Read Online Staging Death by Judith Cutler - Free Book Online

better come and meet me.’ I told him where I was.
    ‘At this time of night?’
    ‘Look, Greg, I’m carrying the keys for four or five million pounds’ worth of assorted buildings. If you’re happy for them to be nicked, that’s fine.’
    ‘Have you any proof…?’
    ‘No, and I haven’t much battery left either. See you here in – what? – ten minutes?’ Just to make sure, I cut the call. And phoned Aldred House to warn them I was running late. Without my notes, too, though I decided not to mention that.

    Greg, turning out in his Merc with the air of a man braving a blizzard, not just a drop of drizzle, seized the precious house keys and drove back to the office, no doubt chuntering all the way. He’d no doubt be even more disgruntled if I ever told him that I had a completely trouble-free journey to Aldred House. Perhaps it would be better to steer clear of him for a bit, and invent details of a thrilling car chase should he ever enquire.
    As it happened I turned into the long driveway with about a minute to spare. I hadn’t had time to go home, so I didn’t have the files I wanted. At least in my Nicole Farhi suit I looked every inch the efficient business woman. Perhaps the effect was spoilt by the constant rumblings of my stomach, but perhaps Allyn would have the graceto ignore them – or the generosity to offer me a dairy- and preservative-free snack.
    I was admitted by a young woman I’d not met before, but whose black outfit, demure to the point of downright ugly, suggested she might be a maid. She showed me into one of the rooms that hadn’t yet had our attentions, but had certainly had someone’s – it was fully rigged out as an office, complete with hi-tech computer and other gizmos, and blonde wood furniture. I picked my way through the strongly accented syllables – one of the former Soviet republics? – and deduced that she wished me to sit down. The furniture was as excruciating to sit on as it was lovely to look at.
    I had plenty of time to discover its drawbacks.
    At last not Allyn but a willowy young woman appeared. Her face cried out for a frame of short bubbly curls, but her hair was cut as severely as any Frenchwoman’s, with heavy German designer spectacles overwhelming a retroussé nose.
    ‘You have an appointment with Mrs Frensham?’ she asked.
    If only I could have told her that she knew damned well I had. As it was, I inclined my head gravely.
    ‘Mrs Frensham regrets that she has been called away. Perhaps you would care to make another appointment.’
    ‘Of course. But I suspect she has already madenotes on the rooms in question. Perhaps I should take those with me? We wouldn’t want to inflict further delays on her plans. In fact, could we pencil in a time and date for the carpet dealer to bring up the ones I thought would be best?’ We applied ourselves to diaries, and came up with a date at the end of the following week. ‘As for the rooms,’ I continued, ‘why don’t you walk me round? Unless I am eating into your free time? Ms…er…?’ It was almost half-past eight, after all. And most young women like her would have been out on the town at this time on a Friday evening.
    She shot me a curious glance, as if wishing she could acknowledge the absurdity of the whole charade.
    ‘Fairford. This way, please,’ she said, all expression ironed from her face and indeed from her voice.
    Entering the old part of the house and its original decor, I wished I could have been transported to an earlier and more hospitable age. Two hundred years ago I should have still been a minion, working with other minions. But at least when my work with the tape measure and notepad was done, I would have been ushered down the backstairs to the servants’ quarters, where I would have been plied if not with the master’s leavings then at least with the homely fare that kept the servants fuelled for their eighteen-hourdays. Today if I had made such an exit, I would have found Greta and