by Agatha Frost
“Like burning it to the ground?” Sue mumbled as she rested the back of her hand on her forehead. “I feel dizzy.”
“It’s the petrol fumes,” Julia said. “We should get out of here. Gran will be wondering where we are.”
“Julia,” Sue said, grabbing her hand. “Remember that thing I wanted to tell you before we came to Scotland. God, it feels so long ago now.”
“You’re choosing right now to tell me?”
Sue stumbled back a little and reached out for Julia. She rested her hand on her stomach as she inhaled deeply.
“Sue?” Julia said as she dragged her through to the dark bathroom. “What’s wrong?”
Julia flicked on the light, and Sue perched on the edge of the white freestanding bathtub. Sue’s dress ruffled up, collecting around her stomach. She went to smooth it down, but the dress didn’t entirely flatten under her hand.
“My life flashed before my eyes when I saw those flames,” Sue whispered as she looked down at her stomach. “If we had died then, I couldn’t have lived with myself for not telling you.”
“You’re pregnant,” Julia mumbled for the second time that day.
Sue nodded, tears collecting in the corner of her eyes as a smile spread from cheek to cheek.
“I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t know how,” Sue said with a laugh as she burst into tears. “You know me and Neil have been trying for years, and I didn’t want to jinx it. It’s only early days, but I have the tiniest bump, and it’s going to start showing soon.”
Julia wrapped her hands around Sue and pulled her into the tightest hug of their lives. She felt their heartbeats sync up with the life between them, the emotion of it overwhelming her.
“That’s amazing,” Julia whispered into her sister’s ear. “I’m so happy for you. I love you.”
“I love you too, Auntie Julia.”
They both laughed for a moment before pulling away from the hug. They wiped their mascara streaks with tissue paper, before joining hands and walking back through the bedroom with their hands over their mouths and noses.
“A baby is the beginning of all things,” Julia said as they walked back towards Henry’s door. “Not just for you.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll explain on the way,” Julia said as they slipped out into the hall. “Can I borrow your phone first? I need to make a call.”
Chapter Fourteen
Julia, Dot, and Sue were sat on one side of the table, with the four new guests on the other side, flickering candles and mountains of food separating them. Julia made sure to sit right in the middle so that she was directly between Charlotte and Rory, both of whom kept glancing awkwardly at the ornate doors every time they opened.
Julia, on the other hand, found herself checking the bookcase where she now knew the peephole was, hoping her hastily made plan had come together in time. After a starter of tomato soup and a full roast dinner for the main course, her stomach was almost as full as her mind.
“This is all very delicious,” Dot remarked to Charlotte, who was sitting right by her. “It’s been too long since I’ve had a really good three-course meal.”
“Four courses,” Charlotte corrected her. “Well, that’s if you count the cheeseboard and wine at the end, which I do.”
Charlotte smiled politely before taking a sip of her wine. Her eyes darted to Julia, but they didn’t stay for long before landing on her brother. They both shared a small grin for a moment, before glancing to the doors in unison.
The waiters, including Blair, hurried in to clear the table before the dessert was served. Blair appeared to be still ignoring Julia, but that could have been because she was rushed off her feet trying to prepare and serve nine people four courses, even if she did have help.
“I’d like to make a toast,” Charlotte exclaimed as she tapped her fork against her wine glass. “As you all know, this week has been testing, to say the least. Our family has been to hell and back, but sometimes you need to go to hell to realise what is important to you.”
Julia and Sue rolled their eyes at each other, while the guests across the table seemed to be lapping it up. One of the women even dabbed at the corner of her eye with a napkin.
“Seirbigh Castle will fight to see another day,” Charlotte said, raising her glass in the air. “To Seirbigh.”
“And to Seirbigh’s new owner,” Rory said with a wink as he tipped his glass in his sister’s direction. “Cheers.”
Charlotte returned the wink as she tipped her glass back to him. Julia sipped her wine, wondering if their behaviour was only obvious to her because she had been the one to put out the fire.
“When?” Sue whispered quietly into Julia’s ear as the conversation started up again around the table.
“Soon,” she replied, leaning in. “We’re waiting for two more guests.”
Sue nodded and began tearing up the edges of her napkin, something she had done since she was a child whenever she was nervous. Julia was glad she was the only one who knew this, or else it would be a giveaway sign of what was to come.
“I think you’re all going to enjoy the Cranachan for dessert,” Charlotte exclaimed loudly, her Scottish accent rolling the ‘r’. “It’s a traditional dessert made from whipped cream, whisky, honey, and fresh raspberries, with toasted whisky-soaked oats sprinkled on top. Ah, here it is!”
At that moment, the doors opened again, and they all turned to see Blair pushing one of her trolleys into the room with nine of the desserts in small glass bowls on top. Through the open door, Julia caught a glimpse of Benjamin talking with Andrew in the hallway. Her stomach flipped, and she realised her time had come.
Blair started serving the desserts with Rory, before making her way down the table. When she put Julia’s on the plate, she was sure it was hastier than the others. She reached Charlotte, and her hands began to visibly shake as she lifted the dessert from the trolley. As though in slow motion, it slipped from her fingers and landed with a splat in Charlotte’s lap. A gasp shuddered across the table as she jumped up and recoiled in horror, cream and oats staining her black and tartan dress. She turned to Blair and raised her hand above her head, ready to strike the child down. Blair cowered like a puppy about to be punished, but Charlotte dropped her hand and forced a smile.
“Easy mistake,” she said through a strained laugh as she picked up a napkin and began to dab at the dress. “I wasn’t that hungry anyway.”
Despite Charlotte’s backtrack, it didn’t stop Blair bursting into tears. She clutched her mouth, her eyes wide as she watched Charlotte attempt to wipe her dress clean. Charlotte struggled to laugh it off, but the poor girl’s eyes were filled with such obvious fear, it sent a cold shiver running through the room.
A small yelp forced through her fingers as the tears rolled down her face, causing Benjamin to run into the room. He wrapped his hands around his sister’s arm, but she didn’t move, nor did she look away from the stain on Charlotte’s dress.
“What’s wrong with her?” one of the women asked.
“She’s in shock,” Julia said, standing up and sitting Blair in her seat. “Blair, just breathe. It’s not good for you to get worked up.”
Blair’s eyes met Julia’s, and she dropped her hand, nodding her head as she forced back the tears. Julia recognised that fear. She had seen it in her sister only an hour ago in Henry’s bedroom.
“Honestly, it’s fine!” Charlotte called out jovially. “I wasn’t going to hit her. It was just a reaction.”
From the looks of the faces on the guests, it was obvious they were no longer lapping up Charlotte’s façade. Julia took this moment, turning to face Charlotte with a stern look in her eyes.
“I wouldn’t put it past you to hit a pregnant woman, Charlotte,” Julia called out, turning back to Blair as she did. “I’m sorry, Blair, but your secret isn’t as safe as you thought.”
Charlotte shuffled uncomfortably in her chair and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. The edge of her bruise p
eeked out ever so slightly from the edge of her dress.
“What are you talking about?” Charlotte demanded. “I’ve had quite enough of your comments! You didn’t even pay for this trip!”
“You know full well what I’m talking about, Charlotte,” Julia said confidently, forcing her shaky voice to steady. “I’ve put it together, even if nobody else has yet. I overheard you talking with Andrew. You wanted to get rid of Blair, but you didn’t want to fire her because she is pregnant and that could reflect badly on you. Of course, none of that matters now, especially after what you did tonight.”
Andrew entered the drawing room at the mention of his name, lingering by the doors. Charlotte met his eyes, and behind her faux-confused smile, her eyes were filled with pure venom.
“This woman is insane, I can assure you,” she said to the other guests, who were all staring intently at Julia.
“I’ve put out your little fire,” Julia said as she begun to pace the room, glancing at the peephole. “At first I couldn’t figure out why you would want Andrew back here, especially when you already had a perfectly good groundskeeper, but then it struck me. You didn’t care about Andrew, but you knew what he cared about. You knew he loved this castle, and that was all he had. After your father cold-heartedly sacked him, Andrew would have done anything to get his job back, even if he pretended he didn’t want it anymore. Of course, you offered him more than his job to do what he did. You had to. Even the most desperate man wouldn’t do what he did for the sake of a job. What did you offer him? Money? A slice of the castle? Whatever is was, Andrew, I doubt she would have paid you.”
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” Charlotte cried, laughing as blood rushed to her cheeks. “I’ve heard quite enough of this!”
“You told Andrew to get rid of Blair, no matter what the cost,” Julia said, turning to look at the chef as she watched, just as confused as the guests. “But I guess you also told him to do the same to Mary. She was the only thing standing between you and owning this castle after your father’s death.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Andrew protested.
“I know you didn’t,” Julia said, dropping her eyes as sorrow swept over her. “But you’re an accessory to all of this. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but when I saw Charlotte tossing petrol around her father’s bedroom tonight, it clicked. She sent you to burn the remains of Mary’s car straight after she crashed so evidence of tampering couldn’t be seen. There was something quite peculiar about the timing of Mary’s death. Why let her come back to work and think everything was fine? Why send her away on that morning? Why that early? It’s because you wanted a reason, and witnesses, wasn’t it Rory?”
Rory suddenly sat up in his seat, after having been watching the whole thing unfold with mild interest. “What did you just say?”
“The fog provided you with a perfect cover-up for cutting the woman’s brakes. We all saw her speed off that morning, but that’s what you wanted. You made a public scene so that we all saw her drive off. You waited until four new guests checked in, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were all in the corner bedrooms just so they could see. Even the police believed it was an accident, but why wouldn’t they? By the time she was found, her car was nothing more than a burnt-out shell. Petrol is quite a clever move, I must admit. It’s not like the car wasn’t full of it in the first place.”
“It wasn’t my idea!” Andrew blurted out. “She made me. She said if I didn’t, I’d never work again! She was offering me half of this castle!”
“Oh, Andrew,” Julia said, turning back to the groundskeeper once more. “You should never have believed her. Henry signed over the deeds to this castle well over a month ago, and I doubt Charlotte was just going to hand half of that over to you. While my sister and I were looking for evidence to pin Henry’s death on Charlotte, we witnessed her putting the whisky decanter and tumbler on Henry’s desk, which was stained with your DNA from your various secret meetings in the drawing room. She also had your mobile phone, and the wire cutters that I suspect Rory used on Mary’s brakes.”
Andrew suddenly patted down his pockets and looked desperately to Charlotte. She picked up her glass of wine and took a sip, unable to look anyone in the eye but her brother.
“I only told Rory to get rid of her,” Charlotte said bitterly. “I didn’t expect him to go so far. I had to clean his mess up somehow. For a lawyer, you sure are stupid, big brother. I didn’t kill my father, though. That’s where you are wrong.”
“I believe that,” Julia said. “Why would you want to? He was dying anyway, wasn’t he? The man had cancer. It was only a matter of time. He decided to get rid of Mary so he could leave the castle to you, the only heir who wanted it. My guess is he was a proud man, and you were the only one to carry on his legacy, even if he could barely look at you. Of course, when you secretly took over, you realised that clueless Mary had run the business into the ground, and the castle would be worth more to you through the insurance pay-outs, which I suspect is what you and Rory have been up to these last couple of days. Making sure everything was watertight just in case you needed to resort to that. I can’t imagine selling a failing castle would be very easy, so the next logical step is to burn it to the ground and make it look like Andrew did it in a deranged act of revenge against your family. That’s why you wanted him back here so badly, to be your scapegoat. Who were the police going to believe? A grieving businesswoman, or a disgraced drunk? You weren’t happy enough just using the man as your puppet, you wanted to frame him for this and run off into the sunset with the money before any of this could catch up with you.”
Charlotte furiously sipped her wine, her nostrils flared. Julia expected her to try and defend herself, but she didn’t say a word. All eyes looked expectantly to Julia to fill in the other pieces of the puzzle.
“Of course, you’re not the only heir to your father’s castle,” Julia said. “You had competition.”
“I never wanted this place!” Rory exclaimed. “It’s crumbling beneath us!”
“I wasn’t talking about you,” Julia said with a heavy exhale. “Blair, who is the father of your baby?”
Blair shook her head and looked down at her fingers, which were frantically knotting around her apron. Julia turned back to Charlotte, who subtly arched a brow as she waited to hear what else Julia had to say.
“I don’t think you knew Blair was pregnant with your father’s child until recently, but when you found out, you knew she was carrying your baby brother or sister,” Julia said, turning back to Blair and resting a hand on her shaking shoulder. “You wanted to get rid of the girl so she wouldn’t cause any problems to your plan, but when you realised that wouldn’t work, you decided to step things up a notch. I suppose your meeting with Andrew this afternoon influenced your decision to resort to plan B.”
“I told her I wasn’t gonna kill a lassie,” Andrew said, pointing harshly at Charlotte. “’Specially one with a bairn in her tummy!”
“I believe you,” Julia said. “I don’t think you’re a bad man, Andrew, I just think Charlotte is a very persuasive woman. She was raised without a real mother, instead having to settle for a revolving cast of stepmothers, and a father who couldn’t look at her because she looked too much like the only woman he loved. You said it yourself how much they looked alike. I’m not surprised you turned out as cold and heartless as you did, Charlotte. With Henry McLaughlin as a father, it was almost to be expected.”
Charlotte sucked her cheeks into her mouth before rolling her eyes and leaning back in her chair.
“You’re not the first, y’know,” Charlotte said to Blair, sounding more authentic than Julia had heard her. “He’s been knocking girls up since as long as I can remember. He paid them off or convinced them to get rid of the baby, but you were stubborn, or he was getting soft in his dying days.”
Blair rested her hand on her stomach, and out of the corner of her eye, Julia noticed Sue doing the same. She swallowed the lump
in her throat and inhaled deeply.
“I thought you shot your father, Charlotte,” Julia said. “But when I found out when Seirbigh Castle became yours, I realised there was no need for you to be that reckless. Maybe you would have if it hadn’t been for the cancer, but you didn’t.”
“So who did?” Charlotte asked, sitting up and checking her manicure. “I’ve been dying to know since it happened. Let us in on your secrets, Julia, since you seem to know everything.”
Julia walked over to Charlotte and rested her hand on her right shoulder. She squeezed hard, and Charlotte let out a small yelp before slapping Julia’s hand away.
“A hunting injury,” Julia exclaimed as she walked around the table, glancing to Blair as she did. “People don’t realise the power a gun can have. They can cause quite the painful injury if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Julia walked back to where she had been sitting. She picked up her wine glass and took a sip, making sure to dampen the sides as she did.
“Can you hold this, Benjamin?” Julia asked.
Benjamin reached out with his left hand. He awkwardly gripped the wine glass, but it slipped from his fingers and smashed against the wooden floor. He looked down to it, his face burning bright red.
“Some people are quite ambidextrous,” Julia said quietly. “You are not one of those people, Benjamin.”
“Ben?” Blair whispered, looking up at her brother.
“He said it himself. Charlotte was a terrible hunter, hence her injury from a simple rifle. You had never fired a gun before coming here, had you Ben? You had to learn your technique on the internet, and I don’t doubt you picked it up quite well, which is why you decided to shoot Henry, rather than smother him in his sleep, or slip some poison into his food. You didn’t quite realise how much more powerful a shotgun was over a rifle, which is why you have been using your left hand this entire time. The awkward handshake, dropping the magazine, chopping wood one-handed, throwing the screwdriver badly, dropping this wine glass. You’re right-handed, not left-handed, but you’ve been trying not to use your right hand because of the pain in your shoulder. If a simple rifle can create a bruise as large as Charlotte’s was, what did Henry’s shotgun, which he made sure to let everyone know was loaded, do to your shoulder? Did it dislocate it?”