Waverleigh Manor

Chapter Four


  "We've found it and now the bloody door's stuck." Mike tugged at the handle. Molly giggled.
  "Do you get the feeling Gus is having a laugh at our expense?"
  "I wouldn't be at all surprised." Mike said. "He'll probably be in here sniggering when we finally get in."
  "Here, let me try." Molly stepped forward and took hold of the handle. She wrenched it as hard as she could and the door flew open.
  "God, I should give it a tug if I were you." Mike grinned.
  "Oh, shut up and flash the torch in there."
  Mike switched on the torch and shone it inside the outhouse.
  "Oh – there's a light switch."
  Molly flicked the switch and a dim bulb flickered on in the middle of the ceiling.
  "Why is it that every bulb in this place is no more than a 20 watt?" Mike stepped in after Molly, holding her hand.
  "You're really witty, you know that?" Molly looked at him.
  "Really?" Mike pulled her close.
  "Yes. And you've also got some chopping to do, so get on with it."
  "Eh?"
  "Look behind you."
  "Good God – Gus wasn't kidding when he said there's wood in here."
  "He certainly wasn't." Molly laughed.
  Huge, gnarled logs lay in a scattered pile on the floor. They were far too big to take in for the fire.
  "Well what are you going to do?" asked Mike.
  "Sit here and watch a strong man at work." Molly sat on a large upturned flower pot.
  "Charming." Mike took down an axe from the rough brick wall. "I'm going to have to let go of your hand for five minutes, I'm afraid."
  "I think I'll be OK." Molly grinned.
  Her heart missed a beat as Mike grinned back at her.

*

  "Oh, at long last." Ann smiled as she walked into the drawing room.
  Molly and Mike were loading logs into the basket by the fireplace.
  "Took a bit longer than we thought." Mike said.
  "Mind you, he's pretty nifty with an axe." Molly laughed.
  "Well I'll go and find the others, if the fire's ready to be lit." Ann left.
  Mike brushed the dust off his hands and pulled Molly close to him.
  "I hate to say this." he said. "But……."
  "What?"
  "We're going to need more logs. We're going to have to go back out to the outhouse."
  "Oh, God." Molly pretended to whine. "All that way?"
  "Well I'd carry you, but we've got to carry these baskets back."
  "As long as you hold my hand."
  "Of course." Mike grinned.

*

  Veronica shivered. The chill in the air was positively icy.

*

  Marcia was gazing at the moon, almost transfixed as the thin wisps of cloud blew across the sky.

*

  "Hello?" David Campbell stepped into the huge hallway. "Anyone about? Simon?"
  He put his bags down on the floor and looked round. The hall was spectacular. Dark oak panelling lined the walls, and several corridors led off in different directions. In front of him was a grand staircase.
  "Hello?"
  Silence.

*

  "The damn door's jammed again." Mike was struggling with the handle again.
  "Let someone strong do it." Molly grinned. With her free hand, she yanked the handle, and the door flew open. "There."
  Mike reached in and put the light on. Molly screamed.

*

  David thought he heard a faint cry from somewhere, but he couldn't quite decide where it came from.

*

  "Oh my God!" Molly was shaking from head to foot.
  Mike looked at the body lying in front of them. He put his arms round Molly and held her close to him. She leaned her head against his chest. She didn't know what to say, what to do. She was shaking uncontrollably.
  "Mike, who is it?" she whimpered.
  "I… I don't know." Mike looked at the man. "I don't know."
  "Mike, he wasn't there ten minutes ago!" Molly pulled away and looked at Mike. "Someone put him there while we were up at the house!"
  Mike looked round, afraid. Molly read his thoughts.
  "Whoever it is could still be around somewhere."
  "Come on. Let's get back up to the house."
  "Mike, whoever did this could have been in the maze with us." Molly was still shaking. "They could have been feet from us."
  "Don't think about it." Mike kissed Molly's hair and pulled her out of the outhouse. He shut the door. "Come on."
  Molly was glad of Mike's arms round her as they made their way back to the house. Hurrying through the topiary, Molly was struck by a sudden thought. She stopped.
  "It could have been any one of them." she said.
  "Who?"
  "Our lot. Who knows what they all did when we left to find the outhouse? Who knows where they all went? And none of them were in the drawing room when we got back with the logs."
  "You've got a point there." Mike had to admit that Molly was right.

*

  "Oh, at last! Some signs of life!"
  Mike and Molly didn't notice the handsome young man until he spoke. Standing in a corner of the hall in a dark red velour shirt and black trousers, and with his short dark hair and dark eyes, he could have been the star of a modern vampire film. They stopped.
  "Who are you?"
  "David Campbell. Final member of the group. Only just got here."
  Neither Molly nor Mike felt like shaking hands with David. Molly wondered if Mike was thinking what she was thinking.
  "Where is everyone?" David asked.
  "Not sure. We're all just, um, getting used to the place." Mike said.
  "Yes, of course." David said. "I might just go up to my room and freshen up. It's been a hell of a journey here."
  "Your room is up on the second floor." Molly said.
  "Thanks." David picked up his bags and disappeared up the stairs.
  Molly turned to Mike.
  "He could have done it." She said. "He says he's only just arrived, but how do we know that? He could have been out in the grounds earlier."
  "I know." Mike said.
  "Mike, I'm really scared." Molly said. "There's no-one else round here for miles. One of this lot is a murderer."
  "I'm going to ring the police." Mike went over to the huge old phone on the table. He picked it up. "Oh. Or maybe not."
  "What?" Molly was at his side. Mike gave her the phone. The line was dead. Molly slammed it back down. "Mike, please don't leave me tonight." she said.
  "I had no intention of leaving you." Mike put his arms round her.

*

  Veronica wandered into the drawing room to find the fire blazing and Mike and Molly sat together on the rug.
  "You got it going then."
  "Where have you been all evening?" Mike asked.
  "About." Veronica sat down and crossed her legs elegantly.
  "About where?" Molly said.
  "Just about. Nowhere special."
  Mike and Molly looked at each other.
  "What's the matter with you?" Veronica asked.
  "What's the matter with who?" Marcia strolled in. "Oh! A fire! Wonderful!" she sat herself down in the chair nearest to the fireplace. "Did I hear someone mention that something was the matter?"
  "You could say that, yes." Mike looked at Marcia.
  "Marcia! There you are! Where've you been?" Simon walked in, with David following. "Meet David Campbell."
  "You'll forgive me if I don't get up." Marcia held out a slender hand. "My bum is only just thawing out here."
  David smiled and shook her hand.
  Mike stood up.
  "Before we go any further." he looked round at everyone. "Something's happened that I think you should all know about."
  "Something's happened?" Veronica uncrossed her legs and sat forward. "What?"
  "When Molly and I went out to fetch more wood, we, um, we…….."
  "Well that's very nice for the pair of you." Simon said. "Congratulations."
  "Simon, he doesn't mean that!" Molly felt cross.
  "Well come on, tell us." Marcia was speaking to Mike but had her eye on Simon the whole time. Molly was watching everyone carefully for their reaction.
  "Tell us what?" Ann and James walked in together. "What's going on?"
  "I think you'd better sit down." Mike was frowning now.
  "What's up?" James perched on the edge of a chair.
  "I don't quite know how to say this." Mike said. "But, um, Molly and I found a body in the woodshed, the outhouse."
  "A body?" Marcia's voice was tight and high-pitched. "Oh my God!"
  Molly looked round at everyone. If anyone knew anything they weren't giving anything away. Their faces were expressionless as they all stared at Mike.
  Simon spoke first. His voice was shaky.
  "How…. What…."
  "Well, we went to fetch the wood." Mike said. "The first time we got some, the body wasn't there. Then we had to go back for more. And the second time, there it was. Just there… on the floor."
  "Who……. Who is it?" Ann whispered.
  "We don't know." Mike looked at the floor.
  Molly was looking at Mike. A sudden thought had entered her mind. A thought that she was desperately trying to ignore, to push out, and to forget. But couldn't. What had Mike really been doing while she had been lost in the maze?