03 - Murder in Mink (18 page)

It was the closest Jennings would go to giving Clara a
compliment. She had to smile.

“I shall see you later inspector. Please thank the
constable for the use of his bicycle.”

“Yes, perhaps next time you will not send one of our policemen
home in a hearse. He was shaking like a leaf when he arrived.” Jennings was
chuckling, “It was all we could do to get some brandy down him.”

Clara rolled her eyes.

“Honestly!” She was close to laughing as she headed
downstairs and went home.

Annie presented the large Oxo tin to Clara as though it
was the crown jewels. Clara opened it cautiously and looked at the bags of
white powder inside.

“Any missing?”

“The cook says there should be 100oz in there.”

“And?”

“We only weighed 65oz.”

Clara looked at the deadly substance in her hands. It
didn’t take 35oz of arsenic to kill a person, not by a long shot.

“What if someone was taking it out a teaspoon at a time?”

“We thought of that.” Annie smiled proudly, “We did a
test, a teaspoon is about 4 or 5 grams, and we reckoned it could be done so
easily. Someone says they are going into the larder for a spoonful of sugar for
their cocoa and instead take some arsenic for Eustace’s tonic water. That is
how you think it was done, don’t you Clara?”

“Yes.” Clara put the lid carefully back on the tin, there
was something awful seeing such a pile of poison heaped before her and knowing
that almost every house in the country held a similar pile. Who needed 100oz of
poison? Which druggist would dispense it so freely? There were supposed to be
laws about such things, but of course a large house could give the excuse that
they had a lot of mice and rats to contend with, not to mention those in the
gardens.

“Could it have been taken by accident?”

“No, the cook was very good on that account. It was kept
in a cupboard away from everything else.”

“So no accident.” Clara rested her head against the bed
rest and wished she had never come to the Campbell house.

They were sitting in Tommy’s bedroom, having a meeting
over the events of the last few days. Clara had brought Annie up to speed on
the case, then outlined her morning. Once the news of Reverend Draper and
Susan’s condition had sunk in, Tommy shared his and Annie’s adventures of the
day. Not that it had been terribly adventurous as such, the cook had been jolly
co-operative, but the measuring of the arsenic had caused something of a stir.

“So who do you suspect?” Tommy asked boldly.

Clara had closed her eyes and was thinking that you never
really knew people, not even your flesh and blood. She opened them cautiously.

“I suspect everyone, but top on my list is Glorianna.”

“She did hate Eustace.” Tommy nodded.

“And it wouldn’t seem so odd, the lady of the house
popping into the kitchen. A man’s presence would have been remarked on.” Annie
suggested.

“True, but we can’t rule out Peg and Susan.”

“They don’t seem to have much motive.” Clara sighed,
“Unless they learned about Eustace’s will, of course. Somehow I doubt that.”

“But how does this fit with the vicar and that Shirley
woman?” Asked Annie.

“I’m not sure.” Clara shut her eyes again, “I’m not sure
any of it fits.”

“Well, let’s start at the top. Shirley Cox appears out of
nowhere and ruins Andrew Campbell’s wedding, then she turns up dead. She is
seen visiting the Reverend Draper on the night of her death, who Susan visited
about an abortion. That is the first connection.” Tommy held up a finger to
make his point, “We don’t know why she visited Draper, but it seems rather odd
under the circumstances. However, Andrew still seems the prime suspect for
bumping Shirley off.”

“It’s not much of a connection. How does Eustace fit?”

“I’ve been rattling my brain on that one. Eustace was
very open with me about his thoughts on the matter, what if he was open with
someone else? Someone who deemed him dangerous?”

“I’m almost certain Glorianna had a hand in his death.”
Clara rubbed at her forehead, “She was so anxious about that damn jug.”

“If he was poisoned.” Annie pointed out, “It could all be
coincidence, after all.”

“Let’s put Eustace on one side until we have some hard
facts.” Clara agreed, “Draper still worries me, how did he even come to know
about this woman Mrs Patterson?”

“He is a funny one, I don’t think I would like him at any
wedding of mine.” Annie gave a heartfelt shiver.

As they fell silent there was a tentative knock on the
door.

“Come in.” Tommy called.

“Is Clara there?” An uncertain voice called back without
the door opening.

“That’s Susan.” Clara looked at the other two, wondering
what was up now, “Come in Susan!”

Susan timidly opened the door. She looking woefully pale
and was draped in a long, thick shawl that hung off her like a shroud. Clara
jumped from the bed at the sight of her and tenderly put her arm around her
shoulders, edging her into the room and shutting the door behind.

“What are you doing out of bed?”

“I want to talk to my father now, I can’t bear waiting
any longer.” Susan looked miserably at Clara, “Will you come with me? They are
all in the drawing room, Peg and Andrew are there. I think it will be better
with all of us, I’m hoping Peg will stand up for me.”

“All right.” Clara nodded, “If you are sure?”

“Not really. But I can’t wait any longer, I lie in that
bed worrying about it. At least if I get it over with I know where I stand.”

“Do you have any idea how your father will react?”

Susan gave a little shrug.

“I think I’m more worried about Glorianna. She hasn’t
been herself today.”

“Well, Glorianna doesn’t count. She isn’t your mother.”
Clara squeezed Susan reassuringly, “Come on, let’s face the music.”

Clara and Susan walked to the drawing room where the rest
of the family had gathered. It was a morose little gathering and it wasn’t
about to be made any better by Susan’s announcement. Glorianna looked sick to
death and was walking around with a glass of sherry wedged in her hand. Hogarth
was smoking, lost in his own grief. Peg was reading and looked the calmest of
the lot, though she kept glancing at her father as if checking he was still
there. That left Andrew by the fireplace, tapping his cigarette against the
marble mantel and watching Glorianna pace impatiently. A quiver ran through
Susan as she saw them all. Clara had her arm hooked through Susan’s and stood
stoically beside her, giving a smile to remind the girl she would stay there no
matter what.

Susan was braver than a first glance suggested, she might
hesitate but at this moment in time she was not about to back down. It would be
worse to go back upstairs and fret then to face the wrath of her family. Still,
she was extremely glad Clara was at her side.

Susan gave a polite cough.

“Could I speak to you all for a moment?”

“Susan, we are really all rather distracted.” Glorianna
didn’t even stop her pacing for her stepdaughter.

“I think you will find it is important.” Clara said, her
tone causing all but Glorianna to glance at her.

“Has something else happened?” Hogarth spoke, his voice
husky and tired. He seemed in a daze as he looked at his youngest daughter.

“I’m sorry father, but I’ve got some news that won’t
please you.” Susan took a gulp of air.

Glorianna had stopped pacing at last and was staring at
them.

“What have you done?” She snapped accusingly.

Susan ignored her, focusing all her attention on her
father. She had to coil her nerve into a tight ball inside to say the words
that were desperate to come out, it was a moment before her mouth seemed to
function.

“I’m pregnant.”

The room erupted. Glorianna shrieked and the sherry glass
flew from her hand, clipping Andrew across the side of his head, so he swore at
her and grasped his scalp where blood was dripping. Peg dropped her magazine,
gasped in amazement, then applauded her sister with a laugh. Meanwhile Clara,
seeing no one else cared to attend to Andrew, grabbed a handkerchief from her
pocket and pressed it firmly against his head. Glorianna was caught between
sobbing and screaming, glancing around the room as if someone could offer her a
solution to her dilemma. She suddenly pointed at finger at Susan.

“You!”

But Hogarth interrupted what was to come by raising a
hand and indicating his wife to be silent. He had not moved or spoken since the
announcement. He simply looked at his daughter, curiously at first, then with a
sad sensation of understanding.

“My poor Susan.” He muttered softly, “What has happened
to you?”

He stood and wrapped his arms around his daughter.

“I haven’t been keeping an eye on you.” He choked on a
sob, “Who is the scoundrel?”

“I didn’t really know him, he took advantage of me. I
didn’t realise…” Susan started to cry too, “He asked me to dance and I didn’t
know it would lead to…”

“All right, my darling, all right.” Hogarth held her and
stroked her hair, “It will be all right.”

“Hogarth!” Glorianna snapped, she could not hold her
tongue forever, “The girl is a disgrace! The Campbell name will be ruined.”

“Oh shut up Glory!” Andrew growled, wincing as Clara held
the cloth to his head, “The family name has already been ruined by me, Susan
getting pregnant is rather old hat compared to me having two wives and one of
them being murdered.”

“Don’t be so coarse!” Glorianna squealed, she was losing
control of herself, “This is disgraceful, you are all disgraceful! I can’t
imagine worse step children. Peg dresses like a man, Andrew is a murderer and
now Susan is pregnant by a man she doesn’t even know! You are all so wicked!”

“Glorianna will you be quiet!” Hogarth’s roar silenced
everyone. His face was twisted in outrage, “You will not say such things about
my children.  They have made mistakes, but they are not wicked, and my son is
not a murderer!”

Glorianna yelled like a banshee at her husband, grabbed
up a cushion and flung it at him before racing from the room in floods of
tears.

“If she thinks I am following her she is sorely
mistaken.” Hogarth still clung to his daughter, “Sit down Susan and let’s talk
about this. I’m sure we can make it right.”

Hogarth sat with Susan on a sofa and Peg quickly joined
them. She clutched her sister’s hand and kissed her cheek tenderly.

“Silly girl, you could have told me! I’m a modern woman.”
She grinned.

Clara was still helping Andrew, now the situation seemed
to have settled she decided to focus her attention on him.

“Right, let’s get some ice on that bump and see if we can
stop the bleeding.” She commanded him, finding her old nursing voice coming
right back.

Andrew gave her a groan in response. She took his hand
and, with the other still pressing the hanky to his head, led him down the hall
to the kitchen.

The staff were still around and a maid gave a gasp at the
sight of Andrew’s head wound. It must have seemed to them that the whole family
had gone mad – who would be bumped off next? The cook, fortunately, proved more
pragmatic. She came over at once and asked Clara what she needed.

“Some cold, clean water and some cloth. Iodine, if you
have it, and an ice pack and some bandages.” Clara instructed as she set Andrew
down on a chair.

“Should I be concerned you know about head wounds?”
Andrew asked as the cook headed off.

“I was a nurse during the war.” Clara supplied, “Let’s
remove that cloth and see what we have got.”

The cut was more of a graze, not so deep, but head wounds
were good for producing gallons of blood and sending the less hardy into a
fainting fit. In fact head wounds were Clara’s worst nemesis. In the hospital
in Brighton she had become notorious for fainting at the sight of a bleeding
scalp, so much so she had been scorned about it by the other nurses. Oddly
Andrew’s wound was not having the same effect; Clara wondered if she had become
tougher over the years, or whether it was just because if she collapsed on the
floor who was going to help him? Besides, she couldn’t bear for Andrew Campbell
to see her faint.

The cook arrived back with a bowl of water. Clara cleaned
the wound, rinsing the worst of the blood out of Andrew’s hair, before she took
a closer look at the cut. She picked up the bottle of iodine.

“Is that necessary?” Andrew gave her a mournful look.

She examined the cut again, thought about it a moment and
instead gave Andrew the ice pack to hold against his scalp.

“It isn’t so bad and the coldness of the ice will help to
stop the bleeding.” She sat down on the chair next to Andrew, “I’ll keep an eye
on you for a bit, if you don’t mind, in case you go dizzy or faint. Head
wounds, even minor ones, can be funny things.”

“I know, I saw enough during the war.” Andrew pressed the
ice against his skull and realised he was feeling rather relieved that Clara
had come to his aid, he hedged around for the right words, “It was… good of you
to help.”

“No one else was being very practical.” Clara shrugged.

“My family aren’t practical.” Andrew answered, “I take it
Susan had already confided in you?”

“Yes, I’ve been worried about her since that incident the
other night. I’ve been keeping an eye on her.”

“We should be grateful for that too. None of us have been
paying much attention to poor Susan.” Andrew felt a pang of queasiness, “That
was a nasty blow Glory dealt me.”

“I didn’t expect her to have such a temper.”

“You don’t know her.” Andrew managed a smile.

“Eustace told me exactly the same.” Clara felt that
familiar unease returning, “He made out that Glorianna was manipulative,
controlling and an attention-seeker. I didn’t care to believe him.”

“Eustace was correct. Glory is all those things and more.
Spiteful, cunning and with a nasty tongue when she cares to use it.”

Clara gazed across the room, trying to focus her
thoughts.

“I personally believe it was partly Glorianna’s
unkindness that drove Susan to jump in the river. She fears her.”

“Not anymore, I’ll watch out for Susan.” Andrew said with
a strange sternness, “I’ve been negligent of my family.”

“Why is that Andrew, might I ask? Why do you distance
yourself from those who care about you?” Clara waited to be told to mind her
own business, she had certainly pushed her luck, but it seemed her help had had
a thawing effect on Andrew.