A Bloody Hot Summer

by Trevor D'Silva

  “A knife?” asked Arthur, surprised.

  “Yes, or possibly a dagger?”

  “No. Who told you I did?” Arthur asked with his eyes widened.

  “Are you sure?” asked Inspector Enderby sternly.

  “Inspector, whoever told you this must be mistaken. I would never bring any of my antiques here. I am established in Delhi, and I only wanted to take those guns to add to my collection.”

  “All right. We’ll take your word for it. Good day, Mr. Endecott,” said Dermot.

  “Not at all. I just hope you catch the killer. Aunt Doris was my favourite aunt,” said Arthur and he took another sip of whisky.

  The two men bid Arthur goodbye and left.

  — — —

  Inspector Enderby leaned over to Dermot and whispered, “Antique guns? My eye! I think he just spun us a yarn.”

  “You can be sure of that,” replied Dermot, trying not to smile.

  As they were walking out of the front door, Hector came towards them and asked if he could help collect clues. Dermot patted his shoulder, thanked him, and said that murder was not for children and that his mother and aunts wouldn’t approve of him getting involved.

  Hector sighed with disappointment. “What else can I do here? Mother never lets me do anything when I’m home. I wish I was back in Harrow.” He turned and walked away with a sad look on his face.

  “Murder must be exciting for a thirteen-year-old. Not a lot of things to do in these parts for a boy of his age,” said Inspector Enderby, smiling.

  Dermot nodded. “Especially for a boy who only has older women for companionship.”

  As they walked down the steps, a car came down the driveway. It stopped in front of them and Richard Seymour got out. He greeted the two men. “What the dickens is going on? Why are the police here?”

  “Now, just who might you be?” asked Inspector Enderby.

  At that moment, Pippa came running out of the front door and straight into Richard’s arms.

  “Darling, Aunt Doris is dead,” she said sadly. “She’s been murdered.”

  Richard was dumbstruck and hugged Pippa tightly. He slowly looked up and she turned and faced the two men. “This is Richard Seymour. He attended the party last night and left around…” She looked back up at him.

  “…around ten-thirty p.m.,” he finished for her. “I live in London and I had a long drive. So, I said my goodbyes and left.”

  “Why are you here? Impossible that the news has reached London so soon,” said Dermot.

  “Before I left last night, Lady Fitzhugh asked me to come back today. She said that she had something very important to tell Pippa and me.”

  “Poor Aunt Doris may’ve wanted to give us her blessing. She was beginning to like you.”

  Chapter 5: The Game is Afoot

  Irene Shaw told the two men to wait outside for her. She had to finish serving drinks to the customers in the pub. She whispered to them and made it clear that she didn’t want anyone hearing what she had to tell the police.

  “On the house, gentlemen,” she said as she handed them each a pint of ale. The two men went outside and sat at a table.

  Irene Shaw was back in St. Crispin’s Village where she lived with her mother. Due to the lack of a reference letter from Lady Fitzhugh, she’d had a difficult time finding a job as a domestic and, to make ends meet, was now working as a barmaid at the Boar’s Head.

  Presently, she came out, wiping her hands on her apron and adjusting her dark auburn hair. She sat opposite the two men, reminding them to keep their voices low. Nobody needed to hear what they discussed, because no one knew she had been dismissed from Fitzhugh Manor.

  Dermot asked her why she had stolen the necklace, which she strongly denied. She also couldn’t believe that Miss Carter told them about it, because they had agreed that she would leave without a reference and the police wouldn’t be notified.

  “So, how come the necklace was found in your room if you didn’t steal it?” asked Inspector Enderby.

  “I really don’t know. It was found under my mattress by Miss Carter when Lady Fitzhugh gave her permission to search our rooms. I obviously denied stealing it, but they didn’t believe me.”

  Dermot asked if she had seen the necklace before and Irene said that she had once been present with Miss Carter when Lady Fitzhugh had taken it out of her safe. It looked more impressive in person than in the painting and Irene recalled that Miss Carter had been awestruck and had asked Lady Fitzhugh about its history. She had told them that the necklace belonged to her mother, but it was actually her Aunt Rosalyn’s necklace. The next time that Irene had seen the necklace was when it was discovered in her room.

  “All right, now where were you last night at about two a.m.?” asked Inspector Enderby.

  “I left work at one. When the pub closed at eleven, we had a lock-in so I worked late.” She glanced sheepishly at the two officers, who both shrugged. “I walked home then and went to bed. I only heard about the murder an hour or two ago. My boss can confirm that.”

  “Do you own a car?”

  “Not on my salary. I’d have to take the bus to go to Meadowford and they stop running at five. It’s nearly fifteen miles from here.”

  “Thank you, Miss Shaw. You may go back to work,” said Dermot.

  She looked at them for a second. “Lady Fitzhugh was kind to me until that necklace disappeared. I would never have harmed her and I’m sorry she’s dead, but I have nothing to do with any of this.”

  As they drove back to Meadowford in Dermot’s car, Inspector Enderby asked Dermot whether he thought Irene Shaw was involved.

  “I’m not sure. Certainly, it would be impossible for her to walk fifteen miles at that time of the night, murder Lady Fitzhugh, and then return. She seemed sincere about not stealing that necklace.”

  “Only time will tell… but did you notice the way she speaks? Not like a lady’s maid, but like someone with good breeding.”

  “I did notice that. Very strange indeed!”

  “I agree,” said Inspector Enderby. “We have to meet Dr. Talbot who is conducting the autopsy of Lady Fitzhugh.” He looked at his watch. “He must be done by now.”

  — — —

  Meadowford’s hospital buildings had been financed by Lord Fitzhugh after he had returned from South Africa and had been completed a few months after his death. There was a plaque at the entrance stating that fact. Dermot and Inspector Enderby entered the morgue and were immediately struck by the strong smell of formalin. Dermot hated hospitals; they reminded him of the time when he had been treated as a boy to remove his appendix.

  They saw Dr. Talbot standing next to a sheet-covered body and reading from a clipboard. Talbot looked up and smiled at them.

  “Dr. Talbot, this is Detective Dermot Carlyle. He’s helping me with the Fitzhugh murder,” said Inspector Enderby.

  “Nice to meet you, Detective Carlyle. Don’t worry, my hand’s clean.” He held out his hand and Dermot reluctantly shook it.

  Dr. Talbot took them to another side of the room where they could see another body on a slab covered with a sheet. He slowly uncovered the face and carefully showed them the hands and feet by removing the portion of the sheet covering them. They could see the ligature marks where they had been bound.

  “As you can see, the ropes were tied so tightly that they cut into her skin; it was the same with the gag.” He then pointed to the neck where they could clearly see the cut mark on the throat. “The wound was made with a thin blade, although a bit blunt. It took some force to cut the throat and the carotid artery.”

  “How barbaric,” s
aid Inspector Enderby.

  “It looks like it was done with such hatred. Whoever killed her must’ve hated her Ladyship very much,” said Dermot.

  “Yes, and Dr. Fielding’s estimate that she probably died after two a.m. seems correct. The stomach contents showed that her dinner was partly digested. She had roast beef, vegetables, mushroom soup, and some cake. The blood analysis showed that she had alcohol – I guess sherry and wine.”

  “Yes, that’s what they had for dinner,” said Inspector Enderby, looking at his notes.

  Dermot asked Dr. Fielding if he found anything curious about the body or the ropes and he replied that he had examined the ropes and noticed that the knots were similar to the ones used in the military. He was in the army in his youth, so he was certain that one of the killers was or had been a soldier.

  — — —

  After they left the morgue, Dermot and Inspector Enderby drove to the vicarage. Reverend Howard and Henrietta sat in the shade of a large oak tree, drinking tea. The Anglican Church and the vicarage were in the background.

  Inspector Enderby greeted them and introduced Dermot to them. Henrietta offered them tea.

  “Tea, in this heat?” asked Dermot.

  “Remember, we’re British… we can never go without our tea. It’s what we used to say to one another when we were in Ceylon as missionaries. Even in the heat of the tropics, we never gave it up,” said the Vicar.

  “I am assuming that you are here to talk about the murder?” asked Henrietta. The two men nodded. “So ask away, Inspector.”

  “Did you see or hear anything unusual at Lady Fitzhugh’s party last night?”

  “Nothing unusual,” Henrietta replied as she poured the tea. “She was happy she had made it to eighty.” She held up a plate and offered them a garibaldi. The two men took one each and began sipping their tea. “It’ll be sad not seeing her Ladyship at Sunday services any more. She was my school teacher before she became Lady of the Manor. She had a head for maths… Oh! She did say something about making changes to her will,” said Henrietta.

  “Did she say what sort of changes?”

  “No, but she said that she had learnt that someone at the party wasn’t honest. She also said that she had dodged a bullet a few weeks earlier when she couldn’t add someone to her will. The wills had disappeared and then miraculously reappeared in the solicitor’s briefcase.”

  “Wills?” asked Dermot.

  “Yes, that struck me as rather odd… but before she could tell me any more, we were called for dinner. She was just like her father – always putting family first.”

  “That reminds me,” said Reverend Howard. “She spoke privately to that solicitor of hers in the library.”

  “Yes, now I remember. After the solicitor left the library, the housekeeper and the butler went in and spoke to her for a few minutes. She was in a very good mood when she came out of the library,” said Henrietta.

  “At what time did you leave?” asked Dermot.

  “We left around ten,” said Henrietta. “She was in such a cheerful mood and that’s the way I’d like to remember her.”

  The two men finished drinking their tea. “If you think of anything, you can call my home. I presume you have my parent’s number?” asked Dermot.

  “Yes, you are Edmund’s son?”

  “Yes, they come here for Sunday services.”

  “I haven’t seen you for Sunday services in a long time. No wonder I didn’t recognise you,” said the vicar, eyeing Dermot to make him feel guilty.

  “I live in London, and the last time I was at church here was for Christmas service. I’m here on holiday for two weeks,” said Dermot, trying not to sound annoyed.

  Reverend Howard seemed satisfied as he settled back in his chair.

  “You poor thing. Investigating a dreadful murder while on your holiday and, to top it all off, this heat! You must wish that you’d never come back to Meadowford,” said Henrietta, laughing at her own joke.

  Dermot nodded as he and Inspector Enderby got up. He thanked them for the tea and wished them goodbye.

  — — —

  It was getting late and so Inspector Enderby decided to head to the police station. Dermot wanted to talk to Bertram Kerr and telephoned him from a public phone to let him know that he would be coming to meet him. He then telephoned Major Havelock, but Gerda, who answered the phone, told Dermot that the major’s leg was giving him trouble and he had been prescribed bed rest by the doctor.

  Dermot drove to the Meadowford Inn where Bertram Kerr was staying. On hearing about the murder, Kerr had extended his stay for two more days in order to attend the funeral and to read the will. Kerr was waiting for Dermot in the dining room. The head waiter showed Dermot to the table where Kerr was eating his supper. They greeted each other and shook hands.

  “Please join me for dinner. The steak and kidney pie’s delicious,” said Kerr. He then beckoned to the waiter, a timid-looking man with drooping shoulders.

  “What can I do for you, Detective Carlyle?” asked Kerr after the waiter left having taken the order.

  “You drew up the will for Lady Fitzhugh, am I right?” asked Dermot as he sipped his wine.

  “Yes, it was drawn soon after her brother, Allan, died.”

  “Can you tell me the contents of the will?”

  Kerr agreed, but insisted that Dermot was not to reveal it to anyone before the will was read. Dermot nodded. In the meantime, the waiter returned with the food.

  Kerr told Dermot that after Lady Fitzhugh’s death, Hector inherits everything since he’s the male heir of her deceased brother. There were also provisions for Pippa, Lady Fitzhugh’s two sisters, Cora, Arthur, and Flora’s two daughters in America and Canada. There were some legacies bequeathed to the manor staff and some monies left to various local charities. The will further stated that if anything were to happen to Hector, that Pippa will inherit everything and after that Arthur, since he was the oldest of the sisters’ children.

  Dermot then asked Kerr why he went to the manor with the wills a few weeks earlier, and Kerr told him it was because Lady Fitzhugh wanted to add someone to her will. When he asked why she had two wills, Kerr said that one of the wills was the late Lord Fitzhugh’s will.

  “Did she mention anyone in particular she wanted to add to her will?”

  “No, she never told me.”

  “So, why didn’t she add the person into the will?”

  “Well, a strange thing happened. I thought that I had the wills in my leather briefcase, but when I opened it in front of Lady Fitzhugh they had disappeared.”

  Dermot looked puzzled and Kerr explained that when he had arrived at the manor, he went to the living room because he was supposed to meet her Ladyship there. She took some time arriving, so he left his briefcase on the table and went to the bathroom down the hall. When he went back to the living room, Lady Fitzhugh was waiting for him. He opened his briefcase and found that both the wills had disappeared. He checked his briefcase many times and removed its contents. He excused himself and went to his car, but they weren’t there either.

  “What was her Ladyship’s reaction?”

  “She was livid and sternly reprimanded me for my carelessness when I came back after searching my car. Miss Carter can confirm this, she was pouring some tea. Fortunately, I had made copies of the wills and kept them in my office safe. She told me to bring them the next time I came to the manor.”

  “The originals are still missing?”

  “The strange thing is that when I returned to my office in London, I was emptying the contents from my briefcase and the wills were in another compartment. I just couldn’t und
erstand it as I had searched the whole briefcase, including the compartment where I found the wills later.”

  Dermot looked perplexed. “Did you leave the briefcase when you went to search your car?”

  “I did, but I thought Lady Fitzhugh had her eye on it all the time. She had even mobilised the entire staff, including the chauffeur, to search the living room and the main hall for the wills.”

  “Wouldn’t make sense if she had anything to do with it,” said Dermot. “Maybe someone didn’t want that will changed. Now the mystery is, who was she planning on adding to her will?”

  Kerr nodded as he finished his meal and drank the last sip of wine.

  “Did she ask you to come back with the wills when you told her you found them?” Dermot asked.

  “When I telephoned her about finding the wills, she said to bring them when I came for her birthday party. At the party, we spoke briefly in the library and she said that she would like me to return with them the next day. She was thinking about making those changes and would finalise her decision that very night. Actually, today would’ve been the day, but…”

  Dermot nodded, indicating he knew what Kerr meant. He then asked if any of the family members would have had access to the briefcase that day. Kerr replied that the family had been picnicking near the stream behind the meadow and that’s why Lady Fitzhugh asked him to come then to make changes to her will. As far as he knew, nobody left the picnic and came to the manor unexpectedly.

  Finally, Dermot asked Kerr where he had travelled to on the day of the party, but he refused to answer, saying that it had nothing to do with the murder and he had to keep the confidentiality of his other clients’ cases.

  Dermot thanked him and said that he would see him at the funeral two days later. He gestured to the waiter to bring the bill and, while he waited, he said, “The family must be eager for the reading of the will.”