Jasmyn

by Alex Bell

  ‘What is it?’ Ben said, coming up behind me.

  I jumped and pricked myself with one of the rose’s thorns, spots of blood vividly red against my white skin.

  ‘It’s a black rose—’ I began, but then broke off with a gasp of alarm for - as I spoke - the flower fell apart in my hands and all the petals tumbled loose to be scattered across the deck by the breeze and carried away by the wind, along with the chalky powder left by the bones. I was left holding only a thorny stem and - in another moment - it too turned to dust between my fingers.

  ‘Come on,’ Ben said grimly. ‘Let’s go inside and talk.’

  It was a little awkward for, of course, I had left Laura and Charlie downstairs in the bar. It was already quite late and they would probably be going back home soon. If I didn’t leave with them then I would have to take a taxi as I had no other way of getting back, but then Laura would have to wait up for me and I realised now that, whatever Ben had to say to me, it wasn’t going to be said within the space of a half hour.

  ‘Stay on the boat tonight,’ Ben said. ‘That’s what I’m doing. You can go back to Laura’s tomorrow.’

  I hesitated, worried that this would seem rude and she might take offence. But I simply couldn’t sit and make small talk with them now so I didn’t have much choice.

  ‘I need to think of some excuse to tell Laura,’ I muttered. I was speaking to myself really for I didn’t expect Ben to care if I appeared rude or to offer to help me with my predicament. So I was surprised when he said, ‘Where is she? I’ll get rid of her.’

  ‘No, you won’t. She’s my friend and I won’t have you being rude to her!’

  ‘Calm down,’ Ben replied, not bothering to hide his dislike as he scowled at me. ‘She’s my friend too. I won’t be rude. Surely you must realise that I’m quite capable of being civil when I want to.’

  ‘You could have fooled me!’

  He shrugged and said, ‘Like it or not, this whole situation is Liam’s doing, not mine. If you’re going to blame anyone then blame him. Now where is Laura? Is she in the bar?’

  ‘Yes,’ I snapped. ‘She is.’

  ‘Come on then.’ He opened the door and we stepped off the deck and went downstairs.

  And as soon as we stepped into the bar, Ben became a different person. It was as if a switch had been flipped. I watched in amazement as he greeted Laura warmly - even hugging her - before shaking hands with Charlie like it was a genuine pleasure to meet him. Laura tried to persuade him to join us all for a drink but Ben glanced briefly at me before saying, ‘Actually, I’m terribly sorry but I was hoping to have a talk with Jasmyn. There are . . . some things we need to discuss and—’

  ‘Of course. I understand. Take as long as you need and I’ll wait here.’

  ‘Oh no,’ I said at once. ‘Laura, we could be a while. I’d rather you just went home and—’

  ‘I’ve booked Jasmyn a room on the ship,’ Ben interrupted. ‘We thought it would be easier if she stayed here for the night and went back to your house in the morning. That’s okay, isn’t it?’

  ‘But . . . but you don’t have any night things,’ Laura protested.

  ‘There’s toothpaste and stuff in the rooms,’ Ben said.

  Laura turned to me and I nodded, trying to look as if I’d heard of the plan myself before that moment.

  ‘Well, all right, if you’re sure that’s what you want.’

  At long last, Laura and Charlie had gathered up their coats and were gone.

  ‘Do you want something to drink?’ Ben asked, glancing over at the bar.

  ‘No, I don’t want anything to drink!’ I said impatiently. ‘I want to talk about what happened outside!’

  ‘Fine,’ Ben said with a shrug.

  We went to a small table at the back of the room. The ambient noise of piano music and people chatting meant that we could talk softly without being overheard by nearby tables as Ben started to talk in a quiet, level voice. ‘I don’t know how to explain the horse or the bones or the swans, but I think they must all be something to do with what Liam got himself involved in. About eighteen months ago he came to my flat in the early hours of the morning, babbling like a lunatic with this wild story of how he’d just come from Neuschwanstein Castle. He told me that he walked a little way along the mountain path that King Ludwig used to take to Linderhof when he heard horses’ hooves and sleigh bells and a moment later a huge sleigh came out of the tree line towards him pulled by six white horses. He’d read stories of how Ludwig used to travel between the two castles in this way, so in the first moment he thought it must be some kind of historic recreation. But then he realised that he was the only person around for miles.’

  Ben stopped, chewing at his lower lip, and I said impatiently, ‘So it was some eccentric rich man imitating Ludwig or something?’

  Ben shrugged. ‘That’s what I said. But Liam swore that as the sleigh went past he saw King Ludwig himself inside it.’

  My face was already twisting into an expression of incredulous disbelief as Ben went on in a flat voice, ‘But that wasn’t even the craziest part of it. Liam admitted that the sleigh was going very fast and whoever was inside was wearing a thick fur coat and hat, that he couldn’t see him properly or for very long and that he may have only borne a passing resemblance to Ludwig. But he saw something else as well and this he was adamant about.’ Ben drew a breath and I could tell that he did not particularly want to continue the story. ‘He said that the horses turned from white to black and that at the same time he practically had to duck to avoid all the black swans - hundreds of them - that came swooping out of the forest chasing the sleigh, flying low over his head.

  ‘He said the whole thing disappeared around a corner in the mountain path and when he followed it, the sleigh, the horses and the swans were gone. There were tracks in the snow but they just stopped as if they had all disappeared into thin air. I didn’t think of the story again until recently . . . after what happened at Liam’s funeral. And now what we just saw up on deck. It’s made me think that maybe Liam was telling the truth about what he thought he saw after all.’

  ‘If he really saw all that in the mountains,’ I said, ‘then there’s no way he wouldn’t have written a book on King Ludwig and his castles. He told me he gave up because there wasn’t enough material. Besides, if he saw something that extraordinary he would have told me about it.’

  Ben was silent for a moment before saying, ‘He said something fell out of the sleigh.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘An object, although I don’t know exactly what because he refused to tell me. But he said that something fell out - something that was going to make us all rich. He said the horses were galloping so fast that the sleigh almost tipped over altogether when it rounded the corner and that was when this thing fell out onto the snow. And at first I thought that, whatever it was, he’d stolen it and spun the ridiculous sleigh story just to avoid telling me where he’d got it. Now - what with the black swans and the horse and the skulls and roses . . . I’m not so sure myself.’

  I stared at him for a moment, my lip curling with contempt. ‘Liam would never steal something!’ I snapped at last.

  ‘That,’ Ben replied calmly, ‘would depend upon how much he wanted it. But it doesn’t matter. How Liam came across this object is irrelevant. What matters is where he hid it.’

  ‘If this thing was really as valuable as you say, then why would Liam hide it at all? Why not simply sell it?’

  ‘If it was a stolen object then it might not have been very easy to sell.’

  ‘You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Ben! Liam was not a thief !’

  Ben practically sneered as he said, ‘I think you’re going to have to accept that there was a lot about him you didn’t know. I realise you were only married ten months but you knew him for many years before that and surely you must have noticed his thrill-seeking personality? Surely you haven’t forgotten the parachute jumps or the racing c
ars or the black-slope skiing? Whenever he had any spare money, what did he spend it on? Getting high on adrenalin! Liam got bored easily. Surely you must have noticed this.’

  For a moment I said nothing, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. For what Ben had said was true. Liam had been a thrill-seeker and I had noticed a certain . . . restlessness in him at times after we were married that had bothered me a little . . .

  ‘That doesn’t mean he was a criminal!’ I said sharply.

  ‘He was careful never to say anything to me directly, as I’m sure he was to you. But there was the odd hint he dropped, the occasional thinly veiled comment that led me to think he might sometimes have bent the law even if he didn’t actually break it. Anyway, it’s up to you, you can believe what you like - the sleigh story or the criminal idea or perhaps you can create a third theory all of your own. In the end it really doesn’t matter much now. What does matter is that, soon after coming by this object, Liam became frightened.’

  ‘Of what?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Ben said and for the first time that night he avoided my eyes. ‘It was around the time that we fell out. He turned up at my flat again - said he wanted to talk about the Swan King. But I told him to leave.’

  He looked at me, a challenging, sullen expression on his face as if daring me to reprimand him. I wanted to. If a member of your family comes to you for help you don’t send them away. But I bit my tongue. Still, my voice came out rather coldly as I said, ‘So you don’t know anything at all about what he was going to tell you?’

  ‘No. Soon after that he was married to you and I never heard anything more about it. He never tried to contact me again.’

  ‘What did you two fall out about anyway?’ I asked, hoping that perhaps Ben would tell me what Liam had been unwilling to.

  ‘Don’t you know?’ Ben asked, looking startled.

  I shook my head. ‘Liam wouldn’t tell me.’

  He looked at me, a strange expression on his face as he said, ‘You have absolutely no idea what the argument was about?’

  ‘No!’ I replied sharply, unnerved by his expression. ‘What was it about?’

  ‘If Liam didn’t tell you then I don’t think I should.’

  Avid curiosity burnt like a flame inside me and I cursed myself for giving away the fact that I didn’t know already.

  ‘Tell me what it was about!’ I insisted - giving it one more try. ‘I have a right to know.’

  ‘You have no right,’ Ben replied calmly. ‘And I’m not going to talk to you about it so just drop it.’

  I suppressed a sigh and tried to suppress my curiosity as well. There was nothing I could do to force him to tell me if he didn’t want to. And, after all, it didn’t really matter now what they had fallen out about anyway. So I promised myself that I would pursue it later and then said, ‘Well, how does Jaxon Thorpe come into this anyway? You haven’t even mentioned him yet.’

  Ben shrugged. ‘Jaxon was there at Neuschwanstein that night. Apparently he ran out of the trees a few minutes later, followed the tracks in the snow and asked Liam if he’d seen the sleigh. I don’t know what he was doing up there in the first place. He told me he had his cameras and was trying to get a good shot of Neuschwanstein at night when the sleigh went past him. I think it more likely he was up there trying to work out how best to break into the castle, but he does have to do some genuine photography to keep up appearances and he certainly had a camera of some kind with him that night, for he got a photo of the sleigh.’

  ‘Have you seen it?’ I asked eagerly.

  ‘Yes, I’ve seen it. There’s a sleigh in the photo, being pulled by horses, and Neuschwanstein’s there in the distance. But the whole thing is indistinct and blurred. It certainly isn’t enough to prove anything. Besides, Jaxon is a professional photographer - if he wanted to he could easily create a very startling photo out of thin air just using all the computer programmes he has access to.’

  I couldn’t help but think back to my wedding photos.

  ‘The photo proves nothing,’ Ben went on. ‘Jaxon contacted me shortly after he turned up at your house. From what I understand, it seems he and Liam reached an agreement to share the proceeds of selling the object to a buyer Jaxon found through his black market contacts. The sale was all ready to go through when - for some reason - Liam changed his mind and told Jaxon that he wanted to keep it for a year before selling it.’

  ‘Jaxon turned up at the house just after what would have been our one-year anniversary,’ I said.

  ‘Yes,’ Ben replied. ‘Apparently Liam told Jaxon about this change of plan just two weeks before your wedding. He hid the object somewhere Jaxon couldn’t find it, with promises to retrieve it when a year was up and sell it as they’d agreed. Unfortunately, he died before he could do so. That’s why Jaxon must have come back and trashed your house looking for it, the idiot. Like Liam would ever be stupid enough to hide it at home.’

  ‘How many other people know about this thing Liam supposedly took?’ I asked, thinking back to the way I had felt watched back in England - Jaxon Thorpe’s appearance, the man in the rain and Luke posing as a stable-worker at my grandparents’ home.

  ‘I can’t be sure,’ Ben said. ‘I have no way of knowing who Liam told, but I doubt he told very many because he wouldn’t want them coming after it themselves. I don’t suppose you know where it is, do you?’ he asked, not sounding particularly hopeful.

  ‘Why? Are you searching for this mystery object too?’

  ‘I am, actually.’

  ‘But what’s the point if you don’t even know what it is?’

  ‘I have my reasons,’ Ben said in a tone that made it quite clear he was not about to explain those reasons to me. ‘Look, I think you know where it is,’ he said, leaning slightly across the table towards me. ‘That’s why I wanted to see you tonight.’

  For a moment I was taken aback but then I glared at him, anger flaring inside me at being accused so bluntly of lying. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ I snapped. ‘I’ve just told you I have no idea. Tonight’s the first time I’ve heard of any of this—’

  ‘No, no,’ Ben interrupted impatiently. ‘Obviously you don’t consciously know. But I think you can help me find out.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘By telling me exactly where you think Liam went over the last year or so and when.’

  ‘What’s the point?’ I asked, aware of a sullen note creeping into my voice. ‘If Liam lied to me about going to Munich, then how do I know he didn’t lie to me about his other trips? I can’t prove where he was - he could have been anywhere.’

  ‘You misunderstand me,’ Ben said with a kind of grim satisfaction. ‘I don’t need you to tell me where Liam actually was. I just need you to tell me where you think he was.’

  ‘What good will that do?’

  ‘I already know exactly which other countries Liam visited over the last year.’

  ‘How can you when you weren’t speaking to him during that time?’

  ‘Just because we weren’t speaking doesn’t mean that I didn’t keep an eye on him. I hired an investigator to inform me whenever Liam left the country and what his destination was.’

  ‘You spied on him,’ I said flatly.

  ‘What choice did I have?’ Ben said sourly. ‘We weren’t talking any more. I had to have some way of keeping track of him. I was . . . concerned about what he might be doing.’

  ‘Well, if you already know where he was then why the hell do you need me to tell you?’

  ‘I’ve no doubt some of Liam’s trips were genuine - that he really was doing research for other books. But some of the trips were to do with this German business. If I compare where Liam really was with where he told you he was going, then every time the two don’t add up and he lied to you about his trip I’ll know that he went away for some other purpose.’

  I said nothing. It made sense, but the suggestion put a profoundly bad taste in my mouth. I disliked the idea that Liam had lied to me about one vi
sit to Munich, but the thought that he had lied to me consistently about where he was going for almost a year was . . . devastating. The idea that there was an aspect of Liam’s life he had deliberately kept hidden from me was extremely hurtful and I struggled to believe it for I thought we had been so close. I’d never dreamed, never even considered that Liam was keeping such a huge secret. If this was all true then it meant I was stupid and incredibly naïve - so happy to be in love that I had been blind to what was really going on.

  ‘Well?’ Ben said curtly.

  ‘Fine,’ I replied with equal sharpness. ‘We can go through it tomorrow.’

  During our conversation I had been unsure whether I should mention the black horse I had seen in England or not. Ed had been spooked by it, but otherwise I had no particular reason to believe the horse was anything other than ordinary. But, finally, I decided to say something just to see whether Ben would react.

  ‘Do you know a man called Luke?’

  After a moment Ben slowly shook his head, ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘There was a man hanging around my grandparents’ estate. He claimed to work at the stable but that wasn’t true. He had a black horse that looked just like the one we saw on deck.’

  ‘What did he say to you?’

  ‘Nothing much. He just offered to rub Ed down for me. But he knew who I was.’

  Ben shrugged. ‘Well, I don’t know any Luke but I suppose it’s possible that there’s another person out there who knows about this object.’

  ‘I found a knight in Liam’s things,’ I blurted out suddenly.

  ‘What?’

  I frowned. I wasn’t really sure why I’d spoken, for the little metal knight could hardly be the object Ben had spoken of as it certainly wasn’t valuable in any way. But still I felt the pressing need to mention it, perhaps because it seemed such an incongruous find - something in Liam’s pockets the day he died that should not have been there. Ben would no doubt scorn me for bringing up something so trivial but I had started now, so I might as well continue.