Dying for a Garden Party

by V L McBeath

  “We think the letters are from Mrs Hartley’s first husband. They’re from a man named Elijah and so we need to check with Benjamin and Jane that he’s their father.”

  “What do the letters say?”

  “We’ve not read them,” Eliza said. “I know it’s most unusual, but unless they prove to be from this fictitious acquaintance, we think they should remain private.”

  Inspector Adams screwed up his face. “I think we’ll reserve judgement on that. Now, if you wouldn’t mind all taking a seat, I have a few more questions.”

  The inspector shuffled through the papers in front of him until he found the sheet he was looking for. “Mrs Hartley, you told us you were married on the eleventh of August 1896, but we haven’t been able to find a marriage certificate. Could that be because the marriage was never actually registered?”

  A look of horror crossed Maria’s face. “Of course it was registered. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “We’ve been told that Mr Hartley’s divorce was carried out in Scotland.”

  Maria sat with a blank expression. “And?”

  “Divorce in Scotland is often not recognised by registrars in England. We would have expected the certificate to be in the safe like the rest of Mr Hartley’s documents, but it wasn’t there. Unless you can provide the certificate, we’ll assume the marriage, or at least the date of the marriage, was fraudulent.”

  “Fraudulent? Of course it isn’t.” Maria’s eyes flicked to the box that sat on the table in front of Inspector Adams.

  “Is it in here?”

  Maria hesitated a little too long causing Inspector Adams to tip the contents onto the table.

  “No, wait, let me.” Eliza jumped to her feet. “We don’t want anything getting damaged or misplaced.” She collected up the documents and flicked through them. Most were letters but in the middle of the pile, she found a plain white envelope. It wasn’t sealed and a quick look inside told her it was what she was looking for.

  “Is that it?” Inspector Adams asked.

  “It is, and it was issued in Scotland on the eleventh of August, 1896.” Eliza unfolded the document and laid it on the table. “I remember Father telling me you’d travelled to Scotland.”

  “So why didn’t you want us to know about it?” Connie’s stare was cold.

  “I-I’d forgotten it was there.”

  “You’d forgotten? No, I don’t believe that.” Eliza’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute, knowing how much Mr Hartley liked to control everything, this document should have been in the safe with everything else, but you’ve been in and retrieved it, haven’t you? Is that why you hid it, because you didn’t want us to know you had access to the safe?”

  “No.” Maria’s voice squeaked.

  “Oh my goodness.” Eliza put a hand to her head. “I said someone had been through the papers in Mr Hartley’s office. It was you, wasn’t it? Mrs Petty was right and Mrs Appleton.”

  “Mrs Petty?” Inspector Adams’ eyebrows shot up. “What’s she got to do with it?”

  “She told me Mrs Hartley had been an actress before she married and I needed to keep an eye on her. Apparently, she had quite a reputation in the newspapers and I must admit in my moment of weakness you had me fooled. I would suggest you’ve known what you were doing since you arranged the party. Was all this part of the plan to throw suspicion onto James or Robert?”

  “No!” Maria jumped to her feet. “You’ve got it all wrong. I didn’t kill Edward. I couldn’t. How could I hold a gun steady and pull the trigger?” She held out her elegant hands and smoothed a thumb over the slender finger that held her wedding ring. “I was frightened. Can’t you see that? I knew that if you found the marriage certificate, you’d think I was the killer, but I’m not. Someone must have been trying to make it look like that; the timing was too convenient.”

  “Who would do that, when you’re the only one who knew the real date?” Eliza asked.

  “I don’t know.” Maria’s voice softened.

  “And how did you know the timing was convenient? You would only know that if you’d seen the will.”

  Maria flopped back down onto her chair.

  Inspector Adams stood up and walked around the table until he towered over her. “It’s about time you started telling us the truth, Mrs Hartley.”

  “I have told you the truth. I told you the date of the marriage.”

  “But then why would you hide the proof?” Inspector Adams asked.

  Maria’s hands clutched the edge of the table. “I don’t know, I just panicked. I wasn’t going to tell you the real date at first, but when you asked, I didn’t know what to say. I feared that if I told you the truth, you’d think I was the killer, but if I only gave you the September date, then the money would have gone to James and Robert. If I was ever going to get any money, the date would have to be revealed sooner or later and I thought that if I lied about it, it would make matters worse.”

  “How perceptive of you.” Inspector Adams strode across the room to the door. “Sergeant Cooper, are you there?”

  “Yes, sir. What can I do for you?” The sergeant appeared at the door.

  “Take Mrs Hartley back to the library and don’t let her out of your sight. I need to speak to Jane and Benjamin and then we can call it a day, but as things stand, she’s our prime suspect.”

  Sergeant Cooper’s mouth fell open, and he scowled at Maria as the inspector escorted her to the door.

  “I’ll send the young lady, Jane Dalton, to see you, shall I?” Sergeant Cooper said as he turned to leave.

  “If you would.”

  “Well, that was a turn-up,” Eliza said. “I must admit, she had me fooled … although there is a part of me that still thinks she’s telling the truth.”

  “After all that!” Connie glowered at Eliza. “What has got into you? Are you sickening for something?”

  “No, I’m not and I’m fine now, but Mrs Hartley does have a point. She was damned if she told the truth and damned if she didn’t.”

  “Let’s see what Miss Dalton has to say,” Inspector Adams said. “She didn’t have a confirmed alibi if I remember rightly.”

  “No, she didn’t.”

  “Maybe she was working with her mother and she pulled the trigger,” Connie said. “She isn’t as slender.”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions, shall we?” Inspector Adams said. “Ah, Miss Dalton, come and join us.”

  “What’s going on?” Jane asked as she sat down. “Why’s Mother being guarded in the library?”

  “We have a few questions for you that might help her out.” Eliza indicated for Jane to take a seat. “Firstly, could you tell us the name of your father?”

  “My father? His name was Elijah. Why?”

  “We just needed to verify it. Thank you.”

  “He died about a year before your mother married Mr Hartley, is that correct?” Inspector Adams said.

  “He did. Not that we saw much of him in the years leading up to his death. He liked his ale too much.”

  “So Mr Hartley must have seemed like a refreshing change?”

  Jane hesitated. “He was different.”

  “In what way?”

  “Father just left Mother to do whatever needed doing, but from the day they came back from Scotland, Mr Hartley changed. He was quite a bully and liked to control everyone around him.”

  “Your mother said she didn’t mind.”

  Jane hesitated. “Perhaps she didn’t…”

  “But you did?” Eliza raised an eyebrow at Jane.

  Jane shrugged. “I got used to it and I didn’t see that much of him. He was always in his office with Benjamin.”

  “And did he mind?”

  “I … erm … I don’t know; I don’t think so.”

  “All right, let’s turn to you. At the time of the shooting you were in your room, I believe. Is that right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you spend a lot of time up there alone?”

  �
��Not really, I was often with Mother, but she was busy on the day of the party and so I said I’d wait for her.”

  “Couldn’t you have joined your sisters-in-law?” Eliza asked.

  Jane’s nose crinkled. “I could not. They’re the most terrible snobs and wouldn’t have given me the time of day, not that I would have joined them anyway.”

  “What about your brother? He went into the village for half an hour. Wouldn’t you have rather taken a walk with him than stay in your room?”

  “He didn’t ask me. I only found out he’d been when he came back.”

  “It must be hard, a young girl of–” Inspector Adams looked at his notes “–twenty-three, is it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Quite, it must be hard for a young lady of your age to be kept as a prisoner inside your own home, miles from your friends or any potential suitors.”

  “I didn’t think about it. Mother is always there for me and Mr Hartley had promised to introduce me to some eligible young men when the time was right.”

  “At twenty-three, I would say the time was already right,” Connie said.

  “Thank you, Mrs Appleton.” The inspector laid his hands flat on the table. “I’m just trying to build up a picture of family life here, Miss Dalton. If you and your mother both felt trapped by Mr Hartley, it must have been quite a temptation to get rid of him and move back to London with his money. It would be just desserts for his sons and their wives too, I shouldn’t wonder, to see them lose their inheritance.”

  Jane smiled. “What a nice picture you paint, Inspector. Unfortunately, as things stand, Mother is unlikely to inherit anything.”

  “Really. I was under the impression she inherited Mr Hartley’s wealth on the day of her fifth wedding anniversary. Wasn’t that last Saturday, the day Mr Hartley was shot?”

  Jane’s mouth dropped open and she covered it with a hand as she shook her head. “Who told you that?”

  “Is it true?”

  “I-I don’t know.”

  “You mean, you don’t know the date of your mother’s marriage?”

  “N-No … but could you tell us the date of your parents’ anniversary?”

  Inspector Adams’ face coloured. “That’s not the sort of information that takes up space in a man’s head. Women do dates.”

  “Even so, it might not be unreasonable if Miss Dalton didn’t know.” Eliza stole a glance at the inspector.

  Inspector Adams turned to his notes and mumbled at the table before standing up to dismiss Jane.

  “That didn’t get us very far,” he said once she was out of earshot.

  “What did you expect?” Connie said. “This is between Maria on the one side and the Hartley men on the other.”

  The inspector sighed and took out his pocket watch. “Quarter to six. Is it even worth talking to Benjamin? He wasn’t here when the shooting took place, was he?”

  “No, he wasn’t, but he’s been waiting for us all afternoon and he might just confirm a few points.”

  “All right, I’ll go and get him and then we can call it a day.”

  Eliza smiled as Inspector Adams ushered Benjamin into the room. “Good afternoon, Benjamin.”

  “Good afternoon, Mrs Thomson. Have you worked out who did it yet?”

  The inspector sat down opposite him “No, not yet, but we have a few suspects. We just need to ask you a few background questions. You worked for Mr Hartley, didn’t you?”

  “I had since we moved to Moreton. I was with a bank in London until then, but Mr Hartley needed someone to handle his investments and so I did it.”

  “So you must have known how much money he was worth?”

  Benjamin laughed. “It wasn’t quite so simple. He was a very secretive man and although I knew what cash he had invested in the stock market, I’ve no idea what other assets he had. He dealt with that himself.”

  “But you knew he was wealthy?”

  Benjamin shrugged. “Everyone knew that.”

  “Did he ever involve James or Robert in the business?”

  “Not that I’m aware of, although it wasn’t because they weren’t interested. They often wrote offering to manage some of his assets for him, but he refused to consider it. I don’t think he trusted them.”

  Eliza sat up straight. “You don’t happen to have any of those letters, do you?”

  “No, I wish I did, but Mr Hartley would get mad when he read them and toss them onto the fire.”

  “Did he ever respond to them?”

  “He would usually write back but I never saw what he wrote. I just collected the letters together at the end of each day and left them for the man from the post office to pick up when he called.”

  Inspector Adams looked up from his notes. “From what I can tell, you’re the only person who had access to the safe besides Mr Hartley. Can you confirm that?”

  “I couldn’t say for certain, but I never saw anyone else in the office with a key.”

  “So, was it you who gave your mother a copy of the will and her marriage certificate?”

  Suddenly the cockiness on Benjamin’s face disappeared. “The marriage certificate was hers and so when she asked me for it, I didn’t think there was any reason to keep it from her.”

  “When was this?” Eliza asked.

  Benjamin smirked at the three people sitting opposite. “On Sunday morning, while everyone was getting ready for church.”

  “And is that when you showed her the will?”

  Benjamin’s eyes froze on Eliza. “No. I didn’t show that to her.”

  “You’re sure?” Inspector Adams asked. “We know she’s seen it and so either you got it out of the safe for her, Mr Hartley showed her the document or she accessed the safe herself. Which one is it?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The following morning Eliza was late joining Archie and Mr Bell at the breakfast table.

  “Has Henry gone out?” she asked as she sat down.

  “He has, he said he couldn’t wait. You’ve been out of bed for hours; what have you been doing?” Archie asked.

  “Don’t exaggerate. I’ve not been up for that long, but there’s something about this case that doesn’t feel right, and I wanted to work through everything we’ve learned so far.”

  “And have you come to a conclusion?” Mr Bell asked.

  Eliza reached across the table and helped herself to a slice of toast. “No. The thing is, both sides of the family blame each other and both had the opportunity and a motive, but they can’t all have done it.”

  “There’s no chance they’re all in it together?”

  Eliza let out a sarcastic laugh. “I very much doubt it. They can’t bear to be in the same room as each other. It’s not only that, though, I worry about the implications for Georgina Hartley, the first wife. Did I tell you Mr Hartley made her admit to adultery with an unnamed third party so that he could get a divorce and save his reputation?”

  “You did. More than once,” Archie said.

  “I don’t know who told you that, but I doubt he did it to save his reputation,” Mr Bell said. “Men like Hartley aren’t worried about things like that; he’d see it as a feather in his cap that he could attract such a glamorous wife who was probably at least fifteen years younger than him.”

  “So why not just admit it in the divorce proceedings and be done with it, rather than ruining Georgina’s reputation?”

  Archie took a sip of his tea. “So that he could marry Maria.”

  Eliza stared at her husband. “What do you mean?”

  “In Scotland, if anyone files for divorce because they’re having an adulterous relationship, they’re forbidden from marrying the person named as the third party. Mr Hartley must have been courting Maria at the time and didn’t want anyone to know.”

  Eliza sat back in her chair. “That’s interesting. I don’t know whether it has any bearing on the murder, but it could suggest they were seeing each other before the divorce was granted.”

  “A
nd it might explain why she travelled to Scotland alone,” Mr Bell said. “Hartley would want the divorce finalised before she arrived. He couldn’t be seen with her while the proceedings were ongoing.”

  “No, you’re right.” Eliza sighed. “Why do people tell so many lies?”

  Mr Bell laughed. “So they don’t end up on the gallows!”

  Eliza rolled her eyes. “All right, there’s no need to be funny.”

  Archie checked his pocket watch and stood up. “I’d better be moving; the patients will be arriving in a few minutes.”

  “Can you do without me this morning?” Eliza asked. “I’ll be back later, but I’d like to go and see if Inspector Adams has had any thoughts overnight. As much as I like him, I can’t help thinking he’s likely to jump to the wrong conclusion, especially if he only has Sergeant Cooper and Constable Jenkins to help him. I’m sure I won’t be long.”

  Archie sighed. “I’ll have to look for another assistant at this rate. You’ve not done all the prescriptions from yesterday yet.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll do them as soon as I come back.”

  Eliza walked to the police station with Connie by her side. When they arrived, Constable Jenkins was on the desk.

  “Good morning, Constable. Is Inspector Adams here?”

  “He’s just in a meeting, Mrs Thomson. I’ll tell him you called.”

  Eliza fought to keep a smile on her face. “Do you think you could tell him I’m here now, please?”

  “He said he didn’t want to be disturbed…” The constable paused as Eliza stared at him. “…but perhaps that meant by other people. Let me ask if he’ll see you.”

  Constable Jenkins disappeared through a door behind the desk and returned seconds later with Inspector Adams following him.

  “Ah, Mrs Thomson, Mrs Appleton,” the inspector said. “You’ve saved me a journey. Come on in.”

  Eliza and Connie stepped into a small room that was dominated by a circular table and four chairs.

  “Take a seat, please.”

  Sergeant Cooper almost knocked over his chair as he jumped up to offer Connie his seat. “Allow me. This chair’s more comfortable than that old one.” He pointed in the direction of a chair that looked as if it could collapse under excess weight.