by Charles Todd
He not only hadn't seen them, he had never heard of an artist by that name. But then Beatrice Mason was rather staid for a painter hoping to take London by storm. Frances would know who she was ... or who she pretended to be.
But Hamish was taking a different tack. "If she wasna' sae successful as that, mayhap she didna' care for her mither or the daughter to know the truth."
"I understand Miss Letteridge spent nearly two years in London at the start of the war. Did she look up Emma's mother while she was there?"
Martha Simpson had risen. "I've asked her that. She said she saw no point in it, since Mrs. Mason had never shown any desire to hear from Emma."
He wondered if Grace Letteridge had lied for Emma's sake.
Standing now, he asked casually, as if it wasn't important, "I'd have thought, at seventeen, Emma might have given her heart to someone here and lost interest in London altogether. It happens."
She bit her lip, as if misleading him came hard to her. "I don't know anything about that, Inspector." The denial had come too quickly. She added, "Emma never confided in me."
"But you knew her. You might have—er, guessed where her affections lay."
Martha shook her head vehemently. "No. There was no one she cared for. She went to London. I'll always believe that."
He pressed her. "If she's not with her mother, and not with a man she fell in love with, then what is the alternative?"
"She was too young to marry without her grandmother's permission. And she wouldn't have gone away with anyone, no matter how she felt about him—she'd been brought up to respect her grandmother. Emma wouldn't have caused her such shame."
He could imagine how the wives of the baker and the greengrocer and the butcher would have relished that sort of scandal, and taken pleasure in rubbing Mrs. Ellison's nose in her disgrace. He had to agree with Martha there.
"It's possible that Emma hoped her mother would give her the necessary permission."
"No. Somehow I can't believe—she'd have come back if that were true." She was agitated, as if he'd accused Emma of being immoral. After a moment, she added, "I've made a mistake in coming here. I'd hoped for news. Constable Hensley wouldn't answer me either. It's frustrating when everyone believes you're too young to know the truth! But please don't tell my parents I was foolish enough to come here alone. They'll be angry with me. I'm sorry—" And she was out the door, without looking back.
He called to her, but it was too late.
Restless, he went for a walk to clear his head. He went as far as The Oaks, and then turned right, cutting across the wide sweep of fields that ran down to the little stream, where trees marked its winding path through the pastures behind Dudlington. The wind caught up with him as soon as he was out of the shelter of the village, and he could feel the cold penetrating his coat and touching his skin with icy fingers. No wonder the village turned its back on the fields, however picturesque they might seem—they faced west, and the prevailing winds met no resistance on this open land until it reached the stone and mortar of man's huddled world.
He turned and looked back. The sky was a leaden bowl overhead, and the fields were a withered brown. Dudlington looked small and insignificant from here. Constable would have found very little of interest to paint on these highlands, even if the cattle in the barns were put out to graze.
From here he thought he could see the backs of brown sheep in the pastures across the main road. They were the color of dark rich gravy, and their winter coats were thick and heavy.
The fell sheep in Westmorland had been white under their blanket of snow. He wondered what they'd make of these tamer surroundings, protected and cosseted by Lake District standards. It was, he thought, a measure of the will to survive, that living things learned to cope. Then why had Ted Baylor chosen today, of all days, to try to mend Barbara Melford's broken heart? What had changed in his circumstances, or hers? Or had he come for an entirely different reason? Love? Or an attempt to survive? Baylor had been the first to find Constable Hensley lying there cold enough to be counted as dead.
Suddenly, without warning, Rutledge felt vulnerable, as if standing here he made a perfect target for anyone hunting him.
There was nothing to explain the sensation. Only a sixth sense honed in war. The small windows of the houses he could see from here were blank, closed against the wind. And from the long barns that held cattle, well out of the village itself, it was a very difficult shot. Even if someone lay concealed behind the sheep, it would take a rifle to hit him at that distance.
Still, he stood there, searching the land all around him, turning slowly.
It was empty, he would have sworn it was empty. But so was the headland in Kent and the Upper Pasture in Hertford.
Something caught his eye as he looked at the taller building sitting at the crossroads. He could have sworn he saw someone at a window of the inn, a slight movement.
Hamish said, "Ye're imagining trouble where there's none."
"You'll be as dead as I am, if I'm wrong," Rutledge answered tersely, the wind snatching the words out of his mouth.
"Aye. I'm no' ready to die. You willna' fail me a second time."
But Rutledge was already walking briskly toward The Oaks, his mind busy, his eyes no longer scanning the fields that seemed to stretch empty and forever around him.
He didn't care to be stalked. It was something that gnawed at the back of one's thoughts, always there.
Will it be here? Or will it be not at all?
And he found himself clenching his teeth with the sense of walking once more into heavy fire, as he'd done so many countless times in France.
I was in the war, he told himself. And whoever it is hasn't counted on that.
If the Germans couldn't kill him, by God, it wasn't going to be some coward lurking—
He stopped short.
Hamish said, "The dead soldier."
Dead, but without a gravestone in the churchyard.
"Yes," Rutledge said slowly, already moving again. "Only he wasn't dead after all. He'd disguised himself. Somehow. But Tommy Crowell wouldn't have known that. He'd have walked up to whatever it was he saw, to satisfy his curiosity. And the hunter, not wanting to risk shooting the boy, had frightened him instead."
"It wouldna' hae taken much to frighten him," Hamish answered. "The lad wouldna' understand."
"And if someone had heard him talking about a dead soldier lying in Mrs. Massingham's grounds, he'd have been laughed at, made fun of."
He was halfway to The Oaks now, his strides long and angry.
Someone came out of the inn, walked over to a motorcar, and drove away, disappearing up the main road to the north.
By the time Rutledge reached the entrance of The Oaks, he was out of breath. He'd run the last hundred yards, swearing to himself as he went.
"Keating?" he called, striding into the bar.
There was no one there, and he crossed to the door of the saloon and stepped in.
The fire hadn't been lit, and the dark-paneled room was cold, shadowed. For an instant he thought he saw someone by the window and realized that it was a long portrait of a man in riding dress, standing in a leafy glade, his face turned toward a distant view that only he could see.
Shutting the door again, Rutledge went down the passage to the kitchen and startled Hillary Timmons into dropping a spoon she was drying.
"Oh, you did give me a start, sir!" she exclaimed, her hands going to her breast, as if afraid he was about to attack her.
He realized his anger and frustration must be visible in his face. Striving to control both, he said, "I'm sorry, Miss Timmons. I was looking for Mr. Keating."
"I can't think where he might be," she answered, still tense. "But we're closed, sir. He may've stepped out for a bit."
"There was a motorcar just leaving. Do you know who the person was, driving?"
"I don't know, sir! I wasn't serving in the bar today. We'd only a handful of people there, and Mr. Keating said he'd s
ee to them himself."
"Damn!"
She jumped again, and he apologized.
"Tell Keating I'm looking for him. I'll expect him to come to Hensley's house, as soon as he returns."
"He—he doesn't take lightly to orders, sir."
"Well, then, you can tell him that if he doesn't come to me, I'll come after him and drag him there myself."
And with that Rutledge turned on his heel, left the door to the kitchen swinging wildly, and walked out of the inn.
By the time he'd reached the house where he was staying, some of his anger had cooled.
But he felt that he was on the track of answers now.
16
Certain that Keating wouldn't be on his heels, Rutledge went into the bakery to find the postmistress.
A warm wave of yeast and cinnamon and rising bread greeted him as he stepped inside the door. The trays of baked goods displayed in a counter were already well picked over, as if the baker's shop had done a brisk business in scones and poppy seed cakes and dinner rolls.
There was a woman behind the counter who was so much like Martha Simpson that he assumed she was the girl's mother. Her face was pink with the warmth of the shop, and her apron was dusty with flour. He nodded to her and walked on to the tiny cage in one corner that served as the post office. Mrs. Arundel, a rangy woman of about thirty, was sitting on her stool, counting coins into a tin. She looked up as Rutledge came up to the cage, and smiled at him.
"Inspector Rutledge," she acknowledged. "What can I do for you?" She had tucked the coins out of sight and was reaching for a large book of stamps, as if prepared to send a letter for him. "You found your little box from London, did you? I asked Ben Lassiter to drop it by Constable Hensley's house on his way home."
"Yes, thank you. I wonder," he began, lowering his voice as Mrs. Simpson listened unashamedly to the conversation, "if you can recall sending letters to London for Emma Mason or her grandmother. I'm trying to locate Emma's mother."
"Indeed." She peered at him. "I do remember the letters going out with the post. But they were returned, for want of a proper address."
"How often did you see these letters?"
"Oh, not often—I expect one or two a year at most. It was sad, you know. Emma would come in with them, such hope in her face. And I took it personally when the letters came back, as if I were responsible for misdirecting them." She shook her head. "Very sad."
"How long have you been postmistress here?"
"Since August 1914, when my husband went to Northampton to enlist. He didn't come home, though he'd promised he would if I let him go."
"I'm sorry."
"It was a waste," she said, "such a waste. We lost ten young men from Dudlington. And they're our dead. We've got seven more trying to cope with severe wounds. Another shot himself rather than live with both legs gone." She cleared her throat, as if the memories were too fresh. "Yes, well, letters to and from Beatrice Mason. I remember her, you know. Such a pretty girl, and so talented. I wished her well when she went off to London, and I always believed that Mrs. Ellison was too hard on her. Giving her an ultimatum, so to speak. Go and I shan't take you back. That's what Beatrice told my older sister. It's a choice, she said. I must make a choice. I can't imagine a mother being so harsh to her only child! But it's brought bitter fruit in its wake, hasn't it?"
"Why was Mrs. Ellison so adamant about Beatrice leaving? Was it money?"
"No, Mrs. Ellison is a stickler for the proprieties, I think, and the idea of her daughter hobnobbing with bohemian artists and naked models was more than she could bear. Nice girls didn't concern themselves with all that." Mrs. Simpson spoke, breaking into the conversation. "Beatrice was like her father. He would have taken her to London himself, if he'd been alive. To show her what sort of life she could expect there and prove to her that it wasn't the lovely adventure she'd dreamed it would be. Her mother just put her foot down, and for Beatrice, that was nothing short of the red flag in front of the bull."
Rutledge turned so that he could see both women. "What was Mason like, the man Beatrice married? Did Mrs. Ellison approve of him?"
"I doubt she ever met him," Mrs. Simpson commented. "He was dead by the time Emma was three or four. That's when Beatrice brought her home to be cared for by her grandmother. I don't think he had any desire to come to Dudlington, to tell you the truth. Beatrice had probably told him what a witch her mother was."
"What did he do for a living? Do you know?"
"Another artist, very likely," Mrs. Arundel said. "I never heard, other than that he was poor as a church mouse and left poor Beatrice nothing with which to feed herself or the baby."
"Mrs. Ellison told you that?"
"Lord, no!" Mrs. Simpson laughed. "We got it from the woman that did for her sometimes, Betsy Timmons. I wouldn't put it past her to listen at keyholes—"
The shop door opened, and a woman came in with two small children. Mrs. Simpson turned away to greet her.
Mrs. Arundel said, in a voice that wouldn't carry, "I was told that Mr. Mason came from a very good family that had cut him off, much as Mrs. Ellison had cut Beatrice off.
While he was alive, selling his work, they lived rather well. But after he died, there was no one to bring in such grand sums of money."
"Who told you that?"
"I believe it was Grace Letteridge. Who got it from Emma, most likely."
Hamish said, sourly, "Aye, the granny's fairy tale. To save her daughter's good name."
It would, Rutledge thought, be just like Mrs. Ellison to put as good a face on her family's trials as she could.
The door opened again, and a man stepped in, breathless and anxious, his eyes sweeping the shop and lighting on Rutledge.
"I'm looking for Inspector Rutledge."
"I'm Rutledge. What's happened?"
"Dr. Middleton sent me to find you. The rector's had a terrible fall. He—Dr. Middleton—says it would be best if you come at once."
With a nod to the postmistress, Rutledge was out the door on the messenger's heels.
"What's happened to Mr. Towson?"
"He was in the attic, searching for something. He shouldn't have gone up there by himself. The stairs are small. He missed his step and fell hard on his hip. Dr. Middleton thinks it's broken."
"Who are you?" Rutledge asked as they hurried down Whitby Lane and turned into Church Street. "I don't believe we've met."
"My name is Ben Staley. Farmer. It was my wagon that carried Constable Hensley to Northampton."
At the rectory there were four or five men milling about in the parlor, their muddy boots tracking up the wood floors. Rutledge recognized Ted Baylor among them and asked, "Where's Middleton?"
Baylor jerked his head toward the stairs, and Rutledge went up them fast.
The passage that led to the bedchambers was dark, the doors shut.
Hamish was saying, "Which one?"
But farther along the passage to his left, Rutledge could see light pouring from an open door, and he turned in that direction.
It was, as he thought, the door to the narrow, uncarpeted stairs leading up to the attics. Lying sprawled across the landing between the two flights was the rector, his face twisted in pain. Dr. Middleton was busy examining him with some care, trying to determine the extent of his injuries without doing further damage.
Hamish said, "It's a wonder he's no' dead."
Middleton looked up as Rutledge arrived, and said in a low voice, "I sent for you because there's something of a mystery about his fall. Here, take this."
He passed a bottle of laudanum to Rutledge and added, "I don't want to give him anything until I know whether the hip is broken, bruised, or dislocated."
His hands went on gently exploring the rector's body. Rutledge took the bottle. "Shall I fetch a glass and a little water?"
"No, stay here and fend off the men below. I don't want them upsetting him."
The rector seemed half-conscious, his eyes sometimes rolling back in h
is head.
"Who found him?"
"It was Hillary Timmons. She comes to clean for him in the afternoon, while the pub is closed. She heard something, thought it was an animal in pain, and went to look. When she found the rector, she was terrified out of her wits and went screaming next door to Ted Baylor. Fortunately he was in his barn, and he came at once for me. It was Hillary who told everyone else. I sent her home with Bob Johnson, with a powder to calm her."
He had spoken to Hillary Timmons at The Oaks. "I saw her not half an hour ago. How long has Towson been lying here?"
"No way of telling, except that the bruises are already showing up on his arms and his cheek, there. He might have been here for an hour or more."
The doctor rocked back on his heels, sighing. "Well, I don't think that hip's broken, thank God. Just badly bruised. With his rheumatism, using crutches would be difficult. But look at his arm. See the knot just there? It could mean a fracture. Time will tell."
"How are we going to move him from here, without hurting him appallingly?"
"That's where the laudanum comes in. Baylor was all for a stiff whiskey, but that's the worst possible solution to shock. We'll ease him a little and then find something to use to shift him to a bed."
"You said there was something wrong with the way he'd fallen?"
"Not so much that. He was awake for a few minutes, when I got here. He said he'd been in the attic searching for something, he couldn't recall what, and someone came to the stairs and called him to come quickly, there'd been an accident. Old fool turned, hurried down the steps, and missed his footing."
"Who was it?"
"That's the problem, Rutledge. There was no one here when Hillary came to clean. You'd have thought, with all the noise of the fall, whoever had been standing in the passage there, calling up for him to come at once, would have looked to see if Towson was alive or dead."
When Towson was quieter and in less discomfort, the men in the hall below took a leaf from the long dining room table—fit for a clergyman's large family—and brought it to the attic stairs. Middleton sent Rutledge through the bedchambers to collect blankets to pad it. Then between them, they lifted the rector onto the improvised stretcher and carried him to his own bed.
