The Cyanide Ghost (Mina Scarletti Mystery Book 6)

by Linda Stratmann

  Even before Mr Hartop’s visit, Mina had expected that Mr Hope’s return to Brighton would mark the end of Richard’s employment at Mr Beckler’s studio, and despite her brother’s airy confidence she was now quite certain that before too long he would be dismissed. As he always did under such circumstances, he would do his best to conceal the news from Mina for as long as possible and from his mother altogether.

  Mina therefore determined to look for the signs each day on his return home for dinner. The clearest indication would be a change in his conversation. He would become abruptly unforthcoming about the events of the day and deliberately vague when questioned. It would only be when Mina spoke to him privately and took him to task about his situation that he would be forced to admit the truth. She was therefore surprised when Richard returned home the next day in a buoyantly talkative mood.

  ‘Well, it seems I am making some sound advances in my career!’ he announced at the dinner table, helping himself to wine and piling his plate with meat and vegetables.

  Louisa Scarletti glowed. ‘I had no doubt that you would.’

  ‘I have been painting a new backdrop for the studio, and Mr Beckler is very pleased indeed with the result. In fact, he has paid me a bonus for the work, and has asked me to do more of them. He said that even Mr Mayall has nothing so fine.’

  Mina suspected an ulterior motive for this generosity, but said nothing. She feared that Mr Hope must be keeping Richard close the better to observe him, the better to destroy them both.

  Louisa did not protest when half a roast bird was served on her plate and began attacking it energetically with knife and fork. ‘I saw Mrs Peasgood today and she told me that a friend of hers went to see your new medium, Lady Brighthelm, but was told that she was unwell and has had to stop. She was very disappointed, as she had heard good things of her.’

  Richard and Mina exchanged glances. Richard was about to say something, but Mina quickly silenced him with a frown and a shake of the head. She was about to make some anodyne comment on the situation when their mother continued, ‘And there is a rumour going about town that Lady Brighthelm is so very wonderful that she puts all other mediums to shame, and the reason she is ill is because a rival medium tried to poison her with chocolates.’

  Mina had no doubts as to where that story came from. Her determination not to alarm the public with rumours of poison was clearly not shared by Mr Hope. He would be making sure all of Brighton knew of it. ‘I have heard it too,’ she said, ‘but I take no notice of it. In fact, I have it on the best authority that the story of the rival medium is quite untrue and has been put about by the friends of Lady Brighthelm in order to increase her fame.’ Mina felt confident that her mother was more interested in the content of the rumour than the source and would not question it. All the same, she saw that her mother was as ever not happy about being contradicted. Fortunately, she was devouring roast chicken and was unable to protest. There was only one thing to do, and in the brief interlude available Mina seized her chance. ‘In fact,’ she continued, ‘there is another rumour which I do believe, that a young gentleman who consulted Lady Brighthelm has fallen violently in love with her and the poisoner is a lady to whom he is affianced.’

  Richard was so startled he dropped his fork. ‘Really?’ he exclaimed.

  Mina ignored him. ‘The persons concerned are all prominent names in Brighton society, and it will be very scandalous when it comes out.’

  ‘Oh, my word!’ said her mother.

  ‘Apparently, when the young man thought that Lady Brighthelm would spurn him, he flew into a passion and threatened to cut his throat with a razor. But she did not spurn him, and they have been exchanging love tokens, several times a day.’

  ‘The scoundrel, he is promised to another!’ Louisa objected.

  ‘He is, but he did not tell Lady Brighthelm of this, so she is wholly innocent in the matter and has been sadly deluded. When he tried to break his engagement, the father of the betrothed lady threatened him with a gun, but he said he would rather die than live without the woman he loves.’

  ‘How dreadful!’

  ‘It is said that in a fit of desperation the young lady decided to follow the example of Miss Edmunds and sent poisoned sweetmeats to Lady Brighthelm, who, thinking they were a gift from her admirer, ate one.’

  ‘Shocking!’

  Mina leaned forward earnestly. ‘But this is all very, very secret. You must tell no one.’

  Louisa was silent for some time, and Mina, feeling sure her mother was busy deciding which of her friends she was going to tell first, smiled.

  ‘Mina, is any of that true?’ demanded Richard after dinner.

  ‘Of course it isn’t. Most rumours are falsehoods and exaggeration. I just made it all up.’

  ‘But — but, you know what Mother is like! She’ll tell everyone she knows!’

  ‘I am counting on it. The only way I could crush Mr Hope’s story, which was a deliberate attack on me, was to oppose it with a far better one. If Mr Hope wants a storytelling war, he has one, and I am determined that he will lose it.’

  Richard was not reassured. ‘I hope Mr Clover will not hear your story and think it is about him. He came in today to ask about Lady Brighthelm, as he had heard the same rumour Mother heard. He was extremely agitated.’

  ‘Agitated?’ queried Mina. ‘Not just concerned? Why was that?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘What did you tell him?’

  ‘I am on strict orders from Beckler. If anyone asks about Lady Brighthelm, I am to say only that we have been told that she is indisposed, and we know no more than that.’

  ‘Have there been many such enquiries?’

  ‘Yes, customers asking after her and offering good wishes for her recovery. That sort of thing. Some of them asked who the rival medium was, the rumoured poisoner. I didn’t tell them it was you.’

  ‘Thank you. Was Mr Clover the only person who was disturbed?’

  ‘Yes. He even asked me where Lady Brighthelm lived and if she was well enough to receive clients at home.’

  ‘I hope you didn’t tell him.’

  ‘No. I said she had given up being a medium. He said he was sorry to hear it and went away.’

  Mina was thoughtful. ‘Miss Hartop recognised Mr Clover through her veil, but do you think he knew who Lady Brighthelm really is? If he knew she was Miss Hartop, he could have found her father’s address in the directory.’

  Richard thought for a moment. ‘I don’t think he did know. I saw her in the veil once; you couldn’t see through it from a distance. And she put on a foreign accent.’

  ‘What sort of foreign accent?’

  ‘It was hard to tell. And it was a different one every day.’

  ‘Then her clients might not have been able to guess it was she?’

  ‘Is that important?’

  ‘It is. Because it suggests that the attempt was not made on Miss Hartop but on Lady Brighthelm, the medium. And I find it hard to believe that a rival medium would feel so threatened that he or she would plan murder.’

  ‘Then why — who?’

  ‘Miss Hartop is a collector of news and gossip and scandal about the notables in Brighton. She talks about it all the time. I think she made use of this as Lady Brighthelm, and it enabled her to make some good guesses even about things she didn’t know. She must have appeared to know a great deal by psychic means. Supposing she guessed at something or even partly knew something which one of her clients found so threatening they decided she must be silenced?’

  Richard sighed. ‘We can’t go and ask her, can we? We promised not to be friends anymore. But she probably doesn’t even know what it was herself. I swear she never listens to a thing she says.’

  ‘Whatever it was, it impressed someone,’ said Mina. ‘People hang onto every word of a medium. They see meanings that were never there and put aside what doesn’t suit them. Does Mr Clover have secrets he wishes to keep concealed?’ She paused for thought. ‘The
re was something Mr Hartop said to me. He knew nothing against Mr Clover personally, but there is some shadow on his family.’

  ‘Then we should have nothing to do with them, if they are going about poisoning mediums,’ said Richard. ‘I know you say you’re not one, but they might think it.’

  ‘At least if the target was Lady Brighthelm and they don’t know her true identity, she is safe for now,’ said Mina. She wondered if there was something she ought to do. Her new rumour should throw Mr Hope’s into obscurity, and her concern about the Clover family might be unfounded. ‘Have the police been to the shop recently?’

  ‘Yes, one fellow came in, and he went into the office to talk to Beckler. And he asked to see the appointment book.’

  ‘But the people who came to see Lady Brighthelm did not leave their names?’

  ‘No, not to be written down, but some were customers we already knew.’

  ‘What about Mr Clover?’

  ‘Oh, we had a whole patch of Clovers last month. Gentlemen partners in business. Gathered round some sort of certificate they all looked very proud of.’

  Respectable, honest and trustworthy, thought Mina. A reputation to protect. But would they kill to protect it?

  Mina found two new letters waiting for her, one of which was in the printed envelope of Scarletti Publishing, while the other was engraved with the name and address of Inskip Law, her brother-in-law’s firm. He had never written to her before, and she opened this first with some curiosity.

  Inskip Law

  Piccadilly

  London

  Dear Mina,

  I trust this finds you well. Enid and our dear children are in the most perfect bloom of health. After my ordeals I am happy that I have been spared to take care of them. My rides on the new velocipede are the best possible exercise to preserve my strength. I hope we will be able to visit Brighton more often to enjoy the wonderful weather and fresh air.

  Please do tell Mrs Scarletti she has no need to be concerned about wolves, which can be noble creatures when one gets to know them. She is, however, most unlikely to encounter one, except in zoological gardens where in my opinion, they really ought not to be confined.

  On our last visit you made mention of the Porterson-White case, with which I was not personally familiar; however, in view of your interest I did mention it to a business acquaintance, and he gave me some further information. I was astonished to learn that the enmity between the two cousins is still unresolved. One of them resides in London, where he has business interests which keep him there; however, the other is in Brighton. When Miss Porterson-White went to live in Brighton for her health he also went there, in order to be near her and take care of her if need be. I believe the London cousin may have been an occasional visitor. Each of the cousins has accused the other of attempting to ingratiate himself with the lady and besmirching the reputation of his rival in order to inherit all her fortune. Each has accused the other of finding and destroying the will, although there is no proof that a will ever existed.

  I have also heard it rumoured that the cousin who was her favourite was actually no better than the other, only he concealed it more skilfully and only went to live in Brighton so as to get into the lady’s good books. I doubt that we will ever know the truth of it.

  Following her demise, and the declaration of intestacy, both have gone to law. One of them even consulted a spirit medium, although with what result I do not know. I fear that the dispute may continue until one of the cousins dies, and as they are both under forty, we could well find that when the time comes to distribute the inheritance all the estate has been absorbed by costs.

  Yours respectfully,

  Peter Inskip

  Mina could only shake her head at this foolish demonstration of avarice when all might have been settled with a simple handshake. She opened Edward’s letter, hoping for better news.

  Dear Mina,

  I hope this finds you and all the family well.

  I have been asking some business associates who are knowledgeable in the art of photography how the picture of Father might have been accomplished, assuming of course that it was not a genuine spirit picture. I had my doubts about it from the start because there are so many persons willing to make their fortunes by underhand means, and there is something about the photographer in this case that arouses my suspicions. There is a London man doing something very similar and attracting criticism.

  My friends made a close examination of the picture and I was assured that it was not produced by the means of any paint, or any art applied after it had been printed. I was asked if some double of my father could have been concealed in the studio, behind a curtain, perhaps, and crept out to stand there while we were all instructed to look at the camera, then concealed himself again. I did note that there was a curtain in the room, but whether there was enough space behind it where a man might stand without being discovered, I do not know. They also asked me if I noticed any unusual actions on the part of the photographer as the photographs were being taken. Was the lens cap removed only the once for each picture or was there a second exposure? Was more than one article inserted in the camera? I replied that I did not see anything of that sort, but then of course I was not looking for it.

  They did ask me if the image of Father resembled in any way a portrait he had had taken in the past. Had that been the case, an old picture might have been used to impose it on the new one, possibly during printing. I was obliged to say that the image did not remind me of any former portrait, although this thought did produce an old memory of seeing him dressed as he appeared in the picture. Perhaps you can recall something of the sort? Or you might have been too young.

  I remain mystified but still unconvinced.

  Affect’ly

  Edward

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ‘There is a policeman to see you,’ said Rose to Mina, a few days later, her normally impassive face showing an apprehensive cast.

  ‘Ah,’ said Mina. There was a time when she would have immediately feared that such a visit heralded the fact that Richard had disgraced himself in some way, but now she feared that due to Mr Hope scattering rumours, it was she who was under suspicion.

  ‘An Inspector Gibbs. He seems like a very gentlemanly person.’

  ‘Really?’ said Mina. This was oddly exciting news. She had never met Inspector Gibbs, but she had read his evidence in the Christiana Edmunds trial. It was his sound instincts, insight, and imaginative and industrious investigation that had led the poisoner to the dock and eventually Broadmoor. He had employed a particularly clever ruse, writing to Miss Edmunds and, on receiving a reply, comparing her handwriting to that on the address labels of parcels of poisoned foodstuffs. ‘Please, show him into the parlour. I will speak with him. Bring tea if he wishes it.’

  A minute or two later Inspector Gibbs was comfortably settled in the parlour, with all the ease of a frequent visitor. He was a respectable-looking man of about forty, with dark curly hair and nicely trimmed whiskers. ‘No, thank you, no refreshments,’ he said with a smile. ‘I have made a good many calls today, and if I was to accept any more hospitality I would not be able to enjoy my wife’s good dinner when I go home.’

  ‘How may I help you?’ asked Mina. She was doing her best to be accommodating without appearing over-eager, which might, judging by Gibbs’s concerns when he called on Miss Edmunds, have aroused his suspicion.

  ‘I am sure that you are aware of the subject of my enquiries, since I have already interviewed your brother concerning the unfortunate case of Lady Brighthelm, and the chocolates delivered to Mr Beckler’s shop.’

  ‘I am, of course.’

  ‘The chocolates were from the stock of Veale’s Confectioners, and I am speaking to everyone who has purchased from them recently. I understand that you made a purchase a few days ago.’

  ‘Yes, I did. I bought a quarter of a pound of vanilla creams. I can tell you the date I did so if you like. I can recall it exactly, since it was
the same day that I met with my friend Mrs Jordan — she is the wife of Mr Jordan of Jordan and Conroy’s Emporium — and we paid a visit to the Extra Mural Cemetery. I know she enjoys sweet treats and so I bought some chocolates for us to share as we walked along.’ Mina had brought her diary to the parlour and provided the date of her purchase, which was two days before the poisoned violet creams were sent to the photographer’s shop. ‘Do Veale’s keep a record of what individual customers purchase?’

  ‘Only if the customer has an account with them. Some households make regular purchases and pay monthly. Some might send a servant with a large order to be delivered. And the assistants remember regular customers and their preferences. Other than that, they simply replenish the stocks on display and keep a record of quantities to determine when a new order is due.’

  ‘So an individual purchase such as mine…’ Mina paused. ‘I suppose the assistants were able to describe me. I am aware of course, since my brother mentioned it, that the delivery to the shop consisted of violet creams. I do hope you will find the culprit.’

  ‘As do I. Have you purchased from Veale’s before?’

  ‘No, that was my first and only visit. And our household has no account with them. If you wish to view our purchases, you may. I make a regular inspection of our household expenses and I will ask cook to show you our record book if you would like to see it.’