The Angel Tree

by Lucinda Riley

  ‘I was shocked, as you can imagine,’ Cheska interrupted. ‘As I said to Inspector Crosby, it might have been an intruder who wanted to kill me. Celebrities such as myself often attract stalkers, as you know. To think I could have burnt to death in my bed!’

  ‘There are certainly some very strange people out there, Miss Hammond,’ agreed Inspector Crosby. ‘And Marchmont is hardly protected security-wise. Obviously, I asked your mother if she smoked, or had lit a candle and may have accidentally dropped a match,’ he added.

  ‘Did you, Mother?’

  ‘Ava! You know I don’t smoke, and I think I might have remembered if I’d done anything to start a fire.’

  ‘You certainly had a very lucky escape, Miss Hammond,’ the inspector confirmed. ‘Now, would it be possible to have a couple of autographed photographs to take back for the boys?’

  ‘Of course, let me go and get some.’

  Ava was left standing uncomfortably with the inspector.

  ‘I didn’t know Cheska Hammond had a daughter. You look just like her,’ he said.

  ‘Thanks. So, what happens from here with Marchmont?’

  ‘The investigators have nearly finished. They’ll put in their report sometime next week. I have a few more loose ends to tie up and we’ll see where it takes us.’

  ‘But you think it was an intruder who started the fire deliberately?’

  ‘At present, there seems to be no other explanation – unless your mother wanted to burn her own house down,’ he quipped.

  ‘It’s not my mother’s house, Inspector, it’s my aunt’s.’

  ‘Here you are.’ Cheska appeared, brandishing the photographs.

  ‘Thank you. The boys will be very happy.’ He placed them carefully in his briefcase and held out his hand. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hammond. And your daughter,’ he added, glancing at Ava. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

  ‘I feel like I’ve been on trial for the past hour!’ Cheska wailed as the door closed behind him. She slumped onto the sofa. Then her eyes filled with fear. ‘You don’t think . . . you don’t think he suspected me of anything, do you, Ava?’

  ‘No, Mother.’

  ‘It was just, some of the questions he asked, it made me feel like a . . . a criminal.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry. By the time he left he’d obviously become one of your biggest fans.’

  ‘Do you think so?’

  ‘Yes. Now, I’m afraid I have to go.’

  ‘Go where?’

  ‘Home, to do some work.’

  ‘But you can’t! Jodie will be here in fifteen minutes.’

  ‘Who’s Jodie?’

  ‘The journalist. I promise it won’t take long. I’ll order you something from room service.’

  ‘I’m not hungry.’

  ‘Champagne, then? I’ll get some sent up.’

  ‘No, thanks.’

  ‘Look, honey, I know you don’t want to do this, but you did promise me and Dorian you would. Let me do all the talking. I’m used to it. Okay?’

  An hour and a half later, Ava left the Savoy, feeling sick to the stomach. Cheska had insisted on sitting next to her whilst Jodie interviewed them, holding her hand, putting her arm round her shoulder and acting the role of devoted mother to perfection. Ava had said very little, answering the questions put to her monosyllabically. A photographer had arrived, and after the pictures had been taken, Ava had stood up, kissed her mother and left. As she was leaving, Cheska had muttered something about seeing Simon the next day, and that she’d have some good news for Ava afterwards.

  As Ava sat down on the bus, she forced herself to acknowledge that Cheska was in love with Simon. And maybe he with her. When she arrived back in her room, Ava lay on her bed for a few minutes with tears in her eyes but decided that there was no point brooding over it now. She made up her mind that she would leave for Wales tomorrow and go and see LJ. Even though she knew she couldn’t tell LJ about the tragedy that had struck Marchmont, she felt she needed to be in her aunt’s secure, solid presence. As she closed her eyes, desperately tired and willing sleep to come, she thought about where the investigators had said the fire had started. And suddenly, with every fibre in her body, she knew her mother was lying.

  51

  ‘Hello, Mr Glenwilliam, I have a call for you from David Marchmont.’

  ‘Thank you, Sheila.’

  ‘Glenwilliam?’

  ‘David, I’m awfully glad you’ve called.’

  ‘We’ve only just arrived back at our hotel in Lhasa from a trek in the Himalayas. There were messages asking me to contact both you and Ava urgently. I couldn’t reach Ava at the number she gave me in London, so you were my next port of call. What’s happened? Is it my mother?’

  ‘No. She’s all right, as far as I know. At least, she’s in a nursing home—’

  ‘A nursing home?!’

  ‘Yes, but in the circumstances, we can all be relieved she was. One of the reasons I was trying to get hold of you is because Marchmont was badly damaged in a fire a few days ago.’

  ‘Oh God! Was anybody hurt?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Thank heavens. I’m grateful to you for contacting me, Glenwilliam.’

  ‘Well, Miss Hammond did advise me that I wouldn’t be able to reach you, but I thought it best that I—’

  ‘Cheska?! She’s back in the UK?’

  ‘Yes, although, apparently, she’s in London now. And, of course, Ava’s there, too, at college.’

  ‘Jesus Christ! It sounds as if all hell has broken loose! My mother’s in a nursing home, Marchmont has gone up in smoke and Cheska’s back in England. Is she with Ava now?’

  ‘Miss Hammond is staying at the Savoy, so your housekeeper tells me. I’ve rung the hotel a number of times, but she’s yet to return my calls. I really must speak to her. Now she has temporary power of attorney for Marchmont, I can’t do anything without her say-so. Plus—’

  ‘Power of attorney? Cheska? Why?’

  ‘I’m sorry, David, allow me to back-track a little. The reason your mother is in a nursing home is because she had a stroke in September. It was thought best by the doctors and myself for Miss Hammond to handle Marchmont’s financial affairs whilst she recovers.’

  ‘A stroke? How bad was it?’

  ‘From what I’ve gathered, she’s recovering well. However, there is another problem you need to be aware of, which is’ – Glenwilliam paused nervously for a moment before imparting the news – ‘that a substantial amount of money has been withdrawn from the Marchmont estate account, and I wanted to check that this was done on Miss Hammond’s instruction and obviously, why she’s transferred it.’

  ‘What? Why in God’s name did you allow Cheska to have power of attorney?!’ David exploded. ‘Surely you could have waited until you had spoken to me?’

  ‘Forgive me, David, but I didn’t know how long it might take to contact you, and Miss Hammond was most insistent. Of course, I offered to run the estate for her in your absence, but she seemed determined to take on the responsibility herself. There was little I could do to stop her. Your mother’s doctor had written a statement that she was unfit to continue running the estate.’

  ‘And both your heads were turned by her famous face and legendary charm, no doubt. Did she also ask who would inherit the estate on my mother’s death?’

  There was another pause. ‘I believe she did, yes.’

  ‘And you told her?’

  ‘She seemed to know already, David. I merely clarified the situation.’

  ‘Look, I’ll fly home as soon as possible. I’ll go to London first, speak to Cheska and find out what the hell is going on. I’ll be in touch when I land. Goodbye.’

  David slammed down the receiver and lay back on the bed with a groan.

  Tor had just emerged from the shower. ‘My goodness! It’s nice to have a few luxuries after weeks of washing with buckets and sleeping on those dreadful mats! David, what on earth is it? You’re as white as a sheet!’
r />   ‘I knew we shouldn’t have been out of contact for such a long time. It’s complete mayhem in England!’

  ‘But, darling, that was the whole point. To get away from things, be by ourselves for a while.’

  ‘If anything’s happened to her . . . I’ll . . .’ David’s shoulders began to heave.

  Tor sat next to him and put her arms around him. ‘Happened to who? What? Tell me!’

  ‘My mother’s had a stroke. Glenwilliam says she’s in a nursing home. And Cheska’s come home.’

  ‘Cheska? She’s at Marchmont?’

  ‘No, Tor. On top of that, there’s been a fire. The house has burnt down. I don’t know how bad it is, but Glenwilliam gave Cheska power of attorney and now she’s gone to London, having removed what Glenwilliam called a “substantial amount of money” from the Marchmont estate account.’

  ‘Good Lord! It sounds as if we’d better see if we can get a flight back to London immediately. I’ll ring the concierge while you go and make yourself a stiff drink. And one for me, too,’ Tor added.

  David stood up and wandered over to the minibar. He poured himself a large gin, added some tonic and ice and took a healthy gulp.

  Twenty minutes later Tor was off the phone and was starting to stuff clothes into David’s overnight bag. ‘You’re booked on a flight tonight. You’ll have to go via Beijing, then transfer to London. It’s rather a long wait in Beijing, but it’s the best I could do at short notice. You should get into Heathrow early evening on Sunday, local time.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘Only one seat left on the plane, I’m afraid, darling. They’re making enquiries for me now, and I’ll follow on as soon as I can.’

  ‘This is all my fault.’ David sighed in despair. ‘If I hadn’t been so fixated on taking this trip, I might have realised Cheska was up to something.’

  Tor sat him down on the bed and gently took his hands in hers. ‘Dear David, you’ve spent your life trying to look after Greta, Cheska and Ava. None of them is even a blood relation to you. The fact that you allowed yourself some time for you doesn’t make you guilty of anything. You must remember that.’

  ‘Thank you, darling. I’ll try to.’

  ‘Now, you’d better jump into the shower. You’ve only got twenty minutes before you need to leave for the airport.’

  Ava was sitting at her desk, desperately trying to finish her essay so that she could leave it in her tutor’s pigeonhole before she left for Marchmont, when she heard a knock on the door.

  ‘Phone call for you, Ava.’

  Ava walked to the payphone.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘It’s me, Mary. I’m sorry to bother you, but I don’t know what else to do. I tried last night and nobody picked up the telephone.’

  ‘Is it LJ?’ Ava’s heart yet again missed a beat.

  ‘Ava, don’t panic, she’s not dead, or at least not that I know. She’s just . . . missing.’

  ‘Missing? What on earth do you mean?’

  ‘I went to visit her last night at the nursing home. The matron was surprised to see me. She thought I would know that Mrs Marchmont had been removed by her niece a few days ago, but she doesn’t know where to.’

  ‘What?! You’re saying Cheska has taken her out of the nursing home and didn’t tell us?’

  ‘Yes. On Monday, before she left for London. She told me not to visit for a couple of days as your great-aunt was being taken to Abergavenny Hospital for an assessment.’

  ‘Then, surely, that’s where she is?’

  ‘No, I telephoned them and they say that Mrs Marchmont isn’t due for any assessment until next week.’ Ava heard Mary stifle a sob.

  ‘Well it’s very simple, I’ll call my mother now and find out where and why she’s moved her.’

  ‘I tried her last night at the Savoy, but the receptionist said that she’d blocked her line until further notice. Oh Ava, what has your mother done with her?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I promise you I’m going to find out. Try not to panic, Mary. I’m sure she’s all right. Any word from Uncle David? According to his itinerary, he should be at his hotel in Lhasa about now.’

  ‘No word yet, but I’m sure he’ll call as soon as he gets the message.’

  ‘We need him home urgently, Mary, he’s the only one who can make sense of what’s happened. I was planning to come up to Wales this evening, but obviously I need to see my mother first. I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve seen her and found out where she’s taken LJ.’

  ‘Thank you, fach. But please take care when you go and ask her, won’t you?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ava asked her.

  ‘I . . . just that, perhaps your mother isn’t quite what she seems.’

  Ava thought grimly that she’d begun to work that out for herself.

  Simon knocked on the door of Cheska’s suite.

  ‘Come in!’

  He tried the handle and discovered it was unlocked.

  ‘Hello?’ he said as he walked inside.

  ‘In here, darling,’ said a voice from the bedroom. ‘Come through.’

  ‘Okay.’ He opened the door. ‘Sorry I’m a bit late, Cheska, I . . .’

  The sight that met his eyes rendered him silent. Cheska was lying on the bed clad only in a black bra, briefs and sheer stockings held up by a lace suspender belt. She had a glass of champagne in her hand.

  ‘Hello, honey.’ She smiled at him.

  ‘Where’s the record producer you wanted me to meet?’ Simon asked, trying to look anywhere other than at Cheska.

  ‘He’s arriving later. Come here, darling. We have so much to celebrate.’ She held out her arms to him.

  Simon sank into a chair.

  ‘Bobby, there’s no need to be shy. You never used to be shy, did you?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Cheska. And, for the umpteenth time, my name is Simon.’

  ‘Sure it is. Here, have some champagne. It’ll relax you.’

  ‘No, thanks. Look, Cheska, I’m afraid there’s been a bit of a mistake.’

  ‘What “mistake”?’

  ‘I think, I—’ Simon struggled for the right words. ‘I think you want things from me that I just can’t give you.’

  ‘Such as?’ Cheska smiled seductively. ‘If you mean your body and your heart and your soul, then yes, you’re right. I want them. I love you, Bobby. I always have. I know you’re angry with me for what I did to you, but I’ll make it up to you, I swear. And, besides, your face is all healed up now.’ She stood up and advanced towards him. As he sat there frozen with shock, she climbed on top of him, straddling his legs with hers. ‘Please, Bobby, forgive me, forgive me.’ She leant forward to kiss his neck.

  ‘No!’ Recovering his senses, Simon jumped up, throwing her off and almost toppling her backwards.

  Cheska regained her balance and looked up at him from under her eyelashes. ‘I know you’re playing hard to get. You always did tease me. Give in now, Bobby, let’s forget about the past and make a fresh start. Life is going to be so wonderful. I’m moving to London so we can be together. I’ve seen a fabulous apartment in Knightsbridge I’m going to rent for us. I’ve got a great part in a television series and you’ll have a recording deal and—’

  ‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Simon took her by the shoulders and shook her.

  Cheska continued to smile at him in her dreamy way. ‘I remember you did like to hurt me sometimes. I don’t mind. Anything you want, darling, anything.’

  Simon felt her foot rubbing up and down his leg. ‘Shut up!’ His hand whipped across her face, not hard enough to hurt, but the shock silenced her. She looked up at him, a wounded expression in her eyes.

  ‘Bobby, what have I done? Please tell me.’

  Simon steered her to the chair and sat her down. ‘Cheska, for the last time, my name is not Bobby. It’s Simon Hardy. I only met you a few weeks ago. We have had no past, and we have no future either.’

  ‘I . . . oh, you always wer
e cruel, Bobby. Don’t you like me any more? Tell me what it is I’ve done.’

  ‘You haven’t done anything, Cheska. It just wouldn’t work out, that’s all.’

  ‘Please give me a chance to show you how happy I can make you.’

  ‘No. You have to understand that any relationship is impossible.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I’m in love with someone else, that’s why.’

  Cheska stared into the distance, then turned back to him, her face full of hate.

  ‘You’re doing it again, aren’t you?’

  ‘No, Cheska. I’ve never done this before. To you, or anyone else.’

  ‘Don’t lie to me! All those nights we spent together. You used to say you loved me, would always love me, and then, and then . . .’ Cheska’s voice trailed off.

  ‘Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m going to leave now.’ Simon moved towards the door.

  ‘Who is she?! Is it that wife you hid away for years, or that little whore of a make-up girl you were screwing at the same time as me?’

  ‘I have no idea what or who you’re talking about. I’m sorry things have turned out like this.’

  ‘If you walk out now, I swear I’ll come after you and punish you like I did before.’

  Simon turned round and saw the darkness in her glassy eyes.

  ‘I think you need help, Cheska. Goodbye.’

  As Ava sat on the bus to the Savoy, her thoughts seemed to crowd in on her. There had been plenty of moments in the past few weeks when she had watched Cheska’s mood change in an instant, but she’d always put her mother’s odd behaviour down to her having lived in such a rarefied world and being so famous. Everyone that met her felt honoured and in awe of her; they all adored her. Ava knew that she, too, had initially fallen under Cheska’s spell.

  But she now knew that her mother had lied to both her and Mary about removing LJ from the nursing home. And, as for the fire – Ava sighed as she stepped off the bus and waited for the traffic lights to change so she could cross the road to the Savoy – did the inspector really believe that Cheska could have had nothing to do with it? Had he been taken in like the rest of them?

  The problem was, whether he had or he hadn’t, there was little she could do about it. Cheska was her mother, and she could hardly call him and tell him she suspected her.