Hearts and Diamonds Read Free Page B

though? How can you have a funeral for an anonymous skeleton?’
    ‘We could try and find out,’ he suggested. ‘Bet Harville would know something about it. It’s probably some great grandma of his.’
    ‘No, the forensic people said she’d never given birth.’
    ‘Probably one of their maids. Them Harvilles probably treated them like dirt and chucked their bodies into the cellar once they’d worked ’em to death.’
    Jenna took some cups from the cupboard.
    ‘I know we all love the Harvilles,’ she said. ‘But we shouldn’t go making assumptions. I wish I did know though. Lawrence did mention something about a tragic first wife somewhere in the family tree who committed suicide. It could be her, couldn’t it? I mean, the vicar would have refused to bury her in consecrated ground. Perhaps they just couldn’t think of anything better to do with her.’
    Jason snorted. ‘They’ve got a bloody huge garden. Might have been better than leaving her down there with the rats.’
    ‘True. It does smack of something that they wanted to hide. Whoever “they” might be. Oh God, I hate mysteries. I’m not sure I can cope with this one. I want to know who she is.’
    ‘Perhaps darling Lawrence could help,’ said Jason with a sniff.
    ‘Er, I don’t think he’s going to have a lot to say to me, not now. Why don’t we go down into the cellar again? See if there are any other clues in there.’
    ‘Don’t you think those forensic guys will have done that already?’
    ‘No, and they aren’t coming back. The body’s been found to be too old for them to pursue it. I mean, we’ve all heard of cold cases, but this one is bloody freezing. They’ll leave it to amateur detectives like us rather than waste their own resources.’
    ‘Speak for yourself. When did I ever claim to be an amateur detective?’ Jason folded his arms, apparently displeased with the entire affair.
    ‘I’ll go down by myself, then,’ said Jenna, misgivings striking her as soon as she spoke the words. Did she really want to do that?
    He raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing.
    She swallowed. This had become a challenge.
    ‘Seriously,’ she said, but her voice faltered. ‘Unless . . . you want to come with me?’
    He laughed. ‘No, no, sweetheart. This is your baby. I’ll be upstairs finishing off my frescoes.’
    ‘Right. I’ll, ah, go and get changed then. Into something I can get cobwebs all over without caring.’
    She turned and marched up the stairs.
    ‘Hope there’s nothing worse than cobwebs,’ he called after her. ‘Maybe some tough gloves in case of rat bites.’
    She almost vomited on the step but managed to keep her gorge down. It was a good point, though, and she put on her toughest jeans, thickest socks and a pair of leather driving gloves, just in case. She covered her head with a scarf to avoid getting too much dirt in her hair, and put on a dust mask, thankful for the decorating supplies she had in the house.
    Jason, happily, had gone by the time she emerged from the room, dressed for combat. He would have laughed at her, she was sure.
    But when she came out to the kitchen patio, she felt his absence with a pang. It would have been good to have a companion for this task. Even though the bones were gone, she couldn’t help feeling that there would be a disturbing vibe down there. It could be a murder scene, for all she knew.
    Her skin crawled with dread as she crouched to tug at the iron ring in the floor. It was no longer locked, as it had been since she moved into the house. Now its darkest secret had been given up, there didn’t seem much point in keeping it secure. Jenna hadn’t given the remaining contents of the cellar much attention after the bones had made themselves so horribly evident, but she had a vague sense of lots of boxes and shelves, mainly containing paper and old books.
    The slab took its time coming up, Jenna making sure she kept her spine straight and knees bent as she tugged. Jason had