“Right,” Sara agreed. “Nicky didn’t marry Diana as Bertie wanted. Clive didn’t marry poor, sad Willa.”
“After that night they disappeared,” Puck said, “everyone separated.”
“Forever,” Sara said. “I wonder...”
“What?” Jack asked.
“If they knew what had happened. I mean the truth. Did they know it was a murder?”
“Or murders,” Jack said.
“Yes. They knew that two murders had been committed and that’s why they separated so completely. A conspiracy of silence.”
Sara looked at Puck. “We need to know what happened after Diana and Sean disappeared.”
“Byon sold his play, If Only,” Puck said.
“His first big success,” Sara said. “It was on stage in London for over a year and played in six countries. Schools perform it now.”
They looked at her.
“I did a Wikipedia search.”
“And Clive went to London and became a banker,” Kate said. “I kind of feel sorry for him. He was trying to save the place but was hated for it.”
Puck’s face showed that she disagreed with that. “Nicky did ask Diana to marry him and she accepted. She said...” Puck hesitated.
“Said what?” Sara asked.
“That her ring was actually Oxley Manor.”
“I understand that,” Sara said. “At least Diana knew the truth of what she was taking on.”
“And Willa?” Kate asked.
“Clive asked Willa to marry him.” For a moment, Puck put her hands over her face. “We all knew that Bertie had bullied Clive into asking her. But Willa was ecstatic. She could hardly walk. She floated.”
“What did Byon and Nicky say about that engagement?” Sara asked.
“They were kind,” Puck said. “Byon said it was all so awful that he couldn’t think of worse than the truth.”
“Bad for which one?” Jack asked.
“Willa. Byon said she was going to find out that Clive had nothing but contempt for her.”
“How soon after the disappearance did he break their engagement?”
“Forty-eight hours,” Puck said. “She came apart. We thought she was going to kill herself.”
“Yeow,” Kate said.
“Wonder what she did to him after they broke up?” Sara said.
“For something that big, I would think it was more than nettles and ants,” Kate said.
They looked at Puck for an answer but she shrugged. She didn’t know.
“Did you ever find out what Sean was doing in the cemetery with the men?” Sara asked.