That got them scurrying to the carriage.
***
Vic ignored the policeman at the front desk and hurried up to the fourth floor where she ran into Barns coming down. “Just the person I wanted to see.”
He smiled at her and they both headed downstairs. “You did a splendid job pissing my father off. Compared to you, I’m looking almost tolerable now.”
“Glad to be of service. And for the record, you clearly got your brains from your mother, or some other fellow, because you are nothing like your father. In fact, I fail to see how you two can be related.”
Barns lost his smile. “That’s not funny. Not when you say it and certainly not when my father says it.”
Vic huffed. “I’ve had such a bad week, I have lost all desire to be funny. I wish to save a woman who is probably dying of poison as we speak. Would you like to be the arresting officer, or should I ask Meyers?”
“Meyers is busy. I’ll do it,” Barns said. “I just need to deliver these—”
“No time, did you hear the woman is dying as we speak?”
“To the front desk. Which we will pass right by,” Barns stated with annoyance.
***
Once they were in the carriage and on their way, Barns asked for more details on the attempted murder. Vic provided the stupid actions of her employee. When she finished, Barns seemed nearly as angry as her.
“Vic, are you telling me you haven’t even seen this woman to determine if she’s actually being poisoned?”
“It may not be obvious, which is why we will need to interrogate the servants. And since these people were never my clients, they are not going to allow me to do so without a policeman insisting there is cause and they must be questioned.”
“You expect me just to barge into a house and demand to interrogate the servants for no reason at all?”
He had a point.
“First, we need to talk to the wife. She just had a baby, so she won’t be in any condition to see guests, nevertheless complete strangers, so we need a solid reason that her husband can’t refuse and that she wouldn’t want to refuse.”
Barns groaned. “I can’t believe I let you drag me out on a fool’s errand.”
“Saving a life is never a fool’s errand,” she chided. “Now be quiet and let me think of a reason we must speak to the wife and interview the servants.”
“Turn this carriage around at once!” Barns yelled out the window.
She smiled when her driver ignored him.
“Vic, I am serious. I want to be returned to Scotland Yard.”
“Sorry, my mission is time critical.” She then smiled. “However, I’ve come up with a story that should get us time with the woman and the servants. So at least you will get to make an arrest for your wasted time.”
Barns slammed his back against the seat and glared at her. “I am never getting in a carriage with you again until you explain the situation in detail.”
“Then I won’t search for you first in the future. I’ll just leave Meyers a note. He’ll read it and come as fast as he can manage.” She smiled at Barns. “He actually likes me and worries about my penchant for getting into serious trouble.”
“Speaking of which, why isn’t Tubs with you?”
“I told him I was taking you.”
“That was presumptuous,” Barns snapped.
“No, it was a testament to our improved relationship and that I believed you could be of help. Now, do you want to know my plan or not?”
Chapter 24
“You’re going to get me fired,” Barns complained as he and Vic exited the carriage and walked to the regal front door of an impressively large mansion.
“No, I’m going to get you another excellent win in your file. However, don’t worry about getting fired. I may be starting my own agency and I’ll take you on as a partner. Otherwise, you can work for me and Xavier.”
“Has something happened to Xavier? Is that why you fought with my father?”
“One of the reasons, but my main objection was because he behaved like a complete dolt when he broke into my house and held my staff at gun point, while leaving the front door opened—”
Vic stopped her complaining when the door open and a regal butler assessed each of them then focused on Barns. “Yes, sir?”
Barns pulled out his identification. “I’m with Scotland Yard. We are investigating a possible crime. I need to speak to Mr. or Mrs. Hudson at once.”
The butler held out a silver tray.
Vic was about to retrieve her card, but realized they needed to think she was Scotland Yard as well. She wondered if Barns knew what the stupid tray was for, but he had already placed his card upon it. The butler eyed Vic for a moment then closed the door.
“Back to what you were saying before,” Barns said. “My father broke into your house and held your staff by gunpoint?”
“Some of my staff. Tubs was absent. However, when we arrived, your father was pointing his gun directly at my very angry butler. So Tubs and I aimed our guns at him and he dropped his.”
“Stop,” Barns warned. “You wanted me to be sober and this sounds like the funniest story ever. So wait until we finish this case. And by the way…I am glad I came with you, no matter how much trouble you end up causing me.”
“No one should get into trouble when saving a life.”
“My father wasn’t there trying to save your life was he? I told him about the assassins.”
“In the future tell him nothing.”
The door opened and the butler ushered them directly to a very ornate library filled with fake leather books on the higher shelves and real books on the lower rows.
Her opinion of Mr. Hudson took yet another leap downward.
“Mr. Hudson, we have reason to believe you and your wife have been the victims of a terrible crime.”
His eyes rounded in shock as he stood up and came around to them. “What crime?”
“It is best we tell you and your wife together.”
He shook his head. “That is not possible. My wife is very ill. She just had our fourth child last week, and…well, the doctor has little hope she'll pull through.”
“I am sorry, but it is most imperative we talk to her now.”
“Absolutely not,” he stated.
Barns stepped up. “Sir, we are investigating a serious crime and we must speak to your wife. Now you may lead us to her and remain during our questions, but this matter is beyond your decision.”
The man’s face flushed with anger. “Do you know who I am?” he demanded.
“I am not familiar with you personally, but then I rarely attend events unless the Queen herself is present.”
Vic had a great urge to applaud at Barns’ ability not just to win Round One of Arrogance Supreme, but to win the battle entirely with one fell swoop.
He glanced at Barns’ card and frowned.
“That is my professional card.” He then handed him another.
The man blanched white. “I apologize, sir. But it does not change the facts. My wife is not well enough to attend you.”
“Then take us to her bedside. This is not a social visit. As I stated, we are here on criminal matters.”
“What is the nature of the crime?”
“I would prefer to explain the matter just once,” Barns stated in a tone he was not to be questioned further.
The man ran his hands through his hair and then motioned them to leave the library with him following.
As they walked the long hallway, Vic noticed several masterpieces that upon closer look appeared to be reproductions and not very good ones at that.
When they arrived to Charity’s suite, Vic feared they were too late. The woman’s head tilted to the right, her mouth open, eyes closed and her skin deathly white.
Vic hurried to the woman’s side and grabbed her hand. She stared at the white lines and horizontal ridges in the woman’s nails. Definite signs of arsenic.
She felt for a puls
e and sighed in relief. “Do you have a telephone?” Vic asked Mr. Hudson.
“Of course.” His voice held irritation at the thought his home would not have a telephone.
“I need to make a call.”
“I will handle my wife’s death,” he stated. “You should go now.”
“I apologize. I did not mean to make you believe your wife was dead. I wish to procure an excellent doctor for her.”
“I will call my own doctor,” Mr. Hudson snapped in agitation.
Odd response for learning one’s wife still lived. She glanced at Barns wishing him to manage Mr. Hudson. He was better skilled in upper class arrogance.
“We will use the doctor assigned to Scotland Yard,” Barns declared. Vic stood and showed Barns the lady’s hand, eyed the nails and watched Barns brow furrow.
She then spoke to no one in particular. “I will return and bring some water so perhaps we can revive her. Mr. Hudson is correct. She is very ill.”
Vic hurried downstairs and found the butler. “Take me to your telephone. Lady Hudson is very ill.”
The butler sighed heavily, pain in his eyes. “The doctor says there is no hope for her,” he said as he led her to the parlor.
“I am calling a better doctor. If there is any chance to save her, he can do it.”
The butler released a heavy sigh as if a great worry had been lifted from his shoulders. “It is very good of you to help. I was not aware Scotland Yard was so…responsive to the ordinary events of life.”
“On occasion. Speaking of ordinary events…Will you bring me a glass of water?” Vic asked.
“Yes, of course,” he replied and hurried off.
Vic had the operator put her through to Connors. She worried that someone might be listening from another line in the house, so she needed to be careful how she phrased the problem. When he answered the phone, Vic said, “Do you remember the issue Xavier had when he drank coffee at the minister’s house?”
“Yes, but I don’t think that can account for his behavior now.”
His answer confused her until she recalled Xavier planned to take Ariana to a doctor. Clearly, Connors thought his actions mad as well. “No, it can’t. But I am on a serious criminal matter and the lady who might be able to assist us appears very close to death. Could you come immediately?” She gave him the address and hoped to God he understood she needed him to bring the antidote to arsenic, because her emergency packet wouldn’t be enough to save the woman. Just as she was about to hang up, she heard a decided click on the line.
Someone else had been listening to her conversation.
Vic left the parlor and went in search of the butler and her water. She had just entered the servants’ hallway when she saw the butler leave a room. Shock and then annoyance filled his face upon sight of her.
“Sorry. I was looking for my water.”
She followed him to the kitchen and watched him carefully to ensure the water didn’t come with a heaping spoonful of arsenic.
“I will carry it upstairs,” he said as he placed it on a tray.
And give him further time to doctor it—not a chance. “No need.” She snatched the water off the tray and headed upstairs, much relieved he didn’t follow her yapping like a poodle—Gregory would have. She dropped her emergency supply of chelating powder into the water and stirred it with her finger.
She entered the room to discover Barns had somehow revived the woman to consciousness. Vic offered her the water. “You are very dehydrated. Try to drink as much as possible.”
The pale lady forced a weak smile and sipped at the water.
“We have a very serious crime to solve and you or one of your servants may be able to help.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “I don’t see how I can help. I was giving birth last week and have been bedridden since.”
“Yes, your recent birth of a child is why we are here. Would it be possible for me to see the baby?”
“How on earth could that help you?”
“I am not at liberty to say just now.”
The woman sipped her water and stared at Vic in concern. “You will not harm her?”
“I won’t even touch her, if you would prefer me not to. I just need to see her.”
Charity smiled at her husband. “Will you have Eve bring Charlotte to me?”
“You are too weak…” her husband objected.
“I doubt I’ll be getting stronger,” she chided. “Please, I would like to assist the officers in their quest to stop a crime.”
“But how will tiring you to death help?” Mr. Hudson shouted.
Barns grabbed him by the arm and pulled him from the room before the husband truly sent his wife to her death with his bellowing.
Once they were both gone and the door closed, Lady Hudson sighed. “He is not a strong man. My father advised against him, thought him a fortune hunter. But I perceived him to be the kindest of my suitors.” She frowned. “I was young and may have mistaken weakness of character for kindness.” She sighed. “A woman’s life is never easy. And while neglectful, and foolish with money, he is not normally mean, and he is good to the girls.”
“How old are your girls” Vic asked.
“They are four, three, one and a half, and one week old.”
Was the bastard trying to kill the poor woman. “Should you not have put more time between them?”
“That is not a wife’s choice.” She patted Vic’s hand. “You are not yet married, I gather. But when you are, remember your thoughtful question. If you want your wife to have more space between children, then you need to control your needs.”
Vic squeezed her hand. “The reason I have come today is because we have discovered a wealthy shopkeeper whose wife had conceived near the same day as a lady of the upper class. He bribed a servant of this superior family to switch the babies at birth so his child would grow up in the best of homes with all the advantages that came with their status.”
Charity pressed her hand to her chest. “Dear Lord, you believe the same has been done to me!”
Vic hated causing this woman distress, but she had to gain access to the servants to find who was involved in poisoning the poor woman. “We have no evidence of further malfeasance, but this is such an odious crime, we must check.”
She pressed her pale white hands to her cheeks. “This explains so much. None of my girls look like me or John. And, try as I might, I have never felt a mother’s bond to any of them.”
Vic frowned. Never had she expected the woman would believe her children were not her own. She had to make her realize such an event had not occurred, or she might actually reject her children. “Were you conscious at all times during your delivery?”
“Conscious, but I could see nothing. The midwife hung a sheet across the bed, near my waist that blocked my view of what occurred. During each birth I would hear a hearty cry that sounded like a boy and then the woman would come around the sheet and hand me a sleeping red-haired female. All these years, I’ve thought I was going mad.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “They aren’t mine. These girls aren’t mine.” Then pure horror filled her eyes. “Where are my children? What has become of them?”
Never did Vic anticipate her made up crime would turn out to be real. But her gut told her the woman was right.
“With your permission, I would like to interview your servants.”
“Yes, of course.” She pulled a tasseled cloth at the head of the bed. When the butler arrived, he smiled upon sight of her. “I feared…never mind. What can I do for you?”
“This officer needs to question all our servants. I wish it to happen, regardless of what my husband thinks. Please see it done. It’s very important.”
Vic rose. “I will get to the bottom of this,” she promised.
When they arrived downstairs, Vic recalled Barns had been gone for a long time. “Any chance you know where the other officer might be?”
“Yes, sir. He is in the library with the master. If you w
ill wait here, I will gather the servants. Do you wish to question them together or apart?”
“Apart.”
“There are thirty-two servants.”
Vic would be here all night, even if Barns took half.
“I would like to speak to the lady’s maid, the cook and the gardener first. Oh, and you. From there I will let you know.”
He led her to the parlor and closed the door. Vic slipped her hand to her shoulder gun in case he planned to end the interviews prematurely.
He sat down across from her. “What would you like to know?”
She relaxed and sat back. “Do you know the name and address of the mid-wife…has it been the same one each time?”
“Yes, Mrs. Claunchy.” He pulled out a small leather notebook and found her address, which Vic wrote in her notepad. “Do you recall if she brought a large carrying case with her?”
“No, she brought nothing. She used Madame’s scissors and linen during the birth.”
Then how did she get a baby inside to switch with Charity’s? “Did a servant assist?”
“Yes, Eve assisted.”
“In all births.”
He nodded.
“I would like to speak to Eve…what is her job?”
“She is the girls’ nanny.”
“And why did she assist?” Vic asked.
“She is remarkably well-educated and knows about child birthing and medicines. Her family’s wealth was lost and she had to make her way in the world. Mr. Hudson insists we are very lucky to have her. When the girls get older, she will become their governess.”
“I gather you’ve been with the family for a long time.”
“I have served Madame’s family all my life, starting as a messenger boy and becoming butler at the age of twenty-eight.”
“So you’ve only known Mr. Hudson for five years.”
He sniffed as his body stiffened. “Six years. There was a year of courtship.”
Vic didn’t have to ask if the butler liked his master. He clearly didn't. But he cared deeply for his mistress. She’d seen his expression of joy when he'd found Charity awake.
Vic stood. “Send in the lady’s maid next.”
Once he left, she escaped the parlor and pressed her ear to the library to ensure Barns was alive and well. The two men were laughing.
The CrimeLords' War (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 7) Page 18