Murder at Hadfield Hall by Peter Jay Black

Author:Peter Jay Black [Black, Peter Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oakbridge
Published: 2024-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

13

Furniture clung to the ceiling of the Alice in Wonderland walkthrough ride: a dining table and chairs, a grandfather clock, a fireplace, bookshelves, even a vase of flowers hung upside down on a table beside an armchair.

Ruth followed the path along another hallway with a chequered floor, the walls closing in, forcing her to duck as she reached a door at the far end, barely four feet tall.

She turned an ear to it.

Muffled footfalls sounded from the other side, so she eased the door open a crack.

A vast, fantastical forest teemed with all manner of cartoon-style creatures. Deer, badgers, and foxes mingled with hedgehogs, squirrels, and a robin redbreast, all chirping, snuffling, and moving with uncanny realism.

An elephant, its long trunk sweeping the grass for peanuts, peeked over a bush.

“A common sight in the British countryside,” Ruth murmured, and then reminded herself she was in an underground forest straight out of a fantasy novel, so anything was possible.

Movement caught Ruth’s eye. Nadia, her baggy shirt and jeans a blur against the vibrant greenery, disappeared into a thatched cottage with leaded windows. Ruth ducked behind a low stone wall and waited, heart in her mouth, ears straining.

Two minutes crawled by. Then three.

Ruth pictured Nadia, face pale in the cottage’s gloom.

What is she doing?

Finally, Nadia emerged, a picnic basket tucked under her arm. Her expression unreadable, she marched past Ruth and back the way they’d come.

Ruth sighed. She’d come all this way and learned nothing. Cursing under her breath, she straightened, about to leave, but hesitated. What if Nadia left something behind? A clue?

It was a long shot, but irresistible.

She darted into the cottage. A half-scale sitting room greeted her, complete with a comfy armchair and a fireplace. One door of a floor-to-ceiling cupboard hung ajar. Ruth nudged it open.

Rows of stick puppets lined the shelves: soldiers, parrots, a creature that could be a monkey or a bear, a gingerbread man, and five green boggle-eyed aliens. Gaps punctuated each shelf, and an entire bottom row sat empty.

Ruth estimated, if the cupboard had been full to start with, twenty puppets were missing. “Why would Nadia need those?” she muttered, her mind awhirl with possibilities. “Something to do with the games?” It had to be.

Anxious to return to Greg, she backed out of the cottage.

Ruth hurried through the forest, ears straining for any sound, along the hallways, and emerged onto the high street.

Ahead, Nadia entered the gift shop. As soon as she disappeared inside, Ruth followed, and threw open the storage cupboard door.

Greg frowned and held up his phone. “Fifteen seconds late.” He shoved it back into his pocket. “I was about to call MI5.”

“Very helpful,” Ruth said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

On their return journey, Ruth explained about the missing puppets, and her theory they must have something to do with the games.

“But why fake her injuries? And Mike getting arrested?” Greg asked. “What difference does it make if we know they’re helping Clarence behind the scenes?”

To that, Ruth had no answer.

They stepped through Hadfield Hall’s back door, and Liam rushed up, face flushed, tie askew.

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