Letter from a Stranger

‘Look, I’ve known the two of you since we were little kids, and we have a shared past. You can’t pretend with me. You’re both preoccupied and worried.’

Justine turned to her twin, her expression quizzical as she looked at him.

Richard pursed his lips, frowned. He said, ‘There is a problem, Jo, you’re correct. But I don’t want to talk about it now. Not here. Let’s finish dinner; Tita and Pearl have been working so hard in the kitchen. We can talk about it over coffee. Fair enough?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Jo answered, wondering what could be wrong.

SIX

Tita brought coffee to the drawing room, and then disappeared.

Once they were alone, Justine took the letter out of her jacket pocket; leaning forward, she handed it to Joanne sitting on the sofa opposite them. ‘The reason Richard and I are upset, worried, is because of this and what it reveals.’

Taking the letter from her, Joanne began to read, and as she did so she visibly stiffened. Finally, when she lifted her head and looked at them, her eyes were full of shock. ‘Why?’ she asked, her voice shaking. ‘Why did your mother tell you Gabriele was dead? Why did she lie to you?’

‘We don’t know,’ Richard answered quietly. ‘And we’ve no idea what this estrangement is about either. We’re as mystified as you are.’

‘But this is just horrible… that’s not even a strong enough word to use… it’s horrendous. And just think of your poor grandmother. Oh, God, I can’t bear it. How upset she must have been all of these years. What an appalling thing… to be dismissed in that way, to be kept away from you.’ Tears welled in Joanne’s light-green eyes, and she blinked several times before continuing, ‘She must have missed you both. Longed to see you. Gabriele must have suffered in the worst way.’

‘We think so, and we totally believe Anita’s letter, don’t we, Richard?’ Justine looked at her brother, and he nodded.

She sighed. ‘Obviously Gran’s not doing too well, and we need to find her as fast as we can.’

‘That’s the real reason you’re going to Istanbul, isn’t it? You genuinely believe she’s there,’ Joanne now asserted, staring at Justine pointedly.

‘Yes, I do.’

‘We both do,’ Richard interjected.

‘Couldn’t she be in London, though? After all, she is English, and she had a house there. I know she said she was selling it years ago, but surely she took an apartment…’ Joanne’s voice trailed off when she saw the negative expression settling on Justine’s face.

Richard said slowly, thoughtfully, ‘I’ve read the letter several times now, and I honestly think that she is with Anita. There’s every indication of that, reading between the lines.’

‘I’m going to call Eddie Grange first thing tomorrow,’ Justine announced. ‘He was my line producer on this last documentary, and I need him to check a few things out for me.’

‘Such as what?’ Richard asked, glancing at her curiously.

‘He can look in the London phonebook, see if Gran’s listed, for one thing—’

‘Why not try calling the international operator?’ Richard interrupted, raising a brow. ‘Or the Internet, check it out that way.’

‘Don’t be daft!’ Justine exclaimed. ‘Talking to the international operator takes an hour, maybe even longer, and you always get routed through New Delhi or somewhere else in India, so forget that. Eddie’s my best bet.’ Justine grimaced, then finished, ‘However, I know she’s not living in London. And on second thoughts, I’ll go on the Internet later.’

‘How can you be so sure she’s not in London?’ Joanne asked.

‘Gut instinct, to be honest. But listen to me, Jo. Anita is her most longstanding, closest friend. Anita says this in the letter, very pointedly in fact. So under these awful circumstances, when you’re missing your grandchildren, have been banished from your family, wouldn’t you want to be with your closest friend? Especially if you were getting on, and Gran will be eighty this coming June.’

‘You’re right, under such circumstances I would want to be with my closest friend, which is you… Iffet will find Anita Lowe if anyone can.’

‘I hope so. And by the way, don’t go into that when you speak to her tomorrow. Just say I’m thinking of making a documentary there. I’d like to keep this situation confidential, and so would Rich.’

‘I wouldn’t have said anything to Iffet, I really wouldn’t,’ Joanne answered. ‘And anyway, you can trust me to keep your confidence. I always have.’

‘I know it wasn’t necessary to say that to you, Jo, because you’re family to me, and to Rich. But I just wanted you to be clear how I am going to handle the matter when I get there. I’ll talk about business first before bringing up Anita.’

Joanne nodded, gave her a reassuring smile.

Richard said, ‘Can’t you go with Justine? It would make me feel better, Joanne, if you could. I’m afraid I’m stuck here for the next two weeks with my big installation at the hotel in Battery Park.’

‘I’m stuck too, Richard. I just signed a contract to do the public relations on a movie being shot in Manhattan.’ Frowning, she added, ‘I don’t think I can get out of it.’

‘Nor should you even attempt to,’ Justine murmured. She put her hand on Richard’s arm lovingly. ‘I’ll be all right, Rich. I’m thirty-two like you. A grown-up. And perfectly capable of travelling alone.’

Richard smiled, hugged her to him. She was his best friend as well as his twin and the most important person in his life except for his little daughter. The thought of ever being without Justine terrified him.

Joanne said, ‘When I was working on that crazy movie over there a few years ago, Iffet was indispensable, Richard. She’ll make things easy for Justine.’

‘That puts my mind at rest,’ he murmured.

‘So when do you plan to leave?’ Joanne asked Justine.

‘Next Wednesday, the day after I’ve screened the film for Miranda, and she’s signed off. Which I know she will. By the way, I checked the airlines this afternoon. There are quite a few flights from Kennedy to Istanbul. Night flights.’

‘That’s correct, and it’s about ten hours to Istanbul. Make sure you book a direct non-stop flight, which is the best. You don’t want to have to change planes in a foreign city.’

‘I’ll take an afternoon flight, either on Delta or Turkish Airlines. Both have direct flights.’

They went on talking about Justine’s trip for a short while longer, and then eventually Joanne stood up. ‘I’d better go. Thanks for dinner, the two of you. And I’m sorry.’ She stared at them. ‘What I mean is, I’m sorry your mother did this awful thing to Gabriele, and to you. But let’s face it, this is also wonderful news – your grandmother’s alive and not dead after all, and I for one can’t wait to see her again.’

‘We know you love her,’ Richard said, walking out of the drawing room with his sister and Joanne.

They saw her to the door, but stood talking to her on the step for several minutes longer.

Justine suddenly said, ‘I used to think you were wary of our mother, Joanne. Perhaps even a bit frightened of her when we were growing up. Were you?’

‘Wary perhaps, but not frightened,’ Joanne answered, frowning to herself. ‘You know, I think I was actually in awe of her, and also rather intimidated.’

‘That’s a funny word to use,’ Richard said, scrutinizing her for a moment. ‘She wasn’t particularly intimidating. Know what, I always thought our mother was ditzy. A real flake.’

Joanne nodded in agreement. ‘She was those things, yes. I suppose I was intimidated by her beauty, that’s the best way of describing it. And the way she affected grown men was incredible. They were struck dumb when they set eyes on her. To be honest, I never thought she was a bad person. Nor did I think she could ever do something so… so cruel, so very mean.’

‘Neither did we,’ Richard said in a hollow voice.

Justine was silent.

Justine awakened with a start, lay there feeling disoriented. There was light in her bedroom and for a split second she thought it was morning. Then she realized that it was the moonlight filling the space with its soft, silvery glow.

Throwing back the bedclothes, she slid her legs to the floor, went over to one of the windows overlooking the garden and stared out. Riding high in a cloudless black sky was a huge full moon. It was extraordinarily bright; the light it gave off was unusually powerful, and she stood admiring it for a moment, then turned away, got back into bed.