Dying to Keep a Secret: The India Kirby Witch Mystery (Book 6)

by Sarah Kelly

  Xavier nodded. “I think we should talk to Luis.”

  “I’ve been trying to connect now and then,” India said, “but it’s like the phone’s off the hook, you know?”

  “I hope he’s all right.”

  India bit the inside of her bottom lip. “Me too.”

  Xavier added Luis’ name to the list then continued to read. “Liam blackmailing Laurence, whether that was real… or some kind of illusion from the black magic.”

  “Yep,” India said, her head swimming.

  “Obviously, Tom and Laurence in the Mercedes as well,” Xavier said, reading off his list. “That’s what I’ve got so far.”

  India had been soaking in a long hot bath, trying to ease her mind and spirit. But as soon as she was out of the tub again, her mind was ticking away, tick tick tick, like a ticking clock no one could ever turn off. The only way she’d be able to relax, she knew, was by solving the case. She lay back against the goose feather pillows and drew the thick duvet cover over her legs. She was already in the fluffy robe and thick slipper socks she’d brought with her from Florida, but it was an unusually cold night and she wanted all the warmth she could get. “What about Tasha?” she said, suddenly remembering. “Really, along with Laurence, she has the strongest motives. That she’s pregnant and her man’s cheating with another woman. Then both the woman and the man end up dead? To be fair, she should be prime suspect.”

  Xavier nodded, adding her name to the list. “You’re right. Because she’s a pregnant woman I guess Constable Middleton overlooked her. And we did, too, really.”

  India snuggled down under the covers. “And the kind of people you overlook so often end up being the real killer, hiding in plain sight.”

  Xavier grinned. “That’s cheerful nighttime talk to give us good dreams.”

  ***

  The gravel path crunched under Xavier and India’s feet as they made their way up the seeming endlessness of the driveway up to Aston Paddox Hall.

  “It’s so weird,” India said. “Whenever I think of Laurence, I don’t know how to feel. If he’s innocent, imagine what he must be going through right now. To have his niece killed, then his gardener. Then to be accused by the constable, then to have us move out and leave him there alone?” She shook her head. “At least he still has Mrs Rowan.”

  “If he’s innocent I couldn’t think of a person with worse luck,” Xavier agreed. “It doesn’t even bear thinking about. But then again, he might be guilty.”

  India sighed. “In which case he’s a lying psychopath. You see what I mean, I don’t know whether to hate him or feel empathy for him.”

  Xavier nodded. “I guess the important thing is whatever we feel, we don’t let it cloud our judgment.”

  India slipped her hand into his. “Yep. I know this might sound weird to say right now but… Oh, nothing.”

  “But what? Tell me.”

  “I’m just… I feel so glad to be here with you, doing this. I mean, it might not be anyone’s idea of a fun time, but… it just makes me feel alive, you know? Us working together, trying to work this all out and… well, help justice come about. Does that sound really weird?”

  Xavier’s eyes were bright as they turned the corner. “Maybe to other people, but not to me. I know exactly…” He trailed off, staring straight ahead. “Huh?”

  India had been looking up at him, her heart swelling with warmth. Now she snapped her view over to follow his, but couldn’t see anything. “What?”

  Xavier’s eyes were creased up with confusion and he kept shaking his head. “I… don’t know if I’m hallucinating,” he said in a quiet voice, “but I swear I just saw a woman there on the path. Then when she saw us she hid just there.” He pointed at a cluster of bushes that lined the gravel pathway.

  “What the…?” India said quietly.

  “Right?” Xavier said with emphasis. “There’s something real weird going on, I’m telling you.”

  “Let’s go check it out,” India said. “See if we can find her.”

  Xavier nodded. “You go round that way,” he whispered, “and I’ll go round the back there. She might be moving through the bushes as we speak.”

  “All right.”

  India made her way over to where Xavier had pointed to, trying to make her footsteps as quiet as possible over the gravel. Then she stepped onto the grass, her eyes wide open, looking this way and that for any signs of human life, but there was nothing. But India still had some kind of sense – she found her ability to sense things was getting sharper and sharper each time she honed her magical skills – that someone was there, perhaps watching her. So she did a daring thing.

  “Ha!” she said loudly, jerking her body forward into the bush.

  A woman screamed with fright, then India saw a flash of purple as the woman dashed out from behind a tree and ran further into the bushes.

  “She’s here!” India shouted to Xavier. “Coming towards you!”

  India darted through the thick shrubbery. A rogue branch smacked her across her stomach, but it was thin enough for her to snap and toss aside, more determined to catch this woman than ever.

  She heard the woman scream again, and Xavier said, “I’ve got her!”

  “Don’t kill me!” the woman cried in an American accent. “Please!”

  “What?” Xavier said. “Why would we kill you?”

  India pushed more small branches out of her way until she came up to them. The woman looked to be in her 30s, though she was very small and slim, with her short black hair pulled into a low ponytail. Her purple dress flowed down to her feet and she wore a black jacket on top of it. A camera hung around her neck.

  “Please, please,” the woman was saying, breathing heavy breaths through her words, her eyes darting all over the place with fear. “I meant no harm, right? I’m just covering the murder because she was from Florida, that’s all.”

  “Huh?” India’s mind began to tick away again, before she could stop it. Maybe the idea of an American assassin hadn’t been so far off the mark... “Who are you?” she asked, before her imagination ran away with itself.

  The woman’s voice trembled and she looked up at India and Xavier in turn as she spoke. “You don’t… Don’t play games with me, please. I’m just doing my job.”

  “We have no idea who you are or what your job is,” Xavier said.

  “I’m not falling for that one.”

  India shook her head. “I don’t know who you think we are, but we’re private investigators. Lord Drummond-Coe asked us here to look into the murder of Felicia Drummond-Coe. Why would we want to kill your or whatever?”

  The woman looked between them both with suspicion, then breathed a long sigh of relief. “Oh my goodness,” she said, laughing shakily. “I thought that was the end of me. I’m Mary. Mary Rozwadowski.”

  “I’m India Kirby-Bradford. This is my husband Xavier.”

  “Oh, good to meet you,” Mary said, struggling to shake their hands in the confined space. They were all pressed up far too closely together because of the trees. “I said I was here to cover the murder but… do you know anything about Alexander Drummond-Coe?”

  “Not really. We saw him be extremely rude to a store clerk yesterday, but that’s all,” Xavier said. “That’s why we’re here. To find out more.”

  “Why?” India asked. “Do you know something?”

  Mary puffed out a breath. “Well, I know a lot. To be honest with you, I’ve been looking into him for years. So many shady dealings, you wouldn’t believe.”

  Xavier nodded. “We’ve heard a little about that.”

  “What exactly is he doing?” India asked.

  “Drugs. Gun smuggling. A lot of money laundering. Plus a few legitimate businesses as cover ups.”

  “Wow,” Xavier said. “And he hasn’t been caught yet?”

  Mary looked determined. “That’s my goal. There have been so many murders surrounding him, but nothing’s stuck. He’s always managed to wiggle out of i
t and look like the good guy. Even though so many people are blackmailing him it’s practically a payroll he’s got going on there.”

  India shook her head.

  “I hate to say this,” Mary said, “but he’s finally got his payback. He’s ordered killed plenty of people’s children. You know, in family businesses and stuff. I feel bad that Felicia died, but not for him. He could have twenty kids and them all die five times over and I doubt it would match the horror he’s inflicted on the world. Trust me.”

  “So weird how brothers can be so different,” India said, thinking about the difference between Laurence and Alexander. Then she second guessed her own thought… what if Laurence was the killer?

  “Maybe,” Xavier said, speaking her thoughts aloud.

  “He’s even tried to have me killed once, but I’ll never stop in pursuit of the truth,” Mary said. She was a small woman, sure, but full of bravery. “I brought down Edwin DeMillo of LA – he’s a big mob boss – and I had to move out to Florida to stop getting killed. Even change my name and alter my appearance a bit. I’ll probably have to do the same over and over until I’m living in some remote shack in Russia but it’ll be worth it. I can’t stand people like this. Whenever I hear about them I just have to take them down.”

  CHAPTER 12

  “You know the press back in Florida are lapping this murder up right now,” Mary said. “They’re using the footage from the BBC. It’s practically on a loop on the new stations. You know, British aristocracy, a tiny village, a dead, pretty American girl, daughter of a multimillionaire, and a mansion… it’s every newscasters dream, I guess.”

  India and Xavier had only seen a couple of camera crews come in and out, and no one had seemed to pay much attention to them. “I just hope we can solve it quickly,” India said. “Maybe you can help us.”

  Mary shook her head. “No can do. I’m Lacey Boland, a tourist from Arizona, come to see the quiet English countryside. I’m staying in a hotel in Gillingsborough. That’s the nearest town. That part’s actually true. But I’m risking enough as it is, snooping around after Alexander Drummond-Coe. I can’t possibly do anything more.”

  Xavier nodded. “We understand. But some people have suggested that Alexander’s life of crime could be linked to his daughter’s death, like maybe a hitman—”

  “Was sent over from America to kill her on British soil,” Mary finished. “I’ve thought about that, too. Unfortunately I can’t give you many answers. I’ve been trailing Alexander myself, though from a terribly long distance. Despite following his every move I probably only get a glimpse of him once every week or two. It’s very dangerous work.”

  “You’re very brave,” said India.

  Mary shook her head. “A lot of people say I’m brave, but I’m really not. It’s just what investigative journalists do. And I was born to be one.”

  India smiled. She could relate. Most everyone probably thought she was brave, and somewhat crazy, willingly diving into the middle of murder investigations wherever she went. But, like Mary had said, she felt born for it. There was no way she could turn her head and go back to her normal life. The injustice weighed on her conscience, casting a huge cloud over her life until the light of truth broke through and dispersed it. “I think I can understand that.”

  Mary smiled back. There was an instant rapport between them. Obviously Xavier understood her better than anyone else, but it really was a refreshing change to find a woman who seemed to get it, too.

  “Well, we’re just going inside,” India continued, “to ask Laurence some questions, and Alexander, too, if he’ll deign to answer us. We saw driver bring the car in. Is that a regular driver of his?”

  “I didn’t actually see,” Mary admitted. “He did bring a couple of staff from the States, I know that much.”

  Xavier nodded. “If we find anything out that might help you, how can we find you? Do you have a phone number?”

  She bit her lip. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I don’t want any links drawn between us. Both for your sake and for mine. I have a very powerful enemy in Alexander and you have one in whoever the killer is. I think it’s better if we just work parallel to each other. If you find out anything major, you’ll find me somewhere around, I’m sure of it. But there’s not much you can find out about Alexander that would shock me at this point. I’m about to write a huge exposé. I’m just here to tie it all together. To collect the final pieces, as it were.”

  “All right,” India said. “Well, good luck with the piece, Mary.”

  “Thank you.”

  Xavier and India began to walk back toward the gravel pathway. “And stay safe,” Xavier said over his shoulder.

  “You too,” Mary whispered back.

  Once back on the path, Xavier and India held hands.

  “I was not expecting that,” Xavier said.

  India laughed. “Right?”

  “Do you think she’s really telling the truth?”

  “Yes,” India said straight away. “I get that instinct.”

  Xavier nodded slowly. “I think she’s honest, too, but I say we need to be more careful than ever. It really sounds like Alexander is not to be messed with.”

  India smiled wryly. “Perhaps he’s come to do more than mourn, if you see what I mean?”

  “You mean… hunt down the killer and kill him himself?”

  “Or kill her,” India said, privately thinking of Tasha. “But yes.”

  Xavier paused. “I think that’s actually quite likely, given his temperament.” They came around the final bend in the grand driveway, and Aston Paddox Hall came into view. Then his eyes grew wide. “But maybe the murderer counted on that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe the murderer plans to kill Alexander, too.”

  India thought for a moment. “That would only make sense if it’s Laurence,” she said in a low voice. “I mean, no one else would have the motive to kill all those three people. But Laurence just might. Think about it. Felicia was stealing money, so he killed her. Liam put two and two together because of the freezer and started blackmailing Laurence. So he killed him. Then pretended to discover the body with us to make himself look innocent. Then finally he kills his brother. Who has no wife. No heirs. You see where I’m going?”

  “Of course!” Xavier said. “He might just be the one to inherit, seeing as he’s his closest living relative, right? Then he’d have enough money to fix the roof, to start his art school, and to live off for the rest of his life.”

  India nodded. “To say the least. He could probably buy the whole of Aston Paddox with Alexander’s fortune, if he wanted to.” The way they had it worked out made her almost certain it was true.

  “We shouldn’t rush to conclusions,” Xavier said, ever the voice of reason. But there was still a little light in his eyes when he added, “But it does sound quite convincing. He certainly has the motive for all three of them. He could have even been lying about Felicia stealing the money in the first place. Maybe he just killed her to get Alexander over here.”

  India gasped. “And that’s why he left the body in the freezer! He wanted it to be found. Otherwise the natural conclusion would be that she was in Florida, and Alexander wouldn’t have come over.”

  Xavier stared at the mansion. “So Felicia’s murder was the trap he was going to lure Alexander into.”

  India took a deep breath in and then a long exhale out. “Wow. If that’s true he really is a psychopath. You think he would kill three people just so he could have his art school?”

  Xavier shrugged. “Maybe. I guess we can’t see inside the minds of other people. Maybe he thinks it’s worth it.”

  “One sec,” she said to Xavier as they passed a bench tucked away between some bushes. It looked like a perfect little corner to catch a breath and recoup. “Let’s sit down for a second. I feel too… charged up to just go right in. I’ll end up accusing Laurence to his face.”

  They sat on the bench and Ind
ia felt like a ball full of energy ready to burst. Her legs bounced up and down as she sat, no matter how hard she tried to keep still.

  “Come here, Indie,” he said, then put his arm around her back and drew her closer to him. With his strong hand he guided her head onto his chest and she curled up into his shoulder, suddenly calm. He ran his fingertips along the curve of her ears, which she always loved so much.

  “You’re playing a dangerous game,” she said with a soft laugh. “I’m going to fall asleep in a minute.”

  He laughed gently, and then they fell into silence for a moment. Eventually he said, “Do you really think it’s Laurence?”

  India sat up, smoothing out her dark hair. “I really don’t know.”

  “Me either.” He laced her delicate fingers between his strong ones. “But we’re going to find out. That I know for sure.”

  India smiled. If there was anything she could count on, it was on Xavier being steadfast and optimistic. She loved the way it felt when their hands were interlaced like that. The grip was so strong and yet so gentle, like no force on earth could tear their tender love apart. “Yep. Together.”

  Then they advanced on toward the mansion, hand in hand.

  When they arrived in the hallway, they found Mrs Rowan hurrying across from one side of it to the other, carrying a big bag of cooking apples in her arms and looking flustered.

  “Hi, Mrs Rowan,” India said.

  “Can I help you with that bag?”

  “No thank you, dear,” she said quickly. “I’m all right. If you’re looking for Laurence, he and that Alexander” – the way she said it leaving no doubt that she despised the man – “are taking it out in the garden and arguing. I’m expecting the smash of fine china any moment now.” They followed her as she practically ran into the kitchen. “And now the man’s got his heart set on apple pie, as if it would just magically appear the moment he clicked his fingers.” She set the apples down and puffed out a big breath of annoyance. “And now I have to faff about with pastry all afternoon when I’ve got hundreds of other things to do.”