‘Oh, I’ve just remembered,’ said Lexie, as they finished their breakfast. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask, where did you buy Rachel’s bike? Tilly’s grown out of her old one and has been pestering us for a new one. I did ask Rachel but she said you didn’t get it locally.’
Gareth laughed and shook his head. ‘That’s kids for you. We bought it from a place over in Compton. Hardly a million miles away. I can’t remember the name now but I’ll get it for you.’
They wandered through the village and back to the hotel. Laurence was putting two overnight bags in the boot of his car.
‘Sorry to head off so early but I’ve got a big presentation first thing tomorrow morning so I need to do a bit more prep for that,’ he explained. Lexie thought Xena was probably glad the weekend was over.
‘We need to do something about this hire car. The performance is terrible.’ Eden was presumably aiming her comments at Hunter, but her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
‘Seems okay to me, and you haven’t mentioned anything until now,’ said Hunter.
‘When I ordered the car online I selected a better model but they didn’t have it available when we picked it up. I accepted this just to have something to drive, but I’m not happy with it.’
Hunter shrugged and didn’t say any more. Lexie guessed from that exchange that Eden had paid for the hire car. She also guessed that Eden generally got her way in that relationship.
‘I’ll give them a ring tomorrow and check they have what I want.’
‘But we don’t have anything planned in London,’ said Hunter.
‘I need to catch up with a few people this week. I can change the car then.’
Hunter looked as though he was about to say something, but then just gave a half-hearted nod.
Once again, Lexie wondered why Eden and Hunter were staying in Nettleford when either individually or together they went back to London regularly.
‘If you need a place to crash, you can always stay with me. The house renovations are finished and the place looks great,’ Spike said to Eden.
Mitch glanced at Renelle and she nodded. ‘I guess we might as well hit the road. I’m away a few days this week running a workshop.’
Suddenly everyone was in pack up and goodbye mode. Lexie had managed to talk to most of them although she wasn’t sure she’d found out much more about Madelaine’s death. Overall, she wasn’t sorry the weekend was over.
Max gave them a rapturous welcome when they arrived to pick up the girls.
‘They’ve been no trouble, said Jean, Lexie’s mother.
Tilly and the twins talked non-stop for the first five minutes, all vying for attention and showing off the new clothes they’d acquired over the weekend.
‘Grandad and Nana took us to the park loads of times.’ Fiona’s tone suggested that was a deficiency at home.
‘That’s good,’ muttered Nathan. ‘You won’t need to go for ages when we get back.’
‘How was your weekend?’ asked Alistair.
‘It was interesting,’ said Lexie.
‘The stone circles and the long barrow are amazing,’ answered Nathan. ‘If you’re ever looking for somewhere to go for a weekend, I can recommend it.’
Lexie was pleased that Nathan had enjoyed the trip despite the undercurrents within the group.
‘Come out into the garden,’ said Jean. ‘I’ve made a late lunch so the girls won’t be starving when you get home.’
‘How are Helen and Gareth?’ asked Alistair. Lexie’s parents had met them a number of times.
‘Not bad. There were a few friends there from their university days.’
Alistair raised his eyebrows. ‘Sounds as if things weren’t all sweet and wonderful.’
Lexie gave a chuckle. ‘I forget that you’ve conducted enough interviews over the years to pick up on the slightest thing. Put it this way, it’s put me off ever suggesting a reunion. They are kind of interesting though. Do you remember Madelaine McDonald?’
‘The actress?’
Lexie nodded. ‘Gareth used to go out with her.’
‘Didn’t she commit suicide?’
‘Supposedly.’ Seeing her father’s inquisitive look, she explained. ‘It was an open verdict, but Eden, one of the university friends thinks she was murdered.’
‘You’re not getting mixed up with anything, are you?’
Shortly after Lexie and Nathan moved to Nettleford, Lexie had become involved in a missing persons case that linked to a murder which was when her father had also become involved.
‘No. I think Eden’s het up about it because she still feels guilty at not being there for Madelaine when she was needed.’ Time to change the subject. ‘What about you? Any juicy murder mysteries?’
‘Fortunately there aren’t too many murders around here and those we have are generally committed by someone the victim knows.’
‘What’s that favourite line of yours again? You know, the one about the deadly trio.’
‘It’s always about the money until you know it’s not, but jealousy and sex are often in the mix.’
‘That’s the one. Do people always leave a note before they kill themselves?’
Alistair studied her, his forehead crinkling into a worried frown.
‘It’s okay Dad, honestly, I’m not getting mixed up in it. I’m just interested.’
‘Some people leave a note but others don’t. I’d say it doesn’t count for much either way. This Eden hasn’t got a strong premise for disagreeing with the decision if she’s based it purely on Madelaine McDonald not leaving a note.’ He gave Lexie a searching stare.
‘Dad, as I said I’m just repeating something I heard. I’m not mixed up in anything.’
‘Over the years I’ve interviewed dozens of bereaved relatives and close friends and they always believe they know everything about the dead person, and that’s often despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.’
‘I’m with you. Even when Eden first said it I thought her reasoning was wrong.’ That was true, but it didn’t mean that Madelaine hadn’t been murdered. ‘And now I think it’s time we went outside and helped ourselves to some of that lunch Mum mentioned.’
11
Renelle Bentley
Little Stillford, Wiltshire
2018
Over the weekend the stone circles had been noisy with the bustle of tourists. They were quieter during the evening, although people still wandered through the woods on their way to the village or back to the hotel.
Almost an hour past midnight on that Tuesday the circles were dark, empty and silent: the moon hidden behind a large cloud. There was no breeze, but the air in the woods was chilly in comparison to the heat of the day. Mist crept from the darkness, curling along the ground like ghostly fingers reaching for the grey stone sentinels of the circles.
Renelle tried to open her eyes, succeeded on the third attempt. A creeping lethargy that she’d never experienced before made it impossible to move her legs, her arms or even her head. All she managed was to scrape the pad of her index finger across the surface. Rock? Stone? Where was she?
Above her, the clouds moved and she saw stars and the crescent of a new moon. Thoughts crept slowly into her consciousness, wading their way through the drug-induced numbness.
Why was she here?
Renelle strained for sounds. People moving through the circles. For surely that’s where she was. She felt rather than saw the person looking down at her. The voice familiar, but now filled with anger and recrimination.
Death came slowly, but with each shallow breath she thought of Mitch, of what had brought her to this place.
12
Lexie Wyatt
Nettleford, Dorset
2018
Renelle’s death made the front pages of several newspapers – a good-looking woman in her mid-thirties, found dead in an ancient stone circle. It was the stuff journalists dreamed of during the quiet summer period when all they had to report on was the wea
ther – usually the amount of rain, but occasionally record-breaking high temperatures – or air traffic controllers striking and leaving thousands of tourists stranded.
A woman’s body has been discovered lying on the horizontal “standing” stone of the inner circle at Little Stillford. A couple found the body while taking their Labrador for a morning walk.
Initially, they thought the woman might be drunk or sleeping, but after trying to rouse her they called emergency services. There were no obvious signs of violence, but police are treating it as a suspicious death.
There are striking similarities to the final scene from The Legacy of Time starring Madelaine McDonald which was filmed at the stone circles of Little Stillford.
The woman’s identity won’t be officially released until police have advised her next of kin.
Helen had rung Lexie late the previous night with the news, her voice breaking on Renelle’s name. As Helen stumbled through the little information she had, Lexie shivered despite the warm night, goose bumps forming on her arms.
Talking about Madelaine’s death had been an entirely different thing. She hadn’t known Madelaine as such, and the young actress had died a dozen or so years before. She’d met Renelle, talked to her at the weekend, and more than that, she liked her and felt that they’d have become friends.
Lexie slept fitfully that night, going over and over the weekend in her mind. The conversations she’d had with Renelle and the meals the group shared together. She couldn’t shake the memory of Mitch mouthing I love you when Renelle faced Eden and how he’d reached out and held her hand when Damien Featherstone was mentioned.
She got up early the following morning and read all the online reports of Renelle’s death and the discovery of her body. The newspapers were restrained in their reporting, but a part of her guessed they’d love it more if blood, feathers and a dagger had been found with the body. That would really send newspaper sales sky high.
Lexie finally turned off her iPad and hustled the children into readiness for school, while trying to shake the mix of despondency and dread that had taken hold of her since Helen’s call. Outside the school, Lexie restrained her curiosity until the children disappeared into class.
‘How is Mitch? Have you spoken to him?’
‘Gareth talked to him again this morning, but he couldn’t tell us much more than last night. He was working away from home, running a three-day workshop, so he didn’t know anything until the police contacted him.’
‘Do they know how Renelle died?’
‘No obvious signs apparently, so there’ll be a post mortem, but I can’t imagine it will be natural causes, not given where she was found.’
‘Do you think she killed herself?’
Helen gave a heavy sigh before speaking. ‘If you’d asked me a week ago I’d have said Renelle would be the last person to do something like that. Now? Who knows? But Little Stillford? Why there?’
‘D’you think she took it to heart, you know, Mitch and Eden meeting up and their cosy chats.’
‘I hope not. Renelle’s tough in many ways but Spike and Eden were a crack in her armour. It’s been years since we were all together, so it’s difficult to know how seeing them again might have affected her. After Madelaine died, the group splintered pretty quickly. Mitch and Renelle married about a year later. Given their history with Spike they didn’t meet up with him or with Eden. Well, we haven’t either, but not on purpose, life getting in the way, I suppose.’
‘But you kept in touch with Mitch and Renelle?’
‘He and Gareth were always good friends so it was natural for them to want to catch up regularly, and I got on fine with Renelle. Her career took off and she and Mitch were happy, both of which helped soften her hard edges, but who can gauge the inside of a relationship, or how shaky the ground it’s built on.’
Lexie tried not to stare at Helen, but she wondered whose relationship Helen meant. ‘How about Laurence? Did you keep in touch with him?’
‘Perhaps a couple of times a year. He saw Spike occasionally, so we stayed in loose contact that way.’
‘I see the papers are already likening it to Madelaine’s scene in the film.’
Helen shuddered. ‘If they discover there is a link and that Renelle and Madelaine knew each other and shared a flat, they’ll have a field day.’
‘Is Eden back from London? Have you had a chance to talk to her since hearing about Renelle?’
‘Yes, she’s back. We talked for a few minutes. She’s upset for Mitch. I hope she decides to go back to London to be around for him. He travels a lot for his business, but I guess that will be on hold for now.’
‘Where was his latest workshop?’
Helen scrunched up her face. ‘Bath.’
‘Oh bloody hell. That’s not too far from Little Stillford.’
Helen’s phone rang. ‘Gareth,’ she muttered to Lexie as she took the call.
Helen didn’t say much through the conversation and it ended with her agreeing to something she obviously wasn’t happy about.
‘Gareth’s invited Mitch here to stay.’ She sighed, crossing her arms over her stomach as if trying to hold herself together. ‘I must sound like a complete bitch.’
‘Of course you don’t. You’re under enough stress as it is with Eden staying.’
‘The thing is, when Madelaine died it became a bit of a circus. I hate to think what would have happened if social media was as pervasive as it is now and everyone’d had smartphones. So far no one has made the connection between Renelle and Madelaine, but if that changes the whole thing could start again.’
Lexie thought Helen was being too pessimistic, but saying that wouldn’t help. ‘Give it a day or so and the newspapers will find another story.’
‘I feel awful worrying about how we might get pulled into this when Renelle is dead. Mitch must be devastated.’
Lexie squeezed Helen’s hand. ‘Don’t belittle your feelings, they’re valid. This affects you and Gareth, although hopefully only as friends.’
The latest news about Renelle’s death permeated through the group. Lexie’s appointments to interview the private investigator and the female police detective had changed several times and she ended up completing them on successive days. After that she was busy putting the linked articles together to go to Jo, her editor, so it was Nathan who told her that the police were treating Renelle’s death as murder.
It had seemed extreme when Eden told her she thought Madelaine had been killed, but this time the allegation came from the police. They had found evidence of pills and alcohol in her system, and also traces of a date rape drug. That surprised Lexie. Eden also told Nathan that Mitch had arrived in Nettleford and was staying in the rental house with her and Hunter.
Once she had emailed the articles to Jo at the magazine, Lexie’s thoughts returned to Renelle’s death. If she’d taken the first drink willingly, then presumably she knew the person.
As she and Max wandered back along the lane from their morning walk, Lexie spotted Mitch walking up the track to the top of the hill. The track ran along the outside of their garden, but Mitch was far enough up it not to notice them. Rather than going inside, Lexie carried on past their house and through the gate in their tall back garden fence. On their property, they also had a track to the top of hill. Max raced ahead, delighted to find they were having an extra-long walk.
As the slope levelled out, Lexie saw Mitch sitting on the dry-stone wall staring out over Nettleford. Mitch turned when Max growled and then barked at him.
‘It’s okay, Max. He’s a friend.’
‘He takes his protection duties seriously,’ said Mitch.
‘We had a bit of an incident last year and he was our knight in golden fur.’
Mitch screwed up his eyes against the sun as he turned to Lexie. ‘Helen mentioned something about that when they stayed with us the last time, although she didn’t go into all the details.’
Lexie didn’t want to go into the detai
ls either and simply nodded.
Mitch resumed his contemplation of the view before them. ‘I walked along the road and then saw a track up the hill, but I wasn’t sure if this was privately owned or not.’
‘The track is for anyone. This side is private property, but you’re lucky as it’s ours.’
Max bounded off, chasing a rabbit who outran him easily. Lexie wasn’t a long-standing friend and guessed whatever she said would sound like a bad cliché but she needed to express her sympathy.
‘I only met Renelle in Little Stillford, but I enjoyed our conversations and hoped we’d become friends. I’m so sorry about what’s happened.’
Mitch smiled sadly. ‘She liked you both and that’s a big compliment as Renelle didn’t make new friends easily.’
‘How are you coping with things?’ She grimaced. ‘Sorry, it’s such an unimaginative question.’
‘I remember thinking something similar when talking to Gareth after Madelaine died. Everything seemed like a platitude. I’m glad to be away from our apartment, seeing Renelle’s clothes and stuff around the flat is hard. I mean, it’s obvious it’ll be there but…’ His mouth was a grim line and a sudden swallow showed how hard it was for him to keep his emotions in check.
‘Have the police been in touch with you? Sorry, another dumb question. What I meant was do they have any more information?’ However hard she tried, everything sounded insensitive.
His bleak expression deepened. ‘Oh yes, I’ve had plenty to do with the police. You know they’re treating Renelle’s death as murder?’
Lexie nodded.
‘And me as their main suspect.’
‘Have they said that?’
‘Not in so many words. It all feels so passive aggressive. One of them is sympathetic but the other doesn’t see a grieving husband, simply someone who’s top of their list.’
The Worst Lie Page 14