"Thank you, Julia, we would love to see it." Ha! Marcus was on a first name basis with Julia Colborne. I wondered how old she really was.
"Lovely. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will just go and check on the progress of our lunch."
Fergus and I watched Marcus as he watched her walk out of the room. We grinned at each other. Simon led us all down a passage and to his room, which was more of a suite, with its own sitting area, and an en suite bathroom. He went straight to a massive oak desk and started tapping on a wireless keyboard.
Within seconds a large convoluted diagram appeared on the adjacent monitor, each entry containing a small amount personal information about the individual - date of birth and death, occupation and manner of death. Each person was represented by either a male or female symbol, and was either red if they were iron metabolisers, blue if they were not and yellow if there was no evidence either way. Marcus was instantly fascinated, and oohed and aahed like a grandmother over an infant. I noted that Simon and Lucy were yellow, and Oliver red. Their mother was red, and the father blue.
"Are you in contact with your cousins?" Fergus asked, pointing to a couple of extra branches that jutted out next to Julia Colborne's entry.
"Not really. We occasionally see Uncle James, my dad's brother, but he never had kids, and Uncle Jack hasn't been seen by anyone in the family for a hundred and sixty years, I believe. Dad thinks he's popped his clogs. Probably a good thing - he sounds like a real toe-rag. Mum says he's evil, and she's his sister!"
"Uncle Jack, you say," Fergus looked at me pointedly. "Where's Rebecca?"
"She's gone for a tour of the house with Lucy," I informed him. "I think we'd better find out where she is." The hairs on the back of my neck rose.
Simon looked at each of us in turn. "I'm sure she's fine," he said, picking up on our alarm, and looking puzzled by it.
"Will you help us find her now please? Lucy was going to show her the older part of the house." I struggled to keep the tension out of my voice.
Simon shrugged. "Sure."
He led us down a few corridors and I soon picked up Rebecca's scent. We arrived eventually at a thick wooden door which was closed and appeared to be locked.
"Odd," said Simon. "There is usually a key in this door, and it's never been locked as far as I remember."