“Very true,” said Frances. “If I can give a little bit of advice to my fellow sleuths gathered here, murder is often committed under two circumstances. The first is in the heat of passion and the second is through cold calculation. As you can tell, we’re dealing with a murderer here, using poison, who took his or her time in planning this out.”
Lilly and Jane nodded.
“Now, when I’m finished with the story,” said Anthony, “you can ask me any questions you like. However, the only questions I’ll be answering will be those whereby I can offer factual, objective information. I won’t offer opinion or subjective information.”
“Sounds fair,” said Jane. “Speaking of questions, was there anything else that Ellie said to the police?”
“Not at this time,” said Anthony. “Mind you, the investigation was just getting going. This was all the information the police were able to obtain in their first visit.”
“Okay, so we haven’t heard from Laura yet, the victim's friend,” said Ellis.
“No, she was the last person to be questioned that night of Melissa Kay’s murder. Though at this time, remember, the death hasn’t been deemed homicide, only questionable,” said Sir Anthony.
“So what did Laura have to say?” asked Jane.
“She verified the events leading up to Melissa’s death. That is to say, her story of that evening was congruent with Roger’s, James’ and Ellie’s retelling. Melissa had seemed quiet but otherwise in good spirits and health. They had retired to the living room while the men had retired to the smoking room for cigars. Laura recalled Melissa having a bite of cheese and she had enjoyed some grapes. Laura didn’t recall Ellie eating anything after dinner. Then about five or ten minutes later, Laura describes Melissa choking, getting stiff and then falling down dead. Laura said that Ellie went to get Roger and James. Laura mentioned Roger sticking his finger down Melissa’s throat after learning she had not long before eaten a piece of cheese. He didn’t find anything and then he covered her with his jacket.”
“Did Laura hear Melissa say anything?” asked Jane.
“Laura mentioned that she heard Melissa say something about feeling numb and tingly.”
“What about her interpretation of James' and Roger’s emotional states?” asked Lilly.
“Laura said that both James and Roger were genuinely distraught. She mentioned that James burst into tears and then told his father it was his fault that his mother died. Roger was calmer during the ordeal but she noticed him tearing up when speaking with the police officer.”
“Did she say anything about the affair?” asked Ellis.
“The question was asked by the police investigator but she denied having an affair with Roger. In fact, she seemed quite horrified and insulted by the very idea, according to the police officer’s notes,” said Anthony.
“Did she give any insight into any of the others and their relationships?” asked Lilly.
“This is quite interesting and puts a bit of a fly in the ointment,” said Anthony, “and is in fact one of the reasons I chose this story to tell.”
Anthony paused and picked up another morsel of Stilton and ate it slowly.
“Well, go on,” said Ellis.
Anthony took a last sip of his port and put the empty glass down on the table. He held his cigar in his left hand and took a puff.
“Laura said that as recently as a few weeks ago, Melissa had confided in her about her strained relationship with her sister Ellie. Laura said that Melissa had told her that Ellie was threatening to sue her over their father’s estate. The money that Melissa had been going through was a small trust fund that had been set up ahead of time. The big money, at least in their terms, was winding through the courts. The problem was, Ellie was getting a fraction of the estate that Melissa was. According to Laura, Ellie was getting some token jewelry, while the bulk of it, including a home here in England as well as investments, totaled two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. The jewels that Ellie was going to receive had an estimated value of about thirty thousand pounds.”
“Aha,” said Ellis, “this is definitely a fly in the ointment.”
“But there’s more,” said Anthony. “Laura said that Melissa told her that Ellie had actually threatened to make sure she had a horrible accident if she wasn’t going to share the estate with Ellie.”
“Were there any other heirs?” asked Frances.
“No,” said Anthony.
“What had Melissa decided?” asked Lilly. “Was she going to share the estate?”
“The last that Laura had heard was that Melissa was undecided. Melissa recognized that her father was quite estranged from Ellie primarily due to Ellie’s lack of sympathy and help during their mother’s prolonged illness and subsequent death. In fact, they hadn’t spoken in over ten years. The only reason she was going to get anything at all was because on Melissa’s mother’s deathbed she had implored her husband to at least give Ellie some of her jewels. So Melissa didn’t want to go against her father’s wishes which were clear in both conversations he had had with Melissa and in his will. But on the other hand, Melissa was torn, because she understood that Ellie had never been close to their mother and Melissa had forgiven Ellie for not helping out during their mother’s death.”
Ellis put his empty glass of port on the table and reached his arm around the back of the sofa around his wife. Lilly was writing notes, flipping pages back and forth and generally trying to make sense of the story.
“Laura told the police that it was unlikely Melissa was going to share any of the proceeds with Ellie, especially after the veiled threat of making sure that Melissa had an accident. Melissa wasn’t easily bullied. But, something you must understand,” said Anthony, “is that with only the two of them being heirs, if Melissa were to die before the estate cleared and the money was formally hers, then Ellie would get it all. If Melissa died after the estate had cleared through the courts, then Roger would get Melissa’s share of the estate, obviously.”
“Did the estate clear the courts?” asked Lilly.
“No, it hadn’t at the time of Melissa’s death.”
“Interesting,” said Jane, “so Ellie will now inherit the quarter million she wanted, right?”
“Correct,” said Anthony.
“Hmm,” said Ellis, “so we have another strong motive.”
“Anything else Laura told police at that time?” asked Frances.
“No, that’s about it.”
“You know what I’d like,” said Ellis, “I’d like to hear from the deceased, Melissa. I bet she could shed some light on things.”
Everyone had a good laugh at that.
“If only it were that easy,” said Frances.
“Indeed,” said Anthony, tipping cigar ash into the tall ashtray by his side of the couch.
“Would anyone enjoy a cup of tea now?” asked Frances, looking around at the empty port glasses and the few lonely looking pieces of Stilton.
“Love some,” said Jane.
Everyone else agreed.
“Alfred,” said Frances, looking around for him.
Alfred was standing in the corner of the room, quiet as a statue. You’d almost forget he was there. The things he had been privy to would make quite an interesting read. Though being a gentleman and a butler, he of course wouldn’t tell.
“Yes, M’lady,” said Alfred, walking up toward her and kneeling by the side of her chair.
“Could you organize some tea for us, please?” asked Frances.
“Of course, M’lady.”
Alfred disappeared from the living room and reappeared about five minutes later carrying a large silver tray with a large teapot, teacups, lemon wedges, milk and sugar. He cleared away the empty port glasses and the wooden board with the decimated Stilton on it.
Lady Marmalade asked how strong her guests liked their tea, and most liking a weaker tea, she poured it out for them. She waited a few minutes for her own. She liked it strong and dark, with just a squeeze o
f lemon, when she wasn’t having it with cream and sugar.
Jane took her cup and had a sip of the creamy tea.
“The police were in and out that night fairly quickly. You understand that at this point it wasn’t ruled a homicide, suspicious yes, but not murder. So as much as the four witnesses each had some unkind things to say about one another, the full investigation came later. The police were only trying to determine if murder might be at play.”
“So when did they come back?” asked Ellis.
“The very next evening,” continued Anthony, “nobody was at the house, thankfully. Roger and James didn’t feel like staying the night before. You can imagine, losing your wife or mother under mysterious circumstances, I might move to a hotel myself.”
Lilly nodded.
“So what did they find?” she asked.
“They found the house empty. Ellie was back at her home and Laura was back at hers, and Roger and James were both at the same hotel. The police ransacked the whole house, at this time foul play had been confirmed by the coroner’s office. In fact, the coroner had confirmed that death was due to batrachotoxin.”
“And that, you said, was from a frog?” asked Jane.
“Yes, that’s right. They searched all over the house but didn’t find anything of note except in two places. The first was in James’ bedroom. He didn’t live with them, but very often he would stay with his mother and father in between trips if he needed to save money. And lately, he needed to save money.”
“How exciting,” said Lilly. “Do tell what they found in James’ room.”
“Under the bed, pushed hastily back towards the headboard, was a glass terrarium with a brightly colored black and yellow frog in it. The frog, sadly, was not in great shape and died before the police could get him, or her, to the batrachiologist.”
“That’s awful,” said Jane.
“The chief homicide inspector, who was not at the house the previous night, had the good sense to keep his men from handling the frog. Also found in the son’s bedroom was a pair of rubber gloves in the rubbish bin. They had to go to the kitchen to obtain pincers to pick the gloves up to place in a bag. The inspector, rightly so, believed that these gloves were likely used to handle the frog.”
“I have a question, Sir Anthony,” said Jane. “How does one obtain this toxin from said frog?”
“Right, good question. From what I’ve read, batrachotoxin is obtained directly from the frog’s skin. When agitated, scared or frightened, the frog will excrete this toxin directly through it’s skin and so even touching the frog with bare hands can cause poisoning and death.”
Lilly was still writing notes furiously.
“The last item they found in the son’s room was a small circular dish, about the size of one of my eyeglasses. It contained what appeared to have been a dried liquid that was now opaque, whitish in color and somewhat crystalline.”
“What was it?” asked Lilly.
“It was batrachotoxin,” said Anthony.
“How was the poison administered?” asked Lilly.
“We’ll get to that after you’ve all had a guess as to who committed the murder. It was only the murderer who told police how they had done it. The police had worked out a few theories, but hadn’t boiled it down to one.”
“Well, come on, you’ve got to give us the police theories,” said Ellis.
“That’s only fair,” said Jane.
“Okay,” said Anthony, “the police believed, having spoken with a pathologist, that a neurotoxin like batrachotoxin is fast acting. Therefore, depending on the dosage, it must have been given at the latest, during dinner, or at the earliest, when they were retiring in the living room.”
“I knew it,” said Lilly, looking at her notes. “It was on the piece of cheese Melissa ate. Did they test it?”
“No, but they do know how she was poisoned, and you’ll get extra marks for getting that right,” said Anthony.
“Oops,” said Lilly, “perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything yet.”
“None of the food was tested as the butler had put the remainder into the rubbish bin and, being all mushed together, it was cross contaminated. The drinks were tested but they were all clean of toxins. The cups were not tested as they had been emptied and washed.”
“He could have put the toxin into the empty cup before drinks were served, or even along the rim of the cup,” said Ellis, mostly to himself. “That way he was sure that only his victim would be poisoned.”
“Aha, got you,” said Jane. “So you think the murderer is a man?”
“Most certainly,” said Ellis.
“Well, thank you for the help,” she said, grinning.
“What did they find elsewhere in the house?” asked Lady Marmalade.
“In Roger’s study they found a pad of paper that had been used to write on. The facing page was blank, but it appeared that the written note had been torn off. They couldn’t find it anywhere. Anyway, due to the pressure, they were able to determine some of what was written on that note by gently rubbing the sheet underneath it with charcoal.”
“Ooh, these Australian police are clever,” said Jane.
“Well go on, what did it say?” asked Lilly.
Sir Anthony reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper.
“I wrote it down, so I wouldn’t forget,” he said. “They weren’t able to make out all of what it said. But here is what they were able to read. It was addressed to ‘My lovely Laura.’ The content had these bits written on it. ‘Can’t leave… she will ruin me… she keeps the mint… must finish her… no money otherwise.’ It was signed ‘My love, Roger’.”
Lilly was writing notes with a furrowed brow.
“Doesn’t sound like much,” she said to her notepad.
“The police believed that he was writing to Laura, complaining that they couldn’t be together because Melissa would keep the money and the only way to be free and together would be to kill her or finish her. But it doesn’t seem to give any indication as to how they would kill her.”
“Interesting,” said Ellis, “the plot thickens.”
“I’m assuming the police went to speak with James and Roger,” said Lady Marmalade. “What did they say?”
“Yes, they did. They went and spoke with Roger first. He admitted to writing the letter to Laura but he said they misunderstood the tone. He said that he was upset with his wife and that he was having an affair. He said he wrote the letter just to appease Laura as he really had no reason or desire to leave his wife. He admitted that he and Melissa had been fighting recently but had come to an understanding. Their financial situation was tight for them, but he knew that they were coming into more money soon from his father-in-law and that had given him some comfort. He also mentioned to police that his wife was going to increase his allowance back up to fifteen hundred as soon as the money came.”
“Could anyone verify that information?” asked Jane.
“No, Melissa is dead and it was apparently private conversations that took place between the two of them regarding money, as you can well imagine,” said Anthony.
“What about James?” asked Lilly.
“Not so fast. There was one other thing that Roger mentioned that was interesting. He said that just before dinner he went upstairs to get his pocket watch. He said that he saw Ellie in James’ room. She seemed startled when he came in and asked her if she was okay. She apparently said she was looking for the bathroom, which was further down the hall. The strange thing though, according to Roger, was that there was a bathroom on the main floor of the house that most guests used.”
“What was she doing in there? Did he say?” asked Ellis.
“He said she looked startled, as I mentioned, and that she was standing by the rubbish bin, and he noticed that James’ frog was on the bed in its terrarium. She had her hands clasped behind her back so he couldn’t see what was in them. He didn’t think very much about it at the time and so he left
, showing her where the upstairs bathroom was, which she used, so he said. It was only after his wife’s death was deemed murder that he thought about the suspiciousness of her being in his son’s room. He remembered telling her to be exceedingly careful with that frog. She replied, saying that she knew all about poisonous frogs from South America. She was very curious about them.”
“That is strange. And Roger was quite all right with James keeping a poisonous frog in the house?” asked Jane.
Anthony shook his head and took a puff of his cigar.
“No, he told the investigator that he had told his son he needed to get rid of the frog that day. Apparently, the son had not heeded his father’s advice.”
“How did he get the frog?” asked Lady Marmalade.
“He had just the day before come back from Colombia and had managed to bring the frog into the country. How, I’m not quite sure.”
“What did James have to say about all of this?” asked Ellis.
“We’ll get to that shortly. I just want to finish up with Roger. The conclusion of Roger’s second interview with the police was when they asked him about the frog and whether he knew much about it. He said he didn’t. Though his son had shown the frog off to him proudly and explained how poisonous it was and how the South American Indians extracted the toxin for their darts used in hunting. He said he found the whole thing quite macabre.”
Sir Anthony looked around.
“Any questions to this point?” he asked.
Everyone shook their heads as he looked around at each in turn.
“Okay, so we move on to James. He was asked about the frog and why he had brought it into the country. He said that he had brought it in for a friend at the British Museum whom he thought would be delighted with the specimen. He hadn’t been asked to bring it, but he felt it would delight Kay, his female friend at the British Museum, to no end.”
“Was that story verified?” asked Ellis.
“No, because according to James it was going to be a surprise, and he hadn’t gotten round to visiting Kay and she didn’t know about it ahead of time either. He was asked why he hadn’t got rid of it earlier that day, as his father had requested. He said he had been busy in town and forgot. He was asked why such a poisonous frog was not in a locked terrarium and he said it was because he had originally brought it over on the spur of the moment and hadn’t taken the time to carefully consider all the options.”
Four Red Diamonds (A Lady Marmalade Mystery Short Story Collection Book 1) Page 15