‘Chloe!’ said Susan. ‘This is your father you’re talking about!’
‘Yes,’ said Chloe. ‘But there was a thief in this house, after all.’
‘Egyptian secret agents?’ said Rose. ‘I suppose if they were angry enough …’
‘Security are adamant no one entered the grounds,’ said Stuart.
‘But if they were professionals …’ said Chloe.
‘No,’ Stuart said flatly. ‘It’s just not possible. I know you want the killer to be an outsider, Chloe, but it has to be one of us.’
‘I need to check out the collection,’ Rose said stubbornly. ‘I can’t help feeling it holds the answer to everything that’s happened here. And no one knows the Cardavan collection like I do.’
‘It’s dangerous out there,’ I said.
‘You said you couldn’t find any trace of the thief or the mummy,’ said Rose. ‘So who is there to be afraid of out there?’
‘He doesn’t want you running off, Professor,’ said Nicholas. ‘After all, you might be the murderer.’
‘Nicky!’ said Chloe.
‘Hey, it’s not like he’s one of us,’ said Nicholas. ‘Come on! What do we know about the professor, really? The only man in this house more obsessed with the collection than father. If he did make a fuss over the mummy and father fired him …’
Everyone looked at Rose. He stared back, all calm defiance. ‘I am a scholar, not a man of violence. You’re right, the collection is all I’ve ever cared about. So I will now go and make sure it’s still intact. I have to do something, and this is something only I can do.’
‘All right!’ said Stuart. ‘Go and check. If only so we can rule out the idea of a thief. But you can’t go on your own.’
‘None of you trust me,’ said Rose. ‘So why should I trust any of you to guard my back?’
‘I’ll go with you,’ said Stuart.
Rose nodded slowly. ‘Given that you’re an ex-military man, I suppose I’d feel safer with you than with any of the others.’
‘Then let’s go,’ said Stuart.
‘You don’t have to do this, Stuart,’ said Chloe. ‘It could still be dangerous out there.’
‘I have to make sure he’s safe,’ said Stuart.
‘And that I don’t run?’ said Rose.
‘That too,’ said Stuart.
He pulled the chair away from the door. Rose strode past him and out into the corridor without looking back at any of us. Stuart went after him and closed the door. I stepped forward to wedge the chair back in place.
‘Leave that chair where it is!’ Caroline said loudly. ‘If they can leave, so can we!’ She glared round the room, defiantly. ‘Let’s be honest, none of us feel safe here. If one of us is a killer … Oh, don’t look at me like that, Nicky! I never liked these people. I saw what they did to you. Come on, we’re going.’
‘Where can we go?’ said Nicky. ‘You know Stuart will stop us long before we can get to our car.’
‘He’s busy, right now,’ said Caroline.
‘I’m not,’ said Chloe.
‘Screw you, you snotty cow!’ said Caroline. ‘You really think you can stop me?’
‘Yes,’ said Chloe. ‘And Ishmael probably could, too.’
Caroline looked back and forth between us, and didn’t like what she saw. She was still searching for something to say when Bernard suddenly rose from his chair. Susan quickly joined him. Bernard glared at me. ‘I’m taking Susan up to our rooms. So I can barricade the doors and wait for Security to get here. Since we can’t be sure who’s who and what’s what, it’s the only sensible thing to do.’
I decided I’d better compromise, before things got really out of hand.
‘All right!’ I said. ‘If you don’t feel safe in this room, I’m not going to force you to stay here. No one can leave the house, but you should be safe enough in your own rooms. As long as you don’t go wandering off, for any reason.’
‘What if we need to go to the loo?’ said Caroline. ‘There aren’t any en suite bathrooms in this dump, remember?’
‘I think you’ll find there’s something under the bed in a house this old,’ I said. ‘A chamber pot, for emergencies.’
‘Oh, ick!’ said Penny.
‘Let’s go, Nicky,’ said Caroline.
‘Wait till everyone’s ready,’ I said. ‘Then you can all go up together. It’ll be safer that way.’
‘I’d like to see anyone get in my way!’ said Caroline. She strode over to the fireplace, grabbed a heavy poker and brandished it at the room.
‘My son was struck down with a blunt instrument, wasn’t he?’ said Bernard.
We all looked at the poker, including Caroline.
‘There’s no blood on it,’ she said. ‘Come on, Nicky.’
‘Yes, dear.’
They left together. Caroline leading the way.
‘Are you sure there’s no one else in the house?’ said Chloe.
‘I didn’t see anyone,’ I said.
‘Are you armed?’
‘No. I don’t carry weapons.’
‘Then what use are you as a security man?’ said Marjorie. ‘How can you protect us?’
‘You’re safer with him than anyone else,’ said Penny. ‘Trust him. I do.’
Marjorie sniffed. ‘Yes, well you would say that, wouldn’t you?’
Just for a moment, Penny looked at me. And I knew she was remembering how many of her family died at Belcourt Manor before I stopped the killer. I saved her; but couldn’t save anyone else. The moment passed, and Penny looked steadily at Marjorie.
‘He saved my life, when no one else could.’
We all jumped as the door burst open. I’d never got around to putting the chair back in place. I braced myself, but it was only Stuart. He looked very upset.
‘What is it?’ said Chloe. ‘Where’s Professor Rose? Has something happened?’
‘I lost him!’ Stuart said grimly. ‘We were walking down a corridor … I turned a corner and suddenly Rose wasn’t with me any more. I went back to look for him, but there was no sign of him anywhere.’
‘Could someone have sneaked up behind you?’ I said. ‘Grabbed Rose and dragged him away?’
‘I was a soldier!’ said Stuart. ‘And spent over a year in Afghanistan. I would have heard something. No, I think he deliberately gave me the slip.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Marjorie. ‘Why would he go off on his own?’
‘Because he didn’t trust me after all,’ said Stuart.
‘You think he’s making a run for it?’ said Penny.
‘No,’ said Stuart. ‘He knows about the outside surveillance. I think he just wanted to check out his precious collection without me around.’
Chloe moved forward to talk quietly and soothingly to her husband. Telling him it wasn’t his fault. I had to wonder if Stuart could have done away with Rose for reasons of his own, and then returned with this somewhat unlikely story. But why would he do that? He had no motive. Unless Stuart saw Rose as a threat to Chloe …
‘The professor just wants to loot the best of the collection for himself, while he can,’ said Marjorie.
‘No, that’s what you’d do’, I thought but didn’t say.
‘The exterior cameras will catch the professor if he’s dumb enough to leave the house,’ said Stuart. He broke off and looked around. ‘Where are Nicholas and Caroline?’
‘Gone up to their rooms,’ I said.
‘And you didn’t try to stop them?’ said Stuart.
‘They were pretty determined,’ I said. ‘Or at least Caroline was. Short of knocking them down and sitting on them …’
‘And don’t think we didn’t consider it,’ said Penny.
Stuart let out a brief bark of laughter. I liked him rather better for that.
‘I am not staying here!’ Bernard said loudly. ‘I don’t like it here. I’m taking Susan up to our rooms.’ He scowled at me. ‘Unless you think you can knock me down, boy?’
Sus
an put a calming hand on Bernard’s arm, but he shrugged it off roughly. She didn’t say anything. She looked like she was used to it. She glanced apologetically round the room.
‘He’ll be better, upstairs. Among his own things. He’ll calm down there, once I’ve got him settled.’
‘Don’t talk about me like I’m not here, woman!’ said Bernard.
‘All right!’ said Stuart. ‘Go if you must!’
I realized Stuart felt seriously restricted in what he could say or do in this house, among his adopted family. That’s why he’d brought me in.
‘I really wanted it to be a thief,’ Susan said quietly. ‘You know where you are with a thief. Let’s go, dear.’
Bernard smiled briefly. ‘Don’t you worry, old girl. I don’t need anyone’s help to protect you.’
‘Ishmael is good at his job,’ said Stuart.
‘Is he?’ said Bernard. ‘Everything was fine here until he turned up. Come on, Susan, you stick with me.’
‘If those two are going to their rooms, so am I,’ said Marjorie. ‘If only for a little peace and quiet, away from the rest of you.’
‘I’ll walk up with you,’ said Chloe. ‘And then hole up in my room.’
‘I’d rather Stuart went with me,’ said Marjorie.
‘I’m sure you would,’ said Chloe. ‘But my husband has work to do.’
She shared a smile with Stuart, and then led the others out of the room. Once they were gone, Stuart shut the door carefully and looked at Penny and me.
‘Have you got anything you couldn’t discuss in front of the others? Something in our line of work?’
‘I’ve got nothing,’ I said. ‘No evidence of anything out of this world. Just a feeling … that there’s something wrong with this house.’
‘Oh, everyone who comes here feels that way,’ said Stuart. ‘I blame the collection.’
‘You honestly think the professor deliberately disappeared on you?’ said Penny.
‘That’s what it felt like,’ said Stuart. ‘I think he wanted to do something that he didn’t want the rest of us to know about.’
‘What do you know about Professor Rose, Colonel?’ said Penny. ‘I’m assuming you used your official connections to dig into his background?’
‘Of course,’ said Stuart. ‘No one gets close to my family without my knowing all about them.’ He smiled briefly at me. ‘Well, usually … Rose is just what he appears to be. A respected historical expert, with a solid body of published work in his chosen field. Not much of a life outside his work, but then that’s scholars for you. I don’t see him as the killer … I see him as a victim in waiting. Even more so, now I’m not there to protect him. I should never have taken my eyes off him …’
‘None of this is your fault,’ I said.
‘George went out of his way to welcome me into the family after I married Chloe,’ said Stuart. ‘He wasn’t an easy man to get along with, but then few people are who are worth knowing. I would have been ready to throw him to the wolves to protect Chloe, but I did everything I could to protect him. Nevertheless, he died. And I can’t let anyone else be hurt.’
He left the room. To be with Chloe.
‘I’ve never understood family loyalties,’ I said.
‘Of course you can’t,’ said Penny.
‘Because I’m an orphan?’
‘Because there’s no one else like you.’ She stopped as a thought struck her. ‘Have you ever come across another alien passing as human?’
‘I’ve worked on a lot of cases with alien connections,’ I said. ‘First with Black Heir, and later with the Organization. But I’ve never met anyone like me.’
‘How can you be sure?’ said Penny. ‘If they were as good at hiding their true nature as you are …’
‘I suppose it would depend on how badly they needed to stay hidden,’ I said.
‘Would you like to meet others like you?’ said Penny.
‘Only if they were like me,’ I said.
FIVE
The Wrong Kind of Footsteps
‘Is there anywhere in the house we haven’t looked?’ said Penny. ‘We checked out the kitchen, the bathrooms, the cupboards and closets … What about the cellar or the attic?’
‘There isn’t an attic,’ I said. ‘I checked the ceiling on the third floor. No access point. Same goes for a cellar. No way down. We’ve been everywhere and seen everything.’
‘Then why couldn’t we find the mummy?’ demanded Penny. ‘I mean, it has to be somewhere …’
‘I’m giving the matter some serious thought,’ I said.
‘Do you think it might be avoiding us?’ said Penny. ‘Watching from the shadows, sneaking around behind us, hiding in places we’ve already searched?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I don’t think that.’
‘Then where is it?’ Penny folded her arms and gave me her best hard glare. ‘If there isn’t any thief, what reason could anyone have to hide the mummy?’
‘To confuse the issue and mess with our heads,’ I said. ‘So we’d waste time arguing about the mystery of the missing mummy, instead of concentrating on what really matters. Which is who killed George Cardavan.’
Penny thought about that, then unfolded her arms and nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes. That makes sense. You’re right. Do not smile, or I will beat you severely about the head and shoulders.’
‘We’ll find the mummy, eventually,’ I said. ‘Either the killer will tell us when we catch him, or just knowing who it is will tell us where to look.’
‘It must be wonderful to be so optimistic all the time,’ said Penny.
I considered the point. ‘Yes, it is.’
We grinned at each other, and then looked round the empty room.
‘Why,’ I said, ‘do people always insist on going off on their own? When it should be obvious to everyone that they’d be safer as part of a group.’
‘It’s human nature,’ said Penny. ‘Look out for yourself, and to hell with everyone else.’
‘It’s a wonder to me you’ve survived this long as a species,’ I said. ‘Did you happen to notice … Stuart seemed more upset over George’s death than any member of the family?’
‘Hardly surprising, when you look at the family,’ said Penny. ‘They’ve all spent too long concentrating on the collection, instead of each other. Take Marjorie. From tears and hysterics to icy calm in no time at all. Even for a gold-digging trophy wife, that’s a staggeringly self-centred reaction. And Chloe seems more interested in interrogating you than on what’s going on around her. Even after her father’s death.’
She stopped abruptly, as a thought struck her. ‘Do you suppose Stuart had some reason to believe George was in danger? And that’s why he wanted you here?’
‘I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘He’s always been more concerned about protecting his wife.’
Penny pulled a face. ‘It feels strange calling him Stuart, instead of Colonel.’
‘Stranger than you know,’ I said. ‘The Colonel’s job is to pass on orders and information to the agents he runs. To send us out on assignments that might well get us killed. He isn’t supposed to get close to any of us, for his protection as well as ours. He certainly isn’t supposed to ask his agents for personal favours.’
‘So why did Stuart come to you for help?’ said Penny.
‘I’m still working on that,’ I said.
‘Could this be some kind of trap, or test? A chance to watch you operate at close quarters so he can figure out what you are?’
‘If that was the idea, things have got considerably out of hand.’
‘Maybe … he just didn’t have anyone else he felt he could turn to,’ said Penny.
‘It can be that kind of life sometimes in this business,’ I said. ‘Sometimes it’s not who you know but who you can trust. We all walk alone … Except for me, of course. Because I have you.’
‘Nice save, sweetie,’ said Penny. ‘Now, what about Professor Rose? Could he have been abducted?’
/> ‘If there’s no thief in the house, who could have taken him?’
‘There’s always the mummy …’
‘No there isn’t,’ I said firmly. ‘Much more likely Rose believed he knew where the mummy was and wanted to find it himself.’
Penny frowned. ‘Then why not take Stuart with him for protection?’
‘I don’t think Rose trusts anyone else where the collection is concerned.’
‘Could Stuart have done something to Rose?’
‘He could, but I can’t see why he’d want to.’
‘The Colonel is running some kind of game,’ Penny said wisely. ‘He brought you here for a reason, and I don’t think we know what it is yet.’
‘He doesn’t seem to be watching me more than anyone else,’ I said. ‘Though I have been very careful not to give him anything unusual to watch.’
‘But what if you had to do something out of the ordinary? I mean, in order to save someone’s life?’
‘Then I’ll do what I have to, and worry about it afterwards.’
‘Does the Organization know what you are?’ said Penny.
‘They’ve never given me any reason to believe that,’ I said. ‘But since I have no idea who or what they really are, who knows what they know? I don’t think they care, as long as I remain useful to them.’
‘If push came to shove,’ Penny said determinedly, ‘Who do you think they’d back? You or the Colonel?’
‘The difference between me and the Colonel,’ I said, ‘Is that they know where to find him. I can walk out any time and disappear back into the world … and they know it.’ I looked at her seriously. ‘Penny, if it all did go bad and I had to go on the run again … I couldn’t take you with me.’
She met my gaze steadily. ‘Why not? Because I’d slow you down?’
‘No, because you would have to give up everything and everyone you know. Walk away from your whole life forever. I couldn’t do that to you.’
‘But I wouldn’t have a life without you,’ said Penny.
We looked at each other for a long time. Sometimes you don’t need to say anything.
And then I turned sharply to look at the closed door. I could hear the sound of running feet out in the corridor, heading our way. Lots of people running. Penny’s head came up as she started to hear them, too. I looked at the chair by the door and realized I’d never got round to jamming it back in place. The door slammed open and Marjorie burst in, travelling so fast I had to jump back out of her way so she wouldn’t crash into me. She stumbled to a halt, breathing harshly, her eyes wide with panic. She collapsed into the nearest chair and tried to say something to me, but couldn’t get the words out.