A Brush with Death

by Ali Carter

  Diana was uninterested in this particular piece of evidence.

  Inspector Grey continued, ‘While it feels wholly inappropriate to suspect our Lord-Lieutenant of any wrong-doing, we can confirm she was at the commemoration service.’

  ‘Of course she was at the service,’ snapped Diana.

  ‘Well, My Lady, it has been brought to our attention that your late husband acted outside the law. Eighteen years ago there were illicit dealings between him and the head of the town and county planners, Mr Tim Hoare.’

  Arthur looked alarmed and turned to his mother, who calmly said, ‘Darling, it’s nothing for you to worry about.’

  Having made his point about Alexander’s backhander, Inspector Grey then cleared his throat. He looked down Arthur and Diana’s side of the table, and then he glanced towards Asquintha. ‘We have further questions for you, Lady Cornfield, and so I will be asking you to accompany me back to the police station.’

  It was clear that Asquintha was considered the prime suspect. I was sure the Inspector had got it wrong.

  I could see the corners of Diana’s mouth twitch.

  Arthur sprang up and strode around the table to his wife. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head with a sensitivity that made my eyes water.

  I put a hand on her thigh. I wanted to comfort her, regardless of whether I thought she had done it or not. Then she squeezed my hand, with a strength I was sure would get her through whatever lay ahead.

  ‘I have a warrant with me.’ Inspector Grey shuffled through papers in his briefcase and then pushed it towards Diana, ‘This morning my team, in search of mallets and hammers, will be carrying out a thorough investigation of the annex, and all cars that were stationary here on the morning of Sunday the twenty-sixth November.’

  ‘Very well,’ said Diana, passing the warrant across the table to Arthur who let it lie between them. His hands were not leaving his wife’s shoulders.

  Inspector Grey turned to Asquintha and said, ‘You will need to be confined to the police station whilst our team carry out their search.’

  She looked the calmest of us all. She nodded to the inspector with a confidence I doubted I could muster under the same circumstances.

  ‘Can I accompany my wife, Inspector?’

  ‘Yes, Lord Cornfield, you may. Your wife will be driven in the police car we have waiting outside and you may follow in your own vehicle once we have searched it.’

  Diana got up, and with a curt ‘Thank you, Inspector’ left the room without looking at any of us.

  Not long after, I stood in the dead-mouse-smelling hall, watching through the glass panels in the front door as Asquintha was packed into the back seat of the police car. I hoped they weren’t going to drive her through Spire with flashing blue lights. Inspector Grey had said that the search team would be along in about twenty minutes.

  Then I had a flash of inspiration. While everyone was agitated about the annex investigation, I could have a more thorough search of Alexander’s study. But first I had to get Diana out of the Manor so that there would be no risk that she would disturb me in my nosying.

  I couldn’t find her in the family sitting room, and when I called for her along her bedroom landing there was no response. She wasn’t in the study, the drawing room or the dining room. And Mary and Shepherd had also disappeared.

  I went through to the conservatory, and, looking out of the window, I saw her standing on the front lawn staring down at the lake. She wasn’t wearing a coat and she looked as if her world were falling apart.

  I quickly gathered a warm coat and scarf and hurried across.

  She turned around as I got closer.

  ‘Susie, I know it’s her. She would kill to have all of this for her own.’

  I bundled Diana into the coat, and handed her the scarf. Softly I said, ‘I really don’t think it’s a good idea for any of us to jump to any sort of conclusion just yet.’

  ‘They’ll find some evidence against her. Just you wait, Susie.’

  I spoke to Diana as firmly as I dared. ‘I know Asquintha is currently a suspect but I honestly don’t think she’s guilty. You have to remember she is family, and until they uncover the murderer I think it’d be very prudent if you didn’t do any lasting damage to your relationship with her, or your relationship with Arthur. What if this proves to be a storm in a teacup and he feels you didn’t stand by his wife? This is so important, Diana, and I’m sure it’s what Alexander would have expected of you.’

  There was a long pause. A very long pause.

  And then she murmured, ‘You’re right, Susie, I know. I really must try and trust in her a bit more. I’ve always found it so difficult, you see, as I always thought Arthur could have done better. But she’s stood by him, and she’s been a good wife.’

  This humbling confession was quite something to hear. Diana, as forceful as she appeared on the outside, showed a vulnerability. For reasons I couldn’t quite determine, I felt sad. There was so much forgiving to be done before a true friendship could develop.

  I prayed desperately that Asquintha was not the culprit. If she were, it would tear Arthur apart, and it would cut Diana to the quick.

  ‘Susie, I am very fortunate to have you here throughout all of this. Your way of looking at things is wise, and I have learnt from you.’ She took hold of my hand. ‘Thank you for everything.’

  Diana then swiftly changed tack completely, asking me to request that Nanny take the boys on an outing while the police were there, and for me to make myself scarce too. And then she said, ‘I’m going to buy some candles for that dreadful smell. I’m quite capable of doing this on my own, before you say anything.’

  This was music to my ears. Now I could search Alexander’s study to my heart’s content.

  Looking for Nanny, I went through to the laundry room of Beckenstale Manor, which leads to the interior entrance of the annex. The interconnecting door was open, but out of politeness I knocked. There was no answer.

  ‘Nanny!’ I called out.

  Michael and James shot out of a room, ran down the corridor and clamped themselves on to my legs.

  ‘Boys!’ said Nanny in jest, as she made her way rather more slowly towards me.

  I ruffled their curly hair. Neither liked it and both let go of my legs.

  ‘Sorry Susie,’ said Nanny. ‘Not shy, this pair.’

  ‘How do you fancy an outing, boys?’ I asked, looking down at them.

  They were gripped by my presence in that way innocent, inquisitive children can be.

  ‘Well, boys, answer Susie.’

  ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes,’ they chanted, each trying to outdo the other by being louder as they jumped up and down almost knocking one another over.

  ‘Now you got them going,’ said Nanny.

  I lent towards her. ‘I need to have a quiet word.’

  ‘Michael, James, please go back to the playroom while I talk to Susie.’

  Without hesitation they charged down the corridor.

  ‘What is it? You look worried.’

  ‘Mary and Shepherd have been sent home and the police investigation team are about to turn up to search the annex.’

  ‘Oh!’ Nanny looked concerned.

  ‘Asquintha has been taken in to the police station while this is going on, and Arthur has gone with her.’

  ‘Oh my Lord!’ Nanny gasped.

  I put my hand on her shoulder to quieten her down. ‘This isn’t time for the rest of us to panic’.

  ‘What if their Ma’s a murderer?’

  ‘She isn’t,’ I said firmly. ‘She absolutely is not.’

  Nanny took in a deep breath, blinked several times and regained her composure.

  ‘You need to take the boys on an outing immediately. You must be gone for at least three hours. This is at Diana’s request, and you mustn’t worry the boys by acting as if something is very wrong. You need to leave by the side entrance and drive down to the road the long way so that the boys don�
�t notice too much police activity. And if the police take longer than three hours, I’ll ring you and so you must keep your mobile handy,’ I told her.

  Nanny nodded gravely.

  ‘What about money?’ I suddenly remembered.

  ‘I have enough and I can reimburse myself from the petty cash tin if I need to later. I’d better look sharp and get the boys away.’

  I watched Nanny bustle out, then I headed for the kitchen, but the connecting door to the annex wouldn’t close. A suede glove had got jammed under it and once I’d removed it the door banged shut.

  I stuffed the glove in the pocket of my gilet. This morning’s cup of coffee had gone straight through me and I desperately needed the loo. There was one off the kitchen, a dark and ancient thunder-box. Many people have had them removed from the grand old houses these days, but a thunder-box has a wooden shelf you sit on that spans the width of the lavatory, and the loo is positioned below the shelf. A very comfortable arrangement, I’ve always thought.

  All four walls of the Greengrasses’ downstairs lavatory, or Gents as those in the know refer to them, displayed an old-fashioned framed cartoon of hunting, shooting and fishing. This being a popular decoration in conventional country houses.

  The best loo I’ve ever been in belonged to a vain actor I once house-sat for. All four walls were mirrored, making the reflection of whoever was in there go on into infinity. I think he liked looking at himself. Still, the effect was mesmerising and since then I’ve always thought that one day I’d like to do something similar in a house of my own.

  I was about to pull the plug from the hand basin when I heard a car arrive. I rushed out through the house, on to the porch. Two cars had parked in the yard and several uniformed officers were clambering out. A policewoman walked towards me, holding up a badge in her hand.

  ‘I’m here with three members of the special investigation unit to carry out a search on Beckenstale Manor annex and a named vehicle.’

  ‘Hello, I’m Susie Mahl, a friend of the Greengrasses, and I have been expecting you. Would you like me to show you in?’

  ‘No need. Detective Inspector Grey has given me all the instructions, including a map to the entrance and floor plan of the home. Is Lady Greengrass at home?’

  ‘No she has already left.’

  ‘Right. We’ll get on with it then.’

  ‘Oh, okay. I’ll be in the main house.’

  She gave me a scrutinising look but didn’t say anything, and then spun on her heel and strode back to her colleagues.

  I asked her retreating back if she would mind waiting a moment while I check if the family have left.

  ‘On you go, then.’

  I raced round to the back of the Manor to find Michael and James clambering into Nanny’s car.

  ‘Some people have arrived, Nanny.’ I said, and then leaned over to speak to the boys sitting on the back seat. ‘But I hear there’s a competition that Nanny is going to run for you, down in the woods of the back drive, over who is going to be the first to find seven different sorts of leaves from trees and bring them back to her. I think perhaps the winner can choose between lunch in McDonald’s or Pizza Hut or fish and chips.’

  All small boys love fast food in my experience, and these two were no exception as they began to bicker over which would be the best treat.

  Nanny and I smiled at each other, and then I waved at the boys as they left.

  They were only just out of sight when the police filed past carrying a variety of cases.

  I now had a window of free time. The house was empty and I could search the study, although I really wasn’t at all sure what I thought I’d find that Inspector Grey had missed during his search the other morning. I guess I was looking for unusual outgoings on bank statements, strange meetings in the calendar, correspondence, or anything else that would help me piece together whatever it was that had been going on behind the scenes.

  I turned on the lamp on the desk, hoping that if she returned early Diana wouldn’t notice it as she came up the drive. At least the scrunch of gravel would tip me off.

  Where should I start? The wastepaper basket was practically empty. I tipped it out on the floor and sifted through torn envelopes and junk mail. Nothing. Alexander’s desk drawers were full of stationery, unused cellophane slips, a box of biros, a blank notebook, headed writing paper and ivory envelopes to match. All perfectly kept and boringly organised. This was hopeless.

  I stood in the centre of the room, scanning the shelves, and then remembered the diaries behind the door, all similarly bound and of the same size. The dates were visible where Toby had licked his finger and ran it along them. But then, tucked away on the far right, an unusual binding caught my eye. It was too high to reach. I dragged over the solid Victorian chair from the desk and without bothering to kick off my shoes I got up and reached for the book. It wasn’t a different binding. The diary had been placed on the shelf with its spine to the wall.

  I sat on the chair and flicked it open. Very few pages had been used. I started at the beginning, which said, Arthur’s thirteenth birthday party. Just as Diana had told me, the details were dull: Mild day, twenty or so children for a tea party. Our little Arthur enjoyed himself. We gave him his first bicycle. And so on. I read as fast as I could, as page after page never rose above tedious.

  Then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t believe it: familiar names were jumping out at me. Right in front of me was an uninhibited account of a passionate love affair. Every last detail written down.

  It was in the middle of a hot summer’s afternoon lying beneath the shade of the chestnut tree we had gone to for many years when H. found us, bare-naked, our bodies entwined. He swore at us with the very worst language. I fear I’ve scarred a teenage mind forever. Why was his mother not told the cricket match was cancelled? I grabbed my clothes and ran, knowing I’d never see my love’s naked body again. Our dream broken and with it my heart. My dear sweet Princess Violet.

  I ignored the purple prose but I couldn’t help thinking what a bloody fool Alexander was to write it all down. But of course now one thing seemed clear.

  It was Henry who killed Alexander, I just knew it.

  Ben had said that Henry was always inviting himself to stay with the Codringtons since they’d moved next door to Beckenstale Manor. And then Ben had greeted Alexander by name, when Henry and Antonia and I were right beside him in the Dorset Horn, and so Henry definitely knew the evening before the murder exactly what Lord Greengrass looked like now. The following morning Henry was dealing with Situp’s piece of bone and could have seized a split-second opportunity to kill the man who’d had an affair with his mother and, if Antonia was right, wouldn’t acknowledge him as his bastard son. My thoughts whirled frantically. Henry’s fingerprints would be all over the cross and orb…

  I had to speak to Toby and it wouldn’t wait.

  My car keys were in my pocket. I hurriedly put the chair back at the desk, returned the rubbish to the bin, flicked off the light and ran out of the front door of Beckenstale Manor with the diary clutched in my right hand. It had to be done face to face. I drove irresponsibly all the way to the county hospital praying Toby wasn’t out to lunch.

  ‘Come in,’ he said from behind the door.

  I pushed it open.

  ‘Susie! You’ve come to take me out to lunch, have you?’

  Toby swivelled back and forth in his chair pleased with his humour.

  I was not in the mood to be jolly. ‘Toby! You have to see this.’

  I plonked the diary on his desk.

  He stood up. ‘Susie, don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely to see you, but I am at work. Perhaps we could meet later?’

  I was definitely on to something, I knew I was, and I really didn’t want to wait.

  ‘Please, hear me out.’

  Toby pointed at the sofa with a slightly resigned look on his face. ‘Go on then, take a seat.’

  Instead I pulled up a plastic chair and sat down at his desk.
/>   ‘I found this,’ I tapped the cover of the diary, ‘in Lord Greengrass’s study.’

  ‘And?’ asked Toby.

  ‘In it is a detailed account of his affair with Violet Dunstan-Sherbet. It describes her son discovering them, er, at it.’

  ‘At it?’ said Toby, a trifle amused by my coy choice of words.

  ‘Yes. At it.’

  ‘How long ago was this, Susie?’

  I flicked open the cover. ‘Twenty three years ago.’

  ‘And you think it’s linked to his murder?’

  ‘Yes!’ I exclaimed, longing for him to register.

  It was unfair of me to presume Toby could fill in the missing gaps, I realised. ‘Violet is Henry Dunstan-Sherbet’s mother. Henry is her only son.’

  Toby’s blue eyes doubled in size. ‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying?’

  ‘Revenge, Toby, revenge is what I’m saying. Antonia told me Henry thought he was an illegitimate son and that his real father never acknowledged him. And she mentioned too that Henry had invited himself to stay with the Codringtons, so presumably he knew they lived near the Greengrasses as Beckenstale Manor has been in the family for years and is well known as the family seat. But knowing is not enough – we need to find proper evidence.’

  ‘We?’

  I wasn’t too enamoured with Toby’s tone.

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘But you are forgetting that the police have said that Henry’s no longer a suspect.’

  ‘He is, Toby, I just know it. I don’t believe you can be sure of the sound of Lord Greengrass’s last breath. Ben and I came across his body a few seconds after Henry. What I need you to tell me is whether four or so seconds would be long enough for Henry to have murdered him?’

  ‘Wow,’ said Toby. And then after a pause, he added, ‘Now that is a thought.’

  Toby looked serious and as if he were concentrating deeply. I didn’t want to interrupt and so I kept quiet, even though I couldn’t quite prevent my fingers drumming on my thigh.

  ‘Yes, yes indeed.’ Toby sounded as if he was thinking out loud. ‘I suppose Henry could have murdered Lord Greengrass with the orb, but to do it in four seconds he would have had to know how, and he would have had to be quick to have seized the orb to do it.’