Caroline stared at the contents. Her mind reeling. Who would do something like this?
“Better call the police station,” Archie told James. “We’ll be needing them.”
“Tell me what it is,” James said.
“Just call the police.”
James grumbled, though he did as he was told.
“I’ll make tea; you need a good cup of tea. A strong one.” Findlay headed to the kitchen.
“Sit down, Caroline, love.” Archie put his hands on Caroline’s shoulders and pressed her towards the chair.
Caroline sat. She reached for the box, but Archie moved it out of the way. “I watch a lot of crime programmes. The police will want to fingerprint that.”
She nodded. She felt a little dazed. “We need to call Josh. He made me promise to call if anything happens.”
“What’s his mobile phone number?”
She looked at him blankly. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll try the castle.”
“Try my house too; he might be there.”
Archie nodded as he reached for the phone. Against her better judgement, Caroline peered into the box. There was a small cloth doll wearing a grey suit. The doll had pins stuck into it, one through the eye, and someone had painted on red dye for blood. In a clear plastic bag beside the doll was what looked like a heart. It was bloody and horrible. Lying on top of it was a note. It said: Caroline Patterson, you don’t love him. You can’t love him. Your heart is as dead as this one.
She sank back into her chair and wondered what to do next. Deep inside she was convinced that there was a way to gain control of the situation.
She just had to find it.
“I came as soon as I heard.” Helen bustled into Caroline’s office ten minutes later. “You poor dear, you must be devastated.”
Caroline gave her future mother-in-law a bewildered smile. “That was fast. The package only arrived ten minutes ago.”
“Package?” It was Helen’s turn to look bewildered.
“The police are here,” Archie said from his position by the front door.
“Police?” Helen sat down on the only other chair in Caroline’s office and looked around as though the answer to her question was somewhere in the room. “I’m not sure this is something the police can sort out.”
Caroline frowned at her. “This is definitely something for the police.”
She heard voices, masculine voices, in the vestibule.
“I think you’re taking this a bit far,” Helen said. “I understand how you feel. I was upset too. But it’s nothing a little shopping won’t fix.”
Caroline didn’t have time to deal with Helen, or her bizarre reaction to the box, because Officer Donaldson strode into the room.
“We need to stop meeting like this,” he told Caroline. She attempted a smile, but didn’t quite pull it off. “Archie gave me the basics. Where is it?” Caroline pointed to the box on the edge of the desk. “Who handled it?” He held the box lid by the corners and lifted it up.
“Findlay, Archie maybe, I can’t really say. I touched the outside of the box, but not the contents.”
“Caroline?” Helen was worried. “What’s going on?”
She turned to explain it to her when Kirsty, followed by Lake, burst through her door.
“Caroline, honey.” Kirsty rushed over to give her a hug. “I’m so sorry. We were in the newsagent when we saw it. Don’t let it get to you. I’ll help you and it won’t be an issue anymore. I promise.”