It was the murder weapon. Jen stood up and stayed standing by the washing machine, stupefied. Then she heard someone coming into the room and quickly shoved the statuette and the blouse back into the washing machine.
Miss Potter came into the room.
‘Oh, Miss James.’
‘Miss Potter.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘What are you doing here?’ Jen parroted.
‘I came to get some soap to wash my smalls. Mrs. Wagstaff was very kind and offered to get the scullery maid to do it for me but I prefer to do my own.’ Miss Potter sniffed.
‘I came to check if some of my lady’s clothes were dry,’ Jen said. She pointed at the clothes drier up in the air.
Miss Potter went to the sink, picked up some soap and hesitated. Jen didn’t move.
‘Well, tootle bye,’ Jen said.
Miss Potter sniffed again and left the scullery.
Jen thought furiously. She couldn’t be the one to find the murder weapon but she didn’t want a member of staff to be incriminated by the discovery. Solomon Taylor. She took the bundle out of the washing machine again and tucked it under her arm.
She found him in the Servants’ Room in the same armchair, reading the same book. Luckily, no one else was there.
‘I’ve found something,’ she said and waited for him to put down the book before handing him the bundle. He unwrapped it and raised his eyebrows.
‘It was in the washing machine,’ she told him.
‘Remarkable. I wonder why they put it there?’
‘They must have known that the laundry maid comes in twice a week. That points to someone from the household.’
He nodded. ‘Did any one see you in the scullery?’
‘Miss Potter, Cynthia, came in but I’m pretty sure she didn’t see anything. I think it would be best if you say you found it and gave it to the police.’
‘I agree,’ he said after a moment’s thought.
He rewrapped the statuette and stood up.
‘I’d best go to the scullery and “discover” it before I go to the police. Stay here.’
When Jen went down to dinner, she found the Servants Hall buzzing with news of the discovery.
‘Just fancy, it’s been in the washing machine, all this time, it makes my blood run cold,’ Mrs. Butler said.
‘Nasty machines, I have never trusted them,’ Mr. Cook said with a complete lack of logic.
‘You don’t have to do the washing,’ retorted Mrs. Butler, ‘you might appreciate them if you did.’
They both glared at each other.
‘Who found it?’ John asked.
‘Mr. Taylor.’
There was a collective intake of breath as they all seemed to be imagining finding it themselves.
‘Good job it was,’ Mrs. Butler said. ‘Think what a shock it would have been for Mrs. Roberts or Elsie if one of them had found it.’
‘Not so bad for Flora,’ said Mrs. Wagstaff (Jen assumed that was the laundry maid’s first name), ’but for a young girl like Elsie, it would have been a terrible shock.’
‘But luckily it was found by a sensible man like Mr. Taylor.’
‘What did he do with it?’ Kate asked.
Mr. Cook snorted. ‘Took it straight to the police, of course.’
‘That inspector and his sergeant came straight down to have a look and insisted on speaking with Elsie.’
‘I hope that didn’t upset her,’ Jen said. She was not sure how gentle Inspector Brighton would be with a fourteen-year-old maid. She had noticed that he treated the so-called gentry differently from normal people.
Her comment was ignored. Solomon Taylor walking through the door at that point caused several people to call out to him for further information.
‘People!’ Mr. Cook had raised his voice. ‘Please be so good as to allow Mr. Taylor to sit down and don’t bother him with questions.’
‘It’s quite all right, Mr. Cook. I’m happy to tell people what I know.’
‘Provided of course, it does not breach police confidentiality,’ `Mr. Cook said pedantically.
‘I found the bundle in the washing machine,’ Solomon began.
‘What were you doing in the scullery?’ interrupted John.
‘I wanted to speak to the laundry maid about some of my master’s items. He is most particular about them,’ explained Solomon. ‘I was under the misapprehension that the laundry maid would be visiting today.’
‘Shut up John and let him speak,’ Mrs. Butler said.
John flushed and looked at Mr. Cook but he said nothing.
Solomon continued, ‘while I was standing there, it occurred to me what a very unlikely place the washing machine would be, to hide something. Motivated by curiousity, I looked inside and lo and behold, there was a bundle there.’
Exclamations of appreciation and applause broke out. That was my idea, Jen thought bitterly. She had not known until then how hard it would be to sit there, bite her tongue and let someone else take the credit.
Callum came in at this point and raised his eyebrows at the racket.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘Mr. Taylor found the murder weapon in the washing machine,’ several voices informed him.
At this, Callum flushed, ‘what a dirty despicable thing to do, leave it there for some worker to get the blame! I hope this murderer gets hanged when they find him,’ he said vehemently.
Jen was torn between loving him for wanting to protect the servants and hating his violence.
Murder and Mittens Page 21
