William wouldn’t walk around in the dark, and both Sally and Randall had retired at the same time she had. Someone else was in the apartment.
Flora flicked off the light switch, plunging the room in deeper black than before, while she debated whether or not to press the bell for Randall, then decided against it. It would take too long by the time he responded and she had explained; as would attempting to wake Sally, whose heavy slumber was a permanent joke at home.
She crept along the hall to where the door to William’s study stood firmly closed, but as she stared at it, a ribbon of light swept across the gap between it and the floor.
‘Step away, Miss.’ Flora jumped at the fierce whisper, her heart thumping, and bounced on her toes in preparation for flight, only to exhale again in relief. Randall stood beside her in a checked woollen dressing gown and slippers, the colours reduced to various shades of sludge-grey in the low light. He held an oil lamp at shoulder height in one hand, and what looked to be a yard long window pole in the other.
‘There’s someone in the study!’ She gestured with a hand, her voice lowered and her breathing shallow.
‘I know.’ Randall placed the lamp on the floor, held the pole up and pushed the door open. ‘Stand still whoever you are,’ he yelled. ‘I have a weapon!’
Flora pressed herself against the wall, and waited, unconvinced a burglar would be intimidated by a window pole. She held her breath, but nothing happened. No startled gasp or the sound of footsteps. Only silence.
Randall stepped into the room and lowered the pole, his face reappearing at the door seconds later. ‘I think he’s gone.’
Flora picked up the lamp and followed him inside, where chaos reigned in William’s normally immaculate study. Every drawer and cupboard had been thrown wide, the desk almost invisible under a mountain of jumbled papers. More papers spilled out of the drawers and onto the floor.
‘How did he get out when we were standing in the hall?’ Flora asked.
Randall lifted the lamp, which revealed the jagged gash of a broken window. ‘He might still be on the grounds. You stay here, Miss Flora, I might be able to—’
‘No.’ Flora laid a restraining hand on his forearm. ‘Master William wouldn’t want you to put yourself in peril. If this man is whom we suspect, he has already murdered one person, he won’t baulk at another. He can only hang once.’
She tugged her dressing-gown around her and shivered again, hoping the intruder was streets away by now. Then a thought occurred to her and she skirted the desk set in the middle of the room and threw open a bottom drawer where William had put Evangeline’s letters before Crabbe had called him away. The drawer was empty. ‘Randall, you may as well telephone the police, and wake Dunne and tell him what has happened.’
By the time Randall returned, Flora was ensconced on the sofa in the sitting room, her feet tucked beneath her. Her toes were bone-white from the cold and virtually numb, but she was reluctant to pass William’s study to retrieve her slippers.
‘Neither Dunne nor the night porter heard anything.’ Randall bent to set the fire as he talked. ‘There are no signs other apartments have been broken into, but he’s reluctant to wake anyone in order to ask them. He’ll enquire in the morning.’
Flora was about to ask if Mr Crabbe’s apartment had been disturbed but thought better of it. She would find out soon enough.
‘The gate to the rear yard bears marks from what looks to be a crowbar,’ Randall went on as flame caught the crumpled newspaper that flared into life. ‘There’s broken glass in the flower bed outside Master William’s study.’
She was about to ask how long the police would be when the rattle of the front door opening was followed by the arrival of William.
‘Goodness it’s freezing outside, and not much warmer in here.’ He flung his hat onto the chair beside him. ‘What are you both doing still up?’ His puzzled look went to her then the butler and back again.
‘I take it you didn’t catch your Serbian spy?’ Flora asked, confident she already knew the answer.
‘No, we didn’t. The police had halted the meeting and brought them all in for questioning, but we couldn’t arrest any of them as they weren’t doing anything which could be described as illegal. If Victor was among them, he was careful not to give himself away. It will take weeks to check all their names and addresses.’
‘I might be able to save you a job there. Victor wasn’t at the public house. He was here.’
‘What?’ William froze. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘We had some excitement of our own while you were out.’ Flora held her hand out to the meagre flames that licked around the pile of coal and spread, driving warmth slowly into the room.
‘What sort of excitement?’ William perched on the chair arm, his knees splayed, though did not remove his overcoat. ‘And why do you think Victor was here?’
‘Because he used the meeting as a distraction to break into your study about half an hour ago.’
‘What?’ William leapt to his feet and headed back along the corridor, flicking light switches on as he went. The sound of a door opening and a muffled ‘Good God’ floated back to her.
She eased her stiff muscles and rose, reluctantly leaving the fire, and followed. She leaned against the study door frame, shivering in the cold blast that sliced through her thin nightclothes from the ruined window.
Randall crouched amongst the mess, gathering papers from the floor he attempted to arrange in neat piles on the desk.
‘Never mind that.’ William gently waved him away. ‘It can wait until the morning.’
‘It is morning, sir,’ Randall said, one brow arched. ‘Mr Dunne will be here soon to make some basic repairs to the window. Shall I make some cocoa?’
‘What?’ William said again, then frowned in confusion, taking a moment to collect himself. ‘Oh, oh, yes, Randall, that’s a capital idea.’
‘He took the letters,’ Flora said when the butler had gone. ‘I cannot tell if there’s anything else missing.’
‘Damn the letters, Flora! Are you all right? You didn’t come face to face with this intruder did you?’
‘I didn’t even see him.’ Flora moved to his side, a hand on his arm to calm his agitation. ‘He must have heard Randall and me in the hall outside your study so he broke through the window.’
‘Well that’s something. It’s annoying about the letters, but not the end of the world.’ He stared at the papers in one hand, then at those he held in the other, dropping them both onto the desk with a sigh.
‘I don’t imagine he did all this to cover up the theft of those letters.’ Flora surveyed the mess with dismay. ‘Those weren’t what he came for.’
‘I think you’re right, though it will take a while to discern what exactly is missing.’
‘Cecily and Molly,’ Flora murmured as something occurred to her. ‘When he reads them, he’ll know both women were about to expose him. Do you think they are in danger?’
‘Good point.’ William propped his hands on his hips, thinking. ‘I’ll make sure the police are aware. They don’t have the resources to protect them, but they can make their presence known in the area. Fortunately, I’ve had most of my more sensitive papers taken to my office, and there wasn’t much of interest in those letters was there?’
‘No, only some vague quasi-romantic nonsense.’ And not enough to get Evangeline killed.
‘What was Victor looking for if those letters were merely a bonus?’
‘My guess is, papers containing the names of Serbian nationals, or any document that referred to Balfour’s decision about King Peter’s government. Either that or he couldn’t find what he wanted and became desperate.’ He released a breath in a long sigh as he surveyed the devastation again. ‘I’m sorry, Flora this shouldn’t have happened.’
‘It’s not your fault.’ She sniffed, her nose made runny by the cold, the moment seemed right to venture something which had been bothering her lately. ‘William?
I wasn’t going to mention this, but I’ve had a strange feeling this last few days. I think someone has been following me. I’ve spotted him a few times. He wears a grey overcoat with his hat pulled down low so I cannot see his face properly. Do you think he might be this Victor?’
‘Ah.’ William shoved a pile of papers to one side and perched on the corner of his desk, arms folded. ‘I’m afraid I’m responsible for that. Since the body of that young woman was found, I’ve had one of my men keep an eye on you.’
‘Whatever for?’ She stared up at him as a mixture of relief and anger surged through her.
‘Your own safety, that’s what for. I knew it would be useless to order you not to poke about in the Evangeline Lange business, but we didn’t know how to dissuade you. Not in a way you would pay any attention to.’
‘We? We who?’
‘Me and Arthur Crabbe. Oh, and Bunny, naturally.’
‘What do you mean, Bunny naturally?’ She tugged her robe tighter, her arms crossed beneath her breasts. ‘Have you and my husband been conspiring against me?’
‘Conspiring? That’s somewhat melodramatic.’ He winked, which only made her angrier. ‘When the woman you saw with Crabbe was found dead, I knew you simply wouldn’t leave it at that. Other than sending you home again with no explanation, I didn’t know what to do. So I called Bunny. He agreed with me. He said packing you off home a day after you got here would only make you more suspicious. That I couldn’t stop you asking questions, but he approved of my idea to employ someone to ensure you weren’t in any danger.’
‘You and Bunny discussed what to do with me?’ That’s why he arrived unexpectedly that day and had been so sanguine about her discovery of a murder? William had been keeping him informed. At the time she had attributed his detailed questions to admiration for her detective skills, though it appeared his concern was more for herself than justice for Evangeline. The idea rankled somehow. Then she imagined the frantic telephone calls he must have exchanged with William and acknowledged she was being unreasonable. Naturally, Bunny would be worried.
‘Once or twice.’ William remained infuriatingly vague. ‘He told me you might be able to discover things I couldn’t. He was right, as it happened. The police talked to all the same people you have, at the school and The Grenadier, but you learned far more than they did.’
‘I didn’t find out that much, and most people would happily chat to me rather than answering a policeman’s questions.’ Met with what amounted to a compliment her anger didn’t last, then something else occurred to her. ‘Does Inspector Maddox know I’ve been talking to his witnesses?’
‘Hmmm.’ He waggled his hand from side to side, palm downwards. ‘He’s not exactly relaxed about your getting in the way of his investigation. It was only when I said his own enquiries had stalled that he agreed to allow you to continue. After all, no one had linked Evangeline Lange to Victor until you did.’
Flora smiled, wondering what it had cost Maddox to admit to that. ‘We still don’t know exactly what connects them. Evangeline certainly knew of Victor, but we have no idea whether or not they had actually met.’
‘That’s a good point, but right now, he’s still the main suspect. No one we know of had a reason to kill her. Maddox is still working on the robbery theory.’
‘I wish you had told me I was being, kept an eye on, as you put it.' She wanted to stay angry, but was too relieved that the man she had seen was not a threat, and that hopefully Victor wasn’t even aware of her existence.
‘I apologize. Maybe keeping it a secret wasn’t the best idea. Bunny said you wouldn’t like it.’
‘He’s right. I don’t.’ Parental and husbandly affections aside, she didn’t appreciate being treated like a wayward child.
‘Am I forgiven?’ William wrapped an arm around her, giving her shoulders a brisk rub.
‘Maybe.’ She slanted him an oblique look, just as the rattle of a tray announced Randall’s passage along the hall.
‘I’ll have to ask Inspector Maddox if he can spare a man to keep an eye on the apartment in case Victor comes back.’
‘Why would he?’ Flora frowned. ‘By the looks of your study he got what he came for.’
‘Even so, he is a murderer don’t forget. However while we await his arrival, and as no one seems inclined for bed, let’s warm ourselves with some cocoa.’ He gave the hallway a vague look. ‘Has young Sally missed all the fuss?’
‘It would take a full-blown police raid to wake her.’ Flora skirted Randall and made for the door. ‘I’ll look in on her before I have that cocoa, just in case.
She padded down the hall and peered around Sally’s door, smiling at the rhythmic snore that came from the bed.
The ring of the doorbell followed by muted male voices told her the police had arrived at last. She waited until she spotted William leading two uniformed officers into the study, then crept out again and made her way down the hall.
Shivering, she pulled her dressing gown round her and quickened her steps toward the sitting room in anticipation of some hot cocoa. Then she recalled that on their first evening, William had told her working at home was one of the attractions of the job. And yet by the look on his face when he’d walked in, he certainly hadn’t expected someone to break into his home. So why had he moved all his papers to his office?
Chapter 26
Despite her disturbed sleep, due to the fact the police didn’t leave until after two in the morning, Flora rose at her usual time and after breakfast, she gave her telephone number to the operator at the exchange and waited for the call to be put through. The butler who answered at the Richmond house informed her in imperious tones that, ‘Mrs Harrington is not at home, Madam.’
‘No, Frederick, I am Mrs Harrington. I want to speak to Master Harrington. Is he there?’ For some inexplicable reason, the Harrington butler was always referred to by his first name. Flora had once asked why this was and was told it was to differentiate him from his father who, though now retired, had also worked for the family in the past.
The sound of stentorian breathing continued down the line as the elderly butler at the other end processed her request, then went silent again for a full two minutes, before Bunny finally came onto the line.
‘Good morning, my darling, and how is your visit going? You’ve only just caught me actually, I was about to leave for the office.’
‘I was enjoying myself immensely until I became convinced I was being followed around the streets of Knightsbridge by a dangerous spy.’ Instead of an explosion of shocked surprise, an ominous silence echoed down the line. ‘I can hear your brain working from here,’ Flora went on before he answered. ‘There’s no use you denying it, either. William told me that you contrived together to have me followed.’
‘Ah, I see, well. Perhaps that wasn’t the best decision.’ Bunny’s sigh was clearly audible over a background hum. ‘His purpose was to keep you out of harm’s way since I couldn’t be there to do so myself. If you recall I also tried to bring you home, but you resisted that as well, so this was the only solution we could come up with.’
‘Very noble, but have you any idea how frightened I was?’ Flora vastly exaggerated her distress, but Bunny wasn’t to know that. ‘Especially in my condition.’ She had lowered her voice, though she doubted she would be overheard. The chilly hallway wasn’t somewhere anyone would linger from choice.
‘I am so sorry, my darling. Obviously, we should have told you. However, to be honest, we never imagined you would spot him.’
‘I don’t think you should use the word honest too freely right now. It wasn’t very straightforward of you to have discussed this with William and leave me out. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the Evangeline Lange business to you at all.’
‘It wasn’t just the murder William was worried about. At the moment he’s involved in something pertinent to the country he considers dangerous.’
‘Yes, I know, Serbian spies, which might have nothing to do with Miss La
nge’s murder.’ Though after the previous night, she didn’t believe that.
‘You were caught in the middle, Flora, and had I instructed you to return home immediately, what would you have done?’ His voice kept drifting in and out, interspersed with crackling so she had to concentrate hard to hear him.
‘Well, I—’ Flora blustered. He knew her too well.
‘Exactly. When you sniff out a mystery you’ll keep poking at it until you root out the answers.’
‘I thought you liked that about me.’ Despite herself, Flora’s lip trembled. Why was she so emotional these days?
‘I do, of course I do.’ His voice softened and she blinked back tears. ‘Though you must admit you can be stubborn too and – look, Flora. I really have to go or I shall be late for the office.’
‘I haven’t finished!’ She still had her carefully prepared lecture about deception, lack of trust and downright subterfuge to deliver.
‘I know, but I must go, I’m in court this morning. But I promise we’ll talk about this more fully when I come to fetch you in a day or so.’
‘Bunny, there was a—’
‘Now take care of yourself,’ he cut across her. ‘If you must look for some adventure, join that Women’s Suffrage organization you went to the other night. I would much prefer that to hearing you have annoyed high-ranking policemen by asking awkward questions.’
‘I’ll think about it.’ She decided that to mention the break-in now would guarantee his insistence she come home, and she had no intention of abandoning her hunt now. ‘I miss you,’ she whispered into the silent mouthpiece in her hand.
Sighing, she returned it to the hook, just as Randall let Inspector Maddox into the apartment. On seeing her, he inclined his head in a polite nod and murmured, ‘Mrs Harrington.’
‘Good morning, Inspector. Was there something you forgot to ask me last night?’ Shortly after the police arrived the previous night, Maddox had stumbled into the chaos, rumpled from his own disturbed sleep and in a belligerent mood that did not appear to have improved.
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