“I believe I see what you mean, madam,” said Grey hesitantly. “And you say that you heard the two Mister Hardwicks in the conservatory the entire time?”
“That is so,” she sighed. “Those two are at their collective worst during their daily game. George lets Robert get his goat, and then they are both off.”
“I believe that is all for now, Miss Hardwick,” stated Grey. “Anything you wish to add, Grissom?”
The Chief Constable grunted a negative. I cleared my throat slightly, and Grey nodded an assent at me to proceed.
“Miss Hardwick,” I said. “There is just one more item I wish to make certain that I understand thoroughly.”
“Of course, Mr. Holmes. You seem to be quite an inquisitive young man.”
“Seated where you state you were, you would have had your back to the main stair case. Could anyone have come down while you were reading during the time in question?”
“I hardly think that is likely, Mr. Holmes,” the lady said dryly.
“But if someone came in the front door very silently could they have crept into the library and from there into the music room?”
“Absolutely not, young man.” she declared.
“Well it is easily proven,” I said. “Constable, with the Inspector’s permission, will you go outside by the front door, and after a minute come in very quietly? And, Miss Hardwick, will you take the seat you were in and we can settle just how good your vantage point is to the front door.”
There was some grumbling about the experiment being a waste of time, but in a few minutes everything was arranged to my satisfaction. Grissom exited and Miss Hardwick sat in her chair, and even began reading her book again. After a minute or so Grissom opened the front door very quietly and crept into the entrance hall. He passed silently into the library and then returned to the great hall.
“I saw him quite clearly, Mr. Holmes, as I assured you that I would,” she said, with satisfaction.
The inspector had stood next to Miss Hardwick during the experiment and he also agreed that it was definitely settled.
“Thank you, Miss Hardwick,” he said. “If you will please, rejoin the others in the library, you have been most helpful.”
The lady arose with dignity and left the room. The Inspector turned upon me with something less than pleasure.
“Mr. Holmes, I had thought that you would be a benefit to my investigation, but the failure of your experiment gives me grave doubts.”
“So you believe that the experiment proved nothing?”
“It proves only that no one could have possibly come in by the front door during the time in question with Miss Hardwick seated as she was.”
“I believe that we can safely assert that it has proven more than that, Inspector,” I said. “Percy, you may come back now.”
At my call Percy walked back into the room from the library entrance closest to the music room, with a smile on his face.
Chapter Fourteen
“But I…I don’t understand,” stammered the Inspector.
“It is quite simple,” I said. “I sent Percy up to his room on a pretext. I instructed him to come down the back stairs and cross over through the drawing room when Chief Constable Grissom exited the house. As I believe we have demonstrated, it was quite possible to do it unnoticed by Miss Hardwick.”
“Well, I’ll be, Mr. Holmes. I certainly take my hat off to you,” said Inspector Grey. “Still, it was a nervy thing for the killer to do. They might have been noticed and then the game would have been up.”
“That moves too fast for me, Inspector,” I replied. “I do not say that the killer passed unobserved, merely that someone could have easily done so at the right time. And if the person did not care if they were observed then it makes it all the easier to understand.”
“I do not follow that at all, Mr. Holmes,” declared Grey. “Can you not state it more plainly?”
“It is not entirely clear to me at this time either, Inspector. I would like to proceed with the questioning of the others. Once that is completed, I believe that I will have a solution to present.”
“Very well then,” said the Inspector unhappily. “I see that you wish to play your cards close to the vest. If it turns out for the best then that is well, but if not…”
The Inspector left the statement unfinished, but I gathered that he envisioned an appropriate punishment for me were I to fail to aid him in a material way, after he was kind enough to include me in the investigation.
“Grissom, ask Miss Stuart to come in next.”
Irene Stuart was escorted into the room by the Constable and sat in the chair that had been vacated by Miss Hardwick.
“Now, Miss Stuart,” began Grey. “I know you have had a shock today, but we need to go over everyone’s movements with particular care. Do you understand?”
“Of course, Inspector,” she said coolly.
“Now, as I understand it you began working with the deceased as an aid to his research for his memoirs, and gradually a romance grew between you two culminating in an engagement. Is that correct?”
“That is not a question concerning my movements, Inspector,” she replied.
“Perhaps not, but everyone else in residence is a relative and I need to understand your place among the intimates of the household. Do you refuse to answer?”
“No, of course not,” she said, with a sigh. “It is common knowledge, at any rate. Sir John engaged me through an advertisement and I came to Hardwick Hall as his research assistant. He was a perfect gentleman, but as you say, feelings grew between us and he did me the honor of asking for my hand. That was not my intention when I came here, if that is what you are inferring.”
“I infer nothing, madam,” protested Grey.
“Oh, I know what Sir John’s relatives thought, save perhaps Percy here,” she said. “They think I came to steal their inheritance. Well, let me inform you of something, Inspector. I loved Sir John for his great self and not for his money.”
Irene Stuart’s chin was stuck out in defiance as she finished her speech. It occurred to me that she was, perhaps, unaware of the true state of the deceased gentleman’s finances. Sir John had admitted to Percy and myself that his estate was in very dire straits at the time. In fact, the Spider Diamond necklace likely contained the bulk of the value of the estate. I wondered if anyone else knew of that fact.
The Inspector had drawn a long, deep breath before resuming his questioning. “Be that as it may, Miss Stuart, I am most interested in the doings of today. Miss Hardwick had stated that the entire household remained in the dining room when Sir John left for his chambers, just before one.”
“That is so to the best of my recollection. We talked over plans for the party and we left the dining room at just on a quarter past the hour.”
“And you went into the great hall.”
“That is so. There was a bit more discussion and then I went to the secretary’s room.”
“I understand that Robert and George Hardwick left about this same time.”
“Yes. It was their normal routine to pay chess at that hour.”
“So to the best of your knowledge Miss Grafton and Miss Hardwick were the last two people left in the hall?”
“I suppose that is so.”
“What did you do during that hour, Miss Stuart?”
“I sorted notes from Sir John’s journal entries.”
“Do you always work in the secretary’s room?”
“Not always, Inspector,” she said, as if speaking to a child. “I sometimes used the study that adjoins it, and just as often I used the music room. It is, or was, Sir John’s favorite place to work on his memoirs.”
“And did you hear anything unusual during your time working in the secretary’s room?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, Inspector. Of course, I was concentrating on my work. In that hour I am rarely disturbed as Sir John rests and the servants are forbidden the living areas.”
“So y
ou heard nothing until the alarm was raised?”
“Actually, I did not hear the alarm, Inspector.”
“Oh…I mean, of course,” said the Inspector, as he leafed through his notes. “Yes, yes, I see now. Well, I have nothing else. Mr. Holmes?”
“Just one question, Miss Stuart,” said I.
Irene Stuart arched an eyebrow at me, obviously silently questioning why I enjoyed the status that enabled me to question her.
“Did you find Sir John’s explorations interesting?”
“What an odd question,” the lady replied. “But the answer is decidedly, yes. Sir John was a skilled, as well as brave, explorer.”
“I understand he traveled to Lake Victoria soon after Burton did.”
“I am sorry, Mr. Holmes, but your information is incorrect. Sir John’s explorations were in west Africa generally, as well as South America, of course.”
The lady embarked on a long explanation of the nature of Sir John’s travels. Her breadth of knowledge on the subject of the deceased was impressive. At length, she exhausted herself on the subject.
“I beg your pardon,” she said, looking about the room. “I fear I am a boor on the subject of Sir John’s memoirs and his trotting of the globe.”
“Nonsense, Miss Stuart,” I said. “Your talk was very informative.”
“I suppose to an academic, it might be,” she mused. “Is there anything else, Inspector?”
“No, Miss Stuart. You may return to the library. Grissom will you escort the lady?”
Irene Stuart shook off the Constable’s hand from her elbow, insisting she needed no help, and left the room. Grey resumed pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.
“I would not say that we learned a great deal from Miss Stuart,” he said.
“I am forced to disagree, Inspector,” I ventured. “I am of the opinion that Miss Stuart presented us with three pieces of information that may be valuable if this mystery is to be solved.”
“You must have heard something that I did not, young man,” declared Inspector Grey. “Grissom, did you hear anything of note?”
“I think not, Inspector,” said the older man, shaking his head slowly. “I heard nothing of note either.”
“Gentlemen, you most certainly heard just what I did,” I said. “If I deduced more from it, then it is hardly my concern.”
I noted a brief look of irritation cross the face of the Inspector, and seeming amusement from the Chief Constable.
“Pray, Mr. Holmes, enlighten us to what we have overlooked in our collective ignorance,” said Grey, with heavy sarcasm.
“Inspector, I meant no insult to your skills, nor those of the Constable,” I said. “But it is merely my opinion that progress was made.”
“I see, Mr. Holmes. I withdraw my rancor. What is it that you divined from Miss Stuart’s testimony?”
“Firstly, that she conducted her work during the time in question in the secretary’s room, and not the study.”
“Was that in question, Holmes?” asked Percy.
“Miss Hardwick stated several times that Miss Stuart went to the study. I do not believe that it is a minor point that she was in the secretary’s room. Indeed, if my thoughts on the case are correct, it is necessary that she be there.”
“Very well, Mr. Holmes,” said the Inspector doubtfully. “What else?”
“The second item of note is that Miss Stuart is well versed in the journeys of Sir John. Indeed, exceptionally well versed. I have read of the travels of Sir John Hardwick in my studies and her knowledge exceeds mine greatly.”
“That is hardly a surprise, sir,” exclaimed Grey. “She has been working with Sir John for months on the subject.”
“So she says,” I replied. “Indeed, outside of her testimony and Sir John, there is no evidence that is why she was brought here. They did their work together in private, I remind you.”
“Did you seriously believe that she was brought here for another purpose,” asked Grey incredulously.
“It was worth exploring, at any rate.”
“So, that was what that business was about,” said Percy. “You merely feigned ignorance of uncle’s travels in order to draw her out.”
“Precisely, and she responded with vigor and gave an extemporaneous speech that demonstrated her deep knowledge on the subject.”
“You might have simply asked her,” said the Inspector.
“True, but if I had it would have warned her that her knowledge was in question and she might have had time to regurgitate a practiced response. No, I believe my little ruse was of service.”
“You have a devious turn of mind, Holmes,” said Percy, with a grin. “I would not like to be the criminal attempting to deceive you.”
“And what of your third item?” asked Grey. “What of that?”
“The third I judge is interesting at the least and very important at most. Miss Stuart spoke of having no interest in Sir John’s fortune.”
“I fail to see how that is unusual,” scoffed the Inspector. “Anyone might easily say that, even if it were not true.”
“I agree, Inspector, but it did reveal that she was unaware just how strong the reversals had been in the fortune of the deceased man. On my first day here Sir John confessed to Percy and myself that, while not bankrupt, he had lost much of his fortune. It would seem Miss Stuart did not know that, and as a result she might still have hoped to marry a rich man.”
“But surely, that is a point in her favor,” cried Percy. “If she still believed that uncle was rich, she had no motive to kill him before the wedding, and no motive to steal the diamond since he was going to present her with it on the morrow.”
“That is all true, I suppose,” said Grey. “But still she has no real alibi for the time of the killing. She was alone, and as Mr. Holmes has proven, she could have crossed through the drawing room without Miss Hardwick seeing her.”
“I only proved it was possible, Inspector. You yourself pointed out that it would be a dicey proposition with success not assured.”
“By thunder,” exploded the Inspector. “There may be murder again in this house yet.”
Chapter Fifteen
“My dear Inspector, you will cause yourself an apoplexy,” I said blandly.
“It is you that will cause my apoplexy, Mr. Holmes. With one hand you accuse, and with the other you declare innocence.”
“It is my intention only to draw a true picture of the crime and possible solutions Inspector.”
“Very well. My head is spinning,” he complained. “Let us forge ahead with another of the family.”
“An excellent suggestion,” I stated.
“And do you have a preference as to whom we should call next?” asked Grey suspiciously.
“I would suggest that we call the last of the ladies,” I said.
“Agreed. Grissom, please ask Miss Grafton to join us.”
The lady was brought in by the Constable from the library and sat. She nodded at Percy and I as she did so, and then looked to the Inspector.
“Now, Miss Grafton, I have just a few questions to clarify what has happened today,” he said.
“I understand that all must be gone into thoroughly, Inspector. You have my full cooperation.”
“That is well. Now, everyone has agreed that after the noon meal, that Sir John left for his room, as was his habit, and the rest of you exited the dining room at some fifteen minutes past the hour.”
“That is true in general though, of course, I could not give exact times.”
“I understand,” said Grey. “Then once in the great hall it has been testified that Miss Stuart and Robert and George Hardwick left first, and at approximately the same time, leaving you and Miss Hardwick alone.”
The lady nodded in agreement without speaking.
“Just so,” the Inspector continued. “Then I understand that you remained in the hall for a further few minutes and then you left by the front entrance to tend to the flower gardens on the
west side of the manor.”
“I must make one small correction,” said Jane Grafton. “It may be a small matter, but it is my recollection that Aunt Agatha and I talked for a bit more time than that. I believe that it was almost half past by the time I left the hall.”
“I see,” said Grey, making a note of the discrepancy of times. “Of course, as you say no one was keeping exact track of time. Now, when you were doing your gardening did you see anyone outside?”
“There was no one, Inspector,” she said firmly.
“Excuse me, Inspector,” I cried, and rose from my seat. He gave me a motion to proceed. “Miss Grafton, it cannot be true that you saw no one.”
“What are you accusing me of, Mr. Holmes?”
“Nothing, dear lady, only that you must have seen the gardeners and others of the grounds staff.”
“Oh, that,” she said, in apparent relief. “Of course, I saw the staff I suppose, but I was not paying them any special attention, if you follow my meaning.”
“I do, Miss Grafton.” I resumed my seat and the Inspector looked through his notes again.
“After you left the hall you went immediately outside and stopped nowhere. Is that correct?”
“In the main, yes. I did pick up my gloves, but they were on a table in the entrance hall. It could not be described as a detour. I then went directly out.”
“During the time until Hudson raised the alarm, did you hear anything unusual?”
“I cannot say that I did, Inspector. Once again with the caveat that I was not paying special attention I do not recall hearing anything of note. Robert and George were bickering, of course, but that is hardly unusual.”
“Were they talking the entire time?”
“I would say so. They keep up a constant chatter.”
“Could you see them from your vantage point?” asked Grey.
“No,” the lady replied. “The shrubbery is quite high in front of the conservatory windows, but as I say they had a running conversation. And besides, one of them could hardly have left without the other one noticing.”
The Spider Web (A Sherlock Holmes Uncovered Tale Book 4) Page 9
