Death of a Debutante (Riley Rochester Investigates Book 1)

by Wendy Soliman

  ‘Tell Mrs Ferguson that I shall call to see her later this morning, if you would.’

  ‘Certainly I would. Do you want me to make myself scarce while you talk to her?’

  ‘Not in the least. She will probably feel more comfortable if you stay with her.’ Riley raised his hat to a man he knew who rode past them in the opposite direction, then placed it on the bench between himself and Amelia, feeling the benefit of its absence as the perspiration on his forehead dried a little. Already the park was starting to fill up with those eager to enjoy it before the heat became insufferable and drove them back indoors. ‘Did she seem worried at all when we asked for her permission to search Emily’s room?’

  ‘No. Just bewildered and a little lost.’

  ‘She knew we wouldn’t find what we were looking for. Your Mrs Ferguson is not the wilting violet she would have the world believe, but I can hardly badger her under the circumstances. She is covering something up, but I’m certain she didn’t kill her own daughter. Nor does she know who did.’

  ‘I agree.’

  Riley changed the subject. ‘Expect a visit from Ashton,’ he warned.

  Amelia looked surprised. ‘Why?’

  ‘He knows we are friends and will try and find out if you know anything about the investigation. Besides, he will be looking for an excuse to see you.’

  ‘Me?’ She widened her eyes behind her silly veil. ‘Good lord! Why?’

  ‘He all but told me that he has expectations, if you follow my meaning.’

  ‘All too well.’ She shuddered. ‘I thought he was over-attentive the other night, but didn’t make the connection. Thanks for the warning. Not that I would ever—’

  ‘I know that but he does not. You are a widow, so it follows that you cannot live without the attention you once had.’

  ‘Delicately put, my lord, but if Ashton pursues me he will soon learn differently.’

  ‘Good.’ Riley chuckled. ‘Don’t be gentle in your put-down.’

  ‘I can assure you that I won’t be.’

  Riley pulled his half hunter from his waistcoat pocket and checked the time. It was later than he’d realised. ‘I had best return Warrior and get to the Yard. But first, I have one more favour to ask of you.’

  Amelia shrugged. ‘Ask away.’

  ‘Have you been invited to Lady Bilton’s this evening?’

  ‘Yes, but I haven’t accepted. I thought Mary might need me.’

  ‘Ah.’

  ‘Oh, now I understand.’ Amelia smiled. ‘Your mother has reminded you of your social responsibilities. Again.’

  ‘Quite.’ Riley grimaced. ‘There was a three-line family whip awaiting me when I returned home last night. Mother, Martha and Sophia.’

  ‘I see. But surely you can use the case as an excuse—’

  ‘Ordinarily I would, but it’s to be Sophia’s first foray into society and she entreated me to show my face. She’s worried that no one will ask her to dance and so I have promised to stand up with her.’

  Amelia’s smile transmuted into musical laughter. ‘Your mother doesn’t miss a trick. Very well, Riley, if you are asking if you can escort me to save you from your mother’s machinations, then I will happily oblige. It is of course not very flattering to be invited as a decoy, but I have a certain sympathy with your plight and will overlook the insult.’

  ‘Has it occurred to you that I might be using my mother’s stratagem for my own advantage?’

  ‘Frankly, no.’ Amelia wouldn’t look at him. ‘I am aware that you wouldn’t be seen dead at Lady Bilton’s were it not for Sophia. Besides, if you secretly craved my company, there is nothing preventing you from asking me simply because you want to. You didn’t need to use your mother as an excuse. I do not expect anything from you other than friendship, and you have nothing to fear from me.’

  ‘I have offended you, for which I most humbly apologise,’ Riley said, appalled by his insensitivity. ‘It was not my intention.’

  ‘Maybe not, but I have agreed to accompany you, so you have got what you wanted.’ She stood abruptly and walked towards her horse. Riley rose a little too late, but still in time to help Amelia into the saddle. She turned Solitaire towards the park’s gate, but looked back down on him, aware that her height gave her an air of superiority over Riley, who stood before her holding his hat in his hands awkwardly. She offered him a chilly smile. ‘I will let you get on and see you later this morning, I expect.’

  Riley raised his hat and watched her ride away, still cursing himself for handling the situation so ineptly and hurting her feelings.

  He rode the short distance back to Sloane Street and the mews where he stabled Warrior and kept his carriage. He handed his horse to the groom on duty and returned to the house to change his attire and eat a quick breakfast.

  Less than an hour later he strode into his office at the Yard. Salter was already there and Riley told him he’d been right to assume that Ashton was hard up.

  ‘Do you plan to talk to him about that, sir?’ Salter asked, looking gratified to have got it right.

  ‘And suggest that he killed the girl to stop her accepting his son’s proposal?’ Riley shook his head. ‘Not without proof. It’s more than my career is worth.’

  ‘It’s possible though. That it happened that way, I mean. Terrance was clearly besotted and young men in love tend not to think of the practicalities. If that particular young man went against his father’s orders, said father might have done something drastic. I don’t doubt Ashton’s potential for a second.’

  ‘No more do I, Salter, but, as I say, we need to unearth some proof before we bandy unsubstantiated accusations around.’ Riley picked up his hat. ‘If we find no other leads, I may let you sweat Ashton a little. I rather think you’d enjoy it. Anyway, come on. We have a busy day ahead of us. We will see Peter Granville and Michael Leith first, the two other contenders for Emily’s affections, and see what they have to say for themselves. Then Gloria Dalton, followed by another interview with Mrs Ferguson.’ He explained that Amelia had agreed to have a furtive look for the missing diary. ‘That will take us until lunchtime at least, I should think. We’ll then go to the East End and see the dismissed valet and kitchen maid. And finally, we’ll talk to Emily’s music teacher.’

  ‘What do we know about Granville?’ Salter asked as the two detectives made their way to his lodges in Moon Street.

  ‘His father is a landowner of consequence in the West Country. Granville is a solicitor who deals with his father’s legal affairs and spends most of his time here in the capital, probably trying to avoid his mother’s efforts to marry him off to some worthy local girl.’

  ‘Speaking from experience, sir?’ Salter asked with a grin.

  ‘You have no idea, Jack. Anyway, here we are,’ he said as their cab pulled up in Moon Street. ‘Just bear in mind that Granville has legal training and if there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, he’ll be adept at covering it up.’

  ‘Warning noted,’ Salter said, staring up at the tall building that was Peter Granville’s abode.

  Riley and Salter caught Granville just as he had got out of his bed, as evidenced by tangled hair that stood up at angles and the fact that he was in shirtsleeves and stockinged feet. His eyes were bloodshot—from crying, Riley suspected, rather than overindulging the previous night.

  ‘Lord Riley,’ he said, emerging from a small sitting room when his man admitted them. ‘I was expecting you, although perhaps not quite so early.’

  He indicated chairs at a small table in front of an equally small window giving a view over an indifferent back garden and offered them refreshments. Both accepted and Granville’s man went off to make tea.

  ‘You were in love with her,’ Riley said by way of introduction.

  Granville lowered his head and didn’t deny it. ‘For all the good that it did me.’

  Riley thought that of the three men seeking Emily’s favour, Granville was th
e best proposition. He had an engaging manner and came from a wealthy family. Perhaps the tragedy of Emily’s death had saved one of them from an unhappy future. Emily might have married him, but her heart belonged to another. In Granville’s position, Riley wouldn’t be satisfied if the woman who agreed to marry him secretly hankered after another man—a situation that would show in little ways, resulting in dissatisfaction and eventual disillusionment for both parties.

  ‘Talk me through your activities after the musicale broke up,’ Riley invited, nodding his thanks when Granville’s man served him and Salter with tea.

  ‘We all walked outside with the ladies. Ashton, Leith and I were each trying to gain Emily’s attention, but I can’t say that any one of us succeeded. It was like…I don’t know how to describe it…’

  ‘Try.’

  ‘Well, she was there in body, but her mind was elsewhere. She was as sweet and charming as always, but distant. Then someone called to her. She thought it was her mother, so she excused herself and went back to the house.’

  ‘Alone?’

  ‘Yes. We all tried to go with her.’ He emitted a mirthless grunt. ‘Our competition for her favour was becoming less than civilised. We almost fell over each other in our haste to be beside her, and the resulting scuffle was undignified, to say the least. I think we must all have realised how ridiculous we looked and so backed off. But now I can’t stop wishing that one of us had insisted upon accompanying her back.’ He ran a hand abstractedly through his hair, leaving it standing up in spiky disorder. ‘It wouldn’t have mattered whom, it would have taken only one of use to save her. But none of us wanted to risk any of the others getting her alone. Anyway, we all tried to follow after her but she almost ran back, as though she couldn’t wait to get away from us.’

  ‘You think it may not have been her mother calling to her. Was she expecting someone else?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Possibly. She was certainly anxious to make her escape.’

  ‘Perhaps she grew weary of the three of you pestering her,’ Salter suggested.

  Granville dealt the sergeant a hard look. ‘Don’t think I haven’t already blamed myself a dozen times over.’

  ‘She was still alive when you went off to play billiards,’ Riley assured him. ‘She was seen.’

  ‘Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but it’s not working.’

  ‘Were you in the billiards room the entire time?’

  ‘None of us were,’ Granville replied with apparent honesty. But Riley knew he’d had ample opportunity to hone his story with Leith, and possibly with Ashton too, and that Riley would already know they hadn’t been together constantly. It was sensible to make that admission without having it coerced from him. ‘We took it in turns to play as there was an odd number of us, so one of us was always standing out. Lady Ashton doesn’t like people smoking in the house, so if we wanted to indulge we went outside. Besides, I think we all hoped to catch a glimpse of Emily alone, so we each wandered outside when we weren’t playing.’

  ‘Did any of you see her, or speak to her, after she left you in the gardens?’

  ‘I didn’t. If either of the others did, he hasn’t told me.’ Granville spread his hands. ‘Look, Lord Riley, I don’t expect you to believe me. I had an opportunity to kill her, I suppose, so you must view me as a suspect. All three of us had that opportunity, come to that, but we all adored her, and speaking personally I couldn’t have harmed her, no matter what.’ He looked desolate and suspiciously close to tears. ‘If she’d accepted one of the others I would have been devastated, but I would also have wished her joy because I cared most of all about her happiness. I would never have coerced her into marrying me against her will. No man wants a reluctant bride.’

  ‘You knew she had to marry for money?’ Salter asked.

  ‘We all assumed that was the case, which gave Ashton the edge. He was the wealthiest of us all and, I think, her mother’s preference.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’ Salter asked.

  ‘Oh, little things. I noticed her constantly talking to Ashton, and encouraging Emily to do likewise. A man in love observes things that others might not.’

  ‘Did you notice anything untoward during your solitary sojourn on the terrace?’ Riley asked. ‘Anyone lurking about who had no business being there.’

  Granville shook his head. ‘I can’t say that I did,’ he replied.

  Riley, satisfied that they would get nothing more from Granville, thanked him and left him to his misery.

  Leith’s lodgings were close by and the two detectives walked there, agreeing that Granville appeared genuinely upset by Emily’s demise and was an unlikely suspect.

  ‘But Ashton will argue that he had as much reason to kill Emily as Terrance did,’ Riley said in frustration.

  ‘As did Leith. What do we know about him, sir?’

  ‘His family lives in Leicestershire. His father’s the local JP. Leith, I think, is something to do with the theatre. We’ll ask him.’

  Their interview with Michael Leith was short but surprisingly revealing. He confirmed that he was the current manager of the Gaiety Theatre and that he held that position despite his family’s protestations.

  ‘They think it lowers the tone,’ Leith said with a casual shrug. ‘But I’m good at the work and I find it rewarding.’

  ‘Forgive me, but you don’t work for reasons of financial necessity?’ Riley asked.

  ‘No more than you do, I would imagine, Lord Riley. I have a generous allowance, it’s true, and there would be plenty to occupy me if I returned to the family seat in Leicestershire. But I find the country dull, and my mother wouldn’t tire in her efforts to marry me off. I much prefer the anonymity of the capital.’

  Riley understood. He didn’t need to work either but preferred to fill his time and challenge his intellect in pursuit of what, for the most part, was proving to be a rewarding career.

  ‘What did you do when you were not at the billiards table?’ Riley asked. ‘I understand the three of you took it in turns to stand out.’

  ‘I was alone on the terrace for a short time,’ he said. ‘I went outside to take the air, not to try and see Emily.’

  ‘You wanted to marry her?’ Salter said. ‘So why wouldn’t you—’

  ‘Actually, I did not.’

  Riley gave him his full attention. ‘I beg your pardon?’

  ‘It was all for show. Appearances and all that. The pater would cut me off without a penny if he knew the truth.’

  This startling revelation assured the young man of Riley’s undivided attention. ‘You prefer your own gender,’ Riley said calmly as the penny dropped.

  Leith’s head fell into his splayed hands. ‘I wish it were otherwise,’ he said in a whisper, dropping his voice and nodding towards the door behind which, presumably, his manservant lurked. Riley assumed he know nothing of his master’s preferences, implying that he didn’t entertain men friends at his lodgings. ‘God alone knows, I don’t want to be a deviant. I’ve fought the urge, you can have no idea, but it’s just too strong.’

  ‘You realise that by making that admission, you leave yourself open to prosecution,’ Riley told him softly. ‘Sodomy is against the law.’

  ‘You think I don’t know that?’ Leith turned haunted eyes upon Riley. ‘But I hope I can rely upon your discretion not to make this public. No one knows, you see, and I would prefer to keep it that way.’

  ‘I cannot see why I would need to mention it,’ Riley replied. ‘Thank you for your honesty. I hope it won’t be necessary to trouble you again.’

  ‘Well,’ Salter said as they left Leith’s lodgings, having established that Leith had seen nothing suspicious during his time on the terrace. ‘That’s an alibi that’s hard to question. I don’t think Leith is our man.’

  ‘Don’t you think he was a little too eager to confess to his supposed predilections?’

  Salter shot Riley a surprised look. ‘You don’t
think it was true, sir?’

  ‘I think that confiding in us was unnecessary. Unless he did kill Emily and believes we have evidence to support his guilt. We are policemen, Jack, sworn to arrest anyone we suspect of committing a crime. Leith just admitted to a crime that a lot of people find completely unacceptable. How could he be sure we wouldn’t do our duty and cart him off in handcuffs?’

  ‘Because he thought we would be too shocked to take any action,’ Salter said slowly. ‘Which we were. That confession took the wind right out of my sails, I can tell you.’

  ‘Precisely. And he assumes we are too consumed with investigating a murder that has to be handled with kid gloves to worry about his deviant behaviour.’

  ‘You still haven’t said if you believe him, sir.’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Riley conceded. ‘I interviewed him as a formality, not seriously supposing him to have committed the crime. But his willingness, eagerness almost, to admit to a predisposition that could ruin his life, see him estranged from his family and possibly gaoled seems rather extreme behaviour for an innocent man.’

  Salter shrugged. ‘Perhaps he feels guilty because he doesn’t want to be the way that he is but can’t help himself. They say confession is good for the soul.’ Salter pondered for a moment. ‘There’s another thing, sir. He admitted his preferences, but did not admit to acting upon them. An admission is not exactly a confession—and one of his best friends is a lawyer. I realise this is a distasteful matter but can we charge him without an admission of actual sodomy?’

  Riley grunted. ‘If he wants to confess, he should see a priest.’

  ‘What shall we do about him?’

  ‘Nothing for the time being. Let him stew. But if our other leads don’t turn up anything promising, we will take a closer look at Mr Michael Leith as a priority. There are certain things that need further investigation, I think…’ Riley sighed. ‘Very distasteful. But still, come along, Gloria Dalton lives in Chelsea. We’d best hail a cab.’

  The well-kept streets of Chelsea slumbered in the late morning heat. Nannies walked children under the shade cast by trees, a few delivery-boys took supplies to the servants’ entrances, but Riley knew that Chelsea would tolerate the heatwave by avoiding it as best they could. The smartly-dressed gentlemen in their tweed frock-coats, the ladies suffering in their throat-to-ankle linens and velvets would remain indoors until the heat of the day passed and it was time for their soirees and musicales.