Silent - Part 13: Philippa

Two Years Earlier, Gavin
 
So how did I first come to Lyme House?  It's simple, really. Believe it or not, I was a child prodigy. My family were poor, so all my piano tuition came free. Have you heard of the expression:"be careful what you wish for, because it might come true"? That's what happened.  
 
Throughout my childhood I wanted to be a famous concert pianist. Then, at the age of eleven, I got discovered.  I was like a cherub, though.  Innocent. And lonely. The journey to stardom isolated me from others my age. They saw me as a type of freak. In time, I rebelled. Stopped going to lessons. Hung around with a gang on a South London estate. Ended up in trouble with the police. So Mum and Dad sent me here, to take part in a week of piano masterclasses.  My last chance, they warned. Next stop: a Young Offender's Institution if I didn't stop this nonsense.
 
So I arrived here one Saturday afternoon and made my way to the Grand Theatre situated near the end of the promenade walk, a huge bulking building, all dirty white on the exterior, with a dome-like roof. I thought it looked pretty rundown for its intended purpose as a venue for an international music event. Plus, I was still annoyed with Mum and Dad for sending me here.  
 
Inside, I heard some amazing piano playing.  Pounding octaves coming from somewhere within the old theatre, tearing through the foyer area, like a gust of wind.  
 
'Who's that?' I said to the smiling girl behind the reception desk.
 
'Philippa doing a quick practice,' the girl said. 'She got here this morning. You'll meet her later.'  The girl stepped out to join me. 'My name's Dawn. You are?'
 
'Gavin. I'm here for a week.' The actual course would last three weeks, but the scholarship covered just a third of that and Mum and Dad couldn't afford to make up the difference. Brilliant, since it meant I only had to do one week.    
 
'Pleased to meet you,' Dawn said. 'I'm meant to give you a tour of the theatre, but if we can skip it if you like.'
 
'Yeah, another time then.'  
 
I glanced around at the place. The Grand Theatre. Hah! It reminded me of fake jewellery and actresses with dyed hair piled high up on their heads. Yellow peroxide and huge earrings. Locals eating candy floss on the pier and staring out at a cloudy sky.  
 
'Gavin, right?' Dawn was saying, scrolling down the digital sheet with the electric pen. 'You're from London, yes?'
 
'Yeah.'
 
'That's where I'm studying,' Dawn said.  
 
'Oh, right. Good place.'
 
'Yes, I love London. I've just finished by second year at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.'
 
We went through the formalities.  Afterwards, Dawn said: 'Why don't I introduce you to Philippa?'
 
I followed her through a set of double doors and down an alcove.  
Little lightning. Rows of seating. Steep drop down to the stage.  
A grand piano stood in the centre of a flat stage, several hundred feet down - or, at least, it seemed like that from where I stood. A man in miniature sat at the piano in the semi dark, with the lid high, pounding his way through the final section of a Chopin ballade. I could just about make out shoulder length hair, carefully groomed. Designer suit.  Aristocratic air.  
 
'Who's he?' I said.
 
'Brendon Harlesden,' Dawn spoke in a low voice.  'He's the Head of Studies. I had him last year at Lancaster. He's really nice.  It's his great-aunt, Agnes, who owns Lyme House, but she's seriously ill, unfortunately.  All the staff here are related.'
 
'Right.'  
 
'I thought Philippa was playing,' Dawn said. 'She definitely went in about half an hour ago. She must have gone out through a different exit.'
 
'I'm here,' a voice said.  A tall girl appeared, dressed entirely in black. Floating, floating, floating like a ghost.  She was seriously gorgeous.  Long matching coloured hair, lots of loud makeup and jewellery. Phenomenal.  A gorgeous ghost.
 
'I'm about to get a taxi to the House,' she said. 'Anyone want to join me?'  
 
***
Dawn had to stay on at the Grand Theatre, so Philippa and I headed into town in search of a taxi.  The weather had taken on a heavy feel, threatening more rain. We hurried along the pier, towards the deserted shore.
 
'My name's Philippa and I live in Tunbridge Wells,' the ghost-like girl said.  Posh accent, like mine. 'I'm seventeen, but I put down eighteen on my application form and no one bothered to check. That's because I'm sick of being treated like a child. Daddy's a managing director of a multi-millionaire company, and he's completely unreasonable. I'd like to be an actress, but he won't let me. He's even threatening to cut my allowance and send me to Boot Camp in the States. I might as well be dead. In fact, I'm thinking about running away and sparking off a massive police hunt. Imagine it, I'll be famous. Anyway, enough of that.  Hey, do you want to go to a party tonight?'
 
'Yeah?'
 
'Meet me outside the amusement arcade after the evening performance.'
 
'What party?'
 
'I got talking to couple of guys before and they're having a party on the pier. There's this really cool place further along. Come.'
 
'Right, I will. Cheers, Philippa.'
 
'You're welcome. Don't worry about booze. There'll be loads at the party.'
 
'Nice.'
 
She laughed. 'Changing the subject, what do you think of that business with the fire ten years ago? The girl surviving?'
 
'Don't know. It was never solved, was it?'
 
'You must have some ideas.  It was double murder and major headlines at one time, and no one was ever caught. We're going to be spending the next week on those same premises. Who do you think lit the match, figuratively speaking?'
 
'The girl's father probably.’  
 
Philippa shook her head. 'Listen, I've spent the last year researching the fire and I know exactly who started it.'
 
'Yeah?'
 
‘And I intend to do something about it later. I'll tell you more later. I might need your help.'
 
'Help for what?'
 
'All will be revealed.'
 
'Say some more.'
 
'Can't. Look, those are the guys whose party it is. Up on the pier. Climbing. The one on the left's so cool.'
 
She pointed to the end of the pier where a small crowd had gathered to watch couple of guys in army gear climbing the pylon-like structure.  
 
'Jace and Steve,' Philippa said. 'Jace's the really friendly one, he's so nice.'