Milly had to agree. ‘Maybe I imagined it.’
‘Where’s the key?’ he said dully.
They hunted around, under stones and in nooks and crannies, but to no avail. The girls turned to go.
‘Hang on a minute,’ said Seebold. ‘Milly, now that your mother has moved out, you own this place, right?’
‘It was always her place,’ said Lena. ‘Just not officially until she turns twenty-one.’
‘And I’m not twenty-one for a couple of years yet,’ Milly reminded them.
‘But the Trustees say you can live here if you want now that your mother has vacated it,’ said Seebold.
Milly nodded.
‘So I’m asking you, as the owner of this land: do I have your permission to break this door down?’
Despite being extremely old, the door didn’t yield easily. Seebold had to use a stone to bash the lock until part of the frame splintered, then at last it swung open.
It took a moment or two to get used to the dim interior, and then they began to look around. On a small desk, they found writing paper, envelopes and pens. In a drawer there were some photographs but, without light, it was impossible to see what they were. Seebold walked around the perimeter of the room, searching for a light switch. There didn’t appear to be one, but there was a Tilley lamp and some matches on a shelf. As soon as he lit it, the room was flooded with a low yellow light and the girls continued to sift through what was on the desk.
Seebold put the lamp down and went to the back of the room. There, on top of a wooden crate, was a radio receiver. Milly took in her breath noisily.
‘Oh, my Lord!’ Lena cried. ‘Is that what I think it is?’
Seebold nodded. ‘It bloody is. It’s a radio. You’re right, Milly. The man has got to be a spy.’
He ran his fingers over it and, as soon as he’d worked out how to switch it on, he began fiddling with the knobs. ‘See what else you can find.’
The first thing the girls noticed was a little red book at the back of the desk. Lena flicked through the pages. ‘It’s just names,’ she said. ‘Loads and loads of names.’
Milly leaned over her shoulder. ‘Kressman Dryden, he’s the local verger,’ she said pointing her finger. ‘Sir Maurice Shearsby, that’s Lady Verity’s husband.’
‘There’s a little star next to his name. What does that mean?’
Milly shook her head. ‘There’s another star next to that name. What’s that written underneath?’
Lena turned the book around. ‘Jew lover.’
The two girls looked at each other in horror. ‘You don’t think . . .?’ Milly gasped.
‘I think perhaps I do,’ said Lena.
Seebold was working his way along the wall. Whoever had been in the ice house had also been using it for storage. There were several bulky-looking objects under dustsheets. Seebold pulled off a cover to reveal an oil painting. ‘Just look at this.’
Because there wasn’t much light, the painting was unrecognisable. There were others behind it.
‘Why are these in here?’ Lena asked. ‘Do you think they could be part of some sort of eighteenth-century smuggling haul?’
‘They’re much more recent than that,’ Milly cried. ‘I recognise the picture behind that big frame. It comes from the art college. It’s one of the treasures I helped to put in the secret hiding place on the Gallops. Somebody obviously found it and nicked it – it was definitely put into the tunnel before it was sealed up. I was there when they did it.’
Milly and Lena stared at each other with the same name unspoken on their lips. They all jumped as the radio suddenly crackled into life. They had no idea what was being said, but the voice was guttural and distinctly German in origin.
All at once a shadow fell across the doorway, blocking the light. ‘Right, you lot,’ a man’s voice said. ‘Come on out of there. This is the police.’
Chapter 41
‘Is that you, Inspector Young?’ said Milly, recognising his voice. ‘It’s Milly and Lena Shepherd and Mr Flowers. Before we come out, you might like to come in here and see what we’ve found.’
The inspector and Constable Cox stepped into the ice house, and Milly wasted no time in explaining what the three of them were doing, and in showing them the notebooks, the photographs and the stolen paintings.
‘Go back to the house and get on the blower, Cox,’ the DI said curtly. ‘Tell them to send a couple of cars and get someone from Scotland Yard to come down here. I hate to think what this man’s been up to.’
‘Anyway, what are you doing here, Inspector?’ asked Milly.
‘We had a telephone call from your mother,’ he said. ‘She and your sister heard intruders in the grounds.’
‘My mother is in the house?’ Milly gasped.
‘Come to collect the last of her things before she and your sister move.’
If Milly was irritated by that, she didn’t show it. She thought her mother had cleared everything out before Nan’s funeral, but it didn’t really matter.
They secured the door of the ice house as best as they could, although no one was really worried that anyone would tamper with the things inside. Nobody came this way, unless they either lived or worked in the house, and Freddie was still under lock and key. After that they went down to Muntham Court.
As soon as Pearl opened the door, the inspector walked in. ‘No need to worry, miss. The intruders turned out to be your sister and her friends having a wander round.’
As the others walked in with Nipper trailing behind them, Agatha leapt to her feet.
