Murder at the Dolphin Hotel

by Helena Dixon

  ‘Blackmail,’ breathed Kitty.

  ‘He clearly hit the target with one of his victims. The question is, which one?’

  ‘We suspect that one of them was Vivien Delaware, and she was out and about unusually early this morning. Her husband, Bobby, also doesn’t appear to have an alibi.’ Matt took a sip of tea.

  ‘Mr Farjeon could have seen Colin Wakes too, if it transpires that Colin is the person sleeping in the old smugglers’ tunnel. He knew Colin and didn’t think well of him,’ Kitty added.

  ‘There is still no trace of this Mr Kelly or of Edgar Underhay and no definite confirmation that they are one and the same person.’ Inspector Greville looked at Matt. ‘Indeed, we only have Miss Delaware’s assertion that Edgar Underhay is possibly in Dartmouth or even in England at all.’ He helped himself to a biscuit.

  ‘I take it you wish to interview Miss Delaware and her husband?’

  ‘May I ask you for the use of your grandmother’s suite, Miss Underhay? It would be more conducive to obtaining a good result I feel, rather than asking them to come to the police station.’

  ‘Of course, Inspector. I would only ask that you remember that Miss Delaware is my guest and I need her for the masked ball next Saturday. The Dolphin has invested heavily in Miss Delaware to launch our summer season.’

  Matt noticed Kitty’s hand stray towards the pocket of her cardigan.

  ‘Certainly, miss. I will be entirely cordial until there is some conclusive evidence against her. And for your peace of mind, I have a man stationed out of sight at the back of the hotel observing the entrance to the tunnels. I’m hopeful we will apprehend whoever is sleeping in there very soon.’

  Kitty smiled. ‘Thank you, Inspector, that does make me feel safer. I’ll call downstairs and ask if Miss Delaware and her husband are free to see you and I’ll arrange for some more tea to be sent up.’ She looked meaningfully at the empty biscuit plate.

  ‘Thank you, Miss Underhay, that’s very thoughtful of you. Captain Bryant, could I trouble you to stay for the interviews? My resources are somewhat stretched at present and having another person present would be most helpful.’

  Matt saw the spark of annoyance in Kitty’s eyes at being excluded, however she merely smiled once more, collected the tray and left the suite.

  Kitty made her way down the stairs to the back office behind the reception desk. The ruby in her pocket nestled against her hip. She tried to think through the ramifications of its discovery. What should she do with it? If anyone found out she had it, her life would be in danger – although after everything that had happened today, she was probably already in peril. She couldn’t see that giving it to the police would solve anything either, but she couldn’t keep something that was stolen. Perhaps she should have given it to the inspector, but everything had happened so quickly. It was also the only link she had that might enable her to discover what had happened in the past with her father and mother.

  She took over from the girl on the reception desk so she could go for a tea break. It was better to be occupied so her mind wouldn’t keep dwelling on the day’s events. She was unsurprised when the telephone rang, and her grandmother was on the line. ‘Darling, I just had a call from one of the gels. Is it true? Has Hubert Farjeon been murdered?’

  ‘Yes, Grams. They found him in his booth this morning. Matt was with the inspector when the alarm was raised.’ She might have guessed one of her grandmother’s friends would call her. Even with the ringleader, Mrs Craven, out of action, the rest of the town’s matrons were still on patrol.

  ‘What are the police doing about it? Are you safe?’

  ‘Inspector Greville is here now, Grams, talking to suspects. Please don’t worry, we are all quite safe.’

  ‘I do hope they’re not guests. The hotel does not want a reputation for harbouring murderers.’ Her grandmother sounded indignant.

  ‘Grams, it is quite scary here at the moment but nothing that can affect the guests.’ She couldn’t tell her grandmother about the burglary in her room or the intruder in the tunnels.

  ‘Where is Captain Bryant?’ her grandmother demanded.

  ‘He’s with the inspector. I promise he is keeping an eye on me.’

  ‘Oh, my dear, I’ve never known anything like it. Get Matthew to telephone me as soon as he is free. Have you received any more letters or heard anything further about your father?’

  Kitty sighed. ‘No, Grams, nothing. I promise I’ll ask Matt to update you on everything once he’s finished with the inspector.’

  ‘I have some good news for you at least, Livvy and I are coming back soon. She is seeing the doctor tomorrow and I’m very hopeful he will say she is fit to travel.’

  Kitty’s spirits lifted. ‘That would be lovely, Grams. I can’t wait to see you both. Do you think you may be here in time for the masked ball next Saturday?’

  ‘I’m not sure, my dear. It depends on Livvy. We shall have to break the journey as I fear being in the car too long might be too much for her. We shall do our best, though. Promise me you will do as Matt asks and stay safe, Kitty.’

  ‘I will, Grams, don’t worry.’ Speaking to her grandmother had lifted her mood. Perhaps when she returned, she would know what the best thing would be to do with the ruby. Though she was tempted, she had held back from saying anything on the telephone for fear of being overheard.

  No sooner had she replaced the handset than her mood was sent spiralling downwards at speed by the unwelcome sight of Walter Cribbs on the other side of the reception desk.

  Chapter Twenty

  ‘Mr Cribbs.’ She struggled not to wrinkle her nose in distaste, trying to maintain her professional manner.

  ‘The lovely Miss Underhay.’ Walter appeared very pleased with himself.

  ‘How may I assist you, Mr Cribbs?’

  ‘Walter, please, we’ve known each other long enough to dispense with formalities, surely.’

  ‘Are you here to report on the upcoming masked ball?’ Kitty enquired.

  ‘I am always delighted to report events at the Dolphin, Kitty, but with the terrible murder of Mr Farjeon earlier today, I am merely following up leads.’

  Kitty knew she was going to regret asking but did it anyway. ‘And why would that bring you to the Dolphin Hotel?’

  An ingratiating smirk spread across Walter’s face, revealing yellow uneven teeth. ‘Just a hunch. Inspector Greville keeps returning here so it has me wondering whether there’s a link between the murders and the Dolphin. Oh, and of course the rumours of the fabulous jewel.’

  ‘Inspector Greville must have other business besides the murders, and rumours of a jewel are just rumours. I fear you are wasting your time, Mr Cribbs, and I’ll thank you not to print libellous material in your rag.’

  Walter’s smirk grew bigger. ‘Really, then what about the story of how your room was burgled earlier today?’

  Who had he been talking to? Gossip always spread like wildfire in a small town and Alice, the young maid who had discovered the break-in, would easily be persuaded to talk.

  ‘Dartmouth must be becoming a veritable hotbed of crime. Does nothing happen in Torquay or Newton Abbott lately?’

  ‘Was anything of value taken during the robbery? Do you think the thief was searching for the jewel? Why is there a policeman in the hotel kitchen?’ Walter pushed his face closer to hers. His notepad and pencil were poised to scribble down her responses.

  ‘I have nothing to say, Mr Cribbs. You really are wasting your time. Nothing of any value has been stolen. Once again, there is no jewel. We have very good security at the hotel and the officer in the kitchen is taking statements about the fire.’ Kitty tried to keep her tone light, refusing to give him the satisfaction of trying to rattle her nerves. She would need to have a talk with the staff and remind them not to be talking out of turn.

  Walter slid his notepad back into his pocket, giving her what she supposed he thought was a winning smile. ‘Maybe we should talk about the masked ball instead. I
t promises to be quite an event. I shall of course be covering it for the society column. I do hope you’ll keep a dance or two free for me.’

  Kitty thought Hell would probably freeze over before that happened. ‘I doubt I’ll have time for dancing. There is a lot of work to ensure the success of such big events.’

  Walter tittered, the high-pitched sound grating on her. ‘All work and no play will make Kitty a dull girl.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll be working hard too,’ she remarked. ‘The worthy people of Dartmouth like to see their names in print at prestigious events. I’m sure the Herald doesn’t pay you to go dancing.’

  ‘Some of the luminaries of Dartmouth are lucky they don’t feature in the court column.’ Walter sounded sulky.

  ‘Ah, Mr Cribbs, how very fortuitous.’ Inspector Greville loomed up behind Walter. ‘I wonder if I might have a word?’

  Kitty had the satisfaction of seeing Walter look a little uncomfortable, the smirk he’d worn since arriving suddenly vanishing from his face.

  ‘Anything to oblige the law, Inspector Greville.’

  ‘How did you hear of the demise of Mr Farjeon? You were at the scene remarkably swiftly.’

  Walter fidgeted beneath the inspector’s gaze. ‘A newsman’s sources are normally sacred, but in this case, I happened to be passing when the delivery lad shot out of the booth and ran into me.’

  ‘I see, and where were you going when you were just passing?’ His eyes suddenly took on a flinty look and Kitty was glad that she wasn’t on the receiving end of that stare.

  ‘I was on my way to pick up some provisions. It can be a long day when you’re out and about chasing up stories.’ Walter’s voice held a whiney note.

  ‘Alone?’

  ‘Here, what’s this about? I came out of my lodgings and walked towards Farjeon’s booth. I was going to ask him a few questions, but it looked all shut up, so I thought I’d go and get some food from the shop first and see if he was there on the way back. I’d just got near to the booth when the young boy shot out wailing like a banshee.’

  Inspector Greville raised an eyebrow. ‘The lad went for help, so what did you do while you were alone with the body?’

  Kitty’s eyes widened.

  ‘Nothing, I didn’t do nothing. What would I do with old Hubert? I stuck my head in and seen he was dead. All that blood fair turned my stomach, so I come out to take some air and then the lad come back with your constable and he told me to sling my hook.’

  ‘You didn’t search the booth? Or remove any papers?’

  ‘No, I told you. It was enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies seeing Hubert there with that knife in his guts.’

  The inspector coughed and Walter suddenly appeared to recall that Kitty was present.

  ‘Did anyone join you? Or did you see anyone before the lad returned with the constable?’

  Sweat beads formed on Walter’s brow. ‘No, I don’t know. People started gathering as I reckon they heard the boy wailing and yelling his way up the street.’

  Kitty attention was drawn to a dark brown mark on Walter’s cuff as he waved his arms during his narration. There was another stain on the edge of his jacket. Bile churned in her stomach as she realised that Walter must have been right inside the booth to get blood on his clothes.

  His cuff didn’t go unnoticed by Inspector Greville either. ‘You appear to have blood on your shirt and the edge of your jacket, Mr Cribbs.’

  The tips of Walter’s ears turned pink. ‘That was probably done when the boy cannoned into me. I didn’t touch nothing in that booth.’

  ‘What questions did you intend to ask Mr Farjeon?’

  ‘He’d said something to me about how he thought he knew something about who killed Cora Wakes. He kept hinting so I thought I’d try and find out if he was telling the truth. I thought some money might persuade him to tell me what he knew. He was fond of money, was Hubert.’

  ‘And where did you hear the rumour about a valuable jewel?’

  ‘Gossip, in the local public house and a few coins here and there in the right palms.’

  The inspector’s expression looked stonier than ever at Walter’s confession of how he obtained his new stories. ‘You didn’t feel you should come forward to the police with any of this information?’

  ‘It’s a big story. I can sell this stuff to the nationals and make some money, maybe get a byline, or even my ticket to London and the big time.’ Walter shuffled his feet.

  ‘If I find out you’ve compromised a crime scene, Mr Cribbs, or hampered my investigations in any way, I shall be speaking to your employer,’ Greville warned. ‘You may go for now, but I may need to speak with you again.’

  Walter bolted from the hotel at a less than dignified scuttle.

  ‘Ugh, that man.’ Kitty gave vent to her feelings with a shudder and saw Inspector Greville hide a smile in his moustache.

  ‘I agree, Miss Underhay. Unfortunately, in my experience, it appears to be the nature of certain journalists.’ He bade her and Matt farewell and followed Walter Cribbs out of the hotel.

  ‘How much did you hear?’ Kitty asked. She hadn’t noticed Matt join the little group; she had been too busy watching Walter. She wanted to ask him what Vivien and Bobby had said to the inspector.

  ‘Enough. Why didn’t you give the inspector the ruby?’

  ‘I couldn’t, not yet. I need some time to think things through.’

  Matt’s face was pale in the fading light. She switched on the green shaded desk light, creating a golden pool of light in the wood-panelled lobby. ‘The clouds have gathered outside; it seems to be dark early this evening.’

  A family party came in to collect their room keys and she was distracted for a moment dealing with her guests.

  ‘Matt, is everything all right?’ Something in his demeanour told her something was wrong.

  ‘I’m sorry. It’s been a very difficult day. I wish you had given him that stone.’

  His response was unexpected. She was used to the confident Captain Bryant. She suddenly recalled what he’d shared with her about the war, and how in the taxi he had opened the window to cope with the confined space. A warm emotion washed over her.

  ‘I’m sorry, it was, I don’t know, instinct to keep it. You shouldn’t have gone into that tunnel with Mickey.’ She kept her voice low so no one passing might overhear her.

  A dull flush coloured his cheeks and his spine stiffened. ‘It was my duty to check it out. Your grandmother has employed me to do a job.’

  ‘I know. I’m sorry, I was only thinking of you. After seeing Hubert and formally identifying Cora, it can’t have been pleasant.’

  His shoulders drooped slightly. ‘I’m sorry. You’re right, the events of the past week or so have affected me more than I thought they would.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’ She reached across the counter and touched his arm in further unspoken support.

  He moved his arm away as if her fingers had burned him. His gaze met hers and she struggled to read the maelstrom of emotions revealed there. ‘I’m going to ask you to lock me in my room tonight and to keep the key. If you hear noises do not come to me. Sometimes when I’m exposed to events such as these, the nightmares come back.’

  A faint gasp at his request escaped her. His expression was bleak. ‘I will be perfectly fine, there is nothing anyone can do, by tomorrow I will be as before.’

  ‘I understand.’

  Many men had returned home from the battlefields carrying scars that went far deeper than those visible on their skin. She had had guests at the hotel who had come to convalesce, their wives hoping the quiet peace of the resort would help to heal their shattered minds. Some of those men had also suffered terrifying dreams or had walked out in the night, one into the cold, inky river.

  Matt had only hinted at the trauma he had suffered. He had risen to the rank of Captain and her grandmother had said he had a distinguished war record. It seemed that he was still paying the price for his service
.

  That evening, Kitty did as Matt asked and locked him into his room, keeping the key to his door with her. The maids had managed to restore order to her own bedroom, but with the lock smashed, she had decided to sleep in her grandmother’s suite until Mickey could make repairs.

  She arranged with Matt to unlock his door at eight the next morning. Once in her grandmother’s suite, she secured the door and slid a table in front before opening the ancient secret safe that was hidden in the window seat. She held the stone closer to the light. Even in its uncut state she could see the blood-red lustre and her heartbeat speeded up. Shaking herself mentally, Kitty wrapped the ruby inside a clean, white lace-edged handkerchief and placed it below the papers relating to her mother’s disappearance. Matt was still most unhappy that she hadn’t handed it over to Inspector Greville or told him about it.

  Once all was secure, she took a seat on the cushion at the window and stared out at the river. A fine mist covered the water and there were a few people out on the street tonight walking their dogs or heading for the town’s hostelries. She shivered and pulled her cardigan more closely around her. Suddenly she missed her mother and grandmother very much. She had no idea what she should do about the ruby. Who was the rightful owner? Was it her father, if he had won it in a poker game? It surely couldn’t be worth quite so much money as Walter Cribbs had said. And as she pondered, Kitty’s mind kept wandering to Matt, hoping that he was okay.

  She expected to sleep badly after all that had happened, especially with her concerns for Matt playing on her mind. Instead, she woke with a start when the maid bringing her morning tea rapped at the door, jiggling the lock and asking anxiously if she was all right.

  Kitty slipped out of bed and pulled on her dressing gown before sliding the table back from the door. Alice stood wide-eyed in front of her, a tray of tea on her trolley. ‘Begging your pardon, Miss Underhay, but the door wouldn’t open.’