Chapter Two

Lizzie was looking out the window.

People were arriving left, right and centre – coming from all directions. She hoped she was looked all right. She had dressed herself in a gorgeous baby pink Prada dress, and white sandal heels. She had a contemporary silver circlet necklace on, with matching earrings. Her normally straight honey blonde hair, was in loose ringlets, and pinned back from her face.

Right, she thought, its time to go and mingle with all these people. She put her Chanel sunglasses on her head, and walked downstairs, her heels clicking as she went. There were quite a few people in the Marble Hall looking at paintings. There seems to be quite an interest surrounding one of them, which was a painting of Queen Elizabeth before she was crowned. Lizzie smiled to herself and walked out into the garden. She hadn’t seen Kathryn, but she knew instinctively that she wasn’t far away. She had heard earlier that Kathryn had rubbed Walter up the wrong way and he was apparently fuming about it. It was really quite typical of

Kathryn to do that to the poor man, she knows that Walter and Wallace don’t get along very well.

It was a beautiful day which had turned out absolutely perfect for this event. She walked slowly over to the Riding School, saying hello to people as she passes. A few people stop her to say what a pleasure it is to meet her, and what a beautiful place her and Kathryn have. The artwork looks absolutely stunning in the gardens.

It will be a shame when this is over, she thought. She could smell the lawns as they were freshly cut yesterday, and she can hear the birds in the trees, she hoped that they wouldn’t venture out too much and hover over all of the art work in the garden. She could hear children in the maze, and there is a good general buzz about the place. A waiter passes her carrying a tray of food, and she grabbed a couple of nibbles, and sets off to find Kathryn.

* * *

He drove to the driveway of Château de Lumière, pulled the rental car over, and decided to walk up with all of the other people that were walking in.

Earlier he had placed some fingerprint tips on his fingers, so that if he touched anything, it wouldn’t be his prints anywhere, they would belong to Kathryn De la Quoix. He had managed to obtain these about a week go from a friend, who had been shagging her for a while. His friend had been with her in her London apartment, and had met him in the middle of the night outside, and gave him a wine glass with her prints all over it. It had cost him though – he had paid his friend about ₤10,000 to get it and to keep his mouth shut. Surely it was not that hard to do, he thought. Easy money.

As he walked down the driveway among the people attending, he could hear some lovely jazz music playing in the distance somewhere, and he hoped that it would be enough to cover the rotor blades of the helicopter when it lands and takes off. After about twenty minutes of solid walking, him, and the other public attending cut through a garden path, this comes out of the trees to the bottom of the garden.

There the house was, standing in all its magnificence and sweeping glory. It was so enormous and almost alive with people laughing, the music playing, the sun shining, and it is buzzing with energy. The house was standing about 800 metres away from him, and as he walked up the path towards it he was having second thought about taking on something as large as this.

He saw Lizzie De la Quoix walk out of the house, and into the garden. He stopped to watch her. She was one of the most perfectly formed women he had ever seen.

She appeared to float around the garden, walking with regal confidence, and smiling at people. She had an innocent beauty, and when she smiles, her whole face lights up, and you know she is absolutely genuine. Her sister Kathryn however, had a harder and darker look about her. Lizzie was in a flowing pink dress, and he was transfixed by her. He almost thinks that maybe one day he could arrange to meet her in the near future. He was thinking the De la Quoix sisters were almost like a Yin Yang sign, one side light, and the other side dark. He felt that Lizzie would be so upset by him doing this, that he nearly had second thoughts that maybe is was wrong to do this mission.

He saw a tent that said ‘Tours of Château de Lumière, ₤10 and walked towards it.

This is it. He thought, time to get to work.

* * *

Kathryn was trying to look interested and not loose focus as some person from Sotheby’s was babbling on to her about how wonderful Château de Lumière was.

He was obviously very excited about being there, but she really was not in the mood to be sociable. She needed a drink, but she couldn’t see any of the waiters anywhere, and she felt that it would be a little too rude just to walk off while this guy was half way through a sentence. She could not for the life of her remember his name. What was it…? Phillip? Parker? Peter? Pascal. God, he wasn’t even looking at her face, he was talking to her breasts. What an arsehole, she thought; just ignore it - best to keep up a good relationship with these people though.

“…and so anyway, then I stood up in the boat and believe it or not – I fell out!!” he laughs embarrassingly loud. “Har, har, har… and just seeing your wee lake just sitting there reminded me of how foolish I was.” He was obviously trying to impress her or something, but it was beginning to get a little uncomfortable. “So ah,

Kathryn…“ He said “how um… How would you like to come for a skinny dip in the lake with me?” Argh! - You have to be joking, she thought. That had to be the shittiest pickup line she had ever heard. I can’t believe he just said that! God she needed a drink, bugger last night. She could see a waiter heading in her direction.

She plastered a smile on her face, and looked at Pascal. He was grinning awkwardly – still looking at her breasts. She cleared her throat, “Pascal.” she was trying to look thoughtful and not revolted by him, “…you have a very inventive approach, but I think I will pass on the offer.”

He looked away. Thank god he has stopped looking at my chest! She thought. The waiter was about to pass by, and she was about to miss the drinks opportunity.

However, Pascal apparently need one more. Kathryn watched in astonishment as Pascal awkwardly lunged towards the waiter, tripping over the hem of her dress at the same time and smashed into the waiter and drinks tray that he was carrying.

There was glass and Champagne everywhere. So much for that drink, thought Kathryn.

The waiter was in a bit of shock, and Pascal was trying awkwardly to get up off him. He finally managed this seemingly simple action, because Kathryn grabbed his jacket and hauled him up. Pascal fled, and the waiter was finally settling down, now that Pascal was off him.

Wallace came running up to see what the commotion was about. He saw the waiter on the ground, champagne all over the floor, and swore under his breath. “Nice work Kathryn, smashing.” His tone was dripping with sarcasm.

“What? You don’t seriously believe that I did this on purpose do you?” Kathryn said, thinking that he was being serious.

“Well you are the only one looking guilty at the scene darling!” Wallace said. “You know…? Standing over the body with glass smashed everywhere. Anyways. We are about to start the Auction, so if you want to come and partake in the action, we would be ever so grateful.” Oh God, she thought he was so excited about the whole thing, it was quite endearing.

“Alright love.” She said to him, smiling. “You talked me into it.”

* * *

He slipped away from the tour group quickly muttering something about using the lavatory. He had memorised the passage plans, and he hoped that he could remember them correctly so that he didn’t get lost.

He walked quickly down the tunnel, and towards the tunnel that lead to the Armoury room. The auction was due to start at approximately 1 pm, and he knew that everyone would be over in the region of the Riding School about then so the coast would be clear. He was now standing at the sliding panel in the Armoury room passage, waiting for his chance. He could hear the tour guide that he was with earlier explain to the people on her tour about the Armoury. “The Armoury began as an open loggia in the Italian Renaissance style, with a door at the top of the stairs at either end. But such an arrangement proved inconvenient, since there was no interior passage on the ground floor between the two wings. The 2nd Marquess filled in the windows in 1834 and laid the marble floor. The 3rd Marquess completed the alterations by putting up the panelling and introducing the tapestries known as the Four Seasons, purchased by his father and made by Ralph Sheldon in 1611. They are probably the finest English tapestries of their period in existence.”

The people in the group murmured amongst themselves. She was leading them out of the Armoury. He moved the panel silently and slipped out of the wall. Hah, he thought – you didn’t tell them about the secret passage ways. He looked at the time. 12.45pm. Fifteen minutes to the Auction. He crossed the room to one of the tapestries on the wall. My, it was beautiful, he thought. No wonder they don’t open the house to the public much. He lifted the tapestry off the wall and rolled it up. He retraced his steps, and slipped back into the hidden passage. One down, two to go, he said to himself.

* * *

They slowly walked towards the Riding School building. Lizzie came running up behind them. “Kathryn! – God – I haven’t seen you all day! You said that you were going to come by and tell me about the night that you had last night!” Kathryn laughed. She did get a tad sidetracked.

“I’ll tell you soon babes, don’t you worry.” Kathryn said to her. They walked through the doors of the main room. There were people absolutely everywhere, all trying to find seats before they began. There must have been 200-300 people there. There were some just there for the show, and they were situated in the upper gallery, which was a mezzanine floor that had all the seating facing the lower gallery. And all the people who were there to buy items were all situated in the lower gallery.

“Oh fuck. Hide!” Kathryn said under her breath to Lizzie – she could see Anne
Whittaker striding towards them. She was the head organiser at Sotheby’s Auction House, for off site auction events. She walked up to them “Darlings, darlings!” she said dramatically. “I have been looking for you bloody everywhere!” Kathryn and Lizzie looked at her.

“Well, Anne, we’re here now – so everything is fine.” Lizzie said patiently.

“Yes, yes, Lizzie darling. Well – we are about to start – so get yourselves a seat and enjoy the action.” She blustered away. Kathryn was looking thoughtful. “You know Lizzie… she acts like we were here to watch a James Bond film.” Lizzie looked at her, and sighed “yeah you’re right; she is a bit full on to deal with. You know – next time we should deal with that guy…what’s his name? Peewee? Nope.. Percy?... Ooh – I know… nope, that’s not it either….”

“Ah, that would be ‘Pascal’ – and no. We can’t deal with him Lizzie.” Lizzie was looking at her a little confused. “I will fill you in later.”

Anne Whittaker was trying to get everyone seated, and organised. Kathryn and Lizzie’s Grandparents came up to them. “Hi Grandma, Hi Grandpa.” Lizzie said.

They gave the twins a hug.

‘How’s it all going sweet pea?” Grandma asked Lizzie.

‘Really good so far, no drama’s that I’m aware of. And how are you guys?” Lizzie responded.

“Good good. There are quite a few people in the main house looking around, and what a fabulous day for it. Gosh, Wallace seems beside himself with excitement over all this doesn’t he?” Grandma said.

“Good Lord...” Grandpa said. “There’s that awful woman again.” He was talking about Anne. “She accosted me about the history of the house before, but Walter saved me from her – Thank God. You know – I’m really not sure we should deal with her again – there’s something not trustworthy about her, like – she hasn’t got both oars in the water, if you know what I mean.” Grandpa was watching her wearily.

* * *

He was trying to remember the way to the King James room. He knew that it was upstairs somewhere on the first floor. He was standing at a bit of a crossroad in the passage ways. With it having dim lighting, and no landmarks in there, he was starting to get a little confused. All of the passages looked the same, and it was warm and stuffy in there, which was upsetting his concentration. He took the right hand passage. He knew that if it was the correct way, he would come to a ladder soon. The passage was leading on for ages, but it was obviously well used, and cleaned – because it was not dusty at all. He knew that as he went in he must be passing hundreds of entranceways into other rooms. Finally, he came to the ladder.

Good, he thought. He had taken the right one. He lay the tapestry down on the ground, so that he could collect it later, on his way back down.

He climbed up the ladder, and came to another passage, which looked identical to the one below him. He walked about 15 metres, and came to the panel. He slid it open, and found himself in the back of the wardrobes. Now that, he thought, smelt a tad musty. He couldn’t hear anyone in the room. He looked at his watch again.

1.05 pm. Right, the auction would have started he thought. He opened the wardrobe door, and was absolutely taken aback by the magnificence of the room before him.

The ceiling was beautifully decorated in the Italian style with pendants and much gilding. From it hung six chandeliers of King James's time. The furniture is the same that was used by King James, and is finely carved and covered with crimson velvet.

He looked towards the mantelpiece. On the mantel, he saw what he came for. Over the high mantelpiece was a marble statue of King James. He crossed the room and as he did so, he noticed a security control panel sitting on the wall. He reached the mantel, and lifted the two-foot statue off. God its bloody heavy, he thought, as he put it on the floor. He then noticed that there is a pressure switch that was sitting under the base of the statue. He can’t hear any alarms going off, but he knew that somewhere within the house, something would be happening. He picked up a large vase that was sitting next to the fireplace, lifted it up, and placed it on top of the pressure switch. He then raced over to the control panel, punched in the code, and noticed that the small blinking light had switched off. He felt immense relief, as he retrieved the statue, complaining to himself about how heavy it is as he carries’ it over to the wardrobe, and back into the passage. He walked quickly to the ladder, and started backing down. He curved his abs and his tummy, and reached up to grab to statue, he then placed it in the curved part of his stomach so that he could use his arms, and made his way careful down the ladder to the floor and tapestry below.

* * *

A loud speaker interrupted him. Anne’s voice boomed out around the Riding School conference room. “Apologies to interrupt ladies and gentlemen, but could I have your attention please. We will now begin the Auction, so if you could all find your places quickly that would be wonderful.” Anne Whittaker smiled a round the room. “I would just like to take a moment to thank Kathryn and Lizzie De la Quoix for their hospitality and letting us host this Auction on their Estate, and for their patience with the organisation of it. Thank you.”

The auctioneer launched into the Auction, making sure that all people bidding were registered with Sotheby’s, explaining the rules, and buyer obligations. He then started auctioning off all the artwork that had been displayed around the gardens.

As he was speaking about each piece, images of the pieces were being projected onto the wall behind him. The whole show was very effective, and Kathryn and Lizzie enjoyed watching the dynamics around them.

Wallace had managed buy a couple of pieces for the Château de Lumière Estate collection, Kathryn was quite pleased with the pieces that he had bought, and he had only managed to spend ₤150,000. Kathryn knew that he was refraining himself, but she wanted him to bid only on things that he was serious about.

The twins both thought that they could hear an alarm going off somewhere in the distance, but they heard it flick off so they put it down to being a car alarm.

The Auction finished after a while, and was very successful with most items sold.

The music started up, and the champagne started flowing again, and all of the food came out. People were playing croquet on the lawn, and others were playing Pétanque. So far – the whole day had been rather successful, even Walter had settled down and seemed to be enjoying himself.

Kathryn could feel herself being watched, but she wasn’t too sure who it was.

“Oh my god Kathryn.” Lizzie said quietly. “You are never going to guess who just showed his face here.” She said excitedly. “Michael Strathmore and James Parker!” Kathryn groaned.

Michael Strathmore was a near 60 year old multimillionaire, and all he was ever interested in was having fun. His wife Lucy lets him go off on his own every now and then so that she can have five minutes peace, because he always planning the next adventure. He owned a couple of companies, houses all over Europe and on an island in the Caribbean, and refuses to work anymore. He was always a lot of fun to have around, but he could be a tad bossy and he seems to feel that he needs to be a father figure to the twins. James Parker however, is his gorgeous, shy 28 year old nephew. He works for Michael in one of his companies as a Senior Policy Analyst, and only works six or seven months of the year, because his Uncle wants him to join him and Lucy for the rest of the time and have fun. Lucy and Michael think of him as their son, as they couldn’t have any children of their own, so now when the Strathmore’s pass away – James will inherit everything.

Michael was standing there with a big goofy grin on his face, and James was standing slightly behind him. “Hello Girls!” exclaimed Michael. “How did it all go?
So sorry we missed it - James here wanted to take me on a tour, and I didn’t think we would finish so late!”

Lizzie responded. “Yeah, the day has been quite a success so far, hasn’t it
Kathryn?” Kathryn nodded in agreement, as she was always a little shy around
James. She had always felt that he was arrogant, but she still wasn’t quite sure.

“God, it so nice to see you two up this way! For gods’ sake, stay as long as you like – I mean – there’s room for everyone!” Lizzie said to them. “Come up to the house for a cup of earl grey – or would you prefer to mingle with the guests and drink bubbles?”

“I think that we will mingle a wee while Lizzie dear, and then we will come up – Won’t we James?” James murmured an agreement, and looked shyly at the twins.

“Righto then, point me in the direction of the Champagne and we will have a good catch up soon – Oh – what time will dinner be ready?” Michael asked Lizzie.

“Oh, probably about sevenish… We shall have it in the Winter Dining Room tonight, as there will be a few of us there. You know where your rooms are, so just go and relax and settle in.” Lizzie warmly smiled at them. She always really enjoys it when they are with them, as they are practically family, and such fun to be around.

James addressed the girls with gratitude “Thank you both so much for your hospitality – and for letting us stay on such short notice. I really do appreciate it.”

“Right my boy,” he said to James. “Lets ‘go mingle’ and leave these girls in peace until later.” They walked off and started talking to a group of people while Kathryn and Lizzie watched after them. Lizzie turned to face Kathryn. “Oh, I’m so pleased to see them Kath!” Kathryn was still watching after them over Lizzie’s shoulder.

She saw James turn around and look back at her. She then knew that that was the person she had felt looking at her earlier on.

* * *

James looked back at her. God. Just looking into those deep baby blue eyes, gave him butterflies in his stomach. She was the one girl that he had always had a ‘thing’ for, even though she could be such a bitch, he knew that it was just part of her defense mechanisms.

He also knew that she had never settled down since her mother died, and that she felt partially responsible for Lizzie’s happiness. Even though they were twins, and they were born at the same time - he had seen Kathryn grow a lot faster than Lizzie, even willing to have more experiences than Liz, therefore when their mother died, Kathryn had taken on a motherly role with her sister.

James also knew that she would be the woman that he wanted to marry in the future. If she would have him, that is – and he knew that she had some very high standards.

He had heard the rumours about her sexual endeavors around not only London, but in other parts of Europe as well. Oh, he had definitely been with his fair share of women as well, but he didn’t tend to treat them like sexual objects as she did with men. With her though, he felt she was absolutely magnetic, she commanded attention with both men and women. She had men falling down around her feet, and it wasn’t so surprising that her best friends were Lizzie and a lot of gay men. He had first met her when he was 16 years old, and they were only 14. He had had a thing for her then, and twelve years on – he still did.

Lizzie was always absolutely stunning as well. They were extremely close to being identical twins, but there were some subtle differences between the two of them.

For example, Lizzie had green eyes – not blue, Kathryn was just a smidgeon taller.
Lizzie liked more feminine things - like feminine colours, and beautiful jewellary; where as Kathryn had a more masculine sexual approach. Kathryn knew her own beauty, and she knew it to be a powerful tool, that she was very skilled at using.

Her arrogance was one of the main attractions with her.

Lizzie on the other hand had quite an innocent nature – where as Kathryn is more dry and cynical. But they were both had incredible similarities bewteen them as well. They both had long honey blonde hair, which was completely natural, and had been the envy of many woman who longed to be blonde. They walked the same way, and when they laughed – it’s absolutely infectious. If one of them started laughing, then the other joined in – it was almost as if they couldn’t help it.

* * *

He was struggling along the passageways, trying to carry the statue and the tapestry. He was beginning to think that maybe he should just cut his losses, and leave Château de Lumière while he still could. He looked at his watch. 1.25pm. The chopper he had organised would be landing in 5 minutes, and would wait for him for

1 hour. All he had to collect now was some correspondence from King James, and Queen Elizabeth. This was situated in the Library, but on display under glass, lock, and key, and by far the hardest item to collect. He knew that it would take time to get the letters out, and time was definitely not on his side.

He raced down the tunnel, and made a decision to take the statue and tapestry right down to where the tunnel ended in the forest, then he could leave the goods there, and track his way back to the library. This way, he would be able to move quicker with a lesser weight burden, and hopefully have more of a chance to get the letters. He also made the decision, that if he couldn’t retrieve the letters, then he would just walk away – ₤6 million was enough he had decided, he could quite easily live on that for a while, and if he relocated to a third world country, it wouldn’t be too difficult. He continued to run down the passageway, noting to himself that the lighting was getting worse the further out he got.

He looked at his watch again. 1.45pm. He was nearly there. Turn next left, he thought, and then turn right, and follow the passage about 100 metres, and it should come to an end.

He could see a little bit of light in the distance, and knew he was coming to the end of the passageway. He got to the door, disabled the security on the panel next to him, and opened the door. Just as he was opening the door, he noticed a camera above the doorway monitoring the entrance from the outside. He was standing right beneath it – so he reached up, and pulled the cables out of the back. He walked out into the bright sunshine. Even though he was in the forest, it was incredibly light in comparison to the tunnels, and his eyes took a moment to adjust. He looked through the trees to towards the clearing, and could just make out the vague shape of the Chopper. He looked at his watch. 1.55pm. He was absolutely exhausted, and decided just to walk away from the Monarchy correspondence.

He started running towards the helicopter, which was waiting for him, but he hesitated. He thought that he heard something in the distance. A dog bark? Nope, it was a number of dogs barking. Then he realised. They were after him. Little did he know, but when he disconnected the camera above the doorway, he had activated the perimeter alarm system. The security personnel had also noticed that the door had been deactivated. And they were coming into the area right now. He ran as fast as he could go. He reached the helicopter in the middle of the clearing and looked back. The security dogs were at the edge of the clearing right behind him. He looked at the pilot, and the pilot looked and saw the commotion that was happening behind him and started the chopper up. He could see the security personnel reach the edge of the clearing through the trees. One of them aimed and fired at the chopper, but the chopper had bullet-proof glass, so it didn’t shatter.

They lifted into the air, and flew over the house. He looked down, and could see everybody clearly below him. He could hear more gunfire, but he knew that he was well and truly out of range now.

He nodded at the pilot sitting in the front seat. The pilot returned the nod, and he sat back in the chopper and finally relaxed. He was on his way out of here.

* * *

Kathryn thought she heard a gun shot in the distance, and looked around her surroundings. Now, she thought. Who the hell would be firing guns, it’s not exactly hunting season. She thought that she could hear rotisserie blades slicing through the air, and then much to her surprise an enormous helicopter rose into the air from somewhere behind the house. She could hear gun shots again. Lizzie was looking at her wide eyed and worried.

She looked around for Arthur, who was the head of security at the Château de Lumière Estate, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. She realised that the people around her were starting to panic. She had strapped her phone to her thigh earlier on, because she did not have any pockets on her dress. She lifted the skirt of her dress, and un-strapped her phone. She noticed that James had been watching this enticing action of hers with amusement in his eyes. Pervert, she thought, as she smirked to herself.

She flipped her phone open and dialled Arthur. He answered impatiently. ‘Yeah Kath? I’m a bit busy at the moment.” Kathryn rolled her eyes. “You had better be busy Arthur, a bloody chopper just flew over my head which wasn’t authorised, and I heard a few gun shots. This is not a social call - and I want to know what the hell is going on. Now!”

He knew that he was going to get a phone call from her. He also knew that he should have rung them as soon as the alarms went off. “Look Kathryn, we have a situation here, and whoever caused the situation has just managed to get away.

Now, I need to contact the police and get them out here. I will come and find you once I know more, but right now, we need to get everyone off the property. Ok?” He hung up the phone in her ear.

‘GRRRR’, Kathryn said inside her head.

She turned to Lizzie, who was looking rather upset. “Apparently they have had a little situation, and we need to tell everyone to leave. The police will be arriving soon.” She could see a tear welling in Lizzie’s eye.

“What do you mean ‘a situation’?” She said, trying to be brave.

‘I’m not sure yet, he said that he would come and talk to us soon.” Kathryn looked over her shoulder to Wallace. She called him over and explained the little that she knew.

Wallace set off to find Walter so that they could get the people attending the Auction and drinks off the property.

Lizzie walked over to the tours tent, and asked for all tours to be cut short. She also said to the people who were on the tours that they could have their money back, and that they were welcome to arrange another time to have their tour taken personally by her and Kathryn.

Kathryn and Lizzie walked towards the house, and signalled to Michael and James that they were heading inside.

Kathryn’s mobile phone rang as they walked into the kitchen. Lizzie put the kettle on as she answered it. “Hello?”

“Kath, it’s me Arthur… Look, some things have been taken from the house. We have picked it up from some video footage taken in the passages. I’ll bring it all over now, so that you can see, but the police are on their way now and should be arriving soon. I think we better put the jug on.” Kathryn took a deep breath, and sat up at the bar. This is a frigging nightmare, she thought.

“Right, thanks Arthur. We are in the kitchen. Lizzie just put the jug on – see you soon.” She shut her phone. Lizzie was looking at her expectantly. “Well?” She said.

“Arthur just said that he is on his way over, and that the police are on their way as well. He also said that there were some items taken from the house, and that one of the cameras in the tunnels managed to catch the image.” Kathryn sighed. “This is a total nightmare Lizzie. What the hell are we going to do?”

Lizzie started made them a cup of tea. “We just have to wait and see Kath. The police will be able to sort it out.” She gazed out the window. She noticed that there were people leaving the Estate, and the music had stopped. The hire people were tidying up things, and she could see Wallace and Walter directing people off the property. They had obviously made an announcement to everyone, because everything was happening relatively quickly. She handed Kathryn her tea. “We should just stay put here, until we know more. Alright?” She patted Kathryn’s hand across the bench.

Their Grandparents walked into the kitchen. “I hear that we have a bit of a situation girls.” Grandpa said. “We thought that we better come and see how you are both doing. I just bumped into Wallace and he said that there had been a security breach.” He looked quite concerned.

Lizzie looked at him. “Yes grandpa, it does look like something’s happened. But we don’t know much yet – the boys are on there way over now.”

Grandma was maintaining her composure. “Right, well. I absolutely insist that you come over and stay with us.” She said. “At least until this matter has been sorted out.” She looked sternly at the girls.

“We will stay with you, depending on what has happened, and in which area of the house. Andrew and James are staying here as well, and you couldn’t possibly have absolutely everyone staying at your place…Not to mention Wallace.” Kathryn said to her grandparents.

“Look dear, we have enough room for everyone, but we shall just wait and see.” Their grandfather said.

Arthur and Walter walked into the kitchen, with a police detective and officer right behind them.

“Everybody?” Arthur said, addressing the room. “This is Detective Harvey, and Chief Inspector Cain.” They shook hands with everybody. “These two men will be looking after the investigation into the missing items.”

“Right everyone, you are not suspects in this, but we will need a set of each of your fingerprints, in order to narrow down the search.” Chief Inspector Cain said.

They fingerprinted everyone in the room. “Now, we would like to know who else has been in the main house today, and who else is staying here on the Estate.”

Detective Harvey said to the group. Kathryn got off her bar stool.

“I’m sorry Detective and Inspector, but our house has been open to the public today, therefore there could be a hundred sets of fingerprints that you could collect. I think that you have the main ones now, but you will need to collect Betty’s – she’s our Gardener and Cook, and also Michael Strathmore’s and James Parker’s as well. They are currently staying with us. Oh, and Wallace.” She added.

Inspector Cain cleared his throat. “I was under the impression from Walter here that

Wallace was your Dog, Ms De la Quoix? I hate to inform you, but we don’t normally collect fingerprints from canines.” He raised his eyebrows at her. Kathryn was getting rather put out. Bloody Walter, he was just getting back at her after this morning.

“Well detective,” She said walking up to him. “I would never dream of correcting you, but.” She paused. “Wallace is our Curator here at this Estate. And even if he was a dog – if it was going to help you solve the crime I would expect you to fingerprint him.” Kathryn walked behind the bar and got herself a gin & tonic. Fuck this, she thought. These people are chauvinistic arseholes.

Michael and James walked into the kitchen with Wallace close behind them.

James sidled up next to her behind the bar, and Michael and himself a whiskey.

Kathryn mumbled to him “These guys need to fingerprint you both, so you had better just get on with it,” she said. Wallace was clearly a bit bewildered about standing in front of two members of the police force, and for once in his life, he was speechless. They took everybody’s statements and spoke about the items, which were missing.

“One statue of King James, and One Tapestry taken off the wall from the Armoury.
Now, we are a little unsure as to whether anything else has been taken from the Estate, so if you could possibly alert us; that would be just splendid.” Detective

Harvey looked around the room. “Do any of you recognise this man?” he held up a grainy black and white photo of a man around the age of thirty. He had a hood on, but had very dark hair; dark eyes, and looked reasonably tall. The photo had been taken off the security camera in the tunnel, and his head almost touched the ceiling.

“Actually. Yes. I think I do.” Piped up Lizzie, who had been looking deep in
thought. “He was in the garden earlier today. He was admiring the house.”

“And, ah… Wh-when was this?” Detective Harvey stuttered.

“God, I don’t know. When I was out in the garden, I suppose. Must have been… around…12.30?” She said. And he was gorgeous too, she remembered. But she didn’t add this fact. “Is that helpful?” She asked Detective Harvey.

He cleared his throat. He was feeling all hot and sweaty around her. “Yes thank you.”

“Groovy.” Wallace muttered, looking at them.

Kathryn took a large swig from her drink, glancing at Lizzie. She couldn’t believe that this cop was hitting on Lizzie. What was the world coming to? “Right, dinner needs to be prepared, and we shall be having it at seven in the Winter Dining Room.” She looked about the room, and addressed the policeman. “If you don’t require any further information, you may join us for dinner.” She threw back the rest of her drink. “But, right now, I would like to go and get changed, so if you don’t mind - you can all go and amuse yourselves in the Library or the Living Room.” She grabbed one of Lizzie’s hands, and one of Wallace’s, and strutted out of the kitchen.

* * *

Kathryn, Lizzie, and Walter had just walked into Kathryn’s suite.

“Fuck!” Kathryn yelled, stamping her foot. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the fuck are we going to do?” She exclaimed. She threw back her glass of wine, and poured herself another.

“Oh my god, I just feel so invaded!” Wallace said dramatically, sitting on the sofa. “Fancy stealing from here, for heavens sake!” He took a big sip of wine. “Not to mention – they stole King James!”

“Your right though Kathryn.” Lizzie said calmly. “What are we going to do? Maybe we should leave for a while and let the professional’s do their job.”

“You know Lizzie; if they weren’t such ignorant bastards I would almost agree with you, but fancy thinking that Wallace was a fucking dog.” She turned on some music. “Bloody Walter. I think that I actually could have killed him right there on the
spot.”

Wallace sniffed and nodded in agreement.

“Alright Kathryn, that’s enough.” Lizzie said. She gave her a stern look. “I just think that maybe we should leave for a week, and see what happens.” Her mind was starting to tick. “We could go with Andrew and James, or we could go to The Villa?”

She was beginning to look as though this was just going to be a relaxing holiday or something. But going to The Villa wasn’t such a bad idea. Kathryn and Lizzie had bought a 5 bedroom villa in Monte Carlo when they were silly and just 19 years old and they were desperate to get away from everyone after their mother died. They did not listen to any advice that was given from anyone else, and just bought it.

Well, luckily for them, it turned out to be a good investment. They had paid about ₤2 million for it, but it had tripled in value in the past 6 years. They went down six or seven times a year to relax. Not to mention friends quite often used it as a holiday spot as well.

“Alright then.” Kathryn said. “We shall go. But – there is one little condition.” She looked at Wallace and Lizzie. “If anything happens with what’s going on here, I want us to fly back straight away. Ok?” They both nodded. Lizzie’s eyes had lit up, and Wallace was about to bubble over with excitement.

“Oh, and Wallace?” Kathryn said. “You are not coming, until you find out if anything else is missing. Then you may join us.” Wallace nodded in agreement.

‘That’s fine Kathryn, after all. I do have to earn my keep, don’t I? And if those coppers need any of my knowledge about the Estate or any of the items in it, they can ask me.” Lizzie said to him excitedly. “And then, when they have done that – they can take you to the Airport, so that you can fly down to us!”

“Darling, they can take me anywhere, anytime.” He smiled at them. “And don’t worry darlings, we shall get this all sorted out in no time.” He said.

“Well, we shall announce it at Dinner tonight then - that we are heading south the day after tomorrow.” Lizzie said.

Lizzie and Wallace left Kathryn’s suite to get changed before dinner. She could not believe that with a crisis like this was happening and she was buggering off on holiday. Well, not a holiday exactly – but to get a bit of space while they went through her things, and her house. She knew that Walter, Gran and Grandpa would look after everything for them. She still couldn’t quite believe that they had been robbed. And, of two absolutely priceless artefacts as well. They had chosen two things that were irreplaceable, that’s for sure, she thought. Whoever had them could sell them for an absolute fortune.

She was really angry about the whole thing, and felt like she had been taken advantaged of, and stabbed in the back. Lizzie had another thing coming if she thought that they were just going to open the house to anyone again. This had turned out to be a disaster. If it ever happened again in the future, they will have to put everything under lock and key. Not to mention fingerprint anyone who walks in the door.

She got changed out of her dress, and walked out onto the deck, and sat down. It was about half past six, and she was feeling shattered. She poured another glass of wine and lit a cigarette.

* * *

Lizzie had gotten changed and decided to go and help Betty in the kitchen. She walked in, plonked herself on a barstool. “Need a hand?” She said.

Betty was stirring a pot of pasta. “Nah darling, everything is under control in here.”

Betty had lived on the Estate for about 15 years, give, or take a year or two. She had a wee cottage not far from the Riding School that she lived in. “Spag Bol for dinner tonight Liz.’ She announced. ”Nice and simple.” Lizzie smiled at her, and started getting plates, and cutlery organised.

“Thank you Betty.” She said. She took the plates, and cutlery into the dining room.

Everyone was standing around in there, having a glass of wine in front of the fire, and chatting amongst themselves. Lizzie was feeling worn out from today, and all she wanted to do was eat and go to bed.

She called everyone’s attention. “Excuse me everybody, I would just like to say something.” She cleared her throat. “Kathryn and I have decided that until this thing is resolved with the missing artefacts, we shall get out of everybody’s hair and go south to Monte Carlo for a while.” She could see that everyone was a little shocked.

She spoke clearly and concisely. “We have both decided that it would be best if we left, as this is very emotional, and we both feel our home has been invaded. I would also like to say, that I am pleased with how today has been handled, and apart from the mishap that has occurred the rest of the day went splendidly.” She smiled, and turned and addressed Chief Inspector Cain and Detective Harvey. “Kathryn and I will be available anytime you need us; all you need to do is call. We will answer anything you need, and if you need us to come back to England, then we can do so as well.” They nodded in agreement with her.

“That’s just grand Lizzie darling. Grand.” Michael said, giving her a hug around her shoulders. “James and I shall accompany you to Monte Carlo. We could even get Lucy down. She loves The Villa there.” He said looking for Kathryn’s approval. Kathryn nodded to him and James.

‘You are more than welcome to come with us; we just thought that it would be better if we weren’t here. And Arthur?” She said. Arthur looked at her.

“I want you to heighten security here at Château de Lumière, as I am sure that there were other pieces which I am sure they wanted, but couldn’t take. Do you agree?” He gave her the thumbs up.

“Absolutely - No problem.” He said smiling at her; he knew that she was having a rough time.

“Right then, Wallace will assist the police in any way he can, and then he shall join us in Monte Carlo. Walter, I would like the Riding School to operate as normal while we are not here please.” She said. “And on that note, Dinner is ready, so we should eat, and head off to bed.” She sat down at the table, and took a large sip of wine.

She was feeling a tad tipsy. James sat down beside her, and rubbed her shoulders.

“Oh God James, I’m just so buggered.” She said to him.

“I know. I know.” He said to her soothingly. “Dinner and up to bed I think, for you. You and I can have breakfast in the morning and sort some things out. Alright?” he looked at her with concern.

“Thank you James. I would appreciate it.” She said earnestly to him.

“Good then. Now Eat and I will come and wake you up in the morning.” He gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

* * *