The Body in the Box Room

by L. A. Nisula

  “That’s right.”

  “I’ve been there three times myself. No one remembers you.” I gave Nora the same glare I often gave Milly when discussing her gentlemen callers as I asked, “Where were you really that afternoon?”

  Nora stared at me for a moment. I could see her considering how to answer. I glared harder so she would know I wasn’t going to put up with another lie. She sniffed a little then answered, “All right, all right. I lied. I’ve been lying for months. I don’t go to the tea shop. I go to the Imperial and use the money to see the matinee show.”

  That explained why she told Inspector Wainwright she used the name “Smythe”; it made the story almost impossible to prove or disprove. If I hadn’t been so annoyed, I would have been impressed with the ingeniousness of it. As it was, I sighed and asked, “Why didn’t you just say so? Inspector Wainwright is wasting all sorts of time trying to prove where you were so he can clear you.”

  “But if the missus finds out...”

  “That will be the end of your holidays. You still need to tell Inspector Wainwright so he can verify it and clear you.” And get on to investigating something that would clear Milly, but I didn’t think that would motivate her as much as self-preservation. “If he discovers you weren’t at the tea shop on his own, it’s going to make him suspicious.”

  “But the missus....”

  “Maybe he won’t have to tell her.” I didn’t think Inspector Wainwright would go out of his way to inform any of the suspects of anything. He certainly never did for me. “In any case, you have to tell him where you were before he finds out you lied on his own. It will go better for you if he hears it from you directly.”

  “I’ll consider it. Did you want to see the mistress?”

  I could tell she was trying to change the subject and had no intention of telling Inspector Wainwright where she’d been. If it hadn’t been for Milly I might have given her a chance to think about it, but under the circumstances, I didn’t think I had the time. “No need to bother her. I hope you make the right decision on Inspector Wainwright.” I turned and made my way back to the street.

  At least I had a start on Nora’s real alibi, unless she was lying again, but I hadn’t made any progress on the men in the fight. I looked around, but there were no cab stands nearby. That would have been too simple. The cab driver would have seen the two men and would know what the argument was about. It was possible they weren’t involved in anything and had simply wanted a quiet place to stop the bleeding, but it did seem odd. I started for the Underground station wondering if I should take that bit of information to Inspector Wainwright along with Nora’s new alibi. He would have ways of finding the cab, I was certain, but would he listen: that was the question.

  As I consulted the Underground map to find my way home, I noticed that I could pass quite near the Imperial Theater with very little trouble. It wouldn’t hurt to stop and see if I could verify Nora’s new alibi. If it did prove important to Milly’s case, I doubted Inspector Wainwright would share his findings with me.

  When I arrived at the station, I realized I should have asked Nora what was playing when she was there. It would have been a simple way to know if she had at least been to the theater on the correct Wednesday. Still, I could get a look at the theater, time how long it took to walk there—I’d already timed how long the Underground took—and see what show might have been playing and how long it lasted. It would help me get an idea of when she had gotten home that day and what time periods were unaccounted for. Surely she would have heard Miss Hayes breaking in, so both the break-in and the murder must have occurred before she returned home. I glanced at my watch to note the time and started walking.

  As I approached the Imperial Theater, I noticed a sign set-up on the pavement. “Tickets exchanged here for make-up performance” with an arrow directing people to the far window. That seemed curious. No one was in line, so I went to the indicated ticket window.

  The man seated behind the glass didn’t look up as I approached. “Do you have the old tickets, miss?”

  “I wasn’t here, I was just wondering the make-up performance was for. My friend...” That was always a good excuse for needing information without knowing what it was about.

  “From last Wednesday when the water pipe broke.”

  “The water pipe?”

  “For the steam engine that runs the effects. Flooded the stage. We couldn’t do the show. If she was here that day, tell her to bring the ticket with the date on it, and we’ll exchange it.”

  “I see. Thank you. I’ll let her know.”

  A flooded stage. So Nora hadn’t been at the Imperial either. Really, Inspector Wainwright should be pleased that I had saved him the bother of checking out that lie, although I had the feeling he’d prefer to be annoyed that I hadn’t brought it straight to him. Nora had some more explaining to do, though. I marched back over to the Underground and retraced my steps back to Rusham Street.

  When I arrived at Rusham Street, I fully intended to go to the front door and demand to see Nora, letting Mrs. Fetherton know that her maid was not using the money for tea and serving lessons as intended and had lied about it twice, but that would mean I’d need to explain to Mrs. Fetherton why I was there again, and after she all but threw me out over the window examination, I didn’t want to risk her wrath again, in case I did need access to the box room one more time. Besides, I didn’t have any news from Kate, and I didn’t want to tell Mrs. Fetherton that my friend hadn’t been able to figure out how the window lock had been breached, even if the lock’s own maker couldn’t do the same. So Nora was lucky as I made my way along the side of the house again and down the back stairs to the kitchen door.

  When Nora opened the door, I could tell from her expression—which must have been similar to the one she gave Inspector Wainwright on his visits—that she did not immediately appreciate my more-favorable-than-planned appearance.

  “If she sees you’re here again, I’m going to be in so much trouble, miss.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself. It didn’t work. “If you would have told me the truth to begin with, I wouldn’t have to be here again! Now, there are two options: you can either tell me exactly what happened the day Miss Hayes was found dead in your house, or I can go to Inspector Wainwright and tell him I know you were lying, twice. He will think it is suspicious that you don’t want to tell us where you were, as he should, and will come here, either to arrest you or to question you. And he won’t sneak down the tradesman’s stairs. Now, are you going to tell me the truth about where you were or not?”

  Apparently I could look quite fierce when properly aroused. At least Nora gave me the same sort of look she gave her mistress and sobbed out, “I was here. I went out, but I knew she was going out too, so I came back.”

  “And why didn’t you just tell me that instead of lying about the Imperial?”

  “Because I wasn’t here alone.”

  I sighed. I had suspected something like that. “What’s his name?”

  “Do I have...”

  “Yes,” I snapped. “I’ve wasted time—time my cousin has been sitting in jail—sorting out your lies. A woman is dead. Now tell me everything, or you can tell Inspector Wainwright. Don’t think he won’t track you down.” Of course she’d have to repeat all of it to him when I sent him over to get her official statement, but I considered that just punishment for wasting my time.

  Nora tried looking hurt and near tears. I continued to glare. It was the same trick Milly used when she wanted to convince me to do what she wanted. Nora finally gave up. “Jacob Graham.”

  If Nora used Milly’s tricks, maybe some of the ones that worked on Milly would work on her too. “And how did you get involved with this wastrel?”

  Nora leapt to his defense. “He is not a wastrel. He has a proper job at Sternwell Financial. He even has business cards. He gave me one.”

  “And was last week the first time you brought him here?”

  �
�It was...” She saw I wasn’t backing down and slumped in defeat. “...n’t, no, it wasn’t. We have gone to the Imperial once or twice, and the park. But she said she was going visiting, and she had her large handbag, so I knew she’d be gone for a while, so I suggested we come here.”

  I sighed. “Did you ever go to the tea shop?”

  “When she started to give me the money. But it’s such a boring place. They’re all about a hundred. Then I had the idea to go someplace fun with the money, but before I could start, I met Jacob and we started coming here.”

  “So you’re here every week?”

  “Almost.”

  “And when did you meet him?”

  “Three months ago, at the Laughing Goat. He was sitting at the bar, and I was at a table with some friends, and he waited until I was leaving and stopped to talk to me.” She seemed very excited about telling this story.

  “Who knew about these meetings?”

  “I haven’t told anyone.”

  “None of your friends? No one?”

  She shook her head. “I was afraid it would get back to Mrs. Fetherton.”

  “And him?”

  “He wouldn’t tell a soul.”

  I doubted that, but I doubted saying that would get me anywhere. “And what actually happened the day Miss Hayes died?”

  Nora burst into tears. “It’s all my fault!”

  I sighed. It was getting worse than talking to Milly. Really, Inspector Wainwright should reward me for sorting through all of this for him and saving him the dealing with the lying and the bouts of hysteria. “Begin at the beginning, please.”

  “Like I said, I knew she was going out visiting, so we thought we’d just come here instead, and have a nice visit. We were looking for some refreshments...” She looked at me to see if I was believing the story so far. She saw I wasn’t, so she went on, “and Mrs. Fetherton keeps a good bottle of gin in the box-room cupboard.”

  That I believed.

  “And the lock is easy to open with a hairpin.”

  Clearly, I needed to invest in more hairpins.

  “We were just going to borrow a little, but then she came back early.”

  I could hear the start of another crying spurt coming on, so I distracted her before she could get started. “I see. So how is it your fault?”

  “Well, we had to get out before she saw us, and then she’d know I wasn’t going out to tea and that we’d taken the gin, so we climbed out of the window in the box room and ran through the yards to the high street and went to the pub until it was time for me to go back. And I couldn’t lock the window from the outside, and that’s how the girl got in. If we hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have been there.”

  I rubbed my forehead. Kate had said the window had to have been unlocked from the inside, and it seemed that it had been. “She probably would have found another way in. Did you see her when you were running away?”

  “No, miss.”

  And she hadn’t been there when they went out the window. Surely they would have noticed stepping over a dead body. So she had arrived some time after they left. That made sense. If they left before the storm and she came after, it would explain why there was only one set of footprints in the snow. But if they left because Mrs. Fetherton was at home, why hadn’t she heard Miss Hayes entering, or the murder for that matter? “You said she came home earlier than you expected?”

  “Yes, miss. She doesn’t visit all afternoon. When she has her big handbag, she goes for most of it. If it’s the small one, she only goes out for half an hour. I almost got caught twice before I figured that one out.”

  “Why the two bags?”

  “I don’t know. They’re both usually empty when she puts them away. Maybe she steals biscuits at one of the houses?”

  “I suppose.” But why didn’t she tell Inspector Wainwright she’d been home? Or had she? I realized I had to go and see him sooner rather than later. If he didn’t have this information, he should. “Tell me about this Mr. Graham.”

  “He couldn’t have anything to do with this. I’m sure you see he couldn’t have been involved. He didn’t know Miss Hayes.”

  “Nora, everyone in this case has said they don’t know Miss Hayes, and then I find out that they did.”

  “But if you’d talk to him, then you’d see.”

  “I’m sure Inspector Wainwright…”

  “I don’t trust him one bit. Here’s Jacob’s card. Just go and meet him. You’ll see he couldn’t possibly be involved. Please, just go hear his side of it.”

  I sighed and took the card. It would help Inspector Wainwright find him, in any case.

  Nora seemed pleased that I had taken it. “You’ll hear him out, then.”

  “All right, Nora, I’ll try to see him, but I’ll have to tell Inspector Wainwright all of this.”

  “I know. Do you think you could ask him to not tell Mrs. Fetherton?”

  “I’ll see.” I didn’t think there was any reason for him to, but I was too annoyed to tell her that.

  “I’d be ever so grateful.” She was using the same voice Milly did when she was trying to get me to do something against my better judgment. I harrumphed at her and went back to the street to find a cab.

  Since I had more or less told Nora I would at least give Mr. Graham a chance to tell me his version of events, I gave the driver the address on the card she’d given me. The driver gave me a look that seemed to say if that’s what you really want as he nodded me inside.

  When I saw the premises of Sternwell Financial, I understood why the cab driver had looked so dubious. While it might have sounded like an accounting firm or a bank, it was a warehouse that was clearly some sort of front for criminal activity, complete with a look-out stationed at the door. I still hadn’t recovered my temper from my talk with Nora, so I decided to use that to my advantage and told the driver to wait. He looked dubious, but I walked away before he could ask for his fare, meaning he had to wait if he wanted to get paid.

  I went up to the man standing at the door. “I’m looking for Jacob Graham.”

  “And why do you want to find him?”

  As I didn’t want to damage Inspector Wainwright’s chances of finding Jacob Graham and I wasn’t in the mood to think things through, I decided that was more than enough effort to fulfill my promise to Nora and gave the man what felt like a rather nasty smile and said, “Absolutely none of your concern,” then flounced off. Hearing a woman had been looking for him hopefully would not scare off Mr. Graham. If Nora’s taste in men was anything like Milly’s, it would probably flatter and intrigue him.

  The man laughed and called after me, “Jacob Graham. Lives at 59 Clink Street, third-floor flat.”

  “Thank you.” I walked away before he could ask who I was.

  The cab driver was waiting where I left him and not looking pleased about it. I was in no mood to deal with Nora’s Mr. Graham or him, so I snapped, “Scotland Yard,” and climbed in. No one ever argued with being told to go to Scotland Yard.

  Chapter 12

  WHEN I MADE IT UP to the detective’s floor—Constable Kittering, who was just leaving, took one look at my expression, and let me through the employee entrance—Inspector Wainwright wasn’t at his desk, so I sat at the typewriter in the main office and typed out a summary of everything I had done that afternoon. Seeing it in neat black letters did nothing for my temper, so I added an accounting of everything he owed me for cab fare, food, and bribes to the end of the account. Then I stuffed the whole thing into an envelope, left it on his desk, and went home.

  ~*~*~

  The next morning, I sipped my tea and considered my next move. I believed the final story Nora had told me which meant she had been out of the house before Miss Hayes arrived, and I had no interest in meeting Mr. Graham, so I was leaving that entire line of investigating to Inspector Wainwright. I doubted he’d be appreciative, though, even if it was what he wanted me to do. Mrs. Fetherton hadn’t been out visiting as long as she’d said, but
then she had never really given me an alibi, and I doubted she would now, so that was another one to be left to Inspector Wainwright. So what did that leave me? If Milly hadn’t been sitting in prison, I might very well have decided the whole mess was Inspector Wainwright’s and he was welcome to it, but her arrest did seem to drag me into it. I was considering how I could find out where she had been and prove her alibi —I was certain she wouldn’t tell me the truth anymore than Nora had while she still wanted her confession to hold and force my hand—when the bell on the pneumatic tube rang. I was beginning to dread that sound.

  I looked in the tube, quite certain I was not going to like the card I found there. I was right. Randall Fetherton. I sighed and seriously considered ignoring him. Of course, then he would probably try his trick of throwing stones at my window, and I didn’t trust his aim. I looked down at the card, thinking I probably ought to go down. Then I noticed it was smudged with ink. I turned it over and saw Randall had written “Emergency!!! Urgent!!!” on the back. I had the feeling Randall wrote that sort of thing often, but considering his mother had had a dead body in her storage room and Milly had been arrested, it seemed prudent to check. I still didn’t want to entertain him in my flat, so I got my hat and coat and went downstairs. We could go for a little walk in the gardens, where I could escape if the need arose.

  I found Randall standing on the front step, staring at the messaging tube as if he weren’t quite certain what to do next. He looked up when he heard the door open. “Miss Pengear! Were you going out? I was just looking for you.”

  I put the copper tube back in its holder by the door. “I saw your card. I thought we could walk in the park, and you could tell me why you’ve come.”

  “The cemetery one? I suppose. I mean, I do need to talk to you.”

  I nodded and started down the street. Randall hurried to catch up, which he managed as I was waiting to cross the street. When he was close enough to speak without shouting, I asked, “You said there was something urgent?”