‘Yes,” was all she could manage to say.
He grinned, flashing a perfect set of teeth. Was there nothing wrong with this man?
“I’m here for the Jane Simpson party,” he said, smiling again.
“You’re not Josh Simpson, are you?”
“The one and only.”
“I’m Rachel Fisher.”
“I know that. You’re famous after all, though I must say; you look even more beautiful in the flesh.”
Rachel found herself blushing.
“Well, are you going to let me in?” Josh asked, grinning again.
“Yes, of course. I’m sorry,” Rachel said, feeling all tongue tied.
Josh had turned out much better than she had expected, but did she really want to fall for someone from her past again?
“I’ll show you to the bar,” Rachel said to Josh, trying to hide her awkwardness and appear business like.
“Thanks. Perhaps we can have a chat later in the evening. Catch up on things.”
“Yes, that would be nice,” Rachel said against her better judgment.
She felt her legs turn to jelly and her heart was beating much faster than it should.
Here I go again, feeling and acting like a sixteen year old. Why do all my childhood friends have to be so handsome?
If nothing else, this was certainly going to be an interesting evening.
* * *
Dinner was to be served at eight thirty giving every one time to freshen up if they so wished. There were a lot of comings and goings from the bar after seven thirty and at about ten to eight, Jane went up to her room as she was expecting a phone call at eight from her daughter, Jan. Jan lived in India and hadn’t been able to get away for the party.
Once again, as on the previous evening, all the guests were in the dining room at around the allotted time. Rachel was surprised that Arthur and Joan had come in to eat at the same time as them, considering the amount of complaining he had done the previous night about the noise from Jane’s table. She was sure Arthur was hoping to get complimentary drinks again from the birthday group. He, together with Joan and Sam, had certainly been treated quite a few times the night before, but whether it was because he knew Carlotta and Jane or because they wanted to stop him moaning, Rachel didn’t know.
Jane Simpson’s table was rather noisy again this evening and everyone seemed to be having a good time; the only problem was that Jane wasn’t there yet.
“Everything seems to be going well,” Sarah spoke to Rachel.
“Yes it does. Hopefully some of the guests will consider a return visit.”
“Jane’s son keeps looking over at you, Rachel.”
“Nonsense,” Rachel replied.
However, she was secretly pleased.
“Yes he does and you know it. It’s time you moved on with your life and forgot about that low-life, James Parker.”
“I have forgotten about him; well, almost.”
Sarah shook her head. She couldn’t believe that Rachel still had feelings for James, not after all the times he had tried to kill her.
Truth be told, Rachel had more or less got James out of her system. There was just the odd day when certain things happened or were said and he came back to haunt her. It was the same with Detective Chief Inspector Peter Taylor, the police officer who had led the investigation searching for the person trying to kill her. She couldn’t think of one man without thinking of the other. Rachel hadn’t liked Taylor at first; he seemed morose and distant, but she grew to like and respect him and perhaps she developed even deeper feelings towards him by the time James was arrested. However, they were so unsuited that she knew a relationship wouldn’t work between them, not that he’d tried to contact her in the past five months. Now Josh was more like her; they had so much in common, she was sure of that.
“Hello, you seem miles away,” Josh said, startling Rachel.
“Oh, sorry. Is anything wrong?”
“Quite the opposite. The canapés in the bar were amazing. I think everyone enjoyed them. I’m certainly looking forward to the dinner. I’m a bit worried about mum though. I don’t know why she hasn’t come down yet. Perhaps she’s still nattering to Jan and has forgotten the time.”
“Maybe you’d better go and get her.”
“I suppose you’re right, though I’m having more fun talking to you!”
Rachel’s heart started racing. There was a short silence between them where neither knew what to say next, but both felt an attraction towards the other. In fact, it was like a surge of electricity.
“Would you have dinner with me one evening, that is if you can take a night off from Oakfield?”
“I’m sure I can arrange something,” Rachel replied, her heart missing a beat.
“Will you go and see where your mother is, Josh,” Charles interrupted abruptly.
Josh nodded, but Rachel hardly heard a word. She felt as if she were floating on air. What a weekend it was turning out to be. She had opened her hotel and it was looking as if it was going to be a great success and she’d got a date with a very handsome man. What more could she ask for?
* * *
Josh Simpson was a very fit man and he went up the stairs two at a time. He was quite annoyed with his mother. He was a man who liked punctuality.
Trust her to be late for her own birthday party. Everybody goes to so much effort for her and she never appreciates it. She accepts it all as if it’s her right.
Josh reached The Hummingbird Room and found the door slightly ajar. He went inside and saw his mother with her head on the table.
“Mother, wake up. Your guests are all waiting for you. Trust you to be this selfish…. Oh my God, what’s that?”
Josh moved closer to his mother and gave out a loud wail. However, nobody heard him as he was the only person upstairs. He moved closer to Jane and stared at the knife sticking out of her neck. Her eyes were wide open, but lifeless, and although he felt for her pulse, he knew there wouldn’t be one. Josh collapsed on the floor and started sobbing. Despite his anger earlier, he did love his mother.
A few minutes later, Charles came upstairs.
“Everybody’s getting impatient downstairs,” he said from the doorway.
Josh didn’t say a word.
"Son, what’s wrong?” he asked
“Someone killed mother,” Josh wept.
Charles rushed over and looked at his wife.
“Oh my God, no....”
Charles covered his mouth and retched, but managed to stop himself from being sick.
“Who could have done this to your mother, Josh? She had no enemies as far as I know.”
“I don’t know, Dad.”
Charles helped his son up and hugged him. He got out his hanky and awkwardly wiped away Josh’s tears. Charles was not a man to readily show emotion, whereas his son was the complete opposite.
“I can’t cry, son. I’m sorry. I can’t take it in. I can’t believe your mother is dead.”
"I know, Dad. It’ll probably hit you when you least expect it.”
Charles nodded and then stood there for a moment, thinking before he next spoke.
“The others will have to be told and the police need to be called. I’ll tell Rachel first.”
Josh agreed, looking relieved that his father had the strength to deal with this.
When they got back into the dining room, Rachel was talking to Arthur and Joan who were having their starters.
“Excuse me, Rachel,” Charles asked. “Do you think I could have a quick word with you? It’s important.”
Rachel nodded and when she saw Josh, had an overpowering feeling of doom. He looked as if he’d been crying and seemed very on edge, while Charles seemed deadly serious. What on earth could have happened?
“What is it Charles?”
“I don’t know how to say this, Rachel, so I’ll come straight to the point. I’m afraid someone has killed my wife. Josh found her with a knife sticking out of her neck.”
For a moment Rachel couldn’t say anything. All the memories of James trying to kill her flashed through her mind, and then she had a mental picture of Jane with the knife in her neck; Jane who had been laughing in the bar and drinking champagne only an hour or so ago.
Finally, Rachel was able to speak.
“I’m so sorry Josh, Charles,” she said, hardly able to believe that this had happened in her hotel. “Who on earth would have wanted to kill Jane? She was such a lovely person.... What do you want me to do?”
Rachel sounded nervous and agitated. She was upset about Jane, but she was also worried what this would do for the reputation of her hotel. She knew she shouldn’t be selfish thinking in such a way, but she had a lot of money invested in Oakfield and she couldn’t afford to lose it
“Calm down, Rachel,” Charles said. “I’ll sort it out. Don’t worry. I’ll make the announcement to everybody now if you like; then perhaps you’ll call the police as it is your hotel.”
Rachel nodded in agreement, but her mind was working overtime. Which one of the guests had killed Jane? She had been such a vital person, and although she did sometimes rub people up the wrong way, nobody really hated her, or so she thought.
“Excuse me, please,” Charles said in a very commanding manner. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that my wife has been murdered this evening. We naturally have no idea who did this so I would like you all to stay here until the police arrive.”
After a moment’s silence all hell broke out. Arthur, Joan, Sam and the American couple, Walt and Evelyn, all stopped eating and starting talking furiously. Carlotta jumped up to comfort Charles who suddenly fell apart and started sobbing. Rachel wondered if he would be capable of doing anything now. Charles had probably been on auto pilot before and had managed to remain calm. Now reality seemed to have hit him on the head.
After a few moments, Catherine, Jane and Charles’s daughter, rushed to her father, pushing Carlotta aside. After hugging her dad, she then collapsed into her husband’s arms in tears. Josh stood silently watching everyone. He seemed to have calmed down and looked like he was waiting for something to happen. He didn’t have to wait long.
“I want to see Jane,” Percy Wilkinson suddenly spoke up.
“You leave my wife alone. You always wanted her. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t you who killed her because she kept rejecting you.”
“But she didn’t reject me, you poor deluded man. We’ve been having an affair for the last two years. She was going to leave you, she....”
“Why you...”
Charles jumped up, grabbed Percy and then started to punch him. Percy managed to pull Charles down onto the floor with him and they started rolling about. Josh stood by and just watched. He hoped that his father would beat the living daylights out of Percy. How dare that man touch his mother? Sam, however, rushed over to Rachel.
“Call the police. I’ll try and sort things out here.”
Rachel nodded and left the room. Sam dashed towards Charles and Percy and tried to pull them apart, but was unsuccessful. Josh, feeling that he had to do something now that Sam had got involved, went over to help him and they managed to separate the two men. Both Percy and Charles lay on the floor for a few moments, breathing heavily, before getting up and going back to their own seats. They now completely ignored each other.
“Now listen, everybody,” Sam spoke out. “Rachel has gone to ring the police. As Charles said earlier, you will all have to sit and wait for them. Nobody can go anywhere as I’m sure the police will want to question all of you. I am a High Court Judge so I do know the law.”
All faces looked at Sam and nobody said a word. Then they turned as Rachel came back in.
“The police are on their way.”
Chapter 3
Barely a word was said as everybody waited for the police to arrive, although Rachel noticed that Walt and Evelyn, the American couple, were whispering to each other rather a lot. Rachel wondered if they found it quite exciting and hoped they wouldn’t whip out a camera to take photos of the suspects.
A few moments later, Evelyn signaled to Sarah. Rachel wondered what it was all about. She watched Sarah go over and saw Evelyn point to the menu. Sarah suddenly looked worried and walked back to Rachel rather quickly.
“Walt and Evelyn want a dessert,” Sarah whispered to Rachel. “Should they be allowed to have one under the circumstances?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel replied. “I’ve not been in such a situation before. ...Well, I suppose so. They’re not with Jane’s party so they should be allowed to continue as normal.”
Sarah went to take their order and when she had gone, Charles called Rachel over.
“I don’t think anyone wants to eat anything at the moment, but do you think we could have some drinks while we wait. I could certainly do with a brandy.”
Everyone else seemed to be on the same page, so Rachel told Steven to get their drinks order.
“I want to see mum.’ Catherine suddenly said, tears rolling down her face.
Charles looked at his daughter and didn’t say anything for a moment. He didn’t want Catherine to see her mother in the state she was in. Jane had hated being seen by anyone, even her own family, looking less than perfect.
“Catherine, darling,” Charles said softly. “Wait a bit until she’s been cleaned up. You don’t want to see her like she is now. You know you’ll have nightmares.”
Catherine looked at Josh for confirmation and he nodded. He had seen their mother dead after all.
As the minutes ticked by, Rachel caught Josh’s eye and she smiled sympathetically at him. This seemed to give him an excuse to come over.
“I’m so sorry, Josh. I don’t know what else to say.”
“There’s nothing anyone can say. Mum’s gone and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Josh paused for a moment before whispering in Rachel’s ear.
“I can’t imagine who did this, but it must have been someone at our table.”
“Yes, I suppose it must. All the doors are locked after all. It’s quite frightening.”
The doorbell rang and Rachel jumped. She knew it had to be the police and she was nervous about all the questioning that was about to begin.
Rachel left the dining room after Josh had squeezed her hand. She felt a little better, believing that he would give her the support she needed. However, when she opened the front door, she was dumbstruck. Standing in front of her was Detective Chief Inspector Taylor, together with Sergeant Helen Wilson and some other officers. With the shock of Jane’s murder, it hadn’t even crossed her mind that Taylor would be the officer in charge of the case.
Taylor’s heart missed a beat when he saw Rachel. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, but how could something as awful as this happen in her hotel?
Rachel stared at the Chief Inspector. Why hadn’t she prepared herself for the possibility that Taylor might be the officer who would arrive on her doorstep? Was it because so much had happened that evening or was it because subconsciously she didn’t want to think of him.
“Can we come in,” Taylor asked after they had stood at the front door for a little too long.
“Yes, of course,” Rachel said.
She didn’t know how she felt about the Chief Inspector, not having seen him for so long.
“The guests are all still here?” he asked.
“Yes, in the dining room. The body is upstairs in Charles and Jane’s room.”
Helen Wilson was observing her boss and Rachel very carefully. She still had her crush on Taylor and she had decided that even if she wasn’t able to have him, nobody else could.
Taylor asked Rachel to take them upstairs first to see the body. As they walked up the stairs, he was amazed at how wonderful the hotel now looked. Rachel had certainly done a brilliant job.
Entering The Hummingbird Room, Taylor walked over to Jane’s body and looked it over.
“We’ll have to dust the knife for f
ingerprints, but it’s highly likely the murderer wore gloves,” he said
“Poor Jane, and on her birthday as well,” Rachel said, her eyes welling up with tears.
She decided not to go too close to Jane’s body, not knowing how she would cope.
“You knew Mrs. Simpson?” Taylor asked.
“Yes, she’s a friend of Carlotta Fox. I used to see her as a child when Carlotta lived at Oakfield. She was having a birthday weekend here. Tonight was her birthday dinner.”
“So she has guests here?”
“Yes. They’re all waiting for you to interview them.”
“Well, we’d better go downstairs then. Helen, you can wait at the front door for the pathologist and take him upstairs when he arrives.”
Helen nodded, but she wasn’t happy being left out of the interviews. Hopefully the pathologist would arrive soon.
Taylor and Rachel went into the dining room and he looked at the sea of faces, all looking miserable apart from Walt and Evelyn who were tucking into their desserts. He gathered that the large table was the birthday party and Rachel pointed out Charles. He looked pale and seemed oblivious to the arrival of the police.
“I’ll go and have a word with Jane Simpson’s table,” Taylor spoke and Rachel nodded
However, just as he was about to walk over, his mobile rang and he moved away. Josh seized the opportunity and came over to speak to Rachel.
“I’m sorry that this might ruin your new business, Rachel,” Josh spoke quietly to her.
“Josh, that hadn’t even crossed my mind,” she said indignantly, choosing to forget that she had thought the very same thing. “How could you think that? I’m much more concerned about your mother.”
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I’m too used to selfish women. Being a music producer I seem to meet too many girls who are just out for what they can get. Forgive me,” he pleaded.
“Of course, Josh. It’s forgotten already.”
Rachel reached over and touched Josh’s arm, feeling even guiltier about her selfish thoughts. He smiled and put his arm around her, unfortunately picking the time when Chief Inspector Taylor turned round and saw them.
Death of a Dancer Page 2