Blood From a Stone (36 page)

‘Did it really matter that much?' demanded Arthur. ‘That we should believe the man on the train was the Vicar? After all, even when we worked out he couldn't be the Vicar, we weren't much wiser.'

‘That's true,' agreed Jack. ‘However, we thought that the
murderer
was the Vicar, which, from Evie and Paxton's point of view was nearly as good.'

‘There's something I want to ask,' said Napier. ‘When you and Mrs Stanton saw the resemblance between me and the portrait of Ebenezer Leigh in the portrait gallery, you knew who I was. Why were you so sure?'

‘Because of Mr Leigh,' said Jack. ‘Granted you were a member of the family, you more or less had to be Terence Napier because that's who Mr Leigh would protect. He wouldn't shield Sandy Paxton. That gave me a bit of a problem though. It seemed impossible you could be Napier, because you'd been to Topfordham and, what's more, had a long talk to Dr Mountford. That meant, you
couldn't
be Terence Napier – unless the Terence Napier accused of murdering Mrs Paxton wasn't actually Napier but an impostor. And, granted that Mrs Paxton had been party to the deception, I knew who the impostor must be.'

‘I guessed Paxton was behind it,' said Napier. ‘I wanted proof, though. That's why I wanted a photo of him. I wanted to show it to Dr Mountford.'

‘Evie must've destroyed it,' said Jack. ‘She had ample opportunity to get rid of it.'

‘How did Evie and Sandy get onto me?' asked Napier. ‘They obviously did.' He grinned. ‘I knew that séance was a set-up.'

‘You were simply too much at home,' said Isabelle. ‘I noticed that. You fitted in too well and Mr Leigh treated you very warmly.' She sighed. ‘Poor Celia. Sandy Paxton must've got her to suggest a séance. She'd never believe it, but she's a very suggestible person.' She turned to her mother. ‘The séance was really creepy. It was the noise of the water that got to me. It sounded just like the cave. Jack told me how they'd done it.'

‘And how was that, dear?' asked her mother.

‘I'll show you.' Isabelle reached out her hand to Arthur. ‘Now, you're on one side. Jack, bring that low table over to the sofa and sit on my other side. We're pretending,' she explained to her mother, ‘that we're at a séance, you see? Now, everyone put their hands on the table.'

‘You're doing this very well,' murmured Jack.

‘I'm only doing what you showed me. From now on, this is going to be one of my party tricks.'

She laid her hands flat on the table, so she touched Jack's fingertips with her left hand and Arthur's with her right. ‘You can see we're touching each other's fingertips, yes? It would be dark, of course, so you can't actually see, but you can feel the other person's fingers. Arthur, close your eyes, darling. Jack, close your eyes as well.' Isabelle wriggled and moved her hand. ‘Sorry, I just need to get comfortable.' She readjusted her position. ‘Arthur, without opening your eyes, tell me. Am I touching your fingertips?'

‘Yes, I can feel them.'

‘Have a look.'

Arthur opened his eyes and gave an astonished laugh. Isabelle's left arm was draped across the back of the sofa. Her hand, the hand that was touching his, was also touching Jack's.

‘You see?' said Isabelle. ‘When we rejoined hands, you assumed you were holding the same hand as you'd been before, but you can see for yourself I've now got a free hand.'

‘And with that free hand,' said Jack, ‘you can drop liquid into a glass and, with the right atmosphere, it sounds exactly like the drip of water in the cave. Good, eh?'

Sir Philip laughed incredulously. ‘By George, I always thought that séance nonsense was a load of trickery, but it's remarkable to see how simple the trick is.'

‘It really is remarkable,' said Lady Rivers. ‘Obviously the blood on Mr Napier's hands was a trick too, but how did that work?'

‘Again, it's simple,' said Jack. ‘Any boy who's ever played with a chemistry set can make magic blood.'

Arthur smacked his hand on his thigh. ‘I know! I've done it! Years ago now, but I've done it. What are the chemicals, Jack? Potassium something or other and iron nitrate, aren't they?'

‘That's right,' said Jack. ‘Potassium thiocyanate.'

‘What do you do with potassium thingy?' asked Isabelle.

Jack held out his hands. ‘If I put potassium thiocyanate, which is colourless, on one palm and iron nitrate, which is also colourless, on the other palm and bring them together, the chemicals mix and produce what looks like deep red blood. Napier was sitting between Evie and Paxton. Evie, say, put a few drops of potassium thiocyanate on her hand and Paxton put iron nitrate on his and, when they touched Napier's hand, the chemicals mixed and Napier looked as if he were dripping with blood. Wonderful, eh?'

‘Remarkable,' repeated Aunt Alice.

‘I was really shaken by it,' said Napier. ‘I'd presumed the séance was a trick but when I saw what I honestly thought was blood on my hands, I'm ashamed to say I wondered if it was a real message from a spirit in the cave, after all.'

‘You haven't been in the cave, Dad,' said Isabelle, sensing his scepticism. ‘It's a lot easier to believe there really was something there, once you'd seen that ghastly altar.'

‘Real or not,' said Napier, ‘I thought the easiest thing to do was to go along with the game. I was on my guard and hoped I could catch Evie up to no good. Once I'd got some sort of proof, I could convince Frank that Evie was a wrong' un. All I can say is that I was taken completely unawares. Despite being, as I thought, sceptical, this awful whispering started.' He nodded towards Isabelle. ‘You know how the altar amplified sound. I couldn't catch the words but it felt
evil.
' He shook his head. ‘You'd have to know the cave to appreciate the effect. Then, without warning, the altar became a white-hot glowing mass of flame, with that ghastly face in the middle of it. You think they used a magnesium flare, don't you Haldean?'

‘Magnesium fits the bill, certainly.'

‘Sandy must've have lit the flare, then got into the cave by the tunnel under the altar. I was gazing thunderstruck at the altar when I sensed something behind me. He must've walloped me with a cosh and set the place on fire. And, as I'd firmly stated I was going to be in the cave all night, that should've been it.'

‘It should, shouldn't it?' agreed Jack. ‘However, when Paxton got back to the house something happened that neither he nor Evie expected.'

‘And that was?' asked Uncle Philip.

‘Frank Leigh had stolen the sapphires,' said Jack. ‘Evie was beside herself.' He grinned. ‘I was standing next to Paxton when he rumbled the sapphires were false and, believe you me, he wasn't acting.'

‘Neither was Evie,' said Isabelle with a laugh. ‘She went up like a rocket.'

‘You can see their point of view,' said Jack, reaching for another cigarette. ‘They'd been to a dickens of a lot of trouble to get those sapphires and they weren't going to let them go lightly.'

‘Poor Mr Leigh,' said Isabelle. ‘I'm just glad you were able to stop him coming to harm, Jack, even if Celia didn't thank you for it at the time.' She paused, putting her head to one side. ‘He will be all right, won't he?' she asked hesitantly.

‘Frank?' questioned Napier. ‘He will, if I've got anything to do with it. I'm not going anywhere until Frank's sorted out. I've already roped Celia in on this.' He grinned. ‘Frank's not up to making decisions at the moment but now the Breagan Bounty's back where it belongs, Celia can have her farm and Ted Marchant and stay in England, which is what she wanted. As for Frank ... Well, once the dust has settled, we're going to point out to him what's blindingly obvious to everyone, and that's Mary Hawker is perfect for him. I want to see Frank safely married.'

‘It seems a little high-handed,' said Lady Rivers. ‘I presume Mrs Hawker has a say in it?'

‘There's no problem there, Lady Rivers. Mary Hawker has thought Frank's the bee's knees for ages.'

‘You'll like her, Aunt Alice,' said Jack. ‘She's a very sound, trustworthy sort of woman and devoted to Mr Leigh. She's scrupulously honest, too. Uncomfortably so, on occasions,' he added with a smile. ‘Celia thinks the world of her. The pair of them will be very, very happy.'

Aunt Alice beamed and picked up her sherry. ‘Now that,' she said, ‘really is good news.'