Murder on the Island

by Daisy White

  The fury that flared and was abruptly quenched in Jonas’ expression made Chloe widen her eyes. Crikey, what was going on with these two? Suddenly, though, she was too tired to care. It had been a hell of day, and she just wanted a bath and bed.

  ‘Goodnight, Chloe. Come along, Jonas, let’s see if you can make a few sales tonight, even after all the drama,’ Arron said cheerfully.

  Chloe turned in time to see Jonas shrug off the other man’s hand from his shoulders, and the hurt in Arron’s face as he registered the snub had been noted.

  The lights at the rear of the gallery were being dimmed, and Chloe took a last look at the wall of new works. Only one wasn’t sporting a ‘sold’ sticker, so clearly a good night’s work for the Stone Gallery. Even as she turned to go, Kaila’s paintings caught her eye again and she stopped, puzzled. Something had been niggling at her brain ever since she first saw them, but now it clicked into place.

  The buildings morphing into shapes on the largest piece, ended on a silver-and-gold horizon, blocked by a triangle flanked by two squares. It was unmistakably the same alignment carved into Matthew’s forehead.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Chloe whispered to herself, taking deep breaths to calm her rapid heartbeat. Finn had hinted the murder was linked to the artists themselves, and here was a painting replicating part of a murder scene.

  She quickly continued with her exit, resolving to ring Finn first thing in the morning. It could be a coincidence. The shapes of buildings could really only be interpreted in a few ways, but the alignment was exactly the same.

  Pushing Kaila’s painting from her mind – it was far too late to do anything about it now, even if she was right – Chloe watched the flickering lights of the coastal paths on her way home.

  She texted Antoine with the good news about Goldie, and the even better news that it was a profit-making venture. She smiled fondly as he texted back:

  Wow, that’s sick. Gotta be in early to give her a bath!

  There was a message from Finn on her voicemail, telling her Ailsa would be home tomorrow and the scans were clear. He added that he had spoken to Jonas and Arron earlier in the evening, and managed to fit in a video call to Melissa in New York. According to Finn, her brother and stepfather had been telling the truth about her visit to the States. She seemed absolutely normal.

  There was just one thing… when he had brought up the package, she denied being in possession of it, and insisted she had never visited Chloe’s house that night.

  16

  ‘Mrs C!’

  She jerked awake, torn from her dreams, flinging her legs out of bed. The late night, and her subsequent nightmares meant she seemed to have only just fallen asleep. Yet sunlight was streaming in through the slits in the shutters. Her bedside clock said it was just past six.

  Antoine was standing at her bedroom window. Chloe fumbled with the shutters and window catches, still half asleep. But the urgency in his voice was starting to send shivers down her arms.

  ‘It’s Goldie. She’s been stolen!’ Antoine was distraught, sweat soaking through his T-shirt, beading his face and bare shoulders. He wiped a hand across his shorts.

  ‘Are you sure? Couldn’t she just have got out?’ Chloe grasped wildly for a sensible solution. Goldie wasn’t a Derby-winning racehorse, she was a hack for hire. Her value wasn’t any more than any of the other horses in the stables.

  Antoine nodded. ‘I thought the same thing. But she hasn’t just let herself out and wandered off. The stable door was closed and bolted behind her. Someone took her and didn’t care that we knew it.’

  ‘Is her tack gone?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, I checked, but if they can ride, she’s easy bareback in halter… she’d go with anyone.’

  ‘I can’t believe this. I only arranged the photoshoot last night!’ Her mind was whirling, remembering the gossip that Louisa had passed on. ‘Oh my God, I’ve just thought… You don’t think she’s been stolen to prevent us doing the photoshoot do you?’

  Antoine stared at her, wide-eyed and confused.

  Chloe said decisively, ‘Let me get some clothes on and I’ll call Finn. I suppose you’ve been out looking?’

  ‘For ages.’ He glanced down at his watch. ‘Over an hour. I got here early again because Louisa is supervising a delivery and she had to leave at four… There were fresh hoofprints heading down the Railway Trail, but then I lost them across the road at the five-mile point.’

  ‘I’ll be out as soon as I can. Do you want to come in and make yourself a coffee or something?’

  He nodded gratefully, and Chloe padded out of her bedroom in bare feet to open the front door. Who knew about Goldie being chosen for the photoshoot? Fiona at the hotel, of course. Jonas knew. He had been right there when the offer had been made… Arron had made a clumsy crack about selling the land, too.

  She called Finn and he promised to send someone over. ‘Oh and Chloe, I heard you saved Sheetal Araminta’s life last night. Well done.’

  ‘I didn’t do anything really… She would have done it herself if she could.’ Chloe stopped gabbling. ‘Arron said he was going to report the incident to you, to the police anyway, because he seems to think somebody is targeting his artists.’ She remembered the shapes in Kaila’s painting and was about to tell him, when she heard the crackle of a radio in the background.

  ‘Sorry, I’ve got a possible incident in Hamilton I need to deal with, but sit tight, Chloe. Is Antoine with you?’ Finn, as usual, sounded calm and in control.

  ‘Yes. He’s been out looking for Goldie. But we’re fine. You get out to that traffic accident.’

  Had Finn heard her comment about Arron, or was he just unable to say anything? Dressed, with a cup of coffee in her hand, Chloe went out to the yard with Antoine striding anxiously beside her.

  ‘See? There’s no way she got out and then shut the bolt neatly afterwards,’ he said angrily, kicking a tuft of grass.

  She did see. The sea breeze was fresh and cool this early in the morning, and the tide far below was rolling up the beach with dancing breakers. There was no sign of a palomino horse, but as Antoine pointed out, her stable was neatly shut and bolted. ‘The police will be here soon.’

  ‘Ailsa’s still in hospital until this afternoon, and her house is empty, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes. Why?’

  ‘Do you sleep lightly? I mean, would you have heard a van?’ Antoine asked quickly.

  ‘A horse van? Yes, and somebody would have seen it. There are houses all along the driveway, and those things make a lot of noise,’ Chloe considered. By the time she had arrived home, shattered from the events of the day, it must have been past eleven. ‘I didn’t sleep well, but I think that was more because of last night than because anything outside disturbed me.’ She told him more about Sheetal, trying to distract from his obvious worry about one of his beloved horses.

  ‘Wow. That’s bad. Will she really be all right now? Did they find out what she was allergic to?’

  ‘No. Finn never said when he called, just that she was okay,’ Chloe reassured him.

  ‘You told Finn that Arron Stone doesn’t think it was an accident.’ His dark eyes were watchful, thoughtful. ‘Because of Matthew getting murdered?’

  Chloe had forgotten, in her sleep-befuddled state, that Antoine had been with her while she made the call, sipping his coffee. ‘I think he’s being overcautious but then, I suppose that’s better than ignoring a potential problem,’ she said carefully.

  He shrugged, clearly less interested in the potential of another murder, than the theft of Goldie. ‘So we go back to the theory she was led, or more likely, ridden away, down the Railway Trail.’ Antoine ran a hand through his hair, frustration clear in his face. ‘We need to find her, Mrs C!’

  The sound of a vehicle on the driveway made them both jump and Chloe spilt hot coffee on her hand.

  ‘You made an early start!’ It was Josonne, Antoine’s cousin, bright-eyed and alert.

  He was riding shotgun
with a police officer, who introduced himself as Charlie. ‘We’re short-handed just now, and Josonne shares a house with me, so he tagged along when he heard it was you.’

  Antoine launched into a description of what they surmised had happened, before looking guiltily at Chloe. ‘Sorry, Mrs C, I should have let you tell him, really.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine. I was trying to think who knew about the photoshoot, and who would know it was so important to us.’

  Charlie nodded, taking quick notes as she spoke.

  ‘At the party, we were in a little group when Fiona and I started talking about horses, and I showed her pictures of ours. That was when she made her offer. Some women I don’t know probably heard, but Emma, who runs the community shop, and Jonas who runs the gallery, both heard. Arron Stone…’ She faltered to a halt. It seemed terrible to name these people as suspects, but what else could she think?

  ‘So you set this up at the party last night? Did you speak to anyone else since?’ Josonne queried. ‘I’m guessing Fiona at the hotel would have brought in a photographer and an assistant. She would have called them last night maybe? Short notice so she would have wanted to get everything sorted out. Some models too, if it’s for their website? Suddenly the field opens up quite a bit.’

  ‘Yes, she did arrange it all last night. Literally made phone calls at the party, and it was done.’ Chloe nodded. She hadn’t considered any of those possibilities. Murder was playing so heavily on her mind that all her suspicions seemed to spring automatically from the little community at Dockyard.

  The sun was already warming the yard, and the remaining horses began to neigh and kick at their doors.

  ‘I haven’t fed them all yet,’ Antoine explained.

  Something was niggling at Chloe’s brain. ‘Why didn’t they make a fuss when Goldie was taken last night? Isn’t Star her best pal? Surely they would have called for each other. Surely, wherever Goldie is now, she’d be calling for Star?’

  ‘Good point. Unless someone fed them to shut them up, until Goldie was well clear?’

  ‘More than one person involved, then?’ Charlie suggested. ‘Okay, I’ll get back and file a report. We’ve already got a call out, with a description of the horse, but if you send me a few photos I can start sending them out around the island.’

  ‘It isn’t like she could have left the island, is it?’ Chloe said.

  Both men frowned. ‘Not by air, and it would have been tricky loading a horse onto a boat without being seen. Any cargo is inspected before it leaves and when it arrives at the destination. Seems like that would be an awful lot of trouble to go to for a horse.’

  Finn appeared at the house two hours later, on his way back to the station. ‘Sorry, Chloe. I had to get everything sorted out. Turns out it wasn’t a shooting incident, thank goodness, just a row after an RTC, and…’

  ‘Don’t be silly, Finn. A missing horse is nothing compared to people’s lives. One of your officers, Charlie, turned up with Josonne. They were very competent. Was everyone okay at the traffic accident?’

  He nodded, accepting a glass of iced water. ‘The two drivers have been taken to hospital, but they should be fine.’

  Every road traffic accident must remind him of his wife, Chloe thought sadly. She changed the subject. ‘Was Melissa really all right when you spoke to her?’

  ‘Seemed to be.’

  Chloe was silent, mulling things over in her head. Why had Melissa denied knowledge of the package? A sudden dark thought flashed into her mind – had Finn really spoken to her? She didn’t know him and although her gut said he was definitely to be trusted, there were such things as corrupt police officers.

  ‘Chloe?’

  ‘Did you tell her the package was missing?’

  ‘No. I didn’t want to give too much away. It was more of a welfare check than anything. Despite the rumours currently circulating, as I told you, Melissa isn’t a suspect in the Georgias murder. Her alibi checks out. Now tell me about the horse.’

  He had changed the subject pretty quickly, which certainly did nothing to dull her sudden suspicions. Chloe gave him a quick rundown of events, adding that Josonne and Antoine were both out searching. ‘Antoine is devastated. He loves the horses, but it’s more than that. If we miss this chance for the photoshoot it might screw up our chance to pull the business back from the brink.’

  ‘Are things really that bad?’ Finn raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Yes, they are. I checked the accounts, and unless Beachside Stables lands a really good contract with assured income, we’ll have to close by the end of the year. It just isn’t sustainable at the moment. This is our make-or-break moment.’

  ‘I knew Dre had let things run down, but I had no idea…’ Finn whistled softly. ‘Do you still think someone is trying to get you to sell up?’

  17

  She shrugged. ‘What else can I think with Goldie suddenly vanishing the moment I get a sniff at changing the fortunes of the stables? Developers have been knocking at the door, and from the bookings I can see that the business has been nosediving for a while. Even if Dre was winding down a little, the serious downturn has all been in the last six months.’

  ‘All right, I’ll see what I can do. When’s the photoshoot?’

  ‘Tomorrow afternoon.’

  Finn’s radio crackled and he glanced down, listening. ‘Sorry, I need to head off now, but keep in touch about this, won’t you? Charlie is very good, so fingers crossed he pulls up some clues. Make sure you let me know if you get any ransom calls or anything.’

  ‘Ransom calls? You think Goldie’s been kidnapped?’ Chloe was shocked.

  He was halfway out the door. ‘Possibly. I wouldn’t rule anything out at this stage.’

  After Finn had gone, Chloe went out over the headland, picking her way along steep paths, edging past the newly painted walls of the luxury development. The buildings were empty at the moment, but she was sure they would soon be filled by people drawn to this area of the island.

  Her mobile phone was in her pocket, and every few metres she stopped and pulled it out, checking she had a signal. Goldie being kidnapped didn’t make any kind of sense, but she wasn’t taking any chances. There was the home phone, but she wasn’t hanging around all day on the off-chance somebody would call and demand a ransom. The answerphone was on anyway. She realised suddenly that she had missed her chance to tell Finn about the shapes in the painting, but fear for her livelihood and her beautiful horse had driven the discovery from her mind. She hesitated to call Finn again. She had bothered him enough recently.

  Standing in the shade of a cluster of trees, she paused to get her breath. Her plaited hair lay heavy on her shoulder blades, and her shirt was wet with sweat. The view was spectacular. The beach a mere strip of white sand, the sea smooth and turquoise. She could see her own house, further down the cliffs, nestling in the cleft, green paddocks stretching up the next hill. Ailsa and her other neighbours were further inland, hidden by the pines that edged the headland.

  From this vantage point she could easily see why the developers were keen to get their hands on her property. The road she had just passed, could lead downwards, and her land would provide at least two apartment blocks, or several large luxury homes. Being lower down, the paths to the beach and trails were more accessible, the line of trees would provide further privacy and the views were breathtaking.

  Walking back two hours later, weary and dispirited, Chloe found Antoine and Josonne in deep conversation in the yard. They both shook their heads at her hopeful glance. Goldie’s empty stable stuck out like a pulled tooth. The men were gulping water from large bottles, and Antoine was munching on an energy bar.

  ‘Charlie had to go and attend another incident, but I’ve got the afternoon off so I thought I’d stick around. I was saying that we put an alert out to the other stables on the island. Just in case they’ve seen anything unusual or had any thefts themselves,’ Josonne told her.

  ‘They haven’t,�
�� Antoine said, ‘but Ellis Jack at Green Ridge said they had a lad grooming for them for a few months on a working visa. He was supposed to be getting experience, but they sacked him for misconduct. He left the grooms’ accommodation two days ago, and as far as they all knew he was going home to Kentucky.’

  ‘Okay?’ Chloe didn’t see the connection.

  ‘When he left, he stole some tack. A saddle and bridle.’

  ‘But not a horse?’

  ‘Nope. Weird isn’t it?’

  ‘Green Ridge is in St George’s, isn’t it?’ Chloe queried. She remembered looking up all the other stables on Bermuda, just to compare them with her own. ‘And Ellis Jack is some kind of celebrity horse whisperer?’

  Josonne pulled a face. ‘Yeah, he did some tours in the USA. He was pretty popular.’

  ‘Was?’

  ‘He got a lot of flack when someone reported him for cruelty last year. The charges didn’t stick but that kind of press was very bad for business. That’s why he’s spending more time at home on the island. He hasn’t toured since it all blew up,’ Antoine informed her.

  ‘Oh…’ Again Chloe wasn’t sure what to say, but she didn’t think Ellis’s missing stable lad could be connected to Goldie’s disappearance. If he wanted a horse surely the boy would have pinched one of his ex-employer’s? Her money was on the developers, which, if Arron and Jonas were investors, meant they both had the chance to pass on the information about the shoot.

  But Jonas had introduced her to Fiona, obviously knowing full well that Chloe would make some money from a photoshoot, and Arron, although he joked about her selling up, seemed to spread his largesse around. The Skylight Foundation, and other beneficiaries, seemed to suggest he used his wealth for good, as Finn had said. Would a little development on Bermuda matter that much to someone who was rich beyond Chloe’s wildest imaginings? ‘I might go and visit Ellis when all this is over. His stables looked really smart on the website.’