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MIGRAINE COMBINED WITH a hangover. Yeah, I felt like a genius this morning . . . or afternoon. Oops. I crawled out of bed and tried to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth. I debated taking more migraine tablets only that involved drinking or eating and my stomach had a “no entry” sign on it.
“Morgan?” One of the maids appeared in the doorway. “Lady Haye has requested you have this.”
Her voice was shrill in my ears and made my head rattle. I wince-smiled at her. She handed me a map of the house with big red marker over some areas in Edwina’s writing stating “off limits.”
My stomach rolled. Oh yeah, I remembered what happened when I strayed there alright. “Cheers.”
“Edwina would also like you to deal with the police later. They have called to request a meeting with Lady Haye?” The maid shuddered then tidied her hair. “Rather them than me.”
So much for staff loyalty. “You don’t think she’s nice under the gruffness?”
I had an odd recollection of how nice Sophie felt close to me and how nice I’d found her in an alleyway? Nah, that was a warped dream. Had to be. I’d never ever do that. Then again, I never called Trin up drunk either.
“Nice?” The maid eyed me as if she wanted to stick a thermometer in my mouth. “You know her reputation, right? You know what she’s capable of?”
“No, what is her reputation?” I smiled like my head wasn’t on backward. So far most of the staff had been tight-lipped. I got the feeling that it took them a while to trust outsiders.
The maid glanced back at the doorway then went and shut the door. She took a seat in one of the chairs and patted the one beside her. I went over and sat down.
“The short version: The Haye family aren’t a nice family. They’ve always been known for their coldness. Sophie’s parents were the same.” The maid got up and fetched me a glass of water then handed it to me with a smile. “Drink plenty of fluids.”
I nodded and sipped at the water. Just made me feel sick. “The locals loved Henry, her brother?”
“They never saw Henry . . . and they haven’t seen Sophie other than in the press. They just gossip.” The maid rolled her eyes. “Henry was a snake. Look, none of them were nice . . . and they used staff like it was a game. Sophie is no different.”
“Then why are you loyal to her?” Sounded like idiots to me. Fiona wasn’t the kind of woman who would suffer a tyrant gladly. Why was she loyal?
“Because I was born here. Hayefield is my home. Sophie only bites if you get close enough, you understand?” Said like Sophie actually bit people. “You learn not to draw their attention as you grow up.”
“Are we on about being seduced here, because you make it sound like she eats you.” I shook my head, trying not to smile at myself. I could have sworn Sophie did eat people the way she’d been in the wing.
“When she was younger . . .” The maid glanced at the door again. “When Sophie was a teenager, staff went missing . . . staff she had seduced . . . then Henry’s fiancé went missing in the woods and he was found badly wounded.” She hugged herself. “Sophie was exiled by her parents. No one really knows why but we can only guess it was her who hurt Henry. They had always hated each other.”
Sophie really did have a violent side? Why would Edwina hire me to investigate someone who had a past like that? Did she think I wouldn’t find out maids had gone missing?
“Did anyone find the missing staff?” I asked, halfway through my water.
“No.” The maid sighed. “When she was gone, things calmed and she was gone for a while.”
“But it didn’t stop altogether?” My headache prickled through my vision.
“No.” The maid went to my bathroom and came back out with painkillers. “It will help.”
“Not trying to give myself alcohol poisoning would help.” I shrugged and went back to my water. I’d heard grease was meant to help but I didn’t know how anyone ate while feeling this rough. “What didn’t stop . . . the staff going missing?”
“There were two disappearances in the years she was gone. We don’t know if they just left though. Working for the Haye family takes a certain mindset.” She handed me the painkillers and popped out two onto my palm. “Her parents were killed on a trip abroad and Henry was meant to inherit the place but he was found somewhere in the tropics, I think, and suddenly Sophie came home.”
“Where was Sophie until this point?” I was beginning to see why everyone was so wary now. It made me feel even more stupid for being so lured in by Sophie in the alleyway.
“No one knows . . . but she’s been back three years and two maids have gone missing, that lady was shot and now there is a dead body in the flowerbed.” She shivered. “It seems . . . too much of a coincidence?”
“Yes.” And I needed to plug my libido and remember why I was there. “And what you’re politely trying to say is that although Sophie is gorgeous, stop falling for it.”
The maid smiled as I took the painkillers. “Yes. I like you. You seem to care about if we’re safe.”
“Of course I do.” I felt at home, as strange as that sounded. You know when I said I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb in the pub? Well, in spite of the creepy buildings and the creepier boss, I liked it at Hayefield. The staff treated me like a person. They hadn’t known me before I had lost my hand, so they took me as they found me.
“I have something that Edwina says will help.” She got up and left the room, then reappeared with a book: The De Breton Legacy: Lady Sophie Haye at Forty.
“I’m guessing the ancestors aren’t a positive link?” Sophie was on the cover but it was a sketch of her. She looked more like she did on the wing but whoever had drawn her tried to distort her features to make her look ugly. Whoever the author was, Clive Bunion, hadn’t succumbed to her charm then.
“No, they were vicious.” The maid tapped the book. “I’ll get you breakfast and you can read.”
I shook my head. “I have to get back on duty.”
“Lady Haye has given you the day off.” Her tone was clipped like she didn’t really want to tell me.
“Because I have a hangover?” Maybe it was more that I wasn’t allowed to work until I was fully sober. Couldn’t blame Sophie for that but then Mick would never be on duty.
“Because . . .” The maid sighed. “She realizes that you must have had a shock and she wants to give you time to recover.”
“Which you think is to work me?” I could see her point and Sophie’s tactic worked. It was almost like her saying sorry. She wasn’t, I wasn’t that naïve but it almost made me discount everything the maid had just said. Clever.
“I can’t speak for Lady Haye,” the maid said and patted my knee. “But please just heed my warning.”
I nodded. “I appreciate the heads up.”
The maid smiled and hurried from the room. I turned over the book.
––––––––
Lady Sophie Haye, once the most eligible, sought after beauty, at twenty one was exiled from her home, Hayefield Estate, after the death of her brother’s fiancé and his subsequent serious injuries. Although there were reports dismissed by the families involved, investigative reporter, Clive Bunion, delves into the mystery that tore the Haye family apart and tries to locate the missing Lady Sophie Haye to find out the truth once and for all.
––––––––
Sophie was forty three now so the book must have been released when she arrived home? Had this guy, Bunion, found her then?
As a former police officer, I naturally distrusted anything from the media. It was hearsay most of the time and melodramatic. Edwina wanted me to read it though so maybe it was more accurate than usual. I doubted it, but I’d do as asked.
Guess I had homework to keep me occupied until DI Wood showed up.