Chapter 56
Whoever the man was, he had made it past both moats, so you had to give him credit for that at least. He had found himself a vantage point behind a copse of trees and dug in.
His little hiding place couldn’t be seen from the house, but had a perfect view of the entrance.
It’s exactly where Amy would have dug in if she was planning to kill someone.
She looks down at the man, bleached blond hair, eagle tattoo, back of his skull blown off. That wouldn’t have happened to her, she’s pretty sure of it, but not everyone is her.
‘When did you hear the shots?’ Amy asks. She had stepped out of her car and straight into the middle of a crime scene.
‘That’s when you rang me,’ says Rosie.
‘I was with Vern in the … uh … the big room with the sofas,’ says Lee.
‘Drawing room,’ says Rosie.
‘We looked at each other,’ says Lee, ‘Ernesto and me, and we both said “gunshots”.’
Ernesto nods. ‘And Vern says, “Of course gunshots, any idiot knows those are gunshots.”’
‘But you hear gunshots all the time in the country,’ says Lee. ‘We meant real gunshots. We both thought they sounded wrong. Like a revolver, and too close.’
‘It wasn’t a farmer shooting a duck,’ says Ernesto. ‘Or a cow.’
A small revolver would make sense of the head wound. Small gun, up close. Amy sees Rosie’s gates opening for a car. It’s Steve. She needs him to help her figure out what’s happened here.
‘Where’s Vern?’ she asks.
‘We took him to the safe room,’ says Lee.
‘I don’t have a safe room,’ says Rosie.
‘Where you keep your booze,’ says Ernesto.
‘My wine cellar,’ says Rosie. ‘Oh, he’s safe.’
‘And we came straight out,’ says Lee. ‘Both armed. But no one in sight.’
‘We must have searched for a half-hour,’ says Ernesto. ‘Then Lee spotted something.’
‘Just a flash of yellow,’ says Lee. ‘I guess this guy’s hair.’
‘We both start firing,’ says Ernesto. ‘But this guy doesn’t fire back. We look at each other like “Did we hit him?” So we’re calling out, and nothing.’
‘And we crawl over,’ says Lee. ‘And then I see the blood.’
‘So, Lee, he motions to me,’ says Ernesto. ‘And we both stand up, and we see straight away the guy’s dead. I think you say “brown bread” in this country.’
‘No,’ says Rosie. ‘We also say “dead”.’
Steve is out of his car and hurrying over.
‘My God, I love it when Steve runs,’ says Rosie. ‘I feel like I’m on safari.’
‘Anything on him?’ Amy asks.
‘No ID,’ says Ernesto. ‘Key card to a hotel.’
He shows Amy a white plastic card, now blood-stained. It has an elaborate THR symbol on it.
‘The Hunter’s Rest,’ says Amy. ‘Whoever he is, that’s where he’s staying.’
‘Okay,’ says Ernesto. ‘We go to The Hunter’s Rest.’
Amy nods. ‘We need to find out his name.’
Steve reaches them and puts his hands on his knees as he looks at the corpse. He holds up one of the hands to let Amy know he needs a second.
‘He’s the guy,’ says Steve. ‘Who beat up Tony. Same guy.’
‘What?’ says Amy.
‘How do you know?’ asks Rosie. ‘Just because of the hair?’
Steve is still catching his breath. ‘Felicity got his photo.’
‘Felicity?’ says Amy.
‘I don’t think we’ve been keeping her busy enough,’ says Steve. ‘Where’s Vern?’
‘In my wine fridge,’ says Rosie.
‘Good, he’s safe,’ says Steve.
‘Who killed him?’ says Rosie. ‘I don’t quite understand.’
Ernesto looks out to the treeline. ‘We were outside in two minutes. Someone could have made it to the trees.’
‘Someone quick,’ says Lee.
‘We should really go and let Vern out,’ says Rosie.
‘He’s okay in there for now,’ says Amy.
‘I’m not worried about him,’ says Rosie. ‘I’m worried about my wine.’
‘Let’s get this guy covered up,’ says Amy.
‘I’ll do it,’ says Lee. Lee looks very jumpy to Amy.
‘And we can go and tell Vern the good news,’ says Steve. ‘Connor Brooks’s hitman is dead.’
‘You’ve got to tell him the bad news too,’ says Amy, as they reach the house. ‘That there’s someone with a gun loose in the countryside. In fact, someone with two guns.’
Rosie takes a set of keys down from a wooden board.
‘Why two guns?’ says Steve.
‘Because there was no gun with the body,’ says Amy. ‘Ernesto?’
‘Nope,’ says Ernesto. ‘What you see is what we saw.’
‘And the one thing we know about gunmen,’ says Amy, ‘is that they always carry a gun.’
‘It’s where the name comes from,’ says Ernesto.
Rosie leads them down a narrow stone corridor that ends with a heavy metal door.
Before she opens it, she turns to Steve. ‘How was the dentist, by the way?’
Steve lodges his tongue into his cheek. ‘Need a couple of fillings, but nothing major.’
‘That’s nice for you,’ says Rosie.
‘And how was your dentist?’ Steve asks.
‘Honestly?’ says Rosie. ‘Bloody awful.’
She turns the key in the lock and opens the door. ‘Vernon, the cavalry are here!’
‘With good news!’ says Steve.
‘And bad news,’ says Amy.
‘I hope you’ve got a bottle open for us?’ says Ernesto. ‘Something Spanish.’
Rosie stops dead in her tracks. Amy bumps into her and cranes around to see what she is seeing.
Vern Blackwood is slumped on the floor in a pool of blood.
Amy rips off his shirt to find a bullet hole straight through the heart.
‘Dead,’ she says.
‘No,’ says Steve. ‘How?’
‘It’s impossible,’ says Ernesto. ‘He was in a locked room. Lee locked it himself.’
‘What now?’ says Rosie. ‘Even for me this is a bit much.’
Ernesto and Amy are opening every door in the wine cellar, looking in every possible hiding place. Steve and Rosie are trying to prop Vern’s body up.
‘It can’t be possible, Amy,’ says Ernesto. ‘You tell me how.’
When Amy is sure that the gunman is not hiding in the cellar with them, she leans in closely to Ernesto.
‘I need to talk to Lee,’ she whispers.
Ernesto looks her in the eyes. He gives a slow nod. ‘I understand. You need me to help?’
‘You go to The Hunter’s Rest,’ says Amy. ‘It’s in Axley. Find the hitman’s room. If he’s stupid enough to get shot, he might be stupid enough to have left something there.’
Amy and Ernesto rejoin the others.
‘Okay,’ says Amy. ‘Rosie, I need you to wait here for the police.’
‘The actual police?’ asks Rosie.
‘Afraid so,’ says Amy. ‘Needs must. Steve, I need you to go to The Hunter’s Rest with Ernesto.’
Steve shakes his head.
‘No?’ says Amy.
‘There’s someone I need to talk to first,’ says Steve.
‘You going to tell us who?’ says Amy.
‘No,’ says Steve. ‘Sorry, it’s almost certainly nothing.’
Amy looks at Vern’s bloodied corpse for the final time, then hugs her father-in-law.
‘Make sure you stay safe. I’ve got a feeling there are more bullets to come.’