Death In The Studio

By Theresa Hollis

Tania Seymour is shocked to read of the apparent suicide of her friend and fellow artist Arthur Peterson by a drug overdose, one thing she is sure of Arthur would never kill himself and he had a hatred of anyone who took drugs,something was very wrong and she was determined to find the answers.
Tania told her husband Jack Seymour about her suspicions and is upset when he tells her to leave it alone, which only makes her more determined to keep going, what she did not bargain for was her Art Gallery being broken into and her manager Seth Byron being badly injured, then when her husband vanishes on a business trip to Thailand she knows she has to go looking for him. She takes along her friend and ex-boss, Wesley Taylor, and it is in the infamous Bermuda Triangle that she faces the ultimate betrayal before the mystery is solved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Theresa Hollis
• Release date: May 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463926185

Theresa Hollis

Theresa Hollis loves the occult and supernatural so it was only natural that her first book should reflect this. "The Sabbath" came about after Theresa visited Burra in South Australia and was fascinated by the local history of copper mining and the awful conditions that people were forced to live in, it set off a little bell buzzing in her brain, here was the start of something good (or evil in this case).Theresa started writing in her teens, but life, as usual, got in the way, it was not till many years later that she was able to finally write her first novel, which has had excellent reviews, so much so, that a sequel, 'Honour Thy Father' was born.Theresa was born in England and immigrated to Australia in 1951. She is divorced and now lives in the Riverina in New South Wales along with her much loved Jack Russell dog, called, yes you guessed it 'Jack' and a very magical cat named Miss Jasper.

Book preview

DEATH IN THE STUDIO

Theresa Hollis

All characters and events in this book other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, whether living or dead, is purely coincidental.

With the exception of two people who gave permission to use them in the story.

Copyright @ 2018 Theresa Hollis

All rights reserved

ISBN 9780463926185

By the same author

Fiction:

The Sabbath

Honour Thy Father

Non-Fiction:

Massage Rub-a-Dub-Dub

With thanks to my two dear friends, Patsy Barley and Doug Inmon for their ‘input’ – you two are now legends.

TMH

CHAPTER ONE

I have always believed that our destiny is shaped from the time we are born, sure we can detour a bit along the way, but the end is final.

I also thought that in the past years I had gone through the worst of it, but it seems that was not the case and destiny was to have the last laugh on me yet……..

It was Friday and I had just returned home to the apartment I shared with my husband, Jack Seymour. I had picked up the paper from the corner store along with a few other items, and upon putting the things down on the kitchen bench I decided to pour myself a glass of wine before I read the paper.

As I was sipping my wine I opened the paper and glanced at the front page, my blood froze, and my heart skipped a beat as I read the headlines.

Prominent artist found dead – Arthur Peterson a leading Victorian artist was found dead in his Studio early this morning, it appears to have been a drug overdose. Police stated that there were no suspicious circumstances…..

The rest of the article blurred before my eyes, Arthur dead! I could not believe it, why it seemed like only yesterday and not five years ago that I had first met Arthur, it was also the first time that I met Jack…..

The memories came flooding back, it was about three years after my first marriage had broken up.

I had been married to Garry Miller for nearly 18 years, Garry could be the most charming man, especially at parties and social gatherings, but at home it was a different story.

For the first few years of our marriage we had been happy or, so I thought, it turned out that Garry was screwing anything in a skirt.

In the latter years of the marriage he’d come home from work and start drinking, after the third or fourth drink he became abusive and very mean tempered.

Garry took great delight in reducing me to a quivering mass of jelly, the last straw came when the physical abuse started.

He came home from work late one evening, a so-called business dinner, it turned out that he had taken his secretary out for a drink and then to a motel for a marathon sex session and he was in fine spirits when he arrived home.

I had a trying day at work and had decided to do some painting to unwind and lost track of time, I became totally engrossed in the painting and was surprised when Garry walked into the studio.

Wasting your time again babe, a two-year-old could paint better than you, I’ll show you how to paint! With that he grabbed the brush out of my hand and splashed paint all over the canvas.

No! I screamed, Get away from my painting you bastard, you’ve ruined it!

I grabbed for the brush, Garry swung back and hit me hard across the side of my face, I fell backward knocking the easel and paints all over the floor, Garry kicked my side.

Now look at the mess you made bitch, get and clean it up.

With that he pushed me headfirst into the mess on the floor, I kicked out at him and landed a blow on his shin.

You fucking bitch, I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget in a hurry.

He started to take off his belt, I begged him to stop, but he just grinned at me and raised the belt over his head. I started to crawl away, he grabbed me by the ankle and struck me across the buttocks, all I could feel was a burning pain, he raised the belt again and brought it down across my back. I screamed in pain and reached out for something to use against him, my hand found the handle of a pallet knife lying on the floor, I turned and lashed at him with the knife, plunging it into his calf muscle, he yelled in pain.

I managed to get to my feet and reached the door, slamming it in his face I stumbled into the bedroom and locked the door behind me.

Picking up the phone I dialed 000 and asked for the police. I remembered the police arriving and Garry being handcuffed and taken away, I was taken to the local hospital and treated for cuts, bruises and shock and kept in overnight.

When I was released from the hospital the next day I went home and packed my things and moved out of the house and down to Melbourne, the last time I saw Garry was in Court twelve months later at the divorce proceedings.

I looked back on these as the bleak years – the physical scars healed, the emotional ones took a lot longer.

It was a long time before I felt ready to start dating again, and it was only in the past few years that I had been out on a few dates, but nothing ever came of them, there was no chemistry, no spark, between any of the men I dated.

Or perhaps deep down I was scared to fall in love, maybe Gary’s torment had left deeper scars than I realized.

So, I convinced myself that it was all for the best, I had a good job, a nice flat and freedom to come and go as I pleased, but there was a core deep inside me that longed for something more.

It had taken me a long time to get back my self-esteem and learn to trust again, the past three years had been a growing period in my life and I had come to realize that maybe, just maybe, life could be good.

It was around this time that I first met Arthur Peterson, it was also the first time I met Jack Seymour.

I had been invited to attend the opening of a new art exhibition at a very exclusive art gallery, Jordan’s in South Yarra.

Wesley Taylor, one of the partners in the law firm of Martin & Associates where I worked as a legal secretary invited me to accompany him to the opening. Wesley’s girlfriend had come down with the flu and as we were all great friends I had no problem saying yes.

I rushed home from work that afternoon and looked through my wardrobe for something decent to wear. It came down to a choice of two outfits that I considered good enough for such an occasion, a silver grey long skirted, slim fitting suit in shantung, or a black calf-length off the shoulder dress in crepe which was fitted to the waist then skimmed out into a full skirt.

I decided on the black dress, it really looked good on me.

Then I had a moment of panic, what was I going to wear to accessorize it! I dug around in my jewelry box and came up with a lovely old rose gold necklace that looked like thick chunks of rope twisted together and found the earrings that matched it, just the thing to add that classy touch – a pair of black strappy high heels and matching evening bag completed the outfit.

I went into the bathroom and ran a bubble bath, slipping out of my work clothes I got into the soothing mass of foam, after soaking for what seemed like years I got out of the bath and put on my robe.

Forty minutes later I surveyed the finished effect, not bad for a 41-year-old, there’s hope yet – just then the doorbell rang, I opened it to find Wesley, resplendent in evening dress and armed with a large bunch of roses.

For you with my thanks for stepping in at the last moment I really appreciate it.

Oh Wes, I should thank you, I am really looking forward to this evening and I’ve been dying to see inside Jordan’s for ages. The roses are lovely, thank you, I’ll just put them in water, would you like a drink before we go?

No, I have a car waiting so we should get going if that is okay?

Thirty minutes later we entered the door of Jordan’s, I blinked in amazement, the owners had certainly gone to a lot of expense, livered footmen complete in powdered wigs were handing out glasses of champagne and savories on silver salvers.

What do you think of the setup Tania, pretty impressive huh?

Impressive is an understatement, it’s absolutely fabulous.

Wesley and I started to wander around the exhibition.

Tania if you have a look at the sculpture over to your right, a certain well-known politician and the leggy blond by his side have just finished making a movie, although it won’t be the sort of movie you’ll see for the general public, more for the, shall we say, ‘elite cliental’ the ones who get their kicks from adult movies if you get my meaning.

I nearly broke my neck in turning around to see who Wes was talking about.

Good lord Wes, she’s hardly wearing anything, that bit of leather is less than a bra over her bust and the rest just manages to cover her bum and look at her legs they go right up to her armpits, God I would die to have legs like that!

Wes laughed, Oh I don’t know Tania, you have something she will never have, class my dear, class, all 5’4 of you and you are well stacked."

Wes I’m shocked, what would Joanne say if she could hear you talk like that!

She’d agree with me, Joanne hasn’t got a jealous bone in her body.

We both laughed, Wes was right, Joanne was one of the nicest and prettiest girls I knew and would laugh and agree with Wes’ comments.

Just then a footman offered us a drink, Wes took two glasses of champagne off the tray and handed one to me, we continued to wander around the room stopping here and there to admire the paintings or just chatting to several people that Wes knew.

As we were walking around one painting caught my eye, a small 8x10 painting of a group of hens in a barnyard, the painting was exquisitely composed with a shaft of golden sunlight streaming down on them.

Wes what a perfectly delightful painting you can almost feel the warmth of the afternoon sun and smell the chook yard, the artist certainly can express himself well on canvas, the colours are superb.

Hm, do you really like it, I must say I rather like the one we just walked past, the large scene of the outback, all earthy with vibrant reds and ochre’s just the thing to hang in my office at work, I must find Jordan and ask him about it.

Wes was just about to walk off when an elegantly dressed man with a flowing mane of white hair approached us.

Wesley, glad you could make it!

Jordan, I was just talking about you, there is someone I would like you to meet. Jordan Parsons, Tania Miller who very kindly offered to be my partner when Joanne was unable to come, Tania this is Jordan Parsons the esteemed name behind this illustrious gallery.

Lovely to meet you Tania, I hope you are enjoying yourself and that Wes hasn’t completely destroyed all your illusions about art.

I laughed, Nice to meet you, and no, Wes has shown the utmost decorum and I must say the paintings are wonderful so full of life and the colours are amazing, the artist is very talented.

Wes piped in, I’d better warn you Jordan, Tania paints and she is not half bad, and I know she would love to meet Arthur they could discuss art till the cows come home, but for myself I am interested in a couple of paintings, if you have a few moments perhaps we could discuss them?

Certainly Wes, we can discuss them now, and I will arrange for someone to introduce Tania to Arthur Peterson our very talented artist, just excuse me for one moment please.

With that Jordan walked off, but returned a few minutes later accompanied by an elderly lady with an exquisite figure and dressed in what could only be a designer dress in a deep blue which suited her to perfection.

Tania, I would like you to meet Mrs. Elizabeth de Near, Elizabeth this is Tania Miller. Elizabeth is a very dear friend of mine and happens to be Arthur’s Aunt. Now if you ladies will excuse me Wesley and I will go and discuss these paintings he wants to buy and the enormous amount he is going to pay me for the pleasure.

With that both he and Wesley turned and walked off to view the paintings.

Mrs. de Near I hope I’m not taking you away from your friends.

Not at all my dear, and please, call me Elizabeth all my friends do, and I am sure we are going to become good friends. Now Jordan says that you would like to meet Arthur, so come along and I’ll introduce you to him, you know I can still remember when he used to paint on his mother’s kitchen walls and she made him wash them off, if she could only see him now, those walls would be worth a fortune.

We approached a group of people standing by a large painting of an old abandoned homestead, I was again taken by the artists’ use of colour and brush strokes, the depth of tone used made you feel part of each scene, a truly breathtaking work.

I had been so absorbed in studying the painting that I did not pay much attention to the group of people until Elizabeth said, Arthur, I’d like you to meet a fellow artist and a great admirer of yours, Tania Miller, Arthur Peterson.

As I turned to meet him I noticed a man standing by his side, he was impeccably dressed, about 5’10" tall, raven black hair tinged with grey at the temples and the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen in my life, he seemed to be staring back at me. I could feel myself go weak in the knees and a hot flush start in my groin. I gave myself a mental shake, good god girl wake up to yourself next you’ll be having an orgasm right here!

I tore my gaze away to smile at Arthur Peterson, Mr. Peterson a pleasure to meet you, I have been admiring your paintings, they are marvelous, your concepts are refreshingly traditionalist, they remind me of a combination of Nolan’s colours and McCubbins’ style, I’m very impressed.

Thank you my dear, and please, call me Arthur, I’m glad you find my work so appealing, I must admit I live and breathe painting and anyone who can elevate my work to the same level as Nolan and McCubbins is my friend for life!

I laughed, Well I like to dabble at painting and find it is the only way I can relax and truly immerse myself in something I enjoy.

Ah, spoken like a true artist, you must come and visit my studio and we can discuss this further, Elizabeth will give you my phone number, I often have fellow artists drop in and some new blood so to speak will be most welcome.

Thank you and I would love to come and see your studio, good luck with the exhibition, although by all the red stickers on quite a lot of the paintings I would say you have quite a success on your hands.

Arthur looked around and smiled, Yes, it has turned out to be a tremendous success, way beyond anything I expected.

Someone next to him asked him a question and he turned away, Elizabeth was deep in conversation with a young woman, and, for a minute, I did not quite know where to go or what to do.

You’re looking quite lost, perhaps I could get you a drink?

I turned to find the man I had been staring at earlier smiling at me. For the first time in my life I was at a loss for words.

It’s quite alright I promise I won’t eat you, although you look lovely enough to do so. My name is Jack Seymour and I’m a friend of Arthur’s and as I already know your name I feel that we know one another already. Come on let’s go and get that drink and you can tell me all about yourself.

Jack quickly purloined two glasses of champagne and handed one to me, then taking me by the arm steered me in the direction of a secluded corner. I found it hard to believe that I was with such a desirable and sexy man, surely he must be with someone.

Won’t anyone be looking for you?

He laughed, If that’s a subtle way of asking did I come with anyone the answer is no, I came by myself, as I said I have been a friend of Arthur’s for a great many years and would not have missed the opening of his first public exhibition for quid’s, so, now you can relax, no female is going to come storming up and scratch your eyes out!

So, tell me, what is a beautiful woman like you doing wandering around by her-self, or is there someone with you?

I laughed and smiled up at him, me beautiful, I’d always thought of myself as attractive but never beautiful, with my dark brown shoulder length hair tinged with red highlights, fair complexion and dark brown eyes, once described by an old boyfriend as cocker spaniel eyes, a good figure for my age even if a bit too busty for my liking.

Thank you for the compliment but compared to some of the women here tonight I feel a bit like Cinderella after the clock struck midnight!

Jack laughed, Well I’ll just have to convince you otherwise then won’t I? But you still did not answer my question, is there a boyfriend or husband lurking around here?

No, I came here with a friend from work, his girlfriend was unable to come, so I stepped in.

Jack smiled, If I was the girlfriend you’d be the last person I’d let go out with him!

Just then Wesley joined us, and I introduced the two men. Sorry to have been so long Tania but I got tied up with Jordan longer than I thought, glad to see you weren’t lonely though.

I could feel a hot flush creeping up my neck, trust Wes

to say something like that, I must remember to kill him as soon as I got him alone.

By the way I ran into a couple of friends and they suggested going on to a nightclub later, would you like to come Tania?

I was about to answer then Jack said, Sorry your too late, I’ve already invited Tania to have supper with me.

The look in Jack’s eyes defied me to say no. I turned to Wes, Thanks Wes but I did say I’d go with Jack, thanks anyway.

No problem, have a nice time, see you on Monday then, bye. With a smirk on his face and a nonchalant wave he left.

Jack took me by the arm and steered me towards the door, I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or flattered, I decided on flattered, I mean how often do I get kidnapped by a gorgeous man, boy I must have had one drink too many I felt a bit light-headed, but then again it might not be the wine but the close proximity of the man by my side.

The car is just down the road a bit, hope you don’t mind a walk.

No, the fresh air is lovely and after being inside this is just what I needed.

We walked a short distance down the road when Jack stopped.

Well here is the old jalopy, just a sec and I’ll unlock the door for you.

Jack’s old jalopy was a beautiful red 523i Mercedes Benz.

As we were driving along I turned to Jack and asked him why he had told Wesley that we were having supper together.

I wanted to get to know you better, and he presented the perfect opportunity, besides you didn’t complain.

He was right I did want to go with him, for the first time in ages I felt a need to be with a man, a feeling so strong that I felt slightly afraid of it.

Jack drove to a little restaurant in St. Kilda Road. The owner greeted Jack like an old friend.

I smiled at Jack, You must come here a lot?

Whenever I’m in town I like to eat here, the food is excellent, and Mario and I go a long way back.

We had a lovely meal and the conversation flowed easily, I found myself telling Jack all about my previous marriage and the years following, which was surprising as I had never talked to anyone about my past except for Wesley and Joanne.

I decided that I had talked enough about me and asked Jack what he did for a living.

He smiled, I suppose I am very lucky, I inherited quite a large sum of money, made some good investments, and got in the ground floor on a large-scale building development. Now if I wanted I could live the life of the idle rich but that’s not for me, I enjoy the wheeling and dealing I do and have my hand in quite a few speculative deals along with which I manage an import/export business, so all in all I am kept pretty busy.

Wow, I should be so lucky, sounds like the perfect life.

Maybe it is, but at least one good thing has come out of it Tania, I met you.

Mario came over to the table just then and asked if I had enjoyed the meal.

It was lovely, my compliments to the chef.

Mario laughed and said that the chef was in fact his wife and she would be pleased that I had liked the meal. Just them someone walked by our table and spoke to him, excusing himself he wished us a good night and turned away.

Jack drove me home; he said he was going away in the morning and would be out of town for the rest of he would ring me when he got back if that was okay.

I thanked him for a lovely night and said I would look forward to his phone call.

CHAPTER TWO

Monday morning rolled around, just as I was about to go over some files on my desk Wesley came into my office.

Well tell me all about it, did you and Jack enjoy yourselves?

Speaking for my-self I had a lovely time, Jack is a really nice person and we got on great.

Wesley smiled, I’m pleased for you, and it’s nice to see you happy for a change.

Just then Carmel our office junior knocked on the door and entered, in her arms was a bunch of red roses. These just came for you Ms. Miller.

I thanked her and looked at the card, ‘Red roses for a beautiful lady, Jack’.

Wesley grabbed the card out of my hand and read it, Seems someone else enjoyed themselves too, just dinner huh?

Before I could hurl something at him, he left. I looked at the roses and smiled it had been a long time since anyone had sent me flowers, especially ones as lovely as these, yes, I was looking forward to seeing Jack again.

The week speed by and before I knew it Saturday rolled around. I decided to give myself a manicure, just as I was finishing the phone rang, it was Jack he had just got back and wondered if I would like to have dinner with him