ON DEVIL'S BRAE (A Psychological Suspense Thriller) (Dark Minds Mystery Suspense)

by Faith Mortimer

  Cassandra recalled the first time Elizabeth mentioned Lorna having a child. At first, she assumed the child had died. It wasn’t until later Elizabeth revealed Thomas was still alive, which was confirmed only the night before when Angus related Lorna’s cruel story to her. As a schizophrenic, Thomas visited home when his physicians deemed him well enough. Thomas had obviously kept his innermost desires to himself, but something must have triggered his latter-day run of cruelty and horror.

  “But why did Thomas make Susan’s life a misery?” she asked Angus much later when things had died down and they were cuddled up before a roaring fire. “I understand he was hospitalised when he was at risk to himself, but you said Susan and Thomas got along.”

  “They did for many years. Up until now, Elizabeth has always stressed Thomas was no danger to anyone but himself. Susan was always kind to him, showed him how to model clay into figures, although he was no artist as you saw by his efforts. Thomas was always keen on bird watching and stalking deer. Perhaps later, he wasn’t so keen on watching them as taunting and hurting them. I’m thinking about Goldie and your Bailey.”

  Cassandra’s eyes brightened at the thought of Bailey. She would be able to go and pick him up, as the electricity was back and the roads were clear. “But it still doesn’t explain why he turned against Susan.”

  Angus thought. “I think it does. My deduction is that when she found you, it triggered something in Thomas which sent him mad with jealousy and rage. Until you appeared, he enjoyed her undivided attention and company and considered Susan his special friend. When she died and you turned up in her cottage, the one place where he had Susan to himself, it was all too much for him. She’d gone, and you must have had something to do with it, and so you had to go too. Elizabeth said he suffered from paranoid delusions when he was at his worst.”

  Cassandra wasn’t satisfied, but it was all they had to go on. There was no proof, but the more she thought of it the more it made sense. “Apparently, Susan took an overdose of anti-depressants. I always assumed it was because of Natalie’s murder. What if—somehow Thomas—” She stopped and cast an appalled look at Angus.

  “I know what you’re thinking. Thomas could easily have tampered with Susan’s medication. When he was in her house it would have been simple to slip something in a cup of coffee.” Angus paused. “Do you think we should do something about our suspicions?”

  Cassandra looked even more horrified. The thought of another sickening inquest flashed through her mind. Slowly, she shook her head. “No. Even though I’m sure he killed Susan, telling the police won’t bring her back. She was cut up enough over Natalie’s death, and at least now she’s at peace. Besides, there’s Elizabeth and Lorna to worry about. They’ve already lost Thomas in dreadful circumstances. Dragging this out would kill them, certainly Lorna. Can we please just keep our suspicions to ourselves?”

  “Of course, darling, I was somehow hoping you’d say that. They’ve suffered enough.”

  A log shifted in the grate, sending out sparks into the room. Angus picked up the poker and pushed the wood back into the fire.

  “And then there was poor Julian. Here was another man in the house where Thomas spent time with Susan. He too was in the way. Sorry, sweetheart, if this is upsetting you, but you did ask for my opinion.”

  “And yet you thought it was Rupert, my brother.”

  “I did. That was a huge mistake. Susan had told me about her brother and what he’d done to her. She was so sure he’d returned and was out for revenge. I suppose it sort of blinkered everything else for me.”

  “I still can’t get over how sad it all is for Lorna and Elizabeth. They did all they could for Thomas. The best medical care, and when he was well, they had him home as much as possible. They didn’t want to abandon him forever in an institutional hospital. Even though Elizabeth knew he might get worse as he got older, she said she never once considered he might one day become dangerous.”

  “No.”

  “But who else knew about Thomas in Inverdarroch, Angus?”

  “Donald knew, and Fiona would have met him, at least once or twice. The Campbells would have seen him hereabouts, of course. Nothing passes them by, especially that old bat of a mother.”

  “I did see Thomas a few times around the place in the churchyard and hiding in the trees behind my house. Talking of the Campbells, do you know I’ve still not seen the old uncle from the farm! It could have been him stalking me for all I knew. And how do you explain Donald’s attempt to buy my house? Or the secret offers?”

  “It all sounds like Donald to me. He’s known for being ruthless when he wants something. I imagine he thought he could persuade you to sell when he first asked and when that failed he made an undisclosed offer via your solicitor. We can always ask him now you’ve decided to definitely sell. I bet he’ll jump at the chance.” He grinned and drew her close.

  She smiled. “It was you who said we didn’t need two houses here.”

  “Aye, mo guradh milis, that we don’t. One home will be enough for us.”

  The End

  Please Tweet/Facebook, “ON DEVIL’S BRAE” once you’ve finished and pass the word on.

  If you have enjoyed this novel why not read these other

  Faith Mortimer books:

  ‘THE ASSASSINS' VILLAGE’. (1st novel in The Diana Rivers series). A murder mystery set in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus. This 93,000 word paperback & eBook was chosen on the Harper Collins/Authonomy site out of over 8000 books to be the Number 1 book!

  ‘CHILDREN OF THE PLANTATION’. Published in paperback & eBook, (2nd in The Diana Rivers series), murder mystery, set in exotic Malaysia during the 1960's and 1950's and the present. The story concerns a family whose dark secrets threaten to destroy the family.

  ‘THE SURGEON'S BLADE’. (3rd in the Diana Rivers series) Published in paperback and eBook. This psychological thriller is tense and thrilling and guarantees to keep you on the edge of your seat!

  ‘CAMERA ACTION...MURDER’! (4th in the Diana Rivers Mystery/Suspense series). Diana finds herself in danger after discovering a body…will she be the next victim?

  ‘A VERY FRENCH AFFAIR’. Romance, Heartache and Suspense set on the beautiful south coast of France.

  'THE SEEDS OF TIME - BOOK 1 of THE CROSSING'. Action-Adventure plus Romantic Suspense. (published June 2012).

  'HARVEST - BOOK 2 of THE CROSSING' Continues from Book 1. Action-Adventure full of romantic suspense. (published July 2012).

  ‘CHILDHUNT’ (5th in the Diana Rivers Mystery/Suspense series)

  ‘ON CHRISTMAS HILL (A SEASONAL AFFAIR)’ – Sometimes destiny needs a helping hand…..... Romance blossoms at Christmastide. (to be published November 2013)

  Please read on for a preview of “Camera…Action…Murder!” (the 4th Diana Rivers novel)

  by Faith Mortimer

  “Camera…Action…Murder!” by Faith Mortimer

  Fifteen Years Ago.

  For some reason, Diana didn’t want to go any nearer the stage, which was surprising since she had once loved it. Instead, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She stood quite still as she stared towards the back. She remembered.

  She remembered the deathly silence once her friends had disappeared backstage to the dressing rooms. She heard the door slam as it echoed along the corridor. She recalled the director was always berating the cast for allowing doors to bang shut during rehearsals saying ‘silence backstage was as important as during an actual performance’. Diana remembered smiling while she imagined what her friends were up to. She didn’t mind finishing off the painting on her own, there wasn’t much left to do. Then, some minutes later, she remembered the sudden plunge into darkness as the auditorium and stage lights were suddenly extinguished. She made a tentative laugh and called to her friends, telling them to stop arsing around and to put the lights back on. Then there was that silence: a silence which seemed to go on and on until…she heard it. A single muffled footstep off to her ri
ght and on the stage. There was a rustle, and she felt something light brush against her foot upon the ladder and then something took hold of her shirt. She screamed and in her terror shied away from whatever had touched her, and then she slipped. She somehow knew that whatever was lurking there was evil and she had to get away.

  Knowing the theatre layout, she rolled from the foot of the ladder, kept low and slithered across the stage as quietly as she could towards the front apron. She kept her wits about her, guessing where the edge of the stage was, and once she reached it knew she could slip down onto the floor in the stalls. There was a series of rapid footsteps away from her, a click, and suddenly there was a single light shining down upon the stage. She cast a look around and saw nobody there, but knowing they would return within seconds she realised she had to get to safety. Scared and hardly daring to breathe, Diana tensed when she heard the footsteps coming back. Where could she go? And that was when she had the idea. The prompt’s pit was just ahead. Two rolls and she disappeared over the edge into the pit. She was lucky that the last prompt had left a cushion on the seat which broke her fall…

  …Diana withheld the scream which was threatening to undo her and crawled as quietly as she could beneath the stage. Her shirt was torn by whoever had grabbed her, and she heard it rip once more as it caught on a protruding nail. If only she could make it to the rear of the theatre and the fire-escape doors…or she could run to the dressing rooms and be safe with her friends. She remembered choking back her sobs of terror and reaching the corridor; help wasn’t far away…she heard footsteps….

  Chapter 1

  Diana Rivers hadn’t intended to visit England that summer. The novel she was writing wasn’t going too well, and the last thing she wanted was another disruption in her world. For a woman who seldom let obstacles get in her way, life was currently—if she was honest—not going according to plan and even a little boring.

  The previous few years had been eventful. Diana had been instrumental in discovering and solving two murders, a fifty-year-old mystery, and helped prevent a serial killer from murdering her last chosen victim. Since those momentous events, things were now definitely a lot quieter.

  Being bored was a new experience for Diana. It wasn’t because she disliked living in an old stone house halfway up a mountain in the foothills of the beautiful Troodos Mountains in Cyprus…far from it. Neither did she resent being a mother to two-year-old Poppy or wife to handsome Steve. The truth was, she hadn’t settled down to write more than a few chapters of her latest novel since her daughter’s birth.

  Poppy was adorable: a playful, happy little girl and a normal two-year-old. She ran rings around her father, and Diana was overjoyed that at long last they had been blessed with a child in their marriage. Diana knew the problem was of her own making, and despite having loads of ideas floating around in her head for at least two new books, she couldn’t get past those first few stumbling chapters. She knew she really needed a diversion and a break, but so far, she was being her usual stubborn self and not admitting this to anyone.

  Steve recognised the signs and had suggested a holiday to entice her away, but to no avail. Diana told him she could handle the situation, and the result was definitely stalemate.

  So, when the email arrived from England that morning with an invitation to visit and stay with the Macphersons in Cheltenham, Steve was delighted when Di announced, “What fun it would be to go.” He should have thought the idea through more thoroughly because wherever Diana went in the world, chaos and mystery seemed to follow her. What’s more, he thought darkly, after everything she went through the last time we were there, I’m amazed she’d even contemplate it. He should have known…

  “Look, Steve, we’ve received an invitation from Duncan and Isabelle Macpherson to go and stay with them. But that’s not all. You remember that play we acted in the last time we were in Cheltenham? It was called The Holbein Legacy, and this is the most exciting part of all…guess what?” Diana said when she rushed into Steve’s workshop that morning waving a print of the email under his nose.

  Steve paused what he was doing and looked at her with a patient, albeit puzzled, expression on his face. She looked flushed and excited.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Di, how can I possibly begin to guess what’s in the email? Just tell me. I’m in the middle of rewiring this lamp, and it’s bloody tricky because there’s hardly any wire to play with. Chinese junk again.”

  “Tssk, Mr Grumpy! You’re going to be impressed when I tell you. They’re only going to make a film out of the play! Can you imagine? And we’re invited over for a few days’ visit to meet some of the film cast. I wonder who they’ve chosen to play our roles.”

  This time, she did capture his attention. “I see what you mean. That is interesting. Let me have a look then.”

  Diana passed the sheet of paper over to Steve and shot him a triumphant look. “I knew you’d be fascinated.”

  Steve read the message through and looked up at Diana. “It says we’re invited because we were members of the original stage cast of The Holbein Legacy. We’re being asked to take part in a day or two of filming and a photo shoot with the original cast. How extraordinary. That means they must be inviting all the others too. I wonder if anyone we know will be there and which film stars will come. It doesn’t say.”

  “Not all the original members will come…Emily for one, if you remember. She’s sadly no longer with us, and there are bound to be a few more we know nothing about. It’s so easy to lose touch.”

  “You’re right. I’d forgotten about Emily. Do you reckon Duncan’s still a womaniser?”

  “I bet he is. Despite Isabelle’s hooks in him, he always was quite the Casanova.” Diana laughed.

  “So you’d like to go then? Visit the Cotswolds and stay at the Macphersons’? What about Poppy? And are you sure you want to go away? You haven’t wanted to lately if I suggested it.”

  Diana looked pensive. “Steve, so many questions! I do like the idea of a few weeks or so away and seeing some of the old cast. Staying at the Macphersons’ swanky house and meeting some film stars will be amazing! But as for Poppy, I’m not sure. I don’t really think a two-year-old would be welcome in Isabella’s home, do you?”

  “I’m not sure you can call it a home. It’s almost a stately home displaying Isabelle’s family treasures. And I agree. I don’t think we can take Poppy. Perhaps we could ask Robert and Libby if they’d help out for a few days. Or Geraldine…she loves kids too.”

  “No, we’d better not ask Geraldine. As much as she loves Poppy, she has the bar at The Magic Teapot to run and her own grandson to look after. I wouldn’t want to burden her any more. No, Robert and Libby are a great choice, and they’ve offered before. Besides, it’ll be good practice for when their own baby arrives next year.”

  “But Di, don’t forget we’ll be staying near Cheltenham. That’s what we’re talking about. Are you sure? It’s bound to bring back old memories, and I don’t want you upset.”

  “Yes, I know, but what happened was a long time ago, and I’ve put it firmly behind me. Besides, as you say so often, I attract trouble, and there’s nothing I can do about that! So let’s do it. And I’m positive about Robert and Libby being happy in looking after Poppy.”

  “If you’re really happy, darling, then I‘ll go along with it. Shall I leave you to ring and organise your cousin?”

  “Yes, I’ll do it now. Are you coming in for coffee, or shall I make it and we’ll have it in the courtyard?”

  “Give me five minutes, and then I’ll have conquered this Chinese puzzle. I’d like it in the courtyard, since it’s such a lovely morning.”

  Diana left Steve with his wiring and headed towards the kitchen. She knew she was taking a risk revisiting the scene of a previous unsolved crime, but she was sure she could handle it.

  Chapter 2

  The drive from the south coast up to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire was one of Diana’s favourite scenic
routes. It was no wonder thousands of tourists visited the area. The Cotswolds were well known for gentle hillsides (wolds), sleepy villages, and for being so typically English. She loved the non-cemented dry-stone walls everywhere. The eighteenth- and nineteenth-century walls represented an important historical landscape and were a major conservation feature.

  Diana spent some years in Gloucestershire in her twenties, which was when she first met Steve. She was already a member of Duncan Macpherson’s theatre company when Steve joined. Within days, the two young actors had fallen in love and spent whatever free time they had together. They explored the surrounding countryside in an old MG roadster, which was Steve’s pride and joy, and learnt a lot about the ways of the local farmers. During the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries—the medieval period—native Cotswold sheep were famous throughout Europe for their heavy fleeces and the high quality of wool they produced. Cotswold wool commanded a high price, so the wealth generated by the wool trade enabled wealthy traders to leave their mark by building fine houses and wonderful churches, known as wool churches. Whenever Diana caught sight of sheep on the hillside, she was reminded of this and thought it one of the classic Cotswold images.

  Diana and Steve had arrived in England three days before and lost no time in driving down to Hampshire where Diana’s cousin, Robert, lived with his wife, Libby. Di was particularly fond of her cousin and his new wife, especially since she had played a hand in getting them together. Robert had suffered the loss of his first wife and baby daughter some years previously in a tragic accident. When Libby arrived on the scene, Diana thought the attractive nursing sister the perfect partner for her kind and considerate cousin.

  When Diana first rang and asked if they would mind having Poppy for a few days, she heard the enthusiasm in Libby’s voice at once. Diana was relieved. Although she hadn’t left her precious daughter with anyone else before, she trusted Robert and Libby implicitly.