The Main Chance (18 page)

`There's been a murder, in case you'd forgotten. The manor is being searched from top to bottom. I found a hidden drawer with Marshal's secret chequebooks and a diary with your address,' Tweed fibbed.

`Are you telling Marshal?' she said nervously.

`No, it would be pointless. But there is a condition.' `Which is?' she asked.

`You sit down and write a letter to Marshal. You tell him he is to send you no more gifts — ever. You've met a man who is wealthy. You promise never to reveal what happened years ago. I shall know if you've sent that letter. I examine all mail before handing it to the addressee.'

`I'll do that as soon as you've gone,' she said hastily.

`And don't forget the penalty for blackmail,' Tweed said grimly as he stood up. 'One wrong move and I'll be harder than you are, if that's possible …'

`Sneaky is peering from behind her curtain,' Paula remarked as they passed the house where they'd asked the woman the way to Baron's Walk.

She was relieved to leave Dodd's End and soon they were driving well away from the hamlet with open country on both sides. She had her window open and revelled in the fresh air.

`One thing puzzles me about poor Bella's murder,' she mused. 'How was anyone able to get behind her chair to drop that hideous murder weapon over her head and neck? It's close to a corner of a panelled wall.'

`Been puzzling that myself.'

`And,' she went on as they approached the manor, the dark sinister canopy of black fir branches pressing down on them, 'you keep asking suspects where they were on the fatal night between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. But we know Bella called down to Marshal at 8 p.m. to come and see her at 10 p.m. That is, if she did.'

`She did. I went up on my own to her study and played with that communications box. It's very sophisticated. You can play back what she said and his reply. More than that, it records the exact time. She made the call at 8 p.m. I add on one hour, saying 7 p.m. to find out where people were earlier in the evening.'

`Don't miss a trick, do you?'

`I'm sure that so far I've missed several tricks. Here we are, and the gates are opening.'

Some time earlier, as Tweed and Paula were approaching Dodd's End, Calouste and Jacques were driving west. Ahead they could see the Dorset heights. Jacques was looking forward to a view of the sea. The mobile buzzed. Calouste grabbed it.

`Yes?'

`Orion here. The line is clearer now.'

`Get on with why you called me.'

`Tweed and Paula in the Mercedes were going to Seacove.'

`Are you sure?You mean today? Now?'

`If you will just let me finish. They were going with Marshal Main—'

`Marshal was in the Mercedes with them?'

`I'll have to hang up in a moment, so shut up! Marshal was in his Rolls. Tweed appeared to change his mind. So he is going to London. I'm sure he'll be back at Hengistbury this evening. Maybe earlier.'

The line had gone dead. Calouste hated the way his informer suddenly ended a call. It had been the same distorted voice. Man or woman? Calouste had no bloody idea.

Coming to a roundabout Calouste drove round it and went back the way they had come. Jacques looked at him, kept his mouth shut. He was still shaken by the extraordinary behaviour of Calouste dancing like a devil in the field of rape.

`Tweed will be back at Hengistbury tonight,' Calouste said viciously. 'You have your rifle in the boot?'

`Yes, I have.'

`He won't expect another attempt on his life so soon. You will shoot him dead. I have a lodge close to that manor. That will be our base. You are the best marksman in all Europe.'

`Not quite,' Jacques admitted, 'the star turn is a member of Tweed's team. Man called Mader.'

19

Tweed had driven through the open gates when a motorcycle followed them in. It flashed at speed past the Mercedes, throwing up pebbles. Paula learned forward.

`Young idiot. Just a sec — that's Leo'

`Complete with brand-new windcheater and woolly cap.'

`Could he have been following us? I heard a motorbike as we first saw Dodd's End. And I'm sure I heard the same sound twice on our way back.'

`World is full of the things,' Tweed replied.

Leo slowed near the terrace, turned to wave at them, then disappeared on his machine round the back of the manor. The first person they met on entering the hall was Lavinia, dressed in a smart tunic and jodhpurs tucked inside gleaming riding boots.

`You opened the gates for us,' Paula said. 'Thank you.

`My pleasure. Had lunch? I thought not. I told Mrs Grandy to keep a hot meal. I guessed you might be back soon. That Merc moves — especially on motorways.'

`Luckily,' said Tweed, 'the chap we went to meet lives on the verge of London, so we escaped the traffic.'

`Something I forgot to tell you and should have let you know earlier. I'm talking about Bella's study. There's a secret entrance. After lunch I'll show you.'

`The meal will be delayed half an hour,' the grating voice of Mrs Grandy, who had appeared suddenly, called out. 'If you think heated food can hang about you know as little about kitchens as I think you do.'

`We could go up to the study now,' Lavinia suggested in a quiet voice. She raised her voice as Snape appeared. 'You might take their clothes and hang them up, please.'

She led the way up the staircase and along a narrow corridor with panelled walls, passing the entrance to the library. The rest of the corridor appeared to lead nowhere. It was blocked off by solid panelling. The name of the bank was in raised metal letters: the Main Chance Bank.

"The letters are a code. Care to try your luck?' she asked Paula.

`She had a course in code-breaking,' Tweed said, `when she worked at Medfords Security before coming to me.

`It will be simple,' said Paula.

She pressed the 'M' of Main, then the 'a' of the same word. She paused, then pressed the 'n' and the `e' of

Chance. Nothing happened.

`Good try,' Lavinia said, 'now watch me.'

Lavinia pressed the `M' of Main. She switched to the second word, pressed the 'a' and then the 'n' and the last `e'. She had spelt out 'MANE' but in a different sequence. The solid panel slid aside and they were looking into the end of the study and the space behind Bella's tall chair.

`You did have the right codeword, MANE,' Lavinia said with a smile at Paula.

`So that's how it was done,' Tweed said under his breath as he walked in and stood behind the chair. Paula and Lavinia followed him then walked further into the study.

`Place gives me the creeps after what happened,' Lavinia remarked.

`Me too,' Paula agreed.

Tweed stood stock-still, trying to reconstruct the murder in the place where it had happened. He heard the panel door closing, turned to look at it. The same lettering was attached as on the far side.

`Same code opens it from this side,' Lavinia called out. 'When Bella summoned someone for a discreet discussion whoever she was calling knew they should use that door.'

Tweed moved from behind the chair, walked to the other end of the study, sat down in a chair close to Lavinia.

`Who else knows the code to open the secret door?'

`There's Marshal.' She counted them off on her slim fingers. 'Then Warner, of course. Plus Crystal — and I'm sure Leo knows it. Once, in a hurry, I didn't check the other end of the corridor before I tapped out the code. I glanced back afterwards and Leo was peeking round the corner. He does have exceptional eyesight. And Snape, of course.'

`Quite a roll call of suspects.'

`Do you mind if we go into the library?' Lavinia suggested, standing up. 'Don't like this room any more...'

The three of them settled in armchairs arranged so they faced each other. Lavinia sat opposite Tweed, studying him — her large blue pool-like eyes he found disconcerting.

`You always wanted to work here as an accountant?' he asked her.

`No, I didn't.' She laughed, a pleasant appealing sound. 'Once I'd passed my exams and knew I could stay here if I wanted to I decided I'd explore the real world. Now don't laugh,' she said with a ravishing smile, 'I became an actress, playing in small theatres on the northern circuit. The accommodation was frightful, pokey little rooms, and the food was awful.'

`What parts did you play?'

`Shakespeare. I was in
King Lear
and played all three of his daughters in succession. I really did,' she said with a chuckle.

`Which was your favourite? Goneril or Regan, one of the two evil daughters?'

`Absolutely not, although I coped with the parts. No, my favourite was Cordelia, the sister they so cruelly exploited. Then, I can't imagine why, the company toured Europe. In Denmark the audience hissed me when I played Goneril or Regan, but they applauded Cordelia.'

`Then you came here?' suggested Tweed.

`Not yet. I joined Medfords Security.' She looked at Paula. 'You went there, didn't you. I was taught how to open complex locks, how to shadow suspects without being seen, changing clothes at intervals, the way I walked.'

`I did that too,' Paula chimed in. 'I found that the most difficult part of the course.

`Me too,' Lavinia agreed. 'I don't think I was very good at it.'

`So play-acting didn't suit you?' Tweed asked Lavinia.

`The travel abroad was interesting. So many different countries. But I didn't like some of my fellow actors. Let's just say they were peculiar.' She leaned close to Tweed. 'And it was after my time at Medfords I came back here. It is so peaceful after the hell of
 
London traffic and the pedestrians jabbering away on their mobiles and walking into you.' She put a hand on Tweed's knee. 'So now you have the biography of Lavinia.'

`Thank you,' he said with a smile. find it fascinating.'

`Fascinating? Me or the biography?' she asked with an endearing smile as she removed her hand from his knee.

`Both, of course,' he replied gallantly.

Lavinia checked her watch, stood up, her figure erect.

`If we go down now for lunch we should just beat Mrs Grandy using her hooter.'

`Hooter?' queried Paula as they left the library and reached the top of the great flight of the main stairs.

`That's what I call her way of bellowing when a meal is ready.'

As they entered the main library Mrs Grandy appeared with a grim expression. Marshal came bustling in after them, followed by Marler and Newman. Mrs Grandy stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

`Nice when some people are on time. Just. As for the male lot, they're late. And I don't appreciate being told late to prepare for two extras.

She aimed her stubby index finger at both Marler and Newman. Marshal turned on her.

`Instead of bellowing like a baboon, which I'm reminded of, looking at you, do the job you're paid too much for and serve the meal which, I do hope, is edible.'

Marler sat at the laid table between Paula and Lavinia. As Lavinia began talking to Marler, Newman leaned over and whispered to Paula.

`We've discovered something. Later...'

20

`I'm going for a walk on the front lawn while the sun shines,' Tweed announced, glancing over his shoulder at the end of the meal. He had announced his intention at the beginning of the meal and was repeating the same words. The lunch had lasted a long time with nearly everyone chattering and joking, a hysterical reaction to Bella's recent death. Tweed had noticed Marler was getting on well with Lavinia, with brief laughter from that direction.

The only exception was Paula, who had been studying Warner. His rock-like head had concentrated on eating and he hadn't said a word. He reminded her of something, then she knew what it was.

During a summer holiday while at Medfords she had flown to America. From New York she had continued on to Rapid City in South Dakota. She'd had a spectacular view of the monument, the famous view of the distant giant cliffs where the heads of four Presidents had been carved out of the rock on a massive scale. George Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and the other one she couldn't remember. It was these grim rock faces which Warner reminded her of. He had something on his mind — or was waiting for something.