‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I didn’t expect to see you two.’
‘We didn’t expect to be back here,’ said Jake. ‘Is Gemma in?’
Dan shook his head, and they could see he was worried.
‘Soon after you left, I had a text from her to say she was going to London to see that firm of lawyers I told you about, Pierce Randall.’
‘She actually went to see them?’
Dan nodded. ‘Then she texted me again about six to say she’d just seen a lawyer there called Sue Clark, and she was staying up in London overnight and not to worry.’
‘But you haven’t spoken to her?’
‘No, just texts. I tried phoning her, but I keep getting her voicemail.’ He looked at them, concern written all over his face. ‘What’s she up to?’
‘Doing what she said she would, by the sound of it: getting hold of a hotshot lawyer to sue the de Courceys.’
‘Which she could find difficult,’ added Lauren. ‘Pierce Randall are also Guy de Courcey’s solicitors.’
Dan looked even more worried.
‘I don’t get any of this,’ he said.
‘I think we ought to tell him what’s going on,’ Lauren said to Jake. ‘If Gemma’s got herself involved with Pierce Randall, he has a right to know what’s behind it.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Dan, a new note of urgency in his voice. ‘What’s going on? Is it dangerous?’
‘Can we come in and talk?’ Lauren asked.
Dan nodded.
‘Sure. Mum’s out seeing a friend of hers,’ he said. ‘There’s just me here.’
‘Good,’ said Lauren.
Inside, the trailer was big and comfortable. Jake was aware that it looked larger and a lot tidier than his and Lauren’s flat.
Dan offered them coffee, and while he made it, Jake and Lauren took turns to fill him in on the situation they found themselves in: starting right back with the ancient Order of Malichea, the hidden library, and the shooting of Alex Munro, and Jake and Guy finding themselves in a police cell. They didn’t tell him about finding Jasper Brigstocke’s mutilated body, deciding that would only send him into a panic about Gemma’s safety.
They finished by telling him that the book everyone, including them, was looking for was The Index, the list of where all the secret books were hidden.
‘And Guy’s involved?’ asked Dan.
Jake and Lauren nodded.
Dan put their coffees down on the table for them, looking thoughtful.
‘He was a bad one, Guy,’ he said.
‘That’s what your sister said.’
‘She’s right. And you think he’s been abducted? Taken prisoner?’
‘We know he has,’ said Lauren. ‘Like we said, we saw him at de Courcey Hall, being put into an SUV at gunpoint.’
Dan took out his mobile and dialled.
‘This is starting to sound too dangerous,’ he told them. ‘I’m calling Gemma again.’
They all listened as they heard the ringing tone, then the automated voice cutting in telling Dan to leave a message.
‘Hi, Gemma,’ said Dan. ‘It’s Dan. Call me. It’s urgent.’
He hung up and turned back to Jake and Lauren.
‘So, what’s the next move?’ he asked.
‘If we can get our hands on The Index we think it’ll solve this business once and for all. Everyone will stop looking for it.’
‘And you think the de Courceys have it?’
‘Had it,’ corrected Lauren. ‘And we also think they hid it somewhere.’
‘Do you know of any hiding places in the hall?’ asked Jake. ‘You know, a priest’s hole, or somewhere they used to hide religious things?’
Dan thought about it, his brow furrowed.
‘Not that I can think of,’ he said. ‘Everywhere at the hall was opened up just before the old earl handed it over to the National Trust. There were no hidden rooms, no priest’s holes or anything like that.’
Jake felt a crushing sense of disappointment descend on him, like a dead weight. In that one sentence, all his hopes of finding The Index had been destroyed.
‘Mind, there was Platt Castle,’ said Dan thoughtfully.
Jake and Lauren looked questioningly at Dan.
‘Platt Castle?’ asked Lauren.
Dan nodded.
‘It was the de Courcey’s family home before they built de Courcey Hall. It wasn’t very big, not how you usually think of a castle.’
‘Where was it?’
‘The site is only about two miles away from de Courcey Hall. The de Courceys owned all that land around there. The place is derelict now, just a load of broken walls, but there used to be a small chapel in it at one time.’