The tension in the hall was thick enough to cut into slices. Simon and Daisy appeared transfixed with each other. Daisy stepping into the hall and dropping down her overnight bag as if she were in a trance and Simon standing there, his hand still on the open door, staring at her as though she were a vision.
Anna greeted her with warmth; at least here was someone who was on her side. Simon closed the door and Daisy hugged her, though Anna felt her attention was not on her. She said, ‘Oh Daisy, I’m so pleased to see you, I’d forgotten you were coming.’
‘That’s encouraging, I only rang you an hour or so ago,’ Daisy laughed.
Freddie said, ‘Cathie found a silver thing in the drawer and it could have been put there by the thief from the castle.’
‘What?’ Daisy put her arm round him, ‘You’ve lost me, Freddie, explain slowly.’
Simon pulled himself together. ‘It’s good to see you again, Daisy. We had a robbery during the wedding in the castle yesterday and a piece of silver, a cream jug, has been found here and…’
Cathie said desperately, ‘Anna caught the thief yesterday and now a piece from the castle has been found here, in the flat.’
Daisy frowned, ‘Did the thief come in here, to the flat then?’
‘No, but…’ Cathie began.
Simon broke in quickly, ‘There’s bound to be an explanation.’
Daisy started to take off her coat and Simon helped her, and though it was just a simple thing Anna could feel the tense excitement between them, though Daisy barely looked at him and, taking Freddie’s hand, went into the living room and stood by the fire, saying how lovely and comforting it was after her gloomy drive.
Cathie appeared agitated, trying to work out who this woman was who’d suddenly appeared on the scene and had captured Simon’s attention.
The bell went again and Julius and Nell came in.
‘What’s up?’ Julius said to Luke who had opened the door.
‘You’d better ask Simon,’ Luke said.
‘OK, Simon, let’s have it,’ Julius said, seeing Simon about to go into the living room.
Simon turned back rather reluctantly to speak to him.
Anna pushed forward. ‘Something very odd has happened,’ she said firmly, not looking at Cathie, but certain now that she had something to do with it. ‘I asked everyone in for soup and when we’d eaten Cathie opened a drawer in that cupboard and found a silver cream jug in there that’s come from the castle.’
Julius stared at her. ‘A silver jug? But that might be Philly’s.’
‘No, it’s not, it’s got the castle crest on and it wasn’t there yesterday or any of the days I’ve been here,’ Anna was defiant.
Julius and Nell followed her into the kitchen. The jug was gleaming on the table.
Anna picked it up and handed it to him. ‘I have no idea how it got there. The drawer it was found in is for the linen and stuff and it certainly was not there yesterday or any other day,’ she repeated.
Nell said, ‘It is from the castle and Tessa and I noticed it was missing when we put the rest of the silver back in the safe. We made a note of it and were going to check to see if it was among the haul taken by that woman, how did it end up here?’ She turned to Anna, her face troubled. ‘That woman didn’t get in here, did she?’
‘No, the door was locked whilst I was at the wedding,’ Anna said.
Julius was looking at the jug as if it could tell him itself how it got there. He turned to Cathie. ‘So you found it, Cathie. Was it easy to see, or hidden under these cloths?’
Cathie looked awkward. ‘I… I don’t remember,’ she said, her mouth stiff with defiance.
Daisy joined them in the kitchen, she said, ‘Hello, I’ve just arrived; I’m Philly’s niece, Daisy. I think she did inherit some silver from her parents. I suppose it could be part of that.’
‘No,’ Nell said. ‘It’s definitely come from the castle.’
Daisy shrugged, ‘Well then I don’t know.’ She flashed Anna a look of concern.
Freddie, who’d been showing Daisy the Lego train he’d made, came into the room. ‘Is there a thief here then, perhaps hiding somewhere?’ He looked nervous.
Julius and Nell exchanged glances.
‘No, Freddie,’ Nell said, ‘but we just want to find out how it got here.’ She smiled at him.
Julius said, ‘I think we’ll all… but, Anna, you stay here with Freddie and Daisy, we’ll go and discuss this in Nell’s office. I’ll come back later.’ He gave them a tense smile and everyone went into the hall to collect up their coats and boots to leave.
Simon lingered behind a moment. ‘Thank you, Anna, for the delicious soup, and don’t worry, we’ll resolve it.’ He smiled at her, but his eyes strayed over to Daisy. ‘Good to see you, Daisy,’ he said quietly.
‘And you,’ Daisy said, and Anna felt as if she were somehow intruding.