All the while I had been mentally auditioning prospective candidates, the position was already filled.
Everett Oversall, billionaire. My brother-in-law.
And that was why Shadow hated Nessa. I saw again the fury in his eyes, heard the hatred and contempt in his voice as he flung the word at me like an obscenity: Mother!
A stepmother who was young enough to have been his own bride. Was that part of his problem? Or was the mere fact of it more than his pride could bear?
And had he done any more about it than seethe and brood? Had he been the one who had tried to murder Nessa? Who was now prowling the cloister in the monk’s robe, trying to entice me outside so that he could try again?
Mr Oversall doesn’t seem to have much luck with wives. Nina’s words came back to me. She thought he’d stopped trying. It appeared that he had gone for one last throw of the dice — and his luck was still rotten.
But not as bad as Nessa’s. What had she walked into, in this nest of serpents?
A sudden pressure on my ankles startled me and I jumped, then looked down to find the Duchess twining around them. We were back on friendly terms again; in fact, we were getting positively intimate.
‘Feeling better?’ Chancing my luck, I stooped and picked her up. Far from protesting, she settled into my arms and began purring. I felt myself grow calmer as I stroked her. Some of the disquieting images faded from my mind and I was able to think more clearly.
I had to talk to Everett Oversall; he held the key to all this.
Key. That inspired another thought. Still holding the cat, I went to the door and tried to open it. As I had suspected, it refused to yield.
My own private lock-in. Again.
Was Nina locked in, too? If she had gone back to her studio, that is. If she wasn’t wandering around the grounds, still caught up in her hopeless search for Kiki.
As though she understood that I had just been thwarted in an attempt to leave her, the cat’s purring increased and she twisted her head to get an extra-good rubbing behind first one ear and then the other. We were going to have a nice intimate evening all on our own.
‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘It’s just you and me tonight.’ And possibly just as well. It would give me time to digest what I had learned and decide just how I was going to deal with my newly discovered brother-in-law. Or husband, if I stayed in character.
Only … there was still something nagging at the back of my mind. I stood silent and motionless, waiting to see if it would come to me.
After a long moment, it did — and I received a sharp complaint as my fingers tightened abruptly around a furry neck.
Anderson!
Kiki was missing … Nina was hysterical. Dr Anderson had been sent for and was expected to arrive promptly to attend to her.
But he had never shown up.
Where the hell was he? Had he gone missing, too? What had happened to him? Had he been delayed, or —?
Chapter Twenty-Three
I woke in the morning with such an overwhelming feeling of well-being that it unnerved me. There was no reason for it. Things weren’t going that well.
They were progressing. I had found the ring and the marriage certificate. But now I had to decide what to do with them. Nothing to be so cheerful about there.
But I could feel my lips curving in a smile, there was a warmth in the region of my heart. Also … a certain heaviness.
I opened my eyes to find the cat curled on my chest. A receding memory told me that she had been there all night. She had accepted me at last.
She stirred, as though aware of being watched, opened her eyes to look into mine — and began purring.
There were worse ways to start the day. But, pleasant as this was, it still didn’t fully account for my ridiculously good mood.
Unless — I closed my eyes and waited … listened … questioned … holding my breath, scarcely daring to hope.
Somewhere deep inside of me there came a faint answering flicker, a tendril of another consciousness reaching out to me, trying to contact me …
Nessa was back! Conscious. Compos mentis. And calling to me.
I concentrated all my energy, trying to answer her, to beam encouragement and strength to her.
I felt a momentary response, then it faded, perhaps as she drifted off into what I sensed would now be a healing sleep.
Now, more than ever, I needed to talk to Dr Brian Anderson. He was supposed to keep me informed. Perhaps I had discouraged that when I jumped all over him for detaching Nessa from her life support system without consulting me, her next of kin.
Except that — in the strictly legal sense — I was no longer her next of kin. Everett Oversall was — a spouse took precedence. Had Anderson known about the marriage?
Madame knew. I had studied the marriage certificate until I had memorized it last night. I could understand and agree with Oversall that Everett was a more impressive name for professional use than Edward. In the theatre world, people who changed their names were more usual than those who didn’t.
The names of the witnesses were more interesting. At least, the one I was able to identify as Madame’s was. The other was male, Middle Eastern and unknown to me — probably some passing-through business associate of Oversall’s who had been co-opted to stand witness at the registrar’s office, sign the certificate, and be sent on his way without ever having full comprehension of the importance of the event he had witnessed. He might not even have spoken or understood English.
Madame, however, was a different story.
I finished dressing, a thorough job, with jeans and pullover beneath the kaftan, so that I could revert to my own form if I got the chance to slip away from this place and make it to the hospital to check on Nessa.
The cat watched disapprovingly as I refolded the marriage certificate into a less bulky size and slid it between the pages of one of the books, which I then replaced on the shelf.
Next I raided Nessa’s jewel box for a thin gold chain, threaded it through the wedding ring and fastened the chain around my neck, concealing the ring in my bodice in the time-honoured tradition.
As a final touch, I added eyeliner, mascara, blusher and several more gold chains, to be worn outside this time. Dress to kill — or be killed.
Now for Madame.
Bud intercepted me just before I reached Madame’s cottage. I wondered if he had followed me from the cloister.
‘You’re looking better every day,’ he greeted me. Had I put on too much make-up? Brutus, too, was regarding me with unusual interest.
‘I’m feeling better,’ I said, moving downwind of the dog’s twitching nose.
‘Taking a little stroll before you start the day’s work, are you?’
Keeping tabs on me, are you?
‘That’s right.’ I smiled demurely. ‘I thought I’d drop in on Madame and see how she is this morning.’ He could guess that for himself, no harm in confirming it. ‘That is, if Richie will let me see her. I don’t think he likes me. Or else he’s afraid I’ll tire Madame. I won’t, I promise.’
‘I believe you.’ He regarded me speculatively. ‘Would you like me to get him out of the way for you?’
‘Would you?’ The way he was looking at me made me wary about promising any sort of gratitude. I turned it into a challenge, instead. ‘Can you?’
‘Just watch me.’ He marched down the path, Brutus trotting at his heel.
I moved out of sight and waited.
When Bud emerged, Richie was with him. They moved off in the direction of the woods with some urgency. Behind Richie’s back, Bud signalled a thumbs-up to me.
The coast was clear.
‘Ah, Vanessa.’ In the front room, Madame was waiting. ‘I have been expecting you.’ Will you walk into my parlour? ‘I knew you would return.’
‘Did you?’ I took the chair she indicated. ‘I think you know more about me than I do.’
‘Would that be so hard?’ Those hooded eyes watched me expectantl
y. ‘Unless you have begun to remember?’
When you remember, I’ll be waiting … Had that message come from Madame?
‘Not really. Oh, there are moments when something seems familiar, but I don’t know whether it’s a memory trying to surface, or because I’ve been back long enough to start to get into a routine. I’ve been hoping you could tell me … help me … but it isn’t easy to get in to see you.’
‘Ah, yes. But Richie is not here now. Bud has just called him away on some problem. I had wondered when he claimed that it was so urgent.’ She gave me a sharp look. ‘You were always a favourite with Bud. With most of the men.’
‘But not the women?’
‘Pah!’ she spat. ‘They do not like anyone, not even each other. Least of all, each other!’
‘Jealousy?’
‘The place reeks of it! Writhes with it! Have you not noticed? I thought you had only lost your memory — not your wits!’
‘I appreciate the vote of confidence, but we haven’t much time. Let’s get down to business.’
‘Vanessa —?’ She looked at me uncertainly. I had spoken too sharply, too forcefully. ‘Vanessa, you seem … different.’
‘One can’t stay an ingénue for ever — and murder attempts do tend to concentrate the mind. Or even what’s left of it.’
‘You believe someone tried to kill you?’ She nodded slowly. ‘I would not say you were wrong. But, if you remember nothing, what can be done?’
‘And not just me,’ I said. ‘What about Kiki?’
‘Kiki?’ She shrugged. ‘These girls — they come and they go. They arrive believing that fortune has favoured them — that Everett is in their thrall, that it is only a matter of time before he gives them everything they want.’ She watched intently for my reaction.
I did not think you were so greedy, she had said once. Knowing what I now knew, I suspected that that must mean Nessa had signed a pre-nuptial agreement before the wedding. Just the sort of thing Nessa would do — throw away her chance of a fortune if — when — the marriage hit the rocks. I couldn’t believe it would last. Obviously, neither could Oversall.
‘And slowly they understand that they are just another distraction …’ Madame continued, disappointed by my lack of reaction. ‘An amusement … a toy. So they get angry, very angry, and rush back to their former lives.’
‘I don’t think Kiki left in a huff,’ I said. ‘I think she left in a coffin.’
‘You have reason to think this?’ I’d seen ventriloquists move more facial muscles than Madame did as she asked. ‘Apart from your own experience?’
‘All I know about my own experience is hearsay,’ I reminded her. ‘And so is everything I’ve heard about Francesca …?’
‘Kiki …? Francesca …?’ Madame sighed. ‘So many questions. Always questions, Vanessa. Why could you never leave well enough alone?’
‘Well enough?’ I was suddenly furious. ‘Well enough for whom? Certainly not for them! Nor for me — if someone had had their way.’
‘So now you ask.’ Madame nodded sadly. ‘For Francesca, for Kiki, for yourself. So many questions. And who is there to answer?’
‘I was hoping you would.’
‘Why should I know these things?’
‘I think you know a great many things. And I think it’s time you told them.’
‘Time? We are all prisoners of time … and with only one way to escape our captor.’
‘Madame!’ I tried to control my irritation, but lost. ‘Stop stalling!’ It was too abrupt again, too emphatic, but she didn’t seem to notice, or perhaps she was just getting used to it.
‘Madame,’ I said more gently. ‘I may not have recovered my memory, but I have found something else.’ I had her full attention as I separated the thin gold chain from the others and tugged on it, slowly bringing the gold band into view.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, exhaling a long regretful sigh.
‘I believe this gives me the right to some answers,’ I said. ‘The wedding certificate was with it — and it carried your name as one of the witnesses. What —?’
‘It is for Everett to say!’ She interrupted me imperiously. ‘Take me to him!’
‘Right!’ I swung her wheelchair around, through the narrow doorway, down the hall and out on to the path.
‘To the right,’ she directed. ‘There is a short cut.’
It was a nasty shock to round the corner at the end of the hedge and encounter Ivor. I resisted temptation and stopped short. I wouldn’t have minded running him down, although there was a limit to the amount of damage a wheelchair could do, but Madame was a precious cargo and I didn’t want to risk harming her.
‘Vanessa!’ He recoiled as though he had sensed my thought. Or as though he had seen a ghost. ‘What are you doing with Madame?’
T am taking the air,’ Madame informed him icily.
‘Where’s her lap rug?’ He frowned at me accusingly. ‘She’ll catch her death of cold. Take her home immediately!’
T will go where I choose, when I choose!’ It seemed that Madame found him as insufferable as I did. ‘If you continue to block my way, you will be responsible for any illness I may contract — and be assured that Everett will know it!’
‘I… I didn’t mean …’ Ivor backed down immediately and moved away. ‘I … I’ll just …’ He fled.
‘Hurry!’ Madame snapped. ‘He will tell! He always tells! He will send Richie to stop me. Push faster!’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Monica opened the door after I had inadvertently knocked by bumping the footplate of the wheelchair into it.
‘Madame —’ She smiled, then looked up at me and the smile faded. ‘Vanessa —’
‘Bring them in!’ Everett Oversall’s voice overrode hers.
‘Yes, of course.’ She stepped back and allowed me to wheel Madame past her.
Oversall was seated behind his desk. His eyes flickered as he took a good look at me — and then focused at a point high on my chest.
I realized I had not replaced the ring beneath the neckline of my kaftan.
Had Ivor noticed? Was that what had sent him into retreat and not Madame’s annoyance?
‘Over there,’ Madame commanded. ‘Beside the desk.’
I placed her as directed, swinging the chair around so that she faced outwards into the room. It was then that I saw him.
Dr Brian Anderson. Standing off to one side, trying to be unobtrusive, looking as though he wished he were somewhere else. Anywhere else. Looking guilty.
I met his eyes and he flushed.
‘Vanessa wishes to speak to you.’ Madame addressed Everett Oversall, but she looked pointedly at Monica as she added, ‘In private.’
‘Of course.’ Monica inclined her head graciously, but the question in her eyes was apparent. No one answered it.
‘Oh!’ She nearly collided with Anderson as he dived for the door.
‘Not you!’ Oversall’s voice halted him. ‘You stay!’
‘Um, er …’ Anderson ducked his head and gave an awkward grimace, obviously wishing he could produce a good excuse for getting out of there. He looked at Oversall, he looked at Madame. He looked everywhere — except at me.
We all held our places in a silent tableau until the door had closed behind Monica. We waited until we heard her footsteps fading away down the corridor. Then the atmosphere changed. Not relaxed, just changed.
‘So, Vanessa,’ Oversall said. ‘Any improvement in your memory … my darling?’
Anderson winced. Madame twisted her head to look at Oversall strangely The door opened again and both Shadow and Richie advanced into the room, glaring at me.
‘I did not ring!’ Oversall stopped them with an imperious gesture.
‘You are not required!’ Madame’s gesture mirrored his. ‘Leave!’
Neither of them moved. Richie kept his eyes on Madame, his body tensed, as though he might dash forward, seize the wheelchair and sweep her away.
/>
Shadow concentrated on me, his burning gaze the sort that made me profoundly grateful that looks couldn’t kill; if they could, I would be a heap of smouldering ashes.
Instinctively, I looked to Everett Oversall for … what? Reassurance? Protection? Whatever he had to offer his presumed wife when his son was channelling hatred and malice towards her.
‘Quite right, Vanessa,’ he said. ‘We need more discipline around here. Shadow —’ His voice whiplashed through the room. ‘Either treat your mother with the proper respect or …’ His voice fell away in some implied threat that must be too familiar to both of them to need repeating.
Shadow was in trouble — and it was my fault. Those blazing eyes left me in no doubt of that. Nor that he would get me for it. Somewhere … sometime …
‘Shadow!’ The velvet glove was off — if it had ever been on.
‘Richie!’ He was going to brook no insubordination from the hired help, either.
They came to heel. Slowly and reluctantly. Madame nodded with satisfaction at their lowered heads, their submissive postures.
‘Shadow —’ Oversall directed. ‘Go and tell Monica that I will be joining them at dinner this evening. You,’ he added pointedly, ‘will not. Nor will Richie. I will speak to you both here in the morning.’
That was it. The silence lengthened and seemed to thicken until, slowly, Shadow and Richie turned and left the room.
‘Now then, Vanessa.’ Oversall turned to me.
‘Now then … my love,’ I riposted, one hand reaching for the wedding ring and clinging to it ostentatiously.
Anderson flinched and looked desperately from Oversail to me and back again. Madame just sat there, only her eyes moving, not missing a trick.
I wished I did have a trick or two up my sleeve.
‘Please sit down, Vanessa.’ There was a note in Over-sail’s voice that disturbed me. ‘After all, you’re still convalescent. You must take care of yourself.’
No one else will — was that the message he meant to convey?
‘I intend to.’ I sank into the armchair he indicated. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re more than welcome.’ He watched me steadily. ‘My love.’
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