‘No, not if you don’t want to. I might need you if there’s anything to open or move, but I’ll have a look first. Keep shining your torch on the stairs.’ He’d forgotten that she wasn’t keen on dark spaces like this.
There was no banister to hold on to but the steps were narrow so he was able to brace himself against the wall. She had crouched down and was keeping the beam of light steady. ‘What can you see?’
He shone his torch around the space. ‘Not much, it’s almost empty.’ His voice echoed back to her. ‘Hang on, there’s a trunk in the far corner. I’m sorry, honey, you’re going to have to come down; I can’t shift this on my own.’
With some reluctance she descended into the cellar. ‘I don’t like the dark. It feels as if the walls are closing in on me.’
He was about to warn her to avoid the cobweb but she walked straight into it. She couldn’t prevent her squeak of shock as it stuck to her face.
‘At least there’re no spiders in it. Come on, it’s bloody freezing down here. We need to get this thing up those stairs so we can look inside it in comfort.’
He couldn’t hold a torch and drag the trunk so she would have to provide the illumination. She immediately understood his dilemma.
‘Why don’t you give me your torch as well? I think I can just about manage to hold both of them in one hand.’
‘There’s a handle on that end; if you grab that I’ll push from the back.’
The trunk wasn’t as heavy as he’d expected and between them, they managed quite easily to drag it across the cellar floor and bump it up the steps.
‘It’s filthy so we can’t put it on the table. I think it will be easier to look inside if it’s not on the floor.’
‘Just a minute, I’ll find an old tablecloth. I don’t want to spoil this one. Can you clear everything off whilst I look?’
Eventually, the trunk was sitting on the table, free of cobwebs and ready to be investigated. ‘It’s locked. I don’t know how we’re going to get into it without the key,’ he said.
She ran her fingers around the keyhole. ‘Do you know, I think I’ve seen something that might fit this. It’s hanging inside the grandfather clock in the hall.’
‘You’re right. I’ve always wondered why there were two keys in there as we only need one of them to wind it up.’
The key fitted and he, with some difficulty, managed to turn it. She lifted the lid. He wasn’t sure what they were expecting to find.
‘Documents and ledgers. They look ancient. I wonder why Mary hid them in the cellar?’
‘There’s only one way to find out, sweetheart, and that’s by reading them.’
He was forced to immediately abandon the task as the ink was faded and his sight wasn’t strong enough to decipher the words. ‘It’s up to you, Ellie. Which reminds me, my glasses should be ready to be collected by now. I’m hoping my vision will be better once I have them.’
She looked up and stared at him in alarm. ‘Not good enough to fly again, I hope.’
‘No such luck. But they will make my work easier.’
She’d started with the documents and was busy sorting them into date order. ‘Have you any idea what they’re about?’
‘I’m just about to read the first one. It’s dated 1903.’ He watched her expression change as she read and a pulse of excitement surged around his body.
‘Jack, Mary Hatfield wasn’t Mary Hatfield at all. She was Lady Mary Sinclair; her father was the Earl of Silchester. How extraordinary. Why would she wish to hide her true identity?’
‘She was obviously born long before that; if it’s not her birth certificate, what is it you’re reading?’
‘It’s a letter from her solicitors saying that she is… Good gracious! I can’t believe it.’
‘What? Don’t keep me in suspense.’
‘This document is telling her that now she’s reached the age of twenty-five she has full access to her trust fund of £300,000.’
He gripped the back of a chair to hold himself upright. ‘It doesn’t make any kind of sense.’
‘I think it explains everything. Someone from her past knew about this inheritance and killed her in order to inherit the money themselves. We must give this information to the police. It’s the best lead there’s been so far.’
‘Money is usually the main motive for any crime. I don’t see why this should be different. If we had a telephone, I could ring him up and tell him now, but it will have to wait until tomorrow morning.’
‘I don’t think it should wait. There’s a kiosk about a mile from here. I think we must walk there and contact Inspector Gardner. Didn’t he give you a card with his home number on it?’
He frowned and instead of going in search of his boots, he removed his coat and sat down at the table.
‘Please, Jack, I’ve got a very bad feeling about this. Why would that person have tried to break in? I can’t see that finding this trunk could be of any use to any member of her family who hoped to inherit her fortune.’
‘And I can’t see that whether we let Gardner know tonight or tomorrow morning is going to make any difference.’ As he spoke, he was putting all the things back in the trunk and then carefully relocking it. ‘There’s a murderer out there and I’m not going to risk taking you out in the dark until he’s caught.’
She shivered. ‘All right, it can wait until tomorrow. You haven’t answered my question. What possible advantage would there be for the murderer to have attempted to find this trunk?’
‘I need a hot drink. If you hang up our coats, I’ll get some of that coffee brewing and I think we deserve the chocolate too.’
He was deliberately avoiding her question. When she returned to the kitchen the trunk was safely hidden.
‘I didn’t think you would move that on your own. Where have you put it?’
‘Back in the pantry. We might as well have another bit of cake to go with the chocolate, don’t you think?’
‘Give me a shout when it’s ready and I’ll come and get the tray. I’ll have the fire going in the drawing room by then.’
He carried the plate with the cake and chocolate, and she had the tray with the coffee pot and mugs. It was a good thing neither of them liked sugar in their drinks as they had so little of it nowadays.
The decorations made him uncomfortable and he regretted having put them up. Would she think it bad luck to take them down before twelfth night? As far as he was concerned Christmas was cancelled this year. They’d agreed not to worry about gifts, they weren’t seeing the family, so apart from having a special lunch it would be a day like any other.
‘We haven’t had real coffee at home since last year when we had Christmas at Glebe Farm. It’s such a treat and just the smell makes me feel better.’
‘Break me off a few squares of chocolate, honey. My mouth’s watering at the thought of it.’
They munched and slurped contentedly for a while then he finally returned to what they’d been talking about before.
‘I have a nasty feeling this is still to do with her adopted son. He is her direct heir. What if he somehow discovered not only who his birthmother was, but also that she was not who she purported to be?’
‘I don’t think that a son could kill his mother in cold blood. And anyway, that’s stretching coincidence too far. Remember, she had a will and left her estate to be divided equally…’ She stopped and her colour drained. ‘Do you think she might have told her friends that she was going to leave them her money?’
His mug was halfway to his mouth. Slowly he put it down. He understood exactly what she was getting at.
‘Jeez – if any one of them had found out they were in line to inherit over fifty thousand each that’s more than enough motive to kill her.’
‘Then it’s possible the intruder was nothing to do with all this after all.’
He drained his mug. ‘There’s one thing that bothers me about your solution. When her identity is revealed all five families would become prime
suspects.’
The remaining chocolate and cake no longer looked so appealing.
‘I don’t want to think about this anymore. I thought we’d finished with skulduggery and so on after your near fatal abduction by those villainous friends of your uncle. Now we seem to be involved in it again.’ She stood up and piled everything onto the tray. ‘I’m going to put the cake back in the tin. I’m sure we’ve got mice in the pantry.’
He took her cue and pushed himself to his feet. ‘What we need is a house cat and maybe a dog as well? Take care of both problems – four-footed and two-footed intruders.’
‘That’s what we’ll give each other for Christmas. We can’t go to Battersea this time but I’m sure there must be puppies and kittens available somewhere in the neighbourhood.’ Talking about having pets seemed to have cheered her up immensely. ‘I don’t mind if we rehome an older dog and cat, do you?’
‘I think I’d prefer housetrained animals. Let’s get this lot sorted and then go to bed. I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.’
Sixteen
Ellie slept surprisingly well considering the events of last night. When she turned over and reached out, Jack’s place in the bed was already empty. She put her hand where he should be and the sheets were cold. Why had he got up so early?
She tumbled out of bed and ran to the door in her nightie. ‘Jack, where are you? Is everything all right?’
There was no answer. She rushed downstairs her heart pounding. Her bare feet were frozen. She shivered and wished she stopped to put her slippers and dressing gown on. The kitchen was empty. She rushed to the back door and was shocked to find it ajar. A cold wind whistled into the boot room. Why had he gone out in the dark?
‘Jack, Jack, answer me,’ she yelled through the door.
Then he called back and her fists unclenched. She couldn’t distinguish what he’d said but he was obviously fine. There was no need for her to get any colder. The grandfather clock struck five. No wonder it was still dark – it was practically the middle of the night.
When she returned properly dressed, he was busy putting on the kettle. ‘I should think we woke the entire neighbourhood yelling at each other like that.’
‘Where were you? I was worried when I couldn’t find you anywhere.’
‘Bloody foxes after the ducks. I got there just in time.’
‘Why don’t you get your dressing gown and slippers on and take your wellingtons and coat off?’
He saluted. ‘Yes, ma’am. On my way.’
She grabbed his arm as he passed and pulled him close. ‘I love you so much, just the thought of anything happening to you sends me into a tailspin.’
‘Then you know how I feel every time you take off. You’re my world, I couldn’t carry on if you weren’t here.’
She stroked his bristly cheek. ‘Don’t be silly. If anything happens to me you will get on with things like everybody else has to. Good heavens – there must be thousands, if not millions, of families who have lost loved ones in this ghastly war. If they gave up, we would have already lost.’
‘Point taken.’ His eyes darkened. ‘As we’ve got two hours before we need to get ready so why don’t we go back to bed for a bit?’
‘Absolutely spiffing!’
He pursued her up the stairs and when they finally got dressed, they were running late and had no time for breakfast. As they parked their bicycles in the usual place she realised what day it was.
‘It’s Christmas Eve today, the fifth Christmas of this war. Do you think there’ll be another one before it’s over?’
He shrugged. ‘Probably. One thing we can be sure of, we’re not going to lose. Italy is now fighting on our side. The Yanks and RAF are bombing the hell out of Germany. Hitler can’t survive much longer.’
‘This time next year you’ll be studying at Oxford, George and Fiona will have two children and we’ll have a cat and a dog to fuss over.’ She’d been going to say that maybe they would have a baby too but her inability to get pregnant was too painful a subject to make light of.
‘We’ve just got time to grab a cuppa and some breakfast before the chits are out. I’ll make the necessary phone calls and ask around about any unwanted cats or dogs in the neighbourhood. We won’t get our telephone connected until sometime in January – but at least we’ll have one then.’
They carefully avoided talking about what they’d discovered. She certainly didn’t want to think that one of their neighbours was a murderer. Then something obvious occurred to her, something they hadn’t considered.
‘I wonder if the fact that she made her will in a false name will make it invalid. If that’s the case then our theories don’t work out.’
‘Forget about it for the moment, sweetheart. I want you to concentrate on your deliveries and not be worrying about this.’
‘You know me better than that, Jack. As soon as I’m in an aircraft I forget everything else.’
*
As promised, Ellie only had to deliver a Lancaster and collect one for repair and take it back to the MUs. She should be finished by lunchtime – unless a Priority 1 came in and she was the only one there to take it.
This ferry pool was quite different from Hamble. She was one of only three women based there and the smell and ambience was definitely masculine. The Mess was usually blue with cigarette and pipe smoke and the conversation often too rough for her to enjoy. She wasn’t one of those girls who wanted to speak like a man just because she did the work of one.
Therefore she rarely went in and if she did have an hour to spare she spent it with Jack in his office. She didn’t want to be patronised or given preferential treatment – both were unnecessary in her opinion.
The weather remained decent and she completed her two deliveries and didn’t have long to wait to get a taxi Fairchild back to base. She was the first to return and when she saw a Hurricane waiting on the side of the apron, her heart sank.
Frankie greeted her apologetically. ‘Sorry, but you’ve got to take the Hurry to Kenley. Someone will call in to collect you, but it won’t be until later today.’
‘As long as I get back, I don’t mind. If it’s not a priority, I’ll grab something to eat and see Jack before I leave – if that’s all right with you?’
‘Jolly good. Pop along and see him first, he’s up to his ears and can’t stop for lunch for a while.’
‘Then I’ll buy us both something at the canteen and eat mine with him.’
*
Jack was talking on the phone when she walked in with a tray of sandwiches and tea. He looked up and smiled but continued to talk.
‘Yes, I’ve been trying to reach you all day, Inspector. I’m sorry but it’s hardly my fault that you weren’t available. I’ve got the relevant document here with me and I can arrange for one of your constables to be allowed in to collect it for you or it can wait until we get home this evening.’
He jammed the receiver under his chin and reached out for his tea. This must be something he’d done before so she didn’t offer to help him.
‘Fine. Goodbye.’
‘He didn’t sound very happy.’
‘He wasn’t but that’s his problem. I rang as soon as I got in and left a message for him to contact me urgently and he’s only just done so. I’m not sure if he’s coming in person or sending a minion to collect the document.’
‘The more I think about it the stranger it seems that someone who was living incognito should choose to become a witch and draw attention to herself.’
He helped himself to a second sandwich. ‘Maybe it was because of this that she abandoned her aristocratic family.’
‘It’s more likely she was having an affair with a married man or something and then she got pregnant. She ran away rather than face the disgrace.’
‘Do you remember that she said her husband had died in the first war? What if she was already living with him but as you suggested he was married?’
‘Then, when she got pr
egnant and he was killed she had no option but to give the baby up as she’d already abandoned her family.’
‘I assumed that her husband had bought the house, possibly that was true but it wasn’t her husband but her lover.’
They cleared the plate and finished the tea. ‘I’d better get going, Frankie said I mustn’t be too long. We’re assuming that she left willingly – what if they threw her out?’
He came around the desk and hugged her. ‘We’ll find out soon enough. Fly safe, darling, I want you back for Christmas.’
*
Jack found it hard to settle to his work – his head was full of possibilities. Ellie had taken the tray back to the canteen and would be leaving as soon as she got on her gear and collected the paperwork.
He nipped down the passageway so he could see the airstrip and watch her take off. Visibility was perfect, more like October than Christmas.
‘There you are, Mr Reynolds, I wondered where you were.’
‘Inspector, won’t be a tick, just want to watch my wife leave.’
As expected, her take off was immaculate and a surge of pride flooded through him. He was the luckiest guy in the world to be married to her.
‘I still find it hard to credit that young ladies like Mrs Reynolds are flying operational aircraft. Mrs Gardner said I was making it up when I told her that your wife flew four-engined bombers from place to place.’
Jack turned. ‘Shall we go back to my office? I’ve got a lot to get through and shouldn’t really be out here at all.’
He managed to find a small, battered, folding chair that he kept leaning against the wall for Ellie and other visitors. When someone was sitting on it you couldn’t open or close the door.
‘Here you are, this is the document I told you about.’
‘Presumably there are more where this came from?’
He was tempted to lie but then decided against it. ‘There’s a trunk that we found hidden in the cellar but we haven’t had the chance to look through everything. It’s full of old ledgers and so on. This was the only thing of any relevance to your investigation.’
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