by Anne Perry
“What has happened, Mr. Dunkeld?” Pitt said more urgently, leaning forward a little. The man in front of him was obviously laboring on the borders of hysteria. He was an adventurer, an explorer used to commanding other men. When the body in the linen cupboard had been found it was he who had taken charge, deciding what to do, supporting and comforting the Prince of Wales. Whatever it was that had driven him to this point must have shaken him to the core. Had he discovered that the murderer was close to him, in his own family? Then it must be Julius Sorokine. Minnie, as his wife, knowing his nature, even his intimate tastes and habits, had suspected him. Pitt had always found it hard to believe that a woman of any intelligence at all—and honesty—could be married to such a man, and have not even a shadow of doubt, of fear.
The tears were running silently down Cahoon’s cheeks.
Pitt touched his shoulder gently. He did not like the man—he could not afford to forget the threats he had made, or his pleasure in the power to do so—but at this moment he was aware only of pity for him.
“I became afraid for her,” Cahoon said, his voice half choked. He rubbed his hand over his face again, spreading a fine smear of blood across it from the cut on his knuckle. His cheeks were swollen. “I…I went to warn her. I wanted her to be careful. I don’t know what I thought she would do!” He stopped abruptly.
“Did you warn her?” Pitt demanded. “Did she tell you what she knew? You can’t protect him, whoever he is! Don’t you…?” Pitt’s words died on his lips. Cahoon’s eyes held such horror it froze him. “What happened?” he shouted.
“I found her,” Cahoon whispered. “She was lying on her bedroom floor, her throat cut, her…” He shuddered violently. “Her gown was ripped and her…her stomach torn open and bleeding. Just like…oh God! Just like the whore in the cupboard. I was too late!”
There was nothing to say. Pity was so inadequate a response that even to attempt it was an insult. Pitt was drenched with guilt. If he had done his job sooner, more intelligently, more accurately, this would not have happened! Minnie Sorokine would still be alive. He expected Cahoon to tell him that, even to lash out at him physically from his own pain. The blows to his body could scarcely hurt more than the self-condemnation in his mind. Minnie had been so burningly alive, and Gracie had followed her around, asking the servants about the broken china, and the buckets of water. From the answers she had deduced what had happened—and Pitt was still fumbling without an idea in his head! He was stupid, criminally incompetent. He could see no end to the darkness of his guilt.
Cahoon was talking again. “I went to tell Julius…her husband. It seemed the natural thing to do.”
“Yes?” Pitt could only imagine the man’s grief.
Cahoon was staring at him. “I found him in his bedroom. He was up, half dressed, even so early. He just stared at me.” Cahoon began to tremble. “His eyes were wild, like a lunatic’s, and there was blood on his hands and face, scratches, tears in his skin. I…I knew in that moment that it was he who had done that to her. I couldn’t bear it. I…I lost all control and I beat him…God knows why I didn’t kill him. I only came to my senses when he was lying on the floor and I realized I was beating an unconscious man. Somehow the fact that he no longer even knew what I was doing to him robbed me of the rage long enough for me to regain mastery of myself.”
Pitt imagined it. They were both big men, physically powerful. Julius was younger, but taken by surprise he could have lost the advantage. Nevertheless, Pitt understood now what the torn knuckles and the bruises still swelling and darkening on Cahoon’s face meant. It had been a hard fight, even assuming it was brief.
“Where’s Sorokine now?” he asked softly. He felt no blame for Cahoon. If it had been Pitt’s own daughter, Jemima, he would have torn the man apart.
“Still senseless on the floor, I imagine. But I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” Cahoon smiled bitterly, and winced at the pain in his jaw. He put his hand up tentatively. “I think he loosened a tooth.”
“Go back to your own room, Mr. Dunkeld,” Pitt told him. “I’ll go with you. You had better awaken your wife and I’m afraid you will have to tell her what has happened. Shall I send for her maid? Get tea, or brandy? Would you like one of the other women to be with her? Mrs. Marquand, or Mrs. Quase? To whom was she closer?”
Cahoon stared at him. “What?” His eyes seemed unfocused.
“Someone must inform Mrs. Dunkeld,” Pitt said again. “If you don’t feel well enough, then somebody else can. I will, if you wish, but I am sure in those circumstances, Mrs. Dunkeld would prefer to be up and dressed.”
“She was not Minnie’s mother,” Cahoon said flatly. “Call who you want. What about Sorokine?”
“I’ll call Mrs. Quase to be with your wife, then I’ll go and see Mr. Sorokine. Go back to your own room. Would you like someone to be with you?”
“No. No, I’d rather be alone.” Cahoon rose to his feet very slowly, swaying a little, and Pitt cursed the fact that he had no sergeant with him to whom he could delegate other tasks.
He walked along the silent corridor beside Cahoon as far as his own bedroom, and left him there. Then he retraced his steps quickly to Hamilton Quase’s room and knocked abruptly on the door.
There was no answer. Perhaps he had drunk too much the night before to come to his senses easily. Pitt had no recourse but to go directly to Mrs. Quase. It was not something he wished to do.
She answered after only a few moments. She was wrapped in a silk robe and her glorious hair was loose around her shoulders.
“Yes?” she said anxiously.
“Mrs. Quase, I am sorry to disturb you. I tried to waken Mr. Quase, but—”
“What is it?” she cut across him. “Tell me.”
“I am afraid Mrs. Sorokine is dead. Mr. Dunkeld is profoundly disturbed, too much so to inform Mrs. Dunkeld, or to be with her. I must see Mr. Sorokine, and it may take me some time. I regret having to ask, but will you please tell Mrs. Dunkeld, and be with her?”
All the blood left her face, her hand flew to her mouth. “You…you mean Minnie…was killed?”
“Yes. I’m afraid so.” As soon as he had said it he realized he should not have done so when she was standing. She swayed and grasped hold of the handle of the door, leaning against it, trying to support herself.
“Have I asked too much of you?” he said apologetically. “Should I call Mrs. Marquand?”
“No! No,” she protested. “I shall go to Elsa immediately. But that’s foolish. I’ll call my maid to bring tea for both of us. Then I’ll go. I shall be perfectly all right. How absolutely dreadful. One of us is raving mad. This is worse than any nightmare.”
He apologized again, thanked her, and went to Julius Sorokine’s room. He wondered for a moment if he should at least look at the body first, then realized that the rooms would connect, and if Julius were returning to his senses, there was no way of preventing him from changing such evidence as there was, or even further desecrating the body. Pitt needed help, but there was no one he could trust, or who had seen death with such violence and tragedy before.
He did not knock, but opened the door and went straight inside.
The scene that met his eyes was exactly what he expected from Dunkeld’s description. A slender bedroom chair was splintered and lying sideways on the floor. A robe, which might have been on the back of it, was stretched across the carpet. Even the large, four-poster bed had been knocked a trifle off the straight, as if someone heavy had collided hard against it. A tall dresser of drawers was also crooked, and the silver-backed brush set, box of cuff links and collar studs, which had presumably been on top of it, lay scattered on the carpet. Julius Sorokine himself lay on the floor on his face. He was wearing trousers and a shirt and no jacket. He was motionless.
Pitt closed the door behind him and walked over. He bent down and touched Julius’s neck above the collar. The pulse was strong and steady, and even before Pitt straightened up, Julius
began to stir.
“Sit up slowly, Mr. Sorokine,” Pitt told him.
Julius rolled over, opening his eyes. He stared up at Pitt with obvious confusion. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice gravelly. He coughed and sat up, wincing with pain. His face was bruised and there was a heavy gash across his cheek, blood smeared on his lip and chin. His hair was tousled. However, unlike Cahoon, he had already shaved, possibly in cold water, since there was no sign of his manservant having been here.
“What happened, Mr. Sorokine?” Pitt asked him. “Please stay sitting on the floor.” He made it sound like an order. He was afraid that if Sorokine got to his feet, he could easily start another fight. He was at least as tall as Pitt, and judging by the grace with which he had moved previously, very fit.
Julius blinked. Then memory rushed back. “God! Minnie!” He started to get up.
Pitt put out a hand and pushed him back again, so that he rolled a little, off-balance. “What happened, Mr. Sorokine?”
Julius shivered. “Cahoon came storming in here, eyes blazing like a madman, snarling something about Minnie, and took a swing at me.” He touched his face and drew his fingers away, covered in blood. “Knocked me over against the bed. When I got up again, I asked him what the devil was the matter. He just shouted something else indistinguishable and hit me again. This time I saw it coming and hit him back. I knocked him against the dresser and everything went flying.” He shook his head, then winced. “I thought that might bring him to his senses, but it didn’t. He seemed to be completely off his head.” He looked totally bewildered.
“He came back and hit me,” he went on. “First with his left hand, which I ducked, then he caught me with his right. We struggled a bit more. It was ridiculous, like two drunks in an alley. He must have got the better of me, because the next thing I remember was a hell of a blow, then you talking to me.” He blinked. “What’s happened to Minnie? We made the devil of a row. She must have heard us! Did she call you? That’s stupid. I’m not going to lay charges. He’s my father-in-law, God damn it!”
Pitt could almost have believed him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Sorokine, but your wife is dead.”
Julius looked as if Pitt had hit him again. “What?”
Was it possible he had some kind of mental aberration where he had no idea afterwards what he had done? It would explain why no one had realized his guilt before; he did not even know it himself.
“I’m sorry,” Pitt said clearly. “Mrs. Sorokine is dead.”
“How?” Julius demanded. “It wasn’t Olga, was it? Poor woman.” He closed his eyes again, drew in his breath as if to say something further, then changed his mind and looked up at Pitt, waiting for the answer.
“No, sir. No woman did to her what Mr. Dunkeld described. I’m afraid I’m going to have to lock you in here until I can contact Mr. Narraway again and have more men brought. I’ll have one of the Palace servants bring you something to eat, and possibly see if you need medical help.”
“Me?” Julius seemed not to grasp what Pitt had said.
“Yes. Mr. Dunkeld said you had those injuries on your face before he came in.”
“Injuries?” He put his hand up again to his lip as if he had forgotten the pain and the blood. “No, I didn’t. I told you, he came in here and hit me!” Then the color fled from his face and he got to his feet so swiftly Pitt lurched backward away from him.
“God Almighty! You think I killed her!” Julius said, aghast. “I haven’t even seen her since last night.” He swung round. “Is she…?”
Pitt moved rapidly past him to block his way to the dressing room and the connecting door. “No, sir. Not yet. Don’t oblige me to handcuff you to the bed. That would be most unpleasant for you.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Julius said quietly, letting his arms fall to his sides. “And I didn’t touch the other woman either, poor creature.”
Pitt went back to the main door and turned the key in the lock, then he put it in his pocket and went through the connecting door, pushing the bolt home on the farther side. He did not know what to believe, but he had to follow the evidence.
In spite of what Cahoon had said, he was not prepared for the sight of Minnie Sorokine sprawled across the floor of her bedroom, her throat scarlet, her gorgeous flamingo-pink gown half torn off her, and the lower half of her torso ripped open and bright with blood.
He walked toward her, feeling sick, and kneeled down beside the billowing skirts. There could be no question as to whether she was dead or not, and not much as to what had caused it. No one could live with a throat wound like that. It was almost from ear to ear, and her head lay at a crooked angle, as if her neck itself were broken.
She was cold to the touch. He had expected her to be. She was still wearing her evening gown. Her lady’s maid had not been in. He would have to inquire as to why not, but he assumed it was a matter of discretion. She would come if she were sent for, and, if not, maintain a tactful absence.
Pitt forced himself to look at the mutilations. The throat wound was worse than Sadie’s, but the slashing of the lower abdomen was considerably less. In fact there was almost a hint of decency about it. The cut was higher up, less overtly sexual, and her bosom had not been exposed at all. Was that because some part of Julius’s brain had remembered, even in his madness, that this woman was his wife? The thought was repulsive, and peculiarly painful. Not that Pitt had never before known killers that he had liked, even understood.
But there was nothing understandable about killing Sadie. None of the men had ever seen her before. And now this! No wonder Cahoon Dunkeld had been half out of his mind with horror and grief. Julius was fortunate Dunkeld had not killed him. Had he been a slighter man, less fit, perhaps he would be dead now also, not simply locked up.
Pitt sat back on the carpet and considered what he should do. He must get in touch with Narraway, obviously; send for him to come to the Palace at once. It seemed as if the case was at an end, although there must be a great deal of evidence to collect. For what? They could hardly have a public trial of two murders at the Palace! Could it qualify as a state secret, because of where it had happened? Or would they decide that Julius Sorokine was hopelessly insane, and lock him away without a trial at all? That would be the obvious thing to do.
Even so, the evidence must be conclusive. No doctor of any honor would pronounce him mad except as proved by the fact that he had killed two women. If it seemed just as reasonable that it was actually someone else responsible, then there was nothing against him at all. All his other behavior was above reproach, even morally, let alone legally.
But considering the issues, no doubt a doctor would be found who would not be too squeamish in examining details, and who would be easily enough persuaded.
Pitt could not allow that. His own conscience found it unacceptable. If Julius Sorokine were to spend the rest of his life locked away in an asylum for the criminally insane, then Pitt must be satisfied beyond any doubt that was even remotely reasonable that it was he who had killed the women.
He could not leave Minnie’s body sprawled where it was without first making an accurate diagram of it, of the mutilations and the exact nature of them. He must also search and describe the rest of the room. There was probably nothing that would tell him anything beyond the obvious: She had come up in order to retire, and someone else had entered the room either after her or before. It was almost certainly her husband. They had quarreled and ended fighting, literally.
He looked at her again and saw more clearly now that there were bruises on her face. They were little more than marks, since she had died very shortly afterward. But there were also scratches on her hands and lower arms, as if she had struggled to defend herself. That would account for the scratches on Julius’s face and hands, which Cahoon had said he had seen as soon as he had gone into Julius’s bedroom, and before he had attacked him himself.
With shaking hands Pitt drew her as she lay. It was out of proportion and the lines were uncer
tain, because he could not stop his trembling. Then he sketched the room roughly. It was difficult to tell if anything was seriously out of place; perhaps the maid would know. He would have to ask her. Nothing was broken or torn, except a small crystal bowl whose pieces were in the wastebasket. There was no glass on the floor. The breakage could have happened at any time since the basket was last emptied—presumably yesterday morning.
It seemed indecent to leave Minnie here, but there was nowhere else he could put her until Narraway came. It had been different with Sadie. Cahoon had had her moved to the ice house, almost as if she were a side of beef: an action that was distressing but highly practical. The police surgeon would be given both bodies later.
He took the top sheet off the bed, which had not been slept in, and laid it over her. Then he went out into the corridor, taking the key with him, and locked the door from the outside.
He went downstairs, found Tyndale, and asked permission to use the telephone. It was fifteen minutes before he made contact with Narraway. He was alone in the butler’s pantry with the door closed.
“What is it?” Narraway said eagerly.
“There’s been another murder,” Pitt replied. He heard Narraway’s breath drawn in sharply. “Mrs. Sorokine,” he went on. He was oddly out of breath. “In her own bedroom. Otherwise it is almost exactly the same. Done roughly the same time of night. Found by Dunkeld. So far it appears most likely that it was her husband.”
Narraway was silent for several moments. “I’m surprised,” he said at last. “Although I shouldn’t be. It had to be one of them. Is that your judgment, Pitt, that it was Sorokine?”
It was not his judgment, it was facts forced on him. “I’m not certain yet. I’ve locked him in his room. We’ll have to prove it.”
“Of course we’ll have to prove it! Why, in God’s name? Why would he kill her where he’s bound to be found out? Is he raving?”