The Angel Tree (56 page)

‘Thanks. So, what happens from here with Marchmont?’

‘The investigators have nearly finished. They’ll put in their report sometime next week. I have a few more loose ends to tie up and we’ll see where it takes us.’

‘But you think it was an intruder who started the fire deliberately?’

‘At present, there seems to be no other explanation – unless your mother wanted to burn her own house down,’ he quipped.

‘It’s not my mother’s house, Inspector, it’s my aunt’s.’

‘Here you are.’ Cheska appeared, brandishing the photographs.

‘Thank you. The boys will be very happy.’ He placed them carefully in his briefcase and held out his hand. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hammond. And your
daughter,’ he added, glancing at Ava. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

‘I feel like I’ve been on trial for the past hour!’ Cheska wailed as the door closed behind him. She slumped onto the sofa. Then her eyes filled with fear. ‘You
don’t think . . . you don’t think he suspected me of anything, do you, Ava?’

‘No, Mother.’

‘It was just, some of the questions he asked, it made me feel like a . . . a criminal.’

‘I wouldn’t worry. By the time he left he’d obviously become one of your biggest fans.’

‘Do you think so?’

‘Yes. Now, I’m afraid I have to go.’

‘Go where?’

‘Home, to do some work.’

‘But you can’t! Jodie will be here in fifteen minutes.’

‘Who’s Jodie?’

‘The journalist. I promise it won’t take long. I’ll order you something from room service.’

‘I’m not hungry.’

‘Champagne, then? I’ll get some sent up.’

‘No, thanks.’

‘Look, honey, I know you don’t want to do this, but you did promise me and Dorian you would. Let me do all the talking. I’m used to it. Okay?’

An hour and a half later, Ava left the Savoy, feeling sick to the stomach. Cheska had insisted on sitting next to her whilst Jodie interviewed them, holding her hand, putting
her arm round her shoulder and acting the role of devoted mother to perfection. Ava had said very little, answering the questions put to her monosyllabically. A photographer had arrived, and after
the pictures had been taken, Ava had stood up, kissed her mother and left. As she was leaving, Cheska had muttered something about seeing Simon the next day, and that she’d have some good
news for Ava afterwards.

As Ava sat down on the bus, she forced herself to acknowledge that Cheska was in love with Simon. And maybe he with her. When she arrived back in her room, Ava lay on her bed for a few minutes
with tears in her eyes but decided that there was no point brooding over it now. She made up her mind that she would leave for Wales tomorrow and go and see LJ. Even though she knew she
couldn’t tell LJ about the tragedy that had struck Marchmont, she felt she needed to be in her aunt’s secure, solid presence. As she closed her eyes, desperately tired and willing sleep
to come, she thought about where the investigators had said the fire had started. And suddenly, with every fibre in her body, she knew her mother was lying.

‘Hello, Mr Glenwilliam, I have a call for you from David Marchmont.’

‘Thank you, Sheila.’

‘Glenwilliam?’

‘David, I’m awfully glad you’ve called.’

‘We’ve only just arrived back at our hotel in Lhasa from a trek in the Himalayas. There were messages asking me to contact both you and Ava urgently. I couldn’t reach Ava at
the number she gave me in London, so you were my next port of call. What’s happened? Is it my mother?’

‘No. She’s all right, as far as I know. At least, she’s in a nursing home—’

‘A nursing home?!’

‘Yes, but in the circumstances, we can all be relieved she was. One of the reasons I was trying to get hold of you is because Marchmont was badly damaged in a fire a few days
ago.’

‘Oh God! Was anybody hurt?’

‘No.’

‘Thank heavens. I’m grateful to you for contacting me, Glenwilliam.’

‘Well, Miss Hammond did advise me that I wouldn’t be able to reach you, but I thought it best that I—’

‘Cheska?! She’s back in the UK?’

‘Yes, although, apparently, she’s in London now. And, of course, Ava’s there, too, at college.’

‘Jesus Christ! It sounds as if all hell has broken loose! My mother’s in a nursing home, Marchmont has gone up in smoke and Cheska’s back in England. Is she with Ava
now?’

‘Miss Hammond is staying at the Savoy, so your housekeeper tells me. I’ve rung the hotel a number of times, but she’s yet to return my calls. I really must speak to her. Now
she has temporary power of attorney for Marchmont, I can’t do anything without her say-so. Plus—’

‘Power of attorney? Cheska? Why?’

‘I’m sorry, David, allow me to back-track a little. The reason your mother is in a nursing home is because she had a stroke in September. It was thought best by the doctors and
myself for Miss Hammond to handle Marchmont’s financial affairs whilst she recovers.’

‘A stroke? How bad was it?’

‘From what I’ve gathered, she’s recovering well. However, there is another problem you need to be aware of, which is’ – Glenwilliam paused nervously for a moment
before imparting the news – ‘that a substantial amount of money has been withdrawn from the Marchmont estate account, and I wanted to check that this was done on Miss Hammond’s
instruction and obviously, why she’s transferred it.’

‘What? Why in God’s name did you allow Cheska to have power of attorney?!’ David exploded. ‘Surely you could have waited until you had spoken to me?’

‘Forgive me, David, but I didn’t know how long it might take to contact you, and Miss Hammond was most insistent. Of course, I offered to run the estate for her in your absence, but
she seemed determined to take on the responsibility herself. There was little I could do to stop her. Your mother’s doctor had written a statement that she was unfit to continue running the
estate.’

‘And both your heads were turned by her famous face and legendary charm, no doubt. Did she also ask who would inherit the estate on my mother’s death?’

There was another pause. ‘I believe she did, yes.’

‘And you told her?’

‘She seemed to know already, David. I merely clarified the situation.’

‘Look, I’ll fly home as soon as possible. I’ll go to London first, speak to Cheska and find out what the hell is going on. I’ll be in touch when I land.
Goodbye.’

David slammed down the receiver and lay back on the bed with a groan.

Tor had just emerged from the shower. ‘My goodness! It’s nice to have a few luxuries after weeks of washing with buckets and sleeping on those dreadful mats! David, what on earth is
it? You’re as white as a sheet!’

‘I knew we shouldn’t have been out of contact for such a long time. It’s complete mayhem in England!’

‘But, darling, that was the whole point. To get away from things, be by ourselves for a while.’

‘If anything’s happened to her . . . I’ll . . .’ David’s shoulders began to heave.

Tor sat next to him and put her arms around him. ‘Happened to who? What? Tell me!’

‘My mother’s had a stroke. Glenwilliam says she’s in a nursing home. And Cheska’s come home.’

‘Cheska? She’s at Marchmont?’

‘No, Tor. On top of that, there’s been a fire. The house has burnt down. I don’t know how bad it is, but Glenwilliam gave Cheska power of attorney and now she’s gone to
London, having removed what Glenwilliam called a “substantial amount of money” from the Marchmont estate account.’

‘Good Lord! It sounds as if we’d better see if we can get a flight back to London immediately. I’ll ring the concierge while you go and make yourself a stiff drink. And one for
me, too,’ Tor added.

David stood up and wandered over to the minibar. He poured himself a large gin, added some tonic and ice and took a healthy gulp.

Twenty minutes later Tor was off the phone and was starting to stuff clothes into David’s overnight bag. ‘You’re booked on a flight tonight. You’ll have
to go via Beijing, then transfer to London. It’s rather a long wait in Beijing, but it’s the best I could do at short notice. You should get into Heathrow early evening on Sunday, local
time.’

‘What about you?’

‘Only one seat left on the plane, I’m afraid, darling. They’re making enquiries for me now, and I’ll follow on as soon as I can.’

‘This is all my fault.’ David sighed in despair. ‘If I hadn’t been so fixated on taking this trip, I might have realised Cheska was up to something.’

Tor sat him down on the bed and gently took his hands in hers. ‘Dear David, you’ve spent your life trying to look after Greta, Cheska and Ava. None of them is even a blood relation
to you. The fact that you allowed yourself some time for you doesn’t make you guilty of anything. You must remember that.’

‘Thank you, darling. I’ll try to.’

‘Now, you’d better jump into the shower. You’ve only got twenty minutes before you need to leave for the airport.’

Ava was sitting at her desk, desperately trying to finish her essay so that she could leave it in her tutor’s pigeonhole before she left for Marchmont, when she heard a
knock on the door.

‘Phone call for you, Ava.’

Ava walked to the payphone.

‘Hello?’

‘It’s me, Mary. I’m sorry to bother you, but I don’t know what else to do. I tried last night and nobody picked up the telephone.’

‘Is it LJ?’ Ava’s heart yet again missed a beat.

‘Ava, don’t panic, she’s not dead, or at least not that I know. She’s just . . . missing.’

‘Missing? What on earth do you mean?’

‘I went to visit her last night at the nursing home. The matron was surprised to see me. She thought I would know that Mrs Marchmont had been removed by her niece a few days ago, but she
doesn’t know where to.’

‘What?! You’re saying Cheska has taken her out of the nursing home and didn’t tell us?’

‘Yes. On Monday, before she left for London. She told me not to visit for a couple of days as your great-aunt was being taken to Abergavenny Hospital for an assessment.’

‘Then, surely, that’s where she is?’

‘No, I telephoned them and they say that Mrs Marchmont isn’t due for any assessment until next week.’ Ava heard Mary stifle a sob.

‘Well it’s very simple, I’ll call my mother now and find out where and
why
she’s moved her.’

‘I tried her last night at the Savoy, but the receptionist said that she’d blocked her line until further notice. Oh Ava, what has your mother done with her?’

‘I don’t know, but I promise you I’m going to find out. Try not to panic, Mary. I’m sure she’s all right. Any word from Uncle David? According to his itinerary, he
should be at his hotel in Lhasa about now.’

‘No word yet, but I’m sure he’ll call as soon as he gets the message.’

‘We need him home urgently, Mary, he’s the only one who can make sense of what’s happened. I was planning to come up to Wales this evening, but obviously I need to see my
mother first. I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve seen her and found out where she’s taken LJ.’

‘Thank you,
fach
. But please take care when you go and ask her, won’t you?’

‘What do you mean?’ Ava asked her.

‘I . . . just that, perhaps your mother isn’t quite what she seems.’

Ava thought grimly that she’d begun to work that out for herself.

Simon knocked on the door of Cheska’s suite.

‘Come in!’

He tried the handle and discovered it was unlocked.

‘Hello?’ he said as he walked inside.

‘In here, darling,’ said a voice from the bedroom. ‘Come through.’

‘Okay.’ He opened the door. ‘Sorry I’m a bit late, Cheska, I . . .’

The sight that met his eyes rendered him silent. Cheska was lying on the bed clad only in a black bra, briefs and sheer stockings held up by a lace suspender belt. She had a glass of champagne
in her hand.

‘Hello, honey.’ She smiled at him.

‘Where’s the record producer you wanted me to meet?’ Simon asked, trying to look anywhere other than at Cheska.

‘He’s arriving later. Come here, darling. We have so much to celebrate.’ She held out her arms to him.

Simon sank into a chair.

‘Bobby, there’s no need to be shy. You never used to be shy, did you?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Cheska. And, for the umpteenth time, my name is Simon.’

‘Sure it is. Here, have some champagne. It’ll relax you.’

‘No, thanks. Look, Cheska, I’m afraid there’s been a bit of a mistake.’

‘What “mistake”?’

‘I think, I—’ Simon struggled for the right words. ‘I think you want things from me that I just can’t give you.’

‘Such as?’ Cheska smiled seductively. ‘If you mean your body and your heart and your soul, then yes, you’re right. I want them. I love you, Bobby. I always have. I know
you’re angry with me for what I did to you, but I’ll make it up to you, I swear. And, besides, your face is all healed up now.’ She stood up and advanced towards him. As he sat
there frozen with shock, she climbed on top of him, straddling his legs with hers. ‘Please, Bobby, forgive me, forgive me.’ She leant forward to kiss his neck.

‘
No!
’ Recovering his senses, Simon jumped up, throwing her off and almost toppling her backwards.

Cheska regained her balance and looked up at him from under her eyelashes. ‘I know you’re playing hard to get. You always did tease me. Give in now, Bobby, let’s forget about
the past and make a fresh start. Life is going to be so wonderful. I’m moving to London so we can be together. I’ve seen a fabulous apartment in Knightsbridge I’m going to rent
for us. I’ve got a great part in a television series and you’ll have a recording deal and—’

‘
Stop it! Stop it!
’ Simon took her by the shoulders and shook her.

Cheska continued to smile at him in her dreamy way. ‘I remember you did like to hurt me sometimes. I don’t mind. Anything you want, darling, anything.’

Simon felt her foot rubbing up and down his leg. ‘Shut up!’ His hand whipped across her face, not hard enough to hurt, but the shock silenced her. She looked up at him, a wounded
expression in her eyes.