03 - Murder at Sedgwick Court

by Margaret Addison

  ‘No!’

  ‘It is true that every now and then you might be permitted to have a taste of, and indulge in, what was beyond your reach, but only at the whim of another. You must have been worried all the time that Miss Montacute would become bored of you as her companion, or would marry and your services no longer be required. And then where would you have been? You were in a very precarious position, Miss Wentmore.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that at all, Inspector,’ protested Jemima.

  ‘I haven’t finished yet, Miss Wentmore. You can have your say at the end. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Let me put this theory to you. You persuade Miss Montacute to go travelling with you abroad. It provides you with an ideal opportunity to steal her diamond necklace. Before you set off on your travels you substitute the paste necklace for the genuine one. You put the real necklace somewhere safe with a view to pawning it at a later date when you have left the employment of the Montacutes. Your intention meanwhile is to arrange for the paste necklace to be lost or stolen while you are on the Continent. For some unknown reason you do not go through with your plan while abroad, and instead decide to carry it out while you are here at Sedgwick Court.’

  ‘No!’ cried Jemima. ‘I would never have done such a thing.’

  The inspector ignored the interruption and carried on with his tale as if Jemima had not spoken.

  ‘However, there is an added complication, and that is that you fall in love with the penniless Mr Felix Thistlewaite. In a few days’ time he is due to go to work in a solicitors firm in London, while you will be returning to the Highlands of Scotland. It is hard to imagine how you could be further apart geographically. The young man is already having doubts as to whether your relationship can survive. You need to act quickly before he becomes immersed in his life in London and forgets you. No doubt you have hidden the genuine necklace somewhere in Scotland and so it is out of your reach here at Sedgwick. You need to get money now which will enable you to move to London if you are to retain Mr Thistlewaite’s affections. We have witnesses to your conversation with the young man discussing the supposedly hypothetical question of what would happen if you were to acquire a great deal of money.’

  ‘Have you?’ Jemima looked surprised.

  ‘Indeed, Miss Wentmore. In fact, two witnesses. I must say, I am relieved that you do not try to deny that such a conversation took place.’

  ‘Why would I?’ Jemima passed a hand through her hair. ‘But it is not what you think. None of it is what you think.’

  ‘Then why not tell us what it is?’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘You are not helping yourself, Miss Wentmore,’ the inspector said, looking grim.

  ‘What you are suggesting is horrid. That I somehow managed to entice Emmeline to go into the maze at dead of night to murder her? Why would I? She was my friend. And if I had decided to do something so wicked, wouldn’t it have been far easier to have gone to her room and killed her while she was sleeping? My room was next to hers, you know.’

  ‘I do know that, Miss Wentmore. Let us just suppose you did not originally plan to kill Miss Montacute. But you happened instead to hear her leave her room and were quite naturally inquisitive. It would have been very early this morning and not dead of night as you suggest. Undoubtedly you would have been curious to see what she was about. You decide to follow her to see what she is up to. You trail her to the maze and follow her inside, keeping a fair distance between you, so that you are not spotted. You witness her confrontation with Miss Brewster –’

  ‘Miss Brewster?’ cried Jemima. ‘You mean it was Vera who she was going to meet in the maze? That doesn’t make any sense at all. She would never have gone to meet her.’

  ‘It is a long story, Miss Wentmore, and one that I do not intend to go into at this time. Let us go back to our story, shall we? We know from Miss Brewster’s own lips that she did meet your friend. For our purposes here, suffice to say that you witness Miss Montacute’s confrontation with Miss Brewster and the latter’s subsequent departure. Miss Montacute is now all alone. And that is when I think the idea occurs to you to kill her. As you have already informed us, you are aware that Miss Montacute has made you a handsome bequest in her will. What better opportunity could you have to do away with her and realise your inheritance? With any luck Miss Brewster or even Dr Harrison will be blamed for the crime. And you will be free to marry Felix Thistlewaite and live a life of relative luxury. What do you say to that, Miss Wentmore?’

  Inspector Bramwell sat back in his chair and looked at Jemima, cocking a cynical eye at the young woman in front of him.

  ‘It simply didn’t happen,’ said Jemima.

  ‘And what about the candlestick?’ asked Rose. ‘Why should Miss Wentmore take such a thing with her into the maze?’

  ‘You and that damned candlestick, Miss Simpson!’ For a moment the inspector looked as if he might lose his temper and burst with exasperation. ‘For all we know Miss Wentmore may have thought about killing Miss Montacute before she set off for the maze and so took the candlestick with her.’

  ‘I didn’t,’ said Jemima. ‘I’d never been to the maze until I went there this morning with the others. You must believe me. I didn’t do it. I would never have done such a thing. I didn’t kill Emmeline.’

  Jemima’s voice had risen dangerously and become quite shrill. To Rose she seemed to hesitate on the very edge of falling to pieces completely, her aloof and reserved manner about to be utterly destroyed. But on the very brink, she appeared at the very last minute to gather all her energies and pull herself back.

  The inspector snorted. ‘Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you, miss? But as it happens, it is just one of a number of possible theories that we are investigating. You’ll be interested to know that we have another theory concerning you.’

  ‘Oh?’ Jemima looked apprehensive.

  ‘We were wondering whether you were the real Jemima Wentmore or a clever impostor. Just as we’ve been wondering whether Count Fernand is a real count.’

  If the inspector had slapped her, the effect could not have been more devastating. For one moment Jemima looked as if she might be about to slide off her chair on to the ground. Instead she chose to sink back heavily into her seat, grabbing on to the sides as if to stop herself from falling. She looked to those present as if she wished to disappear into the very fabric of the chair.

  Both Inspector Bramwell and Rose looked at Jemima with renewed interest.

  ‘What makes you say that? About me, I mean?’ Jemima said at last.

  ‘Tell me, Miss Wentmore,’ said the inspector ignoring her question. ‘Are you by any chance a jewel thief?’

  ‘What?’ cried Jemima. For a moment the woman looked completely bewildered. She took a deep breath and they could see her fighting frantically to regain her composure. ‘Why would you think me a thief?’

  ‘Not, why do we doubt you are who you say you are?’

  ‘Well, that is just ridiculous. I wasn’t going to dignify that with an answer. But of course I’m Jemima Wentmore. Who do you think I am if I’m not her, Inspector?’

  ‘I’ve just told you. A jewel thief.’

  ‘I refuse to listen to any more of this nonsense,’ said Jemima, rising from her seat. ‘You are being absurd.’

  ‘Am I? Sit down if you please, Miss Wentmore. As I said it is only one line of inquiry that we are investigating.’

  ‘You can ask me any question you like about Jemima Wentmore, Inspector,’ Jemima said, sitting down and looking indignant. ‘I think you’ll find I’ll be able to answer it to your complete satisfaction.’

  ‘I’m sure you will. You strike me as a very resourceful young woman who would take all necessary steps to ensure that you learned and played your part well. But as it happens, it won’t be necessary for me to ask you any questions, Miss Wentmore. You see we will know one way or the other in the next day or so if you are who you claim to be.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yes, indeed.
Mr Montacute is returning from his travels. As soon as his ship docks, his secretary will be bringing him here.’

  ‘To Sedgwick?’

  Rose wondered whether it was panic they could hear in Jemima’s voice. Certainly all remaining colour had drained from her face, and she was fixing Inspector Bramwell with such a stare that even he was fidgeting in his seat, unused to such unblinking scrutiny.

  ‘Yes, to Sedgwick. I think even you will admit that he of all people will know if you are really Jemima Wentmore.’

  ‘But … I … I don’t understand. He was not expected back for another week or two.’

  ‘Then either you have been misinformed, or he has changed his plans.’

  ‘Does … does he know about … Emmeline?’

  ‘Stapleton has gone to meet his ship. The secretary will break the news to him then.’

  ‘Must he? Can’t you wait until he arrives at Sedgwick to tell him? I should very much like to break the news to him myself. I don’t think you understand how devastated he will be.’

  ‘And you think the news is better coming from you than from his secretary? Why’s that, Miss Wentmore?’

  ‘Because he will want to ask me all sorts of questions about Emmeline. How she was feeling, was she happy, that sort of thing. I want to put his mind at rest. I want to tell him that she did not suffer, that –’

  ‘You cannot possibly know that, Miss Wentmore, unless you were there when she was killed,’ said the inspector, speaking very quietly.

  Jemima flinched but said nothing.

  ‘I should tell you that I find your explanation for wanting to see Mr Montacute highly wanting. It seems to me, Miss Wentmore, that you are playing some sort of a game.’

  ‘I assure you that I am not.’ Jemima said.

  ‘Ah, but I think you are. If you are not the real Miss Wentmore you would naturally want to delay Mr Montacute being informed of his daughter’s death. Perhaps you are afraid that when his secretary tells him he will say something to the effect that it is quite impossible as he has just left her alive and well in New York.’ The inspector held up his hand as Jemima made to protest. ‘On the other hand, if you are who you claim to be, perhaps you think Mr Montacute is less likely to blame you for the tragedy if you are able to break the news to him yourself, in your own way. Perhaps it has even occurred to you that in time you may be able to replace his daughter in his affections. You are a relative of Mr Montacute’s after all.’

  ‘Or perhaps I just wish to have the opportunity to break the news to him gently. Whatever you may think of me, Inspector, Mr Montacute has been very kind to me and I am very fond of him.’

  ‘Spoken with true feeling, Miss Wentmore. For the life of me, I don’t know what to make of you.’

  ‘I don’t know what to make of Jemima either,’ Rose said.

  She was speaking to Cedric over cocktails. While it had been decided not to dress for dinner, few of the guests seemed inclined to indulge in pre-dinner drinks either, preferring instead to keep to their rooms until the very last minute. Rose and Cedric were therefore alone, and were likely to be so for a few minutes more.

  ‘The inspector made quite a good case for why Jemima might have wanted to kill Emmeline, and how she went about it.’

  ‘Did he indeed? But she denied it of course, didn’t she?’

  ‘Yes, she did.’

  ‘But, from what you’ve told me, it sounds as if the inspector’s coming around to your way of thinking about her being an impostor,’ said Cedric, ‘which is good, isn’t it?’

  ‘Well, it was obvious to us all that it was a great shock to Jemima when she heard that Mr Montacute was due back from his travels.’

  ‘Well, that will clear everything up, won’t it? Poor fellow. What a homecoming. Still, if Jemima isn’t Jemima, it stands to reason that Emmeline isn’t Emmeline, so perhaps he’ll receive some welcome news after all.’

  ‘Oh, Cedric, I’m not so sure that I haven’t got it all wrong about Jemima being an impostor,’ Rose said, looking rather wistful. ‘If only the inspector had asked Jemima the one question that might have thrown some light on it. I would have asked her myself, but unfortunately I had already interrupted the inspector a few times when he was in his stride. I didn’t think he would indulge me asking another question.’

  ‘And what question was that?’

  ‘Why Jemima didn’t try to put a stop to the relationship developing between Emmeline and Theo Harrison. According to Lavinia, she watched Emmeline like a hawk and reported everything back to Mr Montacute. And he was unlikely to approve of Theo as a prospective son-in-law, was he? No matter how good a doctor Theo is, Mr Montacute would have wanted someone much grander for his daughter, don’t you think?’

  ‘Unless his only concern was her happiness. If he doted on the girl as much as everyone says he did, Emmeline needn’t have married a rich or influential husband. She had all the wealth she could possibly need. And apart from the way he’s behaved towards poor Vera, Harrison’s a pretty good sort.’

  ‘If you say so,’ said Rose, sounding far from convinced.

  ‘What did you make of Jemima’s story about the diamonds?’ asked Cedric, deciding to change the subject. ‘Sounds jolly odd to me.’

  ‘Well,’ said Rose, ‘if Jemima was speaking the truth about the necklace always having been a paste replica, it would explain why she looked so apprehensive when the count produced his jeweller’s loupe. If you remember, she didn’t join in the game.’

  ‘Although, if the inspector’s right about the count being a jewel thief, wouldn’t he have noticed that the diamonds were fake?’

  ‘Yes, he would. But he might not have said anything. If you remember, he paused before he passed judgement on them. One thing I am certain of though. Emmeline believed them to be genuine. The inspector was quite right that she wouldn’t have been able to keep quiet about them not being real. She would have found it awfully funny if the count had mistaken fake diamonds for the real thing.’

  ‘It seems to me that the inspector is accusing everyone of being a jewel thief. I’m rather surprised he hasn’t accused me of being one!’

  ‘He is rather, isn’t he?’

  ‘I say, that tampered jewellery box is all a bit of a rum go, isn’t it? Did you believe Jemima’s story about someone putting it in her room?’

  ‘I don’t quite know what to make of it,’ replied Rose truthfully. ‘Although I think I know when Jemima hid the box on the landing. It was when Lavinia and I went to get her on our way back down to the drawing room. I have no doubt Jemima was carrying it in her handbag. She seemed reluctant to leave her room at first, and then all at once she dashed over to one of the windows making some excuse about wanting to see if the maze could be seen from the house.’

  ‘Sounds rather a strange thing to do,’ agreed Cedric.

  ‘She almost upset a plant stand in the process. I think she stuffed the jewellery box either in or behind a flower pot. There was a houseplant on the stand, you see. She fiddled with it for a while. At the time I just assumed she was trying to make sure the plant was securely positioned on the plant stand after knocking it. But now I think she was trying to wipe off her fingerprints. Unfortunately for her, your sister was keen to be downstairs. She asked Jemima what she was doing so she had to hurry her task which would explain why she missed wiping off one or two of the fingerprints.’

  ‘That’s Lavinia for you,’ said Cedric. ‘Always impatient. And unfortunately she seems to have taken a bit of a dislike to poor Jemima.’

  ‘It won’t be unfortunate if Jemima turns out to be as fake as Emmeline’s diamonds. Speaking of Lavinia, I take it she is coming down for dinner. She hasn’t decided to eat by herself in her boudoir has she?’

  Cedric made a face.

  ‘I told her in no uncertain terms that I expected her to come down for dinner. I said, if nothing else, she owed it to Emmeline. I mentioned that you’d be busy interrogating the guests and that it was her task to keep the conversat
ion flowing so that they wouldn’t realise what you were doing. Hello, here’s Thistlewaite.’

  ‘I say, I hope I’m not intruding.’ Felix said affably, appearing in the doorway. ‘Aren’t the others down yet? I thought I might be late.’

  ‘What will you have, Felix? I’ll do the honours. The servants are having their dinner.’

  ‘A Sidecar, if it’s no trouble.’ Felix turned to Rose while Cedric moved away to mix the drink. ‘I developed rather a taste for the cocktail while I was in Paris. Look here, how’s Jemima bearing up? I heard you accompanied her when the police interviewed her. Jolly decent of you. She’s taken it all rather badly, I’m afraid. Not surprising of course. I just wish she’d let me speak to her. She’s keeping herself to herself, and I’m certain it’s not doing her any good. I just want her to know that I’m here for her if she needs me.’

  ‘I’m sure she already knows that,’ said Rose. ‘She’s just shaken up by everything, that’s all. Tell me, do you know if it was her idea to go to the Continent or Emmeline’s?’

  ‘Oh, Emmeline’s to be sure. Jemima was always a little nervous while we were in Florence. I don’t think she much liked going against Mr Montacute’s wishes. I think she couldn’t wait to get back to the safety of their Highland home. Emmeline on the other hand showed no sign of ever wanting to return there. No doubt she had her father wrapped around her little finger. She had no fear of being made homeless when he found out what they’d done.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘Of course I’m jolly pleased that I met Jemima and all that, but I’ve been wondering today whether she didn’t have the right idea after all, in light of what’s happened. It sounds damned ungrateful, I know, but part of me wishes Great Aunt Mabel had never treated me to a European tour. I say,’ Felix paused, a look of amusement appearing on his face, ‘Lavinia’s obviously decided to ignore the suggestion that we didn’t dress for dinner tonight!’

  Chapter Twenty-eight