Dream Cottage (20 page)

Greta stood upright and bowed her head.

“How could you? You thieving little bitch!” She threw the bag to the floor in disgust.

“Greta!”

Greta turned to see Max staggering towards her, holding his head.

“Did you catch them? Did you?” he moaned.

“No, I didn’t catch them; but something else did.”

Greta pointed to the body.

“Look familiar to you, does she?”

Max tried to focus. “No, who is it?”

“Darling little brother’s girlfriend… Ardi, no less!” Greta spat the name.

“You are joking! Surely not!” Max tried again to focus but his head was throbbing.

“The plot thickens, doesn’t it? How on earth did she know about the gold? There has to be a major conspiracy going on here. But stupid little cow, it’s cost her dearly; her life!”

“You mean… she’s dead?”

“As a doornail, darling. And you should have seen the
way she left this world. It was spectacular. I have videoed it all. It will be great evidence for the police.”

“So what exactly happened?” Max was still in shock.

“She, and her accomplice, who I don’t know is still alive or not, were riding up the drive on the motorbike I saw earlier, when something stopped them dead. It was unbelievable. The bike appeared like it had a mind of its own. Then, whatever it was launched them both in the air, and pop! That was it, no more Ardi. Out like a light!”

“I don’t think I can take much more of this,” groaned Max. “Can you ring for help? Police, better get an ambulance too.”

Greta dialled 999 and requested assistance.

As they waited for the emergency services, Greta was trying to make sense of what she had experienced. It was astonishing how the motorbike was kept from leaving Greenacres. An invisible force had prevented their escape. Greta needed to find out who or what was behind it.

Greta was woken by a scratching sound near her head. The noise was coming from the bedstead. She opened her eyes and listened.

“Greta? Wake up!”

“Willow?” Greta mumbled.

“Yes.”

“What happened today? Do you know?”

“Yes. He was furious; so very angry!”

“Who?”

“The man. He was furious that she stole the gold.”

“You mean Barnabas?”

“Yes.”

“Was it him that prevented the motorbike from leaving Greenacres?”

“Yes, he was so angry that the woman took his gold. He didn’t want her to take it, so he stopped her.”

“Wow, he certainly did. Where is he now?”

“He hasn’t left; he is still here.”

“Oh great, I thought we had got rid of him. What about Evie?”

“She is here too.”

“So Nonie didn’t succeed in moving him on to the next world, then?”

There was no reply.

“Willow?” Greta called into the darkness.

“Sadly, no,” Willow eventually replied. “She doesn’t see certain things; she is not capable of controlling the man. She is too weak, she isn’t real; he will not leave until someone with more power is able to stand up to him.”

“Great, what do you mean, she isn’t real?” sighed Greta.

“She is not real. But I do know someone who is strong and courageous enough,” Willow added.

“You do?” Greta sat up in bed, staring into the darkness. The alarm clock clicked to 2.30am.

“Yes. You,” Willow replied.

“Me? You must be joking!”

“No, Greta. You are a very strong character. You are much stronger than the Reverend or the Nonie woman. You have the ability to deal with him. You must believe in yourself.”

Greta looked puzzled.

“Willow? Willow?”

There was no reply. The bedroom resumed its silence. Greta lay back onto the bed and sighed. She thought about what Willow had suggested. Perhaps she might be the key in all of this; she hadn’t really thought about her own ability as a medium. She closed her eyes and mulled it over in her mind until she drifted back to sleep. Max grunted in his sleep.

The next morning, Greta and Max met the police at Greenacres. They had cordoned off the lane with police tape as it remained a crime scene. The driver of the motorbike had survived and had been taken to hospital. He was
in a critical condition with life-changing injuries and the police were extremely keen to question him.

Greta was taken to one side by an officer and asked to provide a statement. She duly obliged. Max also provided a statement. The police officer read through his notes.

“So did you know the person who had broken into your property, Mr Berkley?”

“Yes, it is… sorry, was, my brother-in-law’s girlfriend, Ardi. She is, sorry was, from Poland. I’m sorry, I can’t get my head around the fact that she’s dead.”

“That is fine, Mr Berkley. Do you know why she might want to break in to your property?”

“Yes, we, my wife and I, discovered some gold in a box, inside a tunnel in the kitchen. God, it sounds so far-fetched, doesn’t it?” Max laughed as he spoke.

“If you don’t mind, Mr Berkley, this is a very serious situation,” the officer reminded Max.

“Sorry, of course, it is. Er, have they told Leo Standing about his girlfriend, yet?” Max tentatively asked.

“I don’t know, sir. Can we continue, please?”

“Yes, of course.” Max concentrated.

“Okay, right. This gold, the treasure, when did you discover it was in the, er… tunnel?” the officer glanced at his notes.

“Oh, only a couple of weeks ago. My wife was keen to leave it where it was. She is a bit of a psychic and felt it best to leave it be. I wasn’t so sure. I thought it would be good to remove it.”

“Even though this gold could well belong to the Crown?” The officer raised an eyebrow.

“Oh right, course. Hadn’t thought of that.” Max felt awkward.

“That will need to be established, Mr Berkley. Going
back to the deceased, how well did you know her?”

“Not that well. She always seemed to be with Leo, her boyfriend; she never said much. Seemed nervous, a twitchy sort of person. Wouldn’t say boo to a ghost! Ha, sorry!” Max looked to the floor and bit his lip.

“Hmmm. How long have you owned the property, sir?”

“A few months, not that long. I can’t really remember the date.” Max looked puzzled. “What has that got to do with anything?”

“Just for our investigations. It was previously owned by a Reverend Oliphant, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Max agreed. “We bought Greenacres from him. He’d owned it for a long time.”

“Did you see the property for sale in the local paper?”

“No, we… what does it matter?”

“Mr Berkley, if you don’t mind,” the officer continued.

“We, well, my wife, saw it from the pub window.”

“Which pub, sir?”

“The Smuggler’s Hide, up there.” Max pointed to the hillside where the pub sat at the foot of the downs.

“So, who first noticed the cottage? Was your wife or Ms Nowak?”

“Um, well, I suppose it was Ardi, er, Ms Nowak. She was looking in the direction of it, admiring all the countryside, then casually pointed it out.”

“Okay. What happened next?”

“What, at the pub?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind, sir.”

“Well, Greta saw the cottage and we went for a walk to have a look at it.”

“We, sir?”

“Yes, Greta, Leo, Ardi and me.”

“Ms Nowak went too?”

“Yes, she did. From what I remember, Leo was joshing
Greta about the house being a, pardon my language, quote,
a shit hole
, for want of a better expression.”

“And did Ms Nowak comment on its condition too?”

“No, she didn’t get a chance as Greta was angry with Leo. He was tormenting her about the house being haunted. Greta pushed him and Ardi on to the grass. She was trying to brush her clothes down. The grass was quite wet, from what I remember. It was really funny!” Max recalled the incident with a smile.

“Is Mrs Berkley prone to explosive outbursts?”

“God, no! Greta wouldn’t hurt a fly. Leo has this irritating habit of tormenting her. Stems from childhood, apparently. He pushes all the right buttons to upset her.”

“Right. Thank you very much for the information, Mr Berkley. That’s all for the moment.”

“Don’t you want to know about Ardi when she knocked me out with the bag of gold?”

“Uh, my colleague over there,” the officer pointed to a man dressed in plain clothes, “would like to have a chat with you next, sir. Thank you for your time.”

Greta was concentrating hard on her questions from the female officer.

“So you saw the motorbike when you drew into the lane?”

“Yes, there was a single beam light, in the yard. I knew it wasn’t a car, unless it had a headlight out. Then I phoned Max to ask who was visiting him.”

“What did he say?”

“That he didn’t have visitors, then he was set upon by Ardi, she hit him on the back of the head with the bag. Knocked him out cold.”

“Did you have a drink last night, Mrs Berkley?”

“No. I never drink and drive,” Greta indignantly replied. “You can breathalyse me, if you want.”

“Do you have witnesses who could confirm where you were last night?”

“Yes, I dropped Nonie off at the ferry terminal. She was the last person to see me before I drove home.” Greta remembered Nonie staggering on to the catamaran at Ryde Pier.

“Nonie?” the officer replied.

“Yes, she had been visiting for the last few days.” Greta nodded.

“Nonie who?”

“Spangler.”

“Can you spell the name for me?” the officer was poised with her pen. Greta obliged.

“And what is your relationship with Nonie Spangler?”

“She is a celebrity medium.” Greta felt embarrassed.

“And the reason for her visit?”

Greta groaned. “You’re going to tell me, aren’t you?”

“If you don’t mind, Mrs Berkley, please.” The officer jotted notes down on her pad without looking up.

“She was investigating a supernatural activity here,” Greta spluttered. She felt her face redden.

“And did she discover any supernatural activity?”

Greta cringed.

“Yes.”

“Mrs Berkley, how long have you know Ms Spangler?”

“As I said before, a few days, a couple of weeks at the most.”

“So you aren’t aware that she is not a spiritual medium, then?” the officer announced and looked directly at Greta.

“No! Why? What are you suggesting?”

“My colleagues in London have made me aware earlier this week, that the so-called celebrity medium named Nonie Spangler, is in fact wanted by them for a string of fraudulent offences, namely for conning people out of
money with her claims to be a medium. She has been on the run for the last few weeks. They have informed me that she has been staying with you and your parents here on the Island.”

Greta was horrified.

“I can’t take all this in. You are saying she is a fake?”

“Allegedly, yes.”

Greta looked alarmed.

“You aren’t suggesting we were harbouring her from the police, are you?”

“This is what we need to establish, Mrs Berkley,” the officer continued and looked at her notes.

Greta was stunned. She felt sick as she thought about the money she had given to Nonie, the fact that she had arranged for her to be a guest in her parents’ house and the pure insolence and gall for posing as a medium. She thought about her argument with her father and shook her head in shame. She swallowed and distantly listened to the officer’s continual questioning.

“You have told me about the motorbike and the accident, haven’t you?”

“Ummm? Oh, yes, sorry. You can have a look at the footage on my phone, I videoed it. It’s all on here,” Greta pointed to her phone.

“We will need your phone as evidence. Can you please hand it over?” the officer asked.

“No, sorry, I can’t. Someone might ring me; I can’t possibly let you have the phone.”

“Mrs Berkley. There is vital evidence on your mobile phone. I am sorry, but I must insist.” The officer held out a plastic evidence bag and indicated for Greta to drop it in.

Greta was incensed. She threw the phone angrily into the bag. The officer swiftly sealed it and handed to one of her colleagues.

“I need it back as soon as you are finished with it!” she hissed.

“All in good time, Mrs Berkley.”

“I don’t feel like the victim here. I feel like the accused!” Greta retorted.

“It is all procedure, Mrs Berkley. You have witnessed a very serious crime. Not a very pleasant one in that. I understand that you are upset.” The officer tried to reassure Greta.

“This is not a dream anymore.”

“Mrs Berkley?” The officer looked puzzled.

“It’s all a bloody nightmare! It was supposed to be our dream; our dream cottage in the countryside. Escaping the rat race, coming back home to live in peace on the Island. Instead it is turning into an episode in our lives I don’t want to be part of anymore.” Greta gulped back a tear.

“How well did you know Ms Nowak?”

“Ardi? A bit. She was quiet, in Leo’s shadow most of the time.”

“So she didn’t appear manipulative then?”

“Not at all.”

“Would you say she was capable of committing a crime?”

“No, she didn’t seem strong or clever enough.”

“We have managed to obtain a little bit of background information on Ms Nowak,” the officer continued. “How long had she been seeing your brother?”

“Oh, must be six months or so.” Greta pushed her hair away from her eyes. She glanced over at Max who was sitting on the stone garden seat. He looked very pale.

“Did Ms Nowak have a job here?”

“Yes, she was working at one of the local salad growers’ farms.”

“Was it a permanent position?”

“I don’t know. She never spoke about her work.”

“Would it surprise you to know that she had in fact lost her job?”

“Yes! I had no idea.” Greta looked shocked. “She never mentioned it.”

“We have discovered that she was sacked as she was caught stealing from her employer. A couple of months ago.”

Greta sighed. She thought of Leo.

“Does my brother know about this?”

“An officer is with him as we speak. So he will be aware of Ms Nowak’s demise.”

“But does he know about her thieving?”

“I don’t know, Mrs Berkley.”

Greta looked over to Max again. He had his head in his hands.

“That will be all for the time being. Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs Berkley.” The officer glanced at her watch. “We might need to question you further down at the station, but I will be in contact with you, if we do.” She handed Greta her business card.

“Well, don’t bother ringing me on my mobile.” Greta looked at the card sulkily. “You had better take my parents’ home number.”

Greta walked over to Max. He looked up at her and managed to smile.

“It all happens here on the beautiful Garden Isle, doesn’t it?” he croaked. “My head and neck still ache; bloody Ardi. Can you believe she’s dead, love? I certainly can’t. I wonder how Leo is feeling?”

“Pretty gutted, I can imagine. By the way, the police have taken my phone as evidence, so don’t ring me for the time being.” Greta sat down beside Max and held on to his arm.