Page 27 of A Curious Ending

Abby’s face on the other hand held the complacent look of one who knows (unlike the Honourable Richard) just exactly how to command the respect and obedience of a pedigree gundog of great worth and intelligence.

Chapter 15

Lara drew her eyes away from Monty the labrador and hurried into speech. ‘Mr Porter said you need some flowers for an exhibition?’

Penny Porter gazed vaguely at her, ‘Oh, yes, I guess I do… yes, that’s right. It’s not for a couple of weeks yet but he said it was better to book them?’ She said this doubtfully as if looking for Lara’s approval and Lara recalled her description of Penny Porter as ‘fluffy’ and ‘dithery’. She didn’t think she was far out. She wondered why she had ever told Abby that she thought Penny could be ‘determined’.

‘That’s a good idea, Mrs Porter,’ Lara assured her, opening up her notebook. ‘Could you show me which rooms you’ll be using so we can talk colours and I can make a list of the flowers you’ll need?’ Lara asked.

‘Oh, do call me Pinky, everyone does,’ Penny said, throwing open the double doors into the drawing room.

Lara could not imagine any circumstance when she would want to call a grown woman ‘Pinky’ but naturally she did not say so. Lara stepped through the door and looked about her. Feeling something was expected, she crossed her fingers and declared, ‘What a lovely room.’

Pinky Porter looked around at the fussy mix of tartan and chintz. ‘Do you really think so?’ She seemed puzzled. ‘Richard seems to like it,’ she commented vaguely. ‘I have no idea what we’ll do with all of this stuff. It’s awful really…’ Lara wasn’t sure whether she was referring to the overcrowded fussiness or the task of organising it ready for moving. ‘Still, Richard seems to be taking care of that,’ Pinky concluded, before lapsing into silence.

As she stood there in an apparent daze, Mrs Porter was clearly oblivious to the presence of Abby, who surveyed her closely for some moments before setting off around the room. Lara could hear Abby tutting as she skirted chairs so over-padded they would have been impossible to sit in and wound her way between occasional tables loaded with trinkets. Lara was somewhat surprised that Pinky did not notice Monty the labrador navigating the same tortuous path as Abby, moving like a prize-winning dog on an agility course. He still had his eyes adoringly fixed on Abby.

‘You were saying,’ Lara prompted.

‘Ah, yes…’ Pinky came back to life, ‘my exhibition is the last entertaining we’re doing before we move to Gillmore House.’ This seemed to remind her of something. ‘I meant to mention that when we went through my mother-in-law’s things, we found a note which said she would like you to have some of her vases. She didn’t specify how many so it’s rather awkward…’ her voice trailed off.

‘I would love to have something to remember Lady Porter by and perhaps if I could just have a couple,’ Lara suggested, ‘and obviously nothing the family would want. Perhaps some of the glass vases?’

Penny Porter looked relieved. ‘I’m sure that will be fine, it’s what Richard was hoping. I don’t think he wanted you to have the china ones or anything nice,’ she said, displaying little or no tact.

‘Charming!’ ejaculated Abby who had now returned to Lara’s side.

Lara suppressed a smile. ‘Would it be all right if I called round to Gillmore House and sorted that out with Mrs M? I think most of the vases are in the cupboard in the flower room.’

‘I’m sure that would be fine, I’ll ring her to let her know.’ Pinky looked pleased to have got this out of the way.

She stood staring into space again and Lara coughed. ‘The arrangements for the exhibition?’ she ventured.

‘Oh, yes. Well, we’ll start in the studio with Champagne and then come through to the drawing room. She turned and led the way to the studio, which was reached by a small enclosed walkway off the hall. When Pinky opened the door it was immediately obvious that this space was in complete and total contrast to the rest of the house. The walls were painted a clean bright white and the surfaces and beams were fashioned from pale honey-coloured wood. The end wall of the studio was glass and gave a view over the hills beyond. Around a small circular table in the centre of the room were propped half-finished paintings. The table was piled with a mixture of old and new paints and a large pottery jug crammed full of brushes. Stacked around the walls were what appeared to be finished works, plus fresh canvases of all sizes. Most of the paintings were formal studies of dogs and horses in traditional countryside settings. Penny Porter was clearly a competent if not very imaginative artist. As she looked around the studio, Lara’s eye was drawn to an easel at the far end of the room on which there was a painting in a very different style. Abby followed her gaze and noticed how Pinky kept glancing at this composition, as if keen to get back to it. Abby also spotted that this was where the purple paint in her hair had come from.

The painting was an informal, almost abstract, study of racehorses. Their jockeys, in vibrant silks, appeared to fly across the canvas. Everything about it denoted movement and speed and light. Lara thought it was wonderful and said so.

Pinky blushed. ‘Do you really like it?’ Lara nodded enthusiastically. ‘Richard says a child could have done it,’ she replied.

‘I, for one, am getting heartily sick of hearing what the Honourable Richard Porter has to say,’ Abby declared vehemently.

Lara decided it was time to get down to business. ‘Mrs Porter… Penny… why don’t you stay here, I can see you’re keen to get back to work and I needn’t disturb you any longer. I can just pop back into the main house and measure up.’ Lara hoped that Pinky wouldn’t ask her why on earth she would need to measure for a few vases of flowers. Pinky was picking up her paints and vaguely waved in Lara’s direction. Lara decided to interpret that as a ‘yes’.

‘We’ll pop back in to say goodbye before we leave.’

‘We?’ Pinky queried, looking puzzled, but to Abby’s experienced eye, Pinky Porter suddenly appeared much more alert.

Lara stopped, then smiled. ‘Well, it seems the dogs want to come with me, so it looks like I’ll have company.’ Lara pulled a face at Abby as she walked away, as if to say, it was the best I could do.

Lara shut the studio door behind them and hurried back into the main body of the house. ‘Where first?’ she asked Abby.

‘Let us go upstairs and look in the bathrooms. I am interested to see if the Porters use sleeping tablets.’

Lara rushed up the stairs as quickly and as quietly as she could, her heart pounding, Monty and Archie at her heels. Lara soon found the main bathroom, but an inspection of the cabinets revealed nothing of interest. Two doors down, Lara discovered what looked like the master bedroom. It was a large room with lavish red and puce coloured hangings around a four-poster bed. The same fabric was used for heavy curtains with opulent fluted pelmets. Without pausing, Lara rushed to a door to the right of the bed. This led to a small bathroom decorated in deep burgundy. She flew over to the cupboard beside the sink and quickly looked through its contents. She turned to Abby who was standing by the bathroom door. ‘No,’ she mouthed, shaking her head. Abby stepped aside and Lara hurried back into the bedroom and started to open each of the bedside cupboards. Again nothing.

‘I hate doing this!’ Lara exclaimed fiercely.

She was just about to head back to the landing when Abby spoke. ‘Wait! There was nothing in that bathroom to indicate a woman might use it,’ she said.