Page 15 of The Chapel of Bones

Wesley nodded in understanding and moved a cardboard file from the sofa, placing it on the pine coffee table in front of him.

Gerry came straight to the point. ‘I understand you gave evidence at the inquest of your cousin, Timothy Fontescue-Burns.’

‘That’s right. I was studying at Oxford at the time, but I came home for the inquest. Tim was fifteen years older than me, but I’d known him from when I was little. He’d always been . . . a bit wild. His mother, Evelyn, was my father’s younger sister. She married an artist called Burns and they moved to the south of France, but he was killed in a plane crash when Tim was ten.She eventually came back to the UK with Tim and they lived in Neston. Tim got in with a New Age crowd there and eventually started his own commune. His mother came to live here at the hall, but eight years ago she was diagnosed with cancer, and she died six month later. My parents looked after her at the end.’

‘Do your parents still live here?’ Wesley asked, curious.

‘Oh yes. They’re in the lodge. As for my Aunt Evelyn, Tim’s mother, I think she despaired of him in the end, even though she’d lived quite an unconventional lifestyle herself while she was in France. She was devastated when Tim died of that overdose, of course. I think it hastened her end to be honest.’

‘I believe you visited the commune?’

‘Casa Mirabilis,’ Miles said with a smile. ‘I went there a few times. Aunt Evelyn wanted to know what Tim was up to, and my dad asked me to find out.’

‘What was the house like back then?’

‘I thought it was an architectural monstrosity, to be honest. All dark brick and gloomy gables surrounded by woodland. Tim thought it was perfect, but then he always did have a taste for the theatrical.’

‘We’ve seen it,’ said Wesley with a smile. ‘Was there any building work going on when you went there?’

Miles thought for a moment. ‘The first time I visited there was a builder working in the hall. Tim said he was having a loo fitted under the stairs. People were sick of traipsing upstairs to answer a call of nature, he said.’

‘Were you aware of any work being done elsewhere in the house?’

Miles shook his head. ‘Not that I noticed. Why?’

‘Did you ever go into the dining room, the small room next to the kitchen?’

‘No, I don’t think that room was used.’

‘Human remains have been found sealed up behind the wall in there, in what might have once been some kind of alcove. Are you sure you never went in there when you visited?’

Miles frowned, making an effort to recall the scene. ‘I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Mind you, most of the time I was concentrating on Tim. He was getting on my nerves, to tell you the truth. Spouting all this nonsense about energy and ley lines. He said the house was built on the site of some sacred well. Druids were mentioned at one point, I think.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I think he’d taken something. It was hard to get through to him.’

‘What about the other people living there? How many were there?’

‘I’m sure Tim said there were five, including himself. I saw some of them floating around as though they were in a daze. And before you ask, I’ve no idea what happened to them after Tim died. A couple gave evidence at the inquest, but it wasn’t much help. A woman called Fiorenza found him, and she’d laid him out in his bedroom surrounded by flowers before anyone bothered calling my aunt. They really should have called the police and ambulance, but that was left to my father. The coroner was critical, but I don’t think his words had any effect. If you ask me, they lived in their own little world.’

‘Have you any idea where we might find Fiorenza?’

‘No. Sorry.’

‘When did your cousin buy the house?’ Gerry asked.

‘Must have been around 2011. About six years before his death.’

‘Who owned it before that?’

‘I don’t know. But it was pretty shabby and I don’t think Tim ever redecorated or made any improvements, apart from that downstairs loo. I got the impression the house might have been rented out before he bought it, but I’ve no idea who lived there. Sorry I can’t be more help.’

‘You’ve been a great help,’ said Wesley.

‘These human remains – any idea who they belonged to? It wasn’t a member of Tim’s commune, was it?’

‘The body is that of a man, probably in late middle age, and items have been found that suggest his name was Dr Aleric Donnal. Ever heard of him?’

Wesley was expecting a negative reply to his question, so Miles Fontescue’s answer came as a surprise. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen that name recently. Hang on.’

He disappeared, and returned a few minutes later carrying a sheet of paper. ‘Dad and I were going through some old correspondence the other day and this was among it. I promised him I’d shred all the out-of-date stuff, but I haven’t got round to it yet.’ He handed the letter to Wesley. ‘I happened to notice the name because it was so unusual.’