The Dark Side of the Road

  There was a knock at the door. Solid, authoritative, even peremptory. So I just sat there on the end of my bed, letting them wait, until I finally said, ‘Come in.’ The door swung open immediately, and Alexander Khan strode in, acting like he owned the place and was already thinking of evicting me. I’d thought he’d be my first visitor, given that he was the most likely person to be on his own, because there was no way Melanie was going to leave Walter on his own. Khan closed the door carefully behind him, and then looked quickly round my room, as though he wanted to make sure I hadn’t been given a better room than him. He took his time before he looked at me, and when he did, it was almost defiantly.

  ‘We need to talk,’ he said.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ I said. ‘Annoyed you can’t be with Melanie?’

  ‘That is not what I came here to talk about!’ said Khan.

  ‘You knew who the Colonel was, knew what he was, from your time at Black Heir,’ I said.

  ‘I’d heard of the Colonel, of course, but I never knew he was Walter’s son until he turned up here,’ said Khan. ‘I never met him before in my life. But he knew me. He made a point of talking to me, away from everyone else. Told me he knew why I’d had to leave Black Heir.’

  ‘Because you stole alien technology from their vaults,’ I said. ‘To buy your way into Walter’s company.’

  ‘I was never a thief!’ said Khan. ‘I was Prometheus, stealing fire from alien gods to give to Humanity! It wasn’t fair for Black Heir to keep all those wonders locked up, benefiting nobody!’ He stopped and looked at me for a moment. ‘How did you know … Did your father tell you?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I never knew him. But I did read the Colonel’s files on everyone here, before I set out.’

  I’ve always been able to lie convincingly, without benefit of rehearsal. Part of the job. Part of staying alive.

  ‘Of course you know,’ said Khan, his shoulders slumping just a little. ‘Everyone knows. Even Black Heir.’

  ‘They know you stole from them?’

  ‘Of course! They knew what I was going to do before I did it. They encouraged me … In return, I gave them some of my shares in Walter’s company. Outside money that they could use to fund things they weren’t officially supposed to do. You really think I could have stayed alive all these years, if Black Heir had still wanted my head?’ He stopped again, looked at me squarely. ‘Did you ever work with Black Heir, on any of your missions for the Colonel?’

  ‘You know I can’t talk about that,’ I said. ‘Why are you still so concerned about Black Heir? You don’t work for them any more.’

  ‘You’re never really free of them,’ said Khan. ‘Look! This isn’t what I came here to talk about!’

  ‘So talk,’ I said. ‘Who do you think killed the Colonel?’

  ‘James was never the target,’ said Khan. ‘Walter was always the real target. I think James just overheard something he wasn’t supposed to, or got in the way.’

  ‘Spit it out,’ I said. ‘Who do you think wanted Walter dead?’

  ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ said Khan. ‘It’s Roger! Has to be Roger. Because he wants Penny, and he thinks she is only turning him down because her Daddy disapproves. Behind that boyish facade, Roger is a very dangerous and single-minded young man.’

  I let that accusation hang on the air for a while and considered Khan thoughtfully. ‘Are you sure you’re not just saying that because Roger isn’t going to give you the money you want from him?’ I said finally.

  ‘You have been keeping your eyes and ears open,’ said Khan. ‘Watch Roger. That’s all I’ve got to say.’

  ‘And you and Melanie?’ I said. ‘Just good friends?’

  ‘Can’t stand the woman,’ Khan said briskly. ‘But she is my best way to influence Walter, so … I will do whatever I have to do, to keep the company from going under.’

  He turned quickly, hauled the door open and left my room, not quite slamming the door behind him. He’d said rather more than he’d probably meant to, in return for as little as I could give him. A useful enough first conversation. No real surprises, and a few things confirmed.

  I sat on the edge of my bed, leaning forward just a bit as I listened to Khan walk quickly back down the corridor to his room. He didn’t stop along the way, to talk to anyone else. I heard his door shut. There was a pause, and then I heard more footsteps, moving slowly and steadily up and down the corridor. Which was odd, because I hadn’t heard a door open. The footsteps went this way and that, stopping at one door after another, but no one knocked, or opened a door. And then the footsteps just … stopped. I couldn’t hear anything. I got up off the bed and moved quietly over to my door. I opened it slowly, not making a breath of sound, and looked out into the corridor. There was no one there. The whole length of the corridor was completely empty. Someone had walked up and down and then just … disappeared. I sniffed at the air and couldn’t smell anything. Which was odd. I closed my door and went back to sit on my bed.

  I’d barely had time to settle down and start thinking again, when I heard new footsteps approach my door. There was a quick, impatient knock, and then the door flew open before I even had a chance to invite anyone in. Penny came tripping into my room, beaming happily, only just remembering to shut the door behind her. I started to get up, and she immediately waved for me to sit down again. So I did.

  Penny paced restlessly back and forth before me, speaking so impatiently that the words all but tumbled over each other. She had a lot she wanted to say. ‘I waited as long as I could!’ she said. ‘But I just had to come and talk to you! Isn’t this exciting? I mean; an actual murder! And terribly sad, of course, because your friend is dead, after all. Don’t think I don’t feel that, because I do, but … This is just the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me! So; I’m just bursting with theories and suspicions, and I had to talk to someone about them, and you’re the only one here who isn’t a suspect.’

  ‘You couldn’t talk to Roger?’ I said, just to make a point.

  ‘Don’t be silly, darling. Roger has many good qualities, though I’d never tell him that to his face, but a fully functioning brain isn’t one of them. If he ever needs anything difficult or distasteful doing, he has people to do that for him. And as for spotting a murderer, unless the killer was wearing a black and white striped jersey, a black domino mask, and a hat with Killer! written on it, Roger wouldn’t recognize him.’

  ‘So who do you think killed the Colonel?’ I said.

  Penny stopped pacing and threw herself into the nearest heavily-padded chair. It didn’t budge an inch under the impact. Penny crossed her legs and waggled the top one fiercely. ‘There are so many secrets in this house, in this family; I really don’t know where to start, darling.’

  ‘Try,’ I said.

  ‘James was definitely Diana’s son,’ said Penny. ‘But I’m not at all sure Daddy was his father. I’ve heard a great many rumours, from people in a position to know, that Daddy married Diana when she was already pregnant with another man’s child.’

  ‘I didn’t know that,’ I said. ‘Though the Colonel could be a real bastard, when the need arose …’

  ‘Ishmael!’ said Penny, putting a shocked hand to her mouth. ‘What a thing to say! Here I am trying to spare your feelings by being discreet …’

  ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘We all grieve in our own ways.’

  ‘Yes, well …’ said Penny. But she was too full of things she needed to say to stay shocked for long. ‘Then there’s the letter James left for you. I mean: A horror has come to Belcourt! What do you think he meant by that?’

  ‘Too many possibilities,’ I said.

  ‘Then there’s Alex Khan, of course. Running after Mummy like a dog in heat.’ Penny shuddered delicately. ‘They think they’re being so discreet … But if Alex really thinks he can get to Daddy through Mummy, he’s in for a rude awakening. Mummy’s always been a lot smarter than most people realize. She’d never do anything to endanger her meal tic
ket. You don’t think Daddy just “happened” to bump into her at that grubby little sales conference, did you? She put a lot of hard planning into getting that job and choosing just the right outfit to attract some rich old fool. When she set her cap at Daddy, he didn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘And you know all this because …?’ I said.

  Penny grinned. ‘People really shouldn’t keep diaries. And certainly not ones with such fragile locks. I know all I need to know about Mummy dearest.’

  She paused for the first time, to look around my room. ‘I don’t think I’ve been in here for years. There aren’t usually enough people at these little gatherings to fill all the guest rooms. You must never forget, Ishmael; Mummy wants all of this, more than anything. The house, and everything that goes with it. I think it’s possible she would kill to keep it. If she thought Daddy was going to sell it, after all … If she thought Alex was trying to take control of everything away from Daddy … and if poor James got caught in the middle … I think it’s entirely possible Mummy could commit murder. To protect her interests.’

  ‘You’re being very hard on your parents,’ I said.

  ‘They should have been better parents,’ said Penny. ‘You might have noticed, my family isn’t a real family. As such.’

  ‘I wouldn’t know,’ I said.

  Penny sat forward in her chair, immediately contrite. ‘Oh, of course! You said you were an orphan.’

  ‘Something like that,’ I said.

  Penny frowned. ‘Sometimes I think … Daddy never let himself get close to me, for fear I’d go away and leave him, like James. You’ve no idea how much that hurt Daddy. He couldn’t bear to go through it again.’

  ‘The Colonel had his reasons for staying away,’ I said. ‘You saw what he said in his letter.’

  Penny waited, until it became clear I wasn’t going to say any more, and then she just sniffed, loudly. ‘You’re much better off without a family, darling. They do so complicate things. Mummy, for example, was never really interested in children. She only had me to make sure of hanging on to Daddy. I don’t think I want to talk about my parents any more.’

  ‘All right,’ I said. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

  ‘Well, there’s Alex, obviously. The man who sold his soul, for a company that was never his and almost certainly never will be. Who knows to what lengths desperation could drive such a man? But, my best bet would have to be Sylvia.’

  ‘Really?’ I said. ‘Why?’

  ‘Oh, come on, darling; do try and keep up. She’s the only one here we don’t know anything about! She’s from outside the family and nothing to do with Daddy’s business. Who is Sylvia, really? Just another sweet-smiling gold-digger, with Diana as her latest meal ticket? Or … did she deliberately ingratiate herself with Diana, in order to get herself invited here? Could she, in fact, be responsible for the death threats? Perhaps she was married to someone Daddy fired, who then committed suicide, so Sylvia swore to make Daddy pay, and—’

  ‘You’re reaching, now,’ I said.

  ‘I know!’ said Penny. ‘Isn’t it fun?’

  We both looked round sharply, at a sudden knock on my door.

  Penny was up and out of her chair in a moment. ‘I don’t want anyone to know I was here!’ she hissed.

  ‘Hide in the cupboard,’ I said.

  ‘What?’ Penny looked at the massive oak cupboard on the other side of the room. ‘In there? Are you serious?’

  ‘It always works in bedroom farces,’ I said reasonably. ‘Would you expect someone to be hiding in someone else’s cupboard?’

  ‘Well, no, but …’

  ‘I was always a big fan of the Brian Rix farces,’ I said. ‘He understood the importance of a cupboard. Go on; get in there!’

  Penny hurried over to the cupboard and opened one of the doors. There was more than enough space for Penny to hide in. She stepped carefully inside, shot me a quick glare, and then pulled the door almost but not completely shut.

  ‘Come in!’ I said brightly.

  The door opened, and Roger slouched in. He pushed the door shut behind him, peered around, and then glowered at me.

  ‘You took your time, leaving me standing around out there. Don’t want the others to get the idea I’m sneaking around behind their backs.’

  ‘Even though you are,’ I said.

  He scowled miserably, looked down at his shoes, and then straightened up to face me squarely. ‘Have you heard someone moving about, in the corridor? Just … walking up and down?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘But when I looked, there was nobody there.’

  ‘I knew I heard someone!’ said Roger. ‘Far too much sneaking around going on in this house. Look, I need to talk to you. Man to man. Can’t talk to the others. This family of Penny’s has secrets like a dog has fleas. Can’t start a conversation without tripping over something you’re not supposed to talk about. They think they’re so good at hiding things … They should have grown up with my family.’

  ‘What were they like?’ I said.

  ‘Evolution in action,’ said Roger. ‘Survival of the fittest, and trample the weakest underfoot. Everyone out for themselves and scrambling all over each other to get ahead. I figured out early on that I couldn’t compete. Wasn’t hard enough, or self-centred enough. So I just retreated into the background and did my best not to be noticed. And now every single one of them, every brother and sister and aunt and uncle and cousin, hates my guts. Because I’m the one who inherited everything!’

  He grinned broadly. ‘Oh, that put the cat among the pigeons! Mum and Dad died in a car crash, and the will left everything to me. Not even a bequest to anyone else, despite all those years they’d spent trying to crawl up Mum and Dad’s arses. I think the will was my parents’ last act of revenge, on a family they couldn’t stand …’ He stopped and looked at me. ‘You know; you’re remarkably easy to talk to.’

  ‘I get that a lot,’ I said.

  ‘Anyway! That isn’t what I’m here to talk about. I want to talk about the murder!’

  ‘All right,’ I said. ‘Who do you think killed the Colonel?’

  ‘Spoilt for choice, old man!’ said Roger. ‘James was the only one in this family that Walter really cared about. Harsh though that is. And, James was the only one here who couldn’t be bought or pressured or used, to get at Walter. So of course he had to go. He should never have come back. All he did was put himself in the line of fire.’ Roger smiled broadly again. ‘See? I’m a lot smarter than most people think. I notice things. I learned to fade into the background, so the rest of my family wouldn’t notice me, but that’s the best way to see what’s really going on. Walter is the key to all this. Alex wants Walter’s company and his wife. Diana wants Walter, so she can have her old life back. Don’t ask me about Sylvia, though … Haven’t a clue what she really wants. Far too cheerful and charming and everybody’s friend for my liking. It’s not natural. People like that are always after something. When I look at her, I see a professional at work. But what kind of professional …’

  ‘And Penny?’ I said.

  ‘Only one here who’s worth a damn,’ Roger said steadily. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to protect her, but I’m not sure I can. Not sure I know how. It seems to me … that if we have got a killer trapped in this house, they’re going to strike again. That’s what killers do, isn’t it? And I think … the next victim could be Penny. Don’t ask me why I think that; I just do, all right? I can’t be with her all the time; she won’t let me. So I’m asking you to help. Help me watch her, protect her. If you have any idea how much I feel for her, you know how hard this is for me. I don’t know you, don’t even like you much, but I’m forced to turn to you. Because there’s no one else here I can trust. Still; even while you’re watching and protecting Penny, you keep your distance. Because she’s mine. And don’t you ever forget that.’

  He swept out of my room, only remembering not to slam my door shut at the last moment.

>   Penny immediately stepped out of the cupboard, smiling and shaking her head at the same time. ‘Isn’t that just typical of the man? He can be so sweet, and then … so infuriating! I don’t need him, or you, to protect me! I can look after myself!’

  ‘Never doubted it for a moment,’ I said.

  ‘I never knew all that stuff about his family … Poor dear. They sound perfectly awful. It does explain a lot about him, though, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Explains a lot,’ I said, ‘but not necessarily all. What does a man do, when he finally gets all the money he needs to do everything he’s ever dreamed of … and then finds he can’t have the one thing he really wants?’

  ‘You are not seriously putting Roger forward as a suspect?’ said Penny. ‘He wouldn’t hurt a fly!’

  ‘They’re always the ones you have to watch,’ I said. ‘How was the cupboard?’

  Penny wrinkled her nose. ‘Full of mothballs.’

  ‘I didn’t know moths had—’

  There was another knock at the door. I looked at Penny, and she nodded resignedly.

  ‘I know; back in the cupboard.’

  I waited till Penny was safely hidden again, and then invited in my next visitor. Who turned out to be Sylvia, looking as glamorous as ever. She swayed into my room quite elegantly, as though entering a fashionable salon. She waited for me to get up, and then graciously pretended not to notice when I didn’t. She didn’t sit. She struck a pose before me and fixed me with a cool, thoughtful stare.

  ‘Ishmael; I have a proposition to put to you.’

  ‘Oh yes?’ I said. ‘I am flattered.’

  ‘Down, boy. I am being entirely serious here. I think we should leave this place. Just bundle up, walk out of the house, and go.’

  ‘Really?’ I said. ‘Just like that?’

  ‘Why not?’ said Sylvia. ‘What have we got to lose? Horrible place, Belcourt Manor. Wish I’d never come here. It’s not like we’d be leaving behind anything that mattered. We’re not family, or friends, or business partners. I only came here to attend a party! A pleasant Christmas gathering. Good times, with convivial spirits, that’s what I was promised! Not a nightmare like this, where no one trusts anyone. With a killer who could be sneaking up behind us at any time. No; I want out of here. I don’t feel safe in this house. If the cars really aren’t an option, we’ll just have to walk. I’m not an idiot; I can hear the blizzard outside, just like you. But if we prepare ourselves properly and strike out across the fields … Look, I don’t want to do this on my own. But with you beside me, I think we could make it to the next village, and safety. What do you say?’