Kitabı oxu: «The Daughters Of Red Hill Hall»

Chapter 1

April 2015

Not another fossil. Fossils were so darned boring. Gemma sighed as she pulled what must be at least the thirtieth ammonite today from the dusty box. She loved her job at Bridhampton’s little museum, cataloguing their extensive archive, but really, she had seen enough fossils to last her a lifetime. It was inevitable, she supposed, being so close to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset they were bound to have plenty of dinosaur bones and ancient marine creatures in the collection. But fossils did nothing for her. She preferred more recent history and human stories.

‘Cup of tea for my hard worker?’ Roger, the museum curator and her boss, put his balding head around the door.

Gemma nodded. ‘I’d love one, thanks.’ Poor Roger. He was practically another fossil. Well, that was unfair – he was probably only about ten years older than her – but he acted as though he was from the nineteenth century. Or before. She grinned to herself as she measured the ammonite and typed its details into the computer catalogue. He was old-school, that was for sure, but he was also the nicest boss she’d ever had. After leaving university with a history degree and no idea what she wanted to do with her life, she’d had a number of jobs in quick succession until two years ago she’d struck lucky here at the museum in her home town of Bridhampton.

By the time Roger returned with her tea, Gemma had finished cataloguing the contents of the box and was packing it up again to return it to its shelf in the museum basement.

Roger put the tea on the desk beside her, and moved some papers off a chair so he could sit down. ‘Anything interesting in that one?’

‘Half a dozen ammonites. One’s nearly a foot across. Weighs a ton.’ She closed the lid of the box and taped it up before Roger could start poking around in it. He did have a habit of wanting to pull things out and examine them, making the whole job take so much longer.

‘Oh well. Maybe we should use them in a Jurassic Coast display. What do you think?’

Gemma stopped herself from pulling a face. ‘We could, I suppose, but then the museum at Lyme Regis covers that so much better. Everyone goes there because of the Mary Anning connection. I think we should stick to other topics – human stories and Victorian themes.’ So much more interesting, she almost added.

‘You’re probably right.’ He smiled at her, and heaved the sealed box off the table. ‘I’ll fetch you the next one, then, to get started on once you’ve had your break.’

He looked quite sweet when he smiled, Gemma thought, as she watched him go through the door that led to the basement stairs. She resolved to be nicer to him in future. Poor bloke was probably lonely. He lived alone with only a cat called Michael for company. Who on earth calls their cat Michael, she thought, not for the first time.

Roger returned a few moments later bearing another cardboard box, this one festooned with cobwebs. He dumped it on the table and brushed the dust from his pullover. That was another thing. Who, these days, wore a hand-knitted jumper over a shirt and tie? Maybe she should have a gentle word with him about his fashion sense. If he ever wanted to get himself a girlfriend he’d need to first get himself a new wardrobe.

‘Here you are, then,’ he said. ‘Hope there’s something more exciting in that one. It was from aisle four, shelf three, if you want to make a note.’

‘Thanks.’ She jotted down the location code on her notepad, and slit open the tape across the top of the box, as Roger left her to return to the museum front desk. It was a Wednesday – their quietest day. Term time but no school parties booked, so they weren’t expecting many visitors beyond a few pensioners who were generally more interested in the tea and cakes they served in the museum café.

Tea finished, she pulled the next box towards her and opened it up. Inside was a crumpled-up piece of fabric – dark green cotton. She held it up – it was a shirt, smelling musty and dating from the 1970s if the collar was anything to go by. The label said St Michael. Great. A Marks and Spencer original, of no value whatsoever. Why on earth was it in this box? She threw it into her box of rubbish. It was amazing how much rubbish she had come across – usually screwed-up paper and sweet wrappers chucked into the boxes of artefacts. She looked in the box again. There was a layer of yellowed newspaper, which she pulled out and inspected. The Times, from January 1972. That tied in with the date of the shirt, then. It probably indicated the last time this box had been opened. She threw that into the discard pile as well.

Finally, at the bottom of the container, was a wooden box. It measured about two feet by one, and was four or five inches deep. It appeared to be made of mahogany, and was inset with an elaborate parquetry design. This looked more promising! She slipped on a pair of thin cotton gloves and lifted it out of the cardboard box. Clearing a space, she laid it on the table, and investigated its fastening. There was a brass hook and loop clasp, but thankfully no lock. She opened it up and gasped.

‘Wow. Just, wow.’ She looked around to see if Roger was in earshot, but he’d left the back rooms. Should she call him or wait and show him when he came back? He tended to pop into the back room every hour or so to see how she was getting on. She looked back at the contents of the box. No, this was too good to wait – he needed to see this now. She left the room and went through to the front of the museum to call him.

He came trotting after her. ‘I take it that box had something better than ammonites in it, then?’

‘Oh yes. Take a look.’ She indicated the box, and he gasped too.

‘Duelling pistols. And what an elaborate pair! Take one out – you’ve got gloves on.’

She carefully extracted one from its moulded place in the box. It was a beautiful item. ‘Gorgeous! Look at that silver work, and are those rubies on the handle?’

‘It’s called the stock, not the handle,’ Roger said. ‘Yes, I’d say mahogany trimmed with silver, and set with rubies. I’ll have to have a closer look with a magnifying glass to be certain of the materials. A very fine piece.’ He looked at the case. ‘And we have the pair, plus the ramrod, and that little flask there was probably used to hold the gunpowder.’

‘Yikes, hope there’s none in it now!’ Gemma squealed in mock horror.

Roger smiled indulgently and slipped on a pair of cotton gloves. He took the little flask out of the case and opened it. ‘Empty. We’re all right. I would guess those other slots in the case would have held the shot, probably lead. And maybe a cleaning brush. But how wonderful to have the pair, in such a lovely case! I think we’ll have to get these out on display.’

‘Do you think they were ever used in a duel?’ Gemma asked. It was a sobering thought – she might be holding a gun that had killed someone.

‘Who knows? They look very decorative. They could have been commissioned and bought just for show. Duelling pistols were often owned as a kind of status symbol. It’s unusual to have jewels in the stocks like this. And see the inside of the case’s lid?’

Gemma looked. It was beautifully painted with a scene showing two eighteenth-century gentlemen engaging in a duel, standing stiffly, their pistols pointed at each other, tricorn hats and flared coats giving a hint as to the era. To one side of the picture was a spreading oak tree, and two other men stood, holding the reins of black and bay horses. It certainly looked as though the case was designed to sit open, with the interior on display. Gemma found herself hoping that the pistols had never been used in anger.

‘Well, I’ll leave you to add that to the catalogue,’ Roger said, as he stood up and pulled off his gloves. ‘Don’t put them away afterwards though – leave them on my desk. I’d like to take a closer look after we’ve closed for the day.’

‘Sure, will do.’ Gemma grinned at Roger as he left, then turned her attention back to the case. She lifted out the other pistol and the ramrod, and started making notes about the case first. As she turned it over she noticed a yellowing label stuck to the base of it. There was writing on it, in a spidery hand: Bequeathed by Mrs A. Maitland, 1923. These pistols were the ones used in the infamous shooting at Red Hill Hall.

Gemma felt a shiver run down her spine as she read the words. An ‘infamous shooting’! – but not so infamous it was still remembered in 2015. Red Hill Hall – that rang a bell. She racked her brains trying to think where else she’d heard that place name recently. And then it came to her. Her boyfriend Ben’s sister Anna was getting married soon, and the invitations had arrived in the post a couple of days ago. The wedding and reception were to be held at Red Hill Hall. It was a country house hotel about five miles out of town.

Who’d been shot, when, and why? She had an overwhelming urge to research everything she could find about the shooting. If it was described as ‘infamous’ by whoever wrote the label on the bottom of the pistol case, then it must have been covered by newspapers of the time – whenever that was. She turned to the museum’s computer, opened up a Google search page and started typing ‘shooting at Red Hill Hall’. But before she could press the Enter key Roger came back.

‘Gemma, could you take over at the front desk, please? The café’s short of milk and I told Jean I’d pop up to the Co-op to get some. Won’t be long.’

‘Sure. Coming.’ She shut the laptop’s lid and left the back room, locking the door behind her so that no visitors would be tempted to wander in. The research would have to wait until later.

As it turned out, she did not get a chance to return to the back office that day. A coach party arrived and she was kept busy at the desk and in the small souvenir shop until closing time. All afternoon thoughts of the pistols ran through her head. Had someone been killed in this shooting? She supposed so – otherwise why would it have been described as infamous?

‘Roger, have you seen what’s on the underside of the pistols’ case?’ she asked, as they tidied the little museum shop after closing time.

He hadn’t, so she told him. His eyes lit up. ‘Well, I haven’t heard of this shooting but it certainly sounds like something worth investigating. Feel free to do it here; perhaps start searching online tomorrow?’

‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ she said, grinning at him. Something to look forward to at work tomorrow – infinitely better than measuring and describing endless ammonites for the catalogue!

‘You look lovely tonight,’ said Ben, kissing her as he stood to greet her in the Men At Arms pub, just a little way up the high street from the museum. It was her favourite pub – dark and cosy, old and full of character. ‘We’ve bought a bottle of Sauvignon. Nat chose it. Hope that’s all right for you?’

‘Fine, thanks. Hi, Nat,’ said Gemma. Actually she was more in the mood for a pint of bitter but as Natalie had got there first it seemed reasonable for her to choose the wine. Ben was so easy-going he’d drink anything. They were sitting at a table in a snug, its walls covered with dark wood panelling and hung with prints of Victorian country houses. She pulled an upholstered stool from under the table and sat down.

‘Cheers, then,’ said Nat, pouring her a glass and handing it over.

‘Cheers!’ Gemma clinked her glass against the other two and sighed happily. It was one of her favourite times of the week – being out for the night with her boyfriend and her best mate, the two people she loved best in the world. The three of them were inseparable, and had been ever since she and Ben had got together. Actually, she and Nat had been practically joined at the hip since school days.

‘Gemma, did you get Anna and Jake’s wedding invitation?’ Ben asked her.

‘I did. Can’t wait! It’s not till June though, is it?’

‘Nineteenth. I got one too. We’ll have to go shopping for new frocks,’ Nat said, with a wink at Gemma. ‘You’ll need something really smart. You can’t wear your usual tatty jeans and a fleece to a wedding, you know.’

‘Cheeky! Of course I’ll get something nice.’ Gemma gave Nat a playful punch on the arm. Anna, she hoped, would one day be her sister-in-law, if only Ben would get around to popping the question. And if he didn’t, well, next year was a leap year, so she’d do it herself. They’d been together seven years. It was time to make an honest man of him.

She suddenly remembered the wedding venue. ‘Hey, Ben, have you ever been to Red Hill Hall?’

‘Where?’ He looked blank.

‘Where Anna’s getting married, you dolt.’

He looked sheepish. ‘Oh yes, of course. No, never been there. Have you, Nat?’

‘No. It’s only just reopened under new management, hasn’t it? I think it was closed for years before then. I had a look at the website. Looks like a gorgeous setting for a wedding – all sweeping staircases and high-ceilinged ballrooms.’ Nat winked at Ben. ‘We’ll have fun there, won’t we – playing at lord and lady of the manor. Gemma, you could be my paid companion.’

‘Aw, why can’t I be the lady and you the companion?’ Gemma pouted.

Nat laughed. ‘You’ll need a very expensive dress if you want to upstage me, my dear. I intend buying something really fabulous. I’ll look amazing. Amazing, darling!’ She fluttered her eyelashes at Ben, who grinned and blew her a kiss, but caught hold of Gemma’s hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.

Gemma smiled. Nat liked to play the prima donna and Ben would play along. It was part of their group dynamics. She had no doubt that Nat would look fantastic, and no doubt better than she would herself. Nat was a beautician, currently working at a salon at the far end of town. She’d had many jobs over the years, never staying at any of them for very long. She’d only started at the salon a few weeks ago. Gemma hoped she would stick at it a bit longer than she had at the others. Poor Nat. She’d always struggled finding a job she liked. Before Gemma started working at the museum the two of them had often gone out drinking together to drown their sorrows about their rubbish, dead-end jobs. There was no better person than Nat when you needed a sympathetic ear. She always understood better than anyone else, because she’d been through it all herself.

‘Anyway, the hall sounds lovely,’ Gemma said. ‘I’ll definitely take a look at their website. I came across something at the museum today, relating to Red Hill Hall. Bit of a coincidence, having had the wedding invitation this week as well.’

Ben looked at her with interest. ‘What did you find?’

‘More fossils?’ Nat rolled her eyes.

‘Guns. Well, duelling pistols. Apparently they were used in a shooting at the hall.’ Gemma picked up the half-empty bottle and topped up everyone’s glasses.

‘Oh my God. Don’t tell Anna that – she’d have a fit if she thought someone had been murdered at her wedding venue.’ Ben took a sip of his wine.

‘Duelling pistols? So was there, like, a duel there? Does a duel count as murder?’ Nat looked as though she wanted all the juicy details.

‘Well I don’t know yet, whether it was a duel or even if anyone died. I came across the pistols – very ornate ones – in their case, and there was a note saying something about an infamous shooting. Tomorrow’s job is to research it and try to find out what happened.’

‘Wow. Your job is so much more interesting than mine. Most excitement I get is to work out lifeguard rotas and arrange five-a-side tournaments for school kids.’ Ben’s job was manager of a sports centre. He shook his head and laughed.

‘I don’t know. I’d rather do what you do than faff around with dusty relics all day like Gemma does.’ Nat flashed him a look. ‘I reckon my new job’s the best one though. All day playing with make-up and doing people’s nails – like being a little kid at your mum’s make-up drawer. I love it. Well, I would love it, if only Bitchface Boss wasn’t always on my case.’

Gemma smiled but didn’t say anything. How she and Nat were such close friends was a mystery. If she was honest, they didn’t really have a lot in common, other than their shared memories of course. Nat liked gossip mags, reality shows and loud, modern nightclubs. Gemma preferred historical novels, costume dramas and quiet, ancient pubs. And she’d been with Ben for seven years whereas Nat’d had a string of boyfriends, none of them lasting more than a month or two. Still, ever since starting secondary school at the age of eleven they’d been best friends. They’d been put next to each other in maths class, and Gemma had whispered the answer to a question when the teacher put Nat on the spot. In return Nat had picked Gemma first for a netball team, and the two had become inseparable. Over the years they’d each spent time doing what the other one liked, and somehow their friendship had worked and indeed, had deepened. She would do anything for Nat, and knew Nat would do anything for her as well. Opposites attract – that was as true for friendships as it was for romance – and she and Nat were a great example of that rule.

‘Hey, I know!’ Nat turned to Gemma, her eyes shining. Gemma knew that look. It meant Nat had hatched a plan, and it was probably something Gemma wouldn’t feel completely comfortable with. ‘Why don’t I do your hair and make-up for Anna’s wedding? As the girlfriend of the bride’s brother you’re quite an important guest, you know. You’ll have to look stunning, but not so stunning you upstage the bride of course. I could put your hair up, in some sophisticated up-do, and shape your cheekbones, even out your skin tone, accentuate your eyes. Oh there’s so much I could do to improve your looks, Gemma! Do say yes!’

Gemma squirmed. Nat knew how she felt about too much make-up. She was happy wearing her usual subtle bit of mascara and lip gloss but anything else made her feel deeply uncomfortable. As well as making her skin feel itchy. She remembered how they’d experimented with make-up in their early teens, including going through a short-lived Goth phase of deep purple lipstick and heavy black eyeliner. Perhaps that was what had put her off make-up. ‘Well, maybe my hair, but I’m not sure I’d want it up…’

‘I love your hair left loose and long.’ Ben kissed the side of her head and she smiled at him gratefully.

‘Oh, well, if you don’t want me to, I won’t bother. Your loss.’ Nat drained her glass and smiled at Gemma. ‘More wine? It’s your round.’