108
The rest of the journey to the Chase estate takes place in a painful silence. Particularly so for Gideon. His lip is busted and a tooth feels loose.
Draco frogmarches him through the front door and straight upstairs to the hidden room.
‘Neat job,’ he says as Gideon reveals the panel in the landing wall. He taps it with his big perma-grazed builder’s knuckles. ‘Not bad at all. If I hadn’t already been in the room behind here, I would never have guessed one existed.’
Gideon ignores him and steps into the long narrow space.
Draco can’t hide his shock when he sees the shelves are empty. Just dust and faded paintwork marking where the diaries had been.
Gideon blots his bleeding lip. ‘What did you expect?’
‘Watch your mouth.’ He smiles at his own joke and walks the room. Knocks on walls. Thumps his heels in a few places. ‘Are there any more secret places in here?’ He bangs his foot down again on the flooring.
‘Aren’t you worried about my damaged rafters?’ says Gideon sarcastically.
‘They’re oak,’ chides Draco. ‘It would take the Great Fire of London to burn them down.’
He bangs his way along a line of ceiling panels. Gideon’s eyes focus at the far end, the one above his father’s telescope.
Draco stops just inches short of it. ‘So where are they? Where have your old man’s books gone?’
The sound of electric chimes pre-empts a reply. The gate bell. Draco looks edgy. ‘You expecting anyone?’
Gideon shrugs. ‘No. There’s a security monitor in the kitchen. We can see who it is.’
They go downstairs. The small wall-mounted screen shows a woman waiting in a car idling outside the gates to the house.
‘I know her,’ says Gideon. ‘It’s the detective heading the investigation into my father’s death. She’ll be able to see my car and your van on the drive.’
‘Let her in but get rid of her quickly.’ He heads towards the fire-damaged study. ‘Looks like I’ve got some work to do after all.’
Gideon buzzes Megan in, opens the front door and walks outside to greet her as she parks. He blots his lip once more on the back of his hand.
‘Good morning, Inspector. I didn’t expect to see you today.’
She grabs her handbag as she climbs out and shuts the door. ‘I wanted to see how you are.’ She notices the swollen and bloodied mouth. ‘Which doesn’t look very good. What happened?’
Gideon touches his mouth again. ‘I took a fall while trying to fix up the study. It’s not as bad as it looks.’
Her eyes drift past him as Draco comes walking out towards his van. ‘You having some work done?’
Gideon glances towards him. ‘Yes, Mr Smithsen did some jobs for my father and he kindly came by when he learned of the fire.’
‘That’s neighbourly.’ She remembers their conversation in the pub near the crematorium, what Gideon had told her about the builder’s previous visit and how he suspected he was linked to his father’s death.
‘Can’t believe Mr Chase’s bad luck,’ says Draco loudly, as he steps closer to them. ‘What’s the world coming to? You lose your father, then the scum of the earth break in and nearly burn you out of house and home. Terrible affair.’ He heads back to the van, rattles a large bag full of tools.
Megan knows they’re being watched, given no real chance to talk. ‘I came by to ask you a few more questions about your father — is this a bad time?’
‘It is,’ answers Gideon. ‘Do you mind if I call you? I can come into the station, if that makes it easier for you.’
‘That would be fine.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the builder watching them. ‘Before I go, can I use your loo? It’s quite a drive back.’
‘Of course. Let me show you where it is.’
They peel away from Draco and once through the door she leans close and asks. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Not really. I have to go with him when you leave. They want my father’s books.’ He flicks a light on in the corridor and glances back towards the open front door. Draco slams shut the van door and is heading their way. ‘I can’t talk now.’
Megan has no choice but to slip into the downstairs toilet as Draco strides through the front door and pulls Gideon towards him. ‘I saw you both talking. What did she just say to you?’
Gideon tries not to panic. ‘Take your hands off me. It was my father’s funeral yesterday. She was just being sympathetic.’
He unclenches his fists and lets go of Gideon’s shirt. ‘Get her out of here. Quickly. Or you’ll be going to another funeral.’
109
Gideon walks Megan to her car and holds the door for her. He knows he only has a few seconds.
‘I was threatened this morning at gunpoint.’ He nods to the house. ‘By Smithsen and another man. The burglar who attacked me. They’re working together.’
Matt Utley’s photo flashes in her mind. She wants to tell him about her trip to the butcher’s shop but there’s no time. ‘Get in the car. We can sort all this out down at the station.’
He glances nervously to the front door. ‘I can’t do that. I have to go with him.’
‘Why?’
‘My father killed himself rather than condone what they’re doing.’
‘What are they doing?’ She looks at him quizzically, remembering again his fragile mental state.
Gideon sees doubt rising in her eyes. ‘I told you before. Sacrifices. I think they’re about to make another one.’
Megan wants to challenge him but spots Smithsen by the side of the house. He’s carrying a length of burned timber, trying to look busy. Now is the wrong time. She starts the engine and slips off the handbrake. ‘I’ll call you later.’
Gideon steps away as she drives off. Smithsen walks towards him, his eyes tracking the car to the electronic metal gates and out on to the country lane.
‘What was that all about?’
‘Money,’ says Gideon. ‘My father traded artefacts. Made millions from them. Probably some tomb-robbing in his time. The force’s art and fraud people want to interview me about his last set of accounts.’
‘She ask about your face?’
‘I told her I’d had an accident.’
‘Good.’ He turns and starts back to the house. ‘Come on, we’re wasting time. Let’s get those books and get out of here.’
‘Wait,’ says Gideon. ‘You think I’m stupid enough to leave them in the house?’
Smithsen’s face sets like concrete. Gideon digs his car keys from his pocket and opens the boot of the Audi. The builder peers inside and sees a thick blanket-wrapped bundle. He leans in and tugs off the outer layers. Inside are four A4 diaries, two from each decade of Nathaniel Chase’s time in the Craft.
‘Is this all?’
‘All for now.’
Smithsen opens one up and stares at the coded text. ‘How do we even know this is what you say it is?’
Gideon takes the book from him. ‘Only my father and I understood this code and that’s a good thing. Good for me and good for you. Most people would just throw these things away if they came across them, but they would be wrong to do that. Very wrong.’ He closes the journal, rewraps it in the blanket and hands the bundle over. ‘That’s my side of the bargain. Now complete yours.’