Death Shall Come

by Simon R. Green

  ‘Well, what are you hearing?’ said Stuart.

  ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘It’s more like … a feeling. Of being watched by some unknown presence. Like an alarm just went off inside me that I didn’t even know was there.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ said Stuart.

  ‘Beats the hell out of me,’ I said.

  ‘Then I think we should get moving,’ said Stuart. ‘It feels to me like we’re in enemy territory, in a really good place to be ambushed.’

  ‘Are you armed, Colonel?’ I asked.

  ‘No. Didn’t think I’d need a weapon among my own family. I brought you here to investigate a security breach, not a murder.’

  ‘Ishmael?’ said Penny. ‘Is there something here?’

  ‘There is something …’ I said. ‘But I don’t think it’s here.’

  I set off again at a brisk pace, and the others had to hurry to keep up with me.

  I didn’t see or hear anything untoward all the way back to the drawing room. Until I finally approached the door at the end of the corridor and heard raised voices arguing. As we drew closer, Penny and Stuart picked up on them too. I walked right up to the door, slammed it open, and barged in with Penny and Stuart right behind me. Everyone in the room stopped shouting at each other and glared at me. Some of them looked angry, some looked upset. But no one looked guilty.

  ‘You didn’t even think to lock the door in our absence?’ I said.

  ‘Father had the only set of keys to the house,’ said Chloe. ‘Unless you’ve got them now. You searched his pockets?’

  ‘All I found on him was the key to the mummy room,’ I said.

  ‘So where are the other keys, if George didn’t have them?’ said Stuart.

  ‘He might have had them on him when he was attacked,’ I said.

  ‘And the killer has them now?’ said Penny.

  ‘Not necessarily,’ said Stuart. He turned to Marjorie, standing on her own by the fireplace. ‘Where did George put the house keys when he wasn’t carrying them?’

  ‘I don’t know!’ said Marjorie. ‘George always took care of things like that. We didn’t bother much with locks except at night. We are miles from anywhere, after all, and surrounded by security …’

  ‘Did he ever give the keys to anyone?’ I said.

  ‘No,’ Marjorie said immediately. ‘They were his keys. He wouldn’t trust anyone else with them.’ She looked at me uncertainly. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘I don’t know yet,’ I said.

  I was more intrigued that the young widow had stopped weeping and didn’t even seem particularly distraught any more. I looked round the room. Bernard was back sitting in his chair, scowling hard as though pursuing a thought he couldn’t quite grasp. Rubbing his hands together as though they were cold. Susan had pulled her chair up beside him, so she could comfort him with her presence. She patted his arm now and again, but he didn’t react.

  Chloe didn’t look like she’d been crying over her father’s death, but then she’d never struck me as the crying kind. She came forward to join Stuart, and he reached out and took both her hands in his. They smiled at each other as though they were the only ones in the room. I wasn’t sure which of them was being strong for the other. Maybe they both were. Nicholas and Caroline stood together, presenting a united front to the world, as always. Nicholas had a large glass of something in his hand, and looked more sullen and aggrieved than anything else. As if George’s death was just another in a long series of annoyances, designed to make his life even more difficult. Caroline murmured urgently in his ear, as though prompting him, and he nodded quickly and raised his voice.

  ‘Caroline and I think we should leave. Right now.’

  ‘Well you can’t,’ said Chloe. ‘We’re all part of a murder investigation.’

  ‘Are you saying we’re suspects?’ said Caroline, her voice rising sharply. With anger, I noted, rather than dismay.

  ‘Everyone here is a suspect,’ said Stuart. ‘Don’t take it personally.’

  ‘Everyone here is in danger!’ said Caroline. ‘As long as we stay in this horrible old house. You really think you can stop us if we decide to walk out of here and drive off?’

  ‘I can call the security people and have them arrest you the moment you leave the grounds. And of course they’re not police, they’re not required to be polite.’

  Nicholas smiled sourly at him. ‘Once a soldier, always a soldier, eh Stuart? You just love to be in charge and bark orders, don’t you? No wonder you married Chloe. You’re just like the rest of this family. Bullies, one and all.’

  ‘Quiet, Nicky,’ said Chloe. ‘Grown-ups talking.’

  Caroline gripped her husband by the arm. ‘He’s just one man. Are you going to let him talk to you like that?’

  Nicholas shrugged. Whatever decisiveness Caroline had instilled in him was gone. He smiled at her, just a little sadly. ‘Given that Mister Ex-military there looks like he could wrestle both of us to the floor before we even get to the door, I’m going to let him say whatever he likes. You wanted me to ask what there was to stop us leaving. Now we know. We’re not going anywhere, dear. Would you like me to get you a drink? I’m having another one.’

  ‘You’ve had enough.’

  ‘Not yet I haven’t.’

  ‘We have to keep our heads clear, Nicky,’ said Chloe, not unkindly. ‘We have to figure out what’s happening here.’

  ‘That’s your job, sis,’ said Nicholas, as he drifted over to the bar. ‘Let me know if you come up with anything particularly impressive, so I can applaud.’

  ‘What are you all talking about?’ Bernard said loudly. Surprisingly, his gaze was clear and his mouth firm. As though discussion of his son’s death had roused him from his usual half-life. He fixed me with a sharp, penetrating gaze. ‘You. You look like you know what you’re about. What are the facts?’

  I ran through what I was sure of. It didn’t take long. Everyone listened carefully, and when I finally finished they all looked at each other. The general reaction in the room seemed to be a reluctant resignation. As though now I’d spelled out the facts of George’s death they had no choice but to accept it. Chloe was the first to pull herself together. She fixed me with a challenging look.

  ‘What do you think happened? Who killed my father?’

  ‘We don’t know yet,’ said Stuart.

  ‘What’s the matter, Mister Jones?’ said Chloe, not taking her gaze off me for a moment. ‘Can’t you speak for yourself?’

  ‘Some things are clear,’ I said. ‘Whoever attacked your father must have got blood all over his clothes.’

  ‘And we all changed for dinner,’ said Chloe, immediately getting the point.

  Everyone started to speak at once, saying they hadn’t seen any blood on anyone’s clothes and quickly vouching for their partner. Apart from Professor Rose. He sat quietly to one side, saying nothing, his hands neatly arranged in his lap. He’d been so quiet for so long everyone had forgotten about him. He watched us all with placid, disinterested eyes. He had no one to vouch for him, and he knew it, but he didn’t seem at all troubled. The family quickly ran out of indignant protestations as they realized I wasn’t paying them any attention, and then they turned to look at Rose as he stood up and stared calmly about him.

  ‘Since there is no one to speak for me, I must speak for myself. I swear to you, on my reputation as a scholar, that I am no killer. You are welcome to search my room for bloodstained clothing. I can assure you, you won’t find any.’

  No one seemed too impressed by that. I could see suspicion growing in everyone’s face. Until Chloe spoke up again, addressing me.

  ‘You said my father was killed by a blunt instrument, but there wasn’t one in the mummy room.’

  ‘That’s right,’ I said.

  ‘Then the weapon must be hidden in the house, somewhere,’ said Chloe. ‘We have to find it.’

  ‘Why, dear?’ said Susan. ‘What does it matter? Your father is dead, do we have
to talk about this?’

  ‘Yes, grandmother, we do,’ said Chloe. ‘There might be evidence on the weapon that could tell us who the killer is.’

  ‘We’ll find it,’ said Stuart. ‘But that will mean searching the whole house, top to bottom. Nowhere can be considered off-limits. Does anyone have any objection to their room being searched?’

  Nicholas snorted briefly. He was already well into his second drink. ‘Would it do any good if we did?’

  ‘Shut up, Nicky,’ said Chloe. ‘You’re drunk.’

  ‘No I’m not,’ said Nicky. ‘But I’m working on it.’

  Caroline put a hand on his arm. ‘Please, Nicky. Don’t. I can’t do this on my own.’

  He looked at her for a moment, and then put his glass down on a side table. ‘All right, dear. Just for you.’

  I looked round the room. No one liked the idea of someone rummaging through their belongings, but they couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to say no.

  ‘A full search of the house,’ Nicholas said thoughtfully. ‘Does that include father’s study?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Stuart.

  ‘Well, I hate to sound mercenary, but I’m going to,’ said Nicholas. ‘Does anyone know where father’s will is? Does anyone know what it says? And if it’s been altered in any way recently?’

  He looked meaningfully at Marjorie. She stared defiantly back at him.

  ‘He was talking about updating his will. So it’s probably still with his London solicitors.’

  ‘Did he change his will recently?’ Chloe asked, frowning.

  ‘No,’ said Marjorie, smiling brightly and just a bit triumphantly. ‘George changed his will right after we were married. In my favour. He said he wanted to make sure I would be properly looked after if anything were to happen.’

  ‘What sort of changes did he make?’ said Chloe, but Marjorie just smiled at her.

  ‘Told you, sis,’ said Nicholas. ‘Looks like we’re screwed, after all.’

  ‘If there’s been foul play, that means we can contest the will,’ said Caroline, glaring daggers at Marjorie. ‘And you can bet your fake tits we will.’

  ‘Well said, my dear,’ said Nicholas. ‘It’s not the principle of the thing, it’s the money.’

  Chloe rounded on him. ‘Our father is dead, Nicky! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Nicholas. He met her gaze squarely, and his voice was suddenly cold and bitter. ‘It means I’m free of the old monster at last. Free of his loud voice and his hard hands. Of the disgust he never bothered to hide, at a son who never wanted to be anything like his father. He’s dead now, so let’s hold a celebration! He can’t hurt us any more.’

  ‘You do realize that sounded very much like a motive for murder?’ Stuart said carefully.

  Nicholas shrugged. ‘I’ve never made any secret of how I felt about him, but if I’d wanted to kill him I’d have done it long ago. I didn’t want him dead. Not before I’d proved to him I could make a life for myself that had nothing to do with him.’

  ‘But you still came back to make a claim for your inheritance …’ said Stuart.

  ‘Caroline insisted,’ said Nicholas.

  ‘We seem to be wandering away from what’s really important,’ said Rose. ‘What is going to happen to the Cardavan collection?’

  We all looked at him.

  ‘You think that’s what really matters?’ said Chloe.

  ‘Of course,’ said Rose. ‘Oh … I see. Don’t expect any crocodile tears from me. I never cared for the man, and he never cared for me. We were just useful to each other. The Cardavan collection is far more important than one man’s death.’

  ‘But the most important part of the collection has just been stolen,’ I said. ‘So who, in your expert opinion, would be the most likely buyer?’

  ‘An interesting question,’ said Rose. ‘The mummy should go to a museum, of course, where her history and provenance could be properly established. But I suppose there’s no denying a private collector would pay more. And a museum might find itself under pressure to return the mummy to Egypt, for political reasons. If she really is who she’s supposed to be, of course.’

  ‘Is there some doubt?’ said Penny.

  ‘All the paperwork I was shown supported everything that was said about her,’ Rose said carefully. ‘But papers can be forged, and people can be fooled. Especially when they want to be. George allowed me unrestricted access to every other part of his collection, but I was only ever allowed to see the mummy when he was there. I never got to examine her. I want her to be the first Cleopatra because of everything that would mean … but as a scholar I must have hard evidence before I can commit myself.’

  ‘What about the curse?’ Bernard said suddenly. He stared defiantly at everyone from his chair. ‘No one’s talking about it but we’re all thinking of it, aren’t we? Death shall come … and all that. I remember the fuss made over the curse of Tutankhamun. My father told me all kinds of stories about that. Now my son is dead and the mummy is missing. Do you really expect me to believe some thief could have got in here past all our surveillance systems? Hah! I oversaw the installing of most of those systems, and there isn’t a thief in this world good enough to get into Cardavan House without tripping all kinds of alarms. It’s actually easier for me to believe in a two-thousand-year-old mummy coming to life …’

  ‘What a horrid thought!’ said Susan. ‘It could be hiding anywhere, just waiting for another chance to kill again …’

  ‘Hush, hush old girl,’ said Bernard. ‘Don’t upset yourself. We’re just talking, that’s all. We’re perfectly safe here. And help is on its way.’

  I glanced at Stuart, but he avoided my gaze. Because we both knew no one was coming. Chloe intercepted the gaze, and glared at both of us because she didn’t understand it. Chloe struck me as someone who didn’t like it when people kept things from her. Which was ironic, considering that was her job with Black Heir. I wondered how long Stuart would be able to keep quiet before Chloe browbeat the truth out of him.

  ‘Are we safe here?’ she said loudly. ‘Really? I don’t believe in criminal-mastermind thieves, any more than I believe in reanimated mummies. Do I have to be the one to say it? Someone in this room killed my father!’

  There was a long pause, but no one seemed particularly surprised or shocked at the idea.

  ‘Any idea who?’ Nicholas murmured. ‘Only I might want to shake his hand and maybe pin a medal on him.’

  ‘Not now, Nicky,’ said Caroline.

  ‘You feel the same way I do.’

  ‘And yet you were ever so upset when we found the body,’ said Penny.

  ‘Of course I was upset,’ Caroline said defiantly. ‘Seeing him … like that. But let’s be fair. I barely knew the man, and what I did know I didn’t like.’

  ‘Even though you were all over him earlier?’ said Chloe.

  Caroline smiled back at her coolly. ‘We all do what we have to, to get what’s rightfully ours.’ She looked at Nicholas. ‘Especially when the man you love doesn’t know how to be strong because he’s had it beaten out of him by his father. It doesn’t matter, Nicky, I can be strong enough for both of us.’

  ‘But if you found out that your husband had been excluded from George’s will?’ I said.

  ‘You can stop right there,’ said Caroline. ‘I couldn’t have killed George because that wouldn’t have got me what I wanted. I needed him alive so I could work on him, persuade him to my way of seeing things. To reinstate Nicky.’

  ‘She would have done it, too,’ said Nicky. ‘Caroline can be very persuasive.’

  ‘I’ll bet,’ said Chloe.

  ‘She’s a very dominant personality,’ said Nicholas. ‘And you love it,’ said Caroline. They smiled at each other fondly.

  Chloe cleared her throat loudly to bring everyone’s attention back to her. She fixed me with a challenging gaze.

  ‘You and Stuart keep bringing up father’s security work, but I don’t s
ee what that has to do with how he died. Unless you know something you’re not telling the rest of us.’

  ‘Isn’t that your job?’ I said.

  ‘Don’t push your luck,’ said Chloe.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘That’s part of my job description.’

  ‘We have to find Cleopatra and return her to her sarcophagus,’ said Rose. As though nothing any of us had said was of any importance. ‘If she is who she’s supposed to be, she is an important part of Ancient Egyptian history. She can’t be allowed to disappear. Or be damaged. And if there is a curse … the sooner she’s put back where she belongs, the better. We must search the house and find her.’

  ‘What if she doesn’t want to be found?’ said Penny.

  ‘Stop it …’ I said.

  ‘What if she defends herself?’ said Penny, pressing on regardless. ‘If she’s already killed once …’

  ‘Am I going to have to make you breathe into a paper bag?’ I said. ‘Look, in the unlikely event of my having to go head to head and toe to toe with a shrivelled-up two-thousand-year-old thing, I think I can probably take her.’

  ‘But can you find her?’ said Chloe.

  ‘Finding things is also part of my job description,’ I said. ‘Doing something about them pretty much covers the rest.’

  ‘Ishmael really is good at tracking things down,’ said Penny. ‘He’s part bloodhound. Though you probably don’t want to know which part.’

  ‘Who exactly do you work for, Ishmael Jones?’ said Chloe.

  ‘Someone who works for Black Heir should know better than to ask questions like that,’ I said.

  ‘I vouch for him,’ said Stuart. ‘That should be enough.’

  Chloe gave him a hard look, and he met it unflinchingly.

  ‘It occurs to me,’ said Rose, in a voice entirely untroubled by all the things the rest of us had been discussing, ‘that if the thief is still in the house he might be helping himself to other treasures from the Cardavan collection. There are many items of considerable value small enough to be carried away easily.’

  That got the family’s attention. Death and its mysteries were one thing; losing part of their inheritance was quite another.