Matthew glared at Charles. "You were setting me up, all along!"
"No, yet again you are in error," said Lord Alfred.
"Then, who?"
"Come along, my boy, it doesn't take rocket science to work it out."
He looked incredulous. "James?"
Lord Alfred gave a sarcastic grunt. "Well done. I knew you'd get there eventually."
Then he turned to Charles.
"On the night of your arrival, you turned up before your appointed time! When James brought you to my room, I had only just managed to return from hiding the sapphire. While you waited outside, he helped me to change quickly, getting rid of my soaking wet coat, and told me that you'd seen my torchlight from your window. But I didn't bother to dry myself too thoroughly — I thought that the presence of a little extra moisture would add to the illusion of illness."
"But how did you get in here?" asked Charles. "You'd never have been able to move that flagstone all by yourself."
"Look around you. These underground chambers are extensive. You discovered that yourselves when you found your way into the pyramid room from beneath the lodge. They date back to when they were used by smugglers hundreds of years ago and there are, in fact, several entrances that I'm aware of. Who knows? Maybe there are still more waiting to be discovered — but I digress. Once I knew you had realised the significance of the Shelley portrait I simply made my way down here and waited for you to arrive. Oh, but please forgive me, I'm getting rather ahead of myself."
He cleared his throat and continued.
"Following my dramatic exit, the crucial thing was to make sure that you found your way to my tower room and the all-important first piece of film. I instructed James to hide the box containing the key in some place where he knew you would find it. I felt it necessary that you find it rather than he simply hand it to you, as a precaution to ensure that he was distanced from my scheme — in case you should ever suspect that he may have some deeper involvement in all this. Your first real test came after you viewed the film for the first time. I told James to suggest to you that you might consider embarking on the quest without advising Matthew at all — and I was there to hear your reaction."
"You were there? In the library?"
"Mr Seymour, the sprawling design of Heston Grange was not in any way accidental. Its irregular shape facilitated the inclusion of a good number of hidden passageways. Later on, I could show you some of them if you like." He smiled before continuing. "In fact, I did make a small blunder and you heard me as I moved around behind the oak panelling. Annoyingly, I was not as quiet as I had wished to be. Thankfully, on the spur of the moment James came up with some convoluted story about rats, and I managed to stifle a laugh. From my concealed position I heard the way you responded to his suggestion and knew that you were of good stock. It was pure good fortune that when you happened to hear me on a subsequent occasion, it coincided with the arrival of Mrs Gillcarey. I heaved a sigh of relief and decided to keep a safer distance from that moment on. So there was now nothing else for me to do but stay hidden and wait for you to solve the clues… and now here we are, having reached journey's end at last." He looked Charles in the eye and held his gaze for a long moment, and then glanced over at Matthew who fidgeted and looked at the floor.
"Just one final thing to say," said Lord Alfred, and his tone hardened. "This whole ruse was created and set in motion so that I could finally establish one thing, once and for all." He turned to Matthew again. "I needed to know for certain whether the reports I was hearing of your conduct were true or not. I needed to find out for myself whether you were truly worthy of the Willoughby name, not to mention the Willoughby fortune. I know, of course, that you had a troubled adolescence, and I admit that I was perhaps not always the best father in the world. But throughout this entire masquerade I hoped and prayed, day in and day out, that you would somehow show yourself to be a good man with a truly noble spirit. Instead, what do I find? No sooner is the mission accomplished than you turn traitor and immediately start to rescind on your agreement. And so, now that we stand at the end of the trail, I have reached my final decision. On my death — that is, my actual death — my estate will pass to you, Charles."
Matthew gasped. "This is a joke, right dad? Another of your little games?"
"With great wealth comes great responsibility, Matthew, and that is something which you have shown you do not possess."
Matthew looked like a man who had lost his strength and he staggered back against the wall. "But I'm your son!" Tears of anger welled up in his eyes.
"Even now, I hope that you might somehow learn the error of your ways."
"But I still get nothing, is that it? Nothing! While this — this imposter takes the entire fortune that should have been mine?"
"You could always try getting a job, if you know what that is, or perhaps you should get rid of that smart gleaming car that's parked out front — I don't suppose it's paid for yet, is it?"
Matthew threw back his head and howled with rage. It was the sound of years of built-up heartache and frustration bursting forth in a primal shriek, with its hideous tone reverberating and resonating, as it bounced off the stone surfaces and echoed throughout the crypt with an unnerving other-worldly quality.
Lord Alfred continued, "You could have had everything. Indeed, there were times when I wanted to you to have it all. But at least one of us needed to stay level headed enough to see the situation as it was, and deal with it appropriately."
"No!" screamed Matthew, the tears running freely down his face. "NO!"
He reached inside his jacket and Lord Alfred suddenly paled as he found himself staring into the muzzle of a Tokarev TT pistol.
"Against the wall, both of you! Now!" Matthew gestured with the handgun, and Lord Alfred and Charles slowly did as they were instructed.
"This is a stupid course of action," Lord Alfred blustered. "All you're doing is proving me right."
"Shut up!" There was a pause as Matthew, bristling with rage, regarded his two prisoners. Then he gave a small laugh.
"Remember what you said about the sphinx in one of your stupid films? — About how it would strangle people? Well, just to show you that I was actually listening and paying attention, you might like to know that's what gave me this idea. Of course, your unexpected appearance means I've now had to modify my plan a little, but it remains the same, in principal."
"You're speaking like a fool! Put the gun down and we'll talk."
"No! NO! For once, just once, you're going to listen to me. You got that?" He waved the gun again.
"Here's what will happen: in a few minutes time I shall be calling the local police. I'll tell them that as I was endeavouring to solve the next clue I happened to stumble across my father being killed by Charles Seymour who was trying to secure the entire inheritance for himself. I tried to duck back into the shadows but he saw me and I had no option but to shoot him dead in self defence."
"You're mad. Put the ruddy gun down while you still can!"
"Then, at last, that will be the end of these pathetic time-wasting games you've had us all playing, and I will be the sole heir to the Willoughby fortune, as is my right."
Charles glanced down at the open coffin which had until recently contained the sapphire. It seemed to yawn before him like a gaping chasm waiting to swallow him whole. He was trying to think; trying to decide what to do, but his mind was in such a whirl he could not order his thoughts in any coherent manner. Was this it, he wondered. Is this how my life is to end? In an underground cave with no-one to help?