Beatrice (The Tipton Hollow 2)

“Yes. He certainly seemed to take Brian Mottram’s death in his stride,” Ben replied. It took him a couple of minutes to realise that she was staring at him. “What?”

He turned the carriage into Church Road, the first address on the list, and looked back at her. “What?” he repeated when she didn’t appear inclined to confide in him.

“One thing that does strike me as odd,” she shivered. “I have never seen Archibald Harrington in my life, and he has certainly never been to Brantley Manor while I have been there.”

“Yes, you said that your uncle didn’t have visitors,” Ben sighed as he studied the empty street around them.

“So how did Archibald Harrington know that my uncle had a conservatory that is just like the one in Jules Sanders’ yard?”

He opened his mouth to reply only to close it again with a snap. He stared at her and thought about that for a moment.

“Where is everyone?” Beatrice sighed as she studied the empty street, seemingly oblivious to his stunned disbelief.

“I don’t know. I don’t like it, Beatrice, I have to admit,” Ben replied quietly, and wasn’t sure if he meant the road, or Archibald Harrington’s knowledge of Brantley Manor.

He shared a look with Beatrice and temporarily pushed their suspicions to one side while they began to study house names.

“What’s the address?”

“Rydal Hove,” Ben replied as he drew the carriage to a halt. “It’s this one.” He nodded to the large semi-detached house beside them and climbed down.

She quickly blanked out the unease that had settled around her, and accepted the hand Ben held out as she stepped down.

“I don’t like this,” she whispered when Ben stood back to wait for someone to answer his knock.

“It is very quiet around here, isn’t it?” He frowned at the door and listened carefully, but could hear no sound of movement inside.

“Let’s try around the back,” Beatrice suggested, and followed a clearly reluctant Ben around to the back yard.

The gate was unlocked and opened to reveal a reasonable sized yard, most of which was taken up by a huge conservatory that had been added to the back of the house. Beatrice studied the veritable jungle inside as she made her way to the back door, and shuddered as she thought about what awaited her at home. Even through the glass she could see some of the same kind of plants her uncle used, and wondered if she should ask Mr Sanders if he wanted her uncle’s old specimens to add to his own collection.

She lifted her hand to knock only to jump in alarm when Ben suddenly grabbed her hand. The dark look on his face warned her that something was wrong, and she watched him look pointedly at the door. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she swallowed nervously as she watched him lift one finger and push gently against the glass panel.

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak as she watched the door swing silently open. The splintered wood around the lock suddenly crumbled free and fell to the floor at their feet.

“Let me go first,” Ben whispered.

“You are not going in there, surely to goodness?” She stared in horror at him when he sidled around her, and peered into the kitchen.

“There may be someone inside who needs help,” he replied carefully.

If he was honest, he would have preferred it if Beatrice remained outside but knew that it was safest if she stayed with him. At least if she was right behind him then he knew she was alright.

He took one step into the kitchen and stopped to listen. Silence greeted him.

“Hello?” His voice echoed around the empty room and, in spite of the fact that the warm summer sunshine had made the temperature outside reasonably warm, inside the house was cold and damp, and more than a little unwelcoming.

“We need to fetch a constable,” Beatrice whispered nervously. “I don’t like this.”

“We need to find out if someone needs the doctor first, Beatrice. We don’t want to just report a break-in only for the constable to find someone on death’s door.”

“Hello? Is anyone home?” She called and prayed that nobody was.

When there was still no answer, they quietly made their way into the hallway. The door to the right of them opened to reveal a small, yet tidy sitting room which, from the look of the thick layer of dust over every surface, hadn’t been used in a long time. The room beside it overlooked the road out front, and was also unoccupied, yet neat and tidy. Opposite that was another door.

Ben quietly pushed it open and stared at the mess that greeted him. He wasn’t sure if it was because the chaos within the room was in stark contrast to the almost pristine neatness of the rest of the house, but something warned him that they were not going to like what they were going to find inside this particular room.

Aware that Beatrice was clutching his jacket, he quite purposefully blocked her from entering the room behind him as he stepped forward to peer around the door. The room was very similar to Matthew’s study back at Brantley Manor in that every surface was literally covered with papers, pamphlets, diagrams and books. However, in addition to the paperwork, there was a large bench across the far wall that was laden with a huge variety of plants in all stages of cultivation.