The Curious Death of Henry J. Vicenzi (The Inspector Felix Mysteries Book 5)

by R. A. Bentley

  'Yes I do.'

  'Smoke that then. I like it in a man. You too, Sergeant. I distinctly saw a look of yearning there for a moment.'

  Rattigan chuckled. 'Thank you, miss, I will.'

  'I hope you don't think I'm being flippant,' said Dottie. 'It's a terrible thing to have happened but I scarcely knew him, and no-one seems to be mourning him, at least among the servants; though they're a bit frightened for themselves. The general mood in the house seems to be one of quiet relief. Not joy or anything, just relief. He kept them on the go day and night by all accounts, and poor Esme had no life of her own. How she managed to capture Cedric, I can't imagine.'

  'Cedric is the Reverend Curry?'

  'Yes. He's rather a dull dog but better than nothing, I suppose.'

  'Are they engaged then?'

  'Unofficially, yes. Her father wasn't supposed to know, but I think they were planning to tell him this morning. She was terribly keyed-up at her party, poor thing. Whether they actually did I don't know because they've cleared off. One assumes they haven't heard he's dead yet.'

  'So you think they may have seen him before they left?'

  'That was the plan, yes.'

  'Do you know where they've gone?'

  'Sorry, no I don't.'

  'And is Mr Jessup also relieved at his employer's death? He seemed upset earlier.'

  'I don't know; I wasn't counting him. He's certainly very quiet, and Dennis was crying. I can't do much about that because he's gone back to their quarters and I can hardly intrude.'

  'Is there no Mrs Jessup?'

  'No he's a widower. Isn't that sad, with a child to bring up alone?'

  'Yes it is. Are you always so friendly with the servants?'

  'Oh, I'm friendly with everyone. I don't see why not, do you? It doesn't mean I want bloody revolution or the dictatorship of the proletariat. Whom do you think might have done it?'

  Felix smiled. 'It's a poser, isn't it? Whom do you think it was?'

  Dottie gave this some thought. 'Well it can't be anyone in the house because there doesn't appear to have been anyone here at the time, apart from the servants and I'm pretty sure it wasn't one of them. Perhaps someone who has a key slipped in when no-one was looking, did the deed and slipped out again?'

  'Who might that be?'

  'I don't know. I don't know much about the household really. I only met Lewis three weeks ago and the others just this weekend. But they wouldn't shoot their own father would they? I know people do, but not as a general rule.'

  'Forgive me, Miss Pickles, but are you going out with Lewis Vicenzi?'

  Dottie made a little moue. 'I don't know, is the answer to that. Probably not. I still like him; though I'm not sure why, frankly.'

  'Had a falling out?'

  'Sort of. He annoyed me and I stomped off to bed. Who told you?'

  'Just a little birdie.'

  'Mr Drake, I expect. All the other birdies have flown haven't they?'

  'Could it have been as a result of your tiff that Lewis Vicenzi missed his meeting this morning?

  'Heavens! I shouldn't think so. I don't think he's very interested in me any more.'

  'Why is that?'

  'I just don't,' said Dottie, colouring slightly. 'Anyway, he's cleared off now, and as soon as you're finished with me, so shall I.'

  'She didn't take much persuading to stay,' said Rattigan, refilling his pipe.

  Felix, similarly engaged, nodded. 'Perhaps she's keener on this fellow than she wants to admit. I'd like to know what happened to discourage her; she certainly isn't giving us the whole story.'

  'She's rather a character isn't she? Though it wouldn't surprise me if she ends up an old maid. Unmarried anyway.'

  'There's something of the universal aunt about her, isn't there? A pity if so. She's a pleasure to look upon and clever with it.'

  'Why did you hang onto her? She's not much use to us now, is she?'

  'Not sure. Just a feeling. She's clearly very observant and she might get more out of the servants than we can. Anyway, she amuses me. Let's have Jessup back.'

  *

  'I'm thirty-three and a widower,' said the butler. I've worked here five years, all but a month or so. They took me on as a chauffeur originally but then their old butler retired and they asked if I'd do both. It was supposed to be temporary but they never got another.'

  'A compliment to you?'

  'I suppose so. He was a miserable old beggar and not many would've put up with him. Neither would I if I could've found another position, but it has to be somewhere that will take my son and nothing has ever turned up. I get on well with the other servants, which makes it bearable.'

  'What about the rest of the family?'

  'They're all right.'

  'So it's just Henry Vicenzi you didn't like?'

  Jessop smiled uncertainly. 'It'd be a bit dangerous to admit that. He wasn't a bad man, just egocentric. And he had the arthritis which made him cranky. He didn't deserve to be murdered.'

  'You weren't always a chauffeur, I fancy. What did you do before that?'

  'I had a little garage business with my wife. We had a few pounds between us and I know cars. We hadn't been going long when she got ill and died. It all went to bits and I lost the lot. I had a couple of driving jobs and then we came here.'

  'My sympathy, Mr Jessup. Take us through the shooting if you will, step by step.'

  'Not much to tell. I was outside when I heard the shot. I couldn't really believe it was a pistol shot but at the same time I knew it was, if that makes sense. Mabel had just come up to arrange the flowers in the hall.'

  'What were you doing outside?'

  'I'd been talking to the postman. He'd just ridden off.'

  'He'll confirm that presumably?'

  'Yes, I'm sure he will. He may even have heard the shot. We checked the reception rooms before the study because I knew Mr Henry was in here and I suppose I had it in mind I could tell him what had happened. When I looked in I found him slumped over the desk. I could see immediately he was dead, so I told Mabel not to come in but to telephone to the police. She's a sensible woman and I knew I could trust her to do that.'

  'Was the study door shut?'

  'Yes it was. I knew whoever it was couldn't have got past us so I'm assuming they entered and left by the garden door. There was—'

  'Sorry to interrupt, Mr Jessup, but could the murderer have come from upstairs, or have run up there afterwards, if quick enough?'

  Jessup considered this. 'I suppose it's possible, but Mary was already working up there and would surely have heard if not seen him. And if he went up, how would he have got back down?'

  'Backstairs?'

  'He would have had to get past Cook and Ida, our tweeny. The backstairs come out in the kitchen.'

  'No, all right. So then you looked out the back. No-one there either, presumably?'

  No-one except Mrs Entwistle. She wanted to know what had happened and would have come in. It was hardly my place to stop her but Miss Pickles arrived and persuaded her to come away.'

  'Do you know Miss Pickles well?'

  'No, not at all. This is the first time she's been here. She seems to have taken a shine to my son and I'm very grateful to her under the circumstances. She's a very nice young lady.'

  'What happened then?'

  'I checked the room to see if anything had been stolen or disturbed. There's a safe over there, behind the panelling, but they don't appear to have found that. At any rate, it was as you see it now. I haven't looked inside it as I know you're not supposed to touch anything. I don't know about the files and paperwork as there's so much of it and I've never taken much notice of it. There wasn't much else I could do, so I came out, locked the door and waited for the police to arrive, which was about ten minutes later. They looked around, much as I had done, then telephoned to the police station. They must have been told to search the area as I saw a constable combing the back garden.'

  'Grim for you.'

  'It r
eally shook me, Inspector. More than I might have expected. It's my home too, all our homes, and this inexplicable thing happens.'

  'You were in the war?'

  'Yes, I was. It's not the same.'

  'No, I agree. And are you absolutely sure that all the outside doors and windows were locked last night and were still locked this morning?'

  Jessup hesitated. 'I'm not absolutely sure, no. It's my job to check them last thing, and I did. I don't normally check them in the morning.'

  'Who was in here first this morning?'

  'I was, with Mr Henry. I helped him downstairs as usual, settled him at his desk, opened the garden-door and left him to it.'

  'When would that have been?'

  'About nine-thirty.'

  'So the garden-door remained locked until then?'

  'Yes, it was.'

  'Was this an unvarying programme?'

  'More or less, unless he was in too much pain to come down. He'd been a little better the last week or two.'

  'What about breakfast?'

  'He usually had it in bed, or in his room.'

  'And the rest of the family?'

  'The breakfast room.'

  'Must have been quiet this morning.'

  'It was. Just Miss Esme. We assumed the others were sleeping-in after the party, but they never appeared. The brothers didn't have to go into work because of the meeting and Mrs Andrew doesn't always bother so we thought nothing of it.'

  'Let's look at this safe.'

  They crossed to a solid-seeming stretch of panelling, the only section of wall without a bookcase in front of it.

  'You have to press where it's a bit discoloured and slide it back. That's right. Now reach up and the key is hanging to your left. I know it's foolish to have it there but he wouldn't be told.'

  'I'll use the key to pull it open for now,' said Felix. 'We'll get the lads to dab it later. What should we expect to find?'

  'Cash, mostly. There are usually some papers but I don't know what they are. He used to pay the servants out of it, among other things. A fellow would come from the shop once a month and top it up.'

  'No cash here now,' said Felix, peering in.

  'Then it's been taken. He only came on Friday.'

  'How much would you expect to be here, at this stage?'

  'He usually puts fifty pounds in, so perhaps about forty, after Friday's wages.'

  They waited until the butler had left the room.

  'Comments, please, Teddy,' said Felix.

  Rattigan was silent for a while. 'I don't think he was entirely honest with us, not about everything.'

  'What do you think he was fibbing about? Checking the doors at night?'

  'Not sure. It was more of a general impression. He was just a bit too forthcoming for my liking, as if he needed to conceal something and hoped we wouldn't notice it among the rest. He seemed mightily relieved too, when you let him go. You could almost hear the steam being released.'

  'Identity of the murderer?'

  'No, I don't think so. More likely some shortcoming on his part. Maybe you're right about the doors.'

  'Well, we'll keep an eye on him. Who else is there to see? I suppose we'd best have a word with the old lady, even if she is a bit confused. Do you want to grab someone?'

  'You could use the bell.'

  'Yes, I suppose I could,' said Felix, reaching for it.

  There was a diffident knock at the door.

  'Good heavens, Jessup, that was quick!'

  The butler looked confused. 'Did you ring, sir? I came to tell you that Miss Vicenzi and Mr Curry have returned.'

  'Aha! Then wheel 'em in, Mr Jessup, if you please.'

  'I think Miss Pickles would like a word with you first, sir,' said Jessup. 'About Miss Vicenzi.'

  'Inspector, I'm sorry,' said Dottie, slipping under the butler's arm. 'Tell me if I'm interfering but I've sent Esme to bed with an aspirin. She's in rather a state and I don't think you'd get much out of her just at the moment. We talked a little and I can give you the gist of it if you like.'

  Felix smiled and stood up for her. 'Then please do, Miss Pickles. Have a seat.'

  'It amounts to this,' said Dottie. 'Esme and Mr Curry went to see her father this morning, as I thought they would. They told him they were getting married and asked for his blessing. Mr Vicenzi then became abusive in the extreme and told her she was too old to marry, that God had created girls like her to care for their elderly parents, and that if she were to leave him he'd cut her off without a penny. They've been sitting together in the park, recovering.'

  'Hmm. How old is she again?'

  'Twenty-seven yesterday!'

  'Quite the hag. Did they leave the house immediately after this diatribe?'

  'Oh dear, I didn't ask them that. I should have done, shouldn't I?'

  'Never mind; you're not a policeman. Had they heard about the murder, do you know?'

  'No, I'm sure they hadn't. I was in the hall when they arrived back so I took it upon myself to break it to them.'

  'What was their reaction?'

  'Stunned, initially. Then Esme declared she was glad because she hated him and that she hoped he'd rot in Hell; after which she broke down and wept hysterically until I sent her to bed. Mary is with her.'

  'And what of Mr Curry?'

  'He sat there like a great, useless pudding until she went upstairs and then said he had to be going as he had a committee meeting. I pointed out that you'd be bound to want to speak to him and he might as well stay until you had. He's in the breakfast room.'

  Felix's normally equable features registered amazement. 'A committee meeting! Now I've heard everything. Sergeant, kindly go and tell Mr Curry he's to wait and that I'll see him when I'm ready. And did the reverend gentleman have much to say for himself?'

  'Nothing beyond the usual pieties and a bit of tutting,' said Dottie. 'He seemed rather preoccupied and made no attempt to comfort the poor girl so I had to do it. I'm beginning to think Mr Drake is right and he only wants her for her money.'

  'You said you'd let her know Drake was asking after her,' Rattigan reminded him.

  'I doubt she's desperate to speak to him. He'll keep,' said Felix. He rang the bell again. 'Mr Jessup, produce us Mr Curry if you please. He's in the breakfast room.'

  The butler was some minutes coming back. 'I'm afraid he's gone, sir. Mabel saw him hurrying away down the drive.'

  'Gone! I don't believe it!'

  'I think I'd better leave,' said Dottie, 'so you can decently explode.'

  But Felix was already at the door. 'No, stay there. Mabel! Ah, there you are. Kindly go and see Miss Vicenzi and ascertain Mr Curry's address for me.'

  'I think she's asleep, sir.'

  'Then wake her!'

  'It's unlikely he can tell us much, sir.' said Rattigan.

  'I'll not have the law mocked,' snapped Felix. 'Clearing off like that when he knows I want him. I won't have it. He might have been the last to see Henry alive; could even be the murderer for aught we know. Yes, what is it?'

  'I've found his address, sir,' said Jessup. It was scribbled on the back of the telephone book.'

  'Right! Nash, Yardley.'

  'Sir?'

  'Kindly find me the Reverend Cedric Curry. He's done a runner. Take my car. He may be at home by now, but failing that try St Edwold's, which is in the same road by the look of it. If he refuses to return with you, arrest him, preferably in front of the Mother's Union, or whoever he's allegedly meeting with.'

  'What does he look like, sir?'

  'Good point. Miss Pickles, go with them.'

  'Me?'

  'Yes, you. Hop to it now.'

  *

  Felix sat and glowered at the frightened-looking curate. 'Well now, Mr Curry. I won't bother asking you to explain your disgraceful conduct because I'm not interested. I want some facts and you are going to provide them. First of all, how did your interview with Mr Henry Vicenzi end? What was said? Who had the last word? How did he seem?'

>   'He was extremely angry, Inspector,' said Mr Curry. 'He made it clear that he was quite in earnest about cutting Miss Vicenzi out of his will and would do so the day she married. Then he told us to get out. Bawled us out, I should say.'

  'Was he sitting or standing?'

  'He was sitting at his desk throughout.'

  'Even to greet you?'

  'Yes. He was also extremely rude to me and blasphemed in my presence. He—'

  'I think we can pass over that, Mr Curry,' said Felix. 'The man is dead. Was there anyone else in the room at any time?'

  'No there wasn't.'

  'And what did you and Miss Vicenzi do? Did you sit down?'

  'No, neither of us sat down.'

  'Were you invited to do so?'

  'No.'

  'Did either of you go behind him at any time?'

  'No, we stood together. We were rooted to the spot.'

  'When he dismissed you, did he summon anyone to show you out?'

  'No, but he told me not to show my face in the house again. I shall be only too glad to comply.'

  Felix ignored this. 'Can you remember if the garden door was open?'

  'Yes, it was.'

  'Anyone out there?'

  'No. Yes. Mrs Entwistle was wandering about.'

  'Wandering?'

  'Walking up and down.'

  'All the while?'

  'I don't know. I only saw her for a moment or two.'

  'Then how do you know she was walking up and down?'

  'Walking towards us, then. She was walking towards us.'

  'Close-to or at a distance?'

  'I don't know . . . at a distance. Halfway down the garden.'

  'How long were you in here?'

  'I doubt it was five minutes.'

  'Can you recall what time you left?'

  'No, I was too upset. I believe it was about ten o'clock when we came in.'

  'What did you do when you left?'

  'Miss Vicenzi ran from the house and I followed her. She said she wouldn't stay there to be insulted. Eventually we went to the park.'

  Felix frowned. 'She ran straight out, looking neither to right nor left?'