‘You have?’
‘It was years ago. At least, I think it’s the same one, I suppose I can’t be sure. Hang on…’ She lifted up the bottom of the gown and pulled aside the plastic covering. ‘It must be the same one – see, there’s a section of material missing, same as the dress I found before.’
He peered closer to see for himself. ‘I never noticed that.’
‘I came here one winter’s day after school. I’d forgotten my house key and my parents were still at work. Barney made me a hot cocoa but I couldn’t warm up. I was shivering and he told me to lie down. He went to find some blankets, I followed him, and that’s when I saw this. This same dress.’
‘Ah, you’re talking about the winter you came down with flu and gave it to me.’
‘You have a good memory.’ She did her best to ignore the tingle when his arm brushed against hers accidentally. ‘I didn’t give it to you on purpose, you know.’
‘I don’t think I even minded at the time.’
She gulped when his gaze held hers. ‘I asked him about it back then. He wouldn’t tell me anything. And then I suppose I just forgot about it.’
‘Perhaps it’s a spare, you know, in case someone at the ball has a wardrobe malfunction.’ He shrugged as though it was entirely plausible.
‘Doubtful.’ She put her hand against the dress beneath the plastic. ‘And there’s a section missing, remember. That would be a major malfunction for anyone’s dress standards.’
‘Good point.’
‘It’s such a beautiful dress. Vintage, by the looks of things.’ The satin damask gown in rich heavy silk had been heavy to hold on its hanger. Melissa peeked beneath the plastic again to see a ruched neckline trimmed with ruffles, sleeves that had beads sewn on at the edges. ‘It looks old.’
Harvey leaned closer again. ‘It smells old.’
‘There’s a little bag that goes with it,’ she said when she saw it looped around the hanger behind the garment. ‘Whoever owned this dress would’ve used the bag to carry small items like a lipstick or make-up for touch-ups on their big day. Wait, you don’t think…’
‘What? I’m clueless on this, Melissa.’
‘Maybe this is the reason for the Wedding Dress Ball, the reason it all started in the first place. Perhaps whoever owned this dress is the reason Barney started the event in Heritage Cove.’
‘You think he murdered his wife and kept the dress as a souvenir?’
‘Of course not, but there’s something he hasn’t told us.’
‘I guess we won’t ever know unless we ask him.’
‘The mood he’s in…’ She shook her head. ‘I’m not going to push it.’
Melissa checked again that they wouldn’t be caught looking, although they’d better get back out to the lounge soon or Barney would get suspicious. Harvey made a show of calling out to say they were opening windows in the spare room and bathroom too, plus the one in the hallway that looked out on a gorse bush that separated the house from a wide flowerbed, a low-lying wall and the road.
‘What are you doing?’ Harvey hissed when he saw her opening up the little bag.
‘Just looking,’ she said.
‘Hurry up, he’ll be in here in a minute.’
‘No he won’t, he doesn’t want to move more than he has to, remember.’ She rummaged in the bag and pulled out a piece of paper. But she only got as far as reading “Dear Barney” when Barney’s voice prompted them both to leave it alone.
‘What are you kids up to?’ he called out as Melissa stuffed the letter back and quickly shut the wardrobe.
She went to the end of the hallway and opened the window there while Harvey saw to the one in the bathroom.
‘I love that he calls us kids,’ Harvey whispered when they met at the lounge door, sending a shiver down her spine.
They shared a smile before joining Barney again. ‘Sorry, window in the hallway was hard to open.’
‘It always gets stuck, so I don’t usually bother,’ said Barney, looking up from his iPad for long enough to inspect their faces for signs of mischief in the same way he’d done in years gone by. Finding nothing, he got back to what he was looking at. Clearly they were better at masking their feelings than they’d been back then.
