The Corpse at the Crystal Palace

by Carola Dunn

  “Optimist! What gambler is not an optimist?”

  “Listen, damn y— Dammit!” The second voice sounded sulky, with a touch of a whine. “I hope when you’re feeling well, you’ll be in a better mood, not so damn crotchety. You never used to be like this.”

  “I used not to be a cripple. And you used not to be a gambler. Oh, all right, go ahead with your damn injection! It can hardly make me feel worse. But don’t count on changing my mind.”

  “You’ll be glad. No more pain. Open your pyjama jacket and I’ll swab with iodine to disinfect the skin. I brought some with me. There we are. You’ll feel a bit of a prick, I’m afraid.”

  Alec shoved the door open, crossed the room in two strides, and knocked up the syringe just as it touched Lord Ledborough’s abdomen. It flew from his brother’s grasp and across the room, where the ampoule smashed to pieces.

  “Piper, see what you can save of the contents. Don’t touch the stuff.”

  “Here,” cried Wrexham-Clarke, “what do you think you’re doing?”

  “Arresting you on suspicion of practising medicine without a licence. Further charges may be preferred. Mackinnon, read him the warning. Lord Ledborough, I apologise for—”

  “Look out!”

  Mackinnon’s shout came too late. Wrexham-Clarke darted out of the door, bowling over the little nurse who had crept back to see what was going on. The inspector set off in hot pursuit. Alec sped after them, emerging into the corridor in time to see Sister reach the top of the stairs, blocking the way with her bulk.

  Wrexham-Clarke elbowed her in the ribs. She gasped and shuddered but she was too heavy to be displaced by such mistreatment. Gamely, she reached out to grab him. He flung himself at the landing rail, grasped it with both hands, did a twisting back flip, and disappeared from Alec’s view. A thud announced his landing.

  Running footsteps told the pursuers his escapade had not interfered with his escape.

  “Look out!” bellowed Mackinnon. The Scotsman’s lungs were in good shape. Alec resolved to ask him later whether he played the bagpipes.

  Somehow Alec and Mackinnon managed to move Sister aside without further damage to anything but her dignity. They raced down the stairs. The front door stood wide open.

  From outside came a triumphant shout of “Gotcha!”

  Alec and Mackinnon stopped on the threshold. At the foot of the steps, Wrexham-Clarke sprawled face-down with a hefty plainclothesman sitting on him.

  “Heard your shout, sir. Stuck out me foot and over he went, arse over tip.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  “Darling, sorry to interrupt but I’ve had a letter from Mrs. Gilpin.”

  “For pity’s sake, Daisy, that’s not sufficient reason to ring me at the Yard!”

  “Just wait till you hear what she says. I should have thought it’s exactly what you want to hear. But I can save it till you get home if you—”

  “Great Scott, Daisy! Just tell me, will you?”

  “She’s recovered her memory.”

  “That much I guessed.”

  “And she says she’s certain she would recognise the other nanny—the third one, unless she was the second—if she saw her again.”

  “She can?” Daisy could practically hear Alec sitting up and taking notice. “I humbly apologise. That’s just what we need.”

  “You mean you’ve got someone in custody for her to recognise?”

  “You know I can’t discuss that. Is she coming up to London?”

  “Her sister’s doctor says she needs another week’s rest.”

  “I’ll send Ernie down with a selection of photos for her to look through. He won’t cause alarm and despondency and he can get her statement at the same time. Thanks, Daisy. Anything else useful?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Then thanks and good-bye.”

  “Will you be home for dinner?” She spoke into a dead receiver. Sighing, she hung up.

  Alec came home at last just before ten. Mrs. Dobson had kept dinner hot for him so Daisy fetched a trayful to the dining room. He dug ravenously into the food, while Daisy relayed the main points of the rest of Nurse Gilpin’s letter.

  “She came out of the lavatory cubicle and saw the other nanny come out of one farther along. One averts one’s eyes, as she delicately put it, but she noticed that she— It was a woman?”

  “Don’t fish.”

  “Well, all the she’s are confusing so I’m going to assume it was another man like Teddy and call her him. He didn’t appear to be going to wash his hands until he saw her approach the basins. And then it was more of a quick lick and a promise, so she was close behind when she followed him out.”

  “You’re not telling me she followed him all the way to the far end of the park to upbraid him for not washing his hands properly?”

  “No, though I admit to thinking the same for a fraction of a second, before I read on. It seems on her way to the ladies’ she had noticed a pram with a baby sleeping, parked in the end passage.”

  “As a matter of fact, Mackinnon’s men found the pram. It was an extremely lifelike doll.”

  “No, was it? Part of their disguise, of course. She assumed the nanny would turn that way when she—I mean he—left the ladies’, but he went the other way. Naturally she assumed it was a mistake, that he’d realise and go back. She stopped to watch for a moment to make sure. When he showed no sign of reversing course, she hurried after him to point out his error.”

  “And he went on so she went on, and the children saw them and went after them—luckily for her.”

  “Yes! I’m still not happy about her going off like that but she swears she was thinking of the twins as well as the abandoned baby and decided they would be perfectly all right with Bertha. The rest of us were due to meet there, after all. I have to tell you, also, that her sister considers that she was infected by the detecting spirit after living so long in the household of a detective.”

  Alec gave a snort of laughter. “She does, does she? I never thought of my job as contagious.”

  “I suppose it’s not unreasonable. After all, I caught it.”

  “Oh no you didn’t. You were already detecting the first time we met!”

  Daisy decided to ignore the dig. “Anyway, I can reasonably recommend Mrs. Gilpin to Lucy, don’t you think?”

  “That’s entirely up to you, love.”

  “I knew you’d say that.”

  Alec finished eating and sat back. “Just what I needed.”

  “Thank Mrs. Dobson, as always.” Daisy put the empty dishes on the tray. “Cocoa or whisky?”

  “Whisky. I’m celebrating.”

  Daisy took the tray to the kitchen and rejoined him in the back sitting room. He had poured her a half and half vermouth with soda.

  “To celebrate. All right?”

  “Fine.” Daisy pursued her own train of thought. “It was naughty of the children to go chasing Nanny Gilpin, too, but one couldn’t scold them properly after they saved her life. Life is more peaceful without them but I miss them, especially Belinda.”

  “You have plenty of time for your writing. Didn’t you say you had fallen behind?”

  “Yes, but that’s partly because I promised Mr. Thorwald an article about the Crystal Palace, and I just don’t feel like writing it after finding Teddy.”

  “Understandable.”

  “It’s unsettled me. I keep finding other things to do. This afternoon, Sakari and I went back to the Russian jeweller’s to see the sketches.”

  “Not that they have anything to do with Teddy,” Alec said dryly.

  “You don’t still suspect them, do you? Because what happened today absolutely proves Miss Zvereva had no reason to want to marry Teddy.”

  “Oh? What happened?”

  Daisy managed to tell the story of the exotic church and the fascinating ceremony without revealing that she had been half-convinced she and Sakari were being kidnapped. “They explained the hurry and the secrecy after we signed the
register. They’ve wanted to get married forever but the prince was dead against it and would have absolutely forbidden it if he’d guessed they were in love, just because Vasya—Mr. Petrov—isn’t a nobleman. Or rather wasn’t one in Russia.”

  “Sounds familiar.”

  “My mother.” Daisy sighed. “Zina didn’t want to have to go against an express order and she was afraid if he discovered their plans he’d find a way to stop them. Then he fell ill. The doctor prescribed sleeping medicine that made him sleep like the dead.”

  “An unfortunate choice of words, love.”

  “You have murder on the brain! All right, he slept very heavily the first night he took it. The next day Vasya got a marriage licence and arranged things with their priest and their friends and a hired car. And the day after, today in fact, Zina gave her father a draught after lunch. When he was sound asleep, they were just about to rush off to church when we turned up. Oh blast, I must have left the designs in the car!”

  “As long as it was a hired car, not a taxi, I expect the driver will return them to the Zverevs.”

  “I hope so. But he was a friend of the prince. He tried to argue them out of going. They were afraid he’d find a way to stop them. Well, they’re well and truly married now, so it’s too late. You didn’t say whether they’re still suspects.”

  “No-o … No, not really. We’re virtually certain we’ve got the man.”

  “It is a man? Not hyphen-Clarke— What’s his name? Wrexham-Clarke?”

  “Alaric Wrexham-Clarke.”

  “Alaric? Outlandish! That would explain ‘Ricky,’ wouldn’t it. So you found him?”

  “Once we knew his name it was just a matter of time. But we caught up with him just in time. Another five minutes and his brother would have been dead or dying.”

  Daisy listened in amazement to the story of Lord Ledborough’s narrow escape. “Two extraordinary coincidences, your arriving at exactly the right moment to save him and Sakari and I being on the spot to attend the wedding.”

  “We couldn’t have planned it better if we’d had a week’s notice of everyone’s movements. I saw him actually in the act of attempting murder. I would have looked pretty silly, though, if he’d turned out to be properly qualified after all.”

  “What was really in the syringe? Did you find out yet?”

  “Yes, they analysed it in no time when I told them it was said to be potassium chloride. A dilute solution is, as Wrexham-Clarke claimed, completely harmless to anyone in normal health. It might even help under certain conditions. But the contents of the ampoule were highly concentrated and would have caused a heart attack to a man in Ledborough’s condition, probably fatal and certainly debilitating, even if his charming brother hadn’t intended to stick the needle directly into the heart, as he used the hatpin on Devenish. It was a large hypodermic, intended for veterinary use.”

  “Ugh! What about Teddy’s murder? Do you have evidence other than Mrs. Gilpin’s recognition? Assuming she does pick him out.”

  “On second thoughts, that would help, but it might be hard to persuade a jury to take it seriously if the defence hammered on her loss of memory, as they surely would. Of course, the prosecutor can make use of motive, which tends to sway juries. Also, though the hat pin has no—”

  “You found the hat pin? No one told me.”

  “Good lord, we managed to keep something from you?” Alec teased. “I’m amazed. An alert gardener found it stuck in a potted palm. Bloodstains but no useable fingerprints. However, the discarded handbag is covered with Wrexham-Clarke’s dabs. It was part of the costume Devenish hired from the theatrical costumer. Hired in his own name, so no difficulty proving that part.”

  “Isn’t that plenty of evidence? You don’t sound satisfied.”

  “All in all, it’s not the most robust case I’ve ever presented to the prosecutor, but I wouldn’t despair of it. It won’t surprise me, either, if we get a confession. He’s a weak, whiny sort of fellow. Little as prosecutors and judges like confessions, juries love ’em.”

  “Sakari’s theory makes sense. I’m sure she’s right.”

  Alec sighed. “I suppose you’ve told her everything.”

  “Of course. She was there when it happened, and—”

  “Yes, never mind, what is her theory?”

  “We know Ricky was very sensitive about what people thought of him. That’s how Teddy blackmailed him. And Teddy didn’t give two hoots what people thought. In fact, he courted scandal. Invading the ladies’ room wouldn’t amuse him if it didn’t cause havoc.”

  “Very likely not, except insofar as it embarrassed Ricky.”

  “But how much more embarrassed Ricky would be if they were publicly unmasked! Which would also cause a terrific uproar. Suppose once they were in there Teddy announced that he was going to start undressing as soon as a suitable audience arrived. It would be much more humiliating to Ricky than his job as an acrobat.”

  “He could have left,” Alec objected. “Teddy might be annoyed enough to reveal the acrobat business, but Ricky would have escaped the disrobing.”

  “Still, he’d lose face either way. The threat must have been the last straw that snapped his inhibitions.”

  “It’s conceivable. A prosecutor could make much of it. But please don’t go telling Sakari I said her theory is correct!”

  “I won’t.” Daisy reserved the right to tell her friend that Alec admitted the reconstruction was plausible.

  “Will Bel and the boys have to give evidence?”

  Alec frowned. “I hope not. It’ll be up to the counsel for the prosecution, of course. They don’t like to call children. Given the connection between those children and the investigating officer—”

  “You.”

  “—Not to mention the chief witness in the attempted murder of Lord Ledborough, I’d guess they’ll avoid it like the plague, if at all possible. Would it upset them?”

  “Belinda, yes. Not the boys. They’d revel in it, especially Charlie.”

  “True.” Alec laughed. “What’s more, I can imagine Bel not finding it such an ordeal if Ben and Charlie were there too.”

  “What I absolutely cannot imagine is what Mother will say when she hears her step-granddaughter and her fourth or fifth cousins several time removed may testify in a murder trial. Did I tell you she’s coming up to town next week?”

  “No-o-o! Let’s pop over to France. I’m giving the case back to Mackinnon, and I’m getting a week’s leave before I start work as superintendent.”

  “Darling, you got it!” Daisy jumped up and plumped down on the arm of his chair to give him a congratulatory kiss. “Not that it’s any surprise, of course. It must be perfectly obvious even to Mr. Crane and the Assistant Commissioner that you’re far and away the best man for the job.”

  HISTORICAL NOTE

  The Crystal Palace was erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. At that time it contained the first public ladies’ “convenience” in London, a concept previously considered unworkable because no lady would want to be seen entering or leaving a place with such intimate connotations.

  A couple of years later, after the Exhibition, the huge glass and iron Palace was carefully dismantled to be re-erected in Sydenham Park in southeast London, with the addition of two new wings.

  In 1936, the Palace burned down in a spectacular fire visible for many miles. Despite many proposals to resurrect it, all that is visible today are the foundations. Their impressive extent can only suggest the impact of the huge glittering building.

  Charlie’s monsters are still to be found in the park, lurking among bushes and trees, in the ponds, and on the island. They are large concrete depictions of prehistoric mammals, created by Charles Waterhouse in accordance with the latest theories derived from fossilized skeletons then available.

  ALSO BY CAROLA DUNN

  THE DAISY DALRYMPLE MYSTERIES

  Death at Wentwater Court

  The Winter Garden Mystery

&n
bsp; Requiem for a Mezzo

  Murder on the Flying Scotsman

  Damsel in Distress

  Dead in the Water

  Styx and Stones

  Rattle His Bones

  To Davy Jones Below

  The Case of the Murdered Muckraker

  Mistletoe and Murder

  Die Laughing

  A Mourning Wedding

  Fall of a Philanderer

  Gunpowder Plot

  The Bloody Tower

  Black Ship

  Sheer Folly

  Anthem for Doomed Youth

  Gone West

  Heirs of the Body

  Superfluous Women

  CORNISH MYSTERIES

  Manna From Hades

  A Colourful Death

  The Valley of the Shadow

  Buried in the Country

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CAROLA DUNN is the author of the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series, starting with Death at Wentwater Court, as well as other mysteries and historical novels. Born and raised in England, she lives in Eugene, Oregon.

  Visit the author on Facebook or at CarolaDunn.Weebly.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen