Page 51 of The Last Saturday In July
‘There’s a Garda forensics team looking at it now.’ He sounded grim.
Jess rubbed her forehead. ‘How bad was it?’
‘Not too awful, considering.’ Ian gave an audible sigh. ‘Part of the old tunnels were damaged, and we’ve a lot of electrical stuff hidden away there, so we think that’s how it started.’
It was mindboggling to think that faulty electrics could have started a fire, just six months after a major refurbishment.
‘How long did they say this will all take? I mean, do they know about the wedding?’
‘They know about the wedding.’ Ian sounded wry.
‘Right, well keep me posted.’ Jess hung up and walked into reception, where Emily waved her over.
‘Oh my God, I’ve just read about the fire!’
‘There wasn’t too much damage, we’ll get everything repaired in time.’ Jess hoped it was true.
Emily bit her lip. ‘Brandi Oliver is all over TikTok saying that it’s the Linford Curse, and the wedding will be a total fail. And she’s got like, one million followers, Jess!’
Was it too much to ask that this one wedding went off without a hitch? Jess muttered something about having to get back to work, before retreating to her office, where she prised open the window and grabbed a mini-Mars bar from her drawer. As she bit through the chocolate coating, there was a knock on her door. Jess shoved the bar out of sight and wiped her mouth.
‘Come in!’
Adam opened the door and stepped inside.
Jess looked at him suspiciously. ‘So now you’re actually waiting outside until I say come in?’
‘I am. I always seem to crash in on you when you’re doing yoga or having a bit of a lie-down in your chair, and I feel bad about that.’
Jess’s face heated as she stared at him. Was he winding her up?
He seemed perfectly serious.
‘You’ve heard about the fire?’ she asked.
‘Yup, and I talked to Ian on the way in. They think it’s electrical.’ He scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘As soon as we nail down the cause, we’ve given management carte blanche to get repairs and renovations done. We can’t afford any delays.’
Jess nodded. ‘Worst-case scenario, what about a plan B?’
‘There’s another suite on the floor below but, given that we’ve only twenty bedrooms in the castle, including the honeymoon suite, it would mess with our numbers a bit.’ He shrugged. ‘Let’s not worry until we have to.’
After he left, Jess powered up her laptop and opened her emails. Ian had sent one the previous evening, with the link to the two virtual tours of Linford: above and below stairs. In the first video, two actors in Victorian costume brought the viewer on a tour of the castle that the general public saw. In the second video the same actors were dressed as head butler and housekeeper for a below-stairs tour, which included a walk-through one of the castle’s old tunnels, now locked to the public.
Jess knew that if the initial theory about the fire in the south tower was right, all the tunnels would have to be checked, as much of the electrics were housed there. She checked her Twitter feed.#FaultyTowerswas trending:Linford Castle’s Bridal Tower Fire.Time to share the virtual tours across their social media. Linford Castle needed some positive publicity.
Chapter 20
JESS phoned Kate that afternoon. ‘Hey, do you feel like grabbing a coffee?’
‘I can’t, sorry. I want to get away early.’ Kate sounded distant.
Jess spun in her chair to look out the window. ‘Just tell me quickly how last night went after we left.’
‘You mean with David?’ Kate paused. ‘We shared a taxi, and he dropped me home.’
‘And?’
‘And what? I just met the guy.’
