Death of a Matriarch (Riley Rochester Investigates Book 7)

by Wendy Soliman

  Riley laughed. ‘You’re learning.’

  Amelia patted her stomach. ‘Do you want to tell your mother yet?’

  ‘Let’s wait until this case is out of the way and I can spend more time with you. Besides, I’d like to enjoy the secret for a little longer and be the only person fussing over you.’

  She leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘You smell of whisky.’

  ‘Sorry. I had to call at White’s, all in the line of duty, of course.’

  ‘Oh, of course.’ Amelia smiled up at him. ‘Sophia’s unexpected crisis with the horse prevented me from visiting Olivia. I’m sorry, Riley. Can it wait until tomorrow?’

  ‘There’s no need for you to put yourself out. I’ve made progress on my own.’

  Amelia listened as Riley explained what he had learned.

  ‘You seem to know a lot more, but you are still no further forward.’ Amelia frowned. ‘It still could have been any one of them. They all sound desperate enough, but you haven’t learned anything to help you narrow the field.’

  ‘It’s early days yet.’

  ‘I can’t help wondering why Lady Pemberton felt the need to sell her jewels,’ Amelia said. ‘I suppose she could have grown tired of her daughters fighting over such a famous collection. In her situation, I think I would find their avarice trying.’ She paused. ‘Do you believe Mr Barlow when he says that the young ladies living beneath his roof are doing so for respectable reasons?’

  ‘Barlow seems plausible, and mostly he’s told me the truth, albeit not until he had no alternative, but I still came away with the feeling that he could be holding something significant back.’

  ‘If he didn’t know about his inheritance, perhaps he wanted to keep Lady Pemberton’s secret and save her daughters from the stigma of scandal by association.’

  ‘Possibly. Anyway, my love, let’s not worry about that now.’

  ‘Certainly we shall not.’

  ‘Tell me about your day, before it was interrupted by horses of dubious provenance.’

  Amelia smiled but before she had spoken a dozen words, Norris interrupted them.

  ‘Lord and Lady Torbay are here asking to see you, my lord,’ Norris said.

  Riley raised an eyebrow. ‘I wonder why,’ he said, glancing at Amelia. ‘Send them in, Norris.’

  Olivia preceded her husband into the room, beaming at them both. ‘Naturally we came as soon as we heard the news,’ she said, kissing first Amelia and then Riley.

  ‘Oh, naturally,’ Riley agreed, shaking Jake’s hand and smiling himself.

  ‘Well, Lady Pemberton was a friend of mine, of sorts. I am sure you need to know all I can tell you about her,’ Olivia said, taking the seat beside Amelia that Riley had just vacated.

  ‘We shall not stay for long,’ Jake said. ‘And we did not come purely to satisfy our curiosity. As a matter of fact, I possess information that might be helpful to your enquiry.’

  ‘And needless to say, I wasn’t about to be left out,’ Olivia added cheerfully. ‘Especially since I supplied him with the information in question.’

  ‘Then by all means…’ Riley glanced at Norris, who continued to hover. ‘Wine for the ladies, Norris, and I dare say Lord Torbay would appreciate a whisky. I know I would.’

  Norris supplied the required refreshments and quietly left the room.

  ‘I assume that it is definitely murder,’ Jake said, looking grim. ‘When Tom mentioned that it was you who consulted Isaac regarding Lady Pemberton’s will, we assumed as much.’

  ‘The murderer made a clumsy attempt to disguise his or her handiwork as natural causes,’ Riley replied, sipping at his drink. ‘Doctor Hayward wasn’t deceived, and sent for me. Lady Pemberton was actually smothered in her sleep.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear it,’ Olivia said, sighing. ‘She could be a stubborn old biddy but I got along with her well enough. We neither of us had much time for the pompous old windbag of a vicar who originally had responsibility for the charity. His replacement is a considerable improvement. Anyway, her heart was in the right place—Lady P’s, that is—and she couldn’t do enough for the unmarried mothers. Her energy was boundless and we younger creatures struggled to keep up with her.’

  ‘What can you tell me about her relationship with her family?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Only that they were a constant trial to her and she made no secret of the fact. All three of her girls had disappointed her in various ways. Mostly through their choice of husbands. Axton was the only one she had any time for. She referred to him as a wastrel and a charmer but I think she secretly enjoyed the attention he bestowed upon her, even if she was well aware why he did it. She told me once that she might be old but not so old that she didn’t enjoy being flattered by a scoundrel.’ Olivia smiled. ‘She liked her inner circle to think of her as being a little avant-garde, I think.’

  ‘Stout is currently enjoying the questionable pleasures of the Audition Club posing as an impresario.’

  Olivia laughed. ‘That I should like to see.’

  ‘You suspect one of the daughters killed her own mother?’ Jake asked.

  ‘All three of them are desperate for funds. I have yet to discover exactly how desperate. But there’s a young actress too, whom Clifford Kinsley is besotted with. I hope she will make eyes at Stout if she thinks he can enhance her career prospects. She’s an ambitious creature who I suspect latched onto Clifford because he has a wealthy grandmother. But Lady Pemberton saw straight through her, took her in dislike and warned Clifford away from her, which will not have pleased Miss Sutherland, I can assure you.’

  ‘Will we have seen her appearing in any productions?’ Olivia asked.

  ‘I very much doubt it. Her ambition, I suspect, is larger than her talent and she has yet to appear in anything of significance.’

  ‘Despite his beloved’s hurt feelings, would Clifford really go so far as to kill his own grandmother to placate the girl?’ Olivia asked in a dubious tone.

  ‘As I say, Clifford is completely taken with her and there is little he would not do to secure her affections.’ Riley sighed. ‘The sad fact of the matter is that I have more suspects than I know what to do with as things stand.’

  ‘Poor Riley.’ Olivia smiled at him. ‘But you will untangle the muddle. You always do eventually.’

  ‘Thank you for the vote of confidence, Olivia.’ He turned to Jake. ‘You have some information to share with me?’

  ‘Lady Pemberton asked Olivia last week if I would help her with a personal and delicate situation,’ Jake replied, the revelation assuring him of Riley’s complete attention.

  ‘Do you have any idea of the particulars?’ Riley addressed the question to Olivia.

  ‘Lady P was very circumspect and very worried. Not to put too fine a point on it, she said that she was being blackmailed and feared for her life, but I couldn’t get her to elaborate. She recalled Jake in his younger days helping me and others out of awkward situations and said she would only trust one of her own class with such a sensitive matter. Naturally, she invoked my curiosity and I offered Jake’s services immediately. I know he has retired from that sort of thing, but I also knew that he would make an exception for Lady Pemberton.’ Olivia shook her head. ‘She seemed so very vulnerable; so preoccupied and unsure of herself. I have never seen her anything other than self-assured and assertive and I felt very worried about her. Rightly, it now appears, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. She had arranged to call on Jake tomorrow to discuss her problems.’ Olivia sighed. ‘Botheration!’ She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye with her handkerchief. ‘I don’t know why I’m getting so emotional. I suppose I just wish I had persuaded her to confide in Jake earlier, but she wanted to get her birthday celebrations out of the way first.’

  ‘It explains why she sold all her jewels and had replicas made, if she was being blackmailed, I mean,’ Riley said pensively.

  Olivia blinked. ‘I had no idea she’d done that.’

  Riley gave a
mirthless chuckle. ‘Nor do her daughters—yet. It was hardly something she would broadcast. Salter and I considered the possibility but couldn’t think what anyone could possibly have to blackmail her about.’

  ‘Her son, perhaps,’ Amelia suggested.

  ‘What son?’ Jake and Olivia asked together.

  Riley smiled at their astonishment when he explained about Barlow.

  ‘Well, now at least I understand her liberal attitude and stark defence of fallen women,’ Olivia said, laughing with Amelia and fanning her face with her hand in a parody of disapproval.

  ‘You think the blackmailer was threatening to reveal the particulars of her past?’ Jake asked.

  ‘It’s a distinct possibility,’ Riley replied, ‘but I very much doubt whether it was Barlow himself. If it had been, he would not have been invited to socialise with Lady Pemberton. Everyone I have spoken to all agree that Lady P and Barlow were on good terms. Her daughters were most put out about their closeness, and at a loss to understand it. I don’t think any of them had guessed the truth.’

  Jake chuckled. ‘They will be even more put out when they are enlightened. Presumably he is remembered in her will.’

  ‘Very generously. The ladies will be furious.’

  ‘She must have been killed by someone in the house that night,’ Jake said, ‘which narrows the field of suspects. If we assume that the blackmailer was not amongst their number, then she must have been done away with for another reason.’

  ‘That’s a bit of a coincidence, Jake. She asked for your help because she was being blackmailed and feared for her life. And then we are asked to accept that she just happened to be killed for another reason entirely.’ Riley shook his head. ‘I don’t see it myself.’

  ‘The blackmail makes your life harder, Riley,’ Olivia said, not without sympathy, ‘whereas we came here with the intention of simplifying it.’

  ‘Hopefully, I shall stir things up enough to get to the truth,’ Riley replied. ‘Apart from anything else, Isaac won’t have Lady Pemberton’s will probated until the matter of her death is cleared up.’

  ‘And her grasping relatives will grow weary of the wait and start telling tales on one another, I dare say,’ Olivia said. ‘How deliciously devious.’

  Riley laughed. ‘I must also call upon the enigma who is Dakin tomorrow.’

  Jake and Olivia spluttered with laughter when Amelia explained about Sophia’s purchase of the coal merchant’s mistreated horse.

  ‘That child has a soft heart,’ Olivia said. ‘Poor Riley, stuck with such a beast in your mews lowering the tone.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t mind in the least. Cabbage is right. The horse won’t be half bad once it’s fit and well again. And my brother has more than enough pasture in Chichester. One more equine won’t make any difference to him.’

  ‘Sophia should be thinking about her presentation and about dancing and being admired, not rescuing broken down horses,’ Olivia said. ‘But somehow I am not surprised to hear that she has taken the latter course.’

  ‘Nor me.’ Riley fell into momentary contemplation. ‘Was there anyone besides yourself, Olivia, with whom Lady Pemberton was intimate at the charity meetings?’

  ‘Other than Miss Colby? No, I can’t think of anyone. Whoever was blackmailing her didn’t make contact during the course of those meetings. I am sure I would have noticed if he or she had upset the old lady in any way.’

  ‘Not to worry, it was just a thought.’

  Jake drained his glass and put it aside. ‘Come along, Olivia,’ he said. ‘We must not overstay our welcome.’

  ‘You could never do that,’ Amelia assured him. ‘Riley enjoys having someone intellectual to try his theories out on. I am far too dull-witted to keep up with his rapid train of thought.’

  Riley shook his head and bestowed an intimate smile upon his wife. ‘Stop fishing for compliments,’ he said softly.

  ‘Don’t forget that we dine together at Grosvenor Square on Saturday,’ Olivia said, as she collected up her possessions and made ready to take her leave. ‘Isaac and Eva are coming, so Riley will be able to pick two agile brains at once—if he has not solved the case by then, which he most likely will have done. In the meantime we, Amelia, will talk of embroidery and the latest delicious scandals.’

  Riley and Jake shared a glance and simultaneously rolled their eyes. They had as much hope of keeping the ladies from expressing their views regarding the murder as Riley did of learning anything worthwhile from the coal merchant.

  Chapter Ten

  Riley was about to leave for the Yard the following morning when Stout appeared, dressed very flamboyantly in a spotted cravat and light linen suit. His hair, usually meticulously styled, flopped across his eyes, adding to his theatrical air.

  ‘Well, Stout,’ Riley said amused, standing back to examine his man, astonished by the transformation. ‘You appear to have fallen straight into character.’

  ‘I do my humble best, my lord.’

  ‘So what were your initial impressions of the Audition Club?’ Riley asked, adjusting his tie before slipping his arms into his coat.

  ‘Shabby and underfunded, but artfully made to seem as though the air of neglect is deliberate,’ Stout replied. ‘There is a decided lack of financial input. Axton does a good job of playing the genial host and the supper parties go on late into the night, after the theatres close. The ladies all seem besotted with Axton and he exploits their interest in him to the maximum.’

  ‘Miss Sutherland included?’

  ‘Especially Miss Sutherland, but I will get to her in a moment. Mrs Axton doesn’t like the fact that her husband is obliged to trade on his looks in order to attract custom.’ Stout’s expression clouded over. ‘I should mention that some of the theatrical gentlemen are not immune to his charm either.’

  Riley flexed a brow. ‘You think he returns their interest?’

  ‘Impossible to say, my lord, but he certainly doesn’t discourage it. However, regarding Mrs Axton, I didn’t have much time to develop an opinion about her. She appeared fleetingly, then took herself off, presumably back to Lady Pemberton’s abode. I overheard her husband reminding her to ensure that her sisters didn’t profit at her expense.’

  ‘Meaning, I suppose, that there are small valuables other than the jewels that the ladies will come to blows over.’ Riley sighed at the nature of human greed. He saw enough of it in his line of work and wondered at its power still to surprise him. ‘What else struck you about Miss Sutherland?’

  ‘Now there’s a fine piece of work,’ Stout replied, twitching his lips in disdain. ‘She has Clifford Kinsley and just about every man in that establishment dancing to her tune. But she latched onto me the moment I made it clear that I was looking to invest in the theatre.’

  Stout paused and Riley left him to his cogitations, aware that his man would present facts and educated opinions without allowing prejudices to cloud his judgement.

  ‘I can’t prove it yet,’ Stout continued, ‘but I would wager there’s something going on between Axton and the young lady.’

  ‘My thoughts exactly,’ Riley replied.

  ‘He plays up to the other ladies but seems impervious to their interest in him. Yet he watches Miss Sutherland with what I can only describe as obsessive hunger. I have seen that possessiveness on the faces of any number of besotted men over the years, which does not bode well for Axton’s relationship with his wife or her nephew. How Clifford has not noticed his uncle’s interest in the girl I couldn’t say. I do know that the young lady is well aware of Axton’s fixation with her but I was unable to ascertain whether his feelings are reciprocated. If asked to hazard a guess I would suggest that she is using him for his theatrical connections, and perhaps because she enjoys the attentions of a handsome and more experienced man. She is nothing if not vain. But even if her affections have been engaged by Axton, it certainly didn’t prevent her from flirting with me.’

  ‘Very distressing for you, Stout,’ Riley said, at
tempting not to smile.

  ‘I dare say I shall survive the experience, my lord,’ Stout replied calmly.

  ‘Thank you, Stout. Your observations have confirmed my initial impressions of both Axton and Miss Sutherland. I am now left wondering how far Clifford will go in order to put himself into in a position to support a wife.’

  ‘With respect, my lord, I very much doubt if a wedding ring will affect an alteration in the lady’s character.’

  Riley nodded. ‘We are in agreement on the point, but I don’t suppose Clifford is thinking with similar clarity.’

  ‘What would you have me do now, my lord?’

  ‘Is there any possibility of your getting into the Axtons’ rooms and searching them without being caught?’

  Stout contemplated the suggestion calmly. ‘I imagine it would be possible, especially with Mrs Axton away from home so much. They don’t appear to employ many maids, which reduces my chances of being found out. But what would I be looking for, my lord?’

  ‘Anything to do with the couple’s finances. Correspondence, outstanding accounts, that sort of thing.’ Riley held up a hand. ‘Don’t attempt it if there’s the slightest possibility of your being caught. We already know that they are short of funds. I’d simply prefer to have independent corroboration.’

  ‘I’m sure I shall be able to assist in that regard, my lord.’ Stout looked a little offended by Riley’s reservations, probably assuming that he doubted his abilities.

  ‘I have absolute faith in your deviousness, Stout,’ Riley said, slapping his man’s shoulder.

  Stout permitted himself the suggestion of a smile. ‘How very reassuring, my lord.’

  ‘Let me know if you discover anything else of interest, Stout. This case is proving especially perplexing. I have however discovered that Lady Pemberton was being blackmailed.’ Stout’s only reaction was the slight elevation of one brow. ‘I have yet to ascertain why and by whom.’

  ‘I am sure you will get there, my lord.’

  ‘Right, get yourself back out there, Stout, and don’t allow the young lady to lead you astray.’