‘It’s your fair skin. You shouldn’t sunbathe at all.’ Kate pushed across a bottle of Ambre Solaire.
Imogen read the instructions on the back of the bottle Apply one hour before sitting in the sun.
‘Too late. I’ll just have to put up with lobster legs and freckles.’
Kate’s legs were beautifully smooth and brown. Imogen sometimes wondered why Kate had chosen to be her friend. Petite, pretty, with ash-blonde hair that framed her face and swung gently in the breeze, Kate owned one of the brightest minds in the school.
‘Hey, you two,’ Steph Aldred plopped down beside the girls, hitched her skirt high and lay back on the grass. ‘This is the life. I’m getting a suntan if it kills me. Budge over, Immy, you’re blocking the sun.’
Imogen rolled obligingly onto her stomach. ‘Serves you right if you burn.’
She stretched and yawned. ‘It’s far too hot to work, today.’
Steph threw a handful of grass at her friend. ‘Who’s working? I’m going into town. We need supplies for tonight.’
Imogen struggled to sit up. ‘Tonight? I thought we were waiting until after the exams?’
Steph sniffed. ‘People are starting to talk. Toni Jackson knows what we’re planning. She grabbed me this morning and she wants to come along.’
Kate groaned. ‘Trust her to get in on the act. Don’t let her, Steph.’
Steph shook her head. ‘We can’t keep her out, now she knows, and we have to go tonight before she spreads it around. She’s such a gossip.’
Imogen joined in, excited that the day had finally come. ‘We can’t trust her. If we wait, she’ll tell everyone. Steph’s right, we’ll have to go tonight. What do we need?’
Their expedition had begun as a vague idea, conceived when their form tutor, Mrs Hall, lectured them on their first day in the sixth form. The basement of their common room, where supplies were stored, was strictly off limits. No one was allowed to venture down there.
According to rumour, a door in the basement opened on to a secret tunnel, leading under the hill to an old, ruined castle.
Steph, always adventurous, had sneaked down to the basement one morning when the whole school had been in assembly, and discovered the rumour was at least partly true. There was indeed a door, and it wasn’t even locked. She’d pulled it open and discovered piles of books, paper and stationery.
Now, she chuckled. ‘We need to bring the books and things out, then we can get into the tunnel. Good job Greg and Daniel and the others from the boys’ school are coming. They can help.’
Kate pulled a sheet of paper from a file marked ‘Applied maths’ and started to read. ‘Torches…’
‘I bought those, last week.’ Steph said.
Kate clicked her tongue. ‘Don’t interrupt.’
Imogen hid a smile. She’d known Kate for years, since primary school, but she could be a bossy madam.
She went on reading aloud, ‘Food, the map – you copied it in the library, didn’t you, Immy?’
Imogen nodded, and Kate continued.
‘Sleeping bags, toothbrushes and wellingtons in case part of the tunnel is flooded.’
She finished reading and beamed at the other two.
‘So, how many of us are going down tonight?’ Imogen asked.
Steph pointed to each in turn. ‘Us three – and now, Toni. And the boys, of course.’
Kate struggled to her feet. ‘Well, she’d better bring some decent food with her, that’s all I can say. Immy, how about some of that posh smoked salmon your dad serves in the hotel? Could you sneak some out?’
Steph giggled. ‘I’ve never had smoked salmon.’
Imogen nodded. ‘And I’ll bring a bottle of wine if I can. Otherwise, it’ll be cider.’
Steph rubbed her hands together. ‘I’ve got a lesson in five minutes. Meet you all in the White House at 9 o’clock, and remember, don’t tell anyone.’
If only they’d changed their minds.
9
Andrews
DCI Andrews’ visit early the next day took Adam by surprise. The officer called at The Plough, unexpected and unannounced. ‘I was passing.’
Seriously? No one ever ‘just passed’ Lower Hembrow.
‘Gregory Bishop’s death – I’d like to know more about the circumstances,’ he began, as soon as Adam opened the door, not bothering with small talk.
‘I gave a statement—’
‘Your previous involvement with the police means you may have an insight or two.’ Andrews spoke formally, through gritted teeth. ‘As a courtesy, I came myself.’
‘Not sure how much I can help,’ Adam admitted.
He’d hoped for more fellow feeling. No doubt Andrews knew most of the details of Adam’s last case. For a moment, he longed to discuss police matters, man-to-man, with someone who’d understand.
The DCI was talking. ‘I can’t share much information with you, Mr Hennessy, but I will tell you this. We’ve had a report from the medical examiner, who believes we have a deliberate poisoning on our hands.’
Adam instantly forgot his old case. ‘It’s murder, then?’ He felt the old buzz of excitement. ‘Any idea what poison?’
Andrews gave a bleak smile. ‘Not yet. The pathologist won’t commit himself this early on, of course, but preliminary tests suggest rat poison.’
‘I’m sorry?’ Adam blinked. ‘Rat poison? I haven’t heard of that for a while.’
‘Turns out you can buy the stuff from Amazon. Brodifacoum, it’s called. I think that’s how you pronounce it. It’s an anticoagulant and the victim died from internal bleeding. The medical examiner noticed some blood in the chest cavity and that gave him the clue.’
Adam took a moment to digest the information. ‘Do you know when it was administered?’
Andrews shook his heavy head. ‘There were traces in the bottle of champagne at the scene, so that’s straightforward enough, and leaving the body in the orangery suggests an attempt to delay finding him. There was no key on him, by the way. Someone locked him in.’
Adam thought for a moment. ‘It’s easy enough for anyone to get into the hotel garden from the car park, which was full because of the funeral, so an alibi is going to be tricky.’
‘That’s an understatement.’
For the first time, DCI Andrews smiled. ‘It’s going to be a problem for the grieving widow, isn’t it? Champagne from her hotel. Easy enough for her to slip the poison in, at any time, and give it to her husband.’ He frowned. ‘Haven’t got a motive yet, but it shouldn’t take long to find one.’ He grinned, showing wolfish teeth, the first sign of informality. ‘It’s a miracle more people don’t finish off their husbands and wives, if you ask me.’
Adam asked, ‘Any detail on the time of death?’
‘Sometime on the day of the funeral. That’s the closest we can get at the moment. The grounds were closed off for the afternoon and the hotel guests given discounts on their bills. Clever move by that little manager. That explains why no one saw the body sooner.’
‘Very clever.’
Whose idea had that been. Emily’s