Vic had helped the Wolfman escape about six months before. He was supposed to have gone to a cabin his mother had built for him in the woods. Something must have gone wrong.
She sighed. “My partner, Xavier Thorn, who personally trained me in investigative procedures, will be most displeased if we exclude all possibilities other than the werewolf this early in the investigation. Thus, even though you are certain the murderer is the werewolf, the questions I ask you tonight will, and must, allow for other possibilities. And while this might seem a waste of time, it has proven in the past to be an excellent method of finding the truth. Thus, Mr. Thorn will insist upon following it.” She smiled kindly at them. “So allow me to begin the interview as I do with all our clients.”
They nodded and Vic began by acquiring their full names, age, religion, professions, when they were married, the number of children, and length of time they had lived in Litchfield.
“Have you had any altercations with neighbors, relatives, or other people?”
It turned out Gretta Berger had frequent altercations with the local ladies, but none seemed worth killing someone over.
“Can you describe your daughter, both physically and her personality.”
“She is…was…” Gretta appeared seconds from breaking down.
Vic covered her hand and squeezed. “Let us start with Leeson and give you a moment.” She then turned to the young boy.
“Daisy was like other girls…a bit bossy, but just when I’d get to the point where I was mad at her, she’d do something so sweet that I’d forgive her.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“She brought home a puppy and gave him to me.”
Frederick frowned. “Where did she get a puppy?”
Leeson shrugged. “I don’t know and she wouldn’t say.”
“How long ago was this?” Vic asked.
“Last week, I guess.”
“Do you still have the animal?”
“It’s in my room. Shall I get it?”
Vic realized Xavier might still be upstairs so she’d have to forego meeting the fellow. “Later, right now, let’s continue with the interview.”
“Is the pup important?” Gretta asked. “Do you think it’s a werewolf puppy?”
“No. But someone must have given it to her, possibly as a gift.”
“That’s true. She was such a beautiful and sweet girl. She had several young men who wished to court her.”
“She was too young to be courted,” Frederick growled.
Vic nodded in agreement. “Fourteen is young, but the heart never seems to care about age.” She looked at Gretta. “May I have the names of all the boys who showed her favor?”
Gretta glanced at her husband. He huffed and stormed out the kitchen door. Gretta grimaced. “He didn’t want her courted. He wanted to keep her a little girl, but her body changed whether he liked it or not and the boys noticed.”
“Their names?”
“I’m sure they had nothing to do with this.”
“Probably not, but remember we are examining all avenues.”
She listed off twelve boys.
Which seemed a lot for a young girl unless... “Did she have a dowry?”
“Heavens no. Frederick didn’t want to give her up. He certainly wasn’t going to pay someone to take her away from him.”
Was it possible Frederick killed his daughter when he discovered she planned to run off with a boy?
She doodled on her notepad as she pondered happy Daisy with her stable of young men.
“Did she favor any of her beaus?”
“Yes. Elwood Deacon. He’s a handsome, tall boy, highly educated, well mannered…a gentleman in all but blood. He’s slotted to be the next butler at the manor. She couldn’t do better than Elwood. He is everything a young girl could want.
“Then why have so many other beaus?” Vic asked.
Gretta shook her head. “She didn’t encourage them. They just came around and she was too sweet to be mean to them. The only one she gave encouragement to was Elwood.”
“How old is the fellow?” Vic asked. When Alice mentioned he was in training as their next butler, she figured he’d be in his late twenties, possibly mid-thirties. A bit old to be courting a fourteen-year-old.
“Eighteen last March. I know because I helped Daisy bake him a cake for his birthday. She spent all the money she’d earned from collecting mushrooms on the ingredients.”
Gretta grew sad. “And now some other girl will get Elwood. It’s so unfair. If Frederick had left matters alone, I’m sure they would have already been married and Daisy wouldn’t have been in the barn to be torn apart by the…murderer.”
Vic gave her a nod of approval for not saying werewolf.
Frederick returned and sat at the table. “I suspect your giant could kill the werewolf with his bare hands…just make sure he don’t become one because nothing could stop such a big fellow if he were to become a monster.”
Vic wanted to laugh but contained herself. “He is highly skilled. No werewolf will bite him.”
“He assured me of the same,” Fredericks said. “I need to let the men know we will not be riding out tomorrow in search of the beast since you’ve brought a professional hunter to handle the matter.”
“Before you go, I need to finish these initial questions. If you recall, Mr. Thorn insists we examine all avenues of possibilities, not just the most likely.”
He nodded.
“What is your opinion of Elwood?”
He glanced at his wife and frowned. “I have nothing against the fellow and he clearly loved my Daisy, but he was a grown man and she was just a little girl. I told him there would be no talk of marriage for many years to come.”
“What about her other beaus?”
“She didn’t have other beaus!” Frederick yelled, slamming his fist on the table. “They were just foolish pest…flying about, wanting to taste something sweet. I told them…to stay off my property and leave my girl alone.” His eyes flared with dark fury as some thought came to him. “You think one of them did this?”
“Do you?” she asked. Odd question for a man who was certain it was the werewolf.
“I don’t know…maybe…no! It was the wolf. The boys couldn’t have ripped her throat out.”
“And they adored her,” Greta quietly added.
Frederick stood up so quick the chair crashed to the floor. “I have to let the men know. They’ll be going to bed soon.” He slammed out the kitchen door.
Vic noticed his outburst caused neither flinching nor shock from Gretta and Leeson, which led her to assume that Frederick had a propensity to yell but neither struck nor harmed his family during his tantrums. Rather like Xavier…
She refocused on Leeson. “What’s your opinion of Elwood?”
He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “He’s all right I guess,” he muttered.
Vic tilted her head. “Then why don’t you like him?”
“He thinks he’s better than us, living up in the big house, never having to do hard labor, being sent off to a boy’s school instead of attending the local school. To be honest, he has never spoke one word to me, not even when he’d eat at our table. If he hadn’t fallen for Daisy, I wouldn’t have any opinion about him at all. While he was polite to Ma and respectful to Pa, his good manners were never wasted on me.”
“Do you think he gave Daisy the dog?’
“Absolutely not.”
“Why are you so certain?”
“Because she wouldn’t have given me a present from Elwood. That would have made us both angry at her.”
Xavier entered the kitchen. “I’m Xavier Thorn,” he announced.
Greta stood up and shook his hand. “It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Thorn. This is my son, Leeson.” She turned to her sulky son. “Leeson, come meet the real Sherlock Holmes.”
Leeson stood up and yawned so hard the bones cracked. “I need to get to sleep now. May I be excused?”
Greta looked to Vic.
“I may have more questions later, but I am fine for the moment.” Vic then smiled at Greta. “Thank you for being so forthcoming in your answers. And rest assured. We will find the murderer.”
Greta’s eyes flickered to Mr. Thorn as she squeezed Vic’s hand. “I have complete confidence you will.”
Vic followed Xavier out. He led them to the barn. “The murder scene has been compromised to the point of worthlessness. We’ll come back in the morning, but I have little confidence we’ll find anything of value here.” He focused on Barns. “Which means Ott has moved up on my list as a suspect for the murder.”
“I agree,” Barns replied. “The destruction of evidence, the removal of the body, the charging an innocent man of the crime—it is all very suspicious. However, I believe Vic has acquired some additional viable suspects in his amazing questioning.”
Vic had forgotten all about Barns, he’d been so nice and quiet. She turned and rewarded him with a smile. “Indeed, I have, but let us go back to Alice’s home first.”
As they entered the carriage, Barns broached a topic with great hesitation, alerting Vic she wasn’t going to like his comment even before he got to the point.
“Are you certain we should be staying at the manor? We have not yet ruled Jacko out as a suspect.”
“What?” Vic yelped. “I have over twenty suspects more likely than Jacko!”
Barns stared at Xavier, clearly hoping for his agreement.
Xavier sighed. “The pup’s outrage is because we are both a hundred percent certain he is innocent. However, if after speaking to the butler and Alice, you still believe him to be in your top five contenders, then by all means you should have Davy drive you into the town and find someplace there to stay. But first, you should interview those who can account for his presence during the murder. I hope you questioned Frederick somewhere in your tediously long interview.”
Vic glared at him. “I interviewed Frederick a bit until his temper sent him from the room…twice. However, I was focused on determining who might have killed Daisy, not on proving Jacko did not since I already know that.”
“But how do you know it?” Barns asked.
“Because I know him. He is one of our staff. Do you think we hire murderers of young innocent girls to work for us?”
“Well…according to their files, both Tubs and Jacko have a number of….”
Xavier cut in. “Not of young innocent girls. I am aware of each and every murder attributed to them in their files. If you pull the files on all the men they are accused of killing, you will find those men were far from innocent. More to the point, since they have come to work for me, the only people they have killed have been directly in the line of duty with my approval.”
Barns’ brow furrowed. “I don’t mean to be difficult, but under whose authority have you been ordering people’s deaths?”
“Ask your father,” Xavier snapped.
“Oh…I see. Mr. Thorn…I apologize, sir. I have overstepped. I should have understood what you meant and not pursued the matter further.”
“You are right on all accounts, but I am pleased you finally have seen the light. Had you been a run of the mill new constable, I would not have explained exactly why Jacko is not a suspect. Instead, I would have sent Stone a fiery letter questioning his training of new recruits and demanding someone with more experience.”
“Please don’t,” Barns squeaked.
“It would be unfair to Stone. He no doubt failed to give you a proper understanding of my situation because he believed your father would have done so.”
“I rarely see or speak to my father,” Barns interjected.
“Given the hours he keeps, I am not surprised. But as long as you understand now, there is no need to make any more of the matter. You will take down the testimonies of Alice, Thomas, and Frederick, then cross Jacko off your lists of suspects.”
“Yes, sir!”
Xavier looked at Vic. “So pup, I hope you have prioritized your list, because ‘over twenty’ is an unruly amount.”
Vic smiled at him, so proud he had turned Barns back to sanity. “I don’t believe the wolfman did this. In fact, I suspect he gave Daisy the puppy. However, I want Tubs to find him because if he was in the barn as Frederick claims, he most likely saw the killer.”
“So who is on your list?”
“Constable Ott, for reasons already mentioned.” She then paused and grimaced. “At this point, I cannot be more specific about the next most probable culprit until I interview all potential suspects. However, I believe it to be a young local person, probably between the ages of fourteen and twenty.”
“Male,” Barns added.
“I cannot say for certain. There are two possible motivations here. A young man kills Daisy because he realizes she loves Elwood, or a young woman kills Daisy so Elwood has to marry someone else, presumably her.”
“If Ott hadn’t run off with the body, we might be able to pare that down by half,” Xavier grumbled.
“And determine the murder weapon. That would help a great deal. Did you find anything that might rip a throat out in the barn?”
Xavier sighed. “A dirt crusted hoe, but no blood on it.”
“How about a diary from Daisy’s room?” Vic persisted.
Xavier pulled a small book from his vest and tossed it to her. “I tried to read it, but it made me nauseous.”
Vic noticed Barns’ confusion. “Young girls tend to be a silly, romantic lot.” She slipped the book into her vest. “I’ll suffer through it and type up anything useful. Hopefully, she’ll mention what boy or girl might be a candidate for a jealous rage.”
“Then shouldn’t the journal be considered evidence?” Barns asked.
“Of course,” Vic replied, confused he wouldn’t know that.
“Then shouldn’t I read it?”
“Can you type?” Vic challenged.
“No, of course not.”
“Don’t sound proud for your lack of a practical skill,” Xavier chided.
“Can you type?” Barns asked Vic.
“Yes, very well. Xavier can type tolerably well.”
Barns shook his head as if confused. “Why?”
Xavier huffed, signaling he thought it a foolish question. “Because typed letters, if properly done, are far more legible.”
“And Xavier’s handwriting is not,” Vic added.
Her partner glared at her for a moment and returned his lecture toward Barns. “When you have another person type your handwritten words, you opened a door for trouble. First, the person you hire as your typewriter might be a spy, or paid to remove a certain name from the evidence you’ve gathered. Second, they may be poorly skilled or lazy and thus the end result is mistyped or an abridged version of what you wished to be written.”
Barns eyes rounded. “Have you mentioned this to my father? He declared it a skill for the poor.”
“Your father and I had a long and somewhat heated discussion about typewriters after his fellow was arrested for being a Russian spy. Fortunately, your father purposely gives his typewriters false information to test their reliability. The moment our spies in the Russian embassy received the information, the typewriter was charged with treason.”
Vic huffed. “That wasn’t proof. The typewriter could have simply made an error, thrown a copy in the trash and began again. The spy could just have well been the cleaning lady.”
Xavier laughed aloud. “Barns, you have just witnessed Vic’s amazing intuitive powers. That is precisely what happened, only your father had to go through three typewriters before he looked further for the spy.”
Barns smiled at Xavier. “I will learn to type at once.” He then paused and looked at Vic. “How did you learn?”
“Oxford provided a class, but since you missed that, I will show you the basics. From there, it’s mostly determination and practice.” She paused. “And strong fingers. They will hurt like the devil at first.”
“But
knowing how to type doesn’t stop people from carrying away the trash and stealing information,” Barns objected.
“It does when you cease to make mistakes. And until then, toss your unwanted letters into the fireplace,” Xavier said, as the carriage came to a halt. “The point is, if the information is only handled by you, you have control of it. As soon as you hand it to someone else, you have lost control of your information.”
“Maybe I should talk to my father and make him see the need.”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Xavier said. “Just improve yourself and let him be.”
Tubs helped Vic out and walked her to the door. “You promise not to leave the house?”
She patted his giant arm. “I have a great deal to do which requires me to type on a typewriter until my fingers bleed.”
“Good…not about the bloody fingers but staying inside. And keep your gun handy, what with Ott in the basement and a murderer running about. Could be a servant in the house.”
Tubs was right about that. Maybe she could whittle her list of suspects down a bit tonight.
“Happy werewolf hunting,” she said and cheerfully entered the house. Interrogating servants sounded much better than reading a young girl’s diary.
Chapter 8
She motioned for Barns to follow her as she sought out Thomas, the butler. “We need to interview everyone in the house.”
“Why?” the old fellow asked.
She would have thought the answer obvious, but she replied as politely as she could muster after a long day. “Because we have both a murder in close proximity to this house and a missing person.”
“Thank you, I had not realized you would help in finding Elwood. Although I cannot imagine anyone here knows anything about his disappearance. If they did, they would have come to me at once.”
Unless they were the cause of his disappearance, but Vic left that unsaid.
“Shall we begin with you?” she asked.
“Me? Elwood is related to me. If I knew where he was, I’d retrieve him at once.”
“Jacko still needs to be officially cleared as a suspect in the murder,” Vic clarified.
The Darkest Days (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 6) Page 6