03 - Murder in Mink (19 page)

“I don’t know why it is. I just finding it easier not to
talk to them much.”

“I wonder what sort of people we all would have been
without the war happening.”

“It’s not just the war.”

“No?”

“You must know the story of how Glory inveigled herself
on my father?” Andrew tried to shake his head and instantly regretted it as the
room swam, “She was my father’s secretary. I don’t say they were having an
affair, I think my father too decent for that. But she moved quick after my
mother’s death, when father was still vulnerable. Persuading him to a fast
wedding, making herself indispensable, reminding him his daughters still needed
a mother figure.”

Andrew snorted.

“I’ve always hated Glory, but after that it just made
everything worse.”

“I don’t think Eustace cared for her either.” Clara said
carefully, “He implied she might have aided your mother’s death.”

“That is always a possibility, but mother was very ill.”
Andrew sighed, “It just made things so much worse. I was fighting day and night
in the trenches, watching my friends die and all I could think was that at home
there was Glory walking through my mother’s rooms, touching my mother’s things.
I even imagined she was turning my father against me. I was wrong about that.”

“I don’t think Hogarth is so gullible.” Clara comforted
him.

“What about you? Has Glory convinced you I am a killer?”

Clara gave a tight smile.

“I don’t think you killed Shirley. I don’t have proof of
that, just call it instinct. But you did lie to the inspector.”

“Did I?”

“You told him you hadn’t seen Shirley after the wedding,
but her landlady confirms a gentleman matching your description visited Shirley
later that same afternoon and Shirley recorded your visit in her diary.”

Andrew seemed amused rather than perturbed.

“My lies are always found out.” He said.

“So now is time for the truth. Was that the last time you
saw Shirley?”

“Yes, I’m sorry to say it was. Look Clara, we have gotten
off very badly. I thought you an interfering gossip who liked to stick her nose
into other peoples’ business. I see now I was wrong.”

“Oh no, you were quite right.” Clara laughed, “Only, I do
it for the best of reasons.”

“In any case, I realise now you are not what I thought
and that you do genuinely want to help, and maybe you can. Those policemen
don’t seem so very thorough and, despite what anyone might think, I do want
Shirley’s killer caught.”

“Then perhaps you would be prepared to help me understand
her a little better. Understanding a victim very often provides a key to the
killer. Would you tell me about your last meeting with Shirley?”

Andrew grimaced. Clara was certain he was about to tell
her to clear off, when he seemed to slump back in his chair and concede defeat.

“Our last meeting was unpleasant. I went to her to give
her money and talk about a divorce. I have been a cad to her, I see that now.
At the time I was so angry and ashamed…” The memories flooded back to Andrew
bitterly, “I went in and she was so glad to see me, but I didn’t want her to
touch me so I became angry and showed her the money. I told her I wanted a
divorce and I wanted her to leave now. She refused. I tried to shove the money
into her hand but she wouldn’t take it. She said all she wanted was me, not the
money, it wasn’t about the money. At the time I was so furious I couldn’t see how
important that was. For so long I had believed she had married me for one
thing. But it wasn’t true. I only understand that now, and now is too late. I
shouted at her, she wouldn’t budge. Finally I flew out of the house with my
money. That was the last I saw of Shirley, crying and begging me to come back
to her. I didn’t want to go back. I had left all that behind me.”

Clara understood. While she felt sympathy for the
unfortunate Shirley, she could also feel sorry for Andrew. His marriage and his
wife had become tangled in the emotions of war and left him feeling betrayed
and confused. He couldn’t go back to Shirley, because he couldn’t face that
portion of his past. Shirley would be forever mixed up with trenches,
shell-fire and bloodshed. It was all very sad and not so unusual.

“After you left Shirley went out, around 4.30. I don’t
know what her purpose was, but she was seen walking up the lane to the rectory.
After that I don’t know what became of her. Do you know if she had a connection
with reverend Draper?”

Andrew thought for a moment.

“No.” He answered succinctly.

“It’s all very confusing. Why was she headed up there?”

“Shirley wasn’t religious.” Andrew confirmed, “She didn’t
take any interest in God.”

“I imagine she felt she had very little to be grateful to
a Heavenly Father for. The police have her trunk, I saw the programmes from her
performances on stage.”

“She was a good little dancer. She was on stage from the
age of two.” Andrew almost smiled as he remembered the things Shirley had told
him, “She performed with her mother and father at first. She always drew a good
round of applause from the crowd.”

“And then? Her career on stage seems to have ended?”

“Her father was an alcoholic and died when she was ten.
Her mother was very ill so she continued to work to support her. The older she
got the more competition for roles there was, and she was not the cute little
girl she had once been. Slowly the work dried up. She was lucky if she could
get a part in a chorus line. The theatre is a cruel place to try and make a
living. Poor Shirley was no actress, she couldn’t get better parts. Gradually
she had no money and the family had to eat.” Andrew tailed off, the next part
of Shirley’s life was inevitable enough.

“I think it is safe to say Shirley’s adult life was not
an easy one.” Clara offered tentatively.

“A thousand girls and more are in the same boat. Shirley
did the best she could. She still got on stage when she had a chance. She had
such a cockney accent though, she once tried for the part of Juliet with a
Shakespeare company. The producer told her if he wanted Juliet to sound like a
market trader he would call her.”

Clara nodded, it was all making sense.

“I suppose that’s what she returned to after I left.”
Andrew cringed over his own guilt.

“She searched for you. In her trunk was a scrapbook
showing she had been tracking you for some time, but only really knew where to
look after the wedding announcement.”

“Another thing to thank Glory for. No, actually, I don’t
mean that. I needed to see Shirley, it was good she came here. I should have
done more for her. But if she wouldn’t take my money, what could I do?”

“I don’t know.” Clara answered, then she glanced at his
head, “Let’s have a look at that cut.”

Andrew gingerly removed the ice pack, rubbing at his
wrist where it had gone stiff from holding the soothing ice to his head. Clara
leaned in and checked the cut.

“It looks much better, I think you will be fine.”

“Thank you nurse Fitzgerald.” Andrew stood woozily and
shook her hand, “I’m rather glad we got to talk.”

“I’m glad too. I will try my best for you Andrew.”

Andrew smiled with difficulty, then, very carefully, he
exited the kitchen. Clara watched him go, feeling triumphant in herself. She
had not only overcome Andrew’s reticence but had banished the demons that had
once haunted her at the hospital. She was rather pleased with herself as she
turned to ask cook for a cup of tea. As she moved she spotted the rag still
sitting in the bloody water of the basin. An image of Andrew’s cut flashed into
her mind vividly.

Clara’s legs suddenly turned to jelly. She had enough
sense of the situation to be cross with herself and blurt out,

“For Heaven’s sake!”

Before the world vanished and Clara sank down in a dead
faint.

Tommy was grinning at her, it was most irritating.

“It wasn’t at all amusing.” Clara glowered at him,
sitting up in her bed as Annie handed her a tray of scrambled eggs and bacon.

“I just love the fact you managed to avoid fainting until
Andrew had left, do you think it was a delayed reaction or just force of will?”

Clara narrowed her eyes at him.

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“It was only a little bit embarrassing Clara.” Tommy
continued to grin at his sister.

“The cook and all the maids were standing over me when I
opened my eyes.” Clara stabbed at her bacon, “I was mortified at myself. They
didn’t tell anyone, did they?”

“Only me, I was nearby.” Annie gave Tommy a stern look,
“It was just one of those things Clara, you have probably been over-working.”

“So when can I get out of bed?” Clara hinted.

Annie pushed the blankets around her firmly.

“When I am satisfied you are fine.” She said.

Clara sulked over her eggs.

“Look old thing, while you were collapsing in the kitchen
I had an idea. I thought to myself someone must know if Andrew, or anyone else,
took a car out on the night of the murder of Shirley Cox. So I went out to the
garages to ask.” Tommy smiled smugly.

“And?” Clara nudged.

“And, the fellow who keeps the cars in top nick doesn’t
think any of them were moved from Saturday lunchtime to now. For a start he
lives in a small flat over the garages and can hear any cars being moved, that
is partly for security in case someone tries to steal one. Then there is the
petrol. He fills the cars up on a Monday usually and he knows, roughly, how
much each car consumes over the course of the week. They aren’t driven far, he
says, so a weekly top-up is all they need. So he checked them this Monday, as
he expected out of the three cars in the garage the one used for the wedding needed
filling up, the other two had full tanks since they hadn’t been used that
week.”

“So the wedding car could have been used?”

“I suggested that, we thought over it a minute, trying to
work out how we could say for sure if it had or had not been driven. Well then
this fellow has an idea. Each car has a dial that tells him how many miles it
has done, it isn’t something you pay much attention to. But the wedding car had
a once-over at the main Bentley garage just before Saturday, some concern over
the spark plugs or something. Anyway, as a matter of routine they fill in the
car’s logbook and put down the miles it has done. Well we got out the logbook
and it said that car had driven 113 miles, so we checked its dial. It still
said 113 miles. It isn’t a mile to the church and back, but it is to
Brooklands. If that car had moved it would have more than 113 miles recorded.”

Tommy sat back looking triumphant.

“None of these cars were used?” Clara mused on the
information, “Two problems. One, Andrew could have used his Napier from
Brooklands.”

“Except no one saw the
car
move. Andrew can’t be
always accounted for, but the car was there in plain sight, we could
double-check by asking some of the other mechanics who were working that night.
He couldn’t have moved it without someone seeing and, besides, the car came
towards Brooklands to dump the body. Why would Andrew drive away from the track
and then drive back?”

“All right, problem two, we are assuming the body was
dumped from the car.”

“Yes, I agree that is a problem. If we take the car out
of the equation everyone is back in the picture as a suspect.”

Clara gave a slight sigh that turned into a groan.

“We are no further forward then.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Tommy disagreed, “We have a
clearer picture of it all.”

“Do we?”

Before Tommy could answer there was a knock on the door
and Peg popped her head round.

“Clara, there is inspector Jennings in the hall wanting
to see you.”

“I’ll get up!” Clara started to push away the bedclothes.

“You will stay put!” Annie said firmly, “The inspector
can come to you.”

“I am not seeing him in bed!” Clara was aghast.

“Then you shouldn’t go around fainting. Send the
inspector to us Miss Campbell.” Annie instructed primly.

Peg was smiling as she vanished.

“I hate being in bed Annie, you know that!” Clara said
grumpily.

“Sometimes we all have to do things we hate. Now behave
and perhaps you’ll be fit to get up by dinnertime.”

“I am perfectly well!”

“It will do you no harm to sit there a bit. You gave your
head a bump too, don’t forget. For once do as you are told Clara.”

Clara realised she was not going to win this fight. She
gave a small groan and settled back against the pillow.

“At least pass me my wrap, so I look a little
presentable.”

Annie was passing over the embroidered wrap as there was
a second knock on the door. Clara called out that the inspector could enter and
Jennings bobbed into the room. He gave Clara a concerned look.

“Are you hurt, Miss Fitzgerald?”

“Not in any way that matters. I fainted last night.”
Clara explained quickly, “I have an aversion to head wounds and Andrew Campbell
cut his scalp open. I’m afraid the sight of blood disagreed with me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Jennings was looking at her
curiously and Clara felt it necessary to elaborate.

“It is not blood as such that bothers me, but cuts to the
head. I can’t explain it really. I discovered the foible when I was serving as
a nurse during the war.”

“That must have been inconvenient.” Jennings said.

“Well, it was, but I survived. Now, I take it something
urgent has occurred to bring you here so early?”

Jennings gave a little nod, went to speak then paused as
he remembered Tommy and Annie were in the room.

“They are ‘in’ on the matter.” Clara assured him, “They
are my partners in crime. I should introduce my brother Thomas Fitzgerald, and
Annie my maid and friend. Both have been doing some sleuthing of their own with
interesting results.”

Jennings said hello and introduced himself to Tommy and
Annie. Annie had found him a chair and he sat down facing Clara. He still was
rather uncomfortable in his surroundings and glanced at the window before
getting up and closing the bedroom door himself. Only then did he finally
decide he could speak without being overheard.

“I’ve got the first results from the lab on the samples
you sent in.”

“That was fast.” Clara was surprised.

“I pressed them for quick results, I thought it might be
a good idea. They are running more tests as we speak for thoroughness but the
early results are interesting on their own.” Jennings pulled a slip of paper
from his pocket and unfolded it, before clearing his throat to read, “The vomit
sample you collected was laced with arsenic.”

Clara felt her stomach drop, suddenly those eggs and bacon
she had eaten with relish brought a pang of nausea.

“So he was poisoned.” She said softly.

“The residue you spotted in the water was the same, white
arsenic. Apparently it doesn’t always completely dissolve and can leave a
residue.”

“Poor Eustace.” Tommy muttered.

“I’m still waiting for the results of the post-mortem, I
don’t expect those until later. But I would be happy to wager what the
coroner’s conclusion on the cause of death will be. Now all I need is the
‘who’.” Jennings returned the slip of paper to his pocket, “Any thoughts
Clara?”

“Glorianna.” Clara was so dazed by it all the words came
out automatically, “She was frantic when she discovered the water jug missing
and she was odd all yesterday. Also Tommy and Annie discovered a large amount
of arsenic missing from the kitchen store.”

“How much?” Jennings asked.

“Around 35oz.” Annie said.

The inspector whistled through his teeth.

“And that is only this visit, inspector. Eustace
complained that he always had problems with his indigestion when he came here.
He blamed the food naturally. I believe Glorianna has been poisoning him for a
while.” Clara shuddered at the thought, “I’m not sure she meant to kill him, it
was more out of revenge or irritation. She made him feel ill each time he came,
maybe hoping he would not return. Or perhaps she was just experimenting to get
the right dose. Eustace was a big man and it make take more arsenic that you
would expect to kill him. He only stayed a couple of days at a time, not long
enough to get things right. But this time he stayed on longer.”

“Strikes me that last dose was bigger by far than any
other Glorianna had given.” Tommy interjected, “She was poisoning him slowly,
but suddenly she gives him a huge dose. I think she was worried and angry
because Eustace was talking loudly and bluntly about Andrew being a murderer
and had even gone as far as saying Glorianna poisoned the former Mrs Campbell.
He told this all to me quite openly, so I doubt he had any problem telling
others.”

“There is one hitch, Eustace went to bed already feeling
unwell, that was before he drunk the tonic water.” Clara said.

“Then she poisoned his food as well, or the whisky he
loved to drink.” Tommy shrugged, “Glorianna had stolen enough to poison
everything Eustace touched.”

Jennings whistled again.

“And you say Eustace claimed Mrs Glorianna Campbell had poisoned
the former Mrs Campbell?” He asked.

“He was of that opinion.” Clara nodded, “But only because
of the short timespan between Hogarth becoming a widower and Glorianna becoming
the second Mrs Campbell. Andrew Campbell is less convinced; his mother was very
sick anyway.”

Jennings tapped his fingers on the blanket on Clara’s
bed.

“In my humble experience a person who has killed once is
more than likely to kill again to solve a problem. Could it be that Glorianna
decided to deal with the unfortunate Shirley Cox as well?” Jennings cocked his
head to one side, “The coroner tells me it was something like a silk scarf that
strangled her. Something soft. I’m thinking how hard would it be for a woman to
pull a scarf tight enough to strangle someone? Not that hard, I imagine.”

“There are still too many questions unanswered.” Clara
noted.

“Quite. Talking about questions, we haven’t been able to
track down Reverend Draper in London yet, but I’m planning on paying a call to
Mrs Patterson. Would you care to come, Miss Fitzgerald?”

Clara cast a sidelong glance at Annie. The maid gave a
very slight shrug.

“I’ll be ready in a moment inspector if you can wait for
me?”

“I can indeed.”

“Then I shall meet you in the hall shortly. Tommy could
you kindly show the inspector out and get him a drink while he waits?”

Tommy wheeled around the bed and Jennings joined him to
leave Clara to dress. Just outside her room Jennings found himself stifling a
laugh of amusement.

“How did she know?” He said to Tommy.

“Clara follows her instincts.” Tommy smiled, “You get
used to it after a while.”

“But she has no sense of danger, does she?”

“Absolutely none.” Tommy agreed.

“Keep an eye on her then, because I have a nasty feeling
about this business. More and more this family is feeling like a nest of
vipers.”

“They’re not so bad.” Tommy chuckled nonchalantly,
“You’re forgetting, I’m one of them.”

“Just be careful, that’s all. I don’t need another murder
on my hands.”

Tommy’s smile evaporated with the seriousness of the
inspector’s tone.