by Ali Carter
‘Knock, knock.’ I put my head around the door, disregarding the thought that I might be about to intrude on one of the men getting dressed.
Charlie was packing his suitcase, Charlotte sitting in a chair nearby.
‘Would either of you like tea? I can easily go and make some more.’
‘No, thank you,’ said Charlie.
Charlotte looked at me, her eyes pleading for something but I didn’t know what.
‘Is there anything I can do?’
‘Tell me what’s right,’ she said in a small voice.
‘Go on,’ I replied.
‘Must I ring Hailey’s mother?’
‘Of course, and her father too.’
Charlie dashed out of the room.
‘She doesn’t have a father,’ said Charlotte, ‘and she wasn’t on speaking terms with her mother. Oh Susie, what do I do?’
‘Pick up the telephone right now and call Hailey’s mother. No question it’s the right thing to do.’
‘I’ve never met her though. I don’t even know her name.’ Charlotte pulled a phone out of her pocket.
‘You must do it.’
I easily could have done it for her but I knew it wasn’t right that I should.
Charlie returned. ‘I agree with Susie,’ he said, ‘you must ring. Here,’ he handed Charlotte a bit of paper. ‘There was no lock on her mobile so the paramedic gave me the number for Mum.’
Charlotte’s telephone quivered in her hand and my conscience got the better of my inquisitiveness and urged me to leave. I wasn’t a good enough friend of either to hang around at such a grave moment.
I went to get dressed and shortly after a call from Archie brought everyone downstairs. In the sitting room there was a newcomer on the scene who, with one order, ‘Please everyone sit down,’ had us gathered on the soft furniture.
‘Right, hello everyone,’ said this nice-looking man with sandy hair that blended with rather than complemented his beige overcoat. ‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Reynolds.’ He bowed his head and I wondered if it was because there was an Honourable, a Duke and a Princess in the room or whether policemen in the Queen’s own county just have better manners. ‘As you know, this is Sergeant Ayari.’ He turned to his left and like an automaton clock Sergeant Ayari stepped forward and smiled.
‘To bring you all up to speed,’ DCI Reynolds continued. ‘With negligible evidence and to be on the safe side Sergeant Ayari called me here.’
‘Does this mean you think Hailey’s death is suspicious?!’ protested Charlie.
Neither DCI Reynolds nor Sergeant Ayari so much as flinched, both professional to the core. Although, I did think, at this stage, they could have shown a little more empathy towards us. Not that you want the police becoming overrun with emotion, but it was as if these two had completely forgotten that the young woman, lying dead upstairs, was in fact part of the house party.
‘There’s a colleague upstairs taking photos and possibly collecting evidence,’ said DCI Reynolds. ‘A routine procedure that all investigations adhere to. As soon as she’s done Miss Dune’s body will be removed for autopsy.’
‘Autopsy?’ squawked Daniel. ‘Surely she died from alcohol poisoning?’
DCI Reynolds glanced at Sergeant Ayari who took on a more sensitive approach. ‘It may be alcohol poisoning Mr Furr Egrant, but even so I’m afraid with the unexpected nature of the death of this young woman an autopsy is mandatory.’
‘Golly gosh,’ said Daniel. ‘Do you really need to prod and fiddle about with the poor girl’s body?’
‘Yes, Sir, I’m afraid we must. For the duration, access to Miss Dune’s bedroom will continue to be restricted.’ He turned to Archie for confirmation that this would be adhered to.
‘Right,’ said DCI Reynolds hitching up his sleeves. ‘I’m here to get an overview of what’s happened and it would be very helpful if I could speak with you all individually.’
‘Why?’ spat out Tatiana.
‘When a detective chief inspector, as I am, is called to the scene of a death, regardless of the circumstances, I must ensure proper procedure is followed.’
This, I knew, was so that in unforeseen circumstances witnesses and evidence can stand up in court. But, as there was no evidence so far to suggest Hailey’s death was malicious, I thought it quite right DCI Reynolds omitted this part in his explanation.
‘I’ll go first officer,’ sniffed Charlotte.
‘Of course, Madam, I’ll conduct them in the billiard room so if you could wait for me in there,’ he pointed at the closed door under the minstrel gallery, ‘I’ll begin very soon.’
Charlotte stood up and waddled across the room in her unflattering calf-length skirt. Nevertheless, all the boys watched as her voluptuous bottom moved up and down in a mildly alluring way.
‘For ease let’s say women first, then men please.’ DCI Reynolds numbered us. ‘And I’d like you all to remain here until your turn. After that you may do as you wish.’
‘Of course,’ said Archie.
‘Right! This way Sergeant.’
Charlie, who quite likely experienced an unfortunate number of deaths in Afghanistan, stood up and paced around the room muttering caring words such as, ‘The best go first’, ‘There is a reason for everything’, ‘A life lived is better than a life never lived at all.’ Tatiana, who needed no comforting at all, stretched for the Country Life magazine on the side table next to her.
‘I have a more up-to-date one here,’ said Archie holding up a fresh copy, but she didn’t react.
I turned to Archie and gave him a sympathetic smile.
‘Do you really think she could have died from drinking too much?’ said Stanley.
‘Oh darling,’ said Primrose, clearly feeling a bit more like herself again, ‘alcohol can kill you know.’
‘Maybe she was allergic?’ said Stanley reassessing the cause.
‘She would have known that,’ said George in a tone that made me wonder if he felt guilty for initiating the drinking game.
Excessive drinking takes me back to my teens when, as underaged girls, we’d stand scantily dressed outside offlicences asking carefully targeted men to buy us a bottle of vodka. Unlike some of my friends I was lucky enough not to have learnt my limit the hard way. But it’s thanks to them that I’ve sat in enough hospital waiting rooms to know stomach pumping is a good solution when you’ve drunk too much. In all my life, I’ve never heard of someone dying from an alcohol overdose. If Hailey was drunk enough to die, surely, she would have at least been sick before and I hadn’t got a whiff of the undisputable smell either in her room or when I bent down to take her pulse.
I was third in line after Tatiana, and DCI Reynolds was as good as his word. The informal interviews didn’t take long. Tatiana was out and my turn had come.
My interview began with the usual questions of Name; Occupation; Home address; followed by, ‘What’s your relationship to Mr Wellingham?’
‘I met him for the first time yesterday. He’d heard I was working nearby so invited me for dinner and to stay the night.’
DCI Reynolds, who was looking mildly confused, turned to his left to make sure Sergeant Ayari was taking notes. ‘How did Mr Wellingham know you were nearby and why did he ask you to dinner?’
‘Well, my mother’s second cousin once removed’s goddaughter’s husband’s cousin is Archie. And when the cousin, who I haven’t actually met, received a message that I was working nearby Fontaburn Hall he got in touch with Archie and suggested he should invite me to dinner.’
DCI Reynolds blinked several times.
‘Did that make any sense to you Sergeant?’
‘Yes Inspector, I’ve got it all down. Miss Mahl has a tenuous link to Mr Wellingham. She now knows him having been for dinner and the night but never knew him previously.’
‘Okay, moving on then…’ DCI Reynolds’s back straightened as he patted his tie. ‘Where are you working and what is it you’re doing?’
‘I’m
at Pluton Farm Stables, drawing six racehorses for Aidan McCann.’
‘How long have you been there and how long do you intend to stay?’
‘I’ve been there since Tuesday and I plan to leave this Thursday.’
‘Thank you. Now, had you met any members of Mr Wellingham’s house party prior to this weekend?’
‘No, none of them.’
‘So, if we were to do some digging we would find no connection whatsoever between you and Miss Dune.’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘It sounds to me, Miss Mahl, as if you didn’t like her?’
‘Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that. She was a nice girl. I just meant you’d never ever find a link between us.’
‘What makes you so certain?’
‘I’ve never been to America, let alone New York. I don’t live in London. I don’t have a child in a private day school in Chelsea. I don’t do Pilates and I don’t often spend my weekends with this class of people.’
Sergeant Ayari attempted to hide her huge grin behind her small pad but I caught it all the same and smiled back.
‘Did you notice Miss Dune drinking a lot of alcohol?’
‘We all drank a lot, Inspector.’
‘Enough to have forgotten elements of the evening?’
‘No, no, I remember it clearly.’
‘Would you say the same for the others?’
‘I couldn’t say I’m afraid.’
‘Were there drinking games involved?’
‘Yes.’
‘Talk me through the game.’
‘I went to bed before it started.’
‘How did you know about it then?’
‘George had suggested playing an English drinking game and just as he was about to organise it I left.’
‘What drink was involved?’
‘Absinthe I think.’
‘Well that’s not exactly English.’
DCI Reynolds was right and I suddenly realised that George had obviously wanted Hailey to take part in the game. Why else would he have put such emphasis on it being English? What on earth was he up to?
‘Drugs?’ asked DCI Reynolds.
‘Not that I saw.’
‘Did anyone have an argument?’
I thought carefully before answering. Several of the party were angsty with one another but that didn’t qualify as an argument. I’m not sure what went on between Charlotte and George upstairs but something must have come about for Charlotte to go to bed and George to forget the whisky.
‘No, Inspector, no arguments while I was still up.’
‘Were you first to bed?’
‘Charlotte went first, then Stanley and Primrose and then me.’
‘Do you have any reason to believe Miss Dune was put under pressure to drink alcohol?’
‘No.’
‘Well I think then,’ he turned to get Sergeant Ayari’s confirmation, ‘we can let you go.’
‘Just quickly,’ said Sergeant Ayari. ‘Please can you give us a contact number for you, your address and your car registration if you have one?’
I gave her all she wanted and then rapidly, before I left, I took in a mental picture of the room. I wanted to be certain of its layout because, although these two had no interest in discussing the alarm, a tiny inkling in me wondered if it was connected to Hailey’s death. There were three doors in here. The one I’d come through from the sitting room, another directly opposite it leading to the drawing room and one straight in front of me into the corridor with the drinks cupboard.
With the image in my head I went straight upstairs and drew a copy in the back of my sketchbook. It was confusing me why, if the person I saw in the striped pyjamas did set off the alarm, they hadn’t admitted it. Maybe it was unrelated to Hailey’s death but even so I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
I packed my bag and as I put my mobile in my pocket I was filled with a happy feeling that I would be seeing Toby later on.
The sitting room had emptied by the time I came back downstairs and I followed the breeze blowing up the corridor and soon heard voices outside.
The sun had risen, the sky was entirely blue and the air had a coolness that comes after a storm. Several of the glasses on the dinner table had smashed and ten water-logged napkins lay strewn on the lawn.
‘Oh, Stanley please get a dustpan and brush,’ said Primrose. ‘You’ll cut your hands if you do it like that.’
Stanley looked at Archie who told him where to find one.
Daniel had appeared with Charlotte and a pile of rugs. ‘I think we all need to stay out here and take in some fresh air,’ he said.
‘The ground’s wet,’ said Charlotte, scuffing the grass with her feet.
‘Well that scuppers that plan then,’ said Daniel, dumping the rugs on the dry paving stones.
Tatiana asked Archie how much longer we all had to stay, to which George replied, ‘Not long I hope. I need to get to Northumberland by the end of the day.’
‘Shooting?’ asked Archie.
‘Yes, with the Duke and his daughters.’
‘Lucky you.’ Tatiana tried again, ‘Archie, do we really need to be here now Hailey’s body has been taken away and the police have gone?’
‘No one need hang around for my sake.’
Stanley was back to sweep the table and Primrose and I started gathering up the napkins.
‘If anyone wants breakfast there’s plenty of food,’ said Archie, at which point Charlie came tearing around the corner with Yin and Yang yapping at his heels. ‘These two are hungry.’
‘Watch out!’ said Primrose. ‘There’s broken glass on the table so keep the dogs away.’
‘Thanks for letting them out,’ said Archie.
‘That’s alright old chap. Can I have an egg before I go?’
‘Of course. Anyone else?’
‘Yes please,’ said Stanley, who was then quickly put in his place by his wife, ‘No darling, we can eat at home.’
‘If you’re leaving please can you drop me at the railway station?’ asked Tatiana.
‘Yes, of course. We’ll leave in ten,’ said Primrose heading into the house with a pile of soggy napkins, swiftly followed by Stanley and Tatiana.
‘Can we have breakfast now Arch and come back and do this?’ asked Charlie. ‘My hangover’s kicking in.’
‘Me too,’ said Daniel.
‘Certainly,’ said Archie. ‘We’ve done most of it.’ He put his arm around Charlotte but George intervened. He wanted her to hold back for some reason.
I followed Archie, Charlie and Daniel into the house and inconspicuously peeled off into the billiard room. It was perfect. I could hear every hushed word between George and Charlotte as they came slowly up the corridor.
‘What were you thinking?’ said Charlotte under her breath.
‘I thought if she got drunk enough she’d forget what she saw.’
‘But George, that means you killed her.’
‘For heaven’s sake,’ said George raising his voice, ‘don’t be ridiculous. I’m truly sorry she’s dead Lotty,’ his tone hushed towards the end of his sentence, ‘but you can’t honestly believe I intended to kill her.’
‘Of course I don’t.’
‘Please don’t worry, no one will ever know.’
Their voices faded and when I couldn’t hear their footsteps any more I sneaked out the far door of the room, into the sitting room and on upstairs. Not being part of the inner circle, I thought it time to pick up my overnight bag and be on my way. But, as I came downstairs, I heard Charlotte’s voice in a room on the first floor and couldn’t resist hovering on the landing to eavesdrop again.
‘Darling I had to ring. Can’t you spare a couple of minutes?’
‘I’ll be quick, it’s just,’ she stopped talking and I guessed she’d started crying.
‘Yes, I’m okay, Mini Mousey’s okay, it’s just…’ the crying took over again.
‘Why do you always say that?’
‘It is
serious, Hailey died.’
‘Hailey, the girl from my Pilates class who I brought to stay with Archie.’
‘Yes, she died here last night. Well, this morning actually.’
‘No! Of course someone didn’t kill her.’
‘It was alcohol poisoning.’
‘I thought so too.’
‘I’m okay, yes. I wish you were here.’
‘Quickly, before you go I must tell you I had to ring her mother. Oh, darling it was awful.’
‘No, she didn’t seem upset, just surprised. They didn’t get on but I couldn’t believe I had to do it.’
‘Thank you, darling, that’s so nice of you to say so.’
‘I’ll call tonight. Good luck today.’
‘I love you too.’
I rushed down the final flight of stairs, plonked my bag on the floor and sat down in the armchair George had, supposedly, fallen asleep in. Before I left I wanted to work out what, if anything, he could have seen.
The unusually high-backed chair faced into the room and as hard as I tried and as much as I twisted there was no possible way anyone, under seven foot, would be able to turn their head and see the stairs. This meant, pyjama man could’ve easily crept down the stairs, turned back on himself and inconspicuously entered the billiard room from the corridor. Hence, leaving the door in the sitting room closed. But how, if the alarm had woken George instantly, could the person I saw in the striped pyjamas have gotten back past him without being seen? The only explanation I could think of was that portly George in his hypnopompic state must have missed it.
‘Ah, George!’ I said as he fortuitously entered the sitting room from the hall. ‘When you woke who did you see first?’
‘Archie, no Stanley, no Primrose. Why are you asking?’ He walked on past me. ‘I can’t remember anyway.’ George hadn’t engaged me in conversation all weekend and his reluctance to do so now hit home as he marched on up the stairs.
I met Daniel in the hall. ‘Is that you off Susie?’ he said glancing at my bag.
‘Yes.’
‘Well it was a pleasure to meet you.’ In came his long thin neck for the Mwah, Mwah on both cheeks.