Ford looked doubtful. Amanda nodded.
‘You can trust the inspector, Ryan. And I am sure your parents will feel so much better knowing that this is all over. Your mother’s name will not appear in any official report.’
Ryan sighed. ‘You’re right, of course. But the Flamgoynes … I did hear …’
‘The Flamgoynes are brought low, their clan is broken. They will never again have the power to threaten you or your family,’ Amanda promised.
She should know, thought Trelawney, with wry accuracy.
The next day, anxious to put the strain of 30 years at last to rest, Elizabeth and Edward Ford arrived at Madley Towers, and gave Trelawney the off-the-record testimony he needed.
Elizabeth, however, was unable to answer one question. How the Flamgoynes knew about her meeting with Senara Cadabra, which had been made after dark and in secrecy. She had waited in her car until she was sure no one was around. No, Mr Flamgoyne would not tell her how he knew that she had been with Mrs Cadabra.
Amanda and Trelawney left the Towers, with the final link in the chain from Senara to the Flamgoynes still to be found.
Chapter 46
The Glass Speaks
Amanda, putting on her seatbelt in the Mondeo beside Trelawney, asked, ‘So what do we do now?’
‘Go back to Pasco is all I can —’
Amanda’s phone rang: Aunt Amelia inviting them over urgently. In fifteen minutes they were at her door.
‘Sweeties!’ she greeted them, eyes alight with excitement. ‘Come in, come and sit at the round table.’
They hurried out of their coats and sat one on either side of Amelia. The great globe of crystal sat before her.
‘The glass has begun to show me … Look! Are you seeing?’
‘Yes,’ answered Thomas, in surprise.
‘Er, …’ replied Amanda, ‘it’s a bit cloudy … oh … ah … yes, I see it!’
The story began playing out before them:
‘It’s my cottage,’ commented Amanda. ‘Must be the past. The wisteria is smaller … and that’s me in my little booster chair Grandpa made me. It’s still in the attic.’
Observing bacon, eggs and mustard on the dining-table, she went on, ‘It’s breakfast time — Granny still had a bit of red in her hair then, look at that — Granny’s looking around towards the hall … I wish you could get sound on this thing, Aunt Amelia.’
‘Make the most of what you can see, my dear.’
‘Granny’s getting up … she’s got letters … I suppose people wrote more in those days … She’s opened that greyish — Can we zoom in, Aunt?’
‘Just ask it, Ammee.’
‘Zoom in.’
No change.
‘Show us the letter,’ said Thomas, without thinking. At once the page in Senara’s hand was magnified.
‘Wow,’ remarked Amanda, impressed. ‘How did you do that?’
‘I really don’t know. Look … it’s … it must be from your parents …’ The glass had homed in on one particular sentence:
We demand the return of our daughter Amanda by the end of the month.
‘Oh, my word!’ she exclaimed.
The scene had changed. Amanda was now in Perran’s arms, the two of them waving off the blue Austin estate as Senara drove away.
‘That’s the Tamar Bridge.’ Trelawney pointed out. ‘She’s crossing into Cornwall.’
Now the ball showed an interior scene.
‘That’s one of Dad’s holiday cottages,’ Thomas remarked.
‘And Granny’s at her old Imperial typewriter. I’ve still got that in the attic.’
‘Don’t you ever throw anything away?’ he asked.
‘You’re right, Inspector. I should give my old chair to Amir. Can you ask it to show us what Granny’s typing?’
‘Show us —’ Before Thomas could finish his request, it was done.
Amanda read quickly. ‘It’s the exact wording that Granny said was in the poisoned letters she and Grandpa got, isn’t it?
Transport will arrive at your address on 9th September at 9 o’clock in the
morning. From there you will be taken to a location, where you will learn something to your advantage. It is essential, however, that all members of your family be present.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Trelawney.
Suddenly, the ball went dark.
Amanda was alarmed. ‘Is that the end? Aunt Amelia!’
‘It’s all right, Ammee. Just wait.’
Sure enough, a streetlight appeared, and then another: a line of them. On the left, a soft glow emanated from a window. A car arriving … parking near the house. A woman … in black hat and coat, a gleam of blonde hair on the collar … looking left and right … going to the door. It was opened by Senara. Quickly, they vanished inside and the door shut.
The globe appeared to rotate across the street to a bus shelter. A couple, from deep in the shadows, unwind from an embrace. A girl leans out into the amber glow from the streetlamp and stares across at the house. For a moment, the crystal ball showed her clearly:
A mass of dark curly hair falling onto a red-collared coat, matching lipstick, a little turned up nose and long eyelashes. She was at least a head shorter than her companion. She withdrew once more into the shadows, and the glass clouded.
Amelia leaned back.
‘That last bit must be important.’
‘Who is she? Do you recognise her, Aunt?’
‘No, but you must remember that I left Cornwall a very long time ago. Mean anything to you, Thomas?’
‘No. But I’m hoping she will to someone.’ He was thinking of asking his grandparents. Amelia was already on her phone.
‘Kyt? Yes, I’m fine, my dear … Yes, yes, we’re all fine ... all here. Look, I need to give you a description so you can go and ask old Pasco if it rings any bells, OK? Got a paper and pen? ...’ She reeled off an accurate depiction of the girl at the bus stop.
There was a pause. Then Amelia put Kyt on speaker and his voice came through.
‘Thomas? You there?’
‘Yes, Dad.’
‘No need to ask Pasco. I know who she was.’
Chapter 47
Closing the Case, Beginning the Aftermath
Fortunately, Ryan’s parents were still at Madley Towers, when Trelawney called. He
