Hopgood hall 5, p.1
Hopgood Hall 5, page 1
A DEADLY AFFAIR
A HOPGOOD HALL MYSTERY
E.V. HUNTER
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
More From E.V. Hunter
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by E.V. Hunter
Poison & Pens
About Boldwood Books
1
‘I thought the winter would never end.’ Alexi Ellis leaned back in her chair and smiled as spring sunshine broke through a heavy bank of cloud, peppering the side of her upturned face with its warmth.
‘Easter’s coming up so don’t hold your breath,’ her oldest friend, Cheryl Hopgood, warned. ‘The English weather seems to think it has a duty to rain on everyone’s parade come bank holidays.’
Alexi waved a hand in casual dismissal of Cheryl’s assertion. ‘Not this year,’ she decreed firmly. ‘It wouldn’t dare. We’ve had a quiet six months since that fiasco over Halloween and no lasting damage has been done to the hotel’s reputation. We’re overdue a break from drama, and that includes the weather.’
She was referring to Hopgood Hall, the boutique hotel in Lambourn in which she was an investor. The house had been in Cheryl’s husband’s family for decades but had been on the point of going out of business at the same time as Alexi had lost her position as an investigative journalist on the Sunday Sentinel. She had run off to Lambourn with her feral cat Cosmo to stay with Cheryl and Drew and lick her wounds. She hadn’t reckoned on settling in the sticks, though. She was a city girl through and through with a nose for a story but had surprised herself by finding the peace she’d been unaware she was searching for here in the valley of the racehorse.
Unfortunately, since her arrival, not one but four murders had occurred in this sleepy backwater where horses outnumbered people and many locals now considered her to be a jinx. Some had gone so far as to try and drive her out of the village and at her lowest ebb, Alexi had been at the point of leaving, afraid that local superstition would have an adverse effect upon her friends’ business. She was no quitter though and hadn’t been responsible for any of the killings, so she’d allowed Cheryl to talk her out of leaving. Besides, with the help of Jack Maddox, an ex-Met police inspector turned private eye, she’d managed to find the culprits in all four of the murders. She and Jack were now an item and country life, she had good reason to know, definitely had its advantages. In any event, it most certainly hadn’t proven to be the dreary existence she’d feared.
‘Drew kept telling you that the publicity created by the murders and your fair reporting of the facts could only enhance the hotel’s reputation,’ Cheryl pointed out, leaping from her chair to pick up Verity, her eighteen-month-old daughter, when she took a tumble on the grass. She had been attempting to chase Cosmo. Alexi’s cat was decidedly anti-social but knew better than to harm a hair on the precious baby’s head. Instead, he glanced at Verity through piercing green eyes, as though checking to make sure that she was unharmed, and then twitched his rigid tail before stalking off. He was, as always, pursued by Toby, Cheryl’s terrier who was half the cat’s size but devoted to the taciturn feline. ‘And you know my husband is always right about these things.’
‘Well, of course he is. He’s a man, isn’t he?’
They both laughed. ‘Not that we would still have a hotel if it weren’t for your investment and innovative ideas to enhance our reputation,’ Cheryl pointed out. ‘Drew and I wouldn’t have done anything half so daring, left to our own devices.’
‘My innovative ideas, as you call them, almost finished you off,’ Alexi replied, shuddering, ‘but let’s not go there.’
The ladies fell momentarily silent, watching Cosmo’s black tail swishing as he crept through the undergrowth, presumably on the hunt for rodents that didn’t have the sense to get out of his way. Toby spoiled the party by charging after him with enthusiasm and a distinct lack of stealth.
‘Well anyway, we’re full over Easter, regardless of the weather, and have an encouraging number of bookings coming in for the summer. Of course, half of them only want to meet his highness,’ Cheryl said, nodding towards Cosmo. ‘All the publicity over the murders has made him quite the celebrity.’
‘Don’t tell him that! He’s already quite insufferable enough.’
Cheryl laughed. ‘I suppose one thing that Rat Face did for you was to feature Cosmo in his Sunday rag and enhance his reputation, which worked in the hotel’s favour, especially now that Cosmo has his own Instagram profile. He has more followers than either of us.’
‘He only did it to curry favour.’
Alexi folded her arms and huffed. Any reference to Patrick Vaughan, the editor of the Sunday Sentinel who had been her significant other at the time the paper had downsized, still rankled. Patrick had known her position was under threat but hadn’t warned her. Nor had he fought her corner. She knew that he regretted that stance now, having assumed that she would hide away in Lambourn, get bored and then return to the paper to take up the demotion that was on offer.
How little he understood her!
He’d been a perpetual thorn in her side since then, but all communication between them had finally come to an end when he and Cassie, Jack’s business partner, had joined forces in an effort to have Alexi ostracised in Lambourn. Patrick had hoped that her unpopularity would force her to return to what she knew best. Their plan had almost worked too, thanks in no small part to Polly Pearson, a local B&B owner and famous gossip, who had led the campaign to drive Alexi away. What Alexi had done to set Polly against her remained a mystery.
But all of that was now water under the bridge. The Sentinel no longer benefited from her insight. Its competitors on the other hand lapped up everything she submitted, which hopefully embarrassed Patrick and made him realise the error of his ways.
‘Well anyway,’ Alexi said, smiling and tugging at one of Verity’s pigtails when she tottered up to her and offered her a flower that she had plucked without bothering to include the stem. ‘Thank you, darling. Is that for me?’
‘She’s a budding conservationist,’ Cheryl said, beaming with pride.
‘Might be a good idea to teach her about stems, in that case.’
Cheryl adopted an expression of mock censure. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’
‘I take your point. But as I was saying, everything’s settled down now and no one is having the bad manners to get killed on our patch, so hopefully we can look forward to a calm and profitable summer.’
‘I’d drink to that or would…’ Cheryl words trailed off, but she grinned as she placed a hand protectively over her stomach.
‘Cheryl?’ Alexi eyed her friend with the dawning of awareness. ‘What is it that you’re not telling me?’
‘Well…’ Cheryl’s smile widened. ‘We didn’t want to say anything until we knew everything was okay but…’
Alexi squealed, jumped from her chair and threw her arms round Cheryl. ‘Verity is going to have a sibling. Wow! Congratulations! When?’
‘Christmas.’
‘That’s fabulous.’ Alexi resumed her chair. ‘No wonder Drew has been grinning like the proverbial these past few weeks. I’ve been busy with the book,’ she added, referring to a commission she’d accepted to write a collection of in-depth exposés about cases of abuse, corruption and violent crime in which the perpetrators had evaded justice. Stories that she had written for the Sentinel but which had not seen the light of publication because the paper’s legal team weren’t willing to risk being sued. An opportunity to lay out the facts and highlight the loopholes in the legal system pounced upon by expensive defence barristers was too good to resist. There was a lot to be said for going freelance, Alexi had long since discovered.
‘The first draft is finished, but never mind all that. Your news is much more important and I want to know everything.’
‘Not much to tell, other than I feel as sick as a dog every morning. So come on, give me more about the book. I want to know.’
‘Well, I’m happy with it and now my editor is doing his thing. Time will tell if the publishers have the courage of their convictions, no pun intended. I’ve given them what they asked for and hopefully they won’t be as lily-livered as the paper was. Besides, I don’t think I’ve said anything libellous.’ She grinned. ‘Provocative perhaps but that’s a different beast. Provocation equates to soundbites which equate to sales. Anyway, I shall be on hand to be the best aunt in the world when your time comes. Is Drew hoping for a boy this time?’
‘He says he doesn’t mind but I think he secretly would prefer a son.’
Alexi nodded. ‘Might be best. He’s so besotted with Verity that I can’t see him having enough love to spare for another daughter.’
‘Hey, I’m a big guy.’ Huge arms wrapped their way around the back of Alexi and Cheryl’s necks. For a large man, Drew moved with surprising stealth and had obviously overheard their conversation. ‘And I have more than enough love to satisfy all the women in my life.’
Alexi jumped up a
‘Ah, so she has told you, not left you to guess. I suggested holding off for a bit longer, just until we’re sure everything’s definitely okay, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist sharing.’
‘And why should she?’ Alexi asked, watching Verity as she ran up to Drew and he crouched down to catch her between his large hands, swinging her in the air and making her giggle. ‘You’ve played your part. It’s Cheryl’s turn to enjoy herself.’
Drew pulled a disapproving face. ‘I hope you’re not implying that she didn’t enjoy making the brat.’ He waggled his brows at her. ‘It takes two, you know.’
‘So I’ve been told. Never been tempted to embrace motherhood myself. The mere thought of all that responsibility terrifies me.’
‘You’d never met the right man before Jack came along,’ Drew replied, taking the chair next to his wife and watching Verity as she tottered after Cosmo and Toby.
‘We were just speculating upon a profitable summer for Hopgood Hall,’ Alexi remarked.
‘And it will be too, thanks to you. Lots of conference jollies booked for the annexe.’ Drew paused to rub his chin. ‘And organised tours of training yards, which was also your suggestion.’
‘Well, trainers always seem to be short of dosh, despite the outrageous fees they charge, so it made sense to ask a few of them if they wanted to participate.’
‘We tried it a few years back, before the pandemic, and they all turned their noses up.’ Drew shrugged. ‘Seems they’re now as broke as the rest of us and no longer quite so elitist.’
Alexi smiled. ‘How the mighty have been brought back to earth.’
‘When’s Jack back?’ Drew asked. ‘He’s been away on his latest assignment for ages. I’ve forgotten what he looks like.’
‘It’s all done. He’s reporting to his client in person today, clearing up some paperwork and then he’ll be home.’
‘To make babies,’ Drew suggested, waggling his brows again.
Alexi laughed. ‘We’re not all set on procreation,’ she pointed out. ‘The world is quite over-populated enough.’
‘Seems to me he’s too busy to spare the time to make babies, even if you wanted to,’ Cheryl said. ‘We barely see him.’
‘Oh, he prioritises,’ Alexi assured her friends.
Drew grinned. ‘I’ll just bet he does!’
‘Anyway, he and Cassie have decided still to work together.’
‘After the way she tried to get you out of Jack’s life?’ Cheryl pulled an affronted face. ‘How will that work? The trust must be gone. And more to the point, how do you feel about it? The last time we broached the subject, you said they were considering their future. I just assumed that he’d either go out on his own or find someone else to take over Cassie’s position.’
‘It’s more complicated than that.’ Alexi waggled a hand from side to side. ‘Nowadays, a lot of investigation is done online. Jack hates that and prefers to be out and about, sticking his nose in and acting on instinct. Cassie, on the other hand, can make computers sing for her.’
‘Point taken.’
‘Besides, they’re equal partners. If they split then they’d have to value the business, somehow, and one would have to buy the other out. Not sure either of them can afford to do that. Anyway, it was me who persuaded him to think carefully and not to act in anger. Cassie is not my favourite person, but she was manipulated into doing what she did by the hand of a master.’
‘Patrick,’ Cheryl said, grimacing.
‘Patrick,’ Alexi agreed. ‘He picked up on Cassie’s partiality for Jack and her resentment of me and once he had, she’d have been putty in his hands. They’ve had a good heart to heart, and Jack is as sure as he can be that Cassie won’t step out of line again. Patrick had convinced her that I would tire of life in the country, and run back to London. Cassie believed it because she wanted to.’
‘She thought she was protecting Jack from getting his heart broken,’ Drew said. ‘I can see how she would have bought that because I know just how convincing Patrick can be.’
‘Well anyway, business is booming and they’re going to hire another investigator to take the load off Jack.’
‘Good news,’ Drew said, leaping from his chair and catching Verity moments before she took another tumble.
As though aware that he was being talked about, Jack chose that moment to wander into the gardens.
‘Hard at work, I see.’
Alexi’s heart lifted at the sound of his voice. She turned slowly to smile at him, appreciating the sight of him in jeans and his signature leather jacket that had definitely seen better days. His hair was a little too long and flopped over eyes hidden behind dark glasses. He had absolutely no idea just how sexy he looked without putting any effort into it and Alexi wondered, not for the first time, what she’d done to deserve him.
‘Always,’ she replied, lifting her face to receive his kiss.
Jack dragged up another chair and placed it beside Alexi’s.
‘There are police cars all over the village with lights flashing and sirens sounding,’ he said. ‘Glad to see they weren’t headed in this direction for once.’ He grimaced. ‘I did worry, just for a moment.’
‘Don’t even joke about such things,’ Cheryl scolded. ‘Alexi and I were just contemplating the murder-free summer that’s in front of us.’
‘Too right,’ Jack agreed, leaning back in his chair and crossing one foot casually over his opposite thigh.
‘The police are probably on the trail of horse thieves,’ Drew said. ‘I hear a couple have gone missing from a trainer’s yard.’
‘I thought they were better protected than the country’s gold reserves,’ Alexi said. ‘Alarms, cameras, electronic gates… the works.’
‘Where there’s a will,’ Drew said, shrugging.
‘Aren’t the horses chipped, like dogs are?’ Cheryl asked. ‘I mean, how could they be sold on?’
‘Stallions could be used to do what they do best and a decent mare with a track record could be used as a baby machine, I’m guessing,’ Jack replied. ‘No idea. I’m definitely off duty.’ He linked his hands together behind his head. ‘And I’m taking a long overdue week off to give some attention to my girlfriend.’
‘Talking of baby machines,’ Drew said, grinning.
‘Drew, I am not the maternal type. How many more times? We don’t all want little people running around causing mayhem,’ Alexi said, smiling in spite of herself.
‘Keep telling yourself that,’ Cheryl said.
‘Alexi and Drew are expanding their family,’ Alexi told Jack. ‘Verity will have a sibling come Christmas.’
‘Congratulations!’ Jack righted himself in his chair, stood up and shook Drew’s hand, then gave Cheryl a hug and kiss. Cosmo stalked up to Jack and pushed his head under his hand, as though not wanting to be left out. Jack laughed as he made a fuss of him.
‘Do you fancy going away somewhere for a few days?’ Jack asked Alexi once the subject of the new arrival had been exhausted. ‘I was thinking the Lakes. I’m sure they must have cat-friendly hotels up there.’
‘There’s cat friendly and then there’s Cosmo,’ Drew pointed out. ‘He’s not for the fainthearted. You know what he’s like if he takes against a person.’
‘He’s mellowing with age,’ Alexi said defensively, making them all smile. ‘And yes, a few days away would be lovely. We’ve both got relatively clear desks at present, so the time is right.’
‘Yep, and we have a new investigator, so anything that comes in over the next week or so will be his problem.’
‘Who did you go for in the end?’ Alexi asked, aware that there had been a number of applicants for the position.
‘Danny Fisher.’
Alexi nodded. ‘I thought you would. Better the devil you know.’
‘Precisely. We worked together at the Met,’ Jack explained to Cheryl and Drew. ‘He had my back when the press tried to stitch me up and the head honchos hung me out to dry. He’s disillusioned himself with the direction the police service has taken and has opted for early retirement. But at forty-five, he’s too young to sit about twiddling his fingers. He’s not married any more. Like a lot of serving officers, his marriage didn’t survive the anti-social hours. His kids are grown and he’s a free agent, happy to move to Newbury.’
