A Death by Arson

by Caroline Dunford

  Ellie swallowed and nodded.

  ‘I take it your family was very poor? That you have made the best of yourself, but your brother…’

  ‘He never wanted to enter service,’ said Ellie in a quiet voice.

  ‘What did he want?’ asked Rory kindly.

  ‘To make his fortune,’ she said sadly. ‘He was always sure his luck would turn.’

  Luck. I thought suddenly of the tie-pin. A horseshoe could be a symbol for luck. But why would he be here? I willed Rory to follow my train of thought, but Rory was far, far ahead of me.

  ‘I assume he asked you to help him?’

  Ellie nodded, her head now bowed.

  ‘What did he ask you to do, Susie?’

  I noted the use of the past tense. I was on the edge of my seat now.

  ‘To tell him about where I worked,’ said Ellie, in a voice barely above a whisper.

  ‘To tell him what your employers owned?’

  Ellie nodded.

  ‘Susie, are you telling me your brother was a thief?’

  ‘I swear the first time he asked me I didn’t understand,’ said Ellie urgently. ‘I thought he was proud of me in my new position. I had no idea he would pass on what I told him to help his friends rob the house.’

  ‘But when it had happened once he told you that you were a criminal too?’

  The girl nodded again.

  ‘But, Susie, you weren’t. You say you helped him in innocence?’

  ‘Yes, but he told me the London gang he worked with wouldn’t see it like that,’ said Ellie. ‘He said they knew I was involved and if I told the police they would make sure I regretted it.’

  ‘London gang?’ asked Rory. ‘My dear, much as I want to believe you, I cannot see how a London gang would be working this far north. If you want me to think you innocent of…’

  ‘The Mullers were the target,’ said Ellie. ‘But when we learned he was putting in the electricity, we knew there would be too many people about for us to … to…’

  ‘But he followed you up here? You were meeting him? That was why you were in the wrong place so often?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ellie, choking on a sob. ‘When he heard I was going to a castle he thought this was his lucky chance. He thought he could get something expensive without the gang; that I would have access to jewels or something like that.’ She sighed heavily. ‘He always was the chancer.’

  ‘So what did you do, sweetheart?’

  I held my breath. Was using that term of endearment not going too far?

  This time Ellie did manage to pull her hands away and step back. ‘Do?’ she asked in a firmer voice.

  Rory took a pace forward. It was like watching some kind of odd dance. ‘It was meant to be a distraction, wasn’t it?’ he said, still using a gentle voice. ‘I don’t believe you meant to hurt anyone.’

  ‘What?’ said Ellie in a harsh voice.

  ‘Which one of you set the fire?’ asked Rory. ‘You can tell me, Susie. You can trust me.’

  ‘Is that what you think of me? That I would endanger a child or let him endanger a child for the sake of – of riches I don’t even believe exist?’ Her voice rose higher. ‘You think we set the fire!’

  ‘Susie, tell me where your brother is and I will help you sort all this out,’ said Rory. ‘I can see you have been used, and I…’

  ‘He’s dead,’ said Ellie flatly. ‘It was his body they found in the outbuilding.’

  I had understood this a few moments ago, but Rory, who I had assumed was thinking along the same lines as me, appeared somewhat thrown.

  ‘Dead,’ he echoed blankly. ‘But then … who?’

  ‘This was all about trying to get me to confess, wasn’t it?’ said Ellie. ‘Trying to make a good impression on Sir Richard, are you? Looking to move up in the world at my expense? Pretending you care for me. Why, you’re no better than he was!’

  ‘I am sorry for your loss,’ said Rory, but he was clearly still reeling from what she had told him. ‘You must be devastated.’

  ‘And stupid. Stupid to think any man would look out for anyone other than himself. You might have got my story out of me, Rory McLeod, but if you breathe a word to anyone I shall deny everything. Why, I shall say you made inappropriate advances to me and, when I refused you, you wanted revenge. You already have quite a reputation below stairs. Shall we see who shall be believed?’

  I stepped down from my seat. ‘Unfortunately, Miss Ellis, every word you said I overheard.’

  Ellie looked from one of us to the other. Her face contorted in anger. ‘Don’t you see he’s using you, too? Men are all alike and he’s –’

  ‘I think that is quite enough,’ I said. I rang the bell. ‘I think the best thing for you will be to tell the Chief Inspector everything you have told Mr McLeod. If it helps him solve the mystery of the fire, I expect he will take into consideration that you were coerced into helping your brother. We will both speak for you. Considering your recent loss, it may be that he will be kind enough to ensure no charges are pressed. Your best chance now is to cooperate.’

  All at once, the fight seemed to go out of her and Ellie sank down onto a chair. ‘What will become of me?’ she said in a low voice. ‘No one will employ me now.’

  ‘You should have –’ began Rory, but I shushed him. I understood in a way he could not how difficult it was for a woman, without money or a family to support her, to make her way in the world.

  When a servant answered the bell I bade him summon the sergeant, who came and took Ellie away. I stopped Rory from following. ‘It really will go better for her if she owns up,’ I said. ‘You surprised me here. You were quite the interrogator.’

  ‘By holding her hands,’ said Rory, ‘it was easier to tell what she was feeling and when she was lying.’

  ‘That is despicable,’ I said.

  Rory shrugged. ‘It was your friend, Fitzroy, who showed me the trick. You appear to have no problems with him.’

  ‘He works for King and Country,’ I protested.

  ‘And we are trying to act for justice,’ said Rory. ‘Is that not an equally noble motive?’

  ‘You are not like Fitzroy,’ I cried. Unexpectedly, my eyes brimmed with tears.

  * * *

  23All theoretical, I should add.

  24Excellent hearing being a prerequisite for a good butler, for knowing which rooms not to enter.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Secrets uncovered

  I did not expect to get to bed at a reasonable time that night. I waited up for the Chief Inspector’s summons. He struck me as a man who did not retire early when involved on a case and I was right. He saw me alone, without his sergeant and without Rory.

  ‘I believe I may owe you an apology, Miss St John,’ were his opening words.

  ‘Indeed,’ I said. I had no intention of making it easy for him.

  ‘I have been able to contact various agencies down south and I have been told that not only should I disregard your previous arrest, but that I should treat anything you tell me with the most serious consideration. It seems you are known to people further up the food chain than myself and that they think highly of you.’ He paused. I got the impression he was looking to me to explain this remarkable communication.

  ‘I am afraid I cannot talk about it,’ I said with vast satisfaction.

  The Chief Inspector struggled not to look impressed. ‘So do you believe that Susie Ellis set the fire, with or without the aid of her brother?’

  ‘You mean she might have been looking to rid herself of him as a burden?’ I asked thoughtfully. ‘I suppose it would have been a good opportunity to do so. No one knew them up here and it would explain why everything went so wrong. It would hardly have been something she was able to plan. I suppose you have ruled out the possibility that this fire was an accident entirely?’

  ‘Stapleford got some specialist chappie on site who reckons he can pinpoint where the fire took hold. It certainly seems deliberate.’

&nbs
p; ‘It would seem a little cold to attempt to burn your brother to death.’

  ‘It was the smoke that did it for him,’ said Stewart. ‘And in my experience, miss, murderers don’t tend to be of the caring type.’

  I gave him a swift smile. ‘Women, I believe, prefer to murder at a distance – poison and the like. But in this case, I think Susie Ellis was completely under the sway of her brother. If she had turned on him, I would expect it to be something both sudden and unsuccessful. Besides, she made a strong point of how she would never endanger a child and I believe that. Frankly, I do not think she has the imagination to think of murdering her brother.’

  The Chief Inspector raised an eyebrow. ‘I am inclined to agree with you,’ he said. ‘I doubt we will ever be able to rule out the possibility of her brother attempting to set the fire to set up a diversion so he could rob the building. I have questioned her closely and she believes she had been able to withstand giving her brother the evidence he needed to move ahead with the robbery.’

  ‘But he could have taken a chance anyway.’

  Stewart nodded.

  ‘He could, but we can hardly ask him.’

  ‘And it does not solve the mystery of the previous fire nor of the body in the wall – if there is any link between them.’

  ‘I pulled the report from the time and there was nothing to suggest that the previous fire was anything other than an accident. All in all, it was fortunate there were no fatalities It was suggested that either a fire had been left unquenched, sparking and causing a rug to catch light, or that a discarded cigar had done the job. Whatever it was, the fire started in the servants’ quarters.25’

  ‘And thus no apparent motive for setting another fire?’

  ‘If it was not Ellis’ brother – real name Archibald Timpkins, by the way – then the only obvious motive would be to deter Stapleford from developing that block further. A move that backfired.’

  ‘You mean someone who knew about the body in the wall and was attempting to ensure it was not found?’

  ‘Exactly, Miss St John. You are a very insightful young lady. Can I politely suggest that you take care. If we are dealing with the second situation I would ask you to bring anything you uncover straight to me, rather than trying to investigate it yourself. I do not doubt your intellect but, in my experience, people who are seeking to protect old secrets are not only uncommonly devious, they are uncommonly ruthless. This old secret, whatever it is, has been kept for many years, and I am certain whoever is holding it will not hesitate to protect that silence in any way he or she can.’

  At this point, I considered telling him about the story of the Wailing Nanny. If only I had, perhaps things might have ended entirely differently.

  I returned to the small sitting room, which had become our base. I explained, with help from Rory, what had happened with Ellie and about my interview with the Chief Inspector to Richenda, Hans and Bertram. Rory skimmed over what was actually said between him and Ellie, and I did not fill this in. I also did not comment on the Chief Inspector’s findings about myself. Bertram and Rory had also signed the Official Secrets Act, and Richenda was aware the three of us got up to things at times, but Hans was entirely in the dark about it all.

  ‘I have only to add to this that I spoke to Stone while you were away,’ said Hans. ‘On your instructions he sent urgent telegrams to all the references on Mrs Ellis’ letter. No one had heard of her.’

  ‘But you spoke to one of them,’ protested Richenda.

  ‘I asked the operator for a number I was given, and assumed the person on the other end was the correct reference. It was undoubtedly an accomplice of her brother. The level of wickedness is quite astounding,’ said Hans.26

  ‘So it’s possible the brother set the fire?’ asked Bertram in a disappointed voice. ‘I was hoping there was more to it than that.’ Hans gave him an odd look.

  Richenda patted her half-brother’s knee. ‘Enid is going to ask her grandmother to call on me tomorrow. It may be that there are other stories to unearth. We still have no idea who the body in the wall is.’

  Bertram visibly brightened. ‘Oh, good. Still something to work on.’

  Hans looked slowly around the room. ‘You are all quite mad,’ he said.

  * * *

  25In other words, either the housekeeper or the butler would be held to blame.

  26Secretly I wondered what he would think of the levels of wickedness I had previously encountered. To me it seemed forging a reference with a view to gathering information for a robbery was quite mild. I did, sensibly, keep these thoughts to myself.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  An unhappy parting

  The next morning, when Enid drew back the curtains, light flooded through the window in a strange eerie softness. I sat up in bed, yawning, for I had not slept well.

  ‘Has it snowed, Enid?’ I asked.

  ‘Just a wee drop.’

  I got up, wrapping my robe around me and went to the window. Far below me, one of the gardeners or odd job men was pulling burnt wood out of the ashy ruins that had been designed as the new stable block. Every time he took a step the snow rose to the top of his wellingtons. ‘It must be eight or ten inches,’ I said.

  ‘Aye, a wee drop,’ said Enid.

  ‘I take it your grandmother will not be joining us today?’

  ‘She’ll take her time,’ said the maid. ‘I don’t think she’ll get Grandpa out to drive the dog cart. He has a bad chest, you see. She’ll probably walk up. It’s only a mile or so. And it’s not like she will be carrying anything.’

  ‘Make sure she has a hot cup of tea and a rest before she comes up to Mrs Muller,’ was all I could think to say. I knew people were hardy in this part of the world, but even I, in my twenties, would not fancy the idea of trudging a mile in snow that deep.

  ‘Depends what you are used to,’ was Rory’s opinion when I managed to catch a word en route to the breakfast.

  ‘How are they taking Ellie’s arrest below stairs?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s all very exciting for them,’ said Rory. ‘All very interesting now it’s nothing to do with the locals.’

  ‘No sense from anyone that there is more to the story?’

  Rory shrugged. ‘I think they are all happy to see what they think is the back of the business.’

  ‘But what about the other body?’

  ‘No one is talking about that,’ said Rory. ‘It’s all that Sassenach maid; knew she were wrong and things like that. Seems others had noticed her wanderings and the way she kept apart from the other staff, to be honest like most nursery maids would, is now seen as a sign of her guilt.’

  ‘I think it’s very odd none of them are talking about the body in the wall. Very suspicious. How’s Mrs Lewis?’

  ‘In a bit of a daze. Cook had to ask her twice for today’s menus.’

  ‘They’re not giving you a hard time, are they?’

  Rory grinned, his translucent green eyes lighting up, ‘Why should they? I’m one of their own, after all.’ As he said this in a ridiculously refined accent rather than his own Scottish lilt I had to laugh. ‘You’d better go into breakfast before people see you dallying with the handsome valet,’ he said.

  I gave him a grin and crossed the threshold in good humour. The spread set out on the buffets was vast and the table to seat us all equally so. As usual, the married women had stayed to have breakfast in bed. A small cluster of financiers huddled together attacking their sausages and bemoaning whether they would be able to get out of this ‘snow-bound hell hole’. At the far end of the table sat Bertram, staring mournfully at two carefully filleted kippers. I gathered a plate of scrambled eggs, two kidneys and three rashers of bacon, intending to sit down beside him.

  A hand on my shoulder stopped me and a voice spoke close to my ear. ‘I hear you have wound the Inspector around your little finger as usual, Euphemia,’ said Richard Stapleford. ‘He may be convinced of your innocence, but I am sure there will be others who will
begin to notice that wherever you go, trouble follows.’

  ‘How lovely to see you, Sir Richard,’ I said loudly. ‘I trust your wife is well?’

  Richard kept his voice low. ‘Oh, she is proving most satisfactory. Surprisingly, she has confessed to me she had qualms about our marriage and that you persuaded her to go forward with it.’ He smiled broadly at me, but his low voice was tinged with menace. ‘Do not think for a moment that this would make me look favourably on your marriage to my step-brother.’

  ‘Bertram?’ I said, astonished.

  ‘I know full well you have Muller in the palm of your hand – and in your bed, too. But Richenda is giving him an heir and even your charms cannot compete with that. Be aware that if you turn your greedy eyes towards Bertram, I will ensure, with the utmost finality, that your wedding will never come to pass.’

  ‘You are despicable, I said softly. Then more loudly, I said, ‘I will not keep you from her a moment longer.’ And I strode over to Bertram and sat down. I could feel myself trembling from head to toe.

  ‘Hello, Euphemia,’ he said dully. ‘You look like you have a fine appetite.’

  ‘It’s the cold,’ I said, struggling to appear normal. I could feel Richard’s gaze on the back of my head. ‘It might be roaringly warm in front of the fires, but more than two feet away and it’s freezing. As for the passages, it is as if they play host to very windy ghosts.’

  ‘People who died of indigestion?’ asked Bertram.

  ‘Such a boyish sense of humour.’ Hans sat down beside him. ‘Despite the snow, Mrs Andrews, Enid’s grandmother, has arrived. I inferred from her hostile looks that it is not the place of a husband to take breakfast with his wife, nor to listen in to the gossip among the womenfolk.’

  ‘By “gossip” you mean “vital exchange of information”,’ I said with a smile.

  ‘Yes, I wouldn’t tell Richenda you think she gossips,’ said Bertram. ‘She’d be very cross.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ said Hans. ‘She would be delighted I was implying she has plenty of friends to gossip among.’