The Affair of the Christmas Card Killer (Lord Kit Aston Book 1)

by Jack Murray

  ‘Why, what did he say?’ asked Elsie.

  ‘It’s not what he said, it’s how he said it.’

  This bemused Elsie and Miss Buchan, but both remained silent. They all stood waiting for someone to say something. No one did. The atmosphere was gloomy and remained so for the next few minutes while they waited.

  The silence was broken by the arrival of the Edmunds family. All three trooped into the kitchen followed by Devlin.

  ‘What’s happening?’ asked Edmunds to Curtis. His tone was, as ever, brusque.

  Curtis stiffened a little but replied, ‘We were requested to assemble by master Henry.’ He could not resist glancing at Jane Edmunds, but her face revealed nothing. Edmunds merely nodded in response.

  Much to everyone’s surprise, the back door opened and into the kitchen walked two people they had not expected.

  -

  The walk back was made mostly in silence. Even Sam was unusually quiet, sensing the anxiety in Kit and Mary. From time to time they would glance at each another. Neither could think of anything to say. Both were thinking of Harry. Until news came through on the coroner’s results any other discussion was impossible. Instead, both were in a limbo that left them feeling hollow.

  It was still freezing, and Kit was glad to be back in the Hall. The break had helped rest his leg, but the walk back had made it sore again. When he returned to London, he resolved to find a better prosthetic limb.

  Arriving at the back of Cavendish Hall they saw the Edmunds family along with Devlin making their way to there also. They all entered via the back door leading to the kitchen. Kit turned to Mary to inquire what was happening, but she shrugged, clearly no wiser than he.

  ‘Shall we go and see?’ he asked.

  She nodded, and they changed direction. A minute later they walked into the kitchen. Everyone turned around and looked at them.

  ‘Hello everyone, are we missing something?’ said Mary brightly.

  Curtis was the first to react, ‘Lady Mary. We weren’t expecting you like this.’ Turning to Miss Buchan he said, ‘Perhaps you should go up to the dining room and tell Lady Emily.’

  Miss Buchan got up and headed out of the kitchen as Curtis explained to the new arrivals, ‘We were asked to assemble by master Henry. He and Lady Emily are coming down to make an announcement, I believe.’

  Mary nodded to Curtis and looked up at Kit, ‘News to me,’ she said taking a seat at the kitchen table.

  ‘Intriguing,’ said Kit.

  A few minutes later Miss Buchan and Polly returned accompanied by Lady Emily, Esther and Henry. Esther smiled when she saw Mary. It was difficult for her to tell Mary’s mood from her face, but she hoped all would be well with them.

  Esther and Lady Emily joined Mary at the table. Henry stood in the centre facing everyone. He looked at Kit and made a half smile and then faced his audience and began to speak in a tone that surprised everyone by its authority.

  ‘Thank you everyone for coming together, like this, at such short notice.’ Turning to Mary he said, ‘My apologies Mary for not speaking to you before now, but you’d gone out for a walk.’

  Mary nodded and smiled to him, still mildly shocked by the young man before her whom she barely recognized. Henry continued, ‘My reason for calling you together was to address, briefly, the future. I’m sure this is something uppermost in many of your minds and probably a cause for some concern.’

  It was clear from the reaction of the staff, as he looked at them, he was accurate in this assessment. Kit glanced around at the audience. He suspected they were as impressed as he was.

  ‘This may surprise you, but I’m as saddened by the passing of grandpapa as all of you. You’ll have probably guessed by now, this is not something I wanted. But I, like all of you, will now have to adjust to a future without him.’ He paused and there was a genuine emotion in his voice few would have believed him capable of not one day previously, ‘I, we, will miss him greatly.’

  Esther made little attempt to hide the tears in her eyes as she saw her cousin speak. Lady Emily also looked emotional but maintained her composure.

  ‘I wish to reassure each and every one of you, that you’re welcome here at Cavendish Hall, now and in the future. I do not wish to make any changes that will affect any of you or your future here. You’re as much a part of this house as we are. We value you and hope you will stay.’

  Looking deliberately at Jane he continued, ‘I realize also, many of you knew a certain secret that regrettably I’d kept from my mother.’ Henry glanced at his mother who looked up at him admonishingly but not angrily. This was greeted with smiles from the staff, none broader than Elsie.

  ‘You respected our privacy in this matter. Jane and I will always be grateful for this. There’s nothing else I wish to say for the moment, other than to thank you for your service here on behalf of Esther, Mary, my mother and myself.’

  He finished this announcement with a nod and then taking his mother’s hand, led her to the door. Kit, Mary and Esther also took this as their cue to leave and followed them away from the kitchen.

  Upstairs in the hallway Kit went over to Henry and took him to one side. ‘Henry, I may be presumptuous here, but I think your father and grandfather would have been very proud of you today.’

  ‘Thank you, Lord Aston.’ replied Henry.

  ‘Kit,’ came the reply and he shook Henry’s hand.

  Esther and Mary went upstairs together soon followed by Henry. Lady Emily did not accompany them, and Kit noticed she went back downstairs to the staff quarters instead.

  Kit went into the library straight over to the phone.

  ‘What news, Chubby?’ said Kit into the receiver. After a minute, listening he replied, ‘I see. Listen can you do one more thing for me? This is may seem strange and its certainly not very legal.’

  -

  Curtis sat in his room gazing at the picture on the wall. He felt relieved. His worst fears had not been realized. In fact, the Henry who had spoken to them today seemed unrecognizable from the morose and surly young man they had grown used to over the last few years. For the first time since Lord Cavendish’s passing he felt optimistic about the future.

  The reflective mood he was in was interrupted by a knock on the door. ‘Come in,’ he shouted. Lady Emily entered his room nearly causing Curtis to fall off his seat. He stood immediately and reached for his jacket. She shook her head and motioned for him to sit down. All of a sudden, his worries returned, he looked up at Lady Emily nervously.

  ‘Lady Emily, how can I help? Is there something you need?’

  ‘No, I wanted to talk to you.’ Unusually for Lady Emily, she seemed nervous to Curtis and, for once, unsure of herself. She walked hesitantly over to the desk and looked at the picture on the wall. After a few moments she looked at Curtis, who had remained standing, and said, ‘We never really spoke about what happened.’

  Curtis nodded and looked at the picture also. A sense of sadness descended on him as he thought of his wife and he forgot the worry he had regarding his future at Cavendish Hall.

  She continued looking at the picture and asked, ‘Do you hear from her?’

  ‘Yes, every Christmas,’ responded Curtis, ‘She sends me a card.’

  ‘Where is she now?

  ‘Near Lancaster. Lord Gresham’s estate. She’s still a governess,’ replied Curtis. Then in a faraway voice he added, ‘I never reply.’

  Lady Emily seemed surprised by this and looked at Curtis, ‘You never forgave her?’

  Curtis fought back tears said almost in a whisper, ‘I didn’t know how to.’

  He looked at Lady Emily. She realized it was not that he was an unforgiving person, he genuinely seemed at a loss as to how to absolve her. Nothing in his life had prepared him for the pain of betrayal by someone he lived for. In that moment, Lady Emily understood how much hurt had been caused by her husband’s adultery and she felt ashamed. Looking at Curtis, Lady Emily wanted to say something to comfort him. With some dismay,
she realized that she didn’t know how. A life of unswerving certainty had not prepared her for the space between sympathy and disdain, right and wrong, fidelity and betrayal. Like him she was lost in an emotional desert.

  Finally, she said, almost to herself, ‘I forgave. At least he thought I forgave. There isn’t much choice if you’re a woman. A part of you expects him to stray. You hope it won’t happen. You hope when you have a family will protect you,’ she laughed bitterly, ‘How naïve.’

  Curtis nodded, and she looked at him. His face showed gratitude, so much so she had to look away before the remorse overcame her. Turning back to the picture she said, ‘I hope it’s not too late,’ then looking back at Curtis added, ‘I’m glad we talked.’

  ‘I also, Lady Emily.’

  She took her leave. Curtis watched her leave the room before sitting down. He looked up at the picture. Without looking away he opened a drawer in his desk and took out a small sheet of paper. Taking a pen out of his pocket he began to write.

  Chapter 31

  28th December 1919: Whitehall, London

  Chubby Chadderton put the phone down following his call with Kit. The documents he had requested were sitting on his desk. However, some pieces of the jigsaw were missing. He walked to the door and looked out saying, ‘Miss Brooks, can you get me Spunky?’

  ‘Pardon me?’ said a confused Miss Brooks.

  ‘Can you get me Spunky?’ repeated Chubby somewhat chagrined.

  Miss Brooks was beginning to look alarmed.

  ‘Spunky Stevens, Miss Brooks. At the S.I.S,’ said Cubby with exaggerated patience.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry sir. Immediately.’

  Chubby closed the door and shook his head. ‘I don’t know what gets into her sometimes.’ He returned to the desk and sat down to await the call from his yesterday evening’s drinking partner. The phone rang. Chubby picked it up immediately.

  ‘Hullo, is that you, old chap? Yes, I’m better now but let’s not go into last night. Another time. Look I need to see you pronto. Kit needs our help. Let’s meet at the Savoy, I’ll fill you in.’

  -

  Fifteen minutes later in the Savoy Grill, Chubby was seated with a strong coffee to hand. He thought it prudent to set the tone with Spunky otherwise matters could get out of hand, as they so often did when they were together.

  A few minutes later Aldric ‘Spunky’ Stevens arrived in the Grill. Dressed in a blue blazer and grey cavalry twill trousers, he was of average height, with dark hair and a pencil slim moustache. He would have seemed nondescript were it not for the presence of an eye patch which gave him a faintly piratical look. An otherwise dashing appearance was offset by the monocle in his good eye.

  With a cheery wave he said ‘Hullo.’ long before he reached Chubby thereby ensuring all the diners looked his way. This was not what Chubby had in mind when he had suggested meeting away from their respective offices. For a supposedly secret service type, Spunky was one of the least secretive individuals Chubby had ever met.

  ‘C’mon, tell teacher what happened last night,’ said Spunky after warmly shaking Chubby’s hand.

  Chubby laughed, ‘Well she was an interesting filly, I have to say.’

  ‘Really, sounds like you had a good gallop.’

  ‘Definitely a stayer once she got out of the stalls,’ replied Chubby conspiratorially.

  ‘How did she handle?’

  ‘Jumped all the fences, no refusals so to speak. One awkward moment I thought the game was up, I thought the husband was on his way back.’

  ‘You exited stage left pronto, I’ll bet’ continued Sparky.

  ‘Got it one old boy. Anyway, I can’t understand what sort of woolen-headed blighter would let a filly like her loose in the paddock.’

  Turning to more serious matters, Chubby gave his friend a brief synopsis on the latest happenings at Cavendish Hall and also what he had uncovered. He finished by saying, ‘So you see, Kit needs us to help him get his man off the hook.’

  ‘This is the same chap who carried him across Europe?’ asked Spunky.

  ‘One and, Spunky, one and,’ responded Chubby.

  ‘Well, anything I can do, old boy just say the word. Now, what do you need?’

  ‘Ah, now we get to the crux of the issue, I need your help on something which is a trifle unconventional’

  ‘By which you mean illegal,’ suggested Spunky.

  ‘Highly, old boy. Highly.’

  Chubby then related what was required. Through all this Spunky nodded, noting the urgency of the task.

  ‘Soon as old boy, soon as. Man’s life depends on it,’ finished Chubby.

  ‘You’ll know one way or another within the hour.’

  ‘Excellent, I knew I could count on you.’

  Spunky took a piece of notepaper from Chubby containing a scribbled address and went to make a phone call. He returned a few minutes later, ‘All sorted. I’ve asked them to come here with the intelligence. Now, let’s get something stronger to drink.’ He raised his finger to attract the attention of a waiter.

  Chubby’s heart sank, he’d barely recovered from the previous hangover. Well, this one’s for the Kit, he thought despairingly, as a large gin was placed in front of him.

  Chapter 32

  28th December 1919: Cavendish Hall

  Esther and Mary were back in their grandfather’s room. Mary had related all that had passed between her and Kit. When she had finished Esther summed up what they were both thinking, ‘Let’s hope Harry is innocent.’

  Mary remained glum, however. ‘I’m not sure it’ll guarantee I’m forgiven.’

  ‘Don’t be such a sour puss, Mary. Firstly, it’s not like you and secondly, I think you should trust Kit. He’s the smartest person I’ve met.’

  Mary laughed at this.

  ‘Granted that’s not saying a great deal,’ acknowledged Esther, ‘I’m sure he’ll think of something to help Harry.’

  ‘I know, but you do realize what this would mean?’

  ‘No?’

  ‘If Harry didn’t send those vile Christmas cards, who did? This person is still free. Who knows what they’ll do now grandpapa is,’ she couldn’t finish the sentence and her eyes filled with tears.

  Esther held Mary’s hand. Both looked out the window. Outside they could see Henry walking with Jane towards the Edmunds cottage. Esther looked at her sister, ‘I’m happy for him. I can’t believe someone could change so quickly. He seems more like the old Henry.’

  Mary smiled as she looked out the window. ‘I know. Kit guessed what was happening between them. I can’t believe he kept it such a secret. In fact, I can’t believe Curtis and all of them knew and said nothing.’

  ‘Yes, I was a bit surprised they kept quiet about Henry and Jane. Pleased also, I think.’

  ‘I know what you mean. Gosh when I saw Jane earlier in the kitchen I was struck by how beautiful she is. I mean, I was aware but hadn’t thought of it. Then when I saw Henry and her, my God, where have the years gone?’

  Esther laughed and then her eyes also began to sting with the tears that came from the memory of children in a library with Governess Curtis.

  ‘Are you thinking of the library, all of us together?’ asked Mary.

  Esther couldn’t speak but just nodded.

  Mary continued, ‘It was such a happy time. I wonder where she is now. Curtis never speaks of her. Of course, I don’t feel it’s something I have a right to ask about.’

  They silently watched the two young adults walk all the way to the cottage, reflecting on a world always changing, moving this way and that like the light rain caught in the breeze.

  As they gazed out of the window, there was a knock on the door.

  ‘Yes?’ responded Esther.

  The door opened. It was Miss Buchan. ‘I’m sorry to bother you but Doctor Bright has just arrived. I took him to the drawing room.’

  ‘Thank you, Miss Buchan, we’ll be down presently.’

  Miss Buchan withdrew. The sisters
looked at one another. Both broke into grins.

  ‘Don’t just sit there, you ninny, what are you waiting for?’

  -

  In the garage, Strangerson and Devlin were drinking tea and smoking. When both had drained their cups, they climbed into the Austin.

  ‘Jolly kind of you to invite me for a spin,’ said Strangerson.

  ‘You’re welcome Mr Strangerson, I’d a feeling you fancied the idea of putting her through her paces. You’ve definitely driven before?’ asked Devlin with an apprehension he could not hide.

  ‘Yes of course, many times. Just not one of these chaps,’ said Strangerson patting the bonnet appreciatively.

  Devlin gave some brief instructions on how to start and get going. A few minutes later they were driving out of the garage. The car sped along, Strangerson making sure not to go too fast. This settled Devlin down. His appraisal of Strangerson was of a man who enjoyed speed. In this he was not far wrong and by the time they got to the open, and empty road, Strangerson decided to let the Austin show him what she was capable of.

  -

  Sitting in the library, Kit tried to read a book but put it down impatiently. Feeling restless he walked over to the window to get a better view of the driveway. Finally, he saw what he had been waiting for. Devlin and Strangerson were driving in the Cavendish car away from the Hall towards the village.

  After they reached the open road, he looked back at the photograph on the wall. It had been there in front of him, and Cavendish, all this time, if he had only known.

  One more look through the window and he saw Devlin and Fraser moving out of sight. He walked away from the desk and left the library to go upstairs. There were voices in the drawing room, but he did not stay to find out who was there.

  -

  Richard Bright sat in the drawing room. He felt unaccountably nervous. Just like a schoolboy, he supposed. This agitation had not left him since he had departed Cavendish Hall the previous day. Unable to sit still, he stood up and went to the window. There was a slight drizzle making water droplets on the window. They trickled down the length of the window, distorting his view. Cavendish Hall had that effect on you, he realized.