Mac told her about Catherine Gascoigne’s death.
‘She’s dead? Really?’
Anne’s face clearly showed her disbelief.
‘I take it that there’s something suspicious about it if you’re asking questions?’
‘You could say that. Please keep it to yourself but she was poisoned.’
‘Poisoned? Now I really find that really hard to believe, I mean this is Letchworth not mediaeval Rome.’
‘Who might have wanted her dead?’ Mac asked.
‘A lot of people I could think of. To be honest if they formed a queue they’d probably go around the block.’
‘Why’s that? Why was Mrs. Gascoigne so disliked?’
‘She thought the world revolved around her, it always had to be about her and she was a bit of a bully too. She ran the Society like it was her personal little kingdom, making sure only her cronies got elected and anyone who disagreed with her was shown the door one way or another.’
‘What do you mean by ‘one way or another’?’ Mac asked.
‘Well, usually there’d be an unscheduled meeting, always when Catherine had a healthy majority of her cronies present of course. Then you’d be voted out, expelled from the Society. It must have happened three or four times while I was a member.’
‘Is that what happened to you?’
She paused for a second. Obviously the memory wasn’t a good one.
‘No, I resigned.’
‘Why?’
‘It was a case of plagiarism, Mr. Maguire.’
Mac could see real anger in Anne’s face.
‘That’s tantamount to a crime in our circles,’ she continued. ‘Let me explain, for a while I’ve had this theory about why Wickham elopes with Lydia…’
‘Pride and Prejudice,’ Mac explained, seeing the baffled look on Leigh’s face.
‘That’s right. Well Wickham was in a tight spot. He had huge gambling debts and, in all probability, some not very nice people chasing after him for money. So I always thought it was a bit unlikely that he’d run off with a more or less penniless young girl. I think that Wickham’s problem was that he wanted to be Darcy, all his life he’d been eaten up by jealousy of the man he’d been brought up with. Anyway, I had this theory that Wickham had a spy in Meryton, perhaps even in Longbourn itself as I wouldn’t have put it past him to have seduced one of the maids. Anyway this spy would have let him know that Elizabeth Bennett was going to Derbyshire and not to the Lake District as originally planned.
He knew that Darcy was still mad about her so he gambled on Darcy and Elizabeth meeting up again and that’s why he eloped with her younger sister Lydia. Always the gambler he was hoping that he would get some advantage out of the situation and he was right wasn’t he? Once Darcy found Wickham and Lydia he more or less bribed Wickham to marry her which was exactly what Wickham wanted anyway in my opinion. He got a commission in the army and all his debts paid off which would have cost quite a sum back then. Not only that but he knew that if his plans worked out he’d actually be related to Darcy through marriage and have a meal ticket for life.’
‘I hadn’t thought of it in that way,’ Mac said, ‘Yes, Wickham would have a sort of permanent revenge.’
‘You seem to know Jane’s books very well. You’re not a secret Janeite yourself are you Mr. Maguire?’ Anne enquired with a smile.
‘Well I’ve been known to read the odd one,’ he replied with some understatement. ‘Please go on.’
‘Anyway one evening after having a glass or two of wine I mentioned this to Catherine and at the time she asked if I was going to publish and I said no. I mean it’s not earth shattering or anything, just an interesting thought. Then a week later I saw an article she wrote entitled ‘Who was Wickham’s spy at Longbourn?’ It was my little theory blown into something much bigger and, of course, my name wasn’t mentioned at all.’
‘I’ll bet you were quite upset about that,’ Mac stated.
‘Upset? Fuming was more like it. I confronted her after one of the meetings and she pretended not to understand. Bloody brazen she was. Of course I’d never written anything down and so I couldn’t prove a thing. I resigned and that was that.’
‘If I’m honest you don’t strike me as the type of person who’d take something like that lying down.’
‘Normally you’d be right but I didn’t want to push it too far so I just kept it to myself.’
Mac was puzzled.
‘Why would you do that?’
‘I suppose I didn’t want to make an enemy of her in case in case she barred me from the balls. They’re still the high points of the year for me.’
‘What exactly are these balls?’ Mac asked, remembering that Amanda had mentioned them earlier.
Anne’s face lit up.
‘Oh, they’re so beautiful and so romantic. They take place in the ballroom in the Spirella building, it’s such a fantastic room for a costume ball. I’ve got two different dresses, both absolutely authentic for the period, one for Spring and one for Autumn, and my husband looks splendid in his uniform. It’s based on the militia uniform in Pride and Prejudice.’
‘You’re husband goes too?’ Mac asked with some surprise.
‘I think he secretly likes it as much as I do. It’s very romantic and the romance doesn’t stop with the ball if you know what I mean.’
She gave Mac a cheeky wink.
‘Oh and the music is so beautiful too, there’s a string quartet playing the music Jane might have danced to, the lights are always low and there’s as many candles as health and safety will allow. It’s decorated exactly as a ballroom in Jane’s time would have been and always different depending on which ball they choose.’
‘I take it that they theme them on the balls in the books?’ Mac asked.
‘Oh yes, the one coming up is the Spring ball and that’s based on the Netherfield ball where Darcy first dances with Elizabeth. Now last Autumn’s ball was based on the Lower Rooms in Bath where Catherine meets Mr. Tilney, and last Spring’s was…’
Anne stopped and suddenly looked quite sad.
‘Was what? Why did you stop?’
‘It was based on the ball at The Crown in Emma. I’m sorry but some memories of that ball are not so pleasant to me.’
Mac leant forward.
‘Tell me.’
‘It was all going so well when, on my way to the toilets, I saw Catherine insisting on calling poor Pippa ‘Miss Bates’ and then she took her to one side and said something to her, unfortunately with the music I couldn’t hear exactly what. Catherine must have said something really cutting because Pippa was in absolute bits. She left the ball in tears and the next day she was found in her flat hanging from a light fitting. We found out later that she’d had a history of mental health problems but I still think it was that cow that pushed her over the edge.’
‘Did anyone else think that?’ Mac asked.
‘There was only Catherine and her two cronies there. I’m not sure if anyone else saw what happened, if they did they’ve kept it to themselves.’
‘What was Pippa’s full name and what else can you tell me about her?’
Mac thought this suicide might well provide someone with an excellent motive for murder.
‘Philippa Hatch. She must have been in her forties I suppose, a thin slip of a woman. I don’t think anyone could say they really knew her. She was very quiet and hardly ever spoke at the meetings but she was absolutely brilliant at making these little accessories that we all wear in our hair for the balls. They’re very authentic and made out of silk flowers, ribbons and pearls. She gave us all one and they were really beautiful. I remember when she gave me mine, she was really shy at first, but then she gave me the most wonderful smile when I said how much I liked it. Unfortunately anyone could have seen that she lived on her nerves but she so loved the Society and the balls until…’
‘Did she have any family, a husband?’
‘Not as far as I know, there was no-one but
members or ex-members of the Society at her funeral.’
Mac was thoughtful for a while. If she didn’t have anyone who was close to her then it was unlikely that the poisoning was in revenge for her suicide. None the less he made a mental note of it.
‘Tell me about the Janeites. Who’ll be running it now Mrs. Gascoigne is dead?’
‘I’m not sure to be honest. By rights it should be Tanya Stokes as she’s Deputy Chairperson.’
‘Was she close to Mrs. Gascoigne?’
‘No, not especially, she wasn’t one of Catherine’s cronies if that’s what you mean. As Deputy she really had nothing to do as Catherine did everything herself. I think letting Tanya get voted in was just a sop to the Janeites who disliked her.’
‘Who were her cronies then?’
‘There were quite a few who sucked up to her but her closest allies would be the ‘gruesome twosome’, Olivia Parker and Penny Bathhurst. Olivia’s the Treasurer and Penny’s in charge of events, the balls in other words.’
‘Anyone else we should speak to?’
Anne shrugged.
‘Everyone and no-one really. The Society still has well over a hundred members and I’m sure that for quite a few of those Catherine’s passing will be cause for celebration. A ball without Catherine, now that will be absolute bliss Mr. Maguire. I just hope my husband can get back in time for it.’
‘Who keeps the list of members?’
‘Olivia I should think as she’s the treasurer. She lives just around the corner on Broadway.’
She told him the house number.
‘Anything else you can tell me?’ Mac asked.
Anne slowly shook her head.
‘I must admit that, while theoretically I thought I’d be dancing for joy at the news, in reality I actually find it quite shocking.’
‘If you think of anything else you can you call me on this number.’
He wrote down his mobile number and passed it to her.
Outside Leigh looked at Mac with a puzzled expression.
‘Do you really read Jane Austen?’ she asked.
‘Yes, why?’
She just shook her head and didn’t answer.
‘Do you think that Philippa Hatch’s suicide might have a bearing on the murder?’ she continued.
‘Could be. It might provide someone with a very good motive, if there was anyone who’d been close to her that is. Remind me to look her file up when I get back to the station.’
Mac stopped and looked at Leigh.
‘Andy said you were new to the team. It’s not your first day by any chance?’ he asked.
She nodded. She had a little smile on her face but it couldn’t have been sadder.
That explained a lot, Mac thought, but perhaps not quite everything. He felt that there was some sort of shadow hanging over his new colleague and this made her even more interesting.
Mac promised himself he’d find out what made her tick if he could.
Chapter Four
Anne hadn’t been wrong about Olivia Parker living just around the corner, it took them less than a minute to drive there. The house was barn-sized with three huge bow windows on the ground floor and two more on the first floor. Outside there was enough space to park a couple of large articulated lorries but there was only an old green Range Rover in evidence at the moment.
He rang the doorbell and a few minutes later the door was opened by a dumpy middle-aged woman in a floral dress who was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Mac guessed that this was Mrs. Parker and that she’d already heard about her friend’s demise.
Leigh showed her warrant card.
‘We’re investigating the death of Mrs. Catherine Gascoigne,’ Mac said.
The woman said nothing and just waved at them with her handkerchief to follow her inside. Mac looked around. There was a lot of wood, ceiling beams, wooden panels, wooden columns, tables and ladder-back chairs, a forest’s worth at least. The furniture was Arts and Crafts style and he guessed that most of it was genuine and around a hundred years old. Someone definitely had money.
The woman led them to a table set into one of the bow windows and gestured for them to sit down.
‘I take it that you’re Mrs. Olivia Parker?’
The woman nodded then dabbed at an eye with her handkerchief.
‘How did you hear?’ Mac asked.
‘From Penny yesterday. She rang me while she was waiting for the police and ambulance to arrive. Oh I can’t believe it Mr. Maguire, such a bright, vibrant light, now extinguished like a spent match.’
Mac thought her turn of phrase was a bit theatrical.
‘Can you shed any light on who might have wanted Mrs. Gascoigne dead?’
Mrs. Parker looked stunned and then horrified.
‘What are you saying? Are you telling me that Catherine was murdered?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid it’s quite likely she was. Did she have any enemies, anyone who hated her enough to want to kill her?’
Mrs. Parker looked insulted.
‘No, no of course not. Catherine was a determined person, she had to be or nothing would have been done, but she was always kind. She was a saint, I just can’t imagine who might have wanted to kill her.’
She started crying again. Mac gave her a minute.
‘Tell me about Catherine and the Janeites. How did it all get started?’ Mac asked.
‘When it started some twelve years ago it was just Catherine, Penny, myself and a few friends. We didn’t call ourselves a Society back then we were just ‘Janeites’. We started meeting regularly and word got about. It grew slowly over the years but it really took off when Catherine had the brilliant idea of holding a costume ball. We based it on the first one in Pride and Prejudice, you know where Darcy turns down the chance to dance with Elizabeth. Anyway it was a roaring success, as were most of Edith’s projects, and ever since the balls have been immensely popular. There’s been a waiting list for tickets every year since we started. Members get first dibs of course.’
‘I believe Mrs. Gascoigne wasn’t popular with everyone though?’
She pursed her lips as she said, ‘Well some people are never satisfied are they? We let them become part of the Society and then they want to take it over do things their way. It was our Society not theirs. And as for that horrible Mrs. Holding she even accused Catherine of plagiarism once, I heard her.’
She gave Mac a look of great indignation.
‘And did she?’
‘Catherine would never do anything like that. Anyway it’s all you’d expect from people like that, total ingratitude, and after we’d allowed her to join the Society too.’
‘What do you mean by ‘people like that’?’
Mac was asking but he was fairly sure he knew the answer.
She gave Mac a sideways glance.
‘Well you know…’
‘You mean because she’s black.’
‘Exactly,’ she said, taking Mac‘s even temperament for agreement.
She leant forward conspiratorially.
‘They all have a chip on their shoulder and I never understood why she wanted to join the Society in the first place. In Jane’s novels her people would at best be holding the horses, wouldn’t they?’
Mac decided he really disliked Olivia Parker. He did his best to not let it show, he needed to get as much out of her as possible.
‘What about Philippa Hatch? Tell me what you know about her.’
‘Pippa? I think there was something wrong with her up here, the poor dear.’
She tapped the side of her head as she spoke.
‘She was one of those overly nervous women. I never saw her happy, she was an accident waiting to happen in my opinion.’
‘Is it true that Catherine upset her the night she killed herself?’
She gave him a look designed to show indignation but instead Mac thought it reeked of defensiveness.
‘No of course not. I’ll bet it was that Mrs. Holding who told you that lie, wa
sn’t it?’
‘It’s not a lie though, is it?’
Mac gave her his best stare and held her eyes for as long as he could.
She looked away first.
‘Well what if she was upset? Catherine was only joking but Pippa was just like Miss Bates and took everything to heart.’
‘What did Catherine say to her?’
‘Nothing really. She was just acting the part and asked Pippa how her mother was and hoped she’d be happy at Mr. Woodhouse’s for the evening, something along those lines I think. She was pretending that Pippa was Miss Bates you see.’
‘Are you sure that was all? Whatever she said really upset Philippa.’
‘I could see she was getting a little hot under the collar but God only knows why. It wasn’t anything we did.’
Mac’s face clearly showed his scepticism.
‘We didn’t bully that poor woman if that’s what you’re thinking,’ she said.
‘We have a witness that says differently.’
She looked angrily at Mac but said nothing. She stood up and looked out of the window.
‘I want you to leave now.’
‘I’ll go but not before I get a full list of members and ex-members of the Society.’
She turned and said, ‘I don’t keep ex-member’s details. Catherine said something about data protection so when a member leaves I just delete the whole record.’
‘What do you use to record membership?’
She led Mac and Leigh into an alcove which had a computer desk with a laptop on it.
‘That.’
‘I’ll need to borrow your laptop then.’
‘My laptop?’
Mrs. Parker looked both indignant and nervous at the same time.
‘No, absolutely impossible.’
‘Are you refusing? May I remind you that this is a murder investigation.’
‘Do what you like, you’re not having it,’ she said defiantly.
Mac’s face showed his annoyance.
‘Mrs. Parker, I don’t understand. The woman who you say was your friend is dead and that laptop could hold vital evidence as to who killed her,’ Mac said in his sternest voice.
She said nothing.
‘Okay if you don’t comply I’ll put a police guard on it and be back in half an hour with a court order.’
The Dead Squirrel (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 2) Page 3
