Cornish Castle Mystery Collection: Tales of murder and mystery from Cornwall. Vivian Conroy

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СКАЧАТЬ she stayed with him while he put it on. He also wanted to put on this ring he had, right? An old ring that was supposed to have a link with Cornisea.’

      ‘Right, it was on his finger when he lay there dead. I saw it clearly.’

      ‘Haydock acted like it was something very special but he never told us why.’

      Oliver nodded. ‘You’re right. I didn’t have a close look at it but it shone like gold. It also had a signet with engraving. A coat of arms or something.’

      Guinevere gestured with her hand. ‘There you go. Maybe it’s significant. You told me Haydock was after the castle. And he turns up here with a ring with a coat of arms on it. Maybe he believed he had discovered something important about the rights to Cornisea? Maybe Kensa was in the know? Why else would she be so sure your father had a reason to kill Haydock? And what did her remark to Haydock mean, about hurting children being the worst thing in the world?’

      Oliver shrugged. ‘She referred to the Branok trial. Him being accused of causing the lethal fire.’

      Guinevere shook her head. ‘There was more to it. She meant actual children. Her daughter Tegen? Had Haydock somehow hurt Tegen, and was that a reason for Kensa, or for Tegen herself, to get back at him?’

      Oliver grimaced. ‘I don’t really want to see my father accused and in trouble, but to go pointing fingers at a schoolgirl … This is a murder case. We’re looking at a long stint in prison.’

      ‘Even so we must be objective. What do you know about Tegen that can help figure out what really happened tonight?’

      Oliver looked her in the eye as if he wanted to ascertain something. ‘Are you serious about this?’ he asked slowly.

      ‘Of course. We can’t just sit around and wait for your father to be accused. You told me the castle is under threat from people who want to buy it or change it. Your father is the only one who stands in their way of succeeding. What if the murder has something to do with that?’

      ‘An attempt to frame him?’

      Guinevere shrugged. ‘He was the only one who had access to the cage, so someone wanted the police to conclude that he did it. Someone used this re-enactment tonight to set up the murder and your father as the most likely suspect.’

      ‘The knife was on the table for the taking. Can’t it have been a crime in anger? Grab the knife, go down to the dungeon where Haydock was all alone …’

      ‘And how to get into the cage?’ Guinevere held Oliver’s gaze. ‘We had the same thing in Well-mannered Murder, the play we are rehearsing. A locked-room mystery. Someone dies in a room that is closed off so how did the killer get in and out? The thing is: there is always a way into the locked room. You just have to figure out what it is.’

      Oliver sighed. ‘I don’t feel like playing detective.’

      ‘Well, with your father under suspicion, we might not have a choice.’

      Oliver walked away from her and sat down on the steps leading to the entry door. He rubbed his face with both of his hands, then pulled them away and faced her, as if he had come to some decision. ‘I did see something. Before we started the re-enactment. Something between Tegen and Haydock.’

      ‘Aha.’ Guinevere came to sit beside him, Dolly still in her arms. The dachshund looked up at Oliver with her head tilted as if waiting for his revelation.

      Oliver said slowly, ‘There have been rumours, for years, that Haydock isn’t faithful to his wife.’

      Guinevere looked at him. ‘And you think he was betraying his wife with Tegen? He’s old enough to be her father!’

      ‘I know. And I never believed it before. But tonight there was something between them … Almost like an understanding.’

      Oliver frowned. ‘I can’t put a better word to it. She looked at Haydock and he looked at her and … at some point I think Haydock passed her something.’

      ‘Passed her something?’

      ‘A note maybe. Something made of paper, I think, but I didn’t look too closely. I don’t want anything to do with his tricks.’

      ‘If you’ve been away from here for years, only dropping by for occasional visits, you can’t have known much about him.’

      ‘People don’t change, Guinevere. Not in the sense that they suddenly become the exact opposite of what they always were. Usually they go down the road they’re taking.’

      ‘They get worse, you mean?’

      ‘If you want to put it that way, yes. Haydock often got what he wanted, and it made him want even more.’

      Guinevere stared straight ahead. Dolly turned her head to her and licked her cheek. The doggy had an uncanny ability to read her emotions and give her a little encouraging push. That Dolly had faith in her made her feel more confident to dig into this case.

      Guinevere asked, ‘So suppose Tegen was having an affair with Haydock. Why would she kill him? And how would she have entered the cage while the door was locked and your father had the only key to it on his person?’

      ‘That’s the thing, isn’t it?’ Oliver said, leaning his elbows on his knees. ‘My father had the only key and he swears that when he left Haydock, the man was still alive and well.’

      Guinevere nodded slowly. ‘We have to focus on the other way into the locked room. That’s how we set up the scenario for Well-mannered Murder. We started from the way it was done and then we tried to obscure it with false leads and red herrings.’

      She looked at Oliver’s profile. ‘Did Eal look if someone had been at the air hole? On the outside, I mean. If there are bushes there, there’s also earth. You should be able to see footprints or something.’

      ‘Clever, but no. Eal drew the same conclusion as I did right away. You can’t propel something through that air hole with sufficient force to embed the object in the victim’s chest.’

      ‘Not even if Haydock was standing at the air hole when it happened?’

      Oliver looked her over. ‘What are you thinking?’

      ‘Imagine the scene.’ Guinevere lifted her hands and gestured. ‘Haydock’s locked into his cage. Your father has turned the key, asked him if he’s all right and he has gone away. Haydock’s sitting there, waiting for us to appear. That won’t happen for half an hour, he knows, because we still have to play out the entire trial sequence, until we reach the point where the judge wants to talk to Branok himself. So it’s kind of tedious for Haydock. What do you do under such circumstances? You get up and go to the air hole to look out. Or just kill time, whatever. Then … boom!’

      Oliver considered it. ‘I think it would be hard to get your arm through the air hole. Let alone do it in such a way you can actually stab someone via the hole. I also think the height argues against it. If Haydock stood at the hole, his face would be at the right height. How could the killer stab him in the chest?’

      Guinevere nodded. ‘You’re probably right. Still I think we should go see if there are any fresh footprints under the rhododendrons СКАЧАТЬ