Vince May - Presumed Dead

‘No,’ she said, ‘but I need a friend to talk to. If you’re not too tired, I’d like to tell you what happened to me last night.’

‘Of course,’ he said, sitting down on the bed next to her, ‘I want to hear it.’

She started by telling him a little about her life, about Ross and Charles and her father. It was cold in the cabin and she’d only been speaking for a few minutes when she felt Philippe shiver. She was still wearing his all-in-one ski suit and was under several blankets and a sleeping bag, but he was just in his T-shirt and thin trousers. ‘You’re cold,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you come under these blankets with me?’

She turned onto her side to make room for him in the narrow bunk, and Philippe snuggled gratefully in beside her, pulling the blankets up around his shoulders. ‘Now, what were you saying?’ he prompted.

Being so close now she barely had to whisper. She hesitated for a few moments then said, ‘Last night, my husband tried to kill me.’

In the absolute silence all Alice could hear was her heart beating and Philippe’s slow steady breathing. After a few moments he asked, ‘He beat you and left you in the mountains to die?’

‘No… he didn’t beat me,’ Alice choked, ‘he threw me out of his plane.’ She burst into tears and buried her face against his shoulder.

Philippe encircled her with his arms the same way he’d done the night before, and drew her close. Her shoulders heaved and shuddered as her body was wracked with sobs. He stroked her hair and the side of her face saying, ‘It’s okay… it’s okay,’ until she eventually calmed down.

‘I’m sorry,‘ she sobbed, ‘I just can’t believe he could do such a thing.’

‘It is hard to believe,’ Philippe said softly. ‘Why don’t you tell me everything that happened?’

‘All right,’ Alice said, pulling away from him slightly and wiping her eyes with the back of her bandaged hand. ‘We got up yesterday morning and packed our suitcases ready to go on holiday. Ross was going to fly me to Geneva where I was going to hire a car and drive up here to Chamonix. He was going to carry on to Nice then Monaco.

‘I remember, I’d just finished packing and had come downstairs when he asked me if I wanted some lunch. I wasn’t really hungry but he insisted he wanted to eat before we left, so I sat in the sun on our patio drinking a glass of wine while he barbecued some steaks. I remember eating the steak, but that’s about all until I woke up in the back of his plane. I guess he must have drugged me.’

‘You don’t remember how you got into the plane?’ Philippe asked.

‘No… I vaguely remember being undressed, which must have happened because I was wearing a yellow skirt and jacket when we ate, and I remember being carried by my feet and shoulders, but that’s about all.’

‘So there was someone else involved also, you think?’

‘I think it was our secretary, Alex, holding my feet, but I’m not sure. There was something strange about him,’ she said, struggling to remember. ‘It all seems like a dream.’

‘This Alex,’ Philippe asked, ‘what is he like?’

‘Just an ordinary young man,‘ Alice said. ‘His full name is Alexander, but he prefers it to be shortened to Alex because he says Alexander makes him sound like a Russian ballerina. He’s about thirty, my height, very slim, short brown hair, very smart and efficient. He’s been with us for about five years.’

‘And you trust him?’

‘I always have, although I must admit when he first came to work for us I was a little wary about having a young man around the house, especially with my husband being away quite often. But there has never been any suggestion of anything improper in his attitude towards me, and he’s very fond of our son.’

‘Do you think maybe your husband has paid him to help kill you?’

‘Maybe, I just don’t know.’

‘Tell me, what happened when you woke up and found yourself in the plane?’ Philippe asked.

‘The door at the rear of the cabin was open and I was lying on the floor right next to it. There was a terrible noise and a rush of air. I remember it was dark except for a red light shining through from the cockpit. Ross was standing over me with his face all sweaty and contorted. He looked like the devil. He was struggling with something behind my back, then I remember he lifted me up, then everything was black and I was falling.’ Alice started to cry again.

‘And you landed on the glacier?’ Philippe asked with disbelief.

‘No,’ she said, drying her eyes again, ‘I must have hit the snow someplace very high up, because I remember tumbling and sliding down a steep slope for what seemed like ages. When I finally stopped I was on the snow at the top of the glacier, so I started to climb down.’

‘And that’s when you found the hut?’

‘That’s right, I kept seeing a light and just followed it right down.’

Philippe knew she’d definitely come to the hut from above because during the day while she’d been asleep, he’d followed the trail of blood and found that it led up towards the top of the glacier. He just couldn’t believe though, that anyone could survive being thrown from an plane. But if that hadn’t happen, how else could she possibly have got that high up?

‘The one thing I do not understand,’ Philippe said after a while, ‘is how your husband thought he could get away with it. I mean, how would he explain the fact that one minute you are in England, and the next you are high up in the Alps?’

‘I don’t know,’ Alice replied bitterly, ’but you can be sure of one thing, he wouldn’t have done this if he didn’t think he was going to get away with it.’

‘What do you intend to do?’ he asked eventually. ‘Go to the police?

‘They would never believe me.’

‘Probably not,’ he agreed. ‘Do you have another plan?’

‘That rather depends on you.’

‘On me?’ Philippe asked with surprise.

‘I was hoping,’ Alice started nervously, ‘you might be willing to let me stay with you for a while, until I can find out what Ross is up to and decide what to do about it.’

Philippe thought for a moment then said, ‘Of course I will continue to look after you for as long as you want me to. If you are feeling well enough tomorrow, we will walk down to the Montenvers station on the Mer de Glace where we can get on the train for Chamonix. I have my car parked there at the station and I will take you home with me to my house near Nîmes in the south. You will be warm and safe there for as long as you want.’

‘Thank you,’ Alice sighed. ‘You have no idea how grateful I am.’

They lay in silence for a long time after that, until Philippe realized she had fallen asleep. Being careful not to disturb her, he slipped out of her warm bed and crossed the dark hut back to his cold sleeping bag, where he lay awake long into the night, thinking.

Back down on the yacht, Ross was giving his final performance of the day as a worried husband. He’d been on the phone again to the hotel, getting the manager out of bed and insisting he contact the police and mountain rescue teams immediately.

Now he was being comforted by his friends and was telling them that he just didn’t know what he would do if any harm had come to his precious Alice.

He also told them he was leaving first thing in the morning to go and help look for her himself.

Alice woke early on Tuesday morning as the first hints of watery dawn light filtered through the high window into the hut. At first, she was surprised to see Philippe back in his own bed, but then, as she lay thinking about him, she smiled and understood. He’s so completely opposite to Ross, she thought. Ross poses as a gentleman when he’s anything but, whereas Philippe is quietly strong, gentle and kind, and totally without pretension.