'Well, congratulations. I hope you'll be very happy. Did you kill Sir Jasper?'
Egg laughed. 'What a wonderful non sequitur! Does it ever work?'
'Every time,' said Felix solemnly. 'Did you?'
'No. I rather owe him a debt of gratitude if anything, or we might never have met.'
'I suppose that's true. I understand you were in the library quite late last night?'
'Yes we were. How do you know?'
'Mrs FitzGreville saw you there.'
'Oh yes, of course.'
'She says you were canoodling.'
Egg looked annoyed. 'There might have been some minor gestures of affection; not that it's any business of hers. She's rather a bitter sort of woman, I find. She's been quite unpleasant to Charlotte.'
Felix didn't comment on this. 'What were you doing there?'
'Working on clues; same as she was presumably. Some of them required quotations to be looked up. That is, if one didn't already know them. We didn't want to waste the daylight hours doing it as most were best solved in the gardens, so we left them until last.'
'Was Mrs FitzGreville there when you arrived?'
'Yes, with Mr FitzGreville. Then he left; to go to bed, I think. Mrs FitzGreville went away for a while but later came back.'
'When did she do that?'
'I don't recall exactly. Perhaps eleven-thirty. I went to the bathroom about then and she was on the gallery.'
'Doing what?'
'I've no idea. Standing. She followed me back and later went out again for a few minutes.'
'How many minutes?'
'I don't know. Perhaps five?'
'When did you finally leave the library?'
'I should say about twelve but it's only a guess. Charlotte might have noticed.'
'What about Mrs FitzGreville?'
'She followed us out and bade us goodnight.'
'Did she see you go into your rooms?
'No, I was saying goodnight to Charlotte.'
'Where did you go then?'
'To bed. We were worn out, me especially.' He indicated his stick. 'Running about is not my strong suit.'
'Separate bedrooms?'
'We've only just met, Inspector.'
'Was it separately?'
'Yes, of course.'
'So you can't, in fact, know if Miss Beaufort-Smyth went to bed after you parted.'
'I saw her into her room.'
'She might have come out again.'
'Yes, I suppose so. But she had no more idea Sir Jasper was alive than I had, if that's what you're thinking, so she couldn't have gone back and done him in. And if it comes to that, I can't prove I went to bed either.'
'No-one saw you go to your room?'
'Not that I'm aware of. I suspect we were the last to turn in.'
'All right, we'll leave that. You'll have realised, no doubt, that you and Mrs FitzGreville were the last in the library before the discovery of the body there?'
'Yes, it's disturbing. But someone had to be, I suppose.'
'You weren't aware of anyone about? A door closing, a footfall, a voice, someone half opening the library door and thinking better of it, any little thing like that?'
'No, nothing. I'm not saying there wasn't, but I wasn't listening for that sort of thing. We couldn't see the door anyway; we were in a corner.'
'Too busy canoodling, perhaps?'
'Inspector. I'm trying to be helpful. One doesn't go through life anticipating a possible murder. I noticed nothing that I can recall. I can't speak for Charlotte.
'All right. What time did you get up again, after you went to bed? You were woken by the fight, presumably?'
'I'm not sure what woke me; I was pretty dozy. I think my first conscious awareness was of Joan FitzGreville complaining about being goosed by Emmett. "Poked up the bottom," as she put it. She must have been on the gallery, I think, which is more or less outside my door. She continued to reiterate her allegation all the way downstairs.'
'And the time?'
'Again I don't know. Something past one, I suppose. Once we knew Tony FitzGreville was all right we all cleared off again.'
' How about a time for that then?'
'It was nearly two thirty.'
'At one point while you were in the great hall, you and Miss Beaufort-Smyth went out into the entrance hall. Why was that?'
'Charlotte needed to gather herself a little. We were only there a minute or two.'
'I understand she had a fit of the giggles?'
'Well, yes, she did.'
'Did either of you go anywhere else at that time?'
'No, we didn't. Janet Beaufort-Smyth will confirm it. She was there too.'
'Did you see anyone passing in or out of the entrance hall?'
'No.'
'And did you at any time, early or late, hear anything that might have been a gunshot?'
'I don't believe so, but it was quite noisy latterly, with lots of people talking, and then there was Miss FitzGreville of course.'
'Did you like Sir Jasper?'
'I only met him once. He didn't make himself very likeable on that occasion but I didn't rush to judgement.'
'Generous of you. Do you own a gun?'
'No, I deplore violence.'
'So do we all, Mr FitzGreville. Thank you. That will do for now.'
'Phew!' said Rattigan, blowing out his cheeks. 'You really don't like him, do you?'
'I don't like people who deliberately lie to me, especially when it matters.'
'He was defending the honour of his fiancée. It's understandable.'
'We seem to have reversed our usual roles,' smiled Felix. You agree, then, that they were together, before the fight?'
Rattigan shrugged. 'I'd say so. He was certainly lying anyway.'
'But could as easily have been murdering Jasper as anticipating his wedding vows? A busy night at all events. Who's next? The girl, I suppose.'
'How do you do, Miss Beaufort-Smyth? Do sit down. Would it be presumptuous to ask why you're sporting an eye-patch?'
'Mrs FitzGreville hit me. Thank you, I don't smoke.'
Felix pocketed his cigarette case. 'And did you give as good as you got?'
'I like to think so,' said Charlotte placidly.
'Let me guess. You were in competition for one of Sir Jasper's tokens?'
'That's correct.'
'Who got it?'
'I did, but she stole it back.'
Well that's a shame. Fortunes of war, I suppose. May I ask, what was your relationship with the deceased?'
'He was a third cousin, three times removed.'
'Did you know him well?'
'I scarcely knew him at all. He called on me one day and we went to a teashop. That was the only time I ever saw him.'
'When alive at any rate?'
'I never saw him dead. I was too busy trying to disguise my black eye. Eventually I applied to Nanny Mathews for this patch.'
'Did you like him?'
'I didn't take to him, no. He was friendly and perfectly correct but, to be frank, he gave me the creeps.'
'When was this?'
'About three months ago.'
'And the next thing you knew, you were asked to his funeral. Didn't you think that odd?'
'Not really. People die, after all.'
'I understand congratulations are in order?'
'Thank you, Inspector. And I didn't kill him.'
'You've spoken to your fiancé?'
'Naturally. Now I have something to tell you. It's embarrassing but it has to be done. My fiancé is the perfect gentleman, even a bit old-fashioned in some ways. I truly believe he would go to the scaffold rather than —'
'It's all right, Miss Beaufort-Smyth,' interrupted Felix. 'I know what you're going to say and I appreciate your honesty. However, I had, in fact, guessed. May I just ask, was there any time on Saturday night when you were not, in fact, together?'
'Yes, from when we returned upstairs after the fight until the morning,'
said Charlotte. 'That was from about two-thirty. I slept like a log, and I expect Egg did too.'
'You met again at breakfast?'
'Not at breakfast. We were up at the crack of dawn, puzzling. We had to be at church later, for the reading of our banns.'
Felix raised an eyebrow. 'Oh I see. And can you remember when you left the library last night?'
'It was just before twelve.'
'Are you fairly sure of that?'
'Yes. I looked at my watch.'
'Were you aware of Mrs FitzGreville coming and going, during the evening?'
'Yes, she seemed restless. Egg saw her hanging about on the landing.'
'I understand she followed you out.'
'Yes, more or less. She kept staring at us; it was rather annoying.'
'Did you actually see her enter her room?'
'No, it's round the corner somewhere.'
'Would she have seen you enter your room?'
'I don't know. I shouldn't have thought so. I wasn't particularly looking.'
'And after you retired, when did you become aware of the fracas in the great hall?'
'Almost from the start. I wasn't asleep, or barely so. I think it was about one o'clock.'
'And your fiancé?'
'He was fast asleep. I got up as I needed the bathroom anyway. By the time I came out, people had started to appear. Vanda and Janet Beaufort-Smyth were there.'
'Did you actually see them come from their rooms?'
Charlotte hesitated. 'Possibly not. They were on the landing, so I assumed they had.'
'Did you know Miss Beaufort-Smyth before?'
'No, I'd never met her. She seems nice. Not that I've spoken to her much.'
'I understand you gave first aid to the wounded. Have you a medical background?'
'No, not at all. It was just something I'd read about. It was quite satisfying that it worked. We sat around for a while after the doctor came then cleared off back to bed.'
'But not before you'd succumbed to the giggles?'
'Charlotte smiled. 'I'm afraid I did, yes.'
'You went out into the entrance hall. Did you go anywhere else?'
'No.'
'Not to the cloakroom?'
'No.'
'Do you work, Miss Beaufort-Smyth?'
'No. Lily of the field, I'm afraid.'
'You're clearly educated. Are you a graduate?'
'Heavens no! I haven't the discipline. I'm a butterfly, academically-speaking.' She smiled again. 'Or perhaps a bumblebee.'
Felix smiled back. 'Do you suspect anyone of killing Sir Jasper?'
'Not really. Nobody seemed to like him much, but you wouldn't murder someone because you didn't like him, would you?
'Not in your circles perhaps. Were you aware of anyone else about the place, up until you went to bed?'
'No. I know you've asked Egg this, and I can only say the same. Neither did I hear anything that one might interpret as a shot. Inspector, I was wondering what Sir Jasper was actually doing in the library. Do you know? He'd presumably been hiding from us until then, so why did he suddenly come out? If he wanted some reading matter, you'd think he would have laid in a stock of books before-hand, rather than risk being seen, which he might have been. Someone might so easily have decided to go and look something up. It seems odd.'
'That's crossed our minds too. You've obviously been thinking about it.'
'Yes I have. Not very productively, I'm afraid. It's hard to get inside the mind of someone like that, isn't it?'
'If you did find out who the murderer was, would you tell me?'
'I think I'd rather not answer that, Inspector.'
'I know what you are going to say,' said Felix. 'You're going to say, "Modern young women!'
'Consider it said,' growled Rattigan. 'Seems quite worldly compared with him. Brazen, even. She scarcely blushed when she started to tell you about sleeping with him.'
'Yes, I agree. But it's not uncommon, you know, in girls of that class. Also she's bright. Brighter than most men, probably. I should think she does exactly what she wants and gets away with it.'
'Including murder?'
'One can't rule it out, but what would be the motive? Assuming she's telling the truth, she scarcely knew him. Probably too wrapped up in each other anyway. The poor fellow didn't stand a chance, did he? One week from first meeting to posting the banns!'
'Lets hope they don't repent at leisure. Note that Elizabeth FitzGreville spies on people.'
'So it would seem. Pity she couldn't have used her investigatory instincts to better purpose.' He took up the brown manilla envelope. 'Let's have a look in here. Hmm, three exercise books. Spares, I suppose. Here you are, Teddy, have a go. Right up your street, I should think. Logical mind and all that.'
Studying his copy, Rattigan gave a sardonic smile for an answer. 'Emma was his muse,' he said. 'Emma Hamilton, I expect, so Romney.'
'Yes, and here's one for the Shakespearean. Henry VI, Part III, if I remember rightly. That'll be a sundial. Bound to be one in the garden. And Gray's Elegy. These aren't so hard, Teddy. We could have won the Manor. Fancy a manor?
'Not particularly. A cosy semi would do me. Avian apparel. Hmm.'
'Dovecote.'
'I was just going to say that! I expect there are more difficult ones, though. This one looks like a biblical reference or something. Plenty to drive them to the library.'
'Not just canoodling, then,' said Felix. 'Yes, come in!'
The door was swung open by Constable Evans to admit Doris bearing a tray.
'Mr Fudge thought you'd like some tea, sir,' said Doris.
'Doris, this is Inspector Felix,' said Rattigan. 'Oh good — sandwiches.'
'Hello, Doris,' said Felix. 'Please tell Mr Fudge thank you very much. Do you know if he's sent anything to my men?'
'Yes, sir, Nettie's doing them. She's the other maid, sir.'
'I understand she found the body.'
'Yes, she did. She was terrible shook up, sir, but she seems all right now. Quite jolly, in fact. It's awful to say it, but I think she's enjoying the excitement. We don't get a lot of that here.'
'Well they bounce back at that age. And neither of you knew Sir Jasper was still alive?'
'No, sir, we didn't. I won't say I suspected, because that wouldn't be true but I did think something wasn't quite right. Now I know what.'
'I'm told you know all about the secret passages; the servants generally, I mean.'
'Oh yes, sir. They're no secret to anyone that lives here. You can get behind some of the bedrooms, which isn't very nice to my mind, and you can get from the cellars to behind the panelling in the great hall and some other places. I don't like them because they're all dark and spidery but the younger girls like to scamper about in them and frighten a body. That is, when we've got young girls, but they don't usually stay long.'
'Why is that?'
Doris hesitated. 'Oh well, I don't suppose it matters now. The master was a devil with the young ones, sir, and that's a fact. Too free with his hands, if you take my meaning, and worse. He couldn't seem to help himself. Of course, in the end he got a reputation and they wouldn't work here.'
'And that's why you didn't like him?'
'Not only that, sir. He just wasn't a nice man. When I came here, Lady FitzGreville was still alive and she was lovely, though bed-bound mostly, but it's gone down terrible since. I'd have left myself eventually, I think, but I'll probably hang on now and see who we gets next.' She paused at the door. 'You don't happen to know, do you sir?'
'No, I don't, Doris, but it sounds as if it'll be an improvement, whoever it is. Who is that standing out there?'
'It's Mrs Austen, sir. I think she wants to see you.'
'Then come in, Mrs Austen, don't be shy!'
Chapter Eleven
'Oh, Inspector, I feel dreadful,' said Emily, nervously accepting a chair, 'I hardly dare tell you how foolish I've been, but I know I must, because it could be important.'
'I
find it hard to believe you've been foolish, Mrs Austen,' smiled Felix. 'Take your time now, and tell me all about it. Would a smoke help at all?'
Emily eyed hungrily the proffered cigarette-case and shook her head. 'I won't if you don't mind. Bernard doesn't like me to. I know I should have come to you before, and I do hope you won't be cross with me, but it's just so frightfully shaming. You see, Bernard . . . well, he so terribly much wanted to win the Manor for me. And not just for me, perhaps, because I fancy he hoped if we got it he could afford to set up on his own. As an accountant, I mean. He didn't say so, but I could tell. He hates it, you see, working for Randolph & Simms. He says he feels like Bob Cratchit. Not that we've got a Tiny Tim, or any children actually, and the money's not that bad, but some men are like that, aren't they? Independent, I mean, and wanting to stand on their own two feet. Which is good, of course, if they get the chance. Anyway, I so wanted to help him but I couldn't see how. And then it occurred to me . . .' She stopped for a moment, and looked down at the little handbag she was clutching. 'Well, I just thought my uncle might have kept the answers to the quiz questions somewhere in his apartment. And then I started to wonder if his door might have been left unlocked, what with him being dead – dead the first time, I mean – and that if I were to creep in there I might find them. I know what you must think of me for that but I was just so desperate to help him, you see.
'I couldn't do anything until the night-time in case someone saw me, and then I had to wait until Bernie was asleep. And lying there, dozing a bit myself, it all seemed perfectly reasonable. Things do, don't they? So I got out of bed and tiptoed along to the new wing, and of course that immediately woke me up, and I started to realise how absurd it was, and that he wouldn't have left the answers just lying about the place for anyone to pick up, and the door would naturally be locked anyway, and I rather hoped it would be, to be honest, but it wasn't, so I looked inside – just poked my nose in really – and immediately I knew someone was in there. One does, doesn't one? And then I saw this shadow on the wall, moving! And I know it was craven of me but I simply bolted! I was afraid whoever it was might come out and see me and want to know what I was doing and I should have been so embarrassed. And then I had the idea of ducking into the library and coming out again, and if they saw me I could pretend I'd been jn!to get a book to read, so that's what I did. I put the light on and just grabbed the first book I came to and put the light off again as if I'd just finished in there and then positively scampered to our own room and locked the door! So of course I didn't properly go into Uncle's apartment and didn't read anything that I shouldn't have done, but I felt you ought to know about it because of someone being in there. It could have been Uncle still alive, couldn't it? Or even his murderer!'
A Strange Manor of Death (The Inspector Felix Mysteries Book 3) Page 12