A Forgotten Murder

by Jude Deveraux

  Jack pulled a penknife out of his pocket. “Let me try.”

  “You are him. I liked him a lot. The son I never had. Before I found out what he did to my daughter, that is. Dropped her like garbage.” He was looking down the hall. “This place is bringing back memories.”

  “About breaking elephants?” Jack was working the door lock.

  “Oh yeah. I remember that night so clearly. They were arguing.”

  “Sounds like they were always arguing,” Jack said.

  “No. This was different. She was...desperate, that’s what she was. And he... Well, he didn’t care at all.”

  “You mean Nadine and Sean? She told him she was pregnant and he didn’t care?” Jack didn’t like hearing that.

  “No, not him. They were going to run away together. Nadine was packed and ready to go. But he didn’t show up.”

  Jack got the door open. “So who did you hear arguing? Was it Diana and Nicky?”

  “Maybe.” Mr. Howland didn’t move and he seemed to be thinking hard. “It was Nicky’s voice but it wasn’t. The woman talked like she’d learned how.”

  “You mean like she’d been in an accident and had rehabilitation?”

  “No. Like me. How I’d sound if I studied how to speak like Prince William.”

  “We Americans would appreciate it if you did that. You okay to...?” They both knew what he meant. Could he get ready for bed by himself?

  “You think I could get something to eat?” Mr. Howland patted his big stomach.

  “Sure. Mrs. Aiken—”

  Mr. Howland let out a sound like a trapped pig.

  Jack laughed. “I gotcha. I’ll make up a tray and bring it up myself.”

  “Give me an hour,” the man said. “Things take me longer now.”

  “Will do.” Jack stepped aside to let him go into the big room. “One hour and I’ll be back.” He closed the door and was tempted to lock it. In case he turns back into monster-mode, Jack thought. Tomorrow he’d look at sealing Mr. Howland’s windows.

  As Jack headed back downstairs, he didn’t see that there was a person hiding in the shadows. By the time he reached the others, everyone was there.

  Fourteen

  It was Kate who saw the van. She’d been watching the doorway, waiting for Jack to return from taking Mr. Howland upstairs, and she was worrying about him. When she saw a flash of light through the window, she thought, Probably just a delivery. Then she remembered hearing that Willa always showed up on Fridays with a van full of food. That wasn’t necessary now though.

  But then, Willa going back to who she was twenty-plus years ago wasn’t necessary either.

  Kate put her drink down and headed toward the doorway. Sara was deep into conversation with Byon, and Kate didn’t want to hear it. Too much cat-fighting for her taste. Nadine was with Clive and looked quite bored.

  She made it to the front door before Teddy caught up with her.

  “Thank God!” Teddy said. “I wanted to get out of there. It’s like they’ve stepped into a time warp. If I hear them say, ‘Do you remember?’ one more time, I shall start screaming.”

  Kate wanted to get rid of the girl so she could see if it was Willa who’d arrived. “I think dinner is about to begin.”

  “Probably.” She was looking hard at Kate. “So you’re Jack’s sister?”

  “His friend. No relation at all.”

  “You two bed partners?”

  Kate just looked at her, with no intention of answering.

  “So you’re not.” Teddy was smiling. “Good to know. Who is that outside?”

  “No one,” Kate said. “I wonder if your grandfather is all right.”

  Teddy was staring at Kate. “Why do I feel that you want me to leave? Is this about Jack?”

  Kate didn’t answer.

  “Something is going on, isn’t it? I can feel it.”

  “Your mother—”

  Teddy waved her hand. “Has no interest in me right now. She’s trying to get Byon to introduce her to men. She needs a new husband—one with a fat bank account.”

  “Clive’s available.”

  Teddy smiled. “What a nasty sense of humor you have. He’s so common he’d expect dinner on the table at six. My mother thinks the kitchen is a shortcut to the garage.”

  They heard a door slam.

  For a moment the two young women looked at each other with the intensity of gunslingers about to draw their weapons.

  Kate realized she was not going to be able to get rid of Teddy. Should she go back inside and wait until Willa appeared? There was no need to see her before the others did. She could—

  Teddy decided the situation when she flung open the door and went outside. Kate was right behind her.

  “Hello,” Teddy said to the woman standing by the van. “I’m Nadine’s daughter and you must be Willa. I’ve heard of you.”

  Kate stayed in the background as she looked at Willa in the outdoor lights. Gone was the sleek woman she’d met earlier. Her lashes and eyebrows had been dyed so pale they didn’t seem to exist. Her clothes were faded and she looked like she’d gained fifty pounds. Bland was too strong a word to describe her.

  “Hello,” Willa said as Kate came forward.

  Teddy went to the open side door of the van and looked in.

  “You look horrible,” Kate whispered.

  “Thank you,” Willa said. “My hair took hours.”

  “It was worth it. It’s now frizzy and dirty.”

  “A touch of olive oil and some dark powder,” Willa said proudly. “Anything new happen?”

  “Mr. Howland attacked Jack because he thought he was Sean.” Kate leaned forward. “Turns out Nadine and Sean were having an affair the whole time they were here.” She jerked her head toward Teddy. “That’s the result. Their daughter. She races cars and horses. And she cries all over Jack ’cause Mommy didn’t tell her every private thing in her life.”

  Willa was blinking at Kate. “Is that jealousy or are you catty all the time?”

  “I think it’s always in there but it comes out in spurts.”

  “Sounds like a useful talent.”

  “It is. So what did you bring?”

  “Food,” Willa said. “I had Fortnum and Mason deliver everything.”

  “You two are chummy,” Teddy said as she came around the corner of the van. “You talk like you’ve known each other forever.”

  “Kindred souls.” Kate marveled at the way Willa quickly hung her head, as though she was someone who deserved to be ignored.

  Teddy was staring at her. “I’ve seen you before.”

  Willa kept her head down and shook it no.

  Teddy didn’t give up. She moved closer to Willa and looked at her face.

  “I think we should tell the others you’re here,” Kate said loudly.

  Teddy didn’t stop staring, then suddenly, a light came into her face. “Reverse Warrior,” she whispered. She stepped away and went into the yoga pose. Legs apart, torso twisted, arms straight out. “Do I have it right?”

  Willa gave up. She raised her head. “Right foot needs to be turned a bit. There. Now you have it.”

  Teddy dropped her arms and looked Willa up and down. “WTF?”

  Before either of the other two women could speak, the door to the house opened and they heard Byon’s voice. Behind him was everyone else.

  “Keep your mouth shut!” Kate ordered Teddy.

  “Please,” Willa added.

  Teddy was looking at Kate. “Only if you let me in on what’s going on.”

  “Not on your life.”

  “I’ll flirt so hard with Jack he won’t be able to resist. I have a bikini...” She held out her hand, cupped tightly, meaning the suit would fit into her palm. “And I’ll sneak into his room at night. Naked.”r />
  “I hate you,” Kate said.

  With a smile, they turned to greet the oncoming Pack, while Willa stayed back, her head down. But in this case, she was concealing a smile.

  * * *

  Kate and Jack were with Sara in her bedroom. It was late but they knew they wouldn’t be able to sleep. Sara was looking at photos on the screen of her camera. Kate was stretched out beside her, and Jack was in a chair.

  “I’m exhausted,” Kate said. “Too much food.”

  “Too many people,” Jack said.

  “Too much of everything.” Sara turned her camera off and leaned back on a pillow. “I hated tonight.”

  “Me too,” Kate said. “I wanted Willa to tell Byon to get it himself. Whatever he wanted, he expected adoring Willa to get it for him.”

  “And she did,” Jack said.

  “They handled the news of Nadine having Sean’s child well,” Sara said.

  “You mean no one gave a flying crap,” Jack said. “Clive snorted in a nasty way, as though it was all dirty.”

  “Sort of is,” Kate said. “Nadine was lying to them all, sneaking around. She hated the horses but loved the rider.”

  “I think whatever Sean was doing in the cemetery had something to do with Nadine,” Sara said. “Do we know when she told him about the child?”

  “No.” Jack told them what Mr. Howland had said about Sean and Nadine planning to run away together that night. “But Sean never showed up.”

  “What a horrible night that was!” Kate said. “They were supposed to be celebrating, but Clive dumped Willa and—”

  “And Sean left pregnant Nadine alone.” Sara looked at Jack. “How was Mr. Howland when you took his food up?”

  “Great. Watching The Terminator. I wanted to stay with him. He must know a lot about cars.”

  Sara and Kate exchanged looks. Jack’s father and grandfather and great-grandfather had been car people. Jack had spent much of his life covered in grease.”

  “And that night Nicky was in a very bad mood,” Kate said. “He had to have been to tell Willa off like that.”

  “Willa has a temper,” Sara said. “All the toughness she has now has always been there. If Sean laughed at her and told her she was better off without them... She could have smashed him.”

  “Or shot him,” Jack said. “We don’t know how he was killed.”

  “There’s more hate here than I originally thought,” Sara said.

  “But hate’s what drives a murder, isn’t it?” Kate sat up.

  “No one seems to know that Sean is dead,” Sara said.

  “Think finding out that he didn’t run away will help Nadine and Teddy?” Kate asked.

  “I doubt it,” Sara said. “Teddy misses her connection to people she loves. I heard her tell Nadine that she didn’t know if her grandparents would continue to want her.”

  “They all probably know more than they think,” Jack said. “Teddy was born six months after the marriage, but they had no more kids. Maybe the viscount was willing to marry a pregnant woman because he couldn’t have kids.”

  “Good point,” Sara said.

  Kate yawned and scooted off the bed. “So what’s on for tomorrow?”

  “A sleep in,” Jack said. “And I hope we meet no one.”

  “That means he wants to sing with Byon,” Sara said.

  “And watch that child, Teddy, run around in skimpy clothing.”

  “You do know,” Jack said, “that she’s just a year younger than you.”

  “In numbers perhaps but not in maturity.”

  “You wouldn’t be upset to find out your father wasn’t who you believed he was?” Jack asked.

  In answer, Kate glared at him. In the last couple of years she’d found out that her saint of a father was far, far from sainthood.

  Jack laughed at her expression. “Point made.” He stood up. “Come on, let’s go to bed. Tomorrow we can—”

  He broke off at the sound of screaming. “That’s Teddy.” He threw open the door.

  When the second scream came, Kate said, “Nadine.”

  Sara got off the bed. “Mr. Howland!”

  In the hallway, Byon, in a blue silk dressing grown, was heading toward the stairs. Clive was already there and he was tapping his phone.

  “What is it?” Jack asked.

  “Mr. Howland killed himself,” Clive said. “I’m calling the police.” He gave his attention to his phone.

  “No ambulance?” Sara asked. “No attempt at revival?”

  Clive shook his head no.

  At the end of the hall, was Mr. Howland’s room. The door was open, light flooding the dark hallway.

  Bella appeared in her nightgown and robe. “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure.” Sara hurried after Jack and Kate.

  Byon had his arms around Nadine. As soon as Teddy saw Jack, she flung herself into his arms. She was crying hard.

  Sara made her way through the people, Kate behind her, and into the bedroom.

  On the bed lay Mr. Howland. His eyes were closed—and a plastic bag was over his head. On the table beside him was an open medicine bottle and an empty glass. There was a roll of duct tape on the bed. It had been used to seal the bag around his neck.

  “We loved him no matter what,” Nadine cried. “It didn’t matter that he sometimes forgot things.”

  Clive was at the doorway. “The police will be here in a few minutes. They asked that we touch nothing and that we close the door.”

  “He needs us!” Teddy said, but Jack wouldn’t let her get away.

  “Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s go downstairs and wait.” Jack led her down to the small sitting room and got her to sit on a couch. When Byon came in, leading Nadine, he put her beside her daughter.

  Everyone watched the two women. Would their animosity hold through this?

  When the two women clasped each other, they all let out a sigh of relief.

  Mrs. Aiken came to the door. “All this ruckus! I guess I’m supposed to serve—”

  Jack got to the door in two steps and pushed the woman out. “Get out of here,” he ordered.

  She stuck her nose into the air. “Well I never!”

  “Too bad,” Jack muttered. “Somebody should have.”

  Mrs. Aiken angrily went down the hall. Behind her was Puck. They hadn’t seen her since the morning, since they’d seen the skeleton.

  “Tea,” Sara said to Jack and Kate, then headed to the kitchen. As she passed, Kate motioned for Puck to join them.

  It was quiet in the kitchen, and Puck got out the big teapot while Kate filled the electric kettle.

  For a while, they were silent.

  “He didn’t kill himself,” Jack said. “He was telling me how much he likes American action movies. We laughed about how he used to be busy all the time and now he could sit and watch a movie. We talked about cars. We...” He trailed off, looking down at his hands. “He didn’t kill himself,” he repeated.

  Sara was pouring boiling water into the pot. “Who had the time to do it? Who left during dinner?”

  “Everyone,” Puck said.

  They looked at her. “I was in the kitchen with Mother. She was angry about the tray Jack took upstairs.”

  “Why the hell—?” he began, then clamped his teeth together.

  “Puck is right,” Sara said as she handed out mugs full of tea. “Everyone left the table at one time or another.”

  “Nadine was on the phone,” Puck said. “She was angry about something. She was there when I took the potatoes in, but when I came out, she was gone.”

  They looked at Jack. He had sat between Nadine and Teddy. “Yes, they were gone for a while. Separately. Bathroom.”

  “I could believe Nadine is bulimic,” Sara said. “You can’t gain a pound when
you’re husband hunting.”

  “Byon left,” Kate said. “He rubbed his stomach and asked to be excused. He was gone for at least fifteen minutes.

  “And Clive,” Sara said. “His phone buzzed and he said it was work and he had to take the call. Said it was from Zurich.”

  “I liked Mr. Howland,” Jack said. “Wish I could have met him when he was in the car business.”

  “Did he hurt you?” Puck asked. “Mother said he ran at you.”

  Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “He got mixed up for a moment, that’s all. He thought I was Sean and said he knew Teddy was my daughter. Honest mistake.”

  “What did he say?” Puck asked.

  Kate knew but didn’t want to repeat it.

  Jack didn’t answer so it was left to Sara.

  “Mr. Howland said ‘I’ll kill you. I did it before and I can do it again.’”

  “He didn’t mean it,” Jack said.

  “It’s possible,” Sara said slowly, “that seeing Sean again... I mean you, Jack...awakened memories in him. He used to be a man of ambition and he wanted to overcome his origins. He wanted his daughter to marry an earl and live in an ancestral mansion.”

  “But she fell in love with the stableman,” Kate said.

  “She was going to have his baby,” Puck said.

  They looked at her. “We couldn’t help overhearing.”

  “What else did you hear?” Sara asked. “Or see? Or intuit? What?”

  They stared at her.

  “Willa is different. When people are looking, she seems to like Clive, but one time, she... I don’t think she’ll write him any more love letters.”

  “Byon?” Kate asked.

  “Something has hurt him.” She looked at Jack. “But you are charging him.”

  “You mean like a dead battery?” Sara said, and Puck nodded. “I agree. Tonight he was quite animated in his storytelling.”

  “All his stories were old,” Kate said. “In every one, he said, ‘Of course that was before cell phones.’ What’s he been doing for the last few years?”

  Jack and Sara looked at each other. When Sara lived in New York, they often went to Broadway plays, but that was years ago. What had Byon written lately?