‘You took her off? Without consulting me? You had no right to do any such thing! I’m the next of kin!’
‘And I’m the medical expert.’ He said it as though he could convince me, but he took a prudent step backwards. I vaguely noticed that the cat had disappeared completely.
‘How expert? Have you ever had a case like hers before?’
‘Not exactly like hers, but we’ve had some pretty grim cases flown in from the oil rigs. You get to have a feeling about these things.’
‘A feeling! You risked Nessa’s life because you had a feeling!’
‘I was right.’ He backed another step. ‘It had to be done sometime.’
‘Without consulting her next of kin!’
‘Save your energy. The hard part is still to come. If she recovers consciousness —’
‘
If?
’
‘If she comes out of the coma,’ he continued firmly, ‘we’ll be able to assess the damage, see what can be done to repair it, find out what she needs for rehabilitation, all of that and perhaps more. Don’t worry.’ His mouth twisted wryly. ‘We’ll have plenty of consultations in the days ahead.’
‘We’d better!’ I shook my head. ‘I can’t believe it! You did something that dangerous without even talking to her next of kin! You ignored me —’
‘We were both busy — and I was afraid you’d react like this. I didn’t want you to blow your cover in an unguarded moment.’
‘Very thoughtful of you. I wonder if the Medical Council would consider that a sufficient excuse.’
‘You wouldn’t —’ He paled.
‘I might.’ But I was in no position to do any such thing at the moment and we both knew it, I realized, as his colour began to return. ‘If it ever happens again. Meanwhile, I’d suggest you brush up on your medical ethics.’
‘Don’t worry —’ Was he bold enough now to have a trace of mockery in his tone? ‘I’ll make very sure the next of kin is kept fully informed from now on.’
‘See that you do.’ But I couldn’t antagonize him too much; he was my lifeline to Nessa. And there was another point he could satisfy my curiosity about.
‘Everett Oversall —’ There was no subtle way to segue into the subject, so I plunged in without preliminaries. ‘I haven’t seen him yet. I’ve heard of keeping a low profile, but this is ridiculous. I’m beginning to wonder if he still exists.’
‘Oh, he exists, all right. Never doubt it. And he’s an expert at ensuring that he’ll continue to exist.’
‘What do you mean by that?’ The mockery in his voice had shaded into an interesting bitterness that hinted at volumes that could be spoken.
‘Haven’t you found out yet?’ It was unmistakably a taunt, possibly a dare.
‘Suppose you tell me.’
‘Suppose I don’t.’ He was paying me back for the threat to report him to the General Medical Council. I’d have liked to do more than that to him!
Careful
. Keep calm. Much as I’d have liked to ram his teeth down his throat, it was out-of-character for Vanessa and would be hard to explain. Apart from which, she
wouldn’t thank me if she recovered to find herself facing a charge of grievous bodily harm.
‘Spit it out! This isn’t a personal favour to me, you know. It’s for Nessa.’
‘Nessa … yes …’ His mood changed. He looked at me with a strange expression of aversion and …? ‘Nessa … She should have got away while there was still time.’
‘The way Francesca did?’
‘Perhaps. Sometimes I wonder …’ His gaze sharpened. ‘At least you found out about
her
, did you?’
‘You were going to tell me.’ I reminded him, ‘what else I should have found out.’
‘Was I?’ He looked around, as though searching for escape, and was momentarily distracted by the cat who had sauntered back into the room now that our voices were quieter, afraid of missing something.
‘Here, girl …’ He snapped his fingers at her, but she went into full Grand Duchess mode and sat down at a distance, staring at him coldly.
We both stared at him, coldly and silently, until the silence was abruptly shattered.
‘Good God!’ He jumped visibly and looked towards the cloister. ‘What’s that?’
That
was a blurred melodic chanting sounding faintly in the distance somewhere along the cloister.
‘Just one of my hallucinations. Pay no attention.’ Either someone wasn’t aware that I had company, or they knew and didn’t care because they knew who it was — a witness who could be controlled.
‘You … you’ve heard it before?’
‘It’s getting to be a regular nightly concert. That’s the reason I didn’t sleep so well last night and am a bit snappy today.’ It was as close as I was going to get to an apology.
‘What the hell is going on?’ It was tacitly accepted and we were back on an even footing.
‘Who knows?’ I shrugged. ‘I suspect it’s intended to
make me rush outside in girlish excitement to try to find out. But I don’t happen to think that’s a good idea.’
‘Do you think that’s what Nessa did?’
‘And, possibly, even Francesca.’
‘Yes …’ He considered that for a moment. ‘Yes, Francesca was the excitable type. I could see her doing that. But I’m not so sure about Nessa.’
‘It might have taken more to smoke her out,’ I agreed. ‘But — why should anyone want to? And what about the woman I saw in the anchorite’s cell? Who was she? Anyone we know?’
‘I’m sorry about that injection.’ It was his turn to apologize. ‘In the circumstances, it was the only thing I could do — and it was only half-strength, you know.’
‘I appreciate that.’ Apology accepted, but deed not quite forgiven. And he still hadn’t answered the question.
In the distance, that chanting ratcheted up a notch. Now there seemed to be an organ accompaniment.
‘I don’t believe this!’ Anderson shook his head groggily. ‘What the hell is going on?’
‘I believe they’re trying to drive Nessa mad,’ I told him. ‘Or else convince other people that she already
is
mad. That’s why I haven’t mentioned this to any of them.’
The cat stalked over to the door, tail lashing. She was furious. She’d had enough! She glared over her shoulder at us and her message was clear:
Do
something about it!
‘The cat can hear it, too.’ Anderson sounded as though her evidence was more reliable than his own ears. I knew the feeling. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Nothing. That’s what someone wants — me rushing out impulsively. Straight into whatever they’ve got waiting for me out there.’
‘I could —’ he began.
‘Don’t even think of it!’ I cut him off. ‘Their plan would probably work just as well if they killed you — and blamed Nessa for it. Perhaps even better. They could pin the other killing on her, too.’
‘
Other?
But she wasn’t even here when Francesca —’ He broke off, abruptly realizing he’d gone too far.
‘Who said anything about Francesca? I’m talking about the body in the cell.’
‘Look — I told you the truth about that. Monica took me to it to see for myself. There was no body in the cell. Nothing but the effigy of the monk — just as there’s always been.’
‘We’ll come back to that later.’ He’d started to rise, but I pushed him back into the chair. ‘First, try telling me the truth about Francesca.’
‘I don’t know anything about Francesca.’ He folded his arms across his chest and looked at me defiantly.
I clenched my fist, then unclenched it, fighting for control. If what I suspected was true, this might be my future brother-in-law. If I didn’t kill him first.
‘Then tell me more about what you don’t know.’
‘She … left … so suddenly.’ He was desperately unhappy at admitting anything. His gaze slithered from me to the cat, to the door, back to me. ‘Everyone was saying she’d eloped, but …’
‘But you don’t quite believe that, do you?’
‘I … don’t know … I’m not sure …’ He looked at the door again, but both the cat and I stood between him and it.
‘The Elopement?’ I prodded. ‘Or the Disappearance? Forget what you don’t know, what do you suspect? And why?’
‘The Golden Handcuffs,’ he said. ‘I don’t think she’d risk losing those. She was too close to collecting.’
‘Golden Handcuffs?’ I didn’t like the sound of that. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’ve got them, too. That is, Nessa has. All of the women have. Why do you think they bury themselves in a place like this and put up with all of Oversall’s whims?’
‘I’ve wondered. But I thought he was running some sort
of Home for Retired Mistresses — and paying over the odds in memory of old times.’
‘Close … but not quite on target.’
‘Except for Nessa, of course,’ I qualified hastily.
‘Of course.’ Now that he’d admitted that much, he was ready to talk more — if not tell all. ‘He pays well, but not that well, although the board and lodging count for a good bit, but the real perk is the bonus system. The Golden Handcuffs is the name they give it among themselves because that’s the way it works. The longer you stay in his employment, the richer in your own right you become.’
So that was why Madame thought I was greedy
. To the point of being reckless with my own life. Nessa’s life.
‘Explain,’ I said. ‘Just how
does
it work?’
‘Extremely well. Oversall has gifted each one with a very substantial sum, set up in a trust fund which they will have access to after seven years. Neither he nor they have to pay tax on it — provided that he lives for seven years after the gift. He repeats this with fresh funds every seven years. Needless to say, they take very good care of him. They’re not just part of the entertainment when he has some of his dodgy business associates calling on him. They’re the best bodyguard available — they have a vested interest in his continuing good health. I believe Yvonne actually did save his life on one occasion when she spotted a Dictator’s apprentice unsheathing a concealed knife too close to Oversall’s back. And Amanda is a genius at sussing out anyone high on drugs or otherwise mentally unstable. Those two are better guard dogs than any of the four-legged variety patrolling the grounds.’
‘Does this just apply to the women?’ I thought of Ivor — was he out of the arrangements and angling for a wealthy wife? ‘Or do the men benefit, too?’
‘Actually, they do.’ His face crimsoned; he thought I was getting at him. ‘
We
do.’
‘So you all do double duty. Along with your nominal jobs, you’re part of his private army.’
‘If you want to put it like that, yes.’
‘I’d say it was a fair assessment of the situation. So, with all this money in the offing, if Francesca eloped, it would have to be with a multimillionaire to make it worth her while?’
‘Precisely — and there weren’t any around at the time she disappeared. In fact, Oversall had no visitors at all that week. He spent it closeted with the auditors — and none of them had enough of an income to be of interest to Francesca.’
‘Interesting …’ It was even more interesting that neither of us considered her being swept away by love as a possibility.
‘Interesting … and disturbing.’
‘If Nessa was enrolled in this private army, then I’m even more surprised that Oversall hasn’t sent for me yet. Doesn’t he object to the fact that I’m not pulling my full weight along with the rest?’
‘He’s a realist above all. He knows you’re not much use to him at the moment. He’ll bide his time.’ Anderson glared at me briefly before looking towards the cloister. ‘That music has stopped.’
The cat looked in that direction, too, then her ears flattened and she streaked for the bedroom. The music may have stopped, but something else was happening.
‘Perhaps —’ Anderson stood and I made no move to stop him — ‘this would be a good moment for me to get away. I’ll take a look around outside before I leave,’ he added placatingly.
‘Don’t bother.’ Now I could hear what the cat had heard. ‘It’s being taken care of.’
‘What —?’
‘Miss Nessa?’ There was a light tap on the door. ‘You all right in there?’ A soft ‘
Woof?
’ echoed the enquiry.
‘It’s Bud,’ I said. ‘Making his rounds. He’ll see you to your car.’
‘I don’t need —’
But I had already crossed to the door and opened it,
not wide enough to let Brutus in, although he shoved forward.
‘Dr Anderson was just leaving, Bud. Perhaps you’d be kind enough to take him to his car,’ I said, as Bud stepped aside to let Anderson out.
‘What’s the doctor doing here?’ Bud glared at Anderson suspiciously. ‘You all right?’
‘She’s fine,’ Anderson said. ‘I’m just making sure she stays that way’
‘He giving you any trouble?’ Bud hung back to ask with quiet menace.
‘No, no, it’s all right. He’s fine.’ Bud’s sudden protective-ness made me nervous. Annoying though he was, I didn’t want any accident to happen to Anderson on the way to his car. ‘Everything is fine.’
‘Right, then.’ He hovered uncertainly, not sure whether to believe me or not.
I smiled at him reassuringly.
‘Right.’ He leaned towards me and lowered his voice. ‘Anyone bothers you, just let me know. I’ll take care of them.’
Brutus growled agreement.
By mid-morning, the other office staff were getting used to having me around.
One of the townies brought a cup of coffee and set it down beside a pile of envelopes with the sympathetic smile of one who was awfully glad that she hadn’t been lumbered with that miserable dead-end job.
Later, I became aware of someone standing by my elbow and looked up to find Yvonne staring down at me pensively.
‘It is so good to see you back … at work,’ she said.
Back where you belong
, she had almost said. But this was not where I belonged and we both knew it, although she didn’t know that I knew it.
‘Thank you,’ I smiled. This was the first time she had ever put herself out to be friendly I waited for the ulterior motive to surface.
‘Is it beginning to seem familiar?’ The solicitous voice on my other side made me jump. I hadn’t been aware that anyone was standing there.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,’ Amanda said. She and Yvonne exchanged glances over my head. ‘I was just wondering if all this was bringing back any memories.’
‘None at all, I’m afraid.’ The admission didn’t seem to cheer them particularly, perhaps because there had never been any memories to connect with this job or this office. ‘But it’s good to be doing something useful again.’ I gave them a brave smile.