‘I should, because it’s not like you.’ She perched on the end of his bed, placing the case on the coverlet next to her. ‘I know everything seems hopeless right now, Ed, but there’s a solution to all this. We will find it, and when we do, everything will become clear.’
‘But it’s all such a mess.’ He pushed a hand into his hair, making it stand on end. ‘Flora, I feel you ought to—’
‘Ed,’ she cut him off, suspecting another apology was imminent. ‘Where’s the spike I found yesterday?’
‘Spike?’ Frowning, he looked at her for the first time since she had entered the room. ‘Oh, the one which fell out of my jacket? It’s still on the mantelpiece where you put it. Why?’
‘I have a theory. Would you get it for me?’
‘Is that the needlework case you bought in the Thompson’s shop? I must say it’s very handsome.’ He ran his fingers over the painted red peonies.’
‘Ed, the spike please?’ she urged.
Sighing, he rose reluctantly to his feet, retrieved the spike and handed it to her. ‘This needlework case gave me a reason to keep asking Mrs Drake questions, but I must say I quite like it.’ She opened the lid, revealing the neat rows of instruments lined up on a blue velvet lining.
‘Do you see, Ed? These are identical but for the handle.’ About four inches in length with a slight curve at the end, the spike they had found in Ed’s pocket was set into a mother-of-pearl handle. It had a dull cast, though was too hard for pewter but seemed durable enough to cause the injury Maddox described.
Ed lowered himself onto the bed beside her and gingerly tested the end with his thumb. ‘It’s very sharp. Why would you need something so lethal for needlework?’
‘It’s used to make holes in heavy fabrics like leather and hessian,’ Flora explained. ‘It occurred to me that this could have been used to kill the man on the train.’
‘That thing?’ He frowned, sceptical.
‘A knife wound would bleed more and you did say there wasn’t much blood. It also fits the description given by Inspector Maddox.’
Ed’s eyes widened. ‘Are you saying the killer used this and then put it in my pocket?’ His jaw went slack. ‘Someone deliberately made it look as if I had killed him?’
‘It looks like it. Now we know the killer was on the train because there were no stops between you going to the lavatory and arriving at Paddington. Did you see anyone hanging about in the corridor when you came back from the lavatory? Maybe someone came out of your compartment just before you went in? Think, Ed.’
‘I didn’t see anyone, at least, maybe but there were so many passengers leaving the train. I can’t think.’ He massaged his forehead with one hand.
‘What about after you left the train?’ Flora kept her voice calm, reluctant to upset him more than necessary. ‘Did you keep going until you reached the street, or did you stop at all?’
‘Not likely.’ Ed snorted. ‘When I heard the police whistle, I kept going.’
‘What about your ticket? Did no one ask you for it at the barrier?’
‘I had it in my top pocket, which was just as well because I wouldn’t have got through the barrier without it. I had to queue before handing it to the guard.’ He removed his hand from his head and clicked his fingers. ‘That’s when the killer must have put the spike thing in my pocket.’ His features twisted in anguish. ‘He wanted me accused of murder?’
‘I doubt it was personal, Ed. You were probably a convenient scapegoat,’ Flora said. ‘Do you recall anything about the other people in the queue?’ Had the killer been watching him, waiting for a chance to place the spike in his pocket?
‘I can’t remember.’ Ed pushed a hand through his hair. ‘The station was so crowded and all I could think about was getting away.’
‘Which is probably what he or they were counting on,’ Flora mused.
‘Flora,’ his eyes clouded as his thoughts took a more serious turn. ‘Could I ask you something?’
‘Of course.’
‘What was it like when Maguire died? I mean, he wasn’t your real father, but you saw him as one.’
‘I did. In many ways I still do. He brought me up.’ A shadow crossed his face and she eased closer, shifting the case in her lap. ‘He didn’t just die, Ed, someone killed him. Which made it much worse. After the initial shock came anger because someone had taken him from me.’ She shivered and rubbed her upper arm with her opposite hand as those same emotions returned. ‘When I discovered the truth about my mother’s disappearance and that your uncle William was my real father, I had this sense of being let down. All those years I had lived at the Abbey, when everyone else knew the truth all along and yet they said nothing to me.’
‘Not everyone knew. I didn’t. Nor did Jo. We were both delighted to find out you were our cousin.’
‘Thank you, Ed, and I appreciate it.’ She gave his forearm a firm squeeze.
‘I’ve never lost someone.’ Ed picked at a ragged cuticle on his thumb. ‘No one I really loved. There was Grandmamma, of course, but I was at school when she died. I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye, but I didn’t lose sleep for thinking about her. She never lingered in my head. Do you understand what I mean?’
‘I think so. Where’s this leading, Ed?’
‘On the train. When I assumed Leo was asleep, I joked that he looked dead to the world. I thought he was playing a joke, so I punched him on the arm and told him to stop messing about. When I realized the truth – I froze, unable to take it in. I barely noticed the guard arrive, but then he barked all these questions at me I couldn’t answer. My mouth wouldn’t work. I panicked, pushed the guard away and ran. It was horrible, Flora,’ he swallowed before continuing. ‘To think we had sat chatting and laughing for two hours and I had no inkling he would die. Neither did he, which is what makes the whole thing so – shocking.’
‘For you, perhaps, but it happened quickly for him.’
‘I still see him in my head,’ he gabbled as if he had not heard her. ‘I’ve gone over the train journey so many times, wishing I had done something. If I had told him to get off the train at Reading, or I had not gone to the lavatory when I did, he—’
‘Stop torturing yourself.’ Her grip on his arm increased. ‘How could you have known?’
‘In my dreams he blames me for what happened.’ Ed’s eyes welled, the hazel irises bright and gold-flecked. ‘He comes to me at night and asks me why he’s dead.’
‘Oh, Ed I had no idea.’ Although she should have. The bruises beneath his eyes, the agitation and mood changes were signs he was suffering.
‘Will it stop?’ His voice dropped to barely more than a whisper.
‘Yes. I don’t know when, but it will.’
‘Maybe when we find the real killer?’
‘Possibly. Probably. All we can do for that young man now, is bring whoever did this to him to justice.’
‘His name was Leo.’
‘We don’t know what his name was.’
Ed looked as if he was about to correct her but changed his mind. His shoulders slumped and he muttered something under his breath she didn’t catch.
‘Is that what people mean when they say rest in peace?’ he asked after a silent moment. ‘Not the dead’s peace, because they can’t feel anything. Peace for those left behind who have to come to terms with the loss?’
‘I’ve never viewed it that way before, but you could be right.’
‘You won’t tell Inspector Maddox about the spike, will you?’ His hand closed on her wrist, his eyes filled with panic.
‘Oh, Ed, don’t you see, we have to. Concealing the truth is the same as lying, which will make you look guilty.’
‘But I didn’t do it, Flora,’ distress lifted his voice an octave. ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’
‘Of course, I do.’ Flora rubbed his shoulder with her free hand.
Where could they begin to discover who the man was, let alone who really killed him with a metal spik
e and a woman in a red coat their only clues?
Chapter 14
‘What are you two talking about?’ Bunny’s face appeared round the side of the door, making them both jump. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’ He dragged a chair from beneath the window up to the end of the bed and straddled it. ‘I was on my way to bed, and it occurred to me I ought to apologize for being unkind earlier. Maddox caught us all by surprise, which was evidently his intention. I don’t like to be blindsided.’ He nodded to the object in Flora’s hand. ‘What have you got there?’
‘It fell out of Ed’s jacket pocket the day after the murder. I found it earlier today but was distracted by Jocasta’s arrival. It went right out of my head until now.’
His gaze went from the item in her hand to the open case on the bed. ‘It almost matches those you bought at Mrs Thompson’s shop.’ Bunny frowned. ‘Why didn’t you mention this before?’
Flora shrugged. ‘I suppose I didn’t understand its significance.’
‘Come on, Flora, I know you better than that. This is an obvious clue.’
‘I probably did realize that, on some level.’ Flora winced, embarrassed. ‘I also knew what it would mean for Ed and hoped I was wrong.’
‘It certainly looks as if it could be used to kill someone.’ Bunny held the spike up to the light and twisted it back and forth, his eyes narrowed before lowering it again. ‘I cannot see any blood on it.’
‘Maybe it belonged to a lady on the train who dropped it on her way out of the station?’ Ed sounded hopeful.
‘And straight into your pocket?’ Bunny grimaced. ‘Where’s the jacket you were wearing, Ed?’
‘It’s here, why?’ Ed twisted round on his chair, unhooked the garment from the back and handed it to him.
Bunny didn’t answer but turned each of the pockets inside out. ‘Here, look.’ He pointed to a dark smear on the otherwise immaculate yellow silk lining.
‘Oh.’ Flora stared at each of them in turn, but neither Bunny nor Ed said what each of them must be thinking.
‘It’s an odd choice for a murder weapon.’ Bunny draped the jacket over the bed and perched on the coverlet beside her.
‘Not for a woman.’ Flora had met female murderers before and would never assume the fairer sex were less capable of killing than men. ‘Perhaps she didn’t intend to kill him, but she was in a rage, grabbed the first thing to hand and plunged it into his chest.’
‘I would have seen that surely?’ Ed shifted beside her. ‘I was there all the time.’
‘Most of the time,’ Bunny reminded him. ‘You left the compartment for about ten to fifteen minutes.’
‘Not enough time for an argument or a fight, even a brief one,’ Flora said.
‘Interesting thought,’ Bunny mused. ‘Which fits with it being a planned killing, but who were they trying to kill? Leo Thompson, or Leonard Hunter-Griggs? Or was this young man living two separate lives?’ He held the spike beneath Ed’s nose. ‘Take a good look. Are you sure you didn’t pick this up on the train and forget?’
‘I’m sure.’ Ed worried his bottom lip with his teeth. ‘There were women on the train, perhaps it could have belonged to one of them?’
‘You said you didn’t see any of the other passengers,’ Flora said.
‘I didn’t. They were just shapes in the corridor, you know?’
‘And you didn’t see any of these passengers get off the train?’ Bunny asked.
Ed shook his head. ‘I was trying to wake Leo. By the time the guard arrived, the train was almost empty.’
‘You should have mentioned the spike to Maddox when he was here.’ Bunny split a look between them. ‘Both of you.’
‘I’m sorry, I…’ Flora stammered.
‘No, don’t blame her,’ Ed interrupted. ‘Flora was only trying to protect me. I didn’t want to give that policeman another reason to think I’m guilty.’
‘That policeman, as you call him, is what’s standing between you and jail right now.’ Bunny fidgeted, his eyes hard behind his spectacles. ‘We need to minimize the damage, or the next time he turns up here, it will be to take you off to the cells.’
‘Bunny, don’t.’ Flora recoiled. ‘Memory is a strange, contradictory thing sometimes.’ She should know. An incident from Flora’s childhood had haunted her in dreams for years.
‘Might you have bumped into someone on the train, Ed?’ Flora asked. ‘Those corridors are narrow, so it’s possible.’
‘If that’s how it happened, I don’t remember.’ Ed shrugged. ‘What will you do with it?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Bunny wrapped the metal part of the spike in a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it with the others in the needlework case, its mother-of-pearl handle incongruous among the polished wooden ones. ‘We have to give it to Inspector Maddox.’ At Ed’s terrified look, he added, ‘I’ll fudge the circumstances as to when and how we found it. Make it clear we had no idea what it was and so on.’
‘You would do that? Lie to Maddox?’ Flora couldn’t believe her cautious, law-abiding Bunny would suggest misleading the police.
‘I prefer to think it’s being economical with the truth rather than lying. We should also pay a visit to that hotel. The Dahlia was it? I’d like to take a look at this Leonard Hunter-Griggs.’
‘Can I come?’ Ed’s eager expression faded when he caught Bunny’s swift look. ‘Sorry, stupid question.’
‘We know how frustrating this is for you, Ed, but you’ll have to be patient.’ Flora patted the hand that lay on his knee. ‘Try to get some sleep and we’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Not much chance of that,’ Ed muttered as Flora closed his door.
‘A pity Maddox was so specific about us not interfering,’ Flora said as they strolled the hallway to their room. ‘And thank you, about the spike I mean.’
‘He seemed a little too smug tonight for my liking,’ Bunny snorted. ‘As if he was trying to trap us. Besides,’ he wrapped an arm round Flora’s shoulders and hugged her to him, ‘I don’t mind taking the odd risk if it will help Ed. After all, we are family.’
‘I’m glad you agree, because I shall always feel responsible for Ed.’ Flora snuggled into his side, brushing her lips across his jaw as he stood aside to allow her to enter their bedroom first. ‘He needs to know we’re on his side.’
Following her in, he strode into his dressing room. ‘I sense what he told us is essentially true but cannot help thinking he’s keeping something back.’
Flora replaced the needlework case on her dresser, her voice raised over the sounds of cupboard doors opening and closing in the next room. ‘Did you see Ed’s face when Maddox said Leo Thompson was still alive?’
‘Leonard Hunter-Griggs you mean? Not really. What did he look like?’
‘Angry, as if he was about to contradict Maddox but didn’t like to.’
‘I’ve been thinking, Flora.’ Bunny reappeared in the process of tying the cords of his dressing gown, apparently not having heard her last remark. ‘How about we call into The Dahlia tomorrow? We can go first thing. I have a luncheon appointment so I’ll call into Canon Row in the afternoon as well and give that spike to Maddox.’ He moved closer and met her eyes in her reflection in the mirror. ‘Flora? Did you hear me?’
‘Yes of course. The Dahlia Hotel, tomorrow morning. Good idea. I was just thinking about what Ed said.’
‘What specifically?’
‘When he tried to wake the man on the train, he punched his arm.’
‘I doubt he could have made anything worse. The man was dead.’
‘That isn’t what I meant. It’s something you would do when you know someone well. An intimate gesture when teasing or playing a joke.’
‘I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make.’
‘Oh, never mind.’ She pushed the thought away. ‘My imagination is running wild. Young men are more informal than I’m used to. Especially public schoolboys.’ Her fingers reached for the bell to summon Sally,
when Bunny’s hand closed on hers.
‘Let me be your maid tonight. You know how I enjoy it.’ He started to undo the buttons of her gown while his lips traced a line of kisses along the side of her neck.
‘All right, but take care with the laces on my corset, you’re always too impatient and get them in knots. Sally complains bitterly when she has to unravel them.’
‘To the devil with Sally.’ He pressed his mouth to the soft flesh below her ear, making her gasp at the combination of pain and anticipation as his teeth nibbled at her earlobe. She closed her eyes, allowing her body to respond to familiar sensations while her mind emptied completely of bodies on trains, needlework spikes and red coats.
Chapter 15
Flora alighted from the motor car and stared round in confusion at the narrow alley where Timms had parked. ‘Couldn’t we have stopped in front of the main doors?’
‘I have my reasons, which will become clear later.’ Bunny took her arm. ‘Now, watch your feet here, the cobbles are slippery and I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.’
Grumbling lightly, Flora picked her way over the rubbish strewn on cobbles slick from something unmentionable. A flower stall at the corner provided a blaze of spring colour, its fragrance going some way to disguise the tang of manure, stale beer and rotting vegetables.
‘Stop complaining.’ He chuckled as they entered Little Museum Street, where The Dahlia Hotel straddled the corner with Coptic Street. Three storeys high, above a basement evident by half windows at pavement height, the rendered façade painted a dull cream, the windows of the hotel were covered by thick blinds obscuring the interior. A canopy as wide as the pavement hung over a pair of bevelled doors, the glass etched with the name of the hotel above a painted pink dahlia.
A doorman showed them into a mainly black interior where silver and white chandeliers hung from a bossed ceiling, ornate framed mirrors on every wall.
‘It’s sort of mysterious,’ Flora said. ‘As if we’re only being shown what they want us to see.’
The Bloomsbury Affair Page 13
