Chapter 15
Jake and Lauren followed Gemma down the hill back into the new part of Sevenoaks. As they walked, they passed various coffee shops that looked inviting, but Gemma headed for a burger bar.
‘The coffee’s rubbish, but the fries are good,’ Gemma told them.
Jake left Lauren with Gemma while he went to the counter and ordered three coffees and a portion of fries. The coffee smelt like cheap instant stuff.
He sat the tray down, and Gemma immediately began to tuck into the fries.
‘Gemma was telling me that her mum worked as a maid for Guy’s dad,’ said Lauren.
‘Yeah.’ Gemma nodded. ‘The old earl. Earl Edwyn. The one who died. We had a small cottage on the estate. Anyway, the old earl promised my mum that whatever happened, we’d be all right. He’d look after us.’ She scowled as she stuffed more fries into her mouth. ‘The next thing we know is he’s selling up and we get kicked out without a penny in redundancy money! Now we’re living in a caravan park and she’s on benefits. After all my mum did for them!’
‘They cheated you,’ said Jake sympathetically.
‘Yeah!’ Gemma took a sip of her coffee, and her face creased in distaste. ‘Yuck! This stuff’s gross, even worse than I remembered it. I should have had a milkshake.’
Lauren shot a meaningful look at Jake, and he asked Gemma, ‘Would you like a milkshake?’
‘Yeah.’ Gemma nodded. ‘Vanilla. A large one.’
Jake headed back to the counter and bought a large milkshake. When he returned to the table, Gemma was still venting her tale of being cheated.
‘Gemma says she wants to sue the de Courceys,’ Lauren told Jake as he sat down.
‘The estate owes us!’ said Gemma vehemently. ‘If I had the money I’d sue them!’
‘We haven’t got any money,’ said Jake quickly. Too quickly, because he felt a sharp kick from Lauren. But either Gemma hadn’t heard Jake, or she’d decided to ignore him.
‘My mum’s soft,’ she continued. ‘She says to let it go, put it behind us. My brother says the same. They say it’s not the de Courceys’ fault because the old earl was broke and couldn’t afford to pay her, but I say the estate has still got money somewhere!’
‘Do you know Guy de Courcey?’ asked Lauren.
Gemma’s lips curled.
‘Him!’ she snorted. ‘That’s where most of the money went! What a waster! All the time I was growing up, he was having parties, everything he wanted. Spend, spend, spend!’
‘We heard he left.’
‘Ran away, more like,’ said Gemma. ‘His dad got fed up with having to bail him out all the time, fixing things, paying his bills. I think he was relieved when he said he was going abroad.’
‘How long ago was that?’ asked Jake.
Gemma thought. ‘Umm. I was about thirteen when he left. I’m fifteen now. So, two years ago.’
‘And he never came back?’
Gemma shook her head.
‘No, thank God.’
‘What about the library?’ asked Lauren.
‘What about it?’ asked Gemma.
‘The books in it. Were they sold, or did they stay with the house when it went to the National Trust?’
‘Why? Are you after one of the books?’
‘We’re just trying to find out what happened to them,’ said Jake.
‘Yeah, well, that was a right rip-off,’ said Gemma.
‘In what way?’
‘A tax dodge,’ said Gemma. ‘The old earl sold most of the really old books, the ones worth some money, but not everything was declared.’ She winked. ‘Part-cheque, part-cash. Know what I mean? A deal between him and this bookseller bloke.’
‘What bookseller bloke?’ asked Jake.
Gemma frowned thoughtfully as she tried to bring the name of the bookseller back.
‘Jason something. He was a nice old bloke. Big whiskers, but pleasant. Not snobbish like some of the people who used to hang around the old earl.’ She shook her head. ‘No, not Jason, something weirder. Jasper. That was it. Jasper Brigstocke. I remember because I saw his card. I thought it was an unusual name.’
‘Was he local?’ asked Jake.
Gemma shook her head.
‘No,’ she said. ‘London. Somewhere in the West End, I think. I just remember his name.’
‘Can you remember what he bought?’ asked Lauren.
Gemma shook her head.
‘Just a load of old books,’ she said. ‘A van full.’ She stopped sucking on the straw of her milkshake and looked inquisitively at Jake and Lauren. ‘Anyway, what are you two after from the de Courceys? Do they owe you money?’