False Relation (An Abbot Agency Mystery Book 19)

'My father was woken at eight o'clock this morning by Celine you remember Mona's younger sister? screaming her head off. She'd found Mona lying in the back garden with her head a bloody mess. He slapped some sense into Celine, rang the police and then contacted me. I was on my way to the nursery when—'

'Your father ordered your attendance and demanded that you supply him with alternative accommodation? I suppose he didn't think to mention that Celine might need somewhere to lay her head as well?'

'How did you guess? What he did say was that nothing like this would have happened if I hadn't been so stupid as to marry a man who can't look after his family properly.'

Bea said 'Humph!' rather loudly, causing Polly to produce a somewhat watery chuckle. She said, 'Well, yes. I know he can be difficult. Anyway, when I got to Oak Lodge I found my father and Celine yelling at one another in the kitchen, still dressed in their pyjamas. I sent them upstairs to get some clothes on before the police arrived from Axton. I got scolded by the inspector for doing that, because apparently I ought to have removed them completely from the house to stand shivering in the road until the police arrived ... Oh well. I suppose they're right. Oak Lodge is now officially a crime scene.'

'Why the house? Wasn't she found in the garden?'

'The row started in the kitchen. You know, I've never liked Marcus exactly, but I didn't dislike him. I felt sorry for him when he lost those court cases and had to step back from his various companies. To be fair, he seemed to be happy enough playing around with plans for his model railway.'

Bea said, 'Men and their toy trains. Keeps them occupied for hours.'

'Yes, and it pleased Julian because the railway would be a real attraction when we're able to open the amusement park again. Honestly, if you'd asked me, I'd have said Marcus had adapted to his new role in life and didn't regret the old. On the other hand, I could understand that Mona found it a bit of a comedown after jet-setting round the world in a private aeroplane and all that. This quiet life wasn't what she'd expected when she'd married him, and I think that perhaps she asked too much of a man who was older and, according to her, unable to perform as well as he had.'

'He still had enough money left to live well, didn't he?'

'Not as much as Mona had bargained for. Apparently they'd been arguing last night, she hurled his laptop to the floor and broke it. Marcus said he wanted a divorce. Mona said she was going to take him for everything he'd got. Marcus ran out into the garden to get away from her and she followed.

My father and Celine removed themselves from the situation. Oh dear! I am not going to break down. I am not!'

Bea was bracing. 'Of course you're not. They had a row and it got out of hand?'

'Honestly it might have been funny if it weren't so tragic. Imagine Marcus escaping into the night never to return. Except, I suppose he must have come back at some point to kill her, mustn't he?'

Bea said, 'Where did he go?'

'Vanished without trace. His car's still here, though. The police will know where to look. Train stations. Airports. My father thinks he killed her with a stone from the rockery. The police said we had to leave Oak Lodge so we've taken refuge in the pub in the village where we can at least get something to eat and drink and use the loo. I made a fuss about getting Celine and my father some essentials from Oak Lodge and the police say they'll let us go back and collect some things under supervision but not till after they've been through the whole house for fingerprints and so on.

'The pub's been very good. They've shut the dining room to the public so that we can have some privacy there, and they'll serve lunches in the bar. The only bright spark on the horizon was that I was able to get through to Nanny when she was on her way back from the dentist. She called here to collect Moppet and she'll fetch Pip from the nursery. So they're out of it.'

A pause, then in a voice which was almost a whisper, Polly said, 'I'm so afraid my milk's going to dry up. You remember it did so before, when I was breastfeeding Pip and there was a spot of trouble?'

Bea was bracing. 'You'll be perfectly all right and if not, you've got Nanny, who can cope with anything.'

'That's what I tell myself. But there's so much going on. Celine keeps breaking down and needing to be soothed. I've explained to her and to my father what other accommodation we might be able to let them have. My father says I can't expect him to manage the stairs anymore and that I'm a hard-hearted no-good daughter to expect him to do so. He won't even consider the flat at the top of the Hall, the rooms above the estate office, or sleeping on the settee in the Old Stables.

'He says it's obvious that he should move into some of the family's old bedrooms at the Hall but he really does know that it's not possible. We have to keep the temperature low for the sake of the furniture, and the water has been turned off for all but the flatlets at the top and the kitchen quarters. I tried to get through to Julian to ask him if he has any other ideas, but Francine  She Who Must Be Obeyed  fielded the call to say he's in a meeting on Zoom at this very minute. Have you any ideas, Bea?'