by Abigail Agar
“Whoever it was, they vanished. Of course, I failed to turn around right away. I was too frightened. I do not know if they were disguised or shrouded, but I felt fabric at the back of my neck. So, soon enough, they were gone,” she said.
“And then what happened?” Inspector Brock asked.
“I ran. I ran from the home as quickly as I could. I went to my room only to get the little bit of money that I had and a couple of small items. But, after that, I was gone,” she said.
“And there was nothing to suggest who it was?” Inspector Brock asked.
“Nothing, but I do suspect that it was someone from the Reid family. It could only be so,” she said.
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Whoever it was, they were larger than the other two maids. Besides, as I said, whoever it was said that I could do damage to their family,” she said.
Georgiana listened, a sick feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t believe that any of this was possible. It was too awful to think that someone in her family could be responsible for these things.
And yet, all of the evidence pointed towards that very thing.
Inspector Brock wrote down what Rachel was saying, nodding to Sergeant Miller to do the same. She didn’t like it, but she had known that she wouldn’t. Whatever Rachel had seen and heard, or rather, what she had not seen, whomever it was, there was obvious cause for concern.
Inspector Brock shared a look with his Sergeant and Georgiana eyed them as they did so, wondering what they could possibly be trying to communicate with one another. Was it a mutual suspicion? Was it curiosity regarding Rachel?
Did they suspect that she was still holding back or did they even believe Georgiana to be responsible?
Whatever it was, it broke her heart to think her family was capable of any of this.
“I must ask you, is there one you suspect more than the others?” Inspector Brock asked.
Rachel winced. Georgiana certainly didn’t want to know. The answer frightened her. Who in her family could it possibly have been? And why?
“If I may be honest…” Rachel began.
“Please, I would prefer it,” Inspector Brock said, flashing a frustratingly handsome grin.
“It could be any of them. Aside from Miss Georgiana, of course,” she said.
Inspector Brock turned to Georgiana and chewed his lip, eyeing her intently.
His gaze lingered for a moment longer than Georgiana expected and she very nearly shivered under it, wondering why he would stare at her like that for so long. What did he expect from her? Did he think she would break down and confess to being the culprit?
She had nothing to do with any of it, and yet, she realised that he was investigating her. Even despite Rachel’s statement.
He took a deep breath and turned back to Rachel.
“Now, forgive me, but I must ask you why. Why are you so certain that it was not Miss Georgiana?” he asked.
Georgiana’s pulse quickened and she looked between him and Rachel in a rapid movement.
“Why? Well, for one, she is a dear friend. She would never do something like that,” Rachel said.
Inspector Brock looked somewhat pityingly at Rachel.
“That is a very kind sentiment, but friends hurt one another all the time. I fear that it is no evidence. And we are seeking evidence,” he said.
“Then I hope that it is acceptable to you that I tell you she is exempt from my suspicion for another reason. Just as Mrs. Buckley and Sarah are too slight to have been the guilty party, so is Miss Georgiana. She is smaller than I am,” Rachel said.
Inspector Brock looked at Georgiana and then back at Rachel, as if curious. His narrowed eyes towards Georgiana told her that he was weighing whether or not she may have intimidated Rachel into saying this.
“Is that so?” he asked.
“Indeed. Moreover, Miss Georgiana does not have the strength that would have been required to have grabbed hold of me. She is a very petite young woman. Not like whomever it was who attacked me,” Rachel said.
“I see…that is very interesting. So, you are quite certain that Miss Georgiana is not the one who came after you. Nevertheless, I am quite curious. After all, we do know that someone did. Correct?” he asked.
“Yes,” Rachel said.
“There is no chance that this is something you have made up? You were sent away?” he asked.
Rachel leaned back, offended.
“I beg your pardon?” she demanded in anger.
“There is no reason to be upset. I only ask because I am trying to ensure that I have a clear understanding of the proceedings,” he said.
“Now, see here,” Georgiana said, finally unable to sit back and remain quiet. “Rachel has told you what happened. She is not a dishonest woman by any means. If you are incapable of investigating matters, that is entirely your own fault, not hers.”
He looked…amused?
“Goodness. It appears you still have quite a bit of spirit in you, Miss Reid,” he said.
“I do, indeed. And I do not care for the way you are treating us as foolish young ladies who have nothing better to do than to take up your time. Rachel is here because she was threatened. If you are unwilling to do your duty as an investigator, I suppose you really are quite worthless,” she scolded him.
Inspector Brock narrowed his eyes.
“Miss Reid, you are correct in that I am not doing my duty. My duty is to catch criminals and solve cases. As it happens, there is no longer any case here. Your missing maid was found. Any time that I am now giving you is of my own free will,” he said.
“But she was threatened,” Georgiana said.
“So she claims. And a threat is not evidence of a crime. All it means is that someone did not want the maid spying on the house. You have still given me no evidence whatsoever of a crime being committed, and yet, I have remained here, listening,” he said.
Georgiana had nothing to say to that. He was right. He was an investigator but there was really nothing for him to investigate aside from a maid being told to leave the home of her employer.
“So? Does that mean you are going to throw us out, then?” Georgiana asked.
Rachel looked frightened by the idea, frightened that she would not be heard.
Inspector Brock glanced at Sergeant Miller before placing his hands in a pyramid under his chin.
“I will not. As it happens, your lack of crime is more exciting to me than charging a young, starving boy with the theft of bread. I confess that I am intrigued by whatever it was that has happened,” he said, surprising Georgiana.
“Oh, thank you, sir,” Rachel said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Do not thank me just yet. I am intrigued, but I am also aware that, should anything more important come up, I will have to drop your case. Not only that, but this all may come to nothing,” he said in warning.
“But you will hear her out?” Georgiana asked.
“I shall. On the condition that the both of you stop preventing me from doing a full and proper investigation, I shall hear her out. Hear me, however. You will not be allowed to question or dispute what I ask you, what I am concerned by. I will not accept any protestations against my inquiries. Even if that means that I am questioning whether or not the complaint itself is genuine,” he said.
“I understand,” Rachel said, nodding in relief. “You may ask me anything.”
He looked at Rachel intently and Georgiana’s gut wrenched, suddenly ill before Inspector Brock spoke.
“Very well, then. I shall. And, to begin with, I would like to know any reason for which the family might want you gone.”
Chapter 12
Hamish waited patiently. He could see her hesitation. He could see that Miss Smithfield did not want to answer his question in front of Miss Georgiana Reid. Nevertheless, he believed she understood what he had said.
If he was going to take her seriously, if he was going to allow her the use of his time, then he was allowed to have
a say in what was said and done. He was going to ask questions as he wished.
“Shall I repeat my question?” he asked.
“No, there is no need. I understand perfectly well,” she said.
“Excellent. So what do you know of this family?” he asked.
Hamish glanced over at John, nodding for him to take notes. Just as he had been writing everything down, he wanted John to as well. That way, they could be certain that they had an accurate account between the two of them. No stone would be left unturned.
“Well, who should I start with?” Miss Smithfield asked.
“Whomever you prefer,” he said.
He sensed that she had only asked the question in order to delay answering his.
“You may start with Mr. Reid,” he said.
She nodded and exhaled before answering.
“Well, Mr. Reid recently had a business deal fall through,” she said.
Miss Smithfield waited as silence descended. She glanced from him to Miss Reid and then back again.
Hamish allowed himself to watch Miss Reid for a moment as well. He knew that it was a dangerous thing to do.
If he was going to follow this case, he needed to focus on Miss Smithfield and her concerns. He could not allow himself to trust Miss Reid or anyone from her family.
But, how could he not? She was so…so trustworthy…
John would think him a fool if he said that aloud. But Hamish couldn’t help it. He was a naturally suspicious man and that inclined him to observing Miss Reid without something so flimsy as trust, but there was just something about her that he couldn’t deny.
At first, he might have thought that it was her beauty that was distracting him. But there was so much more to her than that. She was genuinely kind and peaceful, gracious and understanding. She valued Miss Smithfield in a way he had never seen from a wealthy young lady.
She was bold and perseverant, obnoxiously so. Somehow, he found that to be rather charming.
“Inspector?” John asked him in a low whisper.
Hamish snapped back into focus and Miss Smithfield, Miss Reid, and John were all staring at him. He realised then that he had been eyeing Miss Reid with interest for far too long and everyone had noticed. He hoped that he could refrain from blushing.
“Yes? What about this business deal? What went wrong?” Hamish asked, urgently trying to get back onto the topic at hand.
But Miss Smithfield simply shrugged.
“I cannot say exactly what happened. How am I to know? He is my employer, he does not confide in me,” she said.
“Then how is it that you know about it at all? How do you know anything about his business if you can’t share details?” he asked.
Now, it was Miss Smithfield’s cheeks which burned with shame. Whatever it was, it was something that could get her into trouble.
“I am not proud, but I see things at times. As I clean, it is difficult not to see things that grab my interest,” she said.
“And what was it exactly that grabbed your interest? How do you know that he had a business deal fall through?” Hamish asked.
“It was quite obvious. Some of his papers, as I was tidying the study, were filled with notes on his current financials. I saw what he has in terms of debts as well as what profits he has made,” she said.
“Many businesses are floundering. That does not mean that a business deal has fallen through,” Hamish said.
“No, but he also had a visitor. Honestly, maids learn everything. It is our great plight,” she said.
“How so?” Hamish asked.
“No one expects us to hear them. We are invisible. And because of that, we hear everything. They hide nothing,” she said.
“Yes, I suppose that is true. But you must be very clever to have known what he was writing about on those papers,” Hamish said.
Miss Smithfield narrowed her eyes at him.
“Of course. I am a simple maid. As such, I certainly have no ability to read, write, or do mathematics. Is that it, Inspector Brock?” she asked in a tone that conveyed her offense.
“I said no such thing,” Hamish replied.
“You implied it. I will have you know, sir, that there are many well-educated maids in England. However, the vast majority of us are not given the opportunity to utilise such skills. Just because we are not scholars does not mean that we could not be,” she said.
Hamish looked down, not wanting to show weakness by apologising, but also understanding that he had made a mistake in asking what he did, in insinuating that she was not educated.
“Forgive me. You are correct that certain things are assumed,” he said.
“If I came from a wealthy family, perhaps my intelligence would mean more. I could be a governess or married to a man of reasonable status who enjoys showing off his wife’s mind at a ball. But, as it is, my education amounts to nothing but seeing the papers on a man’s desk,” she said, bitterly.
“Yes, of course. And I am sorry that you are relegated to such. However, for our purposes, it is actually quite useful. Would you mind telling me more about it? About what you saw there?” he asked.
“It is not even so much about what else I saw. It is about the conversation I overheard,” she said.
“Then please tell me more about that,” Hamish said.
“Well, Mr. Reid disregarded the fact that I was in the room while he was having an argument with a business acquaintance. The other man glanced at me once, as if hoping I would leave,” she said.
“And? What did Mr. Reid do?” Hamish asked.
“He told the man that it hardly mattered that I was present. He said…I would simply be relieved of my duties if I were ever to speak of it,” Miss Smithfield explained.
Hamish said nothing for a moment. He was surprised that something like that had come out of Mr. Reid’s mouth so boldly.
He did, however, note the way Miss Reid winced at hearing her father’s callousness.
Miss Smithfield looked at Miss Reid and they nodded at one another and understanding.
“I see. As you said, that does sound like quite a burden. It must be very difficult knowing that you bear the weight of the family secrets,” he said.
“Indeed, it is,” she said.
“And, what else?” Hamish asked.
“They were arguing over a business account and money that Mr. Reid had borrowed from the man. Mr. Reid said that he only needed a little bit more time with his business in order to repay the man, but the other said that he had given him enough time. He said that they were friends and he did not wish to have to resort to less than gentlemanly means of ensuring repayment,” Miss Smithfield said.
“So, he was threatening Mr. Reid?” Hamish asked.
