The Claresby Collection: Twelve Mysteries (20 page)

“But why would anyone try to hurt Tizz?” pursued Fred.

“She’s famous,” said Laura simply. “Unfortunately that may be all it takes to attract the attention of some crazy person.”

“Dad’s had problems,” admitted Emerald. “Hate-mail and threats and suchlike. Most of his fan mail is positive, although even some of the “I love you!” stuff can be pretty disturbing. I’ve never actually received anything threatening – at least, not that I know about – but I guess it does go with the territory. I’m hoping to be able to drop out of the limelight as time passes, but with the
Barnstable
sequel being so recent and such a success, I guess I’m stuck with a public profile for a while longer. There are action figure doll-things of me available at the moment; one of the girls in my corridor bought one to show me – it’s not possible for me to be unrecognisable with that level of publicity, which is why I never wanted to be part of the film. But dad wanted it, so...” Emerald shrugged helplessly.

“Perhaps we should tell the police: you may need protection,” said Fred looking anxiously at his niece.

“Give Rupert a chance,” said Laura gently. “I’ve never known him not to get to the bottom of any mystery – and it may be best if we can solve this one without it becoming newsworthy.”

“There were photographers present at the time,” said Rupert, “but no one spotted the crossbow bolt.”

“The use of a crossbow must be pretty unusual,” commented Laura. “Does that tell us anything about the person?”

“Not really,” Rupert replied with a shake of his head. “But make no mistake; this was a top of the range businesslike weapon. It amazes me that it is still possible for anyone over eighteen to buy such a weapon without the need for a licence or any form of registration. There’s all this fuss made about possessing knives at the moment, but a good crossbow is easily as dangerous as a gun and anyone can purchase one after a couple of minutes’ search on the internet.”

“But a hunting crossbow is a pretty big contraption,” said Fred. “Somebody must have seen who was holding it in a busy King’s Parade.”

“I saw it from a distance,” said Rupert. “But the person was standing in the shadows of a doorway and everyone was looking at the procession. I expect they put it quickly back into some kind of bag or hold-all. I didn’t know it was a crossbow straight away, I just caught sight of something odd and instinct told me that Emerald was the target.”

For a moment Laura thought from the expression on Emerald’s face that she was steeling herself to say something important, but in the end she just said, “Well, I’m very grateful – and we must do something about your arm when we get back to college.”

“It should be fine,” said Rupert dismissively. “But I will pop back to the car and put a jumper on so that I don’t look quite so much like the walking wounded.”

After Rupert had tidied himself up and they had all availed themselves of the Pelham bathroom, they made their way into Hadleigh Dining Hall where a buffet was set out. Having been purpose built as a women’s college in the nineteenth century, Pelham was not amongst the medieval colleges which are often considered typical of Cambridge University and certainly had nothing to offer to equal the architectural splendour of King’s College Chapel. However, it was a pretty and elegant example of Victorian architecture and what it lacked in history it made up for by being charming and welcoming. Long tables were laden with food and fresh fruit and the celebratory champagne flowed freely. Rupert, Laura and Fred took their glasses of champagne and settled in a quiet corner whilst Emerald was waylaid by various friends. When she eventually joined them she asked,

“Can I get you some food, Uncle Fred?”

“No, it’s all right; I’ll take a tour around the tables. The strawberries look good.” He got up and the others followed him, helping themselves to smoked salmon, salads, cold meat and a selection of vol au vents. When they were all seated again, Laura asked Emerald to point out notable members of the academic staff.

“We are possibly not the most distinguished college for mathematicians,” said Emerald “although as a Pelhamite it is sacrilege for me to say so, and you will notice that I am keeping my voice low. The colleges do vary in the quality of supervisions they offer and my school tried to persuade me to go to Kings, which boasts a couple of professors. Kings was a bit too prominent for me, however, and I have nothing to complain about here. Rose Tallford was my DoS – that’s her in the grubby looking dress with short dark hair. She was all right, but I preferred Eustace – Dr Neill – who was my acting DoS for a term when Rose had a sabbatical. To be honest, I tended to go to him for advice. That’s him over there helping himself to a mountain of food – the short man with the glasses. He really is a sweetie.”

Laura, who understood a DoS to be a Director of Studies, nodded with interest as she watched the two academics fill their plates. Further chat was prevented by the arrival of a couple of other graduates.

“Georgie says someone tried to shoot you – what’s that all about?” asked a rather dumpy blonde girl with cheerful unconcern.

Emerald shrugged. “Don’t know. Anyway, they missed.”

“Probably someone from the Assassins Guild or a LARPer,” commented her taller companion.

“This is my Uncle Fred,” Emerald said as her uncle came forward to hear what the two girls were saying. “Lucy is natsci and Georgie is another mathmo.”

Fred smiled at the girls and rightly translated Emerald’s introduction to mean that one had studied science and the other mathematics. Another term, however, required explanation.

“What is a LARPer?” he asked.

“Oh, LARP is live action role-play – recreation of battles or fantasy battles, that sort of thing. Those are the guys who are likely to have a replica Cromwellian sword amongst their most prized possessions.”

“Or a crossbow?” asked Rupert, suddenly interested.

“Probably – I was never much into that sort of thing,” Lucy replied. “I know Gavin, who is into the Assassins Guild, but they are really strict about weapons and just use things like rubber band guns and pea-shooters. It’s all about the stealth, and even replica guns are a big taboo.”

“Yes, but some of them are plumb crazy,” added Georgie.

“Probably,” agreed Lucy. “But they are mostly nice guys. If they wanted to target you as a challenge they’d ask first and offer to buy you a pint for your troubles – and even then they would only use water balloons or flour.”

“Which brings us back to who tried to shoot you? It’s funny it should have been a crossbow – didn’t you have that one in your room for a while, Emerald?” inquired Georgie chattily.

Emerald blushed a becoming shade of magenta and said, “Yes, but that was just a project thing – I was working out draw weight and power stroke and things like that.” Then, changing the subject abruptly she informed her uncle, “Georgie is going to be studying for a masters, like me.”

“Only because I want to wear a different gown. Don’t imagine that I’m in Emerald’s league, however; she is the outstanding mathematician of our year, everyone is in awe of her – even the lecturers.”

“Yes, there was some grumbling at first about how it was against the laws of nature for anyone to be so clever and so beautiful, but then we got to know how sweet she was and forgave her,” added Lucy. “We also know all her secret addictions – like the chocolate biscuit dunking and the marmalade – so we know she’s human like us really.”

“Well I have the inside story of your early morning hot-chocolate drinking,” returned Emerald.

“Yes, but I shall take care never to be famous, just so you can’t sell the story to a hungry press.”

“We’ll just sell them the secret chocolate recipe,” said Georgie, and the girls all laughed at their private jokes.

Just then the woman whom Emerald had identified as her Director of Studies passed close by, her back to them, and Emerald hailed her,

“Dr Tallford, come and meet my uncle.” The academic turned somewhat reluctantly and allowed Emerald to introduce her. “This is my DoS, Dr Tallford. My uncle, Lord Hampton.”

Fred held out his hand: “Fred,” he said – never one to feel comfortable with a more formal title. “Good to meet you. We are all very pleased with Emerald’s achievements.”

“Yes, she is a very talented young lady,” conceded Dr Tallford in a soft voice. Rupert, watching from a few paces away, couldn’t help noticing what a singularly unattractive figure she cut. Whilst not actually ugly, her face was plain and she had what his mother had always termed “a pudding face” – pallid and slightly pudgy, although she was not overall a bulky figure. She seemed to have no single redeeming feature; even her eyes were pale and watery, her hair lank and dull. The overall effect was not helped by the shapeless black dress she wore or the flat brown sandals, nor by the slightly sour expression on her face. “It was, of course, no surprise that she has chosen to continue her studies.”

“I know that she is very much looking forward to next year,” said Fred, obviously deciding to stick to small talk. “It is a beautiful college you have here and a lovely place for peaceful study.”

“We are particularly proud of our library.” Dr Tallford continued with the platitudes. “We may not be the oldest college in Cambridge, but we have more space than some.”

“I’ll be here next year too,” chipped in Georgie, with a slight twinkle in her eye.

“I’m aware of that,” said Dr Tallford, turning her pale eyes onto the student. “I was interested to see that you achieved the grades.”

The conversation continued coolly for a few more minutes before the academic moved off.

“Old cow!” said Georgie in a hushed tone. “I knew she didn’t want me to stay on. I honestly worried that she would try and scupper my chances somehow.”

“Oh, I don’t think she’d do that,” responded Emerald. “Anyway, everyone knows what a good mathematician you are, so I don’t think that an unexpectedly low grade would pass without raising a few eyebrows.”

“Just as well,” said Georgie darkly. “She never seemed to like you much either, although you are too polite to comment on the fact.”

“I’m not sure she shows much liking for anybody,” replied Emerald evenly, “so I never took it personally. She did her job well, so I’ve no complaints.”

They continued to chat and enjoy the strawberries and cream, wandering out into the garden to eat them. After a while Rupert positioned himself confidentially beside Emerald and asked in a low tone, “What was all that about a crossbow in your room?”

“I thought you’d get round to quizzing me about that,” said Emerald with an embarrassed smile. “It was something I bought off the internet – pretty impressive object – but it really was because I was curious about the mechanics of how it worked and I experimented with it a bit. The odd thing was that when I packed up to go back to Fred’s after May Week and our post-exam wind-down, I noticed it was missing. I guess I should have reported it or asked at the Porters Lodge, but I wasn’t sure that it would go down well that I’d had the thing in the first place – and, before you ask: yes, the bolt you picked up matched the ones that came with the crossbow.”

“Who knew you had it?”

“Well, Georgie, because I discussed some of the mechanics with her and a couple of other mathmos. I did actually take it down to the copse at the edge of the Pelham sports field and fire a few shots at a tree – just to take measurements of distances the bolt travelled and stuff. James came with me then. And there were people in and out of my room who might have seen it; but only friends, because I don’t like having a lot of people in my room – my space and that sort of thing.”

“And, just out of interest – any other funny stuff happened to you?”

“Funny in what way?”

“Anything else which could be interpreted as someone trying to get at you, or anything else taken from your room?”

Emerald mused for a moment and then said, “Well, there was an incident with my bike just before finals. I was riding along Silver Street on my way to see James when I had to brake suddenly and was nearly thrown right over the handle bars – I tore my dress and scratched my arm, but no harm done. When James looked over my bicycle later he found that the nut on the back brake was loose – he just tightened it up. It didn’t occur to me that anyone would tamper with it, but I guess they could have done. They’d have to know it was mine, though, because it’s usually chained up along with dozens of others.”

“Who’s James – boyfriend?” asked Rupert with a touch of curiosity.

Emerald smiled. “Just friend and fellow mathmo. He tended to hang about with me and Georgie – and Tom too, before he degraded. We punted together a few times, and sat around in the Botanic Garden, that kind of thing. James and Tom are both from Sackville College, which does really cool formals, so I’ve been over there.”

“So Tom didn’t graduate this year – is he coming back to finish?”

“Yes, he’s pretty clever but just didn’t get himself together the last couple of terms, so he’s going to retake the year.”

“What about other things being taken from your room or any signs of any breakin?” asked Rupert.

“There never was any sign of anyone breaking in,” admitted Emerald. “I tended to leave my lock on the latch if I just popped down to the buttery or the library, so anyone could walk in.” When she saw Rupert raise an eyebrow at this lack of security she added, “That’s nothing – Georgie leaves hers on the latch all the time because she lost her keys in the first week. Anyway, we are both on the second floor and it’s pretty safe, although there isn’t really anything to stop anyone from wandering up there. As for the crossbow, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t miss it until I came to pack when I was going home to Fred’s, so I don’t know when it disappeared.”

“Is James around today?”

Emerald shook her head. “No. Even though he did the same course as Georgie and me he has already graduated – because we do it by college not by subject group. He’s gone home. Georgie is the only one who is staying in her room a bit longer; mainly because she can’t stand her stepfather and keeps her holidays short. I’m hoping to get a new room when I come back next year, but they don’t guarantee accommodation to postgrads and I may share a house with Georgie and a couple of others.”