Free Lane's End by Jill Paterson Page B

so sorry, darling. Is there any word?’
    ‘No, Theo. Nothing yet. I’m just trying to retrace Emma’s steps before she disappeared. One of her friends said she came to see you recently.’ Ben sat down on a stool next to the table of bric-a-brac.
    ‘That’s right, she did. It was last Monday morning around ten o’clock. We’d never met before. She’s a lovely girl, Ben. I liked her immediately. Very straight forward and to the point.  A good attribute to have when you’re a freelance journalist, I imagine.’
    ‘What did you want to see you about, Theo?’
    ‘She wanted to ask me about your mother because she said she plans to include her in a book she’s working on about Australian artists. She said she hoped I could provide her with some background information on her early work. I was able to help her with background, of course, but as far as her work was concerned, I failed miserably. I can’t say I’ve ever been interested in any form of art so I took little interest in your mother’s talent. All I could tell Emma was that your mother spent a lot of time at Lane’s End and that she used the cottage for her studio. And that she adored the place, of course. Anyway, that wasn’t quite what Emma had in mind, so I suggested she speak to your Uncle Sebastian. After all, he’d known your mum the longest.’
    ‘I didn’t know that,’ replied Ben, with growing interest. ‘But then I know very little about my mother. Other than Laura giving Joanna and me the barest of facts, no one’s ever spoken of her.’
    ‘So I understand. It’s almost as though your Dad wanted to erase all memory of her, so painful was her death to him. I must say, it did become clear, early on, to Emerson and me that there wasn’t to be any discussion about her and the way in which she died. Ever . So, of course, we honoured your father’s wishes.’
    ‘What do you know about her death, Theo?’
    ‘The little I do know, Amanda Marsh told me. She was your mother’s housekeeper at the time. But you know that. She said she and your mother had taken you and Joanna to Lane’s End for the long weekend. It was a Friday morning so your Dad was to follow later in the day after he’d finished work in the city. I don’t know all the details, only that your mother was found to be missing that afternoon by Sebastian. At the time, the police suspected foul play because your parents’ gardener went missing after the alarm was raised.’
    ‘Gardener? I don’t remember any gardener.’
    ‘That’s not surprising. You couldn’t have been much more than six years old at the time.’
    ‘What happened when the police found him?’ asked Ben.
    ‘Well, that’s just it. They didn’t.’ Theodora looked back down at the table she was rearranging.
    ‘So, what happened with the police investigation?’
    ‘As far as I know, the case was never solved.’
    ‘Meaning no real closure for my father.’
    ‘No,’ replied Theodora, thoughtfully. ‘I think that was one of the most difficult things for him. Not knowing what really happened to your mother. Whether she fell or...’
    Ben sensed Theodora’s discomfort. ‘You mean it was never made clear how she died?’
    Theodora looked awkwardly at Ben. ‘I’m really not the one you should talk to about this. Really, I’m not. Whatever I know, or think I know, I’ve heard from others.
    ‘Tell me anyway.’
    Theodora sighed. ‘All I know is that the Coroner couldn’t decide whether your mother had accidentally fallen from the cliff, was pushed or...’
    ‘Or what?’ Ben glared at Theodora. ‘You mean it was thought she might have committed suicide? God! No wonder Dad never got over it. He’d have wondered whether he’d done something to cause her death.’
    ‘I believe he did,’ replied Theodora. ‘A terrible thought for him to live with.’
    Ben got to his feet. ‘Thanks for telling me, Theo. It helps make some sense of a lot of the past.’
    ‘It hasn’t helped as far as Emma is