Dying for a Garden Party

by V L McBeath

  Robert glowered at Maria. “You’ve kept this from us all along?”

  Maria threw her head back. “Of course I did. Why would I tell you when you’ve done nothing but make my life a misery for these last five years?” She spat her words out causing Inspector Adams to step between them.

  “Please, Mr Hartley, don’t blame Maria. It was your father’s decision to keep the real date from you and we’re guessing that it was because since the day you heard of the marriage you’ve been convinced Maria only married him for his money. As I understand, you harassed him until he agreed to put a clause into the will stating that Maria would only inherit the money if the marriage lasted for five years.”

  “How do you know all this?” Robert’s face was twisted.

  “As I told your brother on Saturday, Mrs Thomson often gives valuable insight into cases like this, and she pieced together the most likely turn of events from the snippets of information you all gave us.”

  “Not that it helped,” Eliza said. “In fact, it was quite the contrary when it came to working out who had a reason to want Edward dead. On the face of it, the three people with the most to gain from Edward’s death were Maria, James and Robert. Of those, Maria was the only one who knew the real date of the wedding and as of last Saturday, with the five-year clause at an end, she would legitimately inherit the whole of Edward’s estate if anything happened to him. That’s quite a motive for someone who’s been kept a prisoner in her own home for five years and endured the type of harassment you’ve thrown at her. Imagine what an opportunity it would be to be finally rid of Edward and regain a life of her own … because she didn’t have a life, did she Robert, thanks to you and James?”

  Robert kept his gaze fixed on the fireplace as Eliza continued.

  “Thanks to the two of you, your father was under the impression that Maria herself was having an extramarital affair with another man. That was why he wouldn’t let her outside the premises alone for fear that she might leave him. Living with this constant scrutiny day in day out, for five years, must have been very wearing, and so once she knew she would inherit the money why not kill the man responsible for making her life a misery and start again? As we’ve heard, she had the opportunity and now we know she had the motive.”

  Eliza had expected some argument from Maria but she sat with her head in her hands, refusing to look up.

  “But she wasn’t the only one with a strong motive,” Inspector Adams said. “We know James was in the office minutes before the shooting but he was of the belief that the five-year wedding anniversary was still weeks away. He claimed he was trying to get his father to change the will, but it wasn’t the first time he’d tried and all previous attempts had ended in failure. Time was running out and so if Mr Hartley refused this last chance to alter his will, perhaps James thought the only other option was to take his father’s life before the anniversary. That way the estate would automatically go to you.”

  “Don’t be absurd. Why would we confirm James’ alibi if we knew that was his intention?” Robert’s voice bounced off the walls.

  “Because you all stood to benefit. Not just you, but your mother as well. Finally she would receive the allowance your father had so cruelly withdrawn from her weeks after the divorce. Isn’t that right, Mrs Hartley?”

  “But we didn’t do anything.” Georgina’s voice was feeble and Eliza couldn’t deny the pity she felt for her.

  “So, if any one of the three could have pulled the trigger, why did you choose to arrest James?” Millicent Hartley, James’ wife, looked at the inspector, her eyes filled with tears. “If you hadn’t come to arrest him, he might still be alive.”

  Inspector Adams swallowed hard. “Actually, I’m not sure he would be, but to answer your question we believed James was the last person to see Edward alive and decided that the gun couldn’t have been fired with such precision by a woman.”

  “So what do you think now, Inspector?” Georgina asked. “My eldest son is dead, while his brother is sitting in handcuffs and you’ve given us no evidence that either have done anything wrong.”

  “No, you’re right.” Inspector Adams kicked at the carpet. “Mrs Thomson, I believe you were going to address this.”

  Eliza gave the inspector a sideways glance. “Thank you, Inspector. Yes, it’s unfortunate that James had such a strong motive for killing his father and that he’d been in the office immediately before the shooting but I suspect the two may be connected.

  “If we take a step backwards, we know Maria or James both had the opportunity to kill Mr Hartley, but so too did Robert and Georgina, assuming they were working with James. But earlier today I suddenly wondered, what if everyone was telling the truth? What if Maria really had stayed in the drawing room after she’d left the office, and what if James had left his father before the shooting and returned to his mother and brother in the billiard room? Who else could have been in the office at the time of the shooting?

  “As you may have heard, Mrs Appleton and I were actually on the corridor ourselves minutes before the shot was fired. We saw James arrive and Maria leave, but there was no one else around. Not in those crucial ten minutes. And that set me thinking. What if the killer was already in the office when Mr Hartley arrived … or more to the point, in the library? The two rooms have an adjoining door and anyone could have hidden in there, especially with the door onto the landing closed. The thing is, I was showing Mrs Appleton around the library when we heard the lift arriving with Mr Hartley. Naturally, as soon as we heard it, we hurried from the room but in our haste, we left the door open. I distinctly remember because I was worried that it had been closed when we arrived and someone might have noticed. What I only realised earlier today was that when Maria called for help after she discovered the body, and we all met her on the landing, the door was firmly closed again. Had the killer slipped from the office into the library as soon as we’d left? If they had, there’s a good chance they overheard the conversation between James and his father? James was adamant that Mr Hartley was considering changing the will back in favour of him and Robert. Imagine for a moment, he was telling the truth. It would mean he had no reason to kill his father, but how would that impact Maria and her children? It almost certainly wouldn’t be favourable.” Eliza studied the faces of those around her. Nothing.

  “So, who was in the library to overhear that conversation? What about Jane? After all, she is the only one without any sort of alibi.”

  “It wasn’t me.” Panic-filled eyes stared up at Eliza. “Why would I kill Mr Hartley?”

  “The same reason as any of you, I would imagine. For his money. Jane has to be high on our list of suspects if we go purely on the alibis, but suddenly, this afternoon with the death of James, everything changed.”

  “I was in the house with Mother this afternoon.” Jane’s voice squealed as she spoke. “We were in here and one of the maids was fussing about. You can ask her. Mother, tell them.”

  “It’s all right, Miss Dalton,” Eliza said. “Due to the nature of the death this afternoon, I don’t believe it was something you could have done.”

  “Well, who else is left?” Georgina’s eyes narrowed as she turned her gaze from Eliza to Benjamin. “If Miss Dalton isn’t the killer, I imagine that rules out any of the women in this room.” She extended her arm and pointed directly ahead of her. “He’s the only other person who could have done it?”

  Eliza nodded. “On the face of it you’re right, he is. The problem is that he has watertight alibis for the time of each death. Isn’t that right, Benjamin?”

  The cockiness returned to Benjamin’s face. “It wasn’t me. I told you, I was out in the village when Mr Hartley was shot and then I was in the Golden Eagle with Henry this afternoon before I came back here.”

  “And you made sure your alibis were robust, didn’t you? Not only did you make sure everyone knew you were out of the house on Saturday afternoon, you deliberately walked past Sergeant Cooper and Constable Jenkins shortly
after the church bells had sounded for two o’clock.”

  Benjamin grinned. “And I locked the gate when I came back because they’d been called to the house to deal with the murder.”

  “Exactly.” Eliza paused to stare at him. “You did the same this afternoon with Henry. When you left the Golden Eagle, you made sure Henry knew it was quarter to three, you even showed him your pocket watch. The pocket watch you had put forward by fifteen minutes.”

  “I did not!”

  “Can I see it, please, sir?” Inspector Adams stepped forward and held out his hand.

  Benjamin stared from Eliza to the inspector as his left hand reached for his pocket. “What are you talking about? I left Henry at a quarter to three and came straight back here.” He turned and looked for Constable Jenkins. “He saw me.”

  “We’ve spoken to Constable Jenkins,” Eliza said. “We know it was a little turned three o’clock when you bumped into him and so if you left the Golden Eagle at half past two, which we believe you did, that leaves us with a half an hour gap. What did you do between leaving the public house and arriving here?”

  Benjamin stood up and towered over Eliza. “I didn’t do anything. I have two perfect alibis and you can’t trace either of these crimes to me.”

  Eliza took a step backwards. “What you didn’t realise though was that we’d find your secret pathway in and out of the grounds. Mr Hartley may have stopped you leaving by the main gate, but he had no idea what happened in the wood, did he? Your fondness for birdwatching was very convenient when you wanted to escape. You took several pales from the fence at the far end of the wood so you could come and go when you wanted. Not that you went out often. Being so tall and with such distinctive hair meant that for the most part you must have kept to the edges of the village and if you wanted to venture further, a cap would help to camouflage you. But suddenly, these last few days you’ve had more freedom. You’ve taken to leaving your cap at home and walking tall down the main street. Was that to make sure as many people as possible saw and remembered you? To further back up your alibis?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “This afternoon, after James Hartley’s body had been discovered, several of us found your little track in the woods. It’s very narrow where it leaves the churchyard but for a slim boy like you it wouldn’t have caused many problems. We followed it straight to the back of Oak House, to the place you’d taken the timber from the fence.”

  “I did no such thing. We must have had intruders.”

  “I’m not sure whether you know, but I used to live at Oak House and when I stepped through the fence this afternoon I once again entered the wood I had known as a child. Do you love the old oak tree as much as I do?” Eliza cocked her head to one side as she looked up at him. “I used to have a swing hanging from one of the branches, but it’s gone now. Instead, the tree seems to be splitting at the seams. I hope that’s not because of anything you’ve done.”

  “I don’t even know which tree you mean.”

  Eliza studied him, a lopsided grin on her face. “Well, now I know you’re lying. It’s the biggest tree in the wood and you really can’t miss it. Did you know you can step into the crack that’s opening up in the trunk?”

  Benjamin’s eyes widened.

  “I stepped in this afternoon and you’ll never guess what I found? The branch that had been used to hit James over the head and the cord that was used around his neck. How did they get there? I wonder.”

  Benjamin ran a hand through his hair. “Someone must have hidden them there.”

  “Yes, that must be it. I knew you’d have an explanation, except there was one other thing. As I was climbing out I heard a crunching sound under my foot and noticed a distinct smell. When I finally got out of the tree, I found the remains of a sweet stuck to the bottom of my shoe. An aniseed twist if you’d like to know. Mr Pitt in the shop informs me you’re rather fond of them, and do you know what? The smell of them was still in the tree. Not only that, it was the same smell I noticed in the office the day Mr Hartley died.”

  “Of course you’d smell them in the office.” Benjamin’s face was almost the colour of his hair. “I worked in that room all day every day investing thousands of his pounds in the stock market while he paid me a pittance.”

  “And I imagine that must have been hard, but the problem with your explanation is that while you were working for Mr Hartley, you didn’t go into the shop. Mr Pitt hadn’t seen you before last week. With or without your cap. Was it while you were in the office you decided to read his will? To see if your mother would inherit everything if Mr Hartley died? You were one of the few people with access to the safe and you knew everything that was in there. You could snoop about as much as you liked when Mr Hartley was out because he trusted you. After all, there was no risk. When he came back, he had to use the lift, which was both slow and noisy and this gave you ample time to cover your tracks. You must have found out that last Saturday was the date your mother became the main beneficiary of the will and decided it was time to end your life as a lowly clerk. I imagine that hearing Edward was about to change his will back to favouring his sons added to the urgency of the situation.”

  “But why kill James?” Georgina asked.

  “Do you want to answer her?” Eliza’s eyes bore into Benjamin, but he appeared more interested in a spot on the carpet. “Very well, I would say it was because James suspected Benjamin was the murderer. He’d been furious at being a prime suspect and determined to find out the real killer for himself. He came a little too close, didn’t he, Benjamin? Did your mother know what you were doing or was this all for you?”

  Maria grabbed her son’s hands. “I knew nothing of this. Benjamin, please tell me you didn’t do it. Inspector Adams, you can’t believe this nonsense.”

  “I’m afraid I do, Mrs Hartley. Benjamin Dalton, I’m arresting you for…”

  Benjamin’s eyes darted around the room and before the inspector could finish his sentence, he leapt over the settee and headed for the door.

  “Someone stop him,” Inspector Adams yelled, but by the time Constable Jenkins came to his senses, Benjamin had gone.

  “He’s gone into the library.” Sergeant Cooper ran down the corridor with Eliza close behind him. They burst into the room to see Benjamin standing on the top of the porch, closing the window behind him. A second later, he jumped down onto the gravel below, falling heavily on his right ankle.

  Eliza watched in horror as he limped off across the lawn. “Down the stairs, someone, we have to catch him.” She stayed at the library window and watched as the three police officers, closely followed by Henry, emerged from the front porch and gave chase.

  Suddenly she turned and hurried to the door. “I need to go too.”

  “Eliza, you’re not going anywhere.” Archie reached out and grabbed her arm. “This is not the sort of thing women should be involved with.”

  “I don’t care, Henry’s out there. What if anything happens to him?” She shook her arm free and raced down the stairs sensing Connie behind her. Seconds later, Archie caught her up.

  “If you insist on going, I’m coming with you.”

  “Well, get a move on. They went towards the gate.”

  Half walking and half running, the three made their way to the end of the cul-de-sac where they stopped to get their bearings. Eliza put her hands on her hips and leaned forward as she gasped for air. “There they are, look, outside Mrs Petty’s. I think they’ve got him.”

  They set off again and arrived outside the house to find Benjamin lying on the footpath with his hands fastened behind his back. Mrs Petty watched with a huge smile on her face.

  “What happened?” Eliza said as she took in the scene.

  Mrs Petty shrugged. “It was nothing really. I saw the young man hobbling up the street and a moment later I heard Constable Jenkins shouting after him.” She looked down at the walking stick that lay on the floor. “I managed to push the stick throu
gh the gate and trip him up.”

  “She did.” Constable Jenkins gave the older woman a grateful smile. “She stopped him long enough for me to pounce on him and get him handcuffed.”

  Eliza laughed. “Mrs Petty, you are wonderful and it’s amazing how you always seem to be in the right place at the right time.”

  Mrs Petty’s eyes twinkled. “I do seem to have something of a knack for it, don’t I?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Eliza sat back in her chair and smiled at the soft round of applause that greeted Archie as he walked towards them on the bowling green. His bowl had rolled gently towards the jack and nestled against it, winning the match for him and Mr Bell.

  “What a lovely way to end the week,” Connie said. “I never used to come and watch when I was on my own, I didn’t think I’d enjoy it.”

  “It’s more the occasion, I’d say. Sitting on the veranda taking afternoon tea is as much a part of it as the game.” Eliza stood up and offered Connie her hand. “Shall we go and find a seat?”

  They found a table for four in the shade and Eliza waved to Mr Bell as he came out of the clubhouse. “You and Archie make a good pairing.”

  Mr Bell smiled. “I can’t take much of the credit, Archie won the majority of the points. Still, it’s nice to win something at my age.”

  “Here we are.” Archie placed a tray laden with teacups and cakes in the middle of the table and sat down. “Mrs Petty says she’s given us an extra spoonful of cream to go with the scones.”

  Eliza grinned. “Bless her. I don’t know how she manages to stand and serve the teas when her ankle still hasn’t recovered.”