by Mary Grand
Juliet was surprised at her mother’s tone. ‘You are being very forgiving, Mum.’
Her mother sighed. ‘It’s a dark world, it’s not easy to see the way sometimes. We can all take a wrong turn.’
Juliet looked at her mother more closely, she could see dark rims under her eyes, she was fiddling with the delicate wristwatch she always wore, but her fingers were shaking.
‘Are you all right, Mum?’ Juliet asked.
‘I’ve had a lot to think about.’
‘You don’t need to come to the barbecue you know, you look very tired.’
Her mother nodded, but there was no smile. ‘I have to come.’ She lowered her voice so only Juliet heard her add, ‘We need to be careful this evening, I think.’
Juliet shuddered.
In a far more normal and matter-of-fact way, her mother then said, ‘I shall drive us to the barbeque, they forecast stormy weather later. I hope it holds off for the barbecue. Anyway, I don’t want to be staggering home in the dark, falling in ditches.’
Juliet took a deep breath. ‘Before we go, I just wanted to ask one or two questions about the night Rhys died.’
Cassie groaned. ‘I thought we’d settled all this.’
‘Almost, it’s just handy having you all together.’ She looked at her mother. ‘Mum, did you find Rhys’s crucifix in your handbag?’
She saw her mother’s eyes dart between Rosalind and Cassie.
‘It’s not a difficult question, Mum.’
Slowly her mother nodded her head.
‘Right, good. Rosalind did you see Cassie through the window of the workshop that night?’
Rosalind frowned and shook her head.
‘You didn’t wave to her?’
‘No, but—'
‘Exactly,’ interrupted Cassie, ‘Rosalind was, um, preoccupied.’
Juliet shrugged, gave a quick smile. ‘It’s just easier if people tell the truth that’s all. Finally, Cassie, the night Harry died, did you go in to see Mum?’
Cassie blushed, shook her head.
‘No, I didn’t think so. See, it doesn’t hurt, does it? Right, time we went.’ She walked away satisfied. At last, her family had started to tell her the truth.
When they arrived at the vineyard, there were already a number of cars parked on the verges. Fortunately, they found a space fairly close to the house. As they got out of the car, they could hear the strains of French music, see the lights, smell the barbeque.
‘I love this,’ said Rosalind, ‘it’s like being transported to France. Shame it’s so bloody cold.’
When they arrived at the house, Juliet saw that Maddie had opened the patio doors at the end of the living room, allowing people to easily go between the inside area of tables, chairs and drinks, and the barbeque outside. She had arranged some patio heaters and it looked magical with candles, fairy lights and lanterns spread around. There were also beautifully woven balls and crosses made of soaked vine twigs with autumn grasses entwined in their branches.
In the living room, clusters of chairs had been laid out and the older members of the party had settled in there. The guests’ bags were taken by a waiter and put into the room opposite. However, when a waiter approached Juliet’s mother, she was surprised to hear her mother speak quite sharply. ‘I will hold onto my own bag, thank you.’
Her mother went to join some of her friends and Juliet went outside and savoured the heavenly smell of the barbeque.
Gabriel came over to see her and smiled as he held out a heaped plate of food. ‘I’m so glad you all came.’
‘Of course, we wouldn’t miss it.’
Juliet had also held onto her bag, so she placed it by her feet, took the plate.
‘Shall I put your bag somewhere safe?’ he asked.
‘I think it’s safer with me thanks,’ she said.
Their eyes met, he frowned at her, stared, but she held his gaze until finally he looked away.
She glanced down at her plate of food; a small, rare steak, marinated chicken, dressed salad, and buttered potatoes.
‘Wow, this looks lovely, thank you.’ She sniffed the air. ‘Now that would make a good scent for an air freshener. Better than the one Mira put in my car.’
Again, their eyes met, the look in his now more searching, but this time she felt unable to hold his gaze and looked away. Her hands started to shake, and she understood that putting together the pieces of a puzzle here was a very dangerous game.
Her mouth was so dry, it was hard to swallow. Cassie came over to them, grinned at Gabriel. ‘So is Maddie due to give her annual address soon?’
Gabriel laughed. ‘Actually I am doing the honours this evening. Maddie thought it was time.’
Cassie leant forward and kissed him quickly on the cheek. ‘There you are, that’s for luck.’
Juliet saw Cassie surreptitiously push something into his pocket. Gabriel didn’t seem to notice, but blushed and joked, ‘Well thanks, that will make all the difference.’
Cassie laughed. ‘I’m sure you’ll do it perfectly; in fact, people are already pretty pissed – you can’t go wrong!’
He grinned and made his way to the top of the steps that led into the living room, where he could address both sets of guests, and the music was turned off. Gabriel clinked the side of his glass and everyone turned his way. Before he started to speak there was the awkward interruption of someone’s phone signalling a text. Juliet glanced around, saw it was Cassie, who then left them all to read her messages. Gabriel’s speech was short, thanking everyone for coming and sharing in his deep sense of pride in the vineyard and workers there.
Juliet listened, clapped politely but was preoccupied. She had things she wanted to do, but people were in and out of the house. She noticed Gabriel frequently refreshing his glass. There was nothing she could do but wait for things to quieten down. She was careful not to drink too much but went round chatting.
At about eleven, Juliet noticed the caterers were quietly starting to shut things down. The older members of the village began to take their leave and the younger people who might have been tempted to make a night of free food and drink saw that both were running out.
Juliet’s mother came over to her. ‘I’m thinking of making a move,’ she said. ‘Are you ready?’
Juliet looked up at the house, she had not done what she needed yet. ‘Not quite, you go on without me.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll wait.’
‘No, Mum, really, I’d rather come home in my own time.’
‘I want to get back,’ Rosalind said. ‘I’m expecting to FaceTime with some friends.’
Her mother looked torn, but Mira said, ‘I’d like to get back as well Mum, I’ve left Lola for a long time.’
Cassie came over. ‘I have to go somewhere so I don’t need a lift back.’
She sounded serious.
‘Is everything okay?’ Rosalind asked.
‘Oh yes, I just need to do something, you all go on without me.’
Their mother frowned. ‘I suppose I can’t make you two girls come with me.’ She sighed. ‘It was so much easier when you were children. Anyway, both of you take care, remember there’s a storm on its way.’
Cassie left them all and started to walk down the path.
Juliet, sensing her mother was still hesitating, said, ‘Go on Mum, I’ll be fine.’
Her mother nodded and started to walk away with Rosalind and Mira.
Mira, however, looked back, her face anxious. She didn’t speak but signed to Juliet, ‘Are you okay?’
Juliet signed back, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll see you later.’
Mira nodded and slowly walked away.
It was then Juliet noticed Gabriel and Maddie seeing people off further along the path. Now was her chance.
She walked quickly into the house and the first thing she did was go into the kitchen and search among the herbs and spices. Then she went up the stairs. First, she went into the bathroom, looked around. Second, she went to Gabr
iel’s room. She opened the drawer where she knew he kept Harry’s things, but before she could look inside, she heard a cough behind her.
‘Why are you looking in there?’ His words were slightly slurred.
He walked over to her, stood very close. She could smell alcohol on his breath. She could hear people downstairs clearing up, but they seemed a long way away. She took a deep breath. Be brave, I must be brave, she thought.
‘I was wondering if I could see that letter that you said the secretary of the running club sent to Harry.’
His face darkened but he reached into the draw, handed her the envelope. She took out the letter, perused it carefully, re-read that line with ‘after you’ve gone’ in it. She glanced at the envelope she’d allowed to distract her before, and then handed it back. She’d seen what she needed.
‘Thank you.’
‘If that’s everything, I think the party has come to an end. I saw your mother leaving, can I offer you a lift?’
She backed towards the door. ‘No, it’s okay, I’ll walk.’
‘Be careful then, we don’t want any more accidents.’
Juliet stumbled down the stairs. She had to get away.
34
Juliet left the house and hurried along the path. It seemed very dark now, horribly quiet. There was that stillness that hangs heavy with anticipation before a storm, as if nature is holding its breath, longing for the tension to break.
There were no cars parked now; everyone had gone home. Her heart was racing as she left the vineyard and faced the long narrow lane that led down to the main road. There were no streetlights, just darkness. She was completely alone. If anyone followed her down here, attacked her, no one would see.
The road seemed longer than ever. A barn owl screeched above her, a fox let out a cry, creatures rustled in the hedges. She walked faster. It was with a breath of relief she finally reached the main road.
Juliet crossed the road to walk on the grass verge. It felt safer along here even though it was dark and there were still no street lights. She wasn’t hemmed in by hedges and the road may be deserted but it was a major, well maintained road. The grassy area that led to the cliffs on her right was wide, she was well away from the sea she could hear crashing on the rocks below.
As she walked, she started to relax, her breathing became more measured. However, suddenly, without any warning, she heard a loud car behind her, obviously driving at speed. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a small car travelling in her direction, being driven in an erratic manner, swerving all over the place. It raced towards her and to her horror she saw it mount the grassy verge at the side of the road. Fighting her instinct to freeze, Juliet ran onto the grass, but the car kept driving in her direction. Just as she thought there was no escape, she heard the screeching of brakes, and the engine cut out. Juliet turned to see the car, a small Fiat Panda, and stopped. The headlights were still on and enabled her to see a man slumped over the steering wheel. Her instinct was to keep running, but she fought it, she had to see if the driver needed help. Juliet pulled open the driver’s door, saw the gash on the man’s forehead and then she recognised him.
‘Gabriel, my God, Gabriel,’ Juliet screamed.
The smell of alcohol filled the small car. Gabriel rested back in the car seat, turned his head towards Juliet, giving her a lopsided, slightly wild grin.
It was only then she fully understood what had happened. Gabriel had been driving the car at her, he had been trying to kill her.
‘What the hell?’ Juliet shouted, her voice loud, hysterical.
The grin disappeared; his face crumpled in despair. ‘I’m sorry.’
Juliet, breathing heavily, left the car door open and collapsed onto the grass besides it, trying to breath. Gabriel touched his forehead and the sight of the blood seemed to sober him.
‘You’ve been asking so many questions, you wouldn’t let anything go. I had to do something. I’m so sorry,’ he stammered.
She looked over at him, his face becoming clearer as she adjusted to the light. ‘I know what happened Gabriel, I know everything about Harry and Rhys. I know Harry was not going to France. That’s where it all started, didn’t it?’
‘But Harry was going to France, I proved it.’
‘No, he wasn’t.’
‘But—'
‘For all your covering up, you made mistakes. You were unlucky with one that I noticed, I don’t suppose many people would have seen it, but then not many people have fathers who have been avid stamp collectors.’
She saw him shake his head in confusion, and so she explained. ‘It was the stamp on the envelope of the letter supposedly from the running club. That stamp on the envelope was not printed until September 1995 and yet the letter was meant to have been sent in August. The secretary would have known within a day or two what had happened to Harry, he certainly wouldn’t have been posting a letter in September. The other thing about that letter that disturbed me was that ‘after you’ve gone’ but I couldn’t work out why. Once I thought about it, re-read the letter, I realised that it was the handwriting that was familiar. Although you’d tried to disguise your own, the odd cursive ‘y’ and ‘f’ had crept into that phrase.’
Juliet paused, shivered as she became aware rain was falling steadily now. She could feel the cold wet drops on her head, drizzling down her neck, and inside her coat. She pulled her coat more tightly around herself and continued. ‘And of course, there was Barbara. She never quite stopped questioning why Harry would be out training in that awful weather if he was leaving. He’d not gone out because of a bad temper; he was back training because the truth was, Harry was planning to stay and make a life with Cassie, wasn’t he?’
Gabriel screwed up his eyes. ‘Even if Harry was staying, why does it matter? It doesn’t prove anything.’
‘Oh, but it provides motive. Cassie told me the dream Harry had had, the woodland and the house, he was going to transform his half of the land up there and that would have decimated the vineyard, but there was nothing you could have done to stop him.’
Gabriel gripped the steering wheel, stared through the rain splattered windscreen. Juliet waited until he finally turned to her, his face stern, lips tight. ‘It would have destroyed everything; it would have broken Maddie’s heart.’
‘And so, Harry had to be stopped.’
Gabriel glanced at her. She held his gaze. Eventually he said, ‘I didn’t want Harry to die.’
‘No, I don’t think you did.’
‘But he had to,’ he said, his voice cold. ‘I had to save the vineyard, I had to do it for Maddie.’ He sat back, his eyes narrowed, and his voice became harder, more defiant. ‘You can’t prove anything. Ed will testify I was in the night Harry died; you know that.’
‘I know you went out before eight, it’s why you were so wet. My guess is you didn’t go to see to the vines, you went to stage the break in at the garage, steal the car, have it ready. Timing was everything. And then what happened? Maybe, while Ed was messing about listening to music, you managed to get out without him noticing?’
Gabriel nodded.
Juliet sighed and said, ‘So you thought you’d got away with it. You only had a motive if Harry was staying and so you faked the letter. He’d already bought his tickets, you could hold them as proof as well. You held onto the ignition key – was that a mistake or your insurance? It was a useful thing to plant on someone if things got difficult or, of course, one day to use to frighten my father.’
Juliet saw something close to real distress spread across Gabriel’s face. His eyes were wet with tears. ‘I never meant your dad to have that accident. He’d told me he was going to tell Rosalind about Cassie and Harry being her parents; I couldn’t have allowed it all to be raked up. Everyone still talks about Harry. If they knew he was Rosalind’s father, if Cassie told them he was planning to stay, well, how long would it take for people to start asking questions?’
Juliet shook her head. ‘But it was unforgivable, you
know that. My dad was like a second father to you and yet you showed him the old VW ignition key.’ She paused, her voice shaking, the pain in her throat making it impossible to speak.
They sat in silence, the waves clawing at the shingle below. In the distance she heard another deep growl of thunder, a crack of lightening; the storm was closing in.
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Gabriel quietly.
She shook her head. ‘You keep saying sorry, but it doesn’t mean anything. I despise what you did. Even after Harry and my dad it didn’t stop, did it? Because my father told Rhys.’
Gabriel closed his eyes as if trying to shut her out, but she continued.
‘Rhys went to see Maddie the day he died. He told her everything Dad had said, and you decided he had to be silenced.’
Gabriel opened his eyes, turned and said, ‘So how do you think I did it? You said yourself someone in your house had taken your set of car keys, that indicates that if anyone here had anything to do with Rhys’s death it was someone in your family.’
Juliet, aware how wet the ground around her was becoming, stood up. Looking towards the road she saw a car race past, the occupants unaware of the drama they were passing, just thinking of getting home, being safe and warm.
Juliet looked down at Gabriel now as she spoke. ‘For too long I let myself assume my car keys had to have been taken out of my bag at the house. But of course, that wasn’t true was it. I didn’t work it out until yesterday, but now I know. You took them from my bag when we were on the beach, when you’d said you were going to find your phone. But you wanted to return them, continue to throw suspicion on my family. I had to think of a time when you’d had access to my bag, but I wouldn’t notice what you were doing. Of course when you gave me the monocular I was completely distracted from what you were doing and I found my set of car keys that evening at home, never making the connection with you.’
She touched the door frame and suddenly she recognised the car. ‘I’ve just realised you hadn’t intended to use my car originally.’ She paused, gave herself time to think and then said, ‘You’d been planning to kill Rhys before you met me that evening and so you must have had a car ready. I think this was that car. I should have realised. I saw the keys hanging up when I went to Dad’s garage the evening of his funeral but then when I returned, they’d gone. I didn’t give it any thought but now I realise you’d stolen them, hadn’t you? I guess you’d held onto your old garage keys, so it was easy enough for you to go up there and steal the keys. That meant that as long as the owners of the car were away, you had quick and easy access to the car whenever you needed it.’