Deadly Deceit by Jean Harrod Page B

back to the door, and put her ear against it. No sound. She unlocked the door and crept out onto the landing. Total darkness. She listened again. There was no-one there, but she could feel a cool draught of air floating up the staircase. Where was it coming from? Eyes attuned to the darkness, she went down the stairs and followed the draught along the hallway, and into the kitchen, where the back door stood wide open.
    What on earth?
    She hurried over and peered outside. Through the rain, she saw a light moving around in the distance. It looked like a flashlight. Then it faded and disappeared.
    Her feet suddenly felt wet. She bent down and touched the tiled floor. She was standing in a puddle of water.
    Her stomach fluttered. Someone must have come in through this door from the rain, and gone out again. Quickly, she slammed the door shut and threw the top and bottom bolts.
    Feeling around the walls, she found the light switch and flicked it on. Her eyes watered in the glare, but she could see nothing out of place. None of the cupboards or drawers was open, or ransacked. She went into the dining room and switched on the lights. Same there. In the main reception room, everything was neat and tidy too.
    There was no sign of any forced entry, which meant someone must have got in with a key. Perhaps Maggie had forgotten something and come back for it? But she wouldn’t go out and leave the back door wide open, would she? It didn’t make sense.
    Jess was in two minds as to what to do. Should she call someone? And say what? That someone had been in the house, but there was no forced entry and nothing apparently missing. Who would she call anyway? She decided to wait until morning.
    She climbed the stairs back up to her room. Passing the landing window that overlooked the front entrance, she noticed a light on in the Governor’s Office at the end of the drive. Who was working at that time of night? Perhaps David was trying to clear his desk before leaving in the morning? Yes, she thought, that was likely. It cheered her up to think a colleague was close by.
    She went back into her room and flicked on the light. As soon as the darkness and shadows were banished, she felt even better. But that didn’t stop her checking the bathroom, inside the wardrobe and under the bed to make sure no-one was there. This time she locked the door, securely.
    Oh God, she suddenly thought. Perhaps David had been in the house? Had he popped his head round her bedroom door and seen her naked? She got up again and slipped on her nightdress. She’d just have to put up with the heat.
    She lay back on the bed. The breeze from the ceiling fan chilled her damp skin and made her shiver. She was overwrought with travelling, that’s all. But she was even less sleepy now than before.
    Lying there, her eyes cast lazily around the room. As they settled on a chair in the corner, she sat bolt upright again.
    A rag doll was sitting on the chair, propped up against the cushion.
    Where had that come from? It hadn’t been there earlier. She would definitely have noticed it. Her mind flashed back to what the Chief Justice said at dinner about poppet dolls and bad spirits. Voodoo? Her heart quickened again.
    She got up and went over to the doll. It was made entirely of black cloth, and plumped up with some kind of stuffing. It had two buttons sewn on for eyes, and two strips of red material for lips, in the shape of a smile. As Jess picked it up, sand sprinkled out of the doll’s black hair. It’s red gingham dress felt wet too.
    She put it back on the chair. This was no voodoo doll to stick pins in, this was a child’s toy. Suddenly that sound in the fog of sleep earlier came back to her. Had she heard a real child crying? Or was her memory just playing tricks?
    A familiar wave of sadness came over her. She went over to the wardrobe and pulled a framed photo out of her suitcase. Staring at Jack and Amy, she brushed her lips across the glass before standing it on the