olana down the hall, at the end the door opened into the kitchen.  This too was like something straight out of “
House and Home
.”  The cabinets were painted white, and what seemed like acres of black granite worktops gleamed all around. In the middle of the kitchen was a breakfast bar, also made from a polished granite, the floor was covered in white spotless tiles, if you looked down you could see your reflection in them.  At one end of the kitchen was a green four-oven Stanley stove, everything was gleaming and spotless and new like a show kitchen.

            Olana indicated to Anna to sit at the breakfast bar, she placed a large bowl of steaming soup in front of her, unwrapped a loaf of fresh baked bread from a tea-towel and cut generous slices of it and placed it, along with butter in front of Anna.  She ate hungrily.

“This is the best soup I've ever tasted” Anna declared.  “And that bread is so fresh and crusty.”

Olana beamed with pride.  “I like to cook, Mrs Westhall she like my cooking, Sassy too, I feed her up when she come home for the weekend, they don't feed her at that school, she get too thin.”

“Have you worked for Mrs Westhall long?” Anna enquired.

“I here five years now.  My son he study to be doctor. Just like Mrs Turner daughter.” She said , but a look of sadness came over her face as she remembered Jane.  “You here to find her Mrs Westhall say”

“I'm certainly going to do my best.”

Olana looked at her doubtfully.  “You not look like police lady.”

“I'm not” Anna smiled at her, understanding that she really meant that she didn't look like much of a detective.  She didn't blame her, she didn't feel too much like a detective herself most of the time.  It wasn't the first time she had been judged on her looks.  “From what I gather the police haven't been much use so far”

“Bah, the police no good, they think she leave, she not leave, something happen her, something bad.  I see it in the tea cup.  Olana said lowering her voice and looking dramatically around as though she suspected that someone might be lurking in the house eavesdropping on them.

            When Anna had finished her soup, Olana showed her to her room.  She brought her back down the hallway and up the wide staircase, at the top they turned left down the long corridor, she opened the door at the end.

“This is your room, it has bathroom too.  Mrs Westhall say to give you quiet room, she say I not to disturb you, that you need to be quiet for finding Mrs Turner.  I not disturb you, if you need things I always in the kitchen.  I tell Mrs Jacob, she the lady that clean every day not to bother you too.”  She left Anna to inspect her bedroom.

“Wow” Anna exclaimed, “Peering into the room, this is lovely”

Anna's room was large, with a king size four poster bed, there was a big mahogany wardrobe at the other end of the room and between the two windows stood a writing desk and leather chair.  Also in the room was a twenties style chaise lounge and a dressing table with an oval mirror attached.  The room was very tastefully decorated, thick soft cream wool carpet covered the floor and the wallpaper was an embossed floral design.  There was another door which led into the bathroom.  It had a large white bath at one end and an electric shower stood in the other corner.  The tiling on the walls was black ceramic, and the floor was chequered black and white like a draughts board.  The mirror and the bathroom fittings gleamed and sparkled, soft fluffy towels were sitting neatly in a pile on a little table, beside them was every kind of hygiene product one could wish for.

            Anna walked back into the bedroom and stood looking out the window onto the garden.  She had a perfect view from her vantage point of a lake which she hadn't noticed earlier, hidden as it had been from view by a small hill, there were ducks swimming happily in it.  A movement in the shadow of the trees caught her eye, she opened the window for a clearer view, it appeared to be a man running towards the wood, in an instant he was gone, swallowed by the foliage. Thinking nothing more of it, she closed the window and headed down to the car to collect her luggage. When she opened her car door she was shocked to see the contents of her handbag strewn all over the passenger seat.  She was positive she had hidden it under the seat.  She checked the littered objects and replaced them back in her bag. Relieved that everything seemed to be accounted for.  She checked her purse next, all her money and cards were there her passport was on the driver’s seat and beside it was her driver’s licence.  She rummaged through the small sections of her purse but she couldn't find it anywhere.  Her private investigators licence was missing.  She searched the floor of the car turned everything inside out but there was no sign of it anywhere.  Why would anyone take that and leave all the money and cards she wondered. 

            She gathered her belongings and brought them up to her room, then she headed down to the kitchen to find Olana. She was in the kitchen stirring a big pot of something that smelt like stew.

“Olana, is there anyone else around today, I thought I saw somebody over by the woods?”

“No, nobody here today.  Why you ask?”

Somebody broke into my car and was riffling through my bags.  Does Mrs Westhall have a gardener?”

“Yes he come every day, but he on holiday this week. Did they steal anything? You think they come back, break in maybe shoot us?” Olana asked beginning to work herself up into a state, she was very nervous since the disappearance of Jane so suddenly.

“No, I don't think so, I'm sure they've gone.” Anna said trying to reassure Olana that they weren't in any danger.  Anna sat at the breakfast bar and calmed the housekeeper down.

Olana reluctantly sat down with her but kept throwing furtive glances out the kitchen window.

Chapter four

       
Eva Westhall and her daughter returned home a half an hour later.  Sassy went straight to her room and Eva went in search of Anna and found her and Olana seated in the kitchen. Anna was still trying to reassure the housekeeper that they weren't going to be murdered in their beds. 

“I'm so glad you're here” Eva said, shaking hands with her guest and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter.  She eased herself down onto a seat opposite Anna.

As usual she was smartly dressed in figure hugging black jeans and a crisp white shirt, with gold buttons down the front, on her feet she wore black knee-high boots over her jeans. 

“Oh Mrs Westhall, someone came and stole this lady's things, right out of her car” Olana said her voice high with nervous excitement.

“What, what happened?”  Eva asked looking alarmingly at Anna.

“Not quite.” Anna said “Nothing was stolen, except... I can't find my Investigators licence.  And someone broke into my car and turned my bag upside down onto the seat, while Olana was showing me to my room.  When I went to get my things from the car I discovered what had happened.”

“But they didn't take anything else?” Eva enquired.  That's odd, did you see who it was?”  She was looking almost as alarmed as her housekeeper.  “I'm going to call the police, how could someone have the audacity to break into a car in full view of the house, in broad daylight.  This might have something to do with Jane's disappearance.  There might be some lunatic out there stalking us right now.”

“I'm sure it’s not that bad” Anna tried to reassure her, Olana softly moaning to herself wasn't helping matters either.

“Do you think it was kids?” Eva asked “No it couldn't be how would they get in, no it must be connected to Jane.  That policeman said to ring if anything happened.  I'm going to demand he come out and investigate.”

Anna saw that there was no dissuading her, she realised that Eva was not one to take no for an answer once she got an idea into her head.  Eva pulled her phone out of her bag and after a short, curt conversation hung up.

“They said that they would send Inspector Morley out straight away” Eva informed them.

            Inspector Morley was a serious looking man, six foot tall and clean shaven. He looked to be in his early thirties, and fit. He was dressed in a dark blue shirt and navy pants, his black shoes were polished until they shone and he wore a grey tweed jacket.  Everything about him screamed police.  Anna had often wondered how criminals were so apt at recognising police when they were in plain clothes, but the more dealings she had with the police the more she understood, they stood out like a sore thumb, they might as well have police tattooed on their foreheads.  It was something about the way they held themselves, the way their eyes never seemed to settle, always roving from one object to another, continually watching and filing. 

“Good evening” Eva greeted him, when Olana had shown him into the lounge. “Won’t you sit down” she indicated to a chair beside her.  “This is my friend Anna Cotter, it was her car that was broken into.”

“Good evening Mrs Westhall, Ms Cotter.” he said scrutinising Anna from top to toe and taking a notebook out of his pocket.  “My colleague PC Barnes is outside taking a look around.  Can you tell me what happened and give me a list of stolen items.”

“Nothing was stolen that I'm aware of.”  Anna cut in quickly.  “I was just after arriving, it was about five, I left my things in the car it was parked out front exactly where it is now.  Olana, the housekeeper made me some soup and a sandwich, I suppose we were talking in the kitchen for maybe half an hour, then she showed me up to my room.”

“Miss Cotter is staying with me for a few days.”  Eva explained.

“When I came down to collect my case, I discovered that my car had been broken into and my bag had been emptied, the contents were strewn all over the front seat.”

“But nothing was taken?” he asked. “Did you see anyone hanging around, kids maybe?”

“When I was up in my room, I happened to look out and I thought that I saw someone heading towards the woods at the bottom of the garden, but it was too far to see clearly.”

            At that moment PC Barnes entered the room and handed something to the Inspector, and whispered in his ear, the Inspector frowned and looked at Anna.

“Miss Cotter, PC Barnes has just handed me this.” he said handing the investigators licence to Anna.  “What exactly are you doing here?”

“I hired her, to find my sister.”  Eva said defensively.

“I see” The inspector said still looking at Anna.  Turning to Eva he said.  “I don't approve of anyone interfering in police investigations.”

“Inspector” Anna said, “I have just arrived, I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone, but I promise that if I do find out anything you'll be the first to know.”  She was anxious not to get on the wrong side of him.

“Anna came highly recommended” Eva cut in.  “She has a lot of experience finding missing people, since the police aren't taking my sister's disappearance seriously, I decided to find someone who would.”

“Mrs Westhall, I can assure you that we are taking her disappearance seriously, we are doing everything possible to locate her.  We are checking every sighting, every bit of information we receive.  Unfortunately thousands of people go missing in the UK every year, most of them of their own accord, the majority of them turn up on their own.”

“That may be the case for other people but not Jane, she wouldn't just leave without telling me, besides her passport is still in her room along with her money and cards.  How far do you think she would get without any money?”