Chapter 15

Mike and Hazel had arranged to take Jack and Sue to the Minack, the open air theatre located on the cliffs in the west of the county. They had been there a few times and had talked about the various performances that they had seen and how, once, the show had been overshadowed by a pod of dolphins swimming by and on another memorable occasion a huge thunderstorm had come out of no-where and left everyone soaked through. Jack and Sue were excited to go and Sue managed to get ready extra quickly so that when she arrived at the drawing room there was only Frances there. Sue hadn't realised that she and Lionel were back and because of Frances' attitude towards her on the first night had tried to avoid her company. She was tempted to step out of the room before she was spotted, however, one look at Frances' face showed Sue that she quite unhappy and Sue being Sue couldn't let it be without trying to help.

"Hi Frances, you're back," she began. "How was your trip? You went to see some gardens didn't you?"

"It was fine," replied Frances.

"What was the journey like, the sea wasn't too rough was it?" asked Sue, desperately trying to think of something to say.

"No the sea was fine," the answers were short and to the point.

"Good, I thought it may have been a little choppy. I hope you don't mind me saying but you do look a little under the weather. I thought you might still be feeling a little sea sick." She explained.

"No. But thank you for asking."

Sue looked towards the ceiling for inspiration but nothing came. Frances looked nervous, her hand moving towards her throat then away again. She saw Sue watching her.

"I lost my necklace," she said. "I keep forgetting then I go to hold it…" she shrugged. Sue began to nod and then said, "What sort of necklace was it?"

"A locket, my late husband gave it to me. I feel quite lost without it." Quickly, Sue stood up and went to her bag that she had left on a sofa near the door. Reaching inside she pulled out the necklace that Millie had found and handed it to Frances.

"Millie found this a few days ago by the river. Is it yours?" Frances' eyes lit up and tears appeared as she nodded, she took it from Sue's hand and opened it up.

"Our initials," she said. "Frances and Louis. Louis gave it to me on our first anniversary and I've worn it ever since. I wondered where I'd lost it, the catch isn't very secure you see." Sue nodded understandingly, "I feel the same about my cross," she said. "My dad gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday and I couldn't not wear it now." There was a pause in the conversation and Sue was just about to get up and go and look for Jack when Frances spoke. "I'm sorry about that first night, I was rude to you. I have no excuse apart from being in a bad temper. I thought Lionel had asked me here to be kind, but he hadn't and I was cross at being duped again."

"I don't understand," said Sue. "Has Lionel taken you places before pretending to be kind? I thought he was your cousin? Surely you must meet up a lot at family events."

"He's only a distant cousin, I have no connection to Alex at all. In fact it was Louis who knew Lionel, the family connection only came to light a long time after we were introduced. I don't like Lionel, he used to take Louis to a casino he was a member of and the races and other things. We didn't have much money and Louis wasn't lucky but Lionel was always throwing his cash around. It gave Louis ideas. We quarrelled about it the night Louis died then Lionel came and 'smoothed things over'. Why would he have to do that if everything was ok?" her voice was becoming higher and higher but before Sue could say anything to calm her down Aunt Judith came into the room. She looked at Sue before putting her arm around Frances and gently led her out of the room. Sue was concerned about what Frances had revealed to her but was unsure about how she could be of any help. She looked at the clock and saw that she was still too early and so decided to go back to her room and read for a while.

Just as she reached the door to their corridor Jack came jogging up the stairs, he had obviously been running and needed to wash and change before they could go out. He noticed that Sue looked thoughtful and asked her what was up.

"Nothing really, I've just been talking to Frances and she has got me a little concerned that's all," she explained.

"Talk to me about it," said Jack leading her into his room and inviting her to sit on the sofa. Sue explained that the necklace she had found belonged to Frances. "I said that I had found it by the river and she accepted that but I think Millie found it in the tunnel and if she did then how did France know where the tunnel was and what was she doing in there? There seems to be a lot of people who know about the tunnels which is odd if Jason and Alex spent most of their youth looking for them without success." Jack nodded. "And then there was the bit about her husband and Lionel, I got the impression that something wasn't right about the way he died, that something was hushed up. And then the way Judith came and took her away as if she didn't want her to talk to me. I'm worried."

Jack took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "I agree there is a lot to think about there and I know you want to help but is now the right time?" he began. "We have other things to sort out first. I don't like the thought that Lionel may have some sort of hold over her but until Dessa is caught we have to focus on that."

Sue nodded, "I know, but I'm still going to keep an eye on her, just in case and if she needs a friend then I will be there."

"I know and you wouldn't be you if you didn't want to help. Now, if will excuse me I intend to have a quick shower and get changed. I'll see you in the drawing room in about fifteen minutes?" He gave her a hug. "You are right to worry about her Sue and if anyone can help her it will be you." Sue smiled and left the room. She felt much better now that she had shared her concerns with Jack.

The weather remained perfect for the performance and the sun shining on the calm sea added to the atmosphere of the theatre. The play was well acted and the audience was invited to join in at certain times, Sue was particularly pleased to see that this performance had a sign language interpreter though of course this was in BSL rather than ASL. As they were about to leave the theatre Mike pointed towards the sky where dark rainclouds were beginning to gather. "The weather is about to change," he said. "Shame, it looks like it might be a wet ball tomorrow, it's going to be quite chaotic if we are all confined to the house."

"Oh don't be so pessimistic," laughed Hazel. "I bet that it will have cleared up by lunchtime tomorrow and it won't dampen the ball at all."

"I agree," said Sue decidedly. Jack smiled but he was worried, not about the weather or the ball but for the fact that tomorrow was one of the days that had been highlighted for some form of terrorist activity and they still didn't know what.