With that he was gone.
Slipping off his shoes and placing them neatly under the bed Giles closed the door to his room and padded along the corridor in his stocking soles. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? He’d been here more than two full days and only now were childhood memories returning. Memories of hiding in the attic. The attic! The entrance was along here towards the back of the house.
The door opened when he turned the knob and the stairs facing him in the dark were those that led up to the attic. His memory had not let him down. He reached for the light switch. Above him a gentle light illuminated the floor space at the top of the stairs. He climbed to the top and looked around him. He knew what he had come for but was temporarily sidetracked when he spotted several interesting objects.
A small card table with a green baize top and on it a black cane and white gloves reminiscent of evening wear of a bygone era and, beside them, a circular hatbox. Inside, when he opened the tissue paper, he found what he had missed when he’d explored the cellar full of magical props. It was a black silk top hat; the collapsible kind. With the cane and gloves these were the kind of props used by magicians; they were also the props that were seen in the Spencer Tracy movie Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and, more significantly, were the hallmarks of Hyde!
Registering that fact he spotted something in a corner. He bent down and examined a portable record player and a case of vinyl records. As he straightened up and swung round he came face to face with an unexpected visitor with arms raised in a threatening manner. Instinctively he’d already raised his arms to defend himself and, as the figure advanced towards him, he reached for the only weapon available. A fire bucket full of sand, a remnant of the war years, which he lifted above his head. He was about to hurl this relic of the past at the intruder when, in that split second as he froze in time, he realised the figure opposite him was about to do the exact same thing. It suddenly dawned on him that he was confronting his own reflection in a full-length mirror!
He placed the bucket, which George had maintained faithfully throughout the war, gently on to the floor and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He grimaced a little as he touched the part that had received the blow in the cellar the previous day. With his heart rate returning to normal and only his pride hurt he put two and two together. The full-length mirror, the record player, records and formal props entitled him to conclude that perhaps Laura might have used this area to rehearse choreographic routines. He made a mental note of everything but that wasn’t what he’d come for.
The attic ran the full width of the house and he examined the brickwork that was part of the chimney that linked to the library. He satisfied himself that the entire chimney was sound and intact. There was no means of entry there, which seemed to rule out the chimney as a hiding place, at least for the time being. He looked at his watch. It was almost one o’clock!
He descended the stairs and switched off the light. He carefully opened the door to the corridor. Everything was dark and quiet. He shut the door and tiptoed back to his bedroom where he mulled over the events of the day before deciding that sleep beckoned once more.
It was only when he stretched out under the bedclothes that he understood how sore he was after riding the hunter that morning. He ached in more muscles and joints than he cared to admit. The soreness had become so intense he’d almost forgotten about the contusion on his forehead after yesterday’s escapade with the Iron Maiden in the cellar.
Gradually he found a position that eased the pain and as he relaxed he began to look forward to discovering more about his circle of suspects when he could talk to them individually in the morning. But all that could wait. He was soon fast asleep.
He hadn’t a clue what time it was. It was still very dark and the house was quiet...but something was wrong. Something was very wrong! He wasn’t alone in the room! Someone else was there! Someone or something! His imagination was starting to work overtime and he could detect the perspiration beginning to reappear on his forehead.
He tried to raise his head and lever himself up on one elbow. The next thing he knew...there was a hand firmly clamped across his mouth and nose and he was fighting for breath!
‘Don’t move or speak!’ A voice whispered. ‘Just shut up and listen!’ He struggled to pull the hand away and, in doing so, fell back flat on the bed. His heart was pounding.
The voice whispered again, ‘Just lie still, Giles, and everything will be all right!’ He nodded and the hand released the pressure on his mouth.
‘Is that you, Laura?’ he murmured quietly.
‘Yes!’ She was in the bed lying beside him, her mouth pressed close to his ear. ‘I couldn’t sleep! I had to warn you!’
‘Couldn’t it wait?’
‘No! You see, someone was pushing the glass!’
‘What?’
‘At the seance, idiot, someone was pushing the glass!’
‘I know! I was aware that might happen and Freddie confirmed that to me after you went to bed. Shouldn’t you be in bed now?’
‘But I am, silly!’
‘What!’
‘Shh! Or you’ll waken the house! The point I’m trying to make is that someone was out to suggest that I shot Daddy and that person was shoving the glass around. And the seating at the table was so arranged that the guilty person must have been on the opposite side from where I was!’
‘You’re starting to shiver!’ He put an arm round her and held her tight. She was causing him some torment and he began to ache in a very different way from when he’d climbed into bed.
’Why don’t you try and get some sleep?’
She snuggled closer.
‘No, not here! We’ll get to the bottom of this I promise you!’ He eased himself out of bed and went round to the other side. He desperately wanted her to stay but knew that, if she did, his entire concept of the problem of her father’s death would immediately be compromised. It was something he must not allow to happen.
He helped her out of bed, opened the bedroom door and looked out. Nothing moved. He turned round and she was in his arms again. The strong desire to kiss her fought a brief battle with his distrustful mind ...and lost!
She was gone and the rear view he had of her in her black silk pyjamas in that darkened corridor was one of almost total invisibility. Black against Black. Chung Ling Soo again he thought- for he was the magician who’d evolved Black Art Magic.
He shut the bedroom door, climbed into bed again and wondered if she had really been there? He knew she had. Her side of the bed was still warm! He continued to wonder. More importantly, he wondered why she had been there at all? Now where had he had that feeling before?
Chapter 12
THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT...?
Victor, Laura and Sally were the only ones present when The Prof entered the dining room shortly before 9.00 a.m. on that last day of October 1966.
Having showered, shaved and removed the sticking plaster from the wound received in the cellar, he felt a touch better and more ready to interrogate potential suspects than he did when he first got up that morning but that did not conceal the fact that he still felt under the weather, slightly grumpy and, for no obvious reason that he could think of, apprehensive about the morning’s questioning.
He had slept fairly well after Laura had left his room but it was she who looked totally rested whilst he, on the other hand, was probably suffering from the overworking of his subconscious; a condition Freud would have had something to say about had he still been alive.
He nodded to the others and went across to the heated breakfast trolley. A little sustenance might just be what was required to banish the collywobbles.
‘You look a bit rough this morning, Giles! Get up on the wrong side of the bed, did you?’
Victor’s acid remarks made Giles turn round. Laura was smiling coquettishly and he wondered if she had confided to her brother about her visit to his room? Or was it simply a coincidence conjured up by his self-reproach? Thos
e blasted coincidences again he thought.
He turned to pour himself a cup of tea and spread some scrambled egg on a piece of hot buttered toast. He felt his neck redden but was determined not to let his emotions get out of control. He had to be alert and keep his wits about him ready to absorb the detail that might result from his extensive questioning, that was due to begin, in a few minutes time.
He carried his breakfast to the table and sat down.
‘Did you sleep well, Laura?’
‘Yes! As a matter of fact I did, believe it or not!’ The smile was still there.
‘Well, if you’re ready by the time I’ve finished this, we can make a start!’
He wolfed down his scrambled egg on toast and washed it down with hot tea. He immediately began to feel infinitely better and started to look forward to confronting the entire circle of suspects, one by one and, who knows, filling in some of the blanks in his scenario of the events surrounding the death of Jack Ramsden. Metaphorically he commenced rubbing his hands.
He drained his cup and got up to leave. ‘I’m just popping next door,’ he said. ‘I’ll call you when I’m ready! I’ll try not to keep either of you ladies hanging about!’
‘That’s very kind of you!’ Sally said appreciatively. ‘We are your humble servants, Sir!’ She threw back her head and laughed.
Giles went into the lounge and closed the door.
Cook was on her knees in front of the fire.
‘I’m just about finished!’ She said, striking a match and setting the fire alight. ‘It should be nice and comfortable in a wee while!’
She got to her feet.
‘Good luck! I hope you get what you want!’
She turned to leave the room. ‘I’ll bring in some coffee and fresh baking later on!’
‘Thank you, Doreen!’
The door leading to the hall closed behind her and The Prof sat down for a moment to gather his thoughts; most of which concerned the young woman he was about to question and her clandestine visit to his bedroom in the middle of the night. He was well aware that the only occasion he’d been so conscious of the close proximity of her body, apart from the skirmish in the stables, had been when holding her hand during a game of Sardines in a very confined space in this same house when she was no older than seven or eight. That seemed light years away.!
He went to the connecting door between lounge and dining room and opened it.
Freddie had joined the others and was asking Victor if he could have permission to use the phone.
Victor gave Giles a look before answering.
‘Why, certainly, but I suggest you use the one in the hall. We don’t want to disturb the professor now do we? And if it’s your lawyer you’re calling I reckon we could all do with legal representation when himself shines the bright light and gives us the third degree!’
Giles ignored the remarks and beckoned to Laura.
‘Ready when you are!’ he said.
‘...Said the spider to the fly!’ Edgar mocked as he entered from the hallway. ‘Morning everyone! I trust the condemned have eaten a hearty breakfast! I’m starving!’The Prof ushered Laura into the lounge and closed the door.
‘Exactly what do you wish to know?’ Laura asked as she sat down near the fire.
‘I want to know everything that happened the night your father died but first of all can I say you look more rested than I expected...after last night!’
‘And what do you mean by that?’
‘Well, forgive me, but when you collapsed during the seance you were hardly a picture of health?’
‘Oh, that! No I wasn’t, was I? I’m sorry; I thought you were referring to something else entirely!’
‘Aah!’ With his hands behind his back he started to pace the floor. ‘Why did you ask me to come here?’ His tone was abrupt.
‘I was convinced you were the right person to find out the truth about Daddy’s death!’
‘Yes, but what I can’t understand is what made you doubt the findings of the Fatal Accident Inquiry following the post mortem? After all it is quite some time since your father died! Something must have happened to create this doubt, or have you always suspected the official verdict?’
‘Yes, Giles, I have continued to believe there was something wrong since day one!’
’But why have you waited so long?’
‘Because I’m sure no one would have taken me seriously. Certainly not the police!’
‘Can you explain that?’
‘No, I’m afraid I can’t! Put it down to premonition, if you like. Lately I’ve been experiencing disturbing dreams. Dreams that have convinced me that Daddy intended to use one of us as his new assistant on that...final illusion!’
She hesitated before continuing.
‘I genuinely believed he would ask me!’
‘Why? What made you believe that?’
She hesitated once more before answering.
‘...I was sure I fitted the ideal prototype!’
‘How old were you at that time?’
‘Nineteen!’
‘And what were you doing at that time?’
‘I was training as a dancer with a view to doing what I do now!’
‘And what do you do now?’
‘I’m a choreographer working with clients for film and stage and some television advertising!’
‘Did your father ever invite you or even hint at the possibility of you acting as his assistant after his previous assistant left him?’
‘No!’
‘Were you angry at this snub?’
‘How dare you!’
‘Please, Laura, I’m trying to establish all the facts. The feelings and emotions of all concerned may help me arrive at the truth and, as I understand it, the truth is uppermost in your plans as well!’
‘That is true! I’m sorry! You were asking?’
‘Were you angry that your father did not make you part of his act?’
‘No! Not angry, more confused and rather puzzled!’
‘Why? Your mother suggested that after his previous assistant stormed out he was going to alter his act to suit! Isn’t it possible he would do without an assistant or even ask one of your brothers to take part?’
‘I very much doubt he would work alone and although it is just possible he might bring in another man for the Jekyll and Hyde illusion I have this uncanny feeling he wanted a female for this part to create a much stronger transformation.’
‘Is it therefore possible that he might have asked either of your two sisters-in-law, Mabel or Sally?’
‘But that’s where it all goes wrong! Don’t you see? Mabel hardly strikes me as the kind of person who would have made a suitable assistant to a magician and on the night of his death Sally had still to be introduced to Daddy. That was to be Edgar’s surprise after dinner!’
‘Hmm! On the night of the illusion why did you decide to take a bath instead of waiting to watch your father’s presentation? Was this a display of childish petulance at not being taken into his trust to assist him? Or was there some ulterior motive in leaving the scene?’
‘How...! Certainly not!’
‘Then why were you so insistent that Edgar’s fiancee, whom you had just met, should not use the main bathroom which had recently been refurbished?’
‘Because I was feeling the need to relax and the new bath suited that need and, besides, the newly installed cabinet contained all the requirements for providing me with a relaxing bath!’
‘Now then I want you to cast your mind back to that night and please try to be as accurate as you can.’
‘I’ll try!’
‘Good! Now when you went upstairs to have your bath can you remember if the door to the other bathroom was open or closed?’
‘It was closed and I could hear the shower running!’
‘Did you hear a shot being fired?’
‘Yes, I did! But this kind of thing was not unusual when Daddy performed one of his illusions and I really took no
notice!’
‘Where were you when you heard the shot?’
‘I was in the bath!’
‘When did you become aware that something was wrong?’
‘I heard someone banging on the door across the corridor, then Edgar’s voice shouting that there had been an accident or something. I’m not too sure of the exact words!’
‘Please go on!’
‘This was followed, seconds later, with Edgar banging on my bathroom door telling me to come downstairs because there had been an accident in the library!’
’How long did you wait before going downstairs?’
‘Fifteen or twenty seconds at the most. I put on a bathrobe and went down in my bare feet!’
‘Can you remember if the bathroom door opposite was open or closed?’
‘It was open...and there was no sound of running water!’
‘What did you see when you got downstairs?’
‘Most of the family seemed to be crowding around the library door. I pushed my way through .Mother was kneeling beside Daddy who was lying on the floor. She looked up as I entered...I was numb with fright!’
‘Thank you, Laura, that will be all for the present! I suggest you have another cup of hot coffee before starting any preparations for tonight. You can send Sally in if she’s ready.’
Laura made for the door.
‘Oh, there’s one final question!’
She paused with one hand on the doorknob and looked back over her shoulder.
‘Yes?’
‘What did you do when you went into the library after coming down from the bathroom? And did you notice if anyone was missing from those gathered in or just outside the library?’
‘I believe you have just asked two questions! The answer to the first is that when cook took mother away I helped Conrad look after Daddy until the ambulance arrived. As to the second question.!’ She paused for a moment. ‘...I don’t think anyone was missing. I can’t be absolutely certain but when I looked up everyone seemed to be either in the room or hovering just outside!’ Her voice trailed away to a barely audible whisper.
‘Thank you, Laura! You may go now!’
When Sally entered the room The Prof was again struck by the similarity of the two women. Admittedly Sally’s hair colour was nothing like Laura’s. Sally was very dark and her eyes were blue, and she seemed a few years older. She did not quite have the soft lines in the face that Laura seemed to have, but the two women were strikingly similar in height and build, with figures matching in almost every sense and they both moved with the same ease and grace.
The Statue of Three Lies Page 16