Page 62

Chapter 62

July 2011

Tess uses the door knocker at the bottom of the stairs and waits.

She has never set foot in the office above the scullery.

It is strictly off limits.

‘Yes?’

‘You asked if I could go up in the attic for you?’

Georgia comes to the office door and smiles, without a trace of the grumpiness of the last twenty-four hours.

‘Yes, please. I suffer from vertigo so I’ve never been up there.

’

‘Sorry. I didn’t know.

’

‘Why would you?’ Georgia pulls her phone out of her pocket and holds it out to Tess.

‘I wonder if you might be able to make a video. I can decide what to do after I’ve seen what’s up there.

’

Tess feels her heart sink to her feet.

‘On your phone?’

‘Yes. It’s quite easy, I can show you if you aren’t sure.

’

‘Is there a ladder?’ Tess decides it’s probably better to get the task over and done with.

‘I could go up now, while dinner is cooking.’

‘I have Keith’s decorating ladders.

They are quite old now, but still perfectly safe.

Annie just about laid an egg every time he went up there.

I don’t want you to fetch anything down, though.

Not yet, anyway. I just want to know what there is.

It shouldn’t take long.

’

*

Tess looks up at the hatch on the ceiling of the first-floor landing and pushes it upwards and out of the way with the end of the ladder.

‘I wish I could do it myself but my legs just go to jelly if I do more than stand on a chair.’ Georgia is positively chatty.

‘Some of the houses around here have three storeys instead of two. You’ve probably noticed the pair across the road.

Apparently, when they were being built you could choose what you wanted the insides to be like.

Some people continued the big staircase up for another storey and had dormer windows.

The maids in those houses quickly looked for fresh appointments because their workload was immense, poor things.

’

‘When was anyone last up in the attic?’

‘I’m not sure; when I had the insulation put in about ten years ago, I suppose.

’

Tess rests the ladder on the edge of the hatch.

To her surprise, it feels solid.

‘You’ll be fine. Keith was meticulous about maintenance.

’

‘He sounds like a sensible man.’

‘He was, most definitely. Right, you’ll need this.

’ She hands over her phone.

‘I’ve set the camera up to record so just press the red button and it will do it all for you.

’

Tess feels the familiar shape in her hand.

‘It’s OK, I know how to use it.

Is there a passcode on it, so I can unlock it if it turns itself off?

’

‘One nine one one.’

Tess isn’t bothered by the height.

She climbs confidently, steps off the ladder at the top and turns on the torch app.

‘Is there a light up here?’

‘There’s a switch on the left, I think.

’

A square of brightness appears at the hatch.

‘Got it.’

‘Can you see anything?’

Tess half expects the attic to be full of muddle and dust and old household implements, but it’s almost empty.

There are just three boxes of the sort that whisky or wine might be delivered in near the entrance hatch, and a bit further along there’s an old sports bag.

‘There’s not much here,’ she calls back down.

‘I’ll take that video for you.

’ Her hands shake as she touches the red circle on the screen and it takes her four attempts before she can make a decent recording.

She climbs back down and passes the phone to Georgia.

‘Three boxes. One says “House”, one has your name on it and one says “Finlay”. And there’s a sports bag which looks pretty old.

’

‘And that’s it?’

‘Yes.’

Georgia takes the phone and opens the photo app.

‘Thank you.’

‘I did a panorama and went into all the corners, see? It’s definitely empty, apart from those things.

’

‘You need to get the boxes down.’ Georgia is in instruction mode again, and then she softens.

‘If you wouldn’t mind?

’

‘I’ll see how heavy they are.

They went up the ladder so they’ll come down it, I guess.

’ Tess climbs back up.

*

‘Kitchen!’ says Georgia, when everything has been retrieved.

Tess is taken aback by the urgency.

‘I think we’ll need to clear the big table first. It’s covered in paint charts.

’

‘I suppose you’re right.

’ Georgia looks at Tess.

‘Ever had anything to do with the police?’

An image of Patrick’s garden at Craiglockhart flashes across Tess’s mind.

She dismisses the thought.

‘Never.’

‘That’s a pity.

’ Georgia picks up the smallest box.

‘I think we may need some detective skills.’

Tess admires Georgia’s restraint.

She is quite sure that she herself would have put the attic treasure on the drawing-room floor and opened the boxes immediately.

But Georgia is, she is learning, a stickler for doing things in the right order.