Death of a Milliner: Riley Rochester Investigates Book 9 (Riley ~Rochester Investigates)

by Wendy Soliman

  ‘Why are you really here, Miss Price?’ Riley asked, sensing a woman scorned and desperate for revenge. Or one anxious to rid herself of an inconvenient son who was an impediment to her ambitions.

  ‘Because I thought you should know that Ralph threw me out on my ear. Said it was better that way. But he only did so after I’d defended him when he and Alfred had a massive bust-up last night.’

  ‘About what?’ Salter asked.

  ‘I didn’t hear it all. I was in the bedroom and the walls are quite thick. I tend to make myself scarce when Alfred calls, which is far too often for my liking. But they were screaming at each other so loud that I couldn’t help hearing some of it.’ She paused, her eyes wide and wary. ‘Ralph accused Alfred outright of killing his mother. Even I was shocked. I mean, I knew he was very upset about her murder. Well, he would be, given that he’s still infatuated with her. I thought that explained his distress, but if he thought his precious son had done away with her…’

  ‘He didn’t seem especially put out when we told him about her demise,’ Riley remarked.

  ‘Well, he wouldn’t. He’s good at playing his cards close to his chest. They all three of them are. It’s a family trait. But I can tell you that he was heartbroken. He kept asking Alfred what he’d done and why. Threatened to cut him off without a penny if he didn’t tell him.’

  ‘And did he? Tell him, I mean?’ Riley asked, convinced that Miss Price had listened at the door and heard every word of the squabble, despite her protests to the contrary. Feeling vindicated too for believing that Faulkner senior had held something back when they first spoke.

  ‘He just laughed at his pa. He said that compared to what his ma had agreed to leave to him, Ralph’s fortune was a pittance. They almost came to blows after that. I rushed out and separated them, precious little thanks I got for it. Ralph’s health isn’t good and I couldn’t risk Alfred killing him, but they both turned on me. Ralph told me not to interfere in areas that had nothing to do with me, to get out and not come back.’

  Riley glanced at Salter, aware now what it was that Alfred must have removed from Mrs Faulkner’s room and why he’d left evidence of their recent communications untouched.

  ‘Anyway,’ Miss Price continued. ‘I thought you ought to know about the confrontation and Ralph’s suspicions. He would never tell you himself. Alfred is such a prig, looking down on me, even though he doesn’t think twice about bedding as many single women as he can get his hands on. That Miss Cornish is a case in point.’

  Both detectives looked up suddenly.

  ‘Miss Cornish who is employed by Madame Boise?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Aye, that’s her.’

  ‘Are you sure about that? Think carefully. It’s vitally important.’

  ‘Of course I’m sure. I’m sorry to say it and I imagine you’ll think I’m in no position to cast stones, given my relationship with Ralph, but it’s only Ralph that I share my favours with. That Miss Cornish was very friendly indeed with Alfred and Bernard. I’ve seen her with both of them at various times.’

  From which Riley surmised that she understood the brothers’ animosity towards her and kept a weather eye on their activities.

  ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave,’ Riley muttered after Miss Price had been ushered from his office by a uniformed constable summoned to perform that duty.

  ‘You getting all poetic on me again, sir? You know it confuses me when you do that.’

  ‘Sir Walter Scott, Jack. It’s a beautifully expressed aphorism that describes the domino effect that arises from acts of dishonesty when they run out of control.’

  ‘If you say so, sir,’ Salter replied dubiously. ‘More to the point, do we believe Miss Price?’

  ‘I think we do, Jack. She’s feeling aggrieved because she finally realises that she’s wasting her time with Ralph Faulkner. She blames Alfred for that and wants her revenge. I’m not so sure that Ralph is still that passionately disposed towards his late common-law wife though.’ Riley stretched his arms wearily above his head. ‘I didn’t detect any true signs of regret when we broke the news to him, but then again, Alfred fooled me completely.’

  ‘You think he’s pretending an abiding affection to avoid commitment to Miss Price?’

  ‘It wouldn’t surprise me.’

  ‘I’d feel sorry for the young woman, but for the fact that she shouldn’t have shared his bed until he had agreed to marry her.’ Salter harrumphed. ‘Women nowadays, they’re far too free with their favours.’

  ‘We don’t know what promises Ralph made before she entered into the liaison.’

  ‘Well anyway, I remember now why I try never to upset Mrs Salter. There ain’t no telling what a woman scorned might do. You imagine Mrs Faulkner intended to change her will in Alfred’s favour, I suppose. Bernard found out and couldn’t allow that to happen.’

  ‘Possibly…probably.’ Riley spread his hands. ‘Mrs Faulkner fell out with Bernard over the substandard accessories he traded in. She told him to stop but he didn’t, which must have caused a rift. Alfred appears to have kept his ear to the ground and sensed an opportunity to mend fences with his mother. No idea how, but we shall ask him in due time. Go back to Mrs Hampton’s on your way home, Jack. Ask Maud if she can write and if Alfred asked her to witness a document.’

  ‘Ah, you think Mrs Faulkner wrote down her revised wishes but didn’t have an opportunity to have a new will drawn up?’

  It’s a possibility that requires investigation. That young woman was holding something back, I’m absolutely sure of it.’

  ‘Would it be legal sir, if Mrs Faulkner signed and her signature was witnessed?’

  Riley gave a grim nod. ‘It would be, yes.’

  ‘What about this business with Miss Cornish?’ Salter looked bemused. ‘Could she possibly be dallying with both brothers at the same time?’

  Riley threw his head back and closed his eyes. ‘I have no idea. We know that she’s acquainted with Bernard. Either way, her involvement with both of them answers a great number of questions.’

  ‘Like how the killer knew that Mrs Faulkner would be at the shop that morning?’ Salter scratched his head. ‘But how would she have known? Beryl swears she didn’t tell anyone.’

  ‘Think, Jack. Mrs Faulkner very likely told one of her sons what plans she’d put in place and―’

  ‘Ah, and if Bernard knew about the changes to her will, he saw an opportunity too good to pass up.’

  ‘Precisely.’ Riley stood and reached for his coat.

  ‘Where are you going, sir?’

  ‘To meet Danforth, then home.’

  ‘Right.’

  Riley scooped up the papers they had taken from Mrs Faulkner’s room. ‘I’ll read these tonight and we’ll plan our next move in the morning—which will doubtless require that we bring all the Faulkner men and Miss Cornish in for questioning. Have Carter check on Alfred’s schedule for tomorrow. If he’s driving a train somewhere, I don’t want to bring the others in until he’s available as well.’

  ‘You don’t want them colluding, like?’

  ‘I doubt whether they will. It’s a family at war, but best to be prepared. Good night, Jack.’

  ‘Good night, sir.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  Riley and Amelia were engaged to dine with some of their neighbours in Bromley that evening, but Riley made a sorry excuse for a guest. Preoccupied with the results of Danforth’s enquiries into Henry’s latest paramour’s background, he knew he was being most inattentive. Amelia noticed but appeared satisfied when he told her that the murder investigation was nearly at its conclusion and was occupying his mind.

  He would have to go to Chichester and confront the woman directly, there was no other way to resolve the situation without risking a scandal, but not until he had brought Mrs Faulkner’s murderer to book. In the meantime, he didn’t intend to share what he knew with anyone—especially not Amelia. Mindful of her condition, there was nothing to be gained by their both being up
set.

  He arrived at Scotland Yard early the following morning, resolutely determined to prove which of the brothers had killed Mrs Faulkner and if he had done so with or without Miss Cornish’s compliance. He had managed to read through the letters that Alfred had written to his mother following their accidental meeting on a London street a little over a year previously. The cynical part of Riley’s brain still wondered if Alfred had deliberately contrived that meeting.

  He called his team together and explained how he planned to proceed.

  ‘By the process of elimination,’ he said, ‘one of the brothers has to be the guilty party. All we have to do is decide which of them had more to gain—or to lose, given that we think the victim was on the point of changing her will. This case is all about jealousy and revenge.’

  ‘And greed,’ Salter added.

  ‘That too. First off, where’s Alfred today?’ Riley asked. ‘I trust we are keeping a careful eye on his duties.’

  ‘We are, sir,’ Carter replied. ‘He’s due to drive a train to the coast this afternoon. He finished a run back from Bristol late last night, so he’s probably still in his bed.’

  ‘Excellent. I want both brothers and the father brought in individually. In other words, you will require Barton’s cooperation to get them all here without giving them an opportunity to collude.’

  ‘The chief inspector means he don’t want them talking to each other,’ Salter translated with a smirk.

  Riley sent him a droll look and continued to issue his orders. ‘Miss Cornish is to be brought in as well. Then I want you two,’ he added, pointing to Carter and Soames, ‘to search Alfred’s rooms. He removed documents from his mother’s lodgings, almost certainly an amendment to her will, and I want it found. You know all the usual places to look.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ they replied in unison.

  ‘Peterson, I want you to speak with the grocer who runs the shop under Faulkner’s residence. The man who saw Alfred loitering there when he set up shop. Pin him down on the time so that there can be no confusion.’ Riley tapped his fingers on a pile of documents, his frustration mounting. ‘If our grocer is sure he saw him at first light then he can’t have killed his mother, and Bernard must be the culprit.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Peterson replied crisply.

  ‘And while you’re at it, call at the coffee shop where Bernard claims to have been at the vital time. See if anyone has remembered anything more since we last spoke to them. One thing I can say with certainty is that they weren’t both where they said they were and we need proof of that.’

  ‘Leave it to me, sir.’

  ‘Did you speak with Maud, Jack?’

  ‘I did and she swears that Alfred didn’t ask her to sign her name to anything. I tend to believe her, if only because she can barely write.’

  ‘Shame. I thought we were onto something there.’ Riley let out a frustrated breath. ‘Ah well, it was just a thought.’

  An hour later all three Faulkners were in separate rooms at the Yard, as was Miss Cornish.

  ‘None of them are happy about being here,’ Salter told Riley, a note of relish in his tone. Like Riley, he sensed they were closing in on the culprit. Riley also knew that his moralistic sergeant would resent the brothers’ greed and sense of self-entitlement. ‘Who do you want to speak to first?’

  ‘The father. I’m pretty sure he’s not involved directly, but he probably knows something that will help us.’

  ‘Let’s go,’ Salter replied, rubbing his hands.

  ‘Mr Faulkner,’ Riley said, sweeping into the cramped room where he’d been asked to wait. ‘Why do you suppose your son Alfred killed his mother?’

  ‘I beg your pardon!’ The man looked unkempt, his face pale, his bluster unconvincing. ‘How dare you suggest…’

  ‘Let’s not waste one another’s time. Miss Price came to see us and we know what accusations you levelled at your son. I find it hard to imagine you doing such a thing without being sure of your facts, given how close the two of you are.’

  ‘Ah.’

  ‘Yes, Mr Faulkner. Ah. You really should have a better understanding of the vengeful nature of women who feel slighted, given your days with Mrs Faulkner.’

  Faulkner deflated and gave a grim nod. ‘Aye, you’re not wrong. And I don’t actually think Alfred killed her.’

  ‘That’s the accusation Miss Price heard you throw at him,’ Salter pointed out.

  ‘I knew the two of them had resumed contact. Alfred told me himself. He thought it would upset me, that I’d feel he was being disloyal. I rather think that’s why he went out of his way to find his mother. He thought it would bother me. He doesn’t like Avril…Miss Price, you see. He feels threatened by her presence in my life.’

  ‘He’s a grown man,’ Salter growled, ‘not some child clinging to his father’s coattails.’

  ‘I suspect his concern is for his financial aspirations,’ Riley remarked.

  ‘He needn’t be that bothered. There ain’t much left, truth to tell, but Alfred isn’t aware of that.’

  ‘Really?’ It was the first snippet of information that had surprised Riley. ‘That isn’t the impression you gave when we first spoke with you.’

  Faulkner shrugged. ‘Didn’t seem relevant. Besides, Alfred was there and I don’t want him to know. I’m afraid both of my sons are a little too fond of the finer things in life, all of which cost money. I’ve treated them both generously over the years and they have come to assume that generosity is funded by a nest egg.’

  ‘You’ve purchased their affection and you’re worried about losing it if they realise funds are low,’ Riley said, not without sympathy in his tone.

  ‘Something like that, but when Alfred started trying to make me give up Avril then I’m afraid I lost my temper with him. I said what I’d been half thinking about his mother’s demise without pausing to consider. Alfred resents Jessie for neglecting him. He was a sensitive child, far more so than Bernard. But I seriously doubt that childhood neglect would inspire such a murderous intent. After all, I did my level best to counter Jessie’s disinterest in her sons by making up for it, much good it did me.’

  ‘Why do you suppose Mrs Faulkner was willing to offer Alfred the time of day, given that she’d not taken much interest in him as a child?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Jessie would have loved having both of her sons dancing to her tune. She probably hoped to turn them against me. She was a user of people, Chief Inspector. I know that she and Bernard had fallen out, but not why. My sons don’t get on well and Alfred probably decided to try and take Bernard’s place in her affections just to spite his brother. It’s the sort of thing he’d do.’ Faulkner spread his hands. ‘That’s all I can tell you.’

  ‘Were you still in love with Mrs Faulkner?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Oh good heavens, no! I told you…oh, Avril. Of course.’ He smiled and shook his head. ‘I made it very clear to her when we became intimate that I was not interested in matrimony. She assured me that she felt the same way but, of course, as time went on, she began to drop heavy hints, gradually left more of her possessions in my flat, that sort of thing. I’ll admit I was selfish and didn’t want to lose her, so I pretended I’d never got over Jessie.’ He fixed Riley with a direct look. ‘But on my sons’ lives I hadn’t set eyes on Jessie for years and I had no desire to. She was spiteful and vindictive and I was glad to see the back of her. Besides, Avril was with me at the time of the murder, although I suppose she might tell you now that she wasn’t.’ He gave a half smile. ‘But then I wouldn’t have ended our relationship if I had a guilty conscience and needed her to lie for me, would I now?’

  ‘Perhaps that was her price. Put your relationship on a formal footing or she would deny being with you at the vital time?’ Riley suggested.

  ‘I can see why you might think that, but it simply isn’t true. I had absolutely no reason to kill Jessie.’

  Riley nodded, satisfied with his answers. ‘Very well. Thank you for your help, Mr F
aulkner. You may go. I will have someone show you out.’

  Riley returned to his office with Salter at his heels. ‘He didn’t do it, did he, sir?’

  ‘No, Jack. I’ll give up this line of work if he hoodwinked us. But I do think that he cared more than he implied about Alfred reconnecting with his mother, which is probably what they argued about. Well, that and Alfred’s jealousy over his relationship with Miss Price.’

  ‘Huh!’

  ‘Let’s go and see Miss Cornish next. Follow my lead, Jack. I might throw a few things out there that we can’t actually prove, just to see which way she jumps.’

  When they entered the room where Miss Cornish had been asked to wait, they found a very different character to the forthright individual whom they had previously encountered. The confines of Scotland Yard tended to have that effect, Riley knew. The young woman looked unnaturally pale, and her hands were laced tightly together in her lap. She glanced up when Riley walked in and he could see the fear in her eyes.

  ‘Shall we save time, Miss Cornish, and you tell us the complete truth about your association with Bernard and Alfred Faulkner.’

  She paled even more; her cheeks now chalk white. ‘I don’t…I can’t…’

  ‘We don’t have all day.’ Riley hardened his tone. ‘You can tell us what we need to know now, or spend a few hours in our cells, which will give you an opportunity to reflect upon the wisdom of lying to us.’

  ‘I’ll…All right, I’ll tell you.’ She moistened her lips and took a moment to compose herself. ‘A couple of years back, Bernard came into the shop when Madame wasn’t there. I think he deliberately waited until he saw her go out. He’s a handsome man and very personable. He’s charming and great fun, and he doesn’t seem to take life seriously. I’d frankly never met anyone quite like him. I knew he was buttering me up for some reason. Men like him don’t take an interest in me but I’ll confess that I enjoyed the attention.’