Love Him to Death (7 page)

When she had gone, Tessa turned on us. “The woman’s mad,” she snapped. “She’s talking utter nonsense. Don’t you dare go repeating any of it.”

“We don’t make a habit of repeating lies and gossip, Ms Whittam,” Graham said indignantly.

Tessa grunted but seemed satisfied. When her back was turned, Graham and I exchanged a swift, confused glance. We didn’t say anything.

The two fresh corpses had given Tessa a whole load of extra work to do. She had to arrange for them to be removed and put into cold storage before they were eventually flown home and given decent burials, plus there would be a mountain of paperwork to get through. However, she seemed remarkably untroubled by it.

While Tessa got on with it all we went off to check on Graham’s mum: we knew that if Sally heard that we’d discovered another body, she’d be beside herself with worry.

You might have thought that two people dropping dead would dampen the party spirit, but it seemed to have the reverse effect. As word of Sizal’s demise got around, everyone suddenly seemed desperate to live life to the full. On our way to the kitchen, Graham and I saw some guests throwing themselves into the pool, fully clothed, while others were dancing furiously to Bill’s music. They all seemed to be concentrating as hard as they possibly could on Having a Good Time. Josie had persuaded Bill to sit with her by the pool and she was feeding him grapes while Kelly watched enviously from the shadows. He still looked a bit pale but was obviously trying his best not to spoil Josie’s day. He had a villa full of guests, and being the lovely man he was, he clearly felt obliged to look after them.

When we finally found Graham’s mum she was up to her eyeballs in preparations for the evening party, but news of Sizal’s death had still managed to reach her. “Just stay away from Josie and Angelica,” she begged us. “Tessa too. They all seem to be barking mad. I wish I’d never taken on this job! Thank God we can go home tomorrow.”

We were quite happy to do as Sally asked. To escape from the crowds, Graham and I decided to go down to the little beach I’d seen from my window. After changing into our swimming things we trotted down the cliff path. Our cupid costumes had been horrifically hot, so it was a big relief to wade into the cool, clear sea. We had a bit of a swim and then took the pedalo so we could have a good long talk with no danger of anyone eavesdropping.

“What’s going on?” I exclaimed as we began to pedal around in a large, lazy circle.

“They were both unfortunate accidents,” Graham reminded me. “You heard the doctor.”

“You don’t believe it, though, do you?”

“Given all that we’ve seen and heard, the chances of both deaths being truly accidental are on the slim side,” Graham admitted.

“So what we have to figure out is who would want them both dead. And why? What about Tessa? She seems to have a bit of a thing for Bill.”

“Along with my mother and yours, and about ninety-nine per cent of the world’s female population,” Graham reminded me. “Surely that doesn’t give her a motive for murder?”

“I suppose not. She had the opportunity, though.”

Graham nodded. “But how about the means?”

I considered. “I don’t reckon Tessa had her hair done by Sizal – she’s not the hair-extensions type, is she? So she might not have known about his allergy. And she hasn’t worked for Bill for that long – she probably didn’t know about Ruby’s heart condition, either. Besides, even if she’s in love with Bill, why would she want to kill his mother? No, you’re right. I think we can cross Tessa off the list.”

We pedalled in silence for a few minutes while we considered the matter. “As far as I can see, the only thing that links Ruby and Sizal is Angelica,” I said finally. “She was the one to discover both bodies. And as you’re always saying, the person who ‘finds’ a body is often the murderer.”

“Very true,” Graham agreed.

“But
why
would she do it?” I was perplexed. “I mean, they seemed to feel quite sorry for her. She asked both of them to speak on her behalf.”

“Yet neither managed to stop the wedding.”

“OK… So maybe Angelica was really angry with them. Angry enough to arrange their ‘accidents’.” I tried to picture Angelica in a murderous state but couldn’t quite manage it. “She doesn’t seem the angry type, though, does she? She looks sad and mad, but not necessarily bad. If Josie was in her position it might be different – she seems sweet enough when Angelica’s not around, then she turns into a green-eyed monster.”

Graham scratched his nose. “Well, Josie heard Angelica pleading with Ruby when we first got here. And she came in to Sizal’s room soon after he’d finished setting Kelly’s hair. She may have overheard what he said about Angelica asking him to have a word with her. For all we know, she was mortally offended.”

“So she might have got rid of both of them. But it’s ruined her big day,” I objected. “Which she’s been fixated on since she was a kid.”

“It hasn’t been totally ruined,” Graham reasoned. “Think of the sensation that two deaths in a single day will have caused – it makes a much more interesting story than a feature about yet another celebrity wedding. If you’re right about her little-girl-lost persona being a false one, that might explain things.”

“Well, if she’s secretly after fame and fortune, she’s certainly found it,” I said. Something else occurred to me and I stopped pedalling for a moment. The vessel wobbled and Graham frowned but I ignored him. “Why did Josie come into Sizal’s room just now?”

“Angelica was screaming,” Graham pointed out. “I should imagine that half the island’s population heard it. Maybe Josie was curious.”

“Maybe. Or maybe she wanted to check Sizal was dead. Did you notice the key was in the door?”

“So?”

“Well, it was on the inside when we went to have our wigs done this morning – I snagged my fig leaf on it, remember? But when we left just now, it was on the
outside
. So someone might have locked him in there with a wasp, knowing he’d flap around and get panicky and that the thing would sting him and finish him off. And Josie was the last person to have her hair styled…”

“True. But she had to have her make-up done afterwards in a different part of the villa. Anyone could have done it then.”

“Except that no one else has a motive.”

“Apart from Angelica.”

The more we talked, the more puzzled we became. We decided it was Josie. Then we decided it was Angelica. Then we went back to Josie again. We were literally pedalling around in ever-decreasing circles and there was no one we could consult for an opinion. The idea of telling Bill that his bride might have killed someone was laughable. Sally was elbow-deep in preparations for the evening and Tessa – well, she wasn’t exactly approachable. Plus there was something odd about the way she behaved. I didn’t trust her.

It seemed like there was nothing we could do.

That evening at the beach party, Sally roasted a whole ox – it looked like something out of a Greek myth and I half expected Zeus to turn up and strike a few people down with thunderbolts. Two more of the staff had succumbed to the dreaded bug during the course of the afternoon so Graham and I finally came in useful, handing out plates and cutlery to the wedding guests and collecting up empty glasses.

Bill didn’t perform live in the end – he said he wasn’t feeling up to it, which was understandable. Instead, the DJ played a never-ending stream of Bill’s greatest hits, from early ones such as “
My One, My Only
” (the song that launched him on the road to superstardom, according to Graham) and “
All Time and For Ever”
(the first of his hits to top the charts simultaneously in Britain and the United States) to “
You Won’t Never Need No
One But Me”
(which sold a record-breaking number of copies in the first week), “
I’m Yours, You’re Mine, End of Story”
(fifteen weeks at number one) and last year’s Christmas smash hit, “
He Ain’t the One for You”
. Then the DJ put on “
Ain’t No Escaping My Love”
and Josie and Bill danced, arms wrapped around each other, in their own little world. When the song finished, Bill got the DJ to put it on again, and then again. After the fifth time I was pretty sick of hearing it and we were both bored by the sight of grown-ups behaving like kids who’d drunk too much fizzy pop.

When Kelly suggested a skinny dip to one of the satyrs, Sally decided the beach was no longer a Suitable Place for Children and we were despatched to the villa. Bill’s music followed us all the way back and we could still hear it when we were inside, throbbing through the walls. We climbed the stairs, passing Angelica’s room. The music was loud, but not loud enough to drown out her pitiful, despairing sobs. I’d never heard anything quite so lonely. It reminded me of Mum and Becca and all those heart-to-hearts around the kitchen table. Maybe they were what had kept Becca afloat.

“It’s odd,” I said to Graham when we reached our rooms. “Why hasn’t Angelica got a shoulder to cry on? Where are all those ‘close friends’ of hers that were mentioned in the papers?”

“Maybe she drove them away,” replied Graham, yawning. “I gather that mental instability can have an alienating effect on people.”

Perhaps he was right. There was something scary about Angelica: I could see how her deep misery would put you off. But it still felt strange. I mean, when anyone at school’s upset, they’re like a magnet – the first sniff of a tear and girls flock around like pigeons, cooing soothing words. So why didn’t someone as famous and popular as Angelica have anyone?

As I got into bed I knew there was something I was missing. Some clue I’d overlooked. If I could just catch hold of it, everything would fall into place. But right now it was like trying to grab a bar of soap – the tighter I tried to hold on, the faster it slipped away.

I
slept fitfully – the noise of the party kept waking me up throughout the night. Then, as dawn approached, there was the banging of doors and the giggling of guests as they returned to the villa and fell into their beds. By the time the house was finally quiet, the sun was pouring through the thin curtains of my bedroom. I turned over crossly but couldn’t get back to sleep.

Graham must have had the same problem, because soon afterwards there was a soft tapping on my door.

“I was just seeing if you were awake,” he said as he stepped into the room. He was wearing his swimsuit and had a towel in one hand.

“Awake?” I said grouchily “Of course I’m not. I’m sleeping like a log, me.”

Graham ignored the sarcasm. “Fancy a swim?”

Let me explain here and now that Graham is not what you might call a natural athlete. The fact that
he’d
woken
me
for an early-morning swim was so out of character that I realized he had Things on His Mind that He Wished to Discuss. As we couldn’t talk freely in the villa, the beach was our only option.

“Give me five minutes,” I said, throwing back the covers and heading for the bathroom.

As it turned out, I didn’t get to hear whatever it was that Graham wanted to say. When we got down to the cove we discovered that we weren’t the only ones to have woken up early. Bill was sitting on a rock, gazing out to sea, looking exhausted by the events of the past two days. We stopped dead, not wanting to disturb him, but he smiled when he saw us – that kind, friendly grin that warmed you right through.

“All right, then?” he said. “Some night, eh? Enjoy the party?”

“Erm…” I wasn’t quite sure what to say and didn’t want to lie.

Bill laughed. “Guess it was a bit boring for kids.” He changed the subject. “Hey, I meant to say – I really appreciated you helping out like that. Them cupid costumes? They was Josie’s idea. And I felt like a right freak in that frock! But you’ve got to laugh, haven’t you? What can I do? I’m putty in her hands. She’s my one and only.”

Neither of us could think of a reply, so Graham and I just stared silently at our feet. It wasn’t long before Bill spoke again.

“Funny old day, wasn’t it? Poor mum!” A tear rolled down his cheek and he looked so sad and helpless, I wanted to wipe it away for him. “Why’d she forget them pills? She’s never done that before.”

“She probably had a lot on her mind,” said Graham, trying to sound neutral. “That’s what the doctor said, isn’t it?”

I wasn’t so cautious. This was the first opportunity we’d had to talk to Bill alone and I wasn’t going to waste it. “We wondered if someone had taken them from her bag,” I blurted out.

Bill looked at me blankly. “You mean, like,
deliberately
? But that would kill her!” His eyes widened as he took in my meaning. “Blimey!”

Graham said carefully, “Angelica wanted your mother to persuade you to call off the wedding.”

Bill nodded. “Yeah, Mum said. But she knew how I feel about Josie. Ain’t no escaping love. It hit me like a ten-tonne truck.”

His words sounded like they could have come from one of his songs, and for some reason I found it slightly unnerving.

“Do you think Angelica might have been angry with your mum?” I asked him. “I mean, angry enough to want to hurt her?”

“Angelica?” Bill winced as if even the mention of her name made him feel deeply uncomfortable. “Well, she’s always been a bit… I don’t know … unstable, I suppose you’d call it. Bit of a control freak. She doesn’t like it when people don’t do what she wants. You don’t reckon she…?” His eyes narrowed as he looked from me to Graham and back again. “Crikey! You do. What about Sizal? You reckon that was no accident either?”

Graham and I just stared at him and Bill’s mind started turning things over. We could practically hear the cogs grinding. “Angelica could have put that wasp in the room, couldn’t she? She was right there with him on that sofa … and if she killed the two of them …
Josie
!
Oh my God! She’s alone!”

With that he spun round and sprinted across the sand and up the steps. We were soon hot on his heels and the three of us raced back to the villa so fast, we could have won Olympic gold.

It wasn’t fast enough.

By the time we reached Bill’s room, Josie was lying dead on the bed. She’d been stabbed through the neck with one of her own killer heels. And there was Angelica, sitting beside the corpse, the blood-stained shoe in her hand, telling Josie over and over again, “I warned you. I did. I told you what would happen. Why didn’t you listen?”