Page 54 of Old Girls Behaving Badly

‘Not you as well – he seems to have something of everybody’s. Is it some artwork?’

‘Um, no, it’s a memory stick with some important stuff on it and…’

He trailed off, looking uncomfortable and I made the connection in my mind: compromising video. I’d been imagining an old video tape, but of course no one had those any more. A recording could easily be on a memory stick.

‘Peter, I think I may know what you’re looking for and I think I may know who has it. Let’s go downstairs where it’s safer to be and have a chat.’

Peter looked mortified sitting in the window seat of the library while I told him I thought Sandra or Rufus might have his memory stick and how I came to know about it.

‘I’m so embarrassed,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know that Leonard was recording us.’

I swallowed down my surprise. I wouldn’t in a million years have put Peter and Leonard together. And there was me asking about a Mrs Vicar.

‘You shouldn’t feel at all embarrassed. Leonard is breaking the law here, recording you without your consent. Another one to add to his list of misdemeanours.’

‘Leonard was so charming when we first met. I was quite swept away with him and my new position here. The setting is so romantic, much more so than the city I was working in before, and I honestly thought we had something serious going. Quite quickly, Leonard made it clear he didn’t do commitment, only casual, and I realised I was deluding myself. So, I carried on with my work, built up the community around the church and kept out of Leonard’s way. When Harry started, though, I saw a lot more comings and goings and, already suspicious about the amount of artwork that Leonard seemed to be collecting, I approached Harry to see what he knew. That was when he told me his whole sorry story.

‘I just kept an eye for a bit, but then seeing how unhappy Harry seemed to be, I spoke to Leonard and suggested he let him go, that Harry had as much on him as he did on Harry. Leonard just laughed, said he knew enough people who could make it all disappear before any police involvement. I thought he just meant the artwork, but now I’m not so sure. When I said I would take it further, he told me he’d recorded us together. I was mortified and he said that I should keep quiet or at any time during any service he could easily show my parishioners who I really was. I know how vain that makes me, but imagine, Gina, halfway through a christening and Leonard has secretly rigged up my projector. My time here and anywhere else would be over. I’m a weak man it turns out, because I should have done more.’

‘He’s despicable,’ I said. ‘I’ll get the memory stick back for you. I promise.’

I said this confidently, but in truth I wasn’t sure how and also, could we be certain there weren’t more copies? Did I just walk up to Rufus and demand he hand it over? ‘I’ll do my very best,’ I said.

Outside in the garden the guests were beginning to take their seats for lunch and I lifted a glass of champagne from a passing tray and downed it before smiling at the waiter and returning the empty glass to him. I joined Dorothy with a sad shake of my head as I handed her the packet of tissues and she patted my hand in solidarity, but all I wanted to do was go home. I couldn’t see how I was going to find the painting. I might be able to get the stick for Peter, but that really wasn’t enough. Leonard had thwarted me as he had so many other people.

Someone put a plate of salmon en croûte down in front of me and I ate it in silence while everyone around me talked and laughed and the quartet played their soothing music. I didn’t feel soothed, though; I felt an odd combination of irritation and despair. I also had an unsettling urge to phone Douglas and beg him to come and get me. I took another glass of champagne and decided to move through the rest of the day in a haze.

22

GINA

Saturday morning arrived sooner than I would have liked. I lay in bed contemplating the ache in my head and the glasses of champagne I’d consumed at the garden party. In the end I had enjoyed myself and made sure Dorothy had done the same. She seemed to have perked up a bit as the day went on. There was no further talk of the painting, I didn’t mention the crippling disappointment I’d experienced after the Chinese cabinet incident, but I did have a bird, one beady eye and a bad job of taxidermy rolling around my head. I also had the added problem of how I would get Peter’s stick back. Today, though, there would be a wedding and tomorrow I would be going home to a house that would not be mine for much longer. I felt both relieved and rather twitchy about that.

Dorothy’s kind suggestion of me staying in her boathouse was actually rather appealing if I was honest, but I needed to square it all in my head. Was I just running away from the problem of where to live long term, or did it offer me some breathing space to decide?

There was a knock at my door and without waiting for me to say a word, Juliet walked right in.

‘Morning,’ she said brightly. ‘We don’t have long now and we should be looking. I wondered about the temple, after what Harry said, although I get that plain sight might be more Leonard’s style. Either way, we’re running out of time. Did you tell Granny about Rufus?’

‘Morning, Juliet, do you not usually wait for someone to invite you in before you do actually come in?’

‘I’m not a vampire! I knew you’d be awake – you don’t really lie in. So, where are we going to look? It’s seven-fifteen and Granny’s still asleep.’

‘Good,’ I said, taking stock of what I was wearing – pyjamas – before pushing back my covers and swinging my legs around until I was sitting on the bed. It was only as I stood up that I realised my arms were uncovered and saw Juliet’s eyes move straight to my scars. I pulled my robe around me and she looked away. ‘I don’t want your grandmother bothered; she seems very tired. I think this whole week has been too much for her and I can’t even imagine what your uncle Miles, let alone your own mother would think about what we’ve been doing.’

‘They’d be made up.’

‘I’m not so sure, but it’s a bit late now anyway. It’s not in Leonard’s bedroom; I looked yesterday, again. Maybe it is in the temple, maybe it’s in a barn somewhere on his land. Personally, I think we have enough, with the photos and the voice recording, to go to the police and let them sort it. I’ll wait until Harry has left; I feel I owe him that.’

‘Even if he murdered someone?’

‘I don’t think it’s anything like that,’ I said, quietly. ‘I think it’s probably theft and on the scale that Leonard is dealing, it would come with a heavy sentence, but to be honest that’s not why I’m here.’

‘You’re here to find a painting. Come on, Gina! Think how happy Granny would be if we found it.’

‘She’d be made up,’ I said with a smile. ‘Okay, give me ten minutes to wake myself up and we can go and look in the temple if it makes you happy. Will you be a love and get me a coffee?’

We didn’t see Harry in the kitchen when we went down to pinch some breakfast. The place was swarming with the catering staff, though, and we only managed to grab a couple of bananas and cereal bars from the pantry. I made another coffee to take with me.