Simon Green - The Dark Side of the Road

‘What are you saying?’ said Khan.

‘You can’t really believe one of us wanted the man dead!’ said Roger.

‘Why not?’ I said.

I looked around. People were clinging to each other, comforting one another as best they could. Melanie clung determinedly on to Walter, who was pulling himself back together through sheer force of will because he was damned if he would let his son down. Diana and Sylvia huddled together like frightened children, drawing strength from each other. Roger had a protective arm across Penny’s shoulders, holding her close, glaring around as though he’d fight anyone who dared threaten her. She let him, because he needed to do it. Khan stood alone, scowling thoughtfully. He didn’t seem too bothered by the Colonel’s sudden death; but then, he wouldn’t. He’d worked for Black Heir. And finally there was Jeeves, standing alone, calm and poised as always, looking around at the others in the same way I was. Looking for a killer’s eyes in a familiar face. He caught me staring at him and just nodded, briefly. There was a sober, professional air to the man in a hallway where hysteria was hanging dangerously close on the air, just looking for a way in.

‘What are we going to do?’ said Melanie, in a voice quite a bit higher than it needed to be.

‘We have a murderer among us,’ Penny said steadily. ‘And we have no choice but to find him ourselves. It’s the only way to be safe. We have to find him before he can kill again, maybe kill all of us, to cover his tracks. We can do this! It’s not like he can go anywhere; he’s as trapped in this house as the rest of us!’

I smiled at her admiringly. Good to see someone keeping their head. Everyone else was just waiting for somebody to take the lead. It was clear none of them liked the idea that someone they knew was a murderer.

I looked at Walter. ‘Help is a long way off. How secure are we here?’

Walter nodded briskly, coming back to himself now he had a chance to take charge. ‘Yes! Of course … Well; we’re safe enough from the storm in here. The outer walls are good thick stone; built to keep out the cold. As long as we keep the fires going, we should be snug as a bug in a rug. The pipes are all lagged … and we have our own generator, for electricity! And of course we have a hell of a lot of food and drink laid in, for Christmas. Enough to keep us going for days. And we have weapons!’

He looked meaningfully to Jeeves, who nodded and stood up a little straighter. And just like that, he didn’t look like a butler any more. He held himself differently, in the experienced military manner I’d seen before. His servility was gone, like the act it always was, replaced by a cold-eyed professionalism.

‘Ladies and gentlemen; I am not a butler. I was hired by Mister Belcourt to act as one for this weekend, while also serving as his personal bodyguard. My job is to keep people alive, and I’m very good at it. And like all bodyguards, I am armed.’

He brought out his hidden gun and showed it to everyone. He held the Smith amp; Wesson.45 with an easy, practised familiarity. Everyone looked at the gun, and then looked at Jeeves. They didn’t seem too sure as to whether the man with the gun made them feel safer, or not. And then they all looked at each other, as though trying to decide who else might be pretending to be something they weren’t. Most of them looked at me with open suspicion.

‘Why did you hire a bodyguard, Walter?’ said Melanie. She sounded honestly puzzled. ‘You never said anything to me about needing a bodyguard!’

‘I didn’t want you to worry, dear,’ said Walter, patting her hand absently. ‘It was just for the holidays. All businessmen have enemies; you know that.’

‘But why now, Daddy?’ said Penny.

Walter didn’t answer her directly, but his eyes did seem to linger on Khan for a moment. ‘There are more weapons in the house, for those who feel the need,’ Walter said loudly. ‘Old family weapons. Look around you! Swords and axes and pikes. Easy enough to get down, and still in good enough shape to scare any villain into keeping his distance! Eh?’

We all looked at the old weapons on their wall plaques, but no one made any move to take one. It seemed no one felt the need … just yet.

‘So!’ said Walter. ‘We’re perfectly safe in here from the storm, and we’re not helpless! We can look after ourselves.’

‘It also means our hidden killer has access to an endless supply of killing tools,’ I said.

Khan looked at me sharply. ‘You really believe one of us killed James?’

‘Who else is there?’ I said.

Sylvia suddenly stabbed an accusing finger at me. Her raised voice was sharp, even spiteful. ‘Everything was fine here until you arrived! Come on, people; he’s the only one here that none of us knows! Does anyone know him from before?’

‘He found James’ body!’ said Penny.

‘Is that supposed to clear him?’ said Roger.

‘If he was the murderer, he only had to leave his kill hidden,’ Penny said coldly, throwing off Roger’s protective arm.

‘And given the state of the body, James must have been dead for some time,’ said Jeeves. ‘Long before Ishmael turned up.’

‘He could have been … outside, skulking around,’ said Khan. ‘Killed James, and then hid outside, before making his appearance.’

‘Not in this weather, he couldn’t,’ said Jeeves. ‘No; I would have to say that in my professional opinion, Ishmael is the least likely suspect.’

‘But isn’t that who the killer always turns out to be, in murder mysteries?’ said Diana, with a short, bitter laugh. ‘I feel like a character in an Agatha Christie novel! Which is never good for a minor character …’

‘I am not a minor character!’ Melanie said immediately. ‘Walter; tell that woman I am not a minor character!’

‘I never read any of the novels,’ said Penny. ‘Though I did follow most of the stories on television …’

‘Same here,’ I said. ‘Which Miss Marple did you prefer? I always had a soft spot for Geraldine McEwan, myself.’

‘She was far too nice,’ said Penny.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘That’s what I liked about her.’

Jeeves cleared his throat meaningfully, and we all turned to look at him. ‘If we could keep to the matter at hand … Ishmael; you had time to study James’ body. How do you think he was killed?’

‘You all saw the severed head,’ I said. ‘It looked to me like his head had been sawed off.’

Walter flinched. Everyone reacted, even Jeeves.

‘You can’t just say things like that!’ protested Melanie. She pressed a hand to her mouth, as though to keep from being sick.

‘Why not?’ I said. ‘That’s what happened. There were no other obvious wounds. It seems likely he was drugged, or otherwise incapacitated, and then his head was cut off afterwards. Much more likely than a fight. The Colonel was quite capable of looking out for himself. I can’t see why the killer felt the need to cut off the head … Normally, that’s done to help prevent identification … But here, the head was left with the body. Strange …’

‘I still want to know: who locked the front door?’ Penny said loudly.

‘What?’ said Walter. ‘What are you talking about, girl?’

‘When Ishmael and I came back from our walk, with James’ body, the front door was locked!’ said Penny. ‘If Jeeves hadn’t heard us yelling and let us in …’

‘We could have died,’ I said.

No one admitted to locking the door.

‘Wait a minute!’ said Walter. ‘I’ve just thought of something! The killer could be hiding in one of the outbuildings! In one of the guest cottages!’

‘We already looked at the cottages, Daddy,’ said Penny. ‘We didn’t see anyone.’