“I have questions too.” Kate started up the ladder, but paused. “How do we begin asking questions? Do we say we accidently found a body?”
“Yes, definitely,” Jack said. “I’m sure that will make everyone feel at ease and tell us all they know.”
With a grimace at his sarcasm, she climbed up the ladder.
* * *
Minutes later, they were in Puck’s house. Puck and Sara were at the big oak table with a laptop and looking at the photos taken in the pit.
Jack and Kate were on the far side of the room, cups of strong, black tea in their hands. They’d seen all they wanted to and now needed time to calm down.
“What do we do?” Kate asked.
He knew what her real question was. Did they leave Sara there while they went on holiday? But everything was different now.
“The Pack is coming,” Kate whispered as she glanced at Sara. “They’re going to guess that we have a reason for calling them together. And what else could it be but that we found the body?”
“The irony is that we didn’t have a reason, just Sara snooping. But now all they have to do is look around the area. Flattened grass will show that people have been there lately.”
“Since the hotel is almost empty, they’ll know it was us.”
“And Puck,” Jack said.
Kate nodded. “Her shoes were down there, but no one found them. Whoever hid the poor man probably hasn’t been here in a while.”
“But now they’ve been invited here.” Jack ran his hand over his face. “All of this is done. If we called and canceled, they’d know something was up. Puck would be in danger.”
“And us. Even if we go home, we might be in danger. We’ve seen a big secret. A deadly secret.” She got up and refilled their mugs with hot water and new tea bags. She sat back down beside Jack. “I guess Scotland is out.” There was a little sniff in her voice.
“There’s no way Sara will leave, and I won’t leave her.” He looked at Kate. “And I have no hope that you will have sense enough to get the hell away from here.” He sounded so forlorn that she put her hand over his.
“I really wanted to go,” she said.
He squeezed her hand, then let go and sipped his tea. “Do we contact the police or not?”
“You think they’ll take the time to dig into something that happened twenty years ago?”
“I’m sure they’d love to hear about Nicky who loved Diana and—”
“Bertie who didn’t love his son.”
“And maybe Diana dumped Nicky and ran off with the stable lad.”
“Not a ‘lad.’ He looked like you, so he was one virile stud,” Kate said.
Jack nearly spit tea at that. “Thanks. You made my day. What the hell do we do?”
“Lie,” Kate said. “Act dumb. Pretend we’re so in awe of Lady Nadine and Byon the Magnificent that we can hardly speak. We just listen and ask really stupid questions.”
“So we act natural?”
She smiled. “Above all, we protect Aunt Sara.”
“And you too since you’re worse than she is. You cannot go anywhere by yourself. You understand me?”
“Are we talking about showers or bathtubs?”
He didn’t smile. “I want a promise.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Not good enough.”
“But it’s the best you’re going to get.” She was glaring at him.
Jack was the first to look away. “I wish I could put us all on a plane for home,” he said softly so only Kate would hear.
“Me too. When I asked if there was a mystery, I meant one where we’d research the history books. That man in there was real.”
“Poor guy. He was blamed for everything but did nothing wrong,” Jack said.
“Except whatever he did that got him killed. If he was playing around with the emotions of women, maybe he deserved—” At Jack’s look she took a drink of her tea. They had an unwritten rule not to blame the victim—until they found out that he or she deserved it. “Okay, it’s too early for that. But there was something going on that he alone knew about.”
“How do you figure that? No. Got it. Kill him and the secret dies. Think he was blackmailing someone?”
“Don’t—” Kate began.
Jack cut her off. “Right. Don’t blame the victim.”
“I wonder who put his body in the pit?”
“Not a clue,” Jack said. “I wonder exactly how he died?”
“We could call the police and get an autopsy done.”
Jack didn’t answer. He looked at Sara and Puck, their heads together. “If we dig deep enough, it’s all going to be exposed. Not just here but to the world.”
They were quiet for a moment as they thought about that. They’d had a lot of experience with the turmoil the press could create.
Kate spoke first. “I think it’s time your girlfriend told us what she knows.”
“She’s not—” Jack began, then stopped. “She’s the love of my life. We’ll be married here. Will you be my best man?”
“Only if I get to wear a Tom Ford tux.” Kate saw Sara signal them to come over and they went to sit at the table. Puck’s supplies for her wreaths had been moved to the top of an antique chest.
“So what have you two decided?” Sara asked. She nodded at the pictures on the screen of the computer. “By the way, good job both of you. The photos are excellent.”
“This is my finest hour,” Jack said solemnly. “Praise for picture takin’. This is an historical moment.” He was trying to lighten the mood but no one smiled. “Puck, you have any eggs I could scramble? I think this will take a while. We need sustenance while we make a plan.”
The trio was used to working together and Puck fit in well with them. She pulled things from the fridge and the larder while Jack cooked. There was a skillet of thick English bacon, another of eggs scrambled in butter that had been churned at a local farm. Berries came from the Oxley Manor kitchen garden. Puck put a bowl of bread rolls on the table.
They sat down and dug in.
Sara was the first to open the dreaded conversation. She turned to Puck. “I assume you know that you’re in danger from someone. Your shoes bother me. If the murderer didn’t see them, you’re fine. But if he—”