The Corpse with the Sapphire Eyes (24 page)

“Heavens, no,” he exclaimed. “There was little appetite for that sort of thing before the Cadwalladers bought up the land, and my great-grandfather would never have allowed it, nor my grandfather, or father. I think it would be a sin. How could you dig about there without possibly disturbing something ancient, or even unfooting the stone circle? It could be a disaster.”
Curious.

“So the Cadwalladers built between it and the sea,” I mused, “cutting through Neptune's sightlines to his element.”

Owain's bushy beard twitched. “You could put it like that,” he accepted.

“One more thing, maybe for you this time, Idris,” I said quickly. “The bridge that's collapsing, do you know if it, too, was repaired after the war?”

“I do happen to know that,” he said, looking pleased with himself, “there was even paperwork about it. I had to dig it all out when we had the thing examined. The major rebuilding and reinforcing was done right after the major construction was finished here, so around 1900, but there was more done in 1941, though the papers didn't say what, and even more in 1950. The 1950 work focused on the roadway as well as the bridge, and a new track to the main road was laid at the same time. That's when it was paved for the second time. The first paving took place in 1903.”

Owain butted in. “My grandfather, Powell Cadwallader, knew Edgar Hooley quite well. Powell had slag to get rid of from his steelworks, and Hooley had a wonderful way to use it. Hooley was born in Swansea, and Grandfather Powell was keen to use his new invention of modern-day tarmacadam. The family archives show that my grandfather allowed Hooley to test out some equipment he was developing to facilitate the preparation of his new product, equipment he then patented in 1904. When the Hickman family took over Hooley's tarmac company in 1905, Grandfather set up with a couple of other chaps, and I happen to know they did quite well out of the demand that came during the Second World War, when airfields all over Britain were desperate for runways to be laid. As we all now know, Hooley's invention changed the way we all live, and, quite literally, paved the way for the motorized world we know today. You know, it's always struck me as odd that a man who invented a generic term used the world over, ‘tarmac,' isn't boasted about more by those of us who also come from Swansea.”

“Hooley used steamrollers as a part of his process, didn't he?” I asked, knowing the answer.

Owain looked gleeful. “Indeed he did, Cait, and the children of the locals, and, indeed, many of the locals themselves, rushed to see the one they used here as it made its way to our estate. It was a major undertaking, considering the state of the local roads at the time. I believe that some local preachers called the whole thing ‘the work of the Devil,' and pointed to the fumes and the smell as an example of what people might expect if they were to find themselves suffering in the damnation of Hellfire.”

As Owain trailed off into a world where, I was convinced, he could find links for most of the world's major developments to someone from Swansea, or at least from Wales, I noted that I was the only one interested in his eager discourse, which struck me as a good sign.

“Mair, where were you when David Davies died?” My question brought everyone's attention back into sharp focus.

Mair looked terrified.
Good.
She spluttered, “I . . . I don't know. When did he die? No one has said.”

“Exactly,” I replied. “Dilys—you found his body at what time?”

By now everyone was on full alert, and Dilys spoke with authority. “About five o'clock, it was. I went down to the kitchen to get the trays to clear after tea. As I came to bring them up, there he was, at the bottom of the stairs.”

“The bottom of the up stairs, right?” I asked.

Dilys nodded.

“So who saw David before five o'clock, and where?”

In deference to her position as his widow, I supposed, all eyes turned to Rhian. She looked confused. “I . . . I hadn't seen David since after lunch. He was leaving our apartment just as I entered. It must have been about half past one, I think.” She looked sad, and almost ashamed, as she added, “I didn't even say ‘goodbye,' just ‘see you later.' I didn't know it was the last thing I'd ever say to him.”

Rhian paused and seemed to be struggling with her emotions, but she pulled herself together and continued. “After that, I was busy all afternoon, then I helped Mam bring the tea up. I had a quick cuppa with her in the kitchen, then I went over to the stable office to pick up my laptop. I could see the weather wasn't going to break, so I braved it and ran as fast as I could. When I got back, I helped Mam clear up after tea, then, when she went down to get the tray, I went up to our apartment. Gwen was there. Oh! That reminds me. I think I left my laptop in the kitchen, Mam. I'm sorry if it got in your way.”

“No problem, love. You've got a lot on your plate. I shoved it in the back room,” replied Dilys.

That was one question answered in my mind. I hadn't been looking for a laptop amid the detritus in the back room, where David Davies's body lay, but at least now I knew where it was, and that it wasn't something that had been smashed or stolen.

“Anyone else?” I asked.

Mair cleared her throat and said, “I saw him after tea. I was going into the music room to do some knitting, and he was leaving it. Gwen was still in there. I think you'd been tuning the piano and having a run through for the wedding. Is that right?”

Gwen nodded. “We'd done all we needed to do—discussed the pieces, got our music in order—and he said he was going to, you know, use the loo.”

That raised an interesting point.

“Where are the public washrooms, for people using the downstairs rooms who aren't staying here?” asked Bud, right on cue.

Eirwen finally perked up. “The gents' are just past Alice's little lift, under the grand staircase, the ladies' are on the other side, in the same spot. They're above the kitchens, because that's where the plumbing was. They aren't very big, but each one has a disabled access stall, which takes up a lot of room.”

“So David would have been out in the great hall at what time, Mair? Gwen?” I made eye contact with each woman in turn.

The two women glanced at each other. “About half past four?” asked Gwen of Mair.

Mair nodded. “That's about right, I think.”

“Did anyone see David alive after half past four?”

Everyone shook their head.

“Good. So now you can all tell me where you were between four thirty and five o'clock. I'll start—I was in my bridal boudoir talking with Siân.” As I uttered her name, my sister entered the drawing room. She was still red-faced, but she looked a lot better than she had done when I'd left her. I patted the chair next to me, and she sat down.

Rhian sniffed as she said, “I suppose I was coming back from the stable office, and then helping Mam.”

“I was in the music room the whole time,” said Mair. “I was knitting and listening to a
CD
.” She looked over at Siân and added excitedly, “It was the new Simon Rattle one—the concert performance of
Carmen
, with Jonas Kaufmann. It only came out a few months ago. Have you heard it yet?”

Siân nodded. “He sings a wonderful Don José,” she said with a smile.

“Alone the whole time?” I asked, determined to not be sidetracked. Mair nodded.

“I went up to see Rhian when I left the music room,” said Gwen, “but she wasn't in her apartment. I took the chance to make some notes on the running order for your wedding. So I was alone too, until Rhian came back around five.” She looked somehow disappointed.

Janet spoke next. “Alice was taking her nap, and I was relaxing in my room. Alice usually naps after teatime, then gets up and dresses for drinks and dinner. It's my break time.” She smiled broadly as she spoke, and Alice acknowledged her words kindly.

“From what time were you each alone in your respective rooms?” I pressed.

“It takes about five minutes for her to get me out of my chair and settled on my daybed,” replied Alice, “and I like to be roused at 5:15
PM
. It means I don't have to rush to get down by 6:45. Idris came in to tell me about David while I was getting dressed, so Janet and I were apart from about 4:40 until she woke me at 5:15. Is that sufficiently accurate for you, Cait?”

Her dismissive tone was now being directed at me, I noticed, but I chose to ignore it.

“I told Alice about David, as she said,” volunteered Idris. “Dilys came to our apartment not long after five o'clock. Eirwen and I were both there at that time. We'd gone up after tea, so at about four thirty. I made the necessary phone calls, then went to tell Alice, then Owain. I checked the library for Owain after I'd seen Alice, because he hadn't joined us for tea, and Uncle Owain sometimes needs to be reminded what time of day it is, but the library was empty, and I found him in his apartment. By then, it must have been about a quarter to six.”

“Where were you between 4:30
PM
and five o'clock, Owain?” I asked.

“I think I was in my library all afternoon. I don't recollect being anywhere else. I remember it getting dark very early—or so it seemed—then I realized it was past teatime, so I went up to my room to put my feet up for a little while before I, too, changed for dinner. I don't remember talking to anyone all that time, and I couldn't say what time it was that Idris came to my door, though I know he did.”

“Anyone else?” I asked.

“Only me,” replied Bud.

“And where were you between 4:30 and 5:00
PM
?” I asked pointedly.

“I was due to meet David Davies at half past four, so I was wandering about the place, trying to find him. I walked through the drawing room, the music room, the library, the morning room, and the dining room, but I was unable to locate him.” Bud was using the delivery that had served him so well in courts of law over the years.

“And did you see anyone else during your exploration of Castell Llwyd?” I asked.

“Not a soul,” he said calmly. “Until I encountered Dilys.”

I noticed that Mair blushed, and Owain looked puzzled. No one else batted an eyelid.
Very telling.

I didn't need to react to the fact that everyone now knew that Mair and Owain had been lying about their whereabouts. Alice did it for me.

“Typical of you two to be telling lies. Come on, out with it, where were you both really?”

Owain sounded childlike when he said, “I don't know, Mother. I thought I was in the library the whole time. I don't remember leaving it at all. But I cannot say for certain that I didn't, though where I might have gone, or why, is a mystery to me.”

“What's above your library, Owain?” I asked.

“More library,” replied Owain sounding puzzled. “The Norman-style structure here was essentially one very large, open hall, as you saw when you visited me earlier today, and above it were the living quarters. There's a spiral staircase at each end of the building, and a series of rooms that open off a corridor above. It was all rather basic, and Great-grandfather never finished it properly, so there wasn't much work involved for Grandfather to turn each room into a study-cum-library. Over the last forty years or so I have grown our collections to the point where I needed the lower level as well. Of course—” it looked as though Owain was having his very own eureka moment, “I went upstairs to get something I needed for the work I'm doing on the stone circle. Maybe that's where I was when you passed through, Bud?” He didn't sound too sure of himself, nor was I.

“Is there any way to access the new wings from the library building other than by walking through the morning room or the music room?” I asked.

Owain shifted uncomfortably. “The walls of that part of the castle are very thick. They accommodate a couple of staircases and passages that I know of.” I had suspected as much.

“And where were you, Mair, if not in the music room?” Alice jutted her chin toward her daughter as she spoke.

Mair seemed to shrink. “Alright, Mother, you don't have to tell everyone, I'll do it for myself. I went out into the garden—yes, in weather like that—to have a smoke. I'm trying to give it up, but it's not easy. I only have one or two menthols a day now, Mother. I'm almost there. So I'd possibly stepped outside the doors from the music room to the garden when Bud walked through.” She blushed again. “I haven't had one since—not even with all that's been going on here,” she added grudgingly.

I stood. Bud tensed. “Thank you all very much, I need to clean myself up now,” I announced. General puzzlement reigned. I chose to ignore it. “Will dinner be served at five o'clock as planned?” I asked Dilys.

She looked at her watch and blanched. “Oh dear me, would you look at the time. It'll take me at least an hour to get it all to the table, so no, it won't be. It'll be half past, on the dot.” I noted that she didn't defer to Alice at all, but made her own decision.

“Good,” I said. “I need a bath. Bud, would you walk with me?”

I left as quickly as I could, and when Bud caught up with me, I whispered, “Sorry to be so abrupt about all this, but I need to use my own process.”

Bud nodded. “Know what's been happening yet? Because I'm still in the dark.”

“I'm very close, but I need to do my thing. I need to allow my mind to drift free. A bath should help.”

Bud held my arm. “A shallow bath, and make sure you can't slip under the water, right?”

“You haven't seen the size of the bath I've got,” I replied. “It's tiny—short
and
narrow—and I'm pretty sure I'll be safely wedged in.” I started up the stairs, then turned and looked at the man I loved. “Sorry I've become so preoccupied with all this, Bud. You know that I'm doing it because I don't want it hanging over us when we get married in the morning, don't you? If we get married in the morning, that is.”