“Which brings us back to who tried to shoot you? It’s funny it should have been a crossbow – didn’t you have that one in your room for a while, Emerald?” inquired Georgie chattily.
Emerald blushed a becoming shade of magenta and said, “Yes, but that was just a project thing – I was working out draw weight and power stroke and things like that.” Then, changing the subject abruptly she informed her uncle, “Georgie is going to be studying for a masters, like me.”
“Only because I want to wear a different gown. Don’t imagine that I’m in Emerald’s league, however; she is the outstanding mathematician of our year, everyone is in awe of her – even the lecturers.”
“Yes, there was some grumbling at first about how it was against the laws of nature for anyone to be so clever and so beautiful, but then we got to know how sweet she was and forgave her,” added Lucy. “We also know all her secret addictions – like the chocolate biscuit dunking and the marmalade – so we know she’s human like us really.”
“Well I have the inside story of your early morning hot-chocolate drinking,” returned Emerald.
“Yes, but I shall take care never to be famous, just so you can’t sell the story to a hungry press.”
“We’ll just sell them the secret chocolate recipe,” said Georgie, and the girls all laughed at their private jokes.
Just then the woman whom Emerald had identified as her Director of Studies passed close by, her back to them, and Emerald hailed her,
“Dr Tallford, come and meet my uncle.” The academic turned somewhat reluctantly and allowed Emerald to introduce her. “This is my DoS, Dr Tallford. My uncle, Lord Hampton.”
Fred held out his hand: “Fred,” he said – never one to feel comfortable with a more formal title. “Good to meet you. We are all very pleased with Emerald’s achievements.”
“Yes, she is a very talented young lady,” conceded Dr Tallford in a soft voice. Rupert, watching from a few paces away, couldn’t help noticing what a singularly unattractive figure she cut. Whilst not actually ugly, her face was plain and she had what his mother had always termed “a pudding face” – pallid and slightly pudgy, although she was not overall a bulky figure. She seemed to have no single redeeming feature; even her eyes were pale and watery, her hair lank and dull. The overall effect was not helped by the shapeless black dress she wore or the flat brown sandals, nor by the slightly sour expression on her face. “It was, of course, no surprise that she has chosen to continue her studies.”
“I know that she is very much looking forward to next year,” said Fred, obviously deciding to stick to small talk. “It is a beautiful college you have here and a lovely place for peaceful study.”
“We are particularly proud of our library.” Dr Tallford continued with the platitudes. “We may not be the oldest college in Cambridge, but we have more space than some.”
“I’ll be here next year too,” chipped in Georgie, with a slight twinkle in her eye.
“I’m aware of that,” said Dr Tallford, turning her pale eyes onto the student. “I was interested to see that you achieved the grades.”
The conversation continued coolly for a few more minutes before the academic moved off.
“Old cow!” said Georgie in a hushed tone. “I knew she didn’t want me to stay on. I honestly worried that she would try and scupper my chances somehow.”
“Oh, I don’t think she’d do that,” responded Emerald. “Anyway, everyone knows what a good mathematician you are, so I don’t think that an unexpectedly low grade would pass without raising a few eyebrows.”
“Just as well,” said Georgie darkly. “She never seemed to like you much either, although you are too polite to comment on the fact.”
“I’m not sure she shows much liking for anybody,” replied Emerald evenly, “so I never took it personally. She did her job well, so I’ve no complaints.”
They continued to chat and enjoy the strawberries and cream, wandering out into the garden to eat them. After a while Rupert positioned himself confidentially beside Emerald and asked in a low tone, “What was all that about a crossbow in your room?”
“I thought you’d get round to quizzing me about that,” said Emerald with an embarrassed smile. “It was something I bought off the internet – pretty impressive object – but it really was because I was curious about the mechanics of how it worked and I experimented with it a bit. The odd thing was that when I packed up to go back to Fred’s after May Week and our post-exam wind-down, I noticed it was missing. I guess I should have reported it or asked at the Porters Lodge, but I wasn’t sure that it would go down well that I’d had the thing in the first place – and, before you ask: yes, the bolt you picked up matched the ones that came with the crossbow.”
“Who knew you had it?”
“Well, Georgie, because I discussed some of the mechanics with her and a couple of other mathmos. I did actually take it down to the copse at the edge of the Pelham sports field and fire a few shots at a tree – just to take measurements of distances the bolt travelled and stuff. James came with me then. And there were people in and out of my room who might have seen it; but only friends, because I don’t like having a lot of people in my room – my space and that sort of thing.”
“And, just out of interest – any other funny stuff happened to you?”
“Funny in what way?”
“Anything else which could be interpreted as someone trying to get at you, or anything else taken from your room?”
Emerald mused for a moment and then said, “Well, there was an incident with my bike just before finals. I was riding along Silver Street on my way to see James when I had to brake suddenly and was nearly thrown right over the handle bars – I tore my dress and scratched my arm, but no harm done. When James looked over my bicycle later he found that the nut on the back brake was loose – he just tightened it up. It didn’t occur to me that anyone would tamper with it, but I guess they could have done. They’d have to know it was mine, though, because it’s usually chained up along with dozens of others.”
“Who’s James – boyfriend?” asked Rupert with a touch of curiosity.
Emerald smiled. “Just friend and fellow mathmo. He tended to hang about with me and Georgie – and Tom too, before he degraded. We punted together a few times, and sat around in the Botanic Garden, that kind of thing. James and Tom are both from Sackville College, which does really cool formals, so I’ve been over there.”
“So Tom didn’t graduate this year – is he coming back to finish?”
“Yes, he’s pretty clever but just didn’t get himself together the last couple of terms, so he’s going to retake the year.”
“What about other things being taken from your room or any signs of any breakin?” asked Rupert.
“There never was any sign of anyone breaking in,” admitted Emerald. “I tended to leave my lock on the latch if I just popped down to the buttery or the library, so anyone could walk in.” When she saw Rupert raise an eyebrow at this lack of security she added, “That’s nothing – Georgie leaves hers on the latch all the time because she lost her keys in the first week. Anyway, we are both on the second floor and it’s pretty safe, although there isn’t really anything to stop anyone from wandering up there. As for the crossbow, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t miss it until I came to pack when I was going home to Fred’s, so I don’t know when it disappeared.”
“Is James around today?”
Emerald shook her head. “No. Even though he did the same course as Georgie and me he has already graduated – because we do it by college not by subject group. He’s gone home. Georgie is the only one who is staying in her room a bit longer; mainly because she can’t stand her stepfather and keeps her holidays short. I’m hoping to get a new room when I come back next year, but they don’t guarantee accommodation to postgrads and I may share a house with Georgie and a couple of others.”
At this point in the conversation, Laura came up with some coffee for her husband and Em
erald wandered off to say a few goodbyes.
“Fancy a walk over to the Fitzwilliam to look at the paintings?” Laura asked Rupert.
“Yes – how about you, Fred?”
“Absolutely; when Emerald can tear herself away.”
A little while later the four of them made the short walk to the museum with its imposing Neoclassical Corinthian portico which seemed almost too grand for the otherwise modest small city street. There they spent a peaceful hour before wending their separate ways, Fred and Emerald back to his lodge in the grounds of Hampton Hall and Rupert and Laura back to her ancestral home of Claresby Manor where their small daughter, Florence, had been left in the care of a close friend. The couple enjoyed a peaceful summer, which included the recently revived Claresby Fair, which was held in their extensive grounds. Fred came up for the day, but there were no mishaps to report from Emerald, who was camping with friends, and it seemed to have been decided that the incident with the crossbow was to be forgotten.
The summer passed with a fitful mix of sunshine and showers, and autumn arrived with a more promising period of settled weather. Students returning to Cambridge for the Michaelmas Term early in October included Emerald to her new ground floor room in Pelham College, her friends James and Georgie to a house shared with a couple of others, and Tom to have a second go at his final year in Sackville College. The first few weeks were quiet enough, but then a couple of things happened which had Fred Thorley picking up the phone to speak to his friend, Rupert Latimer.
“Some funny things have happened, and I am worried about Tizz,” Fred said once they had exchanged greetings.
“What things?” asked Rupert.
“Well firstly, the crossbow reappeared. Tizz is certain that it is hers and the bolts were returned too – minus the one you picked up at her graduation. Georgie found it in her bedroom one day. There are four people in her house – two postgraduates, including herself, and two Cambridge graduates who are working in casual jobs. James is doing a bit of bar work and I think the other chap does the same sort of thing – I think he is a classicist and does a bit of writing too. Anyway, there are plenty of people in and out of the place and there are no locks on the bedroom doors. Still, it would limit who could reasonably wander about the place.”
“Is the front door kept locked?”
“Mostly: or so I gather from Tizz, who is a frequent visitor. All four residents have keys – and I guess the landlord does; but apparently the front door is sometimes left on the latch when someone is expecting guests and is too lazy to answer the door.”
Rupert sighed. “I hope Emerald is keeping her door locked this year?”
“Yes she is,” replied Fred. “Unfortunately she has a ground floor room and with the weather so warm, she left one of her windows open a few times.”
“And?”
“And, when she came back after lunch today, she made a rather unpleasant discovery in her room: a dead rabbit. It was left on her pillow. She is terribly upset – far more upset than with the crossbow incident. In fact, I’m about to drive up there to see her. I wondered if you could meet me there?”
“Of course, I can be in Cambridge in under two hours, traffic permitting. I imagine it will take you a bit longer?”
“No; actually I’m at the London flat, so we could meet at the Porters Lodge at about five, if that’s all right for you?”
“That’s fine. Laura is in London with Florence anyway, so I won’t be missed and I can join her there when I’ve finished in Cambridge or vice versa.”
The two men were greeted by a visibly upset Emerald when they reached Pelham College. She insisted on making them coffee first in the buttery, and then she took them to her room. It was a typical student room with bed, desk and cupboard and a few posters on the wall. This particular room had large sash windows which looked out across some parking spaces onto the road at the front of the college.
“I didn’t move the rabbit, but I had to cover it up, poor little thing, because I couldn’t stand looking at it,” said Emerald.
Rupert removed the tea towel as Emerald averted her eyes. The rabbit was a small white Netherland Dwarf – the type sold as a pet, rather than a wild rabbit. The sight of the limp body was enough to upset the robustly matter-of-fact Rupert and he quickly covered the body again. Fred glanced once and turned away.
“We’ll take it away and get you a fresh pillow,” Fred reassured Emerald, “but I really think that you should ask about having a second floor room, or at least keep the room secure.” By this time Emerald was in tears and her uncle put an arm around her.
“It’s just such a horrible thing to do – who would do such a thing?”
“I expect the rabbit died naturally,” Rupert said comfortingly.
“No it didn’t!” responded Emerald. “Some monster cut its throat!”
Rupert was silenced, because this was quite true, although he had hoped that Emerald might have overlooked this fact as the rabbit had been dead for a while before being placed in her room and there was very little sign of blood. Nonetheless it was clearly intentionally gruesome and intended to frighten her. Emerald, however, was made of stern stuff, as she demonstrated by her next comment.
“I don’t know why someone is doing this, but I won’t let it get to me – and I refuse to move rooms!” Then, seeing her uncle’s face she added, “but I will be more careful about locking things up when I go out.”
“What about your food in the kitchen?”
“You think someone might tamper with that? Well, since I have a fridge in here, I’m quite self-contained, so that shouldn’t be a problem. But it is a bit depressing to have to worry about things like that. I’ve left a couple of packets out there, but I can get them now.” Emerald left the room and Fred turned to Rupert,
“I really do think we should tell the police some of what has happened.”
“Of course. Best to ask Emerald if that is what she wants when she comes back.”
“Have you any idea what could be going on?”
“Well,” replied Rupert slowly, “I know what the perpetrator is, I just don’t know who they are yet – it’s just a case of working it out.”
“Explain,” said Fred.
“Well, the perpetrator of the three incidents – and I include the time that someone tampered with Emerald’s bicycle brake – is obviously a Cambridge insider, not a crazed fan. They know their way around and can go in and out of students’ rooms without arousing suspicion. They have a sense of occasion – the graduation ceremony – and they obviously want to get Emerald off the scene; hopefully just by scaring her, although they are obviously malicious and callous as well as jealous, so I wouldn’t like to guarantee her safety.”
Fred was looking alarmed. “Tizz never told me about her bicycle – what happened?”
“I expect she didn’t want to worry you,” said Rupert. “Anyway, she didn’t attach any significance to the incident until I asked about it. Put simply, she nearly had an accident last term when the nut on her back brake became – or was made – loose.”
At that moment Emerald returned to the room with a few packets of food and followed by three other people. “I met Georgie, James and Tom outside,” she explained. “They were coming to see if I fancied a walk down to the river and I told them what had happened.” The three students came in, Georgie acknowledging Fred and Rupert and glancing at the tea towel on the pillow as Emerald introduced everybody.
“White rabbit, eh – that’s a classic!” exclaimed James with heartless indifference. He was a nice looking young man of middle height. His friend, Tom, was slighter with a narrow face and long nose. He stepped forward and tweaked the towel so as to expose what was underneath.
“Oh, we’ll have to get rid of that,” Tom said more practically. “Are their some bin bags in your kitchen?” Emerald nodded and she and Tom went off to find one.
“How horrible!” exclaimed Georgie. “What is going on?”
“It seems that Eme
rald has an enemy,” said Rupert. “All we need to do is to establish who and why.”
“Well, my money is on Rose Tallford,” said Georgie without demur. “She’s been positively toxic to Emerald recently.”
“Can you see her wandering in here with a dead rabbit in her handbag?” asked James, doubtfully.
“Easily!” replied Georgie. Just then the others returned and the James and Tom lifted the pillow with its grisly burden into the sack and then departed with Emerald, like a small funeral cortège, to find the outside bins. Taking advantage of their momentary absence Rupert turned to Georgie and asked,
“Can you quickly fill me in on Emerald’s relationship with the two boys – any feeling in any direction there?”
“Well, not from Emerald,” replied Georgie. “She just sees them as friends. But James is very interested – she just doesn’t seem to notice.”
The Claresby Collection: Twelve Mysteries Page 17