She bolted across the tracks and towards the lodge, terrified of what she might find – or might not find – but when she came in sight of the long veranda, she almost shrieked with relief. Jake sat on a rattan couch, a book in his hand; Isabella lay the length of it, her head on his lap and her own book over her face.
‘Cassie?’ Jake dropped his book casually over the arm of the couch, and Isabella, startled awake, pulled the book off her face and sat up.
‘Jake! Isabella!’ Cassie slowed to a walk, trying and failing to look a little more casual. ‘Is everything … OK?’ she panted.
They didn’t answer. Both of them were on their feet now, staring beyond Cassie.
‘Oh—’ Isabella gasped, then flung her hands over her mouth. Jake froze.
Cassie glanced over her shoulder, momentarily dumbfounded.
Of course. Behind her stood Ranjit, his gaze remorseful and stricken. At his side, Richard glanced with interest from him to Jake and back.
Cassie rubbed her hand across her head and breathed out. ‘Oh. Isabella, can we come in? We’ve got a lot to tell you…’
Jake was pacing the rug in front of the fireplace, casting dumbfounded looks at Ranjit, who sat between Richard and Cassie on the leather sofa. Isabella was perched on the arm next to Cassie, her hand lightly on her best friend’s shoulder.
‘It’s a lot to take in,’ muttered Jake, ‘that’s all.’
‘I know,’ said Ranjit. ‘I’m sorry.’ He glanced at Isabella. ‘You’ve no idea how sorry.’
‘I heard you the first time.’ Jake came to an abrupt halt. ‘You said a lot of stuff that night, Ranjit. When you “killed” me. A lot of stuff about what happened with Jess in Cambodia.’
Ranjit put his head in his hands. ‘I didn’t mean any of it. I never meant for it to happen. I never meant Jessica any harm. Or you, for that matter.’
‘And as for you …’ Jake glowered at Richard. ‘The part you played in Jessica’s death? You knew what you were doing when you held up Ranjit. When you—’
‘Jake?’ Isabella interrupted, standing up and going across to him. She slid her arms around his waist. ‘Can I say something?’
Yeah.’ Taken aback, he put an arm round her shoulders.
‘It seems to me there’s only one person who really knew what she was doing the night Jess died, and it wasn’t Ranjit. It wasn’t even Keiko.’
‘I knew what I was doing,’ put in Richard softly, and Cassie took his hand and squeezed it. ‘I did delay Ranjit, long enough for Katerina to get to Jess …’
‘Yes,’ said Isabella, ‘but you didn’t know what would come of it. Jake, Richard had no idea what Katerina was planning. It’s Katerina who’s truly responsible for Jessica’s death, and if what Cassie says is right, she could be responsible for a lot more. We’re all of us in schlock—’
‘Shock,’ muttered Cassie absently.
‘Shock, then. But we don’t have any more time to waste. We have to get hold of Sir Alric, and fast.’
‘His mobile’s off,’ said Cassie bleakly. ‘We’ll just have to wait for him. Where the hell is he?’ She checked her watch again.
Isabella stared at her. ‘His phone is never switched off when he’s here at the lodge. He told us that, in case we needed to contact him.’
Cassie’s heart dipped. ‘Do you have any idea where he went?’
Isabella exchanged a worried look with Jake. ‘He didn’t say. He left three quarters of an hour ago.’
‘With Marat,’ said Jake.
Cassie felt the blood drain from her face. ‘Marat was here?’ She thought back to the squat man’s face in the office after she’d stolen the artefacts. This couldn’t be good. ‘I don’t trust him.’
‘Who does?’ muttered Jake. ‘Except for Sir Alric.’
Ranjit stood up. ‘What was he doing before he left? Why did he go out?’
‘Hard to say. He’s been buried in his study since he arrived yesterday. I asked what he was looking for, and when he’d finished barking at me, he said even he didn’t exactly know. Just that he’d know when he found it.’
Cassie tried to contain her frustration. ‘Well, he must have found something if he went out.’
Jake rubbed his temples, giving Isabella a worried glance. ‘Maybe. Marat turned up about an hour ago, and they disappeared into the study, then Sir Alric stuck his head round the door and said they were going out together to investigate a lead.’
‘A lead?’ murmured Cassie. So Marat had suddenly turned up bearing news? And now Sir Alric had gone off with him somewhere he couldn’t get a mobile signal? Don’t panic, she told herself as the feeling rose up. She had to keep a clear head.
Without another word, Cassie headed for the door at the side of the vast lounge. ‘This is his study, right?’
‘Yeah.’ Jake was at her side, pushing open the door.
‘Oh my God,’ whispered Cassie.
All four of them stood staring at the chaos on the desk and the floor. Papers had been tossed aside, left higgledy-piggledy on tables. Heaps of them had slid off the desk into piles on the rug. Filing cabinet drawers stood open, the files still open on top.
‘Jesus,’ murmured Richard. ‘What’s this impostor done with our favourite control freak?’