[Berkeley Brigade 10] - Shadow of Murder (23 page)

“We were wondering if she lied to protect Corbett,” Corinne said. “It didn’t take her a minute to figure out why we were asking.”

“That might be why she took to casting spurs on Chloe Chalmers as well,” Coffen said.

“Slurs,” Prance corrected. “Casting slurs.” Or did he mean aspersions? No, Coffen would never have heard of an aspersion.

“Them as well,” said Coffen, who never paid much attention to Prance’s language lessons.

“I don’t mean to be a nit-picker, Coffen,” Prance said, “but one casts slurs on a reputation, not spurs.”

“If you want to pick nits, try this. She said Chloe was always oiling around Mrs. Ballard and making fun of her behind her back. Did you ever notice anything like that?”

“I certainly noticed she was fond of Mrs. Ballard. I never heard her making fun of the lady.”

“All a hum, then, to make her look guilty, so as to make Corbett look innocent. Very likely he
did
wear chains on his boots.”

“It almost sounds as if Miss Lipman was jealous of Chloe,” Prance said, peering to see how this idea went down.

“Why? Lipman wasn’t interested in Sean, was she? It was Corbett she had her eye on.”

“I believe he means Chloe liked Corbett,” Corinne said.

Prance considered this, then said, “Of the two, I should think any girl would prefer Vance. He was cantankerous to be sure, but he was more of a man. He had a certain
je ne sais quoi.
”
He tossed a hand in the air in the gallic manner.

“French, was he?” Coffen asked. “That might explain it.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Prance said. “Could you explain your explanation?”

“Of course you understand. The Frenchies hate us. He’d be after the stolen goods to sell to get money for the war with France. By Jove, they could buy a lot of bullets with the ten thousand he got away with.”

“We have wandered into the realm of fiction here,” Prance said with a weary sigh. “Corbett was not French. He was from an orphanage in Devon.”

“But Corbett and Chloe,” Corinne said. “Now that is a combination we haven’t considered. Might they have been working together?”

Their discussion was interrupted by Luten’s arrival. Corinne immediately asked the usual question, “Anything new?”

As it seemed the Berkeley Brigade was now in session, Corinne called for coffee and they all made themselves comfortable.

“Townsend tells me Dan had a daughter who used to work with him,” Luten said. “A brave, cunning girl. He has the notion she may go after Lady Clare’s diamond necklace.”

“Thank goodness I told her to take the necklace to Elgin Hall herself,” Corinne said. “We should warn her.”

“Townsend is doing that. He’ll put himself in charge of delivering the necklace safely — as well as the lot you’re responsible for, Corinne.”

“What age would this daughter be?” she asked.

“About eighteen. It seems she’s been working with Dan since she was I mere tot.”

“What is her name?”

“He called her Missy. That’s probably a pet name.”

“Could this daughter be Chloe Everett? She’s the right age.”

“She was described as a brassy chit with black hair. Chloe’s hair is black but I wouldn’t call her a brassy chit.”

Prance said, “She’s no Mrs. Siddons, but she’s not a bad actress, which could explain the demure behaviour. I wonder, though, if she wouldn’t have worn a blond wig. No, perhaps not. One can always tell.”

“It’s possible she is Dan’s daughter,” Luten said.

“She was eager to get into Mrs. Ballard’s rooms, where she had a good view of the back garden and the library door,” Corinne reminded them.

Luten listened, then said, “Townsend doesn’t think Dan would go after the auction goods. That’s the Maccles’ line. If she was after the auction goods, she was likely working with the Maccles.”

“So how do we go about proving it?” Coffen asked, looking around.

“Or disproving it,” Luten added. “This is all conjecture.”

“Not if we prove it,” Coffen insisted.

They were discussing ways and means but had come up with nothing better than searching her rooms again when Black arrived. “Any news?” he asked, and was filled in on what they had been discussing.

“Did you learn anything at the chapel?” Luten asked.

“Nothing about the Maccles, but I was surprised to learn Dan was a member in good standing.” There was a general outcry of astonishment at this. When they settled down, Black continued.

“I had a chat with the fellow who looks after the church — the cleaning and that sort of thing. His keys went missing for a spell. Someone might have got hold of them and had a copy made to get inside the night Mrs. Ballard went to meet them. Now the interesting thing, to my mind, is that Dan was said to have taken up with an older woman with either a bunch of young lovers, or a bunch of sons.”

“Mother Maccles,” Luten said.

“That would be my guess,” Black agreed. “There was a bunch of older women there tidying up the chapel at the time the keys went missing. I was wondering if Mother Maccles was one of them. She don’t belong to the chapel but Diamond Dan did. He might of got her in somehow. I don’t figure they’d ask many questions if a member in good standing, which Dan was, said he knew a woman who’d lend them a hand.”

“Might the thief have been Dan’s daughter, wearing a gray wig?” Luten asked.

“I daresay it’s possible. The daughter is a member of the community. She’s in the chapel register, but she’s been living in London. Elizabeth Marjorie Dumbrille, age eighteen.”

“Missy!” Coffen said.

“Missing, you say?” Black exclaimed. “What have you learned about her?”

“Not missing, Missy. That’s what Dan called her, and she was in it with him since she was a tyke, according to what Townsend told Luten, barring some time for her education in a girls’ school.”

Black considered this a moment, then said, “I’ve been wondering if the chit is Chloe Chalmers. There’s no one else we know of that fits the description.”

“That’s just what we were wondering,” Coffen said.

“Townsend feels pretty sure the daughter will go after Lady Clare’s diamond necklace,” Luten said, and sighed. “They’ve had such easy pickings so far she won’t feel we’re much of a threat.”

“It’s too bad we’re making such a secret of when and how the necklace is being delivered,” Corinne said. “Only ourselves and Lady Clare know.”

“And Townsend,” Luten said.

“It ain’t likely he’ll blow the gaffe,” Black added.

“It’s still conjecture,” Luten said. “If she
is
Dan’s daughter, then she must have become involved with the Maccles through Dan, when he took up with Mother.”

“Or vice versa?” Corinne suggested. “She took up with one of the Maccles men when she came to London and got mixed up in their plan to steal the auctions goods, and through him Dan met Mother Maccles. That would suggest that Sean Everett is one of the Maccles.”

“And this come off his boot,” Coffen said, dangling the rosette. “If you’d have one of your rehearsals this afternoon, Reg, me and Black could go and have another root around that house where Chloe and Sean live. And you can have a look at his boots while he’s there.”

Prance considered this a moment, then said, “I’ll ask them to remove their footwear to protect the carpet, which I shall say I just had cleaned. As it’s not actually soiled, they won’t know the difference. I’ll remove my own boots as well to make it look less odd. Villier will take the boots out of the room and examine them for marks of the rosette. I am assuming Sean will have removed the other one by now. Either that or he’ll be wearing two new ones, in which case we haven’t proven a thing except that he has poor taste.”

“Anyhow it’ll give me and Black a chance to search their rooms,” Coffen said. He looked to Black for his agreement. Black nodded his head. “If we find one rosette matching this one I found in the attic, that’ll be close to proof.”

“Right, I’ll dash off notes to them right away. How long do you want at their flats?”

“Half an hour would be plenty of time.”

Luten nodded, then said, “You might quiz them to see if they know anything we don’t about Corbett as well, Reg.”

“I don’t suppose it would be possible to drop a hint as to how Lady Clare’s diamond necklace is to be delivered,” Corinne said. “No, I can see it’s impossible. If she’s guilty, she’d smell a rat.”

“Mrs. Ballard is the one to let that drop,” Luten said.

“I could tell Chloe Mrs. Ballard has been asking for her,” Prance said. “Suggest she drop in while she’s in the neighbourhood. I can detain Sean, if you’d rather Mrs. Ballard and Chloe have an intimate cose.”

Corinne considered this and said, “Yes, that would be best. I’ll have to tell Mrs. Ballard how the diamonds are being moved, and trust her to tell Chloe in some seemingly innocent way. I’m not sure she’s up to it.”

“She’s surprised us once already,” Luten reminded her. “I believe if she were told the whole story, she’d gladly play her part. She might balk at telling a lie, but she wouldn’t have to lie. And if Chloe is who we suspect she is, she’ll be angling to find out about the diamonds anyway. I say we give it a try. If Chloe is innocent, there’s no harm done. On the other hand, if we can spur her into action and catch her, we’ll get Corinne’s ten thousand back.” He turned to his wife. “Are you willing to take the risk, Corinne?”

“It’s Lady Clare who’d be taking the risk.”

“There won’t really be much risk,” Luten said. “We’ll substitute paste diamonds in the carriage and get the real necklace to Elgin Hall by some other means.”

“If we could be sure they don’t harm Lady Clare ...”

“We’ll find a stand-in for Lady Clare as well.”

Corinne bit back a smile. “In that case, go ahead. I’ll go and coach Mrs. Ballard.”

“You get that note off to Chloe, Prance,” Coffen said, “and me and Black will dash over to Stukely Street. We’ll dart in as soon as they leave.”

Corinne was positively amazed with Mrs. Ballard’s reaction to her suspicions of Chloe. She expected resistance and being made to feel she was doing something sinfully wrong, but it was no such a thing.

“I am so relieved to hear you say so, milady,” she gasped, hand held to heart. “I wanted to say something to you, but one hesitates to cast a shadow on another’s character without proof, and really I have
no proof.
It was the knitting, you see, that first raised a doubt. She asked me to teach her to knit, which I was very happy to do. Then I happened to hear Sean mention to Corbett that Chloe had knittted him a pair of slippers for his last birthday. He was boasting about what a good knitter she was. And really she
did
seem to catch on very quickly, more quickly than someone who had never held a needle.

“I did wonder, too, why she always suggested we have the knitting lessons in my rooms. She went to the window half a dozen times, seeming to admire that rose shrub. I had to wonder how a grown woman living in England had never seen a rose bush. Indeed she was very interested in the whole area behind the house, which is the way the thieves got in. And then there was the matter of her curiosity about the delivery of the diamonds. She broached the questions in a clever way, hinting to learn whether they were here in the house. I did tell her they weren’t.

“Then the next day she was at it again, hoping you were taking every precaution and asking whether you would be hiring guards when they came here, and how did one go about protecting a valuable cargo. That sort of thing. Luckily I knew nothing of the precautions you were taking, so I couldn’t tell her a thing. I do feel badly about your losing so much money. If I could repay you, I would.”

“It’s not your fault in the least, Mrs. Ballard. They fooled us all. Now it’s our turn to fool them. We are trying to arrange that Chloe call on you this afternoon. If she
is
guilty — and as you said we don’t know that she is — she will try to quiz you about the delivery of the diamonds. You must tell her they are safe, because no one knows they will be delivered by Lady Clare herself after dark on the very night of the ball. She will not have an armed guard accompanying the carriage as she doesn’t want to call attention to the delivery, but she will have a couple of men in the carriage with her. She will go directly from her sister, Lady Eaton’s house, on Curzon Street, where she is presently visiting, to Elgin Hall. All this is true, you won’t be called upon to lie. If Chloe is innocent, nothing will happen. If she is guilty, she will attack, and we’ll catch her.”

“And if she doesn’t ask me, milady?”

“Then we must assume she isn’t interested, that she doesn’t plan to steal them, in other words, and no harm done. You can just enjoy your visit. I know you have enjoyed having the company.”

“It’s true, I have. I’ll say this, if she is guilty, she is an excellent actress. But when I think of the knitting, I cannot help but wonder.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Gladly, milady. If she is guilty, she’ll be taken in her own snare. To be taking bread out of the mouths of orphans is the devil’s work, and it is always one’s duty to fight the devil. I’m not in the least afraid of her. I daresay she is not as dangerous as that man who pointed a gun at me at the chapel. Using the Lord’s house for such a purpose! One can only wonder what the world is coming to.”

Yet despite all the horrid people and doings, she felt her blood coursing more quickly through her veins than ever before. She was amazed to see, after her ladyship left and she happened to pass her mirror, that she was smiling. And why should she not? She had been plying her Psalter and knew that it was a delight to do the Lord’s will.

Prance’s note caught Chloe and Sean at home and they had hastened at once to Berkeley Square. They made no demur at removing their footwear and seemed happy with the cheque Prance gave them in lieu of continuing the rehearsals. He purposely directed most of his conversation to Sean and made no objection when Chloe said she would like to dart over and see dear Mrs. Ballard, and she would meet Sean back here.

“No hurry,” Prance said. “I wanted to speak to Sean about doing a portrait of him.” He spoke on about his series of Shakespearean portraits and showed him the one of Villier as Hamlet.