The Dark Fear (23 page)

              A blanket was laid over James’ knees and he was fast asleep when DS Moffett knocked gently on the door. It was 9am.

              ‘Come in!’ Dani called out.

              Sharon entered warily. ‘I don’t want to intrude, Ma’am.’

              ‘Not at all. Grab that other seat. The soft one seems to be occupied.’

              James grunted and opened his eyes. He wriggled upright. ‘What’s the latest?’

              Sharon smiled. ‘Tilly Newton has been charged with GBH on a police officer. She is also being questioned in relation to the murder of Alex Galloway.’

              ‘How did you know to come to Langford Hall? I didn’t get the chance to contact you.’ Dani eyed the DS closely.

              ‘I decided to follow up on the list of names you’d requested from Henry Acheson. I discovered that Galloway had witness testimony suggesting his son was actually murdered by Rory Burns. I went back to Galloway’s place in Gullane. I searched through his papers, looking for the tapes of the interviews. What I found were print-outs from the internet about two young men caught in a bus crash in India twenty years ago. One had been Rory Burns. The other’s name was Aiden Newton. Galloway had written Newton’s address next to the article. I had an idea of what Galloway might have been thinking. I wanted to come and talk to Newton about it myself.’

              ‘And you discovered me being assaulted by Newton’s wife.’

              ‘She was dragging you across the hallway. I reckoned it provided me with suspicion enough to break the door in.’

              ‘What about Rory?’ James felt queasy at the thought.

              ‘His body is with the coroner. The techs are all over the tower right now. The man dropped the Browning before he fell. It’s been sent off for analysis. We’re going to perform a DNA test on the remains. Bob’s already informed the parents. Until we get the results back, I’m reserving judgment about whether it really is Rory Burns.’

              ‘Oh, it was him.’ James sighed. ‘If that gun hadn’t seized up, I’d be dead. He didn’t hesitate to shoot.’

              ‘The Browning is over seventy five years old. It was a risk to use it in any crime,’ Sharon explained. ‘But it was also clever. If the man hadn’t tried to commit another murder with it, we wouldn’t have been able to trace the weapon at all.’

              James reached over for a glass of water. ‘Rory said something odd about the gun. He said David March gave him the Browning years ago, to keep safe for him. But the Earl claimed there were absolutely no weapons from the war-time requisition still in existence anywhere on the estate.’

              ‘I think we need to have another talk with Lord and Lady March, only this time,’ Dani said in a steely tone, ‘let’s make it official.’

Chapter 44

A
woman sat in the living room of Oak Lodge. She was in late middle age, but was still attractive, with a long mane of dark, wavy hair. Her hands were placed in her lap and to an outside observer, she would have appeared perfectly calm.

              James carried in a tray of coffees, setting it on a table in front of the fire.

              ‘Thank you,’ the woman commented quietly, her accent an interesting mix of Scots and American. ‘Excuse me if I become emotional looking through these albums. I haven’t seen the photographs in many years.’

              ‘We thought you would want them.’

              ‘I had no idea they still existed.’ Lynda Gascoigne put a handkerchief up to her eye. ‘When will the police be speaking to Adele and David?’

              James looked at his watch. ‘They’ll be in there now.’

              ‘Do you think the Marchs will tell the truth?’

              ‘I’ve no idea. I would have thought that the secret has caused problems enough. Two men are now dead. The same weapon was responsible in both cases. The cycle needs to be stopped.’ James added milk to the cups. Lynda shook her head at the offer of sugar.

              ‘We were very good friends once. Adele was as close to me as a sister. But then Sam’s behaviour started to change. We tried everything with him – the school counsellors and various psychologists. He was increasingly obsessive and withdrawn. We were all guilty of ignoring the attachment he’d developed to Claudia. I should have acted sooner. Perhaps it could all have been prevented.’

              ‘Where is your son now?’

              ‘Sam is in an institution just outside of Lansing. We moved states so he could receive the best possible care. His medication is carefully monitored so he’s no threat to himself or others. My son isn’t a bad man, he just needs help. Our lawyers are preparing for what is to come. They will fight extradition.’

              James nodded but he wasn’t sure how successful this would be. Sam Gascoigne was still a Scottish citizen and must face justice on Scottish soil. ‘Is there anything else you’d like while we wait?’

              ‘Nothing, Mr Irving. It’s just lovely to be back in this house again, sitting here as if everything was exactly as it was before.’ Lynda smiled, but it was one of sadness. A solitary tear escaped from under her painted lashes, creating a dark smear down her smooth, pale cheek.

Chapter 45

D
ani thought how the couple positioned opposite her looked suddenly very old. Adele was sitting straight as a rod, her expression fixed. It seemed to be David March who would be doing all the talking today. His wife hadn’t uttered a single word since they arrived.

              The DCI was there in an official capacity, but it was DS Moffett who was going to be asking the questions. She’d been fully briefed on what Dani and James had discovered so far about the Gascoignes.

              ‘Mr and Mrs March, you are aware that your estate manager, a man calling himself Aiden Newton, is now dead after falling off the roof of this building? His wife is facing assault and murder charges. The weapon used by the couple appears to have belonged to you. Is there an explanation you can offer for this?’

              David pursed his lips. ‘It was a vintage firearm, discovered on this estate many years ago. I gave it to Aiden for safe keeping. It was old, we didn’t have a licence for it and I wasn’t sure how safe it would be to handle.’

              ‘Why didn’t you simply hand it into the police?’              David and Adele exchanged glances. ‘We didn’t believe it would be necessary.’

              ‘When DCI Gordon came here to speak with you about World War Two firearms in your possession, you specifically denied owning any. Why did you lie to him?’

              ‘Should we call our lawyer, David?’ Adele finally broke her silence.

              Dani leaned forward. ‘Why don’t you simply tell us the truth? Lynda Gascoigne is sitting in Oak Lodge with James right now. The US police tracked the family down in Michigan. Lynda has told us everything. We already know what happened.’

              Adele’s mouth fell open. ‘You can’t know - it’s a secret!’

              David placed his hand on her arm. ‘Tell us what you’ve been told. Then we can give our side.’

              ‘That isn’t how it works, sir.’ Sharon was getting impatient. ‘The story has to come from you.
We’ll
decide if the information tallies.’

              ‘To explain properly, I’ll have to go right back to the war.’

              ‘No! David!’ Adele looked frantic.

              ‘We’ve got to darling. It’s all coming out now.’

              The woman dropped her head, whimpering quietly.

              David ignored her. ‘You uncovered the case about the two boys who were shot down on the beach in 1943, didn’t you DCI Bevan?’

              ‘Yes, that’s right.’

              ‘I first heard about the tragedy from my father, the previous Earl of Westloch. When he was a younger man, he and Spencer March were called back to Langford from the Highlands by the officer in command of the Hall. It was because of the two boys who’d been killed.’

              ‘This wasn’t mentioned in the police report.’

              ‘No, it was done in secret.’ David sighed. ‘There was no military operation on the bents the night the Darrow boys were shot. The boys’ deaths were the result of a terrible misunderstanding.

              My grandfather had left a number of his staff behind to help maintain the house. One of them was the housekeeper, Mrs Avril Grey. She cooked and cleaned for the officers and lived in one of the local villages. She’d been at Langford since she was a young maid.

              Without the knowledge of the commanding officer, Mrs Grey had taken a pistol and some ammunition from one of the artillery depots. The woman had developed a fear of invaders arriving by sea. She carried the weapon as protection. If my grandfather had known, he would have sent her home for the rest of the war. But he didn’t, not until it was too late.

              One afternoon in April, she was walking one of her terrier dogs on the beach. The haar came down rather abruptly. I expect Mrs Grey became spooked and disorientated in the thick sea mist. Suddenly, she spotted two men stepping out of a rowing boat by the water’s edge. She claims she shouted at them to state their purpose. They didn’t answer. Their forms kept fading and then reappearing from out of the gloom. The spectre terrified her.

              Mrs Grey panicked. She fired into the mist, quite convinced that they were German soldiers who wouldn’t hesitate to slit her throat.’

              ‘She killed them.’

              ‘It would seem so. The housekeeper ran back to the Hall, jabbering an account that was largely incoherent. They finally worked out Avril was warning the officers that the invasion had come.

              The Commander took a troop down to the shoreline. They quickly realised what had happened. The officers knew the deaths were simply caused by a tragic mix-up, but if the police were told, Mrs Grey would undoubtedly hang. So Spencer and my father were called back to Langford that night. They took forty eight hours to come up with a suitable story and hide the evidence.

              The Browning used by Mrs Grey to shoot the boys, was buried in the woods. It was decided that their deaths would be blamed on misfiring during a military training exercise. It was wartime. There was little likelihood of prosecution.’

              ‘What happened to Mrs Grey?’

              ‘The woman had served the earls of Westloch very well for most of her working life. She was given a small pension and sent home. I hear Mrs Grey lived to a ripe old age.’

              ‘Unlike those poor young men,’ Dani added bitterly.

              ‘So was this Browning from 1943 the same gun used to shoot Galloway? How did it end up in Newton’s possession?’ Sharon was feverishly writing things down.

              ‘As I mentioned, the gun was placed in a tin ration box and buried in the woods. My grandfather believed it was so deep within the estate that nobody would ever recover it.’

              ‘But someone did?’

              ‘In the nineties, a family lived in Oak Lodge. The Gascoignes had two children the same age as Claudia and Adam. We were all great friends. The youngsters spent their summers playing together.               But when the Gascoigne’s older child, Sam, reached sixteen, his behaviour began to change. He grew increasingly violent and unpredictable. Sam bloodied Adam’s nose a couple of times in play fights and the situation was becoming awkward. None of us had any idea that Sam had found the gun. If we’d been aware of it then immediate action would have been taken.’

              ‘How did the Gascoignes’ son get hold of it?’ Dani could feel her pulse quickening.

              ‘He’d dug it up one day, when he was out exploring with his dog. Sam placed the box under his bed back at Oak Lodge. I expect he had no real idea what to do with it, but young men like guns, don’t they? Then Lynda and Tim threw a party. It took place on a beautiful, late summer evening.’

              Adele began to quietly sob.

              ‘The children were playing between the garden and the woods. Well, they were teenagers by then. The adults were in the house. I suppose we’d had a lot to drink and weren’t paying much attention to what the youngsters were doing. They usually had the free run of the estate anyway.

              We heard the story later from Adam. He said that Sam was acting oddly that night, the boy was very jittery. The youngsters were sitting in a circle, at the foot of the oak tree in the garden playing truth or dare. Without warning, Sam brought the gun out of his jacket pocket. The others were frozen to the spot. Each of them had already come to be a little frightened of the Gascoigne boy.

              He stared hard at Claudia. His interest in her had developed into something of an obsession. He said that now he possessed the gun, she had to love him. Claudia would have to do whatever he said.

              Sam made our daughter climb the ladder to the treehouse. He told the others that he could see down through the cracks in the boards and if they moved a muscle, or went for one of the grown-ups, he’d kill her.

              Adam said the pair were shut in that playhouse for quite some time. Whilst they were up there, Sam Gascoigne forced himself on my daughter –
at gunpoint
.’ David sighed heavily and gazed down at the floor.

              Adele wailed, cradling her head in her hands.

              ‘When did you find out what had happened?’ Dani asked patiently.

              ‘Claudia climbed down first. She was shaky and very upset. Antonia led her back up to the house. As soon as Sam set foot on the ladder, Adam went for him. My son shook the rope hard and the gun slipped from the boy’s grasp. Adam snatched it up and came dashing back in to show us. When I saw that old weapon and the state of poor Claudia, I knew all our worst nightmares had come true.’