by Beth Byers
Violet glanced at the girl and debated telling her that her mother had been a lover of Benedict Brantley. Was it possible that the girl knew? Her gaze moved to Rita who winced. If Lavinia was found innocent, her relationship with her daughter might be damaged if the girl discovered the full nature of Lavinia’s link to Mr. Brantley.
Vi waited. This girl would be Rita’s stepsister if things ended as Mr. Russell wanted. Slowly Rita shook her head.
Violet lifted the chalk again and considered. Finally, she wrote—
LAVINIA FORMAN — discovered the body of Mr. Brantley. She had blood on her dress and hands.
Violet considered expanding upon Lavinia, but instead decided to leave a large space and start writing the names Vi could link to Benedict Brantley.
PHILIP RUSSELL —
BENEDICT BRANTLEY, JR. —
MITCHELL BRANTLEY —
NEVE BRANTLEY —
JOSIAH BRANTLEY —
MINA BRANTLEY —
DELILAH BRANTLEY —
IZZY FORMAN —
The girl gasped as Violet etched out her name, but when Vi glanced to Izzy, her face was screwed up again as though she had to physically hold back her comments. When nothing was said, Violet returned to the chalkboard adding:
RITA RUSSELL —
HAMILTON BARNES —
Violet stepped back. “Do we know when he died?”
Beatrice hesitated and then said, “I saw him around noon. He was talking to Rita’s father, and it looked heated.”
Violet glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nearly 3:00 p.m.
“Anyone else?”
Ginny spoke next. “I saw Mr. Brantley talking to Delilah and her mother right after the egg race. That was supposed to be at 1:00 p.m.”
“How long does an egg race take?” Denny asked.
Kate shrugged and Victor answered, “A couple of minutes maybe. Was it right after, Gin?”
“I think it was maybe five minutes after?”
“Anyone else?” Violet asked.
Izzy paused as though still wanting to obey Vi, just in case, then let her words loose. “I saw him talking to my mother right before Ginny and I decided to buy a toffee apple. We were still eating it when I heard the scream.”
Vi winced. “Did anyone note what time that happened?”
“We’ve been inside about a half-hour,” Beatrice said. “We had to have been sent away from the body within a quarter hour.”
“Were you speeding through the toffee apples or lingering over them?” Violet directed her question to Ginny.
“Lingering,” Ginny admitted. “It was probably ten minutes between buying them, starting to eat them, and hearing the scream.”
Violet wrote 2:00-2:05 on the chalkboard on the upper right and looked at everyone.
“Let’s start ruling out,” Denny said. “I was mocking Jack when we heard the scream. I had been with him for at least thirty minutes. Lila was inside with the baby and the nanny.”
Violet’s gaze moved to Ginny and Izzy. They had been together. Her gaze moved from the girls when Beatrice said, “Violet, Smith, and I were together.”
“Kate and I were talking to the vicar about a donation for the church roof,” Victor said. “Apparently, it’s leaking.”
Violet glanced at Rita, who said, “My father and I were discussing what we talked about this morning.”
That left Ham.
“Did anyone see Ham?”
It was quiet for a moment and then slowly people began shaking their heads. Violet had little doubt that Ham had not killed Mr. Brantley. Why would he? But she turned back to her list and crossed out Rita’s and Izzy’s name.
Violet returned to the names and out of mercy focused upon Ham first.
HAMILTON BARNES — Brantley insulted Ham repeatedly. There seems to be some feeling that Ham stole Rita away from one of the Brantley sons.
Vi hesitated. “He doesn’t have much of a motive.”
“Mr. Brantley wanted Rita to marry one of his sons,” Izzy said. She blushed brilliantly. “Some people would find losing their betrothed as a motive.”
Violet nodded. “The problem is that Rita puts a new twist on stubborn. There is no scenario that she would marry one of Mr. Brantley’s sons.”
“What if her father wanted her to?” Izzy asked.
Rita shook her head. “No. Never.”
“What if he was going to cut you off?” Izzy demanded.
“My father already settled funds on me. He can’t just take those back. He could, I suppose, take whatever inheritance I might receive away from me, but my life wouldn’t be materially changed.”
Izzy frowned and then muttered, “Sorry.”
Rita shrugged in reply. “Sadly, it’s not the first time I’ve been a murder suspect. I’ve learned not to take it personally. We’re looking for the truth here.”
“What we do with that truth after we find it…” Denny shrugged and then grinned evilly. “That remains to be seen.”
Kate snorted and crossed to Violet, standing next to her. “I am almost positive that I saw Neve Brantley and Josiah Brantley near the apple trees. If I’m not mistaken, one of your maids was nearby. We can probably give the wife and the brother an alibi and remove them from the list.”
Violet glanced at Kate and then asked, “Which one?”
“The little blonde,” Kate said. Both Kate and Vi glanced at Victor who nodded and disappeared outside. Once he was gone, Violet returned her gaze to the board and she added a few notes until it read:
LAVINIA FORMAN — discovered the body of Mr. Brantley. She had blood on her dress and hands.
PHILIP RUSSELL — Was with Kate discussing recent events.
BENEDICT BRANTLEY, JR. — Certainly the heir. He needs money enough to pursue whatever heiresses come across his path. Had he realized that he wouldn’t succeed? If so, did he decide his father had to go?
MITCHELL BRANTLEY — Possibly also inheriting well. He needs money enough to pursue whatever heiresses come across his path. The brother seemed fixated on Delilah Brantley. Perhaps it was Mitchell who found that his father had to die.
NEVE BRANTLEY — Possible alibi. Married to a real fiend. But then again, regardless of the nature of her husband, she hadn’t murdered him before. If she were the killer, why now? Had she finally had enough of his neglect and meanness?
JOSIAH BRANTLEY — Possible alibi. Possible heir.
MINA BRANTLEY — The sister-in-law. How could she benefit from the death of Brantley?
DELILAH BRANTLEY — Niece. Quiet. Probably not an heir. Doubtful?
IZZY FORMAN — Was with Ginny.
HAMILTON BARNES — Brantley insulted Ham repeatedly. There seems to be some feeling that Ham stole Rita away from one of the Brantley sons. Motive weak.
QUESTIONS:
Who are the heirs?
Brantley had no trouble being overtly rude and aggressive at the dinner. Was he like that often? Perhaps that very behavior had driven him to become a murder victim.
Vi rubbed her hand over her face. Why did people get murdered? So often it was revenge, love, hatred. Fiddling with her wedding ring, Vi paced in front of the chalkboard. She was certain Brantley intended to ruin Lavinia’s romance with Mr. Russell. For a woman who had been his lover, while he was married, it seemed that he should have understood that he had no claim on Lavinia. Violet spun her wedding ring around her finger and absently reached out for her strong, bitter coffee, slowly taking a long sip as she stared at the board. In her mind, those who had the greatest motives to kill Mr. Brantley were his wife, his sons, Mr. Russell, and Lavinia Forman.
Vi’s gaze moved to Izzy again and then back to the board. What was Brantley’s intent as far as Lavinia went? To just ruin her relationship with Izzy? Was that the blackmail Smith had spoken of? Times had changed and it wasn’t so shocking that a widow had a married lover. It would cause a scandal, but nothing that would ruin Lavinia forever. Perhaps a girl might struggle to recover from
that type of mean gossip, but it was doubtful it would ruin Lavinia Forman.
Vi’s gaze moved to Izzy Forman again. The girl’s face had smoothed into calmness, but it was still swollen and her eyes were still red. Vi saw that the girl’s fists were clenched and she was holding in her need to rage by the barest shreds of will.
Izzy slowly stood. She crossed to stand next to Vi and read the board quietly. Vi could see that she was struggling to hold in her thoughts. Finally, Ginny rose and crossed over as well. The three women stood in front of the board, the two younger women clutching hands.
“You can trust Vi,” Ginny told Izzy. “She wants to find the truth too. You don’t need her to have the same faith in your mother as you do. You just need to hold onto your own faith in your mother. You can be sure of her innocence and still let Vi pursue the truth.”
“Will you tell anyone what I tell you?” Izzy’s voice was hoarse.
“I’ll keep everything in confidence that I can,” Violet promised. “If something that you tell us leads to information that the police need, we have to tell them.”
“But my mother…”
“Sometimes,” Violet said carefully and as gently as possible, “it’s better to have our secrets revealed than to be hanged.”
Izzy gasped. Her eyes closed slowly as she fought with herself. Finally, she said, “Then you should probably know that Mr. Brantley and my mother were lovers for years and years.”
Chapter 12
“Ew!” Ginny burst out. “Mr. Brantley?”
Izzy nodded. Her face was pale with red cheeks and her hands had returned to shaking. Violet glanced at Rita and found her friend had already risen and was crossing to Izzy. A moment later, Rita took Izzy into her arms.
“It’s all right, my dear.”
Violet picked up her coffee cup again and glanced around. Denny’s gaze met hers and he hissed, “You knew.”
Vi didn’t react or reply but Denny’s giggle echoed Izzy’s murmurings to Rita. Lila reached out and slapped her husband’s arm until he tried to swallow those giggles.
Violet asked Izzy, “What would you add to our notes?”
Izzy took in a deep excited breath. She pushed up onto her toes and bounced as she read Violet’s chalkboard notes. She pointed to the eldest son’s name.
BENEDICT BRANTLEY, JR. — Certainly the heir. He needs money enough to pursue whatever heiresses come across his path. Had he realized that he wouldn’t succeed? If so, did he decide his father had to go?
Izzy faced Vi. “He’s a gambler. It’s why he’s so yellow. He spends many nights in games of chance, drinking and smoking. My mother said that Mr. Brantley thought it was fine and when she mentioned it to him, Mr. Brantley told my mum that it was a man’s right to spend his money how he wanted.”
Violet’s brows lifted and then she wrote, “Gambler. What were his debts? Were they sufficient to kill over? Was this why he was so aggressive in pursuing Rita and Delilah? Was the younger Benedict desperate for money?”
Violet glanced at the others.
Denny said, “Gambling debts would be a reasonable motive for murder.” He paused and then giggled. “Reasonable for someone who would commit murder. It wouldn’t require some sort of being driven mad. For a cold-hearted, not-like-me, man…it might be reasonable.”
Violet fiddled with her ring and returned to pacing. They didn’t know this family very well. If she were to look at the list of names, she could easily see each of the family members having killed the man.
Lavinia—being blackmailed and harassed—people murdered for that. Philip Russell—men murdered for their loves time and again through history. Sons murdered their fathers for inheritances or to gain full control of their lives. The betrayed wife? Violet could imagine it easily. The brother? Vi wasn’t as confident in a reason why Josiah might have murdered his brother. Some long held hatred? A chance inheritance? The sister-in-law and the niece. When a man lorded over and controlled a woman? When he treated her like chattel? Violet was sure that the murder victim had done just that.
She looked at the last names on the list. The daughter of a harassed mother. Certainly, it had happened before. A man like Ham protecting his love? The love protecting her marriage? Vi could imagine all of it.
She knew, of course, that some of them had alibis. When she looked at those names again, Vi asked, “What about Mitchell Brantley? He wanted Rita for her money. Does he have much expectation of inheritance from his father?”
Izzy nodded. “It’s well known that he split his money between the two sons. Benedict Junior, however, will also inherit the house.”
Violet lifted a brow. Money was such a good motivator for a terrible human to commit crimes. Even against a father. When you combined money, a house, and gambling? It seemed all too possible that Benedict Junior had murdered his father.
Violet sighed and then turned to Izzy. Both sons had a possible motive. Both sons were present. “What do you think of the Brantley sons?”
Izzy didn’t hesitate to hiss, low and fervent, “I hate them.”
Denny giggled. “I hate them too.”
“Stop it,” Kate hissed to Denny. “This is her mother.”
Denny shook his head. “I have faith in Rita. Rita’s father loves this woman. I don’t doubt that he chose well.”
“You think that because you care about Rita.” Kate glanced at her and then said, “No offense, Rita, but I would bet nearly every criminal had a fabulous relative.”
“No, no,” Denny interrupted, “Rita would tell us if her father had terrible judgement.” He paused as Kate groaned. “Oh! He did support and allow a murderer to be around him, both of his wives, and his daughter. All right. I’m the fool. It’s fine. We all have these moments.”
“He’s not even drinking,” Lila said idly.
Vi took in a deep breath and then said, “Philip has an alibi.”
“It would be something of a stretch to think he’d turned killer.”
Again, Kate shook her head and Denny sighed. “Perhaps possible. Just less likely.”
Violet told Denny, “He has an alibi. Rita is trustworthy, and she said her father was with her.”
Izzy glanced at Denny and then whispered to Ginny, “He’s not one of the brilliant investigators, right?”
Ginny choked on a laugh and then shook her head as Violet’s gaze turned to the next name.
“What can you tell us about Neve? Did she know her husband had a relationship with your mother?”
Izzy blushed darkly, but she nodded. She leaned in and whispered, “I think she felt a little bit like someone else had broken into her house and then cleaned the chimneys. She never seemed to dislike my mother. If anything, she welcomed when Mother was present.”
Violet shuddered. She could take that for now. If Neve really had an alibi, it didn’t matter what the woman felt about Lavinia Forman anyway. Violet started to ask about Josiah, but Victor entered. They all looked at him as he said, “It was them. Josiah and Neve were, indeed, under the apple trees. They were also talking to the vicar’s daughter, the mayor’s wife, and Mrs. Justine Holland. All of them are certain that the duo was with them when the screaming started and before that for much of the race. Mrs. Holland was offended that they seemed to take no enjoyment in our fête.”
Violet lifted a brow, but she reached out and crossed out the names of Neve Brantley and Josiah Brantley. Neither of them was all that high on her list of suspects, given what she knew so far.
“What about Mina and her daughter?”
Izzy hesitated. “Delilah knew that her uncle expected her to marry one of his sons. She didn’t want to. She’d been procrastinating, but it was generally assumed.”
Violet’s mouth twisted. Any girl who would be pressured into marrying some fellow, and a cousin at that, probably didn’t have the gumption in her to murder her uncle. Not at a village fête. Violet put herself in Delilah’s position and thought if it were Vi, and she were going to murder her uncle, she’d jus
t poison him slowly and wait it out.
“You know,” Vi said as she returned to pacing, “whoever murdered this man snapped.”
She looked at the list of names and then read what she’d written aloud.
LAVINIA FORMAN — discovered the body of Mr. Brantley. She had blood on her dress and hands.
PHILIP RUSSELL — Was with Kate discussing recent events.
BENEDICT BRANTLEY, JR. — Certainly the heir. He needs money enough to pursue whatever heiresses come across his path. Had he realized that he wouldn’t succeed? If so, did he decide his father had to go? Gambler. What were his debts? Were they sufficient to kill over? Was this why he was so aggressive in pursuing Rita and Delilah? Was the younger Benedict desperate for money? Desperate enough to kill?
MITCHELL BRANTLEY — Possibly also inheriting well. He needs money enough to pursue whatever heiresses come across his path. The brother seemed fixated on Delilah Brantley. Perhaps it was Mitchell who found that his father had to die.
NEVE BRANTLEY — Possible alibi. Married to a real fiend. But then again, regardless of the nature of her husband, she hadn’t murdered him before. If she were the killer, why now? Had she finally had enough of his neglect and meanness?
JOSIAH BRANTLEY — Possible alibi. Possible heir.
MINA BRANTLEY — The sister-in-law. How could she benefit from the death of Brantley?
DELILAH BRANTLEY — Niece. Quiet. Probably not an heir. Doubtful? An heiress in her own right and being pushed into marrying one of the fiend cousins. Had she reached her limit? Was she done?
IZZY FORMAN — Was with Ginny.
HAMILTON BARNES — Brantley insulted Ham repeatedly. There seems to be some feeling that Ham stole Rita away from one of the Brantley sons. Motive weak.
