Page 3 of Blood Ties

I slid my finger under the flap and caught my skin on the paper. A bright spot of blood appeared beside my nail.

The old key clicked against the desk.

I froze. The building was quiet, and nothing had touched it. I moved my hand away. The key turned a fraction towards the blood.

“Absolutely fucking not,” I muttered.

It stayed still when I used a tissue to cover the cut. I told myself the desk wasn’t level, although the pen beside it hadn’t moved. Then I opened Edith’s letter because arguing with a key wasn’t going to improve my afternoon.

Bryony,

I’m sorry I left you with this. You deserved the truth while I was alive, but telling you would have put you in danger sooner.

You must go to Harrowmere. Take the case from under the house and keep it with you. Trust the documents inside before you trust anyone who claims to have known me.

The house is yours because the responsibility attached to it was always going to find you. I tried to change that. I failed.

Don’t sign anything Adrian Rook gives you.

Don’t let him take you under the house.

Above all, never let Adrian Rook place a crown on your head.

Edith

I read it twice. A hidden house and secret case were bad enough. Adrian and the crown frightened me more because Edith’s warning was painfully clear.

I photographed every page and sent the images to my private work account. The old key stayed where I could see it while I packed the rest of the contents into my handbag.

Arthur returned when I opened the door. He looked from the box to my face. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

“I’m going to Harrowmere after I’ve checked the records. I also need you to tell me who Adrian Rook is.”

His shoulders went rigid. The reaction lasted less than a second, but I’d spent years watching people pretend an unexpected clause didn’t worry them.

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” he said.

“You recognised it.”

Arthur glanced at the envelope. “I recognised that your grandmother frightened you, and I’m concerned about what she expected you to do. Let me make some enquiries before you travel.”

It was a polished answer. He hadn’t denied reacting to the name, and he’d avoided repeating it.

I slipped the old key into my handbag. It warmed against my palm through the leather.

Edith’s final warning sat on top of the other papers, impossible to dismiss now that Arthur had lied about recognising the man she feared.

Never let Adrian Rook place a crown on your head.

2

BRYONY

By the time I reached my flat, Arthur had sent thirty-seven files and left two messages asking me not to do anything until he’d checked them.

I listened to both while changing out of the black dress. The first was cautious. The second reminded me that entering an unfamiliar country house alone would invalidate several kinds of insurance and possibly my continued existence.

He knew which argument had the better chance of working.