Murder in the Servants' Hall

by Addison, Margaret

  ‘And if she didn’t go out on to the terrace until later in the day, she would know for certain that the necklace had disappeared, because Mrs Grayson-Smith had found out by then and raised a hue and cry about it?’ said Sergeant Perkins.

  ‘Exactly, Sergeant. But the question now of course,’ said Rose, ‘is where is the necklace now? It wasn’t hidden in Cooper’s room, as both Albert and I can verify, and you didn’t find it on the deceased did you?’

  ‘Well, that’s all fine and good,’ said the inspector intervening, ‘but I think we’ve wasted quite enough time on this necklace. Likely as not we’ll find out what’s happened to it during the course of our investigation. Now, I’d like to focus on the murder. Let’s see what you have got to say for yourself about that, young man.’

  ‘I think you will find, Inspector,’ said Rose, ignoring the inspector’s exasperated look at the unwelcome interruption, ‘that once we find our murderer, we will discover the necklace.’

  ‘I ain’t got nothing to do with the murder,’ said Albert, ‘and you can’t say I ’ave.’

  ‘Is that a fact?’ said the inspector coldly. ‘And yet Martha has told us that when she decided to go to your room in the middle of the night, to have it out with you about the necklace, you were not there.’

  Albert looked taken aback. ‘That doesn’t prove anything. I … I was most probably in the lavatory.’

  ‘Martha told me that your bed hadn’t been slept in,’ said Rose.

  ‘Thank you, Miss Simpson,’ said the inspector rather brusquely. ‘Now, Albert, we know you must have been downstairs in the servants’ workrooms. There was nowhere else you could have been unless of course you were in one of the other servants’ bedrooms –’

  ‘I wasn’t,’ scowled Albert.

  ‘I didn’t think so,’ said the inspector. ‘Now let us agree you went downstairs. You couldn’t have gone outside because Mason has told us that he locked the doors immediately after you had come back in from smoking your last cigarette for the night. He locked the doors into the main house a little later when the deceased returned. So you see, you could only have gone into the servants’ quarters.’

  ‘What if I did?’ said Albert warily. ‘Who’s to say Velda Cooper was there then? For all you know, she was still in her room.’

  ‘That is a possibility,’ said the inspector, ‘but an unlikely one. You and the deceased were on intimate terms. You had been caught in a passionate embrace that day. I think that we can assume, therefore, that you had arranged to meet with the deceased to discuss how to deal with the situation when it became common knowledge. Now, let us assume for the sake of argument that you had a disagreement. Velda Cooper wants you to end your relationship with Martha. You do not wish to. Instead, you try to end your relationship with the deceased. She in turn threatens to go to your Martha and give her all the sordid details of your affair.’

  ‘No,’ cried Albert. ‘It never happened like that. I admit that I had arranged to meet her to talk over some matters. She’d teased me in the library about the necklace. Said everyone would think I’d stolen it because of the snuff box. I told her my uncle had taken the box and she’d laughed and said no one would believe me. She’d had a bit of a go at me in the servants’ hall in front of everyone a day or so before and so I was none too pleased with her. But she told me that she hadn’t meant anything by it and that she’d found the necklace just like you said.’ He paused to jerk his head in Rose’s direction. ‘Said if I could find someone who’d buy it from her and give her a good price, she’d give me some of the money for my trouble.’

  ‘So, what happened, Albert?’ enquired Sergeant Harris, leaning forward to appear over the man’s shoulder. ‘You didn’t think it was right that she’d taken the necklace from under your nose? A man like you wouldn’t have been satisfied with only a share of the proceeds.’

  ‘I tell you, I didn’t kill her,’ shouted Albert turning around. ‘If you must know, she was dead when I found her.’

  ‘A likely story,’ said the inspector sceptically.

  ‘It’s true,’ cried Albert. ‘I found her in that chair with her head all bashed in. Awful it was. I didn’t know what to do.’

  ‘You could have called the police,’ said Inspector Connor. ‘It was your duty to do so.’

  ‘I know,’ said Albert, ‘but I was in such a panic.’

  ‘Another one? If you don’t mind my saying, Albert,’ said Sergeant Perkins, ‘you seem to spend your life in a perpetual panic.’

  ‘I knew everyone would think I’d done it,’ said Albert glowering. ‘That we’d had a lovers’ quarrel and I done her in. Not that we were sweethearts. We’d only kissed the once in the library on account of her telling me about the necklace and the money she’d give me if I helped her.’

  ‘You had no qualms about not returning the necklace to Mrs Grayson-Smith?’ Sergeant Perkins asked with a smile.

  ‘Charlie, please!’ protested Inspector Connor. ‘Go on, Albert.’

  ‘To make matters worse, she’d packed her suitcase. That was a shock, I can tell you, seeing it sitting there by her chair. I didn’t know she’d intended on leaving immediately. I’d have had to go with her to make sure I got my money. We’d probably have had to force one of the locks to get out.’

  ‘A suitcase, you say?’ said the inspector, looking up with interest. ‘It wasn’t there when we viewed the body?’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t have been, Inspector,’ said Rose. ‘Because Albert took it back upstairs and unpacked it, didn’t you, Albert?’

  ‘How did you know that?’ demanded the footman incredulous.

  ‘When I searched Cooper’s room, it was obvious that someone had put the suitcase away rather carelessly on top of the wardrobe. When I opened it, I noticed that a piece of blue material was caught in the catch. It came from the blue silk satin dress that Mrs Grayson-Smith had been wearing that evening, which I found hanging in the back of Cooper’s wardrobe.’

  ‘I was in something of a rush,’ said Albert, by way of explanation. ‘I didn’t want to be caught in her room, did I? Not with her lying dead downstairs and me rummaging through her things.’

  ‘So that’s why you saw the need to unpack the suitcase,’ said Sergeant Perkins with sudden comprehension. ‘You wanted to see if the necklace was in it.’

  ‘No,’ said Albert rather unconvincingly. ‘I didn’t want anyone to know she’d been intending on disappearing into the night. Not after that business in the library. They’d all have thought the worst. Said we was planning to elope, had an argument and I killed her, same as you did with your suspicious minds.’

  ‘It is our job to be suspicious,’ said the inspector, his tone serious. ‘Did you find the necklace in the suitcase?’

  ‘No.’ The word was said with an air of defiance.

  There followed a somewhat awkward silence.

  ‘Why did you leave her coat?’ asked Rose finally. ‘She was wearing it, wasn’t she?’

  ‘That damned coat,’ Albert said bitterly. ‘With all the fuss and panic taking up the suitcase, it completely slipped my mind she had it on over her dress. And before you ask, ‘course the pockets were the first thing I checked. The necklace wasn’t in any of them.’

  ‘Go on,’ said the inspector, looking at him dubiously.

  ‘Well, as I said, I had forgotten all about the coat and I went to bed. It wasn’t going to be me who found the body, that was for sure. Anyway, it felt like I’d just laid my head upon the pillow, though I might have had an hour or two’s kip, and blow me if I didn’t hear the sound of running feet. It was Pearl, the little scullery maid. She’d found the body.’

  ‘And it was then that you remembered about the coat?’ asked Rose. ‘You slipped downstairs while Pearl was telling Edna about the body. You intended to remove the coat from the body and hide with it in one of the workrooms until the coast was clear for you to creep back upstairs. You weren’t expecting Edna to come down and make sure that there was a body befor
e they woke Mrs Field.’

  ‘No. Luckily I heard the girl before she came out into the passage or else she’d have caught me. I had to run into the boot room and hide.’ He threw her a grudging look of admiration. ‘I don’t know how you do it, I must say.’

  ‘You waited until Edna went back upstairs to wake up the housekeeper,’ continued Rose, ‘and then you removed the coat.’

  ‘I did and then I went and hid again until I could return to my room without being seen. I kept the coat in my wardrobe, I did, until I knew nobody was about and I could put it back in Velda Cooper’s room.’

  ‘Well, Albert, that’s quite a story you’ve told us,’ said the inspector. ‘I’m not saying parts of it aren’t true, but … hello? Who’s this?’

  For Inspector Connor, on the verge of arresting the footman for murder, was distracted by a knock on the library door. It had been sufficiently loud to make them all start. Without exception, they turned towards it, and stared almost memorised as the door opened.

  ‘Look here, Mason,’ began the inspector. ‘I know this fellow is your nephew but –’

  ‘Inspector,’ said the butler, ‘I fear you are about to make a very grave mistake.’ He drew himself up to his full height, his face solemn. ‘I am here to confess to the murder of Velda Cooper.’

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  ‘What’s the matter?’ asked Lavinia. ‘You look terrible. And where are your spectacles? I’ve become rather used to you flinging them down on the bed every time you come into my room.’

  ‘I don’t need to wear them anymore,’ said Rose wearily. ‘Almost everyone knows who I am, except the housekeeper. I suppose I ought to go and find her in a minute to explain what I am doing here disguised as a lady’s maid.’ She rubbed her forehead. ‘It’s funny. She never did consider me a very satisfactory servant. She didn’t think me very good at upholding standards. She and Mason are rather alike in that way. He is all for setting a good example to the lower servants.’

  ‘What is the matter, Rose?’ asked Lavinia, looking at her closely. ‘You do seem in rather an odd mood.’

  ‘Mason has just confessed to Cooper’s murder.’

  ‘Gosh, has he really?’ exclaimed Lavinia excitedly. ‘Well I never! I wouldn’t have had him down as the murderer.’

  ‘I think it’s all my fault, him confessing I mean,’ Rose said, collapsing on to the bed. ‘I as good as told him that the police were about to arrest Albert.’

  ‘Does it really matter? If he’s guilty –’

  ‘But that’s just it, Lavinia. I’m not sure he is. Oh, he gave a good enough reason for why he’d done it,’ Rose said, getting off the bed and beginning to pace the room. ‘I just can’t help feeling that something’s not quite right. I’m awfully afraid he might have confessed to the crime just to save Albert from the rope.’

  ‘Well, if he did, I expect the police will come to the same conclusion,’ Lavinia said, rather dispassionately. ‘Now, what you need, Rose, is a nice cup of tea. I suppose we can do away with all the subterfuge now. I’ll ring for some. Will it feel strange being waited on?’ She made a face. ‘Oh. I suppose we should invite Millicent to join us. If we can get her to leave her room, that is. I had no end of trouble trying to get her to come and have lunch. She’s kept herself locked in her room all day. She wouldn’t even let the maids in to tidy, which explains why my room is in such a mess. I suppose they’d decided that if they were not required to tidy her room, they wouldn’t do mine either.’

  ‘Well, they have been kept rather busy. Agnes has spent most of the morning looking after Pearl –’

  ‘Pearl?’

  ‘The scullery maid,’ said Rose rather coldly. ‘It was Pearl who found the body.’

  ‘Oh, I see. And you needn’t look at me like that. You can’t expect me to remember everyone’s name.’

  ‘Did Millicent say why she was keeping herself locked in her room?’ asked Rose curiously.

  ‘She has got it into her head that she will be the murderer’s next victim,’ said Lavinia, far more casually than the statement deserved. ‘I say, she will be pleased to hear about Mason’s confession, though good butlers are very hard to come by these days.’

  ‘You needn’t be so flippant about it all,’ protested Rose.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Lavinia, ‘but you know it’s how I’m made. It’s the only way I can deal with situations like this.’ She gave a high little laugh. ‘I say, Milly really is rather a scream. She insisted on locking her bedroom door when we went for our interviews with the police. She even locked her door when we went down for lunch.’

  ‘Did she indeed? I wonder why?’

  ‘She said she was terrified that the murderer was going to creep into her room and hide in the wardrobe.’

  It had involved a great deal of persuasion to entice Millicent to leave her room. She had stared at them blankly when they had informed her of Mason’s confession, as if the words did not quite register in her brain. Certainly she just sat there listlessly in Lavinia’s room, sipping her tea. Rose thought how pale and gaunt she looked. Even Lavinia, who was happily prattling away about nothing in particular, noticed that Millicent was shivering to such an extent that she sent Rose to get her a cardigan.

  As she opened the door to Millicent’s bedroom, Rose was reminded of a previous occasion when she had opened the door to find Cooper, her dark hair elaborately styled, her face expertly made up, dressed in Millicent’s evening gown of royal blue silk satin. For a moment she saw her there, a ghostly image, staring at her reflection in the full-length looking glass. Rose recollected how, on discovering that she had been spotted dressed in her mistress’ gown, Cooper had turned with one frightened movement to confront her. It was then that Rose remembered something else which had puzzled her at the time. It had been Velda Cooper’s sudden aversion to a cape of silver fox fur that she had held in one hand. With one swift movement the woman had thrown it away from her and stared at it with something akin to distaste.

  Alone in the room, Rose ran to the wardrobe and threw open the door. With trembling fingers, she rifled through the clothes in so careless and hasty a fashion that some slipped from their hangers and fell to the floor. She did not pause to pick them up. If anything, she seemed more determined in her quest, her movements becoming more hurried. Eventually she found what she was seeking. It was the silver fox fur cape. She snatched it from the wardrobe and turned it over to inspect its maroon-coloured satin lining. With not a thought to the damage she was causing, she tore a hole in the lining and put her hand inside. Her fingers touched something that was bulky and heavy and felt like pieces of heavy glass. With bated breath she quickly withdrew her hand, bringing out with it the item that had been hidden in the cape’s lining. She did not need to look at the object to know that what she held in her palm was Millicent’s diamond necklace.

  ‘Mrs Field, may I come in?’

  The door to the housekeeper’s sitting room was half open, which afforded Rose a glance at Mrs Field before she was conscious of being observed. Unaware she was being watched, the woman was slouched in her seat, her hand playing with the fabric of her dress, her bunch of keys jangling softly, and her eyes staring unseeing into the distance. Rose’s voice brought her to her senses and she struggled to her feet.

  ‘Please don’t get up on my account,’ said Rose hurriedly. ‘Would you mind if I sit down?’

  ‘No, miss.’

  There followed an uncomfortable silence. The housekeeper’s deferential manner seemed strangely at odds with Rose’s recollection of the woman. She realised that a gulf had sprung up between them. She no longer belonged in the servants’ quarters and she was acutely aware that she was being viewed as trespassing.

  All of a sudden words came tumbling out of Mrs Field’s mouth as if she had kept them bottled up inside her.

  ‘Albert and the others, they say you are not a servant at all. You’re a private enquiry agent, whatever one of those is. They tell me the mistress has engaged
you to recover her necklace and find the … the murderer.’ She bent her head towards Rose and lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. ‘Pearl says you’re to be married to the Earl of Belvedere in a few days’ time.’

  ‘Yes, it’s all true, I’m afraid, Mrs Field. I feel awfully beastly for having deceived you all. I do hope you won’t hold it against me?’

  ‘Not at all, miss,’ said the housekeeper, though she looked considerably ill-at-ease. ‘Do you know what’s happening, miss? It’s Mr Mason I’m worried about. He and Albert are with the policemen now and he’s been gone ever such a long time. Usually he and I, we have our afternoon cup of tea together this time of day, just the two of us. It’s not like him to miss it.’

  ‘I am afraid that you must prepare yourself for a shock, Mrs Field,’ said Rose gently.

  ‘Why? What has happened? Pray do tell me, miss.’

  There was a waver in the housekeeper’s voice, and anguish in her eyes. It occurred to Rose that the woman was about to cry.

  ‘Mr Mason has confessed to the murder of Velda Cooper.’

  ‘No!’ Mrs Field fell back in her chair and clasped a hand to her chest. ‘That isn’t right. He didn’t do it. I don’t believe it. Mr Mason would never do a thing like that. I don’t understand. Why should he confess to such a thing?’

  ‘I think he is trying to protect his nephew. You see, the police thought that Albert was the murderer. All the evidence was pointing that way. And he’s admitted that he arranged to meet Miss Cooper last night when the rest of the house was asleep.’

  ‘Of course it was Albert,’ sniffed Mrs Field. ‘Any fool could tell them that. He’s a wrong ‘un, always was and always will be. Oh, why would a man like Mr Mason risk his neck for that boy?’

  ‘Because he’s the boy’s uncle.’

  ‘They’ll get to the truth, miss. The police, I mean. They’ll let him go, just you see.’

  ‘Perhaps, though I must say, Mr Mason gave a very convincing argument for why he had committed the murder.’