Harriett (12 page)

There
was a slightly uncomfortable tone in his voice that warned Mark
that the man was genuinely fearful.

“
It seems a bit of a sinister threat to issue anyone just for
a laugh, if you ask me,” Mark replied gently.

Mr
Montague looked him straight in the eye. “I really don’t like to
think of anyone at that séance being capable of such a twisted
joke, really I don’t. I can only assume that it was from Madame
Humphries herself.”

“
Why though?”

“
We asked for messages over and over again but nothing
happened. Who would question something so random? Everyone was on
edge as soon as the message was received, it heightened the
tension, but who is to say if the message had any substance? A few
of us had ‘H’ in our names, and things go wrong all the time.
Anything could happen and we would put it down to the message we
received as a premonition of sorts.”

“
I see your point. It would be difficult to disprove such a
vague threat relating to so many people.”

“
Exactly. The rest of the people at the séance just wouldn’t
do that kind of thing, I am certain of it.”

“
Describe what happened to us. We weren’t there so we need
facts from a reliable witness.” Mark watched the older man draw
himself upright and almost preen with importance. He sighed and
settled back. From the look of glee on the older man’s face, they
were going to be a while yet. He threw Isaac a rueful glance and
sat back in his chair to listen.

“
So when Mrs Bobbington fell out of her chair, apparently
dead, what happened then?”

“
Chaos ensued. Alan, Mr Bentwhistle, examined her but even I
could see that her eyes were fixed and blank. She had already left
us, God bless her soul.”

“
What was Madame Humphries doing?”

“
I don’t know. Everyone was focused on poor
Minerva.”

“
We have been told that Madame Humphries was glowing strangely
and talking in a funny voice. Did you notice anything else
unusual?”

“
That was mighty odd, I don’t mind admitting it,” Mr Montague
replied with a sigh. Surprisingly, he was somewhat matter-of-fact
about the details from the evening before and gave the information
in clipped, precise tones that echoed Mr Bentwhistle and Harriett’s
account of events almost to the letter.

“
What colour was it?” Mark studied the man. He knew that the
information he would get would be accurate.

“
Greenish, yellow, I think. It was dark so the colours stood
out a bit more. To begin with it was yellow. I thought it was a
light being held behind her by that assistant of hers, but then the
colour turned to green and seemed to emanate around her, even under
her chair.”

“
Was there anything beneath her chair?”

“
Not as far as I could see. Of course, that assistant of hers,
Miss Hepplethwaite, was hovering around her all the time, so it was
difficult to see. They had a carpet bag between them but I didn’t
see anyone rummage in it.”

“
Was Madame glowing once Minerva was dead?”

Mr
Montague paused at that and studied Mark carefully. “Babette and
Beatrice were sitting beside Madame and suffered no adverse
effects. I don’t think the glow had anything to do with Minerva’s
death.”

“
I know. I am trying to think of things that might cause
someone to be able to do that. I am fairly certain that the glow
was nothing spiritual, but it may have come from something in the
carpet bag. If you didn’t smell anything, it points to the
possibility that some sort of false lighting was used.”

Mark
studied Isaac for a moment and turned his attention back to Mr
Montague when Isaac faintly shook his head.

“
Well, I think it is fair to say that you can go about your
business now, but I must warn you against discussing this matter
with anybody. At the moment, you are a witness, and if you need to
go to court you should not leave yourself open to be accused of
confusing facts with other people’s gossip. I would inform you that
this is now a criminal investigation. If you think of anything that
might be important to the investigation then please contact either
myself or Detective Brown firsthand.”

“
Can you tell me how Minerva died?”

Mark
hesitated, but could see no reason why the man shouldn’t know. Alan
Bentwhistle, Harriett and Babette did.

“
She choked to death,” Mark replied darkly.

“
Oh what?”

“
Her drink.” Mark paused and waited while Mr Montague absorbed
the news. The stunned look of shock on his face was
genuine.

“
I drank sherry too and I am fine,” Mr Montague murmured
weakly. “How could she choke on something so innocuous?”

“
There was something else in her glass that she choked on. We
think it was put there deliberately.”

“
Oh, good God,” Mr Montague dropped down into his chair and
swallowed harshly. “Poor Minerva,” he muttered in hushed tones.
“Poor, dear, Minerva.” He turned slightly hardened eyes on Mark. “I
will do whatever it takes to help you find the person
responsible.”

Mark’s
lips twisted wryly. “Just leave the investigation to us, Mr
Montague and stay safe, that’s all we need. It would also help if
you kept quiet about this so as not to forewarn the person
responsible that we are on to them.”

“
Oh, of course, of course, gentlemen. You can rely on my
upmost discretion.”

Mark
mentally winced and hoped to heaven that was the truth. Minutes
later they took their leave of a rather shaken Mr Montague, and
stood outside in the relative quiet of his back yard for several
moments.

“
We need to look into Madame Humphries’ background,” Mark
sighed. He mentally ran through the number of people they had yet
to speak to. “At this rate, we will be lucky if we get to bed
before midnight.”

“
Mr Montague seems harmless enough,” Isaac replied
thoughtfully. For the first time that day he actually felt as
though they were starting to get somewhere. “Cross another one off
the list?”

“
Right now, we can’t cross anyone off the list of suspects, no
matter how banal they might be, you know that,” Mark sighed.
“Right, onwards and upwards. Let’s go to Miss Haversham next; she
is just down the road.”

“
Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Miss Haversham boomed at them as
they approached the walled garden at the front of her small
cottage. “I take it that you have news for me then?” She pushed her
garden fork into the soft soil at her feet and brushed off her
hands as she walked down the path toward the door. “Come in, come
in. Don’t stand on ceremony.” She beckoned toward the gate but
didn’t wait for the men to enter. Instead, she turned on her heel
and headed into the house, and left the front door open behind her
in silent invitation. From the depths of the house they could hear
the rattle of pots and crockery as she made tea.

Once in
her kitchen, Mark almost groaned at the sight of sandwiches and tea
things already on the table. He sniffed appreciatively at the fruit
cake that sat next to the cups and saucers, and realised that he
and Isaac had yet to have any lunch.

“
I take it you haven’t had lunch yet? Good’o, take a seat
then. I have made enough for everyone, but if you want more, you
only need to say,” Miss Haversham gushed and handed out plates
before she poured the tea.

“
Right then,” she sighed as she helped herself to a sandwich.
“Help yourselves. I don’t stand on ceremony here, you know. Just
dig in. We can eat while we talk.”

“
How did you know we were going to be here in time for lunch?”
Isaac asked with a frown as he helped himself to a
sandwich.

“
Oh, rough guess, that’s all. I made the sandwiches just in
case. If you didn’t arrive in time for tea, I was going to take
them next door to Mable. I usually share lunch with her but seeing
as you are here now, she can make her own.”

Isaac
shared a look with Mark, and sent a mental apology to the unknown
Mabel as he bit into his sandwich. “It’s very kind of you but we
didn’t expect to be fed,” Isaac muttered around a slice of
cucumber.

“
I was going to make myself some lunch anyway. Now, what do
you want to know? I take it there is news about poor
Minerva?”

“
Yes, I am afraid that it appears she didn’t die of natural
causes,” Mark sighed as he helped himself to a cheese
sandwich.

“
Oh? What from?”

“
I am afraid that she choked to death. I would warn you that
whatever we discuss today must remain confidential. You need to
refrain from discussing it with anyone until we can establish what
happened with a bit more clarity.”

“
I take it that you want to know from me what I saw?” she
asked bluntly. Her eyes were honest and frank, and Mark heaved a
sigh of relief at the openness in her gaze. “Fire away then,” the
woman offered and helped herself to several more
sandwiches.

“
Tell us in your own words what happened last
night.”

“
Absolute nonsense, that’s what happened,” Miss Haversham
replied with a disparaging snort. “I got caught up with it as much
as everyone else, you understand?” She flicked Mark and Isaac a
look that warned them she knew she had been a fool to be there at
all, but would make no apology for it. “We were all sitting in the
dark at the request of Madame Humphries. Pitch black, it was. I
couldn’t see my hand in front of my own eyes so it is difficult to
say what everyone else was doing, you understand. I remember Miss
Smethwick scolding Constance, or it may have been Tuppence, about
lying on the table in order to keep her finger on the glass. A
small argument ensued but, other than that and the rather odd
messages, there was nothing unusual happening while we were sitting
at the table. It took ages to get the glass moving and, when it
did, there wasn’t much sense coming off it,” Miss Haversham frowned
blankly down at the table-top. “Except,” she seemed to search her
memory for something and it was several moments before she looked
at Mark. “There was one unusual thing that happened. While we were
getting the message about ‘H’ being in danger, a loud bang from
upstairs broke the séance. We stopped while Mr Bentwhistle and
Babette went upstairs to see what it was. A stool in Harriett’s
room had been knocked over. Nobody else was in the house though,
and everyone who was there was around the table.”

“
Did anyone go to the outhouse at all?”

Miss
Haversham frowned and shook her head. “No, we were all involved in
what was going on around the table. Miss Smethwick kept saying it
was nonsense and we should stop it but nobody paid her the
slightest bit of attention.”

“
Did you check the table regularly to make sure that everyone
was there?”

“
You mean, was it possible for someone to sneak away from the
table while the messages were being given?” After a few moments
Miss Haversham shook her head decisively. “I shouldn’t say so. I am
fairly confident that everyone was there throughout the entire
evening. We were all actively engaged in what was happening and
everyone added their bit to the general conversation at some point.
I can’t see that anyone would have had the time to sneak out of the
room, run upstairs and knock the stool over.”

“
Did you see Madame Humphries and Miss Hepplethwaite at all
times?”

“
I can’t remember seeing Miss Hepplethwaite there all the
time, but Madame Humphries was there. I kept looking at her but
couldn’t detect any trickery going on.”

“
What kind of trickery would you expect around the séance
table?”

“
Oh, you know, lights, knocking, that kind of thing. I have
seen the newspapers and read about some of the things these
spiritual mediums, psychics, clairvoyants, whatever you want to
call them, get up to, but there was nothing unusual at all last
night apart from the messages.”

“
Ah, yes, ‘H is in danger’. Do you have any ideas who the ‘H’
might be?” Mark studied the woman carefully but was positive that
she was being honest with him.

“
Well, it could mean anyone with H in their name, couldn’t it?
I mean, I have H in my name, as does Harriet, Hugo Montague and
Madame Humphries herself, Miss Hepplethwaite.”

“
Do you think someone could have been pushing the glass on
purpose and playing a prank just to scare you?”

“
I think it is a damned odd thing to do if that’s the case. I
mean, giving warnings at a séance? Why for heavens’ sake? It
doesn’t make sense. No, I cannot see anyone of my acquaintance
doing anything like that, even for a joke.”

Mark
watched her lift the lid on a tin that held a huge cake and groaned
at the delicious smell that immediately filled the kitchen. He
shared a glance with Isaac and watched Miss Haversham cut three
over sized pieces and put them onto cake plates without even asking
if they wanted any. Once everyone was furnished with cake she
resumed her seat, apparently still lost in thought over last
night.

“
Why did you agree to go to the circle, if I might ask?” Mark
mumbled around a mouthful of cake. It was slightly dry and he took
a sip of tea to help its way into his stomach. He watched Isaac
take a bite and glance at the cake warily for a moment before he
placed it carefully back onto the plate.