‘I get what you mean. With Madelaine’s character it’s only in the final scene that you realise that’s what was meant at the beginning.’
‘Exactly. That idea of non-linear time frames, of seeing the future in the way we see the past was what drove the last film.’
As Spike had mentioned Madelaine, Lexie decided to ask a few questions. ‘Did you enjoy working with Madelaine?’
‘I did. She was beautiful and talented and had absolutely no diva tendencies. Of course we were both starting out so there was no cash for extravagant inclinations. I barely scraped the money together to make the film.’
‘Would you have worked with her again?’
‘Absolutely. It was already agreed. On the strength of those early edits for The Legacy of Time, we had backers for a second film with me directing and Madelaine as the female lead.’
‘I never knew that.’
‘Very few people did at that point.’
‘That must have been an awful time. I mean, Madelaine dying would be devastating, but it also impacted on the film and your work.’
‘Other people were affected a lot more.’
‘Oh, you mean Gareth.’ The words were out of Lexie’s mouth before she really considered them. She had spoken in an undertone, but still glanced around. Helen and Gareth were at the far end of the long table. Fortunately, everyone was engrossed in their own conversations, talking in twos and threes, and there was enough background chatter mixed with the music from the outdoor speakers that neither of them could have heard her.
Spike picked up his wine glass and took a leisurely drink, but didn’t answer.
Lexie wondered if he had meant someone else. Probably Eden. At the moment she was more interested in discovering which of the group had alibis for the night Madelaine died. However, given the length of time that had passed it was a long shot.
‘It’s terrible losing someone special when you’re young. It’s seems to define you, or at least that part of your life.’ Lexie talked briefly about someone who’d died in an accident while she was at school. They hadn’t been close friends but she skirted over that part. ‘I remember exactly where I was when I found out. The whole day is imprinted on my memory. Funny how the brain works like that.’ Please let Spike take the bait.
Spike refilled his glass, emptying the bottle. ‘The night Madelaine died, I was on my own in my flat smashed out of my skull. The guy I thought was the love of my life had dumped me.’ He spoke mockingly, the way you do when something hurts, but you’re determined not to let it show.
Lexie winced. She had the answer, but no doubt at a cost to Spike.
He must have noticed the slight movement and pulled a wry expression, his mouth crooked at one end. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not about to collapse from grief. It was a long time ago.’
‘Making that first film must have been exciting. Wanting to show your skill and talents, and make the big time. At least, that’s how I’d feel.’
‘It was exciting. Important too, as my parents had invested money in it and most of the backers were people I knew and not faceless institutions. Madelaine didn’t have those same worries, but she knew it was an important break for both of us.’
‘How did she get on with everyone else in the cast and crew? Did knowing the director mean some people didn’t like her?’
Spike laughed, tipping back his head in amusement. ‘Hell, no. I knew everyone working on the film, so Madelaine was no different in that respect. It was an opportunity for all of us. The crew had worked on other productions, but on the lower end jobs. This film gave them the chance to cover more important roles. For the experience, I might add, certainly not for the money. Everyone was on minimum wage, but with the addition of a small percentage of what the film earned. As you know, it was a bigger success than any of us initially imagined, so they all made more from the percentage than from their wages.’
‘So Madelaine got on with everyone?’
‘Definitely. Even with success, I don’t think Madelaine would have changed much. A people pleaser. The best description would be ingenuous. And she hated any discord. My polar opposite.’ He raised his eyebrows and flashed his mischievous grin. ‘It would be difficult to dislike her.’
Then why did someone murder her?
‘Hey, Spike, guess what I heard the other day?’ Laurence leaned across the table. Lexie could have cheerfully hit him for interrupting their conversation.
Spike rested his elbows on the tablecloth, steepling his fingers. ‘There’s a new computer virus that’s transferrable to humans simply by using a keyboard. No wait, you’ve developed a software program that can write better film scripts than me. I’ll buy it.’
‘Sort of on the right track with the last idea. Featherstone has written a book. Apparently the publishers are touting it as a best seller and there was a bidding war.’
‘I hope he wrote it himself or he won’t find it so easy to extricate himself from trouble this time.’
‘Who’s Featherstone?’ asked Nathan, joining the conversation from a couple of seats further down.
‘A narcissistic, plagiarising moron who unfortunately also happened to be a lecturer at university,’ said Spike. ‘He stole some of my work and passed it off as his own and gave me crap marks for other assignments.’
At Laurence’s initial mention of Featherstone, Renelle’s head jerked to look at him. As Spike talked, Renelle’s cheeks paled and her hand moved to cover the base of the throat. Spike was so wrapped up in his annoyance at past wrongs that he didn’t appear to notice the effect on Renelle, but Laurence did.
‘Oh, Renelle, I’m so sorry.’ His face flushed and he looked dismayed at her discomfort. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I intended to tell Spike when we were on our own.’
There was almost a collective holding of breath in the silence that followed, as if everyone was waiting for a volcano to erupt. One of the no-go areas had now been breached. Mitch reached across the table and covered her hand with his. Renelle threw him a brief smile before turning to Laurence.
‘It’s okay. Well, obviously it isn’t. I’d sooner not have been reminded, but I know you didn’t mean anything by it.’
Just then the waiter arrived, asking if anyone wanted dessert or coffee. The general consensus was to leave the menus and they’d think about it. Gareth got up and strode off through the gardens towards the trees. Helen stared at his departing figure for a moment before getting up and hurrying after him. That appeared to signal a break in the meal and over a few minutes most of the others wandered off to the restrooms or around the garden. Lexie noticed that Eden headed towards the restaurant, but then changed direction to follow Mitch.
‘You certainly cleared the table,’ said Spike.
Laurence drained his wine glass. ‘Sorry about that,’ he said to Lexie and Nathan, now the only other people left at the table. ‘I wasn’t thinking when I mentioned it to Spike. You know what old friends are like, those off-limits topics and relationships from the past. Trust me to make things awkward.’
‘That would usually be me, whether or not I know much about the people.’ Nathan was good at self-deprecating remarks, even when they weren’t warranted.
Lexie squeezed his hand.
‘It’s not a major secret,’ said Spike. ‘Renelle is touchy about everything.’
‘Be fair,’ said Laurence. ‘Getting sent down from university isn’t a small thing.’
‘And there you have it,’ said Spike. ‘Whether or not you wanted to know. Renelle left university under the proverbial cloud for having an affair with dirty Damien.’
‘I need another drink,’ said Laurence. ‘Come on, Spike, and I’ll buy you one.’ Laurence was trying, in an obvious way, to stop Spike saying any more.
‘Let’s go and have a look at the stone circles at night.’ Nathan tugged Lexie to her feet. She loved that he caught on to Laurence’s dilemma and while she’d have liked to hear more, she guessed it wouldn’t be much different from the li
ttle Helen had told her.
The lights around the restaurant gardens disguised how much the dark clouds had hastened nightfall. Nathan held her hand, and as they walked to the circles she told him what she knew of the letter incident that led to Renelle leaving Bristol. As she thought more about the incident, it seemed like a strange thing to do if the writer wanted to cause trouble. They couldn’t be sure what, if anything, would happen.
When they reached the edge of the trees approaching the stone circles, Lexie stopped and tipped her head back to gaze at the sky. Between the dark shadow of clouds, she saw a little of the milky splash of stars. Nathan wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She loved the feel of his strong shoulders and his arms around her and was about to turn and kiss him when she heard Helen’s voice coming from the direction of the circles.
‘Gareth, it’s not your fault. None of it.’
After the space of a heartbeat, Lexie heard the lower rumble of Gareth’s voice.
‘How did we get to this? Think of all those dreams we had and now look at us.’
Lexie stood still, not sure what to do. What did he mean? Nathan caught hold of her hand.
‘Let’s go back,’ he whispered.
Laurence and Spike were still at the table and they fell into an easy conversation. When it turned to cars, Lexie decided to find someone else to chat with. Around the corner of the building she noticed two figures slipping into the shadows. Surely not Eden and Mitch? She debated what to do for a moment and was about to follow them when three guys stumbled out from one of the bars, arguing good naturedly, but loudly, in the way of friends who’d all had too much to drink. That was enough to startle whoever was in the shadows.
Lexie hurried back through the gardens and stationed herself on the veranda, hoping she might be able to spot any of their group returning from that direction. Renelle appeared in the building doorway and checked out their table before glancing around. Mitch and Eden were nowhere in sight.
‘That was a lovely meal,’ said Lexie as Renelle approached her. She liked Renelle and felt more sympathy for her than Eden, but right now she wanted a few minutes to think.
Renelle plastered on a smile and agreed.
Lexie took another look towards the trees. Whoever had been there, had no doubt found another route back to the table. ‘Excuse me, but I’m going to the restrooms.’ Lexie headed into the restaurant. To her surprise Renelle turned and accompanied her into the foyer.
‘Do you want a drink?’ asked Renelle.
Lexie accepted and made her way to the ladies as Renelle went to buy the drinks. Lexie closed the door of one of the cubicles and pulled down the toilet lid to sit for a moment. Helen and Gareth’s few comments could be explained away as a couple who weren’t that interested in meeting up with a group of old friends. They visited Mitch and Renelle, who were probably the only ones they wished to see. And yet the conversation could mean so much more. Gareth had sounded guilty, but guilty of what?
This situation was more confusing than it appeared when Eden first showed them the old photograph. Lexie glanced at her watch; Renelle would be waiting with their drinks.
She washed her hands and fluffed up her hair before joining Renelle. As they stood together on the veranda, Lexie noted that Gareth and Helen weren’t back, but just then Eden and Mitch appeared from the opposite end of the building.
Lexie rubbed her forehead. She’d enjoyed the weekend until the episode with Eden earlier, and now this. It felt worse than a teenage party with girls arguing over the popular guys.
‘I wondered where you’d got to,’ said Renelle.
Eden stopped mid-stride. She opened her mouth to speak, looking exasperated, but then sighed before answering Renelle. ‘You don’t need to be upset. I needed a walk to clear my head and Mitch came with me. We chatted about what he’s been doing with his company. That’s all.’
Lexie guessed from Renelle’s expression that she’d been spoiling for an argument and was taken aback by Eden’s conciliatory tone and comment.
She stuttered on her reply, caught a breath and started again. ‘I just thought it might be a little awkward for Hunter, being left with people he doesn’t know.’
‘He’s more than capable of looking after himself. He might be younger than me, but he’s not a child.’
Mitch put his arm through Renelle’s and Lexie saw him mouth the words ‘I love you’ to her.
Renelle’s uncomfortably stiff bodyline softened as she leaned into him and kissed his cheek.
Back at the table, Eden sat next to Hunter. ‘Sorry if my friends have been awful to you while I’ve been chatting.’
‘I’ve coped.’ His smile encompassed everyone at the table.
Eden gave his thigh a squeeze. He had obviously picked up that she was trying to damp down any ill feeling and was happy to assist her.
In Nettleford, Helen had hinted at some of the tensions within the group, and Lexie could tell that if they didn’t hold back the atmosphere could change quickly and this weekend would turn toxic. What kept this group together?
Some of them would always be friends but the enmity between Spike and Renelle and to a lesser degree between Eden and Renelle always threatened to bubble up and wasn’t helped by Mitch and Eden’s past relationship and his marriage to Renelle.
‘Lexie and I haven’t made any holiday plans yet. Does anyone have recommendation of good places to visit?’
Nathan’s safe topic of holidays lightened the mood and Mitch answered mentioning a holiday he and Renelle had enjoyed in Greece, while Laurence talked about travelling around France on his Harley. Lexie smiled across the table at Nathan, relieved at the change of conversation and knowing they weren’t going anywhere special on holiday. They’d agreed the house renovations needed to take priority this year. She noted Helen and Gareth still weren’t back. It was stupid to be worried, but she kept remembering Helen saying that things happened when the group got together.
Lexie helped herself to some fruit from a platter the waiter had brought to the table. She had to pull herself out of this uneasy mood. Helen and Gareth were adults. The setting of the stone circles surrounded by woods was eerie but thousands of people visited the place every year. She was reading too much into everything.
The conversation turned to the upcoming elections. It said a lot about this group that politics was a safer topic than many others. Someone commented on Gareth and Helen’s early and unannounced departure as a few drops of rain fell.
‘Talk about life repeating itself,’ muttered Laurence.
‘Definitely not.’ Spike spoke decisively. ‘I think it’s probably time we called it a night anyway.’
By the time they reached the hotel, the rain was falling persistently, and Lexie was relieved to see Gareth and Helen’s car still parked outside. The tension around her chest eased.
Without their usual early morning wake-up call of three children, Lexie thought they might sleep in but she was awake at their usual time. She left Nathan dozing but when she got out of the shower he was up.
‘I’m a bit worried about Helen and Gareth after last night,’ she said. ‘What we overheard at the circles and then not seeing them again.’
‘Give me five minutes for a quick shower and then we can go and find them.’
When they were ready, they went and knocked on Gareth and Helen’s door but there was no answer.
‘They’re probably in the village,’ said Nathan.
They left the hotel and walked to the village. As they wandered along the main street Nathan caught hold of Lexie’s arm and pointed across the road to where Gareth waved at them from a table outside a small café.
‘Come and have breakfast,’ called Gareth. ‘We haven’t ordered yet.’
The guys both chose a full English breakfast while Lexie and Helen decided on scrambled eggs and toast.
‘I’m sorry about us leaving early last night,’ said Gareth. ‘It was a bit rude seeing as you’ve only just met most
of them.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Nathan. ‘You didn’t miss much. No punch-ups or arguments, or late night parties. It was all very civilised.’
Once their food arrived, Lexie asked Gareth and Helen if they knew Damien Featherstone while they were at university.
‘Only by reputation,’ said Gareth. ‘Spike probably knew him better than any of us, but you’re likely to get a jaundiced view.’
‘I kind of gathered that last night.’
‘Do you think Renelle had an affair with him?’ asked Lexie.
Gareth pulled the face of a man being asked a question that he hoped he’d never have to answer. ‘I don’t know. She denied it vehemently at the time and always has.’
Helen took a sip of her coffee and then placed the cup back on the saucer. ‘I didn’t know Renelle then. After I moved into the flat, I realised from people’s comments Renelle had an awkward relationship with some of the group. It’s difficult to know what’s real or not when you only have other people’s perspectives. I got to know her and Mitch better after they were married, but by then the way she left Bristol Uni was one of those taboo subjects.’
‘Do you think she slept with Featherstone?’
Helen blew out a long breath. ‘If I have to answer, I’d say no.’
‘Why?’
‘Everybody agreed that Renelle was crazy about Mitch. I could tell that just from the couple of times I met her while he and Eden were still going out. She liked him so much that she never really bothered with other guys, let alone a married lecturer.’ She picked up her cup again, but before taking a drink she glanced across the table at Nathan. ‘I enjoyed the outing yesterday to the long barrow. It was interesting. Are there many other places like that around here?’ Her tone was polite, but Lexie got the message.
‘Not that I’m aware of,’ replied Nathan. ‘The stone circles are the big draw. I don’t think so many people go to the long barrow. The museum here is small but interesting and has quite a lot of information.’
The Worst Lie Page 13