A Bloody Hot Summer

by Trevor D'Silva

  Dermot ran up the stairs, followed by Miss Carter. He knocked on Arthur’s door, but there was no response. He tried the door, but it was locked. He asked Miss Carter to stand back and then he kicked the door open and entered. Miss Carter gave a muffled yell as she covered her mouth with her hand. Arthur’s torso was hanging out of the bed, his head on the floor. His face was twisted in a grimace of agony.

  Dermot went to the table where the teacup and pot of tea were kept. The cup had some traces of tea at the bottom. Miss Carter pointed to an envelope addressed to Dermot on the table. As Dermot read the note inside, his facial expression changed. “He has committed suicide. He has confessed everything and he has also named his accomplices.”

  “Ye Gods, this will devastate Mrs. Endecott. How will I tell her that her son has committed suicide?”

  “…I don’t know. But first, help me search for the bottle of poison.”

  They both began searching the room. A few minutes later, Miss Carter directed his attention to a bottle containing white powder in a drawer that she had just opened. Dermot came closer and looked. He asked her to call the ambulance and police. Miss Carter nodded and left the room. Dermot took out a handkerchief and wrapped the bottle in it.

  The ambulance arrived; two hospital orderlies, along with Dr. Fielding, came in and examined the body. The orderlies shifted the corpse onto a stretcher, covered it with a sheet, and took it away.

  — — —

  A few hours later, Dermot was at the Meadowford Police Station. He and Inspector Enderby were waiting for the phone to ring. When it finally did, Inspector Enderby picked it up. It was Scotland Yard. He motioned for Dermot to come closer and they both listened. When the call ended, they looked at each other and smiled.

  “The stage is set and we have all the players. Time for the main act, Dermot,” said Inspector Enderby.

  Chapter 25: The First Act

  Dermot arrived at Fitzhugh Manor with a few constables, along with Irene and Frida Shaw. The sky was dark and the wind tugged at their coats as they climbed the steps to the front door.

  “Blimey! Looks like a storm’s approaching,” said Constable Blackwood.

  Miss Carter opened the door with a quizzical look on her face. Dermot took her aside and told her in the strictest confidence that, because of the suicide note found in Arthur’s room, they knew who the killers were and would shortly be apprehending them. He asked her to send the staff to the library and also to make tea for everyone gathered there. Miss Carter nodded and said that she would also bring some freshly baked scones.

  “Would you like Indian, Chinese or Ceylon tea?” she asked.

  “Indian,” Dermot said. “I’m sure everyone would like it too.”

  Dermot asked everyone gathered in the library to sit down, against the protestations of Lilian who didn’t see the point of having a meeting. Dermot placed his leather briefcase on the table and took out some of its contents. He went to the door and spoke to Constable Clarke, who closed the door and put his huge frame in front of it as if daring anyone to try to make him move.

  “Where’s Hector?” asked Cora.

  “Two of our female constables are with him in the servants’ dining room. He’s in good hands, Mrs. Fitzhugh.”

  Dermot held up his hand. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologise for the short notice, but this meeting is of utmost importance… Now, let me begin… This case has been very puzzling from the start. Many clues didn’t make sense or even add up…”

  There was a knock on the door and Dermot nodded to Constable Clarke to get the door. Richard Seymour came in and scanned the crowd in the room. He asked for Pippa and said that Inspector Enderby had telephoned him, telling him that Pippa had been cleared of all charges and had been released.

  “Ahhh, please come in, Mr. Seymour,” said Dermot. “We’ve been expecting you.”

  “Have we?” asked Lilian in surprise.

  “Yes, we have. Now please sit on that chair, Mr. Seymour, and I will continue.”

  Richard looked sideways and saw the burly constable standing behind him. He acquiesced and sat on the chair.

  “Now, as I was saying, many clues in this case…”

  At that moment, there was another knock and Miss Carter, followed by Alice, came in bringing in tea and scones.

  “Let’s wait until we are all served tea,” said Dermot.

  Once the tea was poured, Dermot requested that Alice and Miss Carter sit down. They both looked at the elderly sisters and Flora nodded, giving her consent.

  As Alice was about to sit next to Miss Carter, Dermot insisted that Alice sit across the room, next to Constable Barnaby. Alice looked perplexed but complied.

  “Now,” Dermot continued. “Many people had motives for murdering Lady Fitzhugh. Arthur Endecott, because he needed money; Mrs. Fitzhugh, because then she could control the estate until Hector turned twenty-one; and Pippa, because she was next in line to inherit the estate after Hector.”

  Cora almost dropped her teacup when she heard she was still a suspect.

  “What was strange was that the wills of Lady Fitzhugh and her father went missing for some time when the solicitor came to visit. Then, mysteriously, these two wills reappeared in Mr. Kerr’s briefcase after he left the manor. Why were these wills stolen and then returned? The missing wills are the key in this case. They were stolen because the murderer needed to know the contents of Lady Fitzhugh’s will and, most importantly, the order of inheritance.

  “Mr. Kerr was here with the wills because Lady Fitzhugh wanted to add someone to her will. She had discovered that Irene Shaw was the illegitimate daughter of Lord Fitzhugh.”

  There were murmurs throughout the room. “Do you mean to say that Irene is our half-sister?” asked Lilian.

  “Yes,” said Dermot. “Mrs. Ainsworth told me that her father was a philanderer. Even his son, Allan, had nicknamed him Henry VIII. A few months after Lord Fitzhugh went to South Africa, a baby was born in St. Crispin’s Village and was named Adele Irene Wilson. The mother, Frida Wilson, had worked here as a maid and was dismissed by Doris Fitzhugh when she learnt of the pregnancy. After Lord Fitzhugh returned from South Africa, Frida – who had moved to London – wrote to him about the baby. He secretly acknowledged his illegitimate child and supported her through a bank account in the name of Portia Hartford, to avoid a scandal. When he died, Frida closed the account and obtained a job as a secretary.

  “Adele was now named Irene Shaw – as Frida had married when she moved back to St. Crispin’s – and came to work here as a lady’s maid. When Irene got close to Lady Fitzhugh, she revealed her true identity. Being remorseful for the way she treated Frida Wilson, Lady Fitzhugh decided to include Irene in her will and to leave her a legacy, but on one condition: that she never reveal her true identity. That never happened, however, because Irene was dismissed for stealing the emerald necklace.”

  Dermot paused and sipped his tea.

  “Although Irene was dismissed, there was still one person here looking out for her interest.”

  Everyone looked around the room.

  “I’m talking about you, Charles,” Dermot said.

  “What are you saying?” asked Charles, startled.

  “Irene and you were in love. On the night that Mr. Seymour first visited the manor, he overheard you telling Irene in the stables that she would get her inheritance sooner if her Ladyship were to die suddenly.”

  “Yes, I heard Charles say that when Irene told him that Lady Fitzhugh was going to add her to her will,” said Richard.

  Charles and Irene were surprised at the accusation. “We didn’t mean we wanted her dead soon,” said Charles.

 
“Once she was dismissed, Irene told you that Mr. Endecott also needed money and so you two collaborated with Mr. Endecott to kill her Ladyship and Master Hector and to frame Pippa for the murders. Mr. Endecott wrote this suicide note confessing everything. You two had the motive and the opportunities to carry out your plans, but, unfortunately, they didn’t go as planned.” Dermot held the suicide note up for everyone to see.

  “That’s not true,” said Irene. “Mr. Endecott, Charles and I never collaborated to murder anyone. I never really knew Mr. Endecott because I was dismissed a few days after he arrived.”

  “True, but you had another motive besides being fired for stealing the necklace. You were born on the wrong side of the blanket and your mother was thrown out when she was pregnant with you, you wanted to get even with her Ladyship…”

  “Stop, Detective,” interrupted Charles. “You’re upsetting Irene. She’d never hurt anyone. The note ain’t telling the truth.”

  “Only you, Charles, had the opportunity to cut the strap on Hector’s saddle.”

  “Fine, but if Master Hector had died then Miss Fitzhugh would’ve got everything because she weren’t hurt. And you can’t blame me for killing Abigail and Mr. Kerr as I have alibis. Besides, why would Irene or I steal the wills when Irene knew that she was going to be added to them. You just said that the whole idea for the murders started when those wills were stolen.”

  “By Jove, you make some relevant points,” Dermot said. “You had the opportunity and motive to kill Lady Fitzhugh and also the opportunity to try and kill Master Hector, but you couldn’t have killed Bertram Kerr, Abigail, and Sister Claudette Fleming. All of them were killed by the same murderers. So, there were others involved. I admire the tenacity of the killers. Even though it took many years, they waited for the opportune moment and struck when least expected.”

  “Who’s Sister Claudette Fleming?” asked Cora.

  “She was a hospital worker from St. Cuthbert’s Hospital who died after she was pushed in front of a car. She was bringing me a photograph of the killers of Allan Fitzhugh,” said Dermot.

  The family members looked at each other in disbelief.

  “These two people killed Allan Fitzhugh because he suspected them of being moles after he had found out that certain intelligence was being compromised. He set a trap for them to steal the plans for the submarine that the Royal Navy had given to the intelligence service for safe keeping.”

  “So he wasn’t a traitor?” asked Lilian.

  “No, he wasn’t. He was actually a hero. But before I get to that, let me first explain about these murders…” Dermot took a sip from his cup. “The murders were planned so that one person could inherit this estate and the wealth that comes with it. Three people needed to be eliminated in order for that plan to work. Lady Fitzhugh and Master Hector needed to die and Arthur Endecott needed to be framed for their murders so that he would eventually be tried and executed…”

  “Arthur? You just said that he confessed to everything in that note,” said Flora, confused.

  “Yes, you heard me correctly. It was Arthur who needed to be framed and not Pippa, because he was the only one who could contest the will if Pippa gave the Fitzhugh wealth to a non-family member. That was what was stated in Lord Fitzhugh’s will. At the time of his death, Hector hadn’t been born and Pippa was just a child. Lord Fitzhugh knew that Lady Fitzhugh would eventually will the entire estate to Allan and, of course, Allan to Pippa in due course. Mrs. Ainsworth told me that Lord Fitzhugh was very possessive of this estate and he only wanted it to go to a family member… So, once all three were gone, the murderers could then go ahead with their plan to eliminate another innocent victim. I should tell you now that the suicide note is a forgery.”

  “Detective, are you suggesting that the murderers are amongst us now? Are they from the family?” asked Flora.

  “I suspect one of them is… Now, before I reveal who they are, let me explain what I did. We arrested Pippa so that one of the murderers would play into our plan and that’s how we now know who the real murderers are.”

  “Detective, my son is dead. Why are you torturing us with this charade?” asked Lilian tearfully.

  Dermot looked at her sympathetically. “No, he isn’t dead.” Raising his voice, he then turned to the door. “Inspector Enderby, please come in.”

  Constable Clarke opened the door and Inspector Enderby came in with Arthur Endecott.

  “Arthur, you’re alive?” Lilian was aghast and almost spilled her tea.

  “Yes, Mother, I’m alive. My suicide was part of an ingenious plan to catch the murderers.”

  “Detective, what the blazes is going on?” said Flora with anger. “We’ve been through enough and we even saw the hospital orderlies take Arthur’s body out.”

  “That’s true. Mrs. Ainsworth, Arthur agreed to take part in our plan so that the charges against him in India would be dropped. Arthur never heard anything when Lady Fitzhugh was murdered, even though his room was right next to hers. He told me that he had drunk Miss Carter’s chamomile tea before going to bed. I suspect that the tea had been drugged with one of the two sleeping powders that were stolen from Mrs. Withers’ room, so he slept soundly. The other sleeping powder was used to drug Slattery and he lied about doing his nightly rounds that night.

  “While Arthur was sleeping, the murderer slipped in and took the dagger from Arthur’s suitcase. The murderer had probably seen it earlier when dusting the room. That dagger had to be used to kill Lady Fitzhugh because Arthur’s fingerprints would be on it and that would be enough proof to convict him of murder. As part of our plan, I told Arthur to say that he’d seen Pippa come into his room and take the dagger and then go into Lady Fitzhugh’s room. I also told him to say that he had seen Pippa with Francis Abernathy in London. He was to make sure that he said all of this at the dinner table, because only the killer would know that what Arthur was saying was untrue. It worked, and when he asked for a pot of chamomile tea before going to bed, the arsenic was slipped into it. He didn’t drink it, but pretended to be dead just as we had planned. He played his part well and the real murderer was exposed.”

  “Who is this person?” demanded Lilian.

  “I am talking about your housekeeper, Miss Carter.”

  “What are you talking about?” said Miss Carter sharply. “I never poisoned Mr. Endecott’s chamomile tea.”

  “Yes, you did. You even increased the arsenic dose in Hector’s tonic to try to kill him. The gardener, Mr. Lacey, told me that he was missing half of the tin of arsenic that he bought to get rid of pests. Only you could’ve taken it.”

  Everyone looked at each other, startled, and then put down their teacups.

  “No need to worry. The tea isn’t poisoned; even Miss Carter drank hers.” Dermot took another sip from his cup.

  “I was with you when we found the suicide note and the bottle containing the poison,” said Miss Carter.

  “Correction. You found the suicide note and the bottle. You played into our plan very well. You had to get into Arthur’s room with me. When I came asking for him, you pretended to show concern and came along with me. When we discovered the body, you placed the note – which you had in your pocket – on the writing desk while I pretended to examine the body. You took the stationery last night when you took the chamomile tea to Arthur’s room.

  “You forged the note cleverly, and you named Irene Shaw and Charles as his accomplices. You also named Francis Abernathy as an accomplice, stating that Arthur promised to give him money for his theatre if he helped Arthur get rid of Lady Fitzhugh, Hector, and Pippa. You heard Arthur say at dinner that we suspected Francis of cutting the saddle strap and also of killing Abigail and Mr. Kerr.

  “Miss Carter, you fe
ll for what Arthur said hook, line, and sinker. It’s my guess that you would’ve later identified Francis as the person coming out of the stables while you were talking to Constable Barnaby and as the person who attacked you and killed Abigail. You wrote in the note that Francis killed Kerr because Kerr was blackmailing Arthur about being wanted by the police in Delhi. You knew about it because you overheard Inspector Enderby mention it to Mrs. Endecott.

  “By the way, we also know that you sent this note many years ago.” Dermot pulled an envelope out of his pocket and removed the note inside.

  “That’s the note that Father received just before he died,” said Flora.

  “Correct, and I’m glad that you allowed me to take it. The handwriting on this note was compared to Arthur’s suicide note that Miss Carter forged. Even though the handwriting appears to be different on the two notes, the handwriting expert at Scotland Yard swears that they were written by the same person. Fortunately, Lady Fitzhugh kept the note and we now know that you sent it, Miss Carter.”

  Dermot continued before Miss Carter could speak. “When I asked you to search for the bottle containing the poison, Miss Carter, you opened the drawer and carefully placed the bottle inside, and then you pretended to find it in there. However, in your haste, you made a grave error.”

  “Tell me, Detective, I’m all ears,” said Miss Carter sarcastically.

  “You wiped the bottle clean, probably with your apron, before placing it into the drawer. You told me that you did not touch it. If you didn’t, then the only fingerprints on it should’ve been Arthur Endecott’s. I carefully wrapped the bottle with my handkerchief so as to not smudge any fingerprints if they existed and the lab confirmed that there were no fingerprints on the bottle. Inspector Enderby and I had searched Arthur’s room a few days earlier and we found no such bottle then. The only person who could’ve placed the bottle there was you.”