Death of a Lady (The Inspector Felix Mysteries Book 1)

by R. A. Bentley

  'Keen on her but rejected?'

  'And embarrassed about it. Well, I suppose so. Slightly queer though; he could easily have avoided all that, and we'd have been none the wiser. His explanation of the Fry business seems plausible enough, as far as it goes, although I don't care for evidence we can't corroborate. It would be intriguing to know who the rogue child was, but I can hardly press him unless we have to.'

  'There's something else too,' said Rattigan. 'The times are all wrong.'

  'Yes, I was going to say that. Working backwards, Henry Fry must have heard Lady Genny's voice at just before ten-thirty, which is near enough when Lady George claims to have seen her on the landing below, with witnesses. She can't have been in both places.'

  Rattigan glanced cautiously behind him. 'Could His Lordship be lying about that? It was he who gave ten-thirty. Fry didn't really know.'

  'It's possible. I sometimes get the impression that the entire household is hiding something or other. Meanwhile, it appears I'm seen in high places as a nuisance. Well, I shall continue to be.'

  Chapter 13

  Back at their office, Lord Andrew was waiting for them. Since arriving, he'd changed into slacks and sweater, and looked much younger than his thirty-three years, if a little the worse for wear.

  'I've been instructed to give myself up,' he announced.

  'Certainly, My Lord,' smiled Felix, shaking hands. 'To what would you like to confess, apart from a sore head?'

  His Lordship looked at him sharply, then chuckled. 'Yes, all right. Disgusting exhibition, what? Mind if I sit down? I'm feeling, as you've rightly inferred, a touch fragile.' Settling himself on the upright chair, he wrapped an arm around it and quizzically regarded them.

  Felix recognised the type immediately. Indeed, he could scarcely have failed to do so. With his long legs, his cultured drawl and his rakishly masculine looks, nature had conferred on Lord Andrew, the role of dominant male, but had neglected to impart much desire to perform in it; unless, perhaps, a woman was involved. It was, in effect, like gazing into character's mirror. He wondered what he thought of Lady George, and felt for a moment an absurd little frisson of sexual rivalry. This, he thought, must stop. 'Smoke, sir?' he asked.

  Lord Andrew accepted a cigarette, inhaled deeply and blew a smoke ring that would have impressed even Nash. 'You'll be wanting to know what I was doing on the night of the wedding. Any leads yet?'

  'We've made some progress, sir,' said Felix. 'We are, at present, concentrating our efforts on the bride-bothering. Perhaps you could tell me what you were doing during that part of the evening, and if you saw anything likely to interest a policeman. And any impressions from the rest of the day, of course.'

  Lord Andrew shook his head, wincing a little as he did so. 'Well, nothing very startling, I'm afraid. Though I must tell you I was near the scene of the crime, during the period in question.'

  'Where do you mean, exactly?'

  'I'm presuming the vicinity of the attic. My rooms are on the third floor, not far from the backstairs. I'd gone up for some tobacco and was coming out when I encountered a rather peculiar young woman. She identified herself as a botherer, if that's the correct term, and as it was cracking on for eleven o'clock I told her she'd best go back to the ballroom. I didn't much care for the look of her, as a matter of fact, so I took her down with me. It's easy to get lost in this ghastly pile, as you've probably discovered, and I didn't want her just wandering about the place.'

  'Can you be more precise about the time?'

  'I think it would have been ten forty-five or so.'

  'What did you feel was wrong with her?'

  'She was wearing the most extraordinary clothes, like out of a dressing-up box, and had a rather strange manner. I dumped her in the hall and returned to the smoking room. I'm not suggesting she had anything to do with it, but she might perhaps have seen something, if you can find her. I did ask her name, but I'm afraid I can't remember it.'

  'Where in the house did you actually meet her? Can you remember that?'

  'She was coming along the bit of corridor that leads from the backstairs. I rather felt she'd been in there, actually. It's only a step away from the attic of course.'

  'Doesn't that mean you were there yourself? Why was that?'

  His Lordship looked confused. 'Oh, I see what you mean. No, the floorboards creak, or did, so I knew someone was coming. I thought it might be Pearson, so I had a look. I wanted to ask him if he'd heard about my aunt. She'd just been carted off to hospital with a burst appendix.'

  'Was she all right? I meant to ask earlier.'

  'No, I'm afraid not. She survived the operation but died a few weeks later. She was only thirty-six, although she seemed old to me then. It was a pretty dreadful time really.'

  'Yes indeed. Whom did you find in the smoking room?'

  'Just Lovell. He said he'd be coming along shortly and not to worry about him, so I toddled back to the ballroom and chatted with some fellows I knew. That was before we started to worry about Genny, of course.'

  'What was His Lordship doing?'

  'Lovell? I don't recall. Smoking, I suppose. Why? Is he a suspect? That seems unlikely.'

  'No-one is a suspect at this stage, sir. We're just trying to trace everyone's movements.'

  Lord Andrew nodded his understanding. 'I suppose that would be quite interesting, fitting them all together. Do you make a chart?'

  'Sometimes. And did you see anyone else that evening who with hindsight might have excited your suspicions?'

  'No, I don't think so. I'd have mentioned it at the time if I had. We were all interviewed, you know.'

  'Yes, I have the report here. There's no mention of your strange encounter though.'

  'I didn't tell them,' admitted Lord Andrew. 'That's why I'm telling you now. I suppose I should have done, but I had no reason then to suppose my sister was dead, or to know where she'd be found. It was just a wandering guest.'

  'Mr Pearson said you organised a search of the grounds. Is that right?'

  'Eventually, yes. We milled around the house a bit to start with, half-expecting the old girl to turn up. Then, when it started to look serious, I volunteered. It was just the immediate environs of the house, really. We didn't find anything or see anyone. No suspicious characters running off, or anything like that. We packed it in around dawn, by which time the police had appeared.'

  'You were up at Oxford, I believe?'

  'Yes. I had to get back for a viva, so I couldn't hang around for long. To be honest I was glad to go. The atmosphere was grim and there was nothing I could do. Worse now, of course.'

  'When did you join up?'

  'That autumn. Felt I should set an example and all that.'

  'See much action?'

  'A bit. Enough for me, anyway.'

  'How did you get on with your sister?'

  'All right. I was a bit younger, of course, and didn't really share her interests, but I was fond of her. She was a good egg.'

  'Mutual friends?'

  'Not really. I don't think she had many anyway. She was happier with her gee-gee.'

  'Boyfriends?'

  'Not that I'm aware of. Came to it a bit late, I think. Lovell seemed all right though. Quiet sort of chap. I liked him.'

  'Did you see much of her maid, Miss Brown?'

  His Lordship smiled. 'The fair Ginny. About as much as I saw of Genny, is the answer to that. You didn't get one without the other.'

  'You found her attractive?'

  'Lord yes. Anybody would. Have you looked for her? Not sure if the other fellow did. Cobb, was it?'

  'He did, and so have we. No luck, unfortunately. Any ideas where we might try?'

  Lord Andrew shook his head. 'No, none at all, I'm afraid.' Stubbing out his cigarette he searched his pockets for another. 'Damn! Wrong trousers.'

  'Have one of mine, sir.'

  'Oh, thanks. Appreciated.' He accepted a light. 'This really is the most awful business, you know, Felix. One has the peculiar sen
se that she's only just died. What on earth does one say to people? Poor old George had to identify her, of course. Too late for me to see her, I suppose?'

  'You'll be able to later, I expect, though I'm not sure I'd advise it. You might do better to remember her as she was.'

  Lord Andrew nodded grimly and stood up. 'Thanks for the warning. I'd best let you get on. If there's anything else you want to know, just ask. Am I permitted to tootle off if I want to? I had a few things arranged in Town. Not that it matters.'

  If you could stick around for a couple of days I'd be grateful, but if you go, please leave a forwarding address. Also a telephone number, if possible. Just in case.'

  They watched him linger for a while on the portico steps then saunter towards the stables and motor-house.

  'I wonder where he's going?' said Rattigan.

  'To check on his car, probably. He'll want be sure Miss Wilton didn't damage it.'

  'That's an expensive item for a family on it's beam ends. Well over a thousand new.'

  'Yes, it is. Maybe he deals in them. I suppose if done discretely, it mightn't be seen as trade, rather like his brother's horse-breeding.'

  'You don't care for him much, do you?'

  'I wouldn't say that,' said Felix, a little disingenuously. 'I don't know what to make of him, that's all. He's the same age as me and he went through the war, which is usually guaranteed to grow a man up; yet we find him hanging around with a bunch of kids, getting plastered, and generally behaving like an undergraduate. He's all wrong.'

  'Some people are like that.'

  'Well, it's no crime, of course. Odd, though.'

  'If you want to suspect him of something,' said Rattigan, 'the Dotty Dorothy story looks to me like a smokescreen. She can scarcely have seemed worth mentioning from his point of view.'

  'A sop to Cerberus, as they say? Although we'd have been glad enough of her if we hadn't known already. I suppose he might have thought she could turn up and split on him so he'd best come clean. But what would he be hiding?'

  'He could be covering for someone. And the Marquis didn't report seeing him in the smoking room, remember. Do you suppose it was him that Lady Genny saw behind Miss Shaddock?'

  'It might have been. But why would she be frightened of him? She's more likely to have been wary of Miss Shaddock, who'd already tried to capture her once. He did, however, confirm that the floor creaked, which is useful. If only we could discover who creaked it, I reckon we'd have found the killer.'

  Rattigan pulled forward his notebook and contemplatively turned over the pages. 'Anyone else we ought to talk to?'

  'No-one new, I don't think. There seems little point in bothering with the other servants. Not for now, anyway. What have we got then, Teddy? What's on your little list?'

  'That's about all it is, a list. Nothing much connects.'

  'Let's have it anyway.'

  'All right. Item one: the Marquis neglected to mention wandering the corridors looking for his bride.'

  'Understandable. Not quite the thing, was it, under the circumstances? He probably realised we'd view it with suspicion, and might reasonably have assumed that if he kept quiet we'd never find out. Also, he may well have been Henry Fry's unknown man, searching for the marauding child – probably was, for my money – which again would explain why he chose not to mention it. If that's the case, his query to Miss Shaddock about Lady Genny could have been incidental to his main purpose.'

  'If the child existed,' said Rattigan, dubiously. 'Although he risked us questioning Miss Shaddock. And for aught he knew, his presence there might have been important, if only to eliminate him from our enquiries. Item two: Lord George's story might not, in any case, stand up to scrutiny. All very convenient, to my mind, and with the problem of the incompatible times; although it does explain, I suppose, why the Major was a bit evasive. And you say Lord Andrew smells all wrong, even though his story is partly corroborated.'

  'Yes, I think he does. Although I don't necessarily doubt the veracity of his statement, such as it is. Which brings us to Dorothy Shaddock.'

  'A queer fish, as you might say, and whom we wouldn't have known about but for Lady George.'

  'Who appears to have chosen not to tell her husband about her, which is a bit odd, unless, as you say, she knows more than she's letting on. The Duchess, meanwhile, is strangely eager for the death to have been an accident, and her hard-faced maid, who one can imagine knitting under the guillotine, runs weeping from the room when asked, quite generally, about the period of the bride bothering. Sorry, I'm anticipating you.'

  'Yes, I've got all that. There's also the bridal fainting fit, the unknown man of foreign appearance, and Pearson, who lied, or at least misled us, about his limp – although that's probably simple vanity – and other things. Not forgetting the discovery of the footman's button, which we've yet to investigate. And then, of course, we have Miss Brown.'

  'The mysteriously disappearing Ginny, admired by half the men at Godwinstowe, including, we are told, Pearson himself; not to mention the Marquis, Lord Andrew, and even, perhaps, Lord George.'

  'And who Lady Genny was very likely attempting to visit in her room, not realising she'd already left.'

  'And there encountered her murderer instead.'

  'Pearson then? He was seen going up there, after all.'

  'He certainly has some questions to answer. He's a cool one if he did it, and would he have hung around here afterwards? At the least, you'd think he'd have stayed away after the war.'

  'But doesn't that apply to all of them? Even the Marquis came back from Canada; he needn't have done.'

  Abruptly, Felix threw himself backwards in his chair, hurling from him the pencil he'd been playing with. 'Damn and blast it, Teddy, this is hopeless! There were nearly two hundred possible suspects here that night, and who are we left with? Her own family, her husband of just twelve hours and a handful of loyal retainers, none with a remotely plausible motive. We can't even prove unequivocally that it was murder!'

  'It's not that bad surely, sir?' said Rattigan. 'We know it was murder, or we're pretty sure it was. And as you said earlier, they do seem to be hiding something — the whole place stinks of it. If we can find out what it is, we might begin to get somewhere.'

  Felix sighed and stood up. 'Sorry old chap — brief moment of despair. Care for a walk?

  'Where to?'

  'The village. There's a telephone box.'

  'Hello, Benyson, it's Miles Felix. 'Are you free to talk?'

  'Felix, old chap! Delighted to hear from you. Yes, I'm just cleaning up. How are you getting on down there? Made an arrest yet?'

  'Let's just say we're proceeding with our enquiries.'

  'Tricky one, eh? You should ask the press; they can tell you all about it.'

  'So I understand. Look, I have a favour to ask, but before I do, I want you to know I won't be in the least offended if you turn me down.'

  'I'm seldom offended, dear boy. Do you want me to look at her? If so, I'd be delighted. In fact, I was rather hoping you would.'

  'Howard, that is my dearest wish. It's just . . . how can I put this? I'm afraid she's a little bit second-hand.'

  'Second-hand!' roared Benyson. 'I am offended! Perhaps mortally. What misbegotten, quacksalving gut-rummager got her first?'

  'A local man,' said Felix, grimacing at Rattigan. He was never entirely sure when his friend was joking. 'I'd best not identify him on the telephone. He'd taken it upon himself to look at her and was actually here when we arrived. There was a bit of diplomacy involved and of course I couldn't be sure you'd be in a position to help, so I made a snap decision and let him have her.'

  'I see. And he's botched the job — is that it?'

  'I've no reason to think so. His report is all right as far as it goes but he admitted himself that he hasn't your expertise. I'd like you to see her, but I won't be offended if you say no. It's all a bit delicate.'

  'Can anyone hear this?'

  'I'm in a public call-box
. I didn't want to risk the house telephone. Normally I'd have got straight on to you, but the conditions were grim. They were repairing the roof and she was under a tarpaulin, getting damp. I wanted her out of there. I've got Teddy Rattigan with me, by the way, presently propping the door open. He says hello.'

  'Hmm. Not quite the Valley of the Kings, then. You probably made the right decision under the circumstances. Hello, Rattigan. Where is she now, King Alfred's?'

  'Yes. I'm not sure what the protocol is; I'm not in the habit of asking for second opinions.'

  'Oh, that shouldn't be a problem; he's hardly likely to refuse. I think I know the chap. If I were to say, "If it is law, it will be found in our books," would I be warm?'

  Felix laughed. 'You'd be bang on.'

  'Jolly good. I'll motor down first thing tomorrow. I say, how exciting! I've never done a mummy.'

  Chapter 14

  The motor-house at Godwinstowe was as magnificent in its way as the state drawing room. Almost as large, it was a good deal brighter, and for all of Alice Strong and her fellow parlourmaids' efforts, undoubtedly cleaner. You could, thought Rattigan, have eaten off the blue-painted floor. Six equidistant and perfectly parallel cars quietly awaited the ducal or lordly summons, their bodywork spotless, their chromium-plating reflecting the morning sunshine and their tyres as black and mud-free as the day they were fitted. Here, one knew, was the work of a master of his trade, if not a downright obsessive.

  Alerted by the clatter of a spanner he discovered a pair of disembodied legs, clad, predictably, in spotless overalls.

  'Why if it ain't the law!' said their owner. 'To what do I owe this 'onour?'

  'How d'you know I'm a copper?' asked Rattigan curiously.

  'Wiv plates like that? Give over! Bit off yer manor, ain'tcha?'

  'We're Scotland Yard — we get everywhere. Stepney, would it be?'

  'Wapping, if yer must know.'

  The speaker propelled himself backwards, scrambled to his feet and offered a surprisingly clean hand. He proved to be a small man in his thirties, with bright, intelligent eyes and a suggestion of exotic ancestry in his dark skin and wiry, black hair.