Sara looked innocent. “You two are going to the Highlands, remember? I’m staying here to meet some people and ask questions. I want to find out what really happened to that couple. They just plain vanished. I dug through websites that do deep searching but there is no record of either of them.”
“Maybe they changed their names,” Kate said.
“Then that asks the question of why they had to do that,” Sara said.
“The real question,” Jack said, “is why you want to know.”
“Maybe I’ll write a mystery novel. What with the hotel being empty, I thought it might be fun to find out the truth.”
“I’m still waiting to hear what you did,” Jack said. “Something about a party.”
Sara looked at Kate. “Bella’s not too happy about it, but I invited the people who were there that night to come for a free weekend here at Oxley Manor. There are only four of them left.”
“Left? As in still alive?” Jack asked.
Sara waved her hand in dismissal. “Will you stop being Mr. Grump? Yes, one of them died.”
“Nicky, the earl-to-be, in a car crash,” Jack said.
“I’m impressed. What else have you found out?”
“Puck the wood sprite tell you that?” Kate asked.
Sara and Jack looked at her. She sounded jealous.
“Sorry,” Kate said. “Go on. Who are they?”
“All I know is that a group of friends had a party here way back in the ancient days of 1994.” Her sarcasm was dripping. “Two of them walked out and were never seen again. Years later one was killed in a car wreck.”
“And?” Jack asked.
“I told you. I did some digging—with Bella’s help, that is. She put me in touch with a man who used to work here and I called him. What an accent! Very difficult to understand. He said that weekend wasn’t just a onetime event but that the same young people were always here. The staff called them Nicky’s Pack.”
“That sounds more like dogs than people,” Kate said.
“Or wolves,” Jack added. “Go on.”
“That’s it,” Sara said. “There were six of them. They attended Cambridge University together and came here every weekend and holiday. ‘Pack of strays is what they were,’ the man said.”
“Doesn’t sound like he liked them,” Kate said.
“I don’t think he did, although when he mentioned Diana, his voice got soft.”
“Diana Beardsley.” Jack smiled when Sara looked surprised.
“How did you know—?”
“What about the others?” Kate asked. She didn’t want Sara to know she’d accidently seen the newspaper cutting.
“Bella helped me find the names. She...” Sara sighed. “She didn’t like doing it. But...you know.”
“You paid for the place so she had to,” Jack said.
“I don’t like holding something over someone’s head, but...”
“Couldn’t be helped,” Kate said dismissively. “What did you find out about them?”
“Sean—” She looked at Jack to supply the last name.