Dread Murder

by Gwendoline Butler

  They wheeled the body to the mortuary, having covered it with a sack. Jo was so interested in the whole proceedings that Mearns could not help thinking the dog was indeed proving to be a useful member of his team.

  On the way back Charlie told the Major he felt strongly it was Beau who had hit him, though he could not be sure why. They turned back to the Theatre and were lucky to find Miss Fairface in her dressing room – obviously relieved to see them. She informed them that Beau had been out of breath and very agitated when he had arrived at the Theatre that day. She also told them she was sure the ‘creature’ who had given Charlie the parcel near the Theatre was the same man or woman she had noticed in the green room at the time of the dressing room murder.

  Charlie suddenly remembered that Willie, the ex-actor who knew Tosser, had seen the parcel being handed to him. They found Willie sitting in one of the nearby coffee shops with a small cup of coffee. Mearns immediately brought him another and a slice of ham to go with it. Willie’s tongue was loosened by this unexpected sustenance, for which he was full of gratitude.

  ‘I tell you, Sir, Tosser was a devious fellow – very devious! And looked not to the order of his going. One day I came up to sup with him, and as I reached his door I heard shouting. Tosser was demanding money, or he could make life difficult for the other man. Blackmail to my mind. Hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats! – my own words, from a speech I wrote.’

  ‘What other man, did you see him?’

  ‘That I did, Sir. I hid round the corner as he was coming out, and saw him striding away; but he didn’t see me. It was Felix, the Crowner.’

  As they were leaving, after giving a coin to Willie, Charlie told the Major that he had seen the man-woman’s dress, shawl and bonnet hanging in the cupboard in Felix’s house when he had climbed up to speak to Tom – or Spike – and Jo.

  ‘Corruption — corruption! It’s spreading like a stone thrown into a pond,’ muttered Mearns. ‘And how are we going to prove who is the spider lurking in the centre of this web?’

  They decided to return to the mortuary to search for any clues left with the bodies.

  ‘If Felix killed Dol, then who let him into the Theatre, and why did he kill her?’ asked Mearns.

  ‘Surely it must have been Henrietta,’ offered Miss Fairface.

  Mearns, who had been turning out the pockets of Tosser and Traddles, found a stained and crumpled note in Tosser’s coat. It was signed F, fixing an appointment. ‘Ha!’ he exclaimed. ‘Suppose Dol had been demanding money as well?’

  Miss Fairface commented: ‘Sometimes I could smell Dol on Beau when we were on stage together, and I taxed him about it.’

  Back at the Castle, Mindy – who had returned from her trip to Bath — joined them for a glass of wine as she returned another of Denny’s shirts. She offered to mend any of Mearns’ shirts, and those of the two boys as well. Mearns smiled fondly at her, not unnoticed by Denny and Charlie.

  Mindy questioned them so relentlessly that Mearns told her the whole story – not displeased to see the admiring look she gave him when he had finished.

  ‘I think I can help you,’ she said thoughtfully, and rather timidly. ‘I will meet Felix. Let him think I am, shall we say, not ignoring him, and see what he tells me – more importantly, what he does not tell me.’

  Mearns regarded her anxiously. He noted her bright, intelligent eyes, her colouring, the elegant picture she made in another high-waisted blue dress that fitted her slim figure well.

  ‘It won’t be a risk. I will take Jo with me, and Charlie can keep in the background to watch over my welfare.’

  Charlie and Jo sat up eagerly. Mearns caught Denny’s eye – the thought in both their minds that they, too, would be in the vicinity. On that note of agreement they fixed a time for the morrow, in the morning.

  The next morning Mindy and Jo, whose lameness was now cured, walked past Felix’s office, pretending indifference, but hoping that he was in the front room. From out of the corner of her eye she saw Felix notice her and the dog, and she walked on. A few moments later she heard Felix running after her.

  ‘Mindy, my dear, what brings you out this morning, and with this dog?’

  ‘There is so much bustle and worry going on in the Castle, I cannot stand it, so I offered to go to the mantua-maker’s, and took the dog for a walk.’

  ‘What sort of bustle is going on?’

  ‘Perhaps you have heard of it. Indeed perhaps you can set my mind at rest a little. They are all talking of Mrs Fitzherbert, and there are strange officers here now, and the most frightening rumours. Have you heard aught of it?’

  Felix frowned and glared at her, then made a threatening gesture, at which she pretended to be so in fear that she and Jo ran away — not past Felix’s house, but towards the town.

  Charlie dodged down an alley behind the house to a sidestreet so that he was at the corner as she ran towards it. Mearns and Denny were hiding round the opposite corner. Meanwhile, Mindy had been letting all three of them know she saw them, with a flirtatious wink and smile.

  Felix turned back to his own house, scowling furiously. By a roundabout way, past the mantua-maker’s in case Felix was having Mindy followed, the party returned to the Castle. As they walked along Mindy gave them her impressions of Felix’s words and demeanour.

  Mearns pondered. ‘So! Felix is worried about Mrs Fitzherbert. And we know that Lord Maken is visiting Mrs F in London – thanks to you seeing him there, Charlie. And Mrs F’s message to the King, which I have not yet given him, is not what I thought a beleaguered woman would threaten.’

  Charlie enquired, ‘Sir, what about the house near the Theatre where Mrs Fitzherbert stayed?’

  ‘We’ll go round there now. ’Tis only a few yards out of our way, and we’ll see what we can learn.’

  On arriving there and finding the house empty, they called in on the neighbours and found out that it was only a rented house. They learnt that it was currently let to a Mr Montresor, a tall, red-haired man, with a very condescending air.

  ‘Maken — or I’m a Dutchman!’ grunted Mearns, slapping one fist into the palm of another. ‘Now, why is he doing this? Is it a plot against Mrs F by the King?’

  ‘Could it not be the other way round?’ suggested Mindy excitedly. ‘Can it be a plot against the King by Mrs F and Lord Maken, with Felix doing all their dirty work while they keep safely in the background?’

  ‘Aye! And this must be why they sent me those bits of poor Traddles’ body – to discredit me. But we beat them on that because we haven’t let them know all we know. Good girl, Mindy. We’ll make a Watcher of you yet!’

  She blushed and lowered her eyes lest Mearns read too much in them. Mearns continued to ponder: ‘Why should Beau visit Dol? Rather than any other ladies of the night? Is it because of who she knows? Or is it because of where she lives – on the top floor of that house, overlooking the Castle?’

  ‘What about Henrietta’s other lovers?’ queried Denny.

  Mearns left the others safely at the Castle, and walked back to the Theatre. Beau was in his dressing room, so Mearns was able to question him fiercely and searchingly – particularly about Dol, Felix and the attack on Charlie. He told Beau that he suspected that he had killed Dol before going on stage that night. And that Henrietta had dragged the body out of their hiding place before ‘finding’ her. Beau spluttered angrily but without conviction. Mearns left him red in the face and slipped into Miss Fairface’s dressing room. He told her the position to date and was not surprised to learn that Henrietta did have other lovers besides her mysterious Lord, and also that she had been seen whispering with Felix. Miss Fairface offered to adopt the ploy of Mindy and make up to Lord Maken in order to see what he might let slip.

  Next morning over a breakfast of Royal ham and coffee and a carefully held newspaper, Mearns and Denny summed up the case.

  Denny reported to the Major: ‘I have not been idle. I have learnt that Traddles had been heard to say he was o
n to something that would make his fortune, and give the Castle something to worry about; also, it was rumoured that it was Felix who killed and buried the baby found in the Theatre back yard. People say it was the offspring of Mrs Fitzherbert and Lord Maken, and that it was buried some time ago. They must have employed Felix to get rid of it. He’s been doing their dirty work for them ever since, and buried Traddles’s dog in the same hole. If it was so widely talked about in the Theatre, perhaps it was also heard in the town.’ Mearns told Denny to make his usual quiet walk round the town after returning The Times to John, the King’s top dresser. Meanwhile, he, the Major, would watch the Theatre.

  A couple of hours later they met for a cup of coffee in a coffee house near the Theatre where Miss Fairface joined them. She told them Beau had not arrived for rehearsal.

  ‘I’ll tell you why,’ reported Mearns. ‘He was found with his throat cut in a back alley this morning, and is now in the mortuary. My guess is that he was so scared yesterday he went to somebody – Felix! Or who else? — and got killed for his pains.’

  ‘But how did Beau get involved in the first place?’

  ‘Perhaps he wanted to make his fortune. He must have been promised a lot of money for his help. He could keep an eye on both the Theatre and the Castle – through Dol’s window. He was perfectly placed for them. But Dol must have suspected something was up and tried to blackmail him, and that’s when he killed her.’

  Miss Fairface nodded slowly, then said, ‘I met Lord Maken and it was obvious he knew all about Mrs Fitzherbert. He had been sure all was going according to plan, but he got rattled when I told him you were planning an arrest today. He is very close to Mrs F. I am sure he is trying to get a message to her, and I think Felix must be the messenger.’

  Later Mindy came to the room where the two boys and Jo were staying. She was wearing a long shawl. She motioned them to silence. ‘I am going to the room where Tosser lived. I am taking Willie, the old actor, and will look for the money I am sure Tosser had blackmailed out of Felix and cheated out of his clients. Would you both like to come with me, and bring Jo? We should be safe enough together.’ With that she brought her hand from below her shawl; she was holding a long, thin, and very sharp kitchen knife.

  They set off across the courtyard quickly. They did not look up at Mearns’ window, else they would have seen him staring after them. ‘Where are they off to, Denny? I’ll wager I know. They are going to search Tosser’s room. Come, Denny, we must follow them to see them safe. Bring your pistol.’ And, suiting action to the words, Mearns pocketed his own neat pistol in his coat, and they hurried after the party.

  Mindy, the boys and Jo met Willie, and together they soon reached Tosser’s room. Nothing had been touched or cleaned. ‘Now, Willie, you’ve sat with him many times. Where would he hide his money? Nowhere very clever, because he wasn’t one for thinking too deeply. I promise you, if we find it, after we return what money he stole or swindled you shall share with us.’

  As Mindy spoke she was pouring water from a bucket over the mud floor and the bricks round the hearth to see where the water would make a depression, showing recent digging. As she saw the boys’ wide-eyed stare, she explained, ‘This is how they hide their money in the rookeries and stews of London.’

  Willie said: ‘I think you are right. I once arrived here quietly and found Tosser moving the bricks round the fireplace.’ The water Mindy poured sank away, and the boys started pulling up the bricks, which came away with ease. Sure enough, there was a packet in oilskin. They opened it to find several letters, and a bag of gold coins.

  Suddenly, they had company.

  ‘You’ve saved me the trouble of looking, and made it so convenient for me to make sure none of you will live to tell the tale,’ said a sharp voice behind them. Felix came through the open door. He took from his belt a knife and started to walk towards them with his left hand held out ready for the packet.

  Mindy drew her knife from under her shawl and, holding it in the way of professional killers, with the blade upwards, she stabbed Felix in the back of his left hand. He shouted, dropped his knife and, as he bent forward, Jo — who had been crouching low on the ground – leapt forward and crushed Felix’s throat in his strong jaws, then held on despite the man’s desperate struggles. Mindy then drove the knife into Felix’s right hand as he sought to throw off the dog. As his struggles and gasps weakened, Mearns and Denny burst in, their pistols in their hands.

  ‘Good boy, Jo!’ gasped Mearns. He put a bullet carefully into Felix’s heart. Jo let go when he was sure the quarry was dead, then sat proudly by the corpse, wagging his tail, as the boys stroked and cuddled him.

  ‘Mindy! Are you all right? Did he hurt you? Why didn’t you let me know where you were going, my dear?’ He held her wrists firmly and spoke with a look in his eyes that betrayed his feelings to them all, not excluding Jo.

  ‘We’ll take this packet to the Coroner for him to find the owners and then I’ll see you share what’s left. Not Denny, nor me – we are just doing our job in the Castle.’

  Over supper in Mearns’ room the celebration was on several counts. The Coroner had agreed that Mindy, the boys and Willie would have a share in the treasure trove. Miss Fairface had told them that one of the managers of the Drury Lane Theatre, where her parents were playing, had come to Windsor to see her, and she was to go to London right away with Mr Thornton’s blessing to undertake some small parts in the current bill there. And she had offered to take Charlie back with her.

  Mearns was regarding Jo with a puzzled air: ‘That dog is no stray, no wild dog,’ he observed. ‘He behaves like a well-trained dog. Has he always been yours, Tom?’ The boy nodded happily. Mearns suddenly remembered. ‘Where’s that pocket-book you brought with you from Felix’s house, when Charlie rescued you?’

  Tom went to get it, and gave it to the Major, who studied the papers in it. After a few moments while they all watched breathlessly, he said triumphantly, ‘Well, Tom, we know who you are! You’re not Tom. You are Robert, and your father is Sir Robert Turner, the baronet who lives just outside Windsor, not far away from the Great Park, and I think …’

  The boy interrupted him: ‘Robert, yes. A house with wide steps, and a large garden, and hens and cows and horses – and my mother and my sister.’ The floodgates of repression and fear burst, and he looked years younger, while Jo jumped up and down barking furiously.

  Mearns shouted joyously: ‘You were kidnapped for ransom by Felix! So tomorrow I will take you home to your father and mother – with Jo, of course!’

  ‘What about that Lord Maken and Mrs Fitzherbert?’ asked Mindy, sitting next to the Major who was still holding her hand protectively.

  ‘I explained to them what we knew, and what we could tell His Majesty. Lord Maken decided he would retire immediately to his estates in Ireland. He has already made his farewells and gone! And I think Mrs Fitzherbert will be living a quieter life from now on and will be content with whatever the King gives her.’

  A couple of days later, with young Robert and Jo restored to the Turner family, Mearns, Denny and Mindy were sitting with Charlie, who was due to leave on the coach on the morrow.

  Taking a letter from his breast pocket, Mearns said, ‘I have news for you all. I have sent my report to Lord Castlereagh as usual, but Sir Robert has also contacted his Lordship. He has written to me, and offered me a knighthood. How would you like to be a Lady, Mindy? Denny and I will be settling permanently here in the Castle, but I shall be reporting to Milord, rest assured.’

  Mindy blushed and smiled her pleasure whilst nodding eagerly.

  Denny said, ‘May I congratulate you, and say how happy I am – but not surprised, mark you!’

  Mearns chuckled as he took a ring from his waistcoat pocket and slipped it on Mindy’s finger. ‘Well now, Charlie, tomorrow you go back to your parents in London. And I know your father, absent-minded though he be, will be pleased to see young Charlie returned to the family.’

  Charl
ie stood up. ‘Not Charlie any more. From now on I will always be known as Charles Dickens.’

  Also by Gwendoline Butler

  Coffin Knows the Answer

  Coffin’s Ghost

  A Grave Coffin

  Coffin’s Game

  A Double Coffin

  A Dark Coffin

  The Coffin Tree

  A Coffin for Charley

  Cracking Open a Coffin

  Coffin on Murder Street

  Coffin and the Paper Man

  Coffin in the Black Museum

  Coffin Underground

  Coffin in Fashion

  Coffin on the Water

  A Coffin for the Canary

  A Coffin for Pandora

  A Coffin from the Past

  Coffin’s Dark Number

  Coffin’s Following

  Coffin in Malta

  A Nameless Coffin

  Coffin Waiting

  A Coffin for Baby

  Death Lives Next Door

  The Interloper

  The Murdering Kind

  The Dull Dead

  Coffin in Oxford

  Receipt for Murder

  GWENDOLINE BUTLER, born and brought up in south London, is one of the most universally praised of English mystery authors. She writes under both her own name and the pseudonym Jennie Melville, and has written over fifty novels in all. Educated at Haberdashers, she read history at Oxford, and later married Dr Lionel Butler, Principal of Royal Holloway College. She has one daughter.

  Gwendoline Butler’s crime novels are hugely popular in both Britain and the United States, and her many awards include the Crime Writers’ Association’s Silver Dagger. She was also selected as being one of the top two hundred crime writers in the world by The Times.