‘Well. now. that’s most satisfactory, Miss Crozier,’ she said, as if I had passed some kind of test.
‘Oh, Holly, please! What is all this?’
‘Let’s carry on walking.’ We did so, and I caught her smiling at me sideways. ‘You see, Holly, I had to be sure. I was convinced well, almost convinced when you telephoned me, but you’re not the first person to question me about Caroline. Ten years ago I swore I’d never reveal where she’d gone and I never have done. Between us we devised this little test, just to ensure that you are who you say you are.’
‘She’s alive!’ Joyously I seized her arm and pulled her to a halt once more. ‘Where is she? Is she in London?’
‘Oh, do lower your voice, my dear. One really can’t be too careful.’ She looked over her shoulder. ‘You must promise to keep this to yourself.’
‘Is she really in so much danger?’
‘I think, perhaps, that we all are, you included. You see, others have died. It’s Jamie that makes Caroline so fearful. I dare say if it weren’t for him she would have gone on where your brother left off.’ We had reached one of the seats, and she paused. ‘Perhaps it’s not too cold to sit for a few moments.’
I don’t think I would have noticed if a blizzard had been raging, I was so thrilled to hear that Caroline wasn’t dead after all. I sat down beside her.
‘She phones me each week,’ she went on. ‘From different locations, of course. I told her about your call and she was very excited — but fearful, too, for those monsters have tried everything they know to find her. Even though it’s been so long, she daren’t trust they’ve forgotten her. They know, you see, that she knows.’
And Aunt Caroline seemed to be assuming that I knew, too. I didn’t, not for sure, but it was beginning to make sense to me.
‘It’s all about forgeries, isn’t it?’ I said. ‘That’s what Caroline knew!’
‘Exactly. What else?’ She looked at me severely once more. ‘You must give me your word not to tell anyone of Caroline’s whereabouts. That she’s even alive - ’
‘But I must tell Steve,’ I said. ‘You’ve met Steve, Miss Bethany. He said he remembered you — remembered your ring. He was a friend of both Jim and Caroline. He’s helped me, supported me - ’
‘And you’re in love with him!’ Her tone was dry, more than ever like a spinsterish schoolmarm. ‘That always tends to addle the judgement, in my view.’
‘But you’ve met him,’ I said again, feeling mildly irritated that I’d given myself away so completely. ‘He’s utterly trustworthy, and very worried about Caroline.’
Frowning, she turned her gaze away from me and seemed to be concentrating on the distant statue, her lips pursed. For a long, suspense-filled moment I waited, feeling as if I were one of her pupils awaiting judgement on my latest assignment.
‘I think,’ she said at last, ‘that I must wait for Caroline to confirm that you can reveal her whereabouts. However, I see no reason why you cannot explain why it was necessary for her to leave England so precipitately. I do remember,’ she added, with a small smile in my direction, ‘that the young man in question was quite charming. He was one of those most unusual young people who continue to treat those of us past middle age as if we retain the use of a few grey cells. Such people are quite rare, I find. And as I recall,’ she went on, with another smile, ‘he was very attractive.’
I was definitely warming towards her, I found, and smiled back in agreement.
‘Please tell me about Caroline,’ I begged. ‘All I know is that she had the baby in Oxford.’
‘Yes, at the Radcliffe. Before that there had been one attempt on her life that misfired. Someone tried to push her under a train in the rush hour, but thank God she was saved by a man who was close by. He assumed it to be an accident. Heaven knows, those platforms are far too crowded; in fact, in my view it’s a wonder such things don’t happen more often. However, Caroline was certain it was no accident. She left Greenway there and then and came up to Oxford. She stayed with me a night or two, then rented a cottage in a tiny hamlet and hardly moved from there until Jamie was born. Her intention was to go back there, but I suppose since nothing more had happened we had both grown a little slack and complacent. She came to me direct from the hospital, so that I could help a little — cook for her and so on — and it worked so well that she stayed on.’
She paused for a second or two, her lip caught between her teeth, as if the memory of that time was still painful.
‘Miss Crozier, Holly - I really can’t express how it hurt me to utter the words I used the other day — that Caroline and I quarrelled and that I couldn’t bear to have the baby in the house. Nothing could have been further from the truth! I loved having them; in fact, I look back on those days as a kind of golden time. I wanted them to stay, and begged Caroline to move in with me permanently. She wasn’t at all averse to the idea — we always got on so well — but then one afternoon, when she was alone with Jamie, she left him in his Moses basket indoors while she went into the garden to hang out some washing, and when she got back she found Piers Craven — that filthy, foul, unshaven monster - ’ Her voice shook as she spoke these words and she had to pause a moment before she could continue. ‘She found that horrible man sitting on the settee with the Moses basket beside him, holding a gun to Jamie’s head.’ ‘My God!’ Though I had never seen Caroline or Piers Craven, I could imagine the scene and it made my blood run cold. ‘What happened? He didn’t actually shoot?’
‘No. He threatened. He said that they would be watching her — that if she had any crazy idea of going to the police, they would find her wherever she was and that her baby would be killed. He put it as bluntly as that. You see, Holly, he knew that Caroline knew.’
‘Exactly what?’ I asked.
‘What Jim had found out, that there was a conspiracy at Lovells — had been one for years. That ghastly man Higginson was a key player, of course. Caroline had known that Jim was about to have sufficient documentation to prove it when he was killed. She was ninety-nine per cent sure that his death was no accident, and she tried to convince the police of it, but really there was no firm evidence and they wouldn’t take it any further.’
‘But surely when someone tried to push her under a train they took a different attitude?’
‘There was no way she could prove that wasn’t an accident, either. In the event, it didn’t work, so she never even mentioned it to the police. She just took precautions.’
‘I see,’ I said. But I didn’t really. All this murder and mayhem seemed a grossly exaggerated way to protect a little gentle art forgery.
‘What Piers Craven’s visit did,’ Miss Bethany continued, ‘apart from putting the fear of God into Caroline, was to prove to her that George Quigley was in the conspiracy up to his neck. You see, it was he who had bought the house in Wales for Craven. As his secretary, Caroline had known that, and had thought it very generous of him, but now the penny dropped and she realised that he must have recouped the price many times over by his share of the profits from the forged paintings. Craven actually mentioned it, assuming she knew.’
‘So he Piers Craven is the actual forger.’
‘He and his small team. Some years ago one of them died in a so-called road accident, just like Jim. Caroline and I assumed he had wanted out for some reason. Maybe he developed a conscience about it: we don’t know. Anyway, he paid the price.’
‘Steve told me about him.’
‘They could never have simply allowed him to leave, you sec. He would have known too much.’ She reached out and touched my arm, seeing my distress. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear. These are wicked men, there’s no doubt about it.’
‘It seems’ I hesitated. ‘Out of proportion, somehow. I mean, what kind of money are we talking about?’
‘Millions,’ she said simply. ‘And as I said, Higginson’s role is all important. He’s a clever man, is our Mr Higginson. A world authority, highly thought of.’
‘Even
so, it seems strange to me that his authority is never challenged.’
‘I said he was clever. He seldom attempts to pass off a fake Rembrandt or Renoir or Monet though, having said that, it was a Corot that attracted Jim’s attention in the first place. Do you know that there are eight thousand Corots in galleries all over the world? Yet the artist never painted anything like that number. Van Dyck, too. It’s generally reckoned he painted about seventy pictures, yet there are two thousand in existence!’
‘You’re not blaming Higginson for all of them, surely?’
‘No, no. of course not. Caroline says that he slicks mostly to the middle-ranking people. Old Victorian artists who are enjoying a renaissance, and so on. He knows the trends, knows which obscure watercolourist is about to become fashionable, what part of the country they tended to paint. That, you see, is as much an artist’s trademark as his signature. And they’re clever, no doubt about it. Really talented artists. Such a pity that they have decided to go down this road. They might not always make a great deal of money in one fell swoop, but over the years they must have amassed an uncountable amount. Twenty thousand here, ten thousand there plus forty or fifty thousand for the occasional important sale. Even more these days. Month by month, year by year. It all adds up. Jim rumbled him but apparently only by chance. He had his doubts about the Corot, as I mentioned, but it was an overheard telephone call that really aroused his suspicions and caused him to investigate further. And caused his death,’ she added, sadly.
‘So you are quite sure Jim was deliberately killed?’
‘Quite, quite sure. Piers Craven admitted it. He assured Caroline that her baby would be as dead as his father if she ever mentioned a word about the paintings, and that they’d be watching her. He was, she told me, utterly convincing. She believed every word. By the time I got home she was quite distraught, and that night we sat up talking for hours and hours. She said she had no interest in the forgeries that Jamie’s life was worth more than every picture ever painted and much as I love art, I have to say I agreed with her. But what frightened her almost as much as Craven’s threats was the fact that someone else might get to know of the conspiracy and blow the whistle. What then? Could she be sure that she wouldn’t get the blame? Oh, she longed to do something to avenge Jim’s death. I promise you she burned to bring the murderers to justice but it was Jamie that mattered most, and by the time we went to bed we had come to only one conclusion. Somehow they would both have to be spirited away.’
‘How did you plan to manage that?’
‘The very next day I drove them down to Exeter and they flew from there to Jersey We told no one. made no phone calls that could possibly be traced. We thought no one would think of Exeter. Gatwick or Heathrow, perhaps, even Stanstead or Luton, but not a little airport like that. From Jersey they went to France. We still have distant relations there you see. She changed her name to Caroline Dufy. Dufy being the name of our forbears, who came from Grenoble and years later she took out French nationality. Jamie has grown up fluent in both French and English and is, I can assure you, a most delightful boy.’
‘George Quigley tried to tell me she must be dead. How did Caroline stand him, by the way? He’s a horrible man!’
‘She knew that. Oh, at first she simply thought he was rather smarmy but quite harmless. Later she learned differently, but she put up with him for Rose’s sake.’
‘He said he’d hired a detective to find her because Rose was so upset when she disappeared. He drew a blank, he told me, but there’s always the chance he was lying. May be he didn’t look for her at all.’
‘Oh, I think he did, but not for any altruistic reason. He simply wanted to silence her. Certainly it’s what Caroline always feared — that’s why she took great care to cover her tracks. Our relatives in Grenoble may be distant, but they proved very helpful. She didn’t go to them directly — she was too afraid that Craven would know about them from Rose so she went underground in Paris and contacted them through an intermediary. One of her relations a second cousin of mine had a close friend in Paris, quite high up in government service. Caroline confided in him and he passed her off as a niece who had been living in Martinique but had unfortunately had all her papers stolen. Quite unethical, of course, but justifiable under the circumstances. I feel.’
‘Doesn’t she ever come back to England?’
‘No. She won’t risk it — not once in all the years she’s been away has she ever come back. I go to sec her every year, but circumspectly. We meet, quite often, in a third country such a lovely holiday we had last year in Corsica!’ She glanced at her watch. ‘My goodness, the time has flown! I simply must go or I’ll miss my train.’
‘You haven’t told me exactly where she is,’ I said as we set off across the square in the general direction of Piccadilly. ‘Or what she’s doing now. I so much want to meet her. And Jamie, of course. I can easily go to France.’
‘France? Oh, didn’t I say? She’s not there any more. She married two years ago a delightful man, a widower. You mustn’t mind, my dear,’ she said, seeing the look of surprise on my face.
‘I don’t mind.’ I said. ‘Of course I don’t! She mourned Jim for quite long enough, I’m sure. It’s just that, for some strange reason, I’ve always imagined her coping alone. Is she happy?’
‘Very! As I said, Paul is a most kind, cultivated man with an excellent career in the French foreign service. His wife died most tragically a few years ago, leaving him with two little girls one no more than a baby at the time. Jamie is absolutely delighted with his stepsisters.’
‘I’m glad,’ I said. ‘Really, really glad. But wherever they are, I intend to go and see them. Young Jamie is my only living relative.’
‘Really?’ She looked at me with some amusement. ‘Well, I don’t think you’ll have much difficulty in finding them. Caroline and Paul have been living in Washington for the past six months. Globally speaking, they’re right on your doorstep.’
Perhaps it was hysteria. Perhaps it was the swing from the total hopelessness of this morning to the relief of knowing that Caroline was alive and well and living in the States. For whatever reason, after a moment’s astonished silence, I burst out laughing. Eventually even Aunt Caroline was laughing with me. Then, just as suddenly, I fell silent, quite serious now.
‘They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it,’ I said. ‘Those guys those murderers we can’t let them go on.’
She looked at me fearfully.
‘For God’s sake, don’t make me regret I’ve told you all of this.’
Slowly we continued our walk. I was conscious now of a fierce anger of clenched fists and a singing in my ears.
‘It won’t do,’ I said. ‘They killed my brother, remember. And would have killed Jamie. I can’t forget that, and I don’t intend to.’
With some surprise, I recognised my mother’s voice her harshness and singleness of purpose and determination.
‘You’re in danger too, you know,’ Aunt Caroline said.
‘They will assume that you know everything that Jim knew. He could have written to you.’
‘I was a child!’
‘They will think it’s the reason for your journey.’
‘Well, all the more reason to make sure they pay the price for what they did.’
‘And all Caroline’s been through to keep Jamie safe?’ Aunt Caroline caught my arm and pulled me to a halt once more. ‘Is that to go for nothing?’
I could feel some of the aggression draining out of me, but the determination remained.
‘Someone’s got to do something,’ I said. ‘Caroline needn’t be involved. And I don’t intend to spend my life running away from them.’
For a moment she looked at me without speaking. Then she sighed and nodded.
‘I suppose it’s time,’ she said.
Ten
Aunt Caroline and I parted more amicably than I would earlier have believed possible, and I hurried back to Quentins — still unfollow
ed, as far as I could tell — agog to impart to Steve what she had told me. Or part of it, at least. She had still insisted that I should not mention Caroline’s exact location to anyone until her permission had been sought and given. I was inclined to think that she was being overcautious, but I gave my promise readily, knowing that Steve would understand.
I was actually reaching for the phone in my room to call him when it rang. This time it was him, and before he could say a word and certainly before I registered all the noise that was going on in the background I was pouring out the news: Caroline and Jamie were alive and well.
He was as joyful as I had been to hear it. Even so, he cut me short.
‘Listen, Holly, I have to go,’ he said. ‘I’m at the airport.’
‘The airport?’ My voice swooped with astonishment. ‘Why? Where are you going?’
‘Scotland. I’ve decided to make a quick trip to see Andrew. I want his advice.’
‘How did it go at the bank? Bad?’
‘Couldn’t be worse.’
‘Oh, Steve — please! I wish you’d let me - ’
‘Holly, I’m going to talk to Andy. He’ll know what to do raise a loan or maybe lake a partner. He’s the business head in our family.’
‘Taking a partner doesn’t seem such a bad idea. Especially if she’s young and enthusiastic and willing to learn.’
‘Do I know someone like that?’
‘You sure do! It’ll bear talking about, Steve.’
‘Well - ’ He laughed. ‘Maybe you’re right, but not here and now. Look, I really must go. I’ll phone again.’
‘How long will you be away?’
‘A couple of nights, maybe. Back Friday, I should think anyway, I’ll call. Holly, it’s great news about Caroline.’
‘Isn’t it, though?’
It was, of course, and my joy in it was undimmed; but still it seemed something of an anti-climax that for a while I wouldn’t have Steve to celebrate with.
‘I’ll let you buy the champagne when I get back,’ he said, as if divining my thoughts. ‘Bye, now. Take care. Don’t run any risks. Holly - ’ A small pause followed. I could hear airport noises in the background. A tannoy, the babble of conversation, a child crying. ‘Love you,’ he said softly, before breaking the connection.
The Caroline Quest Page 14