A Testament to Murder

by A Testament to Murder (retail) (epub)

  Kenneth looked up. His eyes flashed at Jasper. “I never thought any such thing.”

  “No?” Jasper asked. “Then why did it upset you so that nurse Cane told you her secret during the boating trip? You realized once she had said it that you could never be together with her. That you could never love her like you wanted to. Because she was your half-sister.”

  Kenneth flew to his feet and screamed at Jasper, “It’s not true. It’s not true! Take it back!”

  Red the Lab barked and pushed his nose against Kenneth to calm him down. The boy sank to his haunches and hugged the dog. His aggression seemed to flow out of him and he just sat there, hiding his face in the dog’s fur.

  Amazing, Howard thought. We really need a dog for him in Provence. Cecily will of course say it’s dirty to have around the house, but I will talk her into it somehow.

  Jasper said, “Nurse Cane told Kenneth during the boating trip that she believed she was Malcolm’s daughter. Kenneth lost his temper and attacked her wanting her to take this back. The boat overturned. Did Kenneth merely shake the nurse to force her to retract her claim? Or did he try to drown her because he realized that she was a danger to his inheritance? After all, if Kenneth assumed that he was Malcolm’s son, he might also have assumed that he would inherit.”

  Howard protested, “He had no way of knowing whether Malcolm would fill in his name or on what day. And who says he is even Malcolm’s son?”

  Jasper raised a hand to ward off these objections. “It doesn’t really matter whether Kenneth is Malcolm’s son or not, as long as we assume that he believed that he was. He tried to kill Anna Cane because she was a threat to him. He tried again to kill her by poisoning her facial cream. I walked with Kenneth on several occasions and I know he knows about herbs and weeds and all kinds of plants.”

  Kenneth looked up at him, his face pale. “I admit I put something in her cream. But only to make her face ugly. Not to kill her.”

  Anna Cane hissed at him, “You did that to me? You vile little pig.”

  Howard tensed thinking Kenneth might try to attack her again and make everything worse. But the boy sat with the dog and didn’t respond at all.

  Jasper said, “We have Kenneth’s admittance he attacked her in the boat, and that he put something in her facial cream.”

  “That was a prank,” Howard said. “Not intending any real harm.”

  Nurse Cane gave him an angry stare, but he didn’t care. He’d protect his son any way he could.

  “Now we get to the incident with the wheelchair.” Jasper looked around. “We have heard such varying accounts about it. Someone in red was seen near it. Theodora knew something about it. Theodora died. Did she have to die because of what she had seen?”

  Jasper glanced past the expectant faces. He said slowly, “Theodora was killed with Kenneth’s pocket knife. Did he kill her?”

  “Of course not,” Howard cried. “What would have been his reason? Kenneth had nothing to do with Theodora.”

  “Theodora saw whoever pushed the chair over the edge,” Patty said. “Maybe it was Kenneth?”

  “Exactly,” Jasper said. “Kenneth pushed the chair over the edge. An empty chair yes, but it symbolized the death he wished upon Malcolm. The man whom he thought was his father but who had never cared for him. Who had been bad to his mother. Isn’t that what Kenneth has always heard? That Malcolm treated his mother poorly during their marriage? What kind of feelings can this provoke in a protective boy?”

  “Theodora saw something red near the chair,” Howard protested. “And she thought it was a woman in red.” He looked at Patty. “You asked all of us to come dressed as we were on the day when the chair fell. That must have a purpose.”

  Jasper smiled at him. “Very astute, Mr Jones. Yes, it has a purpose. One I will come to later on. Right now I want to focus on the idea that Kenneth threw the empty chair down the rocks. Theodora saw him. She lied that she had seen a woman in red, or perhaps she just said it to cast doubt and suspicion. Theodora had a malicious streak and she didn’t like any of the people present here. She wanted to inherit all of Malcolm’s money.”

  “Why can’t she have pushed the chair over the edge?” Cecily asked.

  Jasper said, “Oh, she could have. She could have lied about what she saw. But the thing is, someone believed her. And killed her for it. With Kenneth’s pocket knife.”

  Kenneth was still stroking the dog. His face was very young and vulnerable.

  Howard wanted Jasper to stop saying all of these mean things. But the former inspector just went on, “Kenneth met Theodora and killed her for what he thought she knew. He hid the knife in his handkerchief. He ruined the facial cream for nurse Cane, but his anger was still hot and strong. Everybody was to blame for what had happened. Hugh claimed to know something about the boating incident. He claimed to have seen it.”

  “But he can’t have,” Howard said.

  Jasper shrugged. “It doesn’t matter whether he has or has not seen it. He died because someone believed that he had.”

  “He died because someone mistook him for Malcolm,” Howard protested.

  Jasper held his gaze a moment. “Who had told him to wear those clothes?”

  Howard swallowed but didn’t respond.

  Jasper said, “With Hugh dead as well, Kenneth had not only removed the people who knew something incriminating about him but also increased his own chances of getting the inheritance.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Howard said. “Kenneth didn’t kill anybody. He may have put something in the facial cream of this nurse to punish her for lying about being Malcolm’s daughter… She isn’t Malcolm’s daughter, is she?”

  “I will come to that later, Mr Jones.” Jasper looked him over. “Since you are so adamant that your son is not to blame, we will have a look at you as potential killer. For I think there are very good reasons why you wanted Theodora dead.”

  Howard scoffed. “First you try and pin it all on Kenneth, now on me?”

  Jasper went on like he had not heard him. “To understand what happened we have to go back many years to the day Malcolm’s first wife died. She had a car accident not far from the office. The driver hit her and then disappeared. The car was retrieved, a stolen one, as it turned out, but the driver was never found. I heard something about the case at the time and when I realized it featured in this present investigation I asked for all the information on it that I could get out of old records and from colleagues who had been looking into it at the time. However, I didn’t know an eye witness was near me the whole time.”

  Malcolm said, “An eye witness? To my wife’s accident?”

  “Yes. Your partner Howard Jones saw it happen. He saw the driver. And he even believed he could identify her.”

  Malcolm looked at Howard. “You never told me that you saw it happen. Why not?”

  “I wasn’t sure. It seemed ludicrous. Theodora couldn’t even drive.”

  “Theodora? You believe the car that caused the accident was driven by Theodora? The inspector told me before there had been some kind of witness who saw her, but I didn’t believe him. I don’t believe it now. Theodora? How could that be?”

  “I saw a woman with a hat on, blonde hair in a bob like hers, and the brooch she always had on her dresses. You know the one, big and conspicuous. I thought it was her.”

  Jasper said, “Mr Jones, however, realized that Theodora could not drive and doubted what he had seen. He did not report it.”

  “You bastard,” Malcolm said. “You let the woman whom you believed had killed my wife continue to work for me?”

  “Not for long,” Howard said, “for Cecily made her leave.”

  Cecily said, “Not even knowing what she had done. I just thought she was very unpleasant.”

  Jasper said, “Mr Jones here was the only one who knew that he had seen Theodora, or someone like her, behind the wheel. He never spoke about it. But once here he remembered his suspicions clearly. Perhaps Theodora noticed a subtle c
hange in him? In any case she confronted him with the past and tried to make a deal with him. They could kill Malcolm together and split the money. Disgusted, Mr Jones reached into his pocket. What did he find there? His son’s pocket knife which he had taken away from him after the boating incident. He used it, on impulse, to kill Theodora. Stab her through the heart. She went limp and quiet, delightfully quiet, after her bragging about having killed Malcolm’s wife and being able to kill once again, and go undetected, as she had all of those years.”

  Howard clenched his jaw. “It wasn’t like that at all.”

  “You killed her,” Jasper continued, “and hid the weapon as it was your son’s and no one should associate him with it.”

  “I would never use anything of his and there was a letter opener on the desk.”

  “But perhaps you thought I would argue that way and would therefore dismiss you as suspect?”

  Howard shook his head, but Jasper said, “And Hugh? Why did Hugh have to die? Well, people assumed that Theodora had died because she had seen something when the chair plunged down the rocks. That she knew who had tried to kill Malcolm. So you needed another murder that seemed to have to do with the will to hide that you had killed Theodora for a personal reason. Because you had never forgiven yourself for not turning her in after you had seen her hit and kill Malcolm’s first wife.”

  “This is ludicrous,” Howard said. His heart was beating fast, and his palms were slick with sweat.

  Jasper said, “You had talked to Hugh before and tried to convince him to set a trap for the killer. This time he agreed. He sat there like a sitting duck and you could easily kill him. The murderer seemed to have made a mistake killing the wrong man. But you killed the right man. In several ways.”

  Jasper looked around. “You see, at the time when Malcolm’s wife died, Hugh was also in the picture. He wanted money from his uncle but he had just found out Malcolm’s wife was pregnant and Malcolm would have a child, an heir. What if he talked Theodora into killing Malcolm’s wife and his unborn child to have the fortune to himself? Theodora, he had promised, could then marry Malcolm, her secret dream?”

  Jasper looked at Howard. “You killed Hugh because he was the accomplice in the killing of Malcolm’s wife.”

  “That is absurd. Why would I kill him after all these years?”

  “Because now you could not only punish the guilty, but also eliminate other heirs and have more chance of being left with Malcolm’s fortune.”

  Howard shook his head, but Jasper said, “You are an even better suspect than your son, Mr Jones. I can easily see you scheming and plotting to exact your little revenge. You are by nature a cowardly man, which explains why you never told anyone what you saw that day. But you also care a lot for money. You always worked hard to earn a good living for yourself and your family. And I think you believe you’re entitled to Malcolm’s money more than anyone else in this room.”

  Howard didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t deny that he had been a coward in the matter of the accident and that he also believed he deserved to inherit more than the others. He had a feeling this sly inspector would know the moment he tried to say anything to defend himself. He only said, “I am no murderer.”

  Jasper said, “Perhaps not. For there are other people in this room who also had excellent reasons to kill. You are all guilty, in any case, of lying and twisting the truth to suit your own purposes. You all tried to delude me by showing me a different side to the story each time I talked to you. You believed that by incriminating the others you could yourself go free. You have all shielded the killer by being dishonest. But I cannot persecute you for this dishonesty.”

  He glanced past the faces. “Mrs Jones, I think you’ve held back most of the time. But you had every reason to want Malcolm dead and to want his fortune for yourself. Payment for all of those years he was cruel to you? Besides, you never liked Theodora. You had her fired when Malcolm married you. Why?”

  Jasper leaned back in his chair. “I checked out Theodora’s finances. She always had more money than she earned with her work. Did someone slip her money? Out of kindness? No, I’d rather think to hide a guilty secret. Was it perhaps you who hired Theodora to kill Malcolm’s first wife so you could then become the new Mrs Bryce-Rutherford?”

  “That is insane,” Cecily cried. “I hated Theodora. I would never have used her for a purpose. I wouldn’t have trusted her.”

  “Yes, that is an issue, I admit. If you hire someone to kill, that someone can always betray you. He or she is a liability. Then again… can we be sure it was Theodora in that car? Or was it someone else who had disguised themselves to look like her should someone see the driver and report it to the police? You have to admit that the big hat, the blonde hair and the brooch are rather conspicuous items of one’s appearance. If you know you are going to kill someone, would you not wear something not so… memorable? Unless of course it’s just a disguise you can ditch to become yourself again. A self which is the complete opposite of the person you impersonated?”

  Cecily fumed. “If you’re now implying that I pretended to be Theodora when I stole a car and killed Malcolm’s first wife, you are really crazy. I knew Theodora couldn’t drive. That would have been the worst possible choice of a suspect to take the blame for my crime.”

  “You’re right there. People who knew a little bit about Theodora knew she couldn’t drive. So if someone did impersonate her, he or she couldn’t know all that much about her. Who could that be?”

  Jasper looked around the room as if he expected one of the people present to jump up and confess to it.

  Howard said, “This has gone far enough. One by one you accuse us but I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Did we all kill the victims? Are we all guilty? Or are we not guilty at all?”

  “Let me finish, Mr Jones. I’ll get to the answer of the riddle in good time. You will see that all the pieces will fall into place. When you pay close attention to my story.”

  Jasper continued to the group, “If we assume that someone impersonated Theodora to kill Malcolm’s first wife, we have to ask ourselves who benefited from her death. And the first person to come to mind is Cecily Jones as she married Malcolm shortly after. She pounced on the chance to become the new Mrs Bryce-Rutherford. If we assume that she indeed drove the car, then we are left with a very interesting situation. For we also know that Howard Jones witnessed the accident. He didn’t tell anyone he had, but he did. So after time went by, the woman who drove the car that caused this accident he had witnessed became his very own wife. He didn’t know that. But… did Cecily find out at some point what her husband thought he saw? Did that make it necessary for her to kill Theodora so the blame for the accident once it came to light would fall on the former secretary who could not defend herself anymore by explaining it had not been her? For Cecily Jones this served two purposes: she could escape being exposed as a killer, and she could prevent her husband from finding out what she had done. I think we can conclude she had a lot to gain from getting rid of Theodora.”

  “If we accept that she drove the car,” Howard said, “and I for one find that utterly unbelievable. Yes, Malcolm and Cecily knew each other vaguely at the time his wife died, but how on earth could she have been sure that Malcolm would fall in love with her and marry her? Kill for something so uncertain?”

  “I grant you that,” Jasper said. “But Cecily Jones can have killed Theodora.”

  “How would she have lain her hands on Kenneth’s pocket knife?” Howard protested. “And do you actually want to claim she killed Hugh as well? By way of diversion like you argued in my case?”

  “For instance,” Jasper said. He smiled. “You’re quick to catch on, Mr Jones.”

  Howard shook his head. “It’s all guesswork, you have nothing solid to go on.”

  Jasper said, “I admit that when I have to choose whether I think it was you who did it, Mr Jones, or your wife, you are the most likely candidate.”

  Malcol
m snickered.

  Howard cast him an angry glance.

  “However,” Jasper said, “we must not forget the others. Especially the wife of our second victim. Patricia Bryce-Rutherford. Formerly Patricia Mason.”

  * * *

  Patty sat upright. She had followed the accusations made with a mix of interest and boredom. She had no idea where this was going and she only hoped that the arrest of one or two heirs would make the number dwindle even more so she’d be the last one left to get it all. That was what she had come for. She’d accept no less.

  But now all of a sudden she was in the spotlight.

  Under the magnifying glass.

  “I think,” Jasper said, “that of all people I met here at the villa I liked you the most, simply because you are so easy to like. You are pretty, amusing, perhaps a little naïve and shallow at times, but men would often rather have their women shallow than too probing and smart. I liked you because you seemed open and honest, quite genuine about your ideas about this family and the fortune at stake. I never had a doubt you want it as much as the others, but I had the impression it was more for the sake of having money to spend than anything else. Unfortunately for me, and also for you, I suppose, I was sadly mistaken. You are not shallow and not naïve. And most of all, you are not here just because your husband made you come. You are here because you always wanted to end up here. Because from the day you sailed from New York on the SS Sunrise you knew you’d snare Hugh Bryce-Rutherford and you’d make him pay. Pay in the most literal way for what he had done.”

  Patty was slightly breathless. She uncrossed her legs and pushed her heels to the floor. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”