Chapter One:

When sorting out some old boxes and trunks in the attic of my ancestral family home. I found volumes of diaries that had been written by a close friend of grandmother's. The first diary was dated about three years before my grandmother and my grandfather married.

I decided, as I was the only one in the house, to sit down and begin what had happened as no-one in the family liked talking about the time before Grandmother and Grandfather got married. The diary starts off on The 16th February 2002:

16th February 2002
Today we are investigating the disappearance of Lady Katherine Forbes of Forbes Manor, Cairngorm in Scotland.
Lady Forbes was last seen as she went for a walk in the grounds, by her close friend Jennifer Riley (soon to be Potter). Lady Katherine was reported missing by her fianc?ames Gordon, who tells us that he was asleep at the time (but, no one can confirm this). Besides Lady Katherine, Mr. Gordon was the only other one to know the grounds of the Forbes Estate well.
Lady Katherine had been missing for over two days before he reported it. He told us that she liked going for long walks and sometimes deciding to stay overnight where ever she got to, but she would then let someone know by calling from her mobile phone. Apparently she didn't call, so Jennifer Riley decided to call Lady Katherine, but only got the answer phone.
Jennifer told us that she went up to Lady Katherine's room to see if she was back. Jennifer knocked and went in and discovered Lady Katherine's mobile phone, lying discarded on the bed. What alarmed Jennifer more than finding that Lady Katherine had not taken her phone was that it looked like someone had been going through her things. Jennifer looked closer at the mobile phone, and saw at once that it had recently been dropped in mud.
At dawn this morning I launched a full-scale search of the Forbes Estate and surrounding area to try and discover the whereabouts of Lady Katherine.
So far we have covered most of the estate. I have sent teams to Aviemore to check to see if Lady Katherine reached there.
Just after midday we have made progress, my team has found a glove, which has been confirmed as one of a pair that Lady Katherine had been wearing when she went missing.
It was found in Brockle Wood, where Lady Katherine and James Gordon liked to walk through on hot sunny days.
My second team picked up another clue around three this afternoon, they found Lady Katherine's necklace (which is a small hand-made silver cross). They found it by Forbes Bridge.
Light is fading; tomorrow I'm going to call out the divers to search the river for clues. I have removed all people that lived in Forbes Manor, out so that no evidence is touched or removed from the hall.

I can now believe why this has not been talked about, but why hide it from the family. My Grandmother's disappearance must have been a hard period of time for all those concerned.

17th February 2002
Today I am continuing to search for Lady Katherine. I called in the divers straight away so we could see if any clues had gone into the river.
My other teams are continuing to search the surrounding areas where the clues have been found to see if there is anything else to be found.
I appointed my deputy to interview all the people who were at Forbes Manor when the disappearance occurred.
A young officer just ran up to me to tell me that they needed me down by the waters edge as something had been found in the water. I followed the officer down to the water, hoping it wasn't what I thought it was. The head diver saw me and handed me a clear evidence bag (I let out a breath, which I did not know I was holding). Inside the bag contained a set of keys, a purse and another glove (the glove matched the other glove that had been found yesterday).
My deputy did not uncover any information, except something she picked up when she was interviewing James Gordon, his body language was wrong for what had happened usually when someone close had gone missing, they are frantic with worry but he was not appearing to be worried, in fact he seemed quite pleased with himself about something.
Another of my teams has found a long black coat that has also been identified as Lady Katherine's, so we know that she could be in the area, between Forbes Bridge and Brockle Wood. The coat was nearer Brockle Wood, so I decided to concentrate the investigation around that area.
Something I have been dreading to find, has started to be found. Blood has been found near where the cost was found, samples have been sent off to see if it does belong to Lady Katherine. I won't get the results until later or even tomorrow.
More than a few hours ago, more of Lady Katherine's jewellery was found, in the area that we are searching. One thing I don't understand is how her necklace got to Forbes Bridge, unless that is where she was when she was attacked.
My main suspect is the fianc?ames Gordon, he doesn't have an alibi that anyone can confirm, and as the only one that could confirm it is the one that is missing. He doesn't seem very concerned and he seems to be hiding something. Jennifer Riley mentioned that Lady Katherine and James Gordon had had words a few days before her disappearance, and James was not best pleased with what was said. As far as Jennifer could gather from what she over heard, was that James was just starting to think that getting married was the wrong thing to be doing and something about Lady Katherine's inheritance that she would get as soon as she was married. Jennifer told me of her suspicions that James was only marrying Lady Katherine for her money, as he had a lot of credit card bills to pay off.
I would bring him back in for questioning, but we need those results before we can start anything properly.
Maybe tomorrow will bring good news or bad...

Wow, this James Gordon sounds like one evil person. I glance down into the trunk were I found the diaries and see some photographs. One has my Grandmother along with a man I have never seen before. The glass of the frame has been smashed as though someone had thrown it down.

18th February 2002
The search is continuing for Lady Katherine.
My hope is fading, ever to find her alive. As it is now five days since she went on that fateful walk.
Another friend of Lady Katherine's turned up today, due to a phone call from his fianc?Jennifer Riley. For the record Mr. Robert Potter and Mr. James Gordon are best friends, but Mr. Potter gets on well with Lady Katherine.
The divers are still searching the river for any more clues to Lady Katherine's whereabouts. Still nothing has been found in the river.
I have just received the blood results, from the blood that was found yesterday. There in fact were three different blood samples, one has been confirmed as Lady Katherine's, but for the other two, tests are still being run against all those that were staying in Forbes Manor, especially Mr. Gordon's blood. I won't know the results until tomorrow.
My mobile just rang, telling me that something had been found towards Pine Walk, which is about 1 ½ miles away from Brockle Wood where the blood was found.
I feel sick, just thinking about what was found I'm just so surprised she was still alive. Lady Katherine has been found, but she is in a critical condition in the top Glasgow Hospital, where she is being given round the clock treatment for her injuries.
From what I can gather Lady Katherine had been laying here four out of the five days she had been missing for.
The description on what I saw and have found out at the scene, of how Lady Katherine was when she was found:
Face battered, nearly unrecognisable; Both legs broken; Suspected internal bleeding; Broken ribs; Severe lacerations; and they are worried about her back - as it could be either be broken or just some discs crushed against the spinal cord.
I am waiting for the full report on her injuries from the hospital.
Tomorrow James Gordon will be questioned about everything that has happened.
No one has been told that Lady Katherine has been found, until I know what injuries she has sustained.

Oh my God, how could my Grandmother have coped with what she has gone through and still have a smile on her face at the end of it. I thought James was evil before but the description of him is now beyond words.

19th February 2002
Today, I am setting up an inquiry into what has happened. My teams are still searching the areas in which evidence has been found.
A ring has been found, in a small ring box near Pine Walk. No one seems to know anything about it.
Also a P-registered dark blue Ford Fiesta has been found, abandoned in a car park in Aviemore. No one knows where the owner has gone, but we did get a description of the owner, from a resident of Aviemore.
The description of the owner of the car:
Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Light brown

Eye Colour: Blue

Height: 5ft 6"

Age: between 20 and 25
The number plate of the car is being put through our system at the moment to find out whose car it is.
One of the other blood results is through and it does match the blood of Mr. James Gordon and the other sample still remains a complete mystery. May all be revealed when we find the owner of the car?
I am going to have James Gordon charged for the attempted murder of Lady Katherine Forbes.
I just had an emergency phone call from the hospital where Lady Katherine is being looked after, telling me that she is showing signs of waking.
I rushed over to the hospital; by the time I got there she was nearly awake. The doctor pulled me to one side to tell me, that Lady Katherine, when she was unconscious had kept on crying out "look out Andrew, he's coming", "Andrew, behind you" and then she would scream "Andrew". Whoever this "Andrew" person is he must be close to Lady Katherine and I presume "he" is Mr. Gordon.
I need to send my teams out to see if they can find this "Andrew" quickly.
I spoke to Lady Katherine for a short while, but it did no good, as she is drugged up to the eyeballs on painkillers, she kept on drifting away.
James Gordon is now sat in a cell ready for questioning; I am leaving him there until tomorrow to stew, before I interview him.
I think that we will get to the bottom of this mystery soon enough.

I would never have thought that my Grandmother would have been the kind of person to have an affair, but this Andrew person sounds interesting. I glance down at my watch and notice that is coming up to six o'clock, the time when my husband would be coming to collect me to take me back home. I decide to take the volume I am reading home with me to continue reading.