The Wellington Bureau: A Quartermain Mystery

by Daphne Coleridge

she said. “I thought that the army limited their manoeuvres to the battlefield.”

  “A good army officer is adaptable to all circumstances,” he replied in crisp tones. After their single dance he returned her to Percy and wished them goodnight.

  When Anna reached her own home in the early hours of the next morning, she was neither too tired nor too drunk to be able to consider the interesting fact that she had enjoyed herself. For someone who thought that joy had gone forever from her life, and who, furthermore, had never believed it possible to derive any pleasure from being crushed in amongst a hundred or more partying people, this was surprising. She felt rather guilty. It seemed to her rather indecent to enjoy herself with Andrew not dead a year. Indeed, it was almost disloyal of her to enjoy something which he would have disliked so decidedly. But hadn’t the Brigadier said that she would start to care about things again? Not that she cared so very much about anything. She was a little interested in the problems of the Parry family, but they had not dominated her thoughts that evening. She had learnt nothing of any use. What, then, had made the difference? Surely not the beguilement of the amorous young Percy? No! She dismissed the idea. Her life with Andrew had been one of absolute happiness. All Percy’s beauty, wit and flattery could not fill the aching gap left by the loss of a companion with whom she had been so perfectly at one.

  Nonetheless, Anna passed a disturbed night, maybe as a result of the wine and the rich food.

  Five

  On the morning, or rather the afternoon, after the Furnival’s party, Anna was woken by the harsh purr of her telephone. She sat up, winced, and lifted the receiver,

  “Good morning.”

  “Anna? You sound rough!” piped out a cheerful voice. “You’d better go and put your head in a bucket of cold water. You’ll be needing a clear brain. We have a bit of sleuthing for you to do.”

  “Oh, yes,” replied Anna, in a tone of voice that suggested she was none too keen on the prospect of solving a crime that particular day. “What’s the problem, Toby? Surely not a body in the bathroom?”

  “I’m afraid not. Just a common or garden burglary.”

  “What? You’ve been burgled?” Anna’s interest began to rouse.

  “Not me. Mother. I stayed the night – at least, I assume I did as here I am! And lo and behold we wake to discover that thieves came upon us in the night! Exciting, eh?”

  “Have they taken much?”

  “Oh, this and that. You’ll have to ask mother.”

  “I doubt if she’ll want me to interfere.”

  “Oh, but she does. She told me to get hold of you. She knows all about your sleuthing. I gave her a card.”

  “My sleuthing amounts to precisely nothing at present. I hope you have not been misleading her?”

  “Not at all. Anyway, you must dash round here as soon as you can. The place is swarming with plods, so you’d better get a move on or they’ll ruin all the clues.”

  Anna washed and pulled on a skirt and jumper and some warm socks. Ben was in the kitchen reading one of the more lurid Sunday papers. He had stayed the night after having collected her from the party.

  “Want some black coffee?” he enquired.

  “Yes, but don’t even suggest breakfast.”

  Ben grinned, clearly understanding how she felt.

  “I’ve got to go back to the Furnival’s house. They have very obligingly contracted a case of burglary.”

  “What, the lot who had the party?”

  Anna nodded as she took the cup he offered her.

  “Must have been one of the guests,” he said.

  “I think it was during the night, after the party.”

  Ben wrinkled his freckled nose. “I bet you anything that is was while everyone was having a knees-up. How much stuff was taken?”

  “I don’t know. I’m going to find out. I hope they won’t mind me turning up. For some reason I don’t place much faith in Toby’s assurance that my services are required.”

  The Furnival’s house in Regent’s Park Terrace was distinguished by the presence of two police cars outside. It was an elegant four storied building, the facade dominated by several large sash windows. Anna was let in by a neatly dressed young woman who asked her name, showed her into a reception room which showed the scars of a recent and successful party, and then went and fetched Lady Furnival. Anna, who had felt some trepidation at turning up possibly uninvited – at what must be a most awkward time, was soon put at her ease.

  “Ah, Anna!” They had reached first name terms by the end of the previous evening, “I am glad you’ve come.” Susan Furnival was dressed in a cream silk suit and looked quite as glamorous as she had the previous evening. She also seemed to be unruffled by the combined presence of police and the small army of people required to clear up the usual sort of debris resulting from a good party.

  “I was sorry to hear about the burglary. Toby said you’d like me to call, but I wasn’t sure if I’d help or hinder proceedings.”

  “Well, we would appreciate your help. Come through to the study. I’m afraid it’s the only room that’s not seething with people or in a frightful muddle. Ah, Angus; Lady Quartermain has very kindly agreed to help us track down our thief.”

  A little pink tinged Anna’s cheeks. She couldn’t quite cope with the idea of anybody taking her pose as a detective seriously. She was also regretting her socks. She was not used to the sort of person who wore silk and perfume on a casual basis.

  “Well, you cannot do a worse job than our friends in blue. So far they have come up with the suggestion that one of our guests might be responsible. Having thus narrowed down the likely suspects to just over a hundred, including one of their most senior officers, they seem bewildered by the lack of any substantial clues.” Anna looked on in awe as Sir Angus Furnival poured himself a large whisky. She decided that he must be a very robust man. “Lady Quartermain?” He indicated the decanter.

  Anna shook her head, all signs of her pinkness having disappeared. “Has much has been taken?” she asked.

  “Only a few items,” said Susan Furnival. “But I give the thief credit for his very good taste. He selected some of my favourite jewels including, I’m afraid, an opal and diamond ring which belonged to my grandmother.”

  “Toby said that the thief crept in during the night. Is it not more likely that he slipped upstairs during the party?”

  “Almost certainly,” said Sir Angus. “Unfortunately none of us were very observant last night and it was not until this morning that Susan noticed that some of her jewellery was missing.”

  “In other words, it really could have been any one of your guests. But surely you can eliminate all those you know well?”

  “Unfortunately we knew them all well. This was a birthday party: family and friends.”

  Anna could not conceive of knowing more than three or four people with any intimacy, but then Lady Furnival had apparently devoted years to the art of socializing, and her claim to know a hundred people carried some weight.

  “Was there anyone, apart from me, who was asked along at the last minute?”

  “No. You were the only person there whom neither of us had met before.”

  “That probably makes me the most likely suspect! But what about the caterers? One of them might have slipped upstairs.”

  Lady Furnival shook her head. “The marquee was put up on Friday. All deliveries of flowers, food, wine, etcetera, were taken early yesterday afternoon. All my jewellery was safe when I got dressed for the evening. The catering was done by Pauline Grainger. She has done parties for us before. She has a very good reputation and chooses all her staff most carefully. In any case, they all wore uniforms and would be the very people to arouse suspicion if they had gone upstairs. George was in the hall all evening, answering the door, taking coats, and calling taxis. He would have noticed if anyone had gone upstairs without permission. He is very particular. In fact, I cannot imagine anyone would have gone upstairs and helped themselves to my jew
ellery. But the fact remains that somebody did. It is all very distressing.”

  “Are the police still here, Sir Angus?”

  "Yes. Still tramping about Susan’s room, I think. I’ll take you up.”

  As Anna followed Sir Angus, she noticed several fine paintings on the walls and the occasional elegant little table with a piece of porcelain or sculpture displayed on it. No doubt one or two of the objects that ornamented the house were antiques or originals and would reward any opportunist who picked them up on their way back from the bathroom and slipped them in their handbag or jacket pocket. She had noticed some antique snuff boxes, which were ideal for such a purpose. But most guests know better than to increase their own collection of snuff boxes by swiping those belonging to their host.

  Lady Furnival’s room was on the fourth floor. It was decorated in shades of peach and gold. The pillowslips were monogrammed with S.F. and edged with gold lace. A vase of fresh flowers stood on the bedside table. It was a distinctly feminine room and the two bulky policemen in their heavy shoes looked somewhat incongruous.

  “Detective Inspector Taylor, this is Lady Quartermain. Could you tell her what your boys have found.”

  The Inspector was a youngish man, tall and bony with thinning hair.

  “Good afternoon, Lady Quartermain,” he said in a brisk, businesslike voice. “Well, there’s not much I can tell you. Somebody has walked in here, opened the jewellery box, and helped themselves. The criminal wore