Chapter 1

The taxi took a sudden right turn. I heard gravel under the tires and saw a brightly lit house silhouetting dark trees and so surmised than the driver had turned into someone’s drive. I knew that Derek had done well for himself since moving down south, but a tree lined drive was impressive. It was even more impressive that it took nearly five minutes to actually wind our way to the top.
We pulled up in front of a three storied granite house. It looked to be several hundred years old, with pillars either side of the tall hall door and large Georgian windows. It was probably built as the country seat of some lord, or wealthy industrialist.
I began to think that the driver had brought me to the wrong place.
“Are you sure this is Morcome Hall?” I asked.
“This is the place, guv’,” came the gruff reply.
I like to travel light. So all I only had a small hold all with a couple of changes of clothes and toiletries in it. It seemed pretty meagre compared to the granite might of this imposing building. Reaching to the back seat behind me I pulled my bag into the front of the car. I looked out the window again as I slipped the strap over my shoulder. This was not what I’d been expecting when Derek, an old school friend of my big brother’s, had suggested I’d come down south and do some work for him. At the time the offer had seemed infinitely preferable to staying unemployed at home. But now when it came to taking the last few steps I’d suddenly gotten very cold feet.
Derrick might have done well for himself recently. But surely he couldn’t have done so well that he could be living in a millionaire’s mansion. I asked the driver again if this was the correct address. He was a bit short in his answer, but I had no option except to believe that he knew where he was. I’d been lost ever since we’d left the train station.
I paid the fare, got out and looked around. It was a couple of hours after sunset so I couldn’t make out much of the grounds. But the neighbours either didn’t have any lights on or lived a fair bit away. I looked up again at the house as the taxi crunched gravel and pulled away. The person who lives here must have a fortune. So either Derrick had struck gold or he’d robbed a bank, because there was no way he could have made that much money out of landscape gardening. Even with the inflated prices they charge!
Feeling very unsure of myself I climbed the steps to the door. There seemed to be a party going on, as I could hear loud music thumping away in the depths of the house. Ringing the doorbell seemed a waste of time with all that racket going on, but I did so anyway.
I waited a couple of minutes. There was no answer. I waited some more. Still nobody came. So I rang the bell again. And waited and thought that I should go away. But I had no place else to go to, except back home, and I didn’t want to admit defeat and go running back to my mother with my tail between my legs. Then I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. I pushed at it gently and it swung open a few inches, letting a wedge of yellow light spring out. I cleared my throat loudly, then felt foolish. I pushed the door again and looked past it into the hall.
All I could see was the black and white tiles of the floor and a small mahogany hall table against the wall with a gold framed mirror hanging over it.
There was nobody in sight. Looking around one last time to make sure I was alone, I gingerly put one hand on to the door and pushed again. It swung open fully and I stepped into the large hall. The tiles on the floor were brightly polished, reflecting the crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. The hall was two stories high and a wide marble staircase climbed up the middle to a balcony that ran the width of the hall. Several dark wooden doors could be seen on the balcony from where I stood, but they were all closed.
Now that I’d entered I didn’t know whether to wait here to be discovered or to do some exploring. There were two double doors on either side of the hall and another smaller, single door at the back underneath the balcony. All made from the same dark stained wood and all firmly closed. It seemed especially empty with all the party noises that emanated from further back in the house.
I decided to play for time by closing the front door behind me, though I left the lock on the latch as I’d found it.