Death of a Footman (Riley Rochester Investigates Book 8)

by Wendy Soliman

  ‘I’m glad you faced up to him, Jack.’

  ‘I was that mad at him, he was lucky I didn’t give him a taste of his own medicine. I told him in no uncertain terms that the doctor would be calling every day to attend to Ruth and if I saw so much as a fresh scratch on her then I would be down on him like a ton of bricks. He didn’t like it but knew better than to take me on.’ Salter let out a long, angry breath. ‘Ruth will be safe enough for now.’

  ‘You did well, Jack.’ Riley gave a grim nod. ‘I’d put Sam to the bottom of my list of suspects, but now I’m starting to wonder.’

  ‘I really hope it is him,’ Salter growled. ‘Beating a woman in that way and killing his own child. Why can’t we do him for murder?’

  ‘Believe me, Jack, if we could then I’d slap the cuffs on him myself.’

  ‘That cottage of his was a cut above. He didn’t want to let me in but I didn’t give him no choice. He’s got some half-decent furniture and it’s done up nice. Better then you’d expect for a man in his line of work. I think you’re right about him nicking off his employer.’

  ‘What could Clapham station tell you about that?’

  ‘What you’d expect. They have a constable regularly patrolling but he never catches anyone at it.’

  ‘You think he tips the thieves off before he makes his rounds?’

  ‘I’m sure of it. Anyway, there’ve been no thefts for almost a week. Reckon they’ll have another go in the next day or so. Possibly as soon as tonight, given that Sam Dawson has got the right hump with me and reckons he’s got a point to prove. Even though it was only his brother who saw me get in his face, he won’t want to lose credibility.’

  ‘I sense you have a plan, Jack.’ Riley settled back in his seat and fixed his sergeant with a probing look. Salter had seen it all over the years and seldom let it become personal. ‘Best tell me what you want to do.’

  ‘Tonight, sir. I want to stake the place out with a handful of selected men from here. We can’t risk using anyone from Clapham or word’ll get back to Dawson.’

  Riley knew better than to point out the dangers to Salter. He was tough, spoiling for a fight and could take care of himself. ‘All right. Sort it out with Barton, but have a care. Don’t let your feelings make you behave rashly.’

  ‘Me, sir? Rash?’ Salter shook his head and flashed a wry smile. ‘Never.’

  ‘I was just ruminating before you came in—’

  ‘Ruminating, were you, sir? Is that what posh people do when they settle in for a good think?’

  Glad that Salter had been restored to good enough spirits to resort to sarcasm, Riley made do with sending him a look of mild rebuke. ‘I am absolutely convinced that you were right about Verity from the word go and that she’s the catalyst.’

  ‘There you go, using big words again, sir.’

  ‘The catalyst, Jack. The inspiration behind this sad business.’

  ‘Ah well, now you’re speaking English, I can’t help agreeing with you there.’

  ‘She found Ezra first and looked upon him as her own guilty secret. But Ida stole him away from her, which wasn’t supposed to happen. She gave him all the money he wanted and he refused to share it with Verity.’

  ‘He prob’ly laughed in her face,’ Salter said, nodding in agreement. ‘We’ve been told by several people that he could be cruel with those whose help he didn’t need.’

  ‘His dismissal of Verity’s claims could well have sealed his fate.’

  ‘Aye, more than likely.’

  ‘Ida lavished Ezra with monetary rewards, all the while denying her own son the funds he needed. Her brother was tight with his cash too, which must have further infuriated Verity. Then, to add insult to considerable injury, her sister-in-law fell for Ezra’s charms too. It would be enough to tip a sane woman beset with jealousy and a sense of ill-usage over the edge, but Verity is far from sane. Everyone we have spoken to since the start of this case—including her own husband—all agree that Verity has never been rational.’

  ‘She’s desperate to leave her lowly origins in Clapham behind her, and she never refers to them,’ Salter pointed out. ‘Yet Ezra seemed perfectly content to settle there with Mrs Wendall. She would have been beside herself with envy.’

  ‘I’m convinced that she had her own brother killed in the hope of extracting funds from Mrs Wendall. It would have gone some way to assuage her injured pride. But yet again she was gainsaid, since—and I’m guessing here—Mrs Wendall didn’t particularly care if the entire world knew about her and Ezra and refused to pay her off.’

  ‘You think she killed Ezra and her brother, sir?’ Salter scratched his head. ‘Blimey!’

  ‘Well, don’t you? They say it gets easier. She got away with killing her brother, but failed to wheedle funds out of Mrs Wendall, so she has had to start down the degrading path of contesting her brother’s will, probably hoping to show Mrs Wendall that she meant business and persuade her to settle. Mrs Wendall, I hope, has the sense to realise that if she pays up once it will never end, so I worry about her long-term safety too.’

  ‘Should we have someone watching her, sir?’

  ‘Not now. Even Verity isn’t bold enough to act when she knows we suspect her. But once the case is resolved, always assuming we haven’t proven Verity’s guilt, then it will be a very different matter.’

  ‘All well and good suspecting her, sir, but how did she do it? Not once but twice. She must have had accomplices.’

  ‘That was the problem I was wrestling with before you came upon me.’

  ‘Ruminating, like?’

  ‘That would be it,’ Riley said, with the suggestion of a smile. ‘I very much doubt whether she used the same person twice. I think Gregg might have helped her with Ezra. Of all the people we have spoken to, he disliked him the most and couldn’t abide having his authority in that household steadily eroded day by day. But her accomplice with regard to Wendall’s murder had me stumped.’ Riley paused. ‘Until you told me just now about Sam and his temper. Those barrels are heavy, but a strong man like Sam might be able to topple a stack of them without help.’

  ‘Why would he risk it though, sir?’

  ‘We now know that he was jealous of his brother, who had declined his offer of help with his new club. Sam saw himself taking off his working clothes once and for all, abandoning labouring for a living and instead swanning about like a man of means, I suspect. But Ezra laughed at him and we now know just how volatile Sam’s temper can be. Ezra had offered Ruth a place at the club but wouldn’t offer Sam the same opportunity. It must have infuriated him.’

  ‘It’s all possible, but it still don’t explain why he did Verity’s dirty work for her, if he did. A bit of thieving is one thing, but murder…’ Salter fell momentarily silent. ‘I want it to be him, sir, but how do we link them together?’

  ‘I think Verity made it her business to track Ezra’s relatives down.’ Riley leaned an elbow on the arm of his chair and rubbed the side of his chin. ‘She knew they lived in Clapham, as did her brother—in more style than Verity enjoys here in London, I might add. If she somehow contrived to meet Sam and gauged the level of his greed and resentment, she would have known that she’d found herself a kindred spirit.’

  ‘All we have to do is prove it, and I’m worried that we won’t manage that.’

  ‘So am I, Jack. Ruth might know. Verity would have gone to Sam’s house, not his place of work, where she would be seen by too many people.’

  ‘Ruth will never tell us for fear of what Sam might do to her.’

  ‘Very likely not. But there again, she did tell us about Ezra offering her a position at his club, and that took courage. Sam has now killed their child and almost killed her. It might have changed her outlook.’

  ‘She’s very weak. We can’t be asking her questions of that nature right now.’

  ‘I have no intention of doing so. I was merely speculating.’ Riley sighed. ‘Did you find anything useful in Wendall’s papers?’
/>   ‘Possibly. Ain’t had a proper chance to look yet.’ He produced a sheath of letters from the inside pocket of his coat and plonked them on Riley’s desk. ‘Mrs Wendall said she hadn’t set foot in his library since his death and I have to say it didn’t look as though anything had been disturbed. These are letters her husband received from Verity over recent months, and as you can see, they became increasingly aggressive.’

  ‘Excellent!’ Riley flipped through them, starting with the oldest. ‘She knew how to complain, and how to invoke her brother’s guilt,’ he remarked, shuddering at the level of her vitriol. ‘So she goes on about their childhood and how she always looked out for him at great sacrifice to her own pleasures.’

  ‘What pleasures?’ Salter grunted. ‘She don’t know how to enjoy herself.’

  ‘It gets far more threatening after that,’ Riley said, rapidly reading through the letters. ‘She reminds her brother about what he did to someone called Jason. Sounds like a threat to me.’

  ‘Quite the blackmailer, ain’t she, sir?’

  ‘Yes, but it doesn’t look as if it worked. We don’t know how her brother responded, or if he ever did, but I’m glad he didn’t throw these letters away.’ Riley paused. ‘Do we know how Carter and Soames got on at Wendall’s factory?’

  ‘I left them in Clapham to carry on searching Wendall’s library, in case I’d missed anything, but they should be back by now.’

  ‘Right. Call them in if they are please, Jack.’

  ‘We didn’t find anything else to help at Wendall’s house, sir, but we found out something interesting at Wendall’s business premises,’ Carter said when he entered Riley’s room. ‘We spoke to the manager, a Mr Rutherford. He’s been there thirty years, going back to Wendall’s father’s day, and knows the business backwards. He was right glad to have us asking questions. Seems he’s always been suspicious of the way Wendall met his end. Said they take special measures in the workshop to secure the barrels in their stacks, given that they’re so heavy and that accidents could be fatal, like.’

  ‘He didn’t think it was an accident, I take it,’ Riley said, glancing at Salter.

  ‘No, sir, he did not. He said he tried to make that point when Wendall’s body was found but no one wanted to know. It was ruled an accident and that was that, but it’s been playing on Rutherford’s conscience. If it was an accident then security is his responsibility and he failed his boss.’

  ‘Was he there at the time?’ Riley asked.

  ‘It happened at the end of the working day. All the men had gone and Rutherford was closing up. He says Wendall didn’t need to be there all the time but he had the same drive to succeed as his father. He always wanted to make sure they were working to capacity and that the order books were full.’

  ‘Highly commendable,’ Riley remarked, ‘but it doesn’t help us much.’

  ‘Actually it does, sir, because Rutherford said that on the evening in question, a man came round insisting upon seeing Wendall in person. Rutherford said he was a rough looking cove who it wouldn’t have been wise to refuse. He said he was there to check on his master’s order, which was overdue. Rutherford thought it was odd because he wouldn’t give his master’s name and anyway, there were no overdue orders. Wendall heard the ruckus, came out of his office to see what it was about and then send Rutherford home. He said that he would deal with the man and clear up the misunderstanding. Rutherford never saw Wendall alive again.’

  ‘Do we have a description of the man?’

  ‘Sounds like it could have been one of the Dawson boys, guv’nor,’ Soames said. ‘Rutherford described him as a tough man with a handsome face and a bad attitude.’

  ‘Seems you were right, sir,’ Salter said. ‘The guv’nor was just now telling me that he thinks Verity Randall arranged to have both her brother and Ezra murdered,’ he explained to the constables.

  ‘Indeed, Jack, but a good lawyer will argue that the man could just as easily have been Ezra. All three brothers look alike but Ezra had the most pressing need to be rid of Wendall. His wife wouldn’t even agree to share Ezra’s bed while her husband still lived. They only decided upon a future together after Wendall’s all too convenient death.’

  ‘You think Wendall knew of his wife’s friendship with Ezra and had decided to have it out with him?’ Salter asked. ‘Perhaps even sent for him, and things got out of hand?’

  ‘Not for a minute, but a jury might well believe it. They will not approve of Ezra’s philandering, especially if his brothers paint themselves as hard working pillars of society.’

  Salter harrumphed. ‘I will be happy to disabuse them of that notion, especially where Sam is concerned.’

  ‘We need to discover the date of Wendall’s death and try to ascertain where Ezra was at the time. I will ask Ida Randall if she can recall. Anyway, can Rutherford identify the man?’ Riley asked, sitting forward.

  ‘He reckons he can, sir,’ Carter replied. ‘And he’d be more than willing to do so, is my guess, but given that Sam and Ezra look so similar…’

  ‘But they didn’t dress in the same way. From what I have heard,’ Salter said, ‘Ezra had started wearing fancy clothing. Not that of a footman but of a gentleman, which further angered his detractors.’

  ‘She’s one calculating female, that Mrs Randall,’ Carter said. ‘What do you want to do about her, sir?’

  ‘I want you and Soames to take a couple of conspicuous uniformed constables with you, Carter, and bring the lady back here for questioning. Sort out the details with Sergeant Barton. I want her to feel as embarrassed and angry as possible by the time she gets here. Get the uniforms to bring her back on one of their wagons while you and Soames stay behind and search her home. Look thoroughly. If she’s got any hidden documents, anything at all that will help us to nail her, I want them found. You know all the places to look.’

  ‘Leave it to us, sir,’ Soames said, as the two constables stood. ‘If there’s anything to be found, we’ll find it.’

  ‘You take yourself off as well, Jack, and make arrangements for your operation tonight. Let me know when Verity gets here.’

  ‘Will do, sir.’

  Left alone to reflect, Riley wondered if it would be that easy. Even if Rutherford made a positive identification, Riley had already highlighted a potential flaw with said identification. Stand Sam and Paul together and they were almost impossible to tell apart. And even if Sam was identified, it didn’t follow that he would be convicted, especially since the death had already been recorded as an accident. Dawson would likely invent a plausible reason for meeting with Wendall, who received him and sent Rutherford home, implying that he didn’t feel threatened. Besides, the coroner’s pride was at stake and he wouldn’t want to admit to having made a mistake.

  Then there was the question of Verity’s accomplice in Ezra’s killing. It was almost certainly Gregg, but Riley had no way in the world of proving it. He let out a frustrated sigh, cut short when a hasty tap at the door preceded Peterson opening it.

  ‘I just came in, sir, and Sergeant Barton asked me to give you this message that was delivered by Mr Danforth.’

  ‘Thank you, Peterson.’

  Riley opened the message whilst Peterson hopped from foot to foot. Presumably he already knew what it contained but was less adept than Riley at disguising his surprise when he too absorbed its contents.

  ‘What do you want me to do about it, sir?’ Peterson asked.

  ‘What’s all the excitement about?’ Salter asked, poking his head around the door.

  ‘See for yourself, Jack.’ Riley passed him Danforth’s note.

  ‘Blimey,’ Salter said.

  ‘Should we bring him in sir?’ Peterson asked.

  ‘Bring who in?’

  ‘Well, sir,’ Peterson said, his voice faltering. ‘Mr Gideon Randall, obviously. Why else would his wife go to his place of work? They must be in this together.’

  Riley didn’t want to discourage the young detective from expressing his
views, but he also required him not to act impulsively.

  ‘If they were working together, wouldn’t they discuss their strategy in the privacy of their own home?’ he asked.

  ‘Ah. Sorry, sir.’ Peterson sheepishly scratched his ear. ‘I got a bit carried away.’

  ‘Can you think of any other reason why Verity Randall would have gone to Whitehall?’

  Riley and Salter shared a look, waiting for Peterson to reach the obvious conclusion.

  ‘She went to see Sir Philip,’ he said slowly.

  ‘Now we are in agreement. Lady Randall told us that they planned to dine alone last night, she and Sir Philip, so even if Verity dropped in unannounced, she wouldn’t have been sure of getting Sir Philip alone.’

  ‘He did care about his wife carrying on beneath his own roof.’ Salter rubbed his hands together. ‘Not that I blame him for that.’

  ‘It appears so,’ Riley said, ‘but let’s not jump to conclusions. Hold off on bringing Verity in, Jack. It can wait until tomorrow. Send Carter and Soames to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in Whitehall instead. Have them speak to the clerk on reception and ask him to confirm that Verity did call to see Sir Philip. Find out if she ever goes there to see her husband and how often she has called to see Sir Philip in the past. Oh, and they’d best make it clear that this is a confidential police investigation. If Sir Philip or anyone else learns that they have been asking questions then the clerk will find himself occupying one of our cells. It’s vital that Sir Philip doesn’t know that we’re on to him.’

  ‘Leave it to me, sir,’ Salter said. ‘I’ll stop the others before they set out to fetch Verity and give them their new instructions.’

  Chapter Fourteen

  Riley and Amelia were engaged to dine with his family that evening. Despite Sophia’s engaging company, Riley was distracted as random speculations about various aspects of the case filtered through his mind. The pieces were falling into place, but whether he could unearth sufficient proof to bring all the guilty parties before a jury was far from certain. Forcing a confession might be his only recourse.