Angel With Two Faces (22 page)

They sat down to eat, and Archie considered Josephine’s suggestion. ‘I really can’t see Nathaniel as a killer,’ he said. ‘His reaction to Harry’s death was genuine, I’m sure, and anyway – if someone found out that Nathaniel had killed Harry, surely they’d just go to the police.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said Josephine wryly. ‘I was forgetting how law-abiding you all seem down here. I don’t suppose for a moment that anyone would take the law into their own hands.’

He laughed. ‘How quickly you’ve settled in.’

‘I haven’t asked you what you actually saw last night,’ Josephine said. ‘How did it happen?’

Archie went through the whole incident, from the moment he suspected something was wrong to his finding of Nathaniel’s body. ‘And I don’t need to tell you how many suspects there are. Most of the cast were wearing brown habits and, if that weren’t bad enough, an identical one – Nathaniel’s original costume – went missing from the vestry a few days ago. The only people we can really rule out are the audience and the handful of actors with more individual costumes.’ He rubbed his hands wearily over his eyes. ‘If only I’d reacted more quickly. I doubt I could have saved Nathaniel, but I might at least have caught his killer.’

‘That’s ridiculous,’ she said bluntly. ‘Even from where we were sitting, everything happened so quickly, so God knows what it must have been like for you.’

‘What do
you
remember about the evening? Any comings and goings I should know about?’

‘Well, Morwenna and Loveday were there early on, but they’d disappeared by the time the play started – I didn’t see them again, but they left their things behind. Morveth picked them up, I think. You know that the vicar stormed out, and his wife went after him as soon as the play was stopped. I noticed Kestrel Jacks in the audience around then, as well – he was standing at the back until William fetched him.’

‘That doesn’t rule him out – he could have gone up the actors’ steps like you did to get to the back of the theatre.’

‘Yes, and the same goes for the undertaker. I didn’t see him leave, but he came back down from the cliff-top quite a while later. The audience had gone by then, and the rest of us were
gathered on the stage. He seemed flustered about something – other than the accident, I mean.’

‘Yes. He says his van was stolen last night.’

‘You sound like you don’t believe him,’ she said cautiously, at a loss to know how she could question Jago’s capacity for violence without betraying the Snipe’s confidence.

‘To be honest, Josephine, I’m not sure what I believe,’ Archie said, his frustration getting the better of him. ‘You were spot-on just now – everyone’s a law unto themselves, and they’ve been palming me off with half-stories and veiled threats ever since I got here. I thought Jago was as straight as they come – but he’s the worst of the lot. He asks me to help him find Christopher, but he won’t tell me anything that might allow me to do that – he just mutters some obscure reference to his being punished by Christopher’s disappearance. What’s that all about, for Christ’s sake?’

‘You mean Christopher’s punishing his father by staying away?’

‘No – the implication was definitely that someone might hurt Christopher to get back at him, but I couldn’t get anything more out of him.’

‘Did Jago have any reason to want Nathaniel out of the way?’

‘Not to my knowledge, but what does that prove? So no, I don’t know whether to believe Jago about the van – it could have been taken by the killer, or it could be that he knows exactly what happened to it and just won’t tell me. Perhaps he suspects Christopher of having something to do with Nathaniel’s death and stealing the van to get away quickly. Or perhaps he had a reason to get rid of it himself.’

Josephine could easily understand how Archie felt. Absolute
ignorance was one thing but there was nothing worse than being taunted with something that was never fully revealed. His anger mirrored her own irritation with Morveth last night, and it made her even more uneasy about carrying so many secrets which had not been shared with him. Could it really be that he had no idea what his mother had suffered? ‘Tell me about your uncle,’ she said, trying to sound casual about it. ‘He must be in the frame after that impromptu scene.’

‘Jasper? He’s greedy, hypocritical and thoroughly vile – and despite all that, completely unsuited to a career in the Church.’ Josephine laughed, and wondered if Archie got the scepticism which she had often heard him express from his mother. ‘There are rumours that he has his hand in the church till – they’ve been going around for as long as I can remember – but no one’s ever proved it. Needless to say, there was a collective sigh of relief when he announced his retirement, and I think William’s more relieved than most, but even that’s not straightforward now.’

‘But nothing else?’

‘Not that I know of. Why do you ask?’

‘Because of something Loveday said. She told me about the pilfering – that’s old news, as you said, and not at all interesting, apparently – but she also said that Nathaniel had discovered a more serious misdemeanour and was trying to find out more about it.’

‘So she doesn’t know what Nathaniel was talking about?’

‘No – but the vicar overheard her telling me all about it. We were in the church at the time, and I caught a glimpse of him in the vestry.’ She remembered the shadowy figure at the door, and how intently he had been listening to Loveday’s innocent chatter. ‘My God, I should have told you that before. I knew it
was stupid of Nathaniel to talk so carelessly, but I didn’t think it would get him killed.’

‘Calm down – I’m sure that’s not the reason. Jasper’s a despicable human being, but I don’t think he’s a killer. Apart from anything else, the person who ran away from that cliff was a damned sight fitter than my uncle. And I know you like Loveday, but people don’t often take her very seriously, and her comments won’t have been as significant to Jasper as you thought they were.’

‘I think you’re underestimating Loveday, you know. Morveth and I talked for a while last night when you’d gone down to look for Nathaniel’s body, and she certainly takes her seriously.’

‘Does Morveth know what Nathaniel had discovered about Jasper?’

‘No,’ Josephine said but, on reflection, she realised that Morveth had not actually said that she didn’t know – just that she didn’t think it was anything to do with Lizzie Penrose.

‘All right. I’ll drop in on Jasper later if it’ll put your mind at rest.’ Josephine doubted that any conversation between Archie and his uncle would put her mind at rest, but she let it pass without comment. ‘Where was Morveth, by the way?’ Archie asked. ‘Did you see her during the play?’

‘I hadn’t met her before,’ she reminded him, ‘but William looked for her at one point and couldn’t see her. I know she wasn’t around to see the incident with Jasper, though, because she told me she’d had to go back to the bus for something.’

‘For an ensemble piece, there were precious few people around when it mattered,’ he said.

She laughed. ‘Morveth seemed anxious afterwards, though – more so than everyone else. She implied it wasn’t a straightforward accident right from the start.’

‘That’s interesting. I know she has a habit of getting to the truth before the rest of us, but even so… And I can’t be sure, but I think she overheard at least some of my conversation with Nathaniel.’

Josephine realised that they hadn’t really talked about Morwenna yet. She was reluctant to mention her name after Archie’s sensitivity during their earlier conversations, but she needed to convince him to explore the nature of Morwenna’s relationship with her brother. She considered how best to raise the subject without being too specific: now wasn’t the time to reveal Morveth’s confidence to Archie – wittingly or unwittingly – but she wasn’t entirely convinced by Morveth’s argument that ignorance was best. There was a horrible irony in being the last to know something about your own family. She would never forget going home to Inverness for Christmas one year and being the only one who didn’t know that her mother had just been diagnosed with cancer. An air of forced jollity hung over all the usual rituals and traditions; she noticed, but could not explain it, and later, when Christmas was over and the news was broken, she felt isolated and humiliated. She had never entirely forgiven her family for not telling her straight away, no matter how well intentioned the decision had been, and she knew that Archie would feel the same. For now, though, he had enough to worry about. ‘Morwenna had fallen out with Nathaniel, hadn’t she?’ she said warily. ‘Loveday wasn’t allowed to speak to him any more.’

‘No. Morwenna told me it was because he’d been confusing Loveday by talking about eternal life and making it difficult for her to accept Harry’s death. That made perfect sense to me at the time – it’s a big responsibility to have to manage your little sister’s grief as well as deal with your own – but obviously there
was more to it than that. Nathaniel said he’d faced them both with Loveday’s revelation about the fire, and she blamed him for Harry’s death.’

‘You don’t think it was suicide, though.’

‘No. Do you still really think Morwenna killed Harry?’

‘Well, she
had
just discovered that he killed her parents,’ Josephine pointed out. ‘And perhaps she wanted Nathaniel out of the way to make sure the family’s reputation wasn’t completely destroyed.’ Archie didn’t dismiss this as she had feared he might, and she took advantage of his silence. ‘Or perhaps there are other family secrets that we don’t know about.’

‘Go on.’

‘Look, I know you weren’t convinced the other day when I suggested that Morwenna might have been afraid of Harry, but something Morveth said last night made me even more sure that there’s some truth in that.’ She bent down to give some bacon to Motley Penrose, who had appeared at the door just in time to excuse her from looking at Archie while she spoke to him. ‘She was talking about a woman on the estate who had been ill-treated by someone close to her, and she said that the woman had to lock herself in her room to get away. That’s word for word what Loveday said Morwenna used to do when she and Harry were arguing.’ She paused, but still he said nothing. ‘You find that impossible to believe, don’t you?’

‘Perhaps I just don’t want to believe it,’ he said honestly, ‘but it’s possible, I suppose. He was the man of the house after his parents died, and he’d have had virtually free rein to do anything and get away with it.’

‘It would explain why Harry and Nathaniel had to go, and perhaps Christopher, too. He was close to Loveday, and
Morwenna must have worried about what was said between them.’

‘We don’t know that anything’s happened to Christopher,’ Archie said cautiously. ‘I’m not dismissing it, but to kill three people is a very extreme reaction.’

‘Don’t underestimate the shame of it,’ said Josephine gently. ‘Talk to her about it. It might have absolutely nothing to do with these killings, but she might still appreciate a sympathetic ear from a man she can trust. And she does trust you – that’s obvious.’

‘I’m beginning to think you care about this as much as I do.’

She smiled. ‘I can’t stop thinking about Loveday,’ she admitted. ‘That conversation we had really affected me, and I can see why Nathaniel was troubled by what she told him. It’s so obvious that she’s caught up in a relationship which she simply doesn’t understand. There’s something intense and dark about it – about the family in general.’

‘Who was Morveth talking about?’ he asked.

It was the question she had been dreading, and she knew one secret would have to be sacrificed to answer it. ‘I promised the Snipe I wouldn’t tell you this,’ she said, trying to convince herself that it was a sin of omission rather than a lie, ‘but in light of what’s happened, you ought to know because it shows he can be violent. When I went down to the kitchen the other night, the Snipe was with Beth Jacks, bathing her face. She’d been beaten up by her husband, and I gather it happens regularly.’

‘You’ve found out a lot in forty-eight hours,’ he said, impressed.

‘You don’t have to be here long to realise that the men think they run things, while the women unite and get on with their lives in their own way.’

Archie nodded. ‘That’s true, and I don’t know why I’m shocked about Jacks – he’s a brute at the best of times – but I am. I’m beginning to feel more out of touch with my own home than ever.’

Josephine looked at him with concern. ‘This is going to be hard for you, isn’t it? Should you have agreed to take it on?’

‘I’m involved whether I like it or not,’ he said. ‘It sounds stupid, but, if nothing else, I feel as though I owe it to my parents. They loved this place – it was so much a part of who they were, and if the heart of it has to be torn apart, then it should at least be done by someone who cares. Protecting it – if I can protect it at all from whatever’s going on here – feels like doing something for them.’ The tenderness in his voice when he spoke of his parents made Josephine all the more convinced that now was not the time to make him any more vulnerable to his emotions. ‘I suppose all I’m saying is that it’s personal,’ he added, ‘and I don’t know yet if that’s a good thing or a bad. But either way, it’s time I made a move.’ He got up, looking a little embarrassed, and walked over to the dresser, where she had left the volume of Tennyson. ‘Brushing up on your Arthurian legends?’ he asked, picking it up.

‘I thought I’d better. I’m embarrassingly vague on anything between Shakespeare and Kipling, and I’m ashamed to say that Tennyson has passed me by completely.’ She watched as he turned the pages, and couldn’t help feeling that he needed the peace and quiet of the Lodge rather more than she did at the moment. ‘Are you sure you won’t stay here instead of at the house?’ she asked. ‘It must be chaos over there and we can easily swap. Or you could offer me police protection,’ she added as he started to protest. ‘I wouldn’t mind some company with what’s going on at the moment.’

‘That is utter rubbish, Josephine, and you know it,’ he said, laughing. ‘You’re perfectly happy on your own – irritatingly so, in fact.’

‘Okay, I admit I’ve made more convincing excuses – but it’s not as if there isn’t plenty of room for us both.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘And think of how much it would give the girls to talk about. Seriously, though – I really do think you’d be better off here at the moment. You need familiarity and time to think, and – much as I love them – you won’t get that with Lettice and Ronnie breathing down your neck for every detail of the case.’