‘Well, Inspector. I think we should begin with the fact that the woman that we knew as Jemima Wentmore is in fact Emmeline Montacute,’ said Rose.
‘And the woman we knew as Emmeline Montacute was actually Jemima Wentmore,’ added Cedric. ‘Miss Simpson worked it all out, Inspector.’
‘Yes,’ said Rose, ‘but not until last night, or the early hours of this morning, I should say. I had my suspicions that Emmeline and Jemima were not who they professed to be. But it didn’t occur to me until a short time ago that they might just have swapped identities.’
‘And why pray should they have done that,’ asked the inspector, frowning and scratching the side of his head.
‘To explain why,’ said Rose, ‘I think we need to go back to the very beginning. I think it all started long ago with the foiled kidnapping attempt. If you remember, it was very nearly successful. I think Mr Montacute became almost obsessed with the notion that another kidnap attempt would be made on his daughter. As a consequence, he was overly protective towards her. He arranged for them to live in a heavily fortified house in Scotland, with no near neighbours, from which they rarely ventured out. And on the rare occasions that they did, Emmeline was always accompanied by a host of servants or by Mr Montacute himself. Afraid that his daughter would become lonely or bored, Mr Montacute invited a poor relation of a similar age to Emmeline to live with them and be her paid companion. He also organised a number of parties and balls at their residence, but I imagine that the only guests invited were ones that had been closely scrutinised by Mr Montacute himself.’
‘A pretty dull existence for a young girl, I’d have thought.’ said Cedric. ‘It would never have done for someone like my sister.’
‘But I’m not sure Emmeline found it dull,’ said Rose. ‘After all, it was all she had ever known. But I do think Jemima found it dreary.’
‘So am I right in thinking that when Montacute decides to go on his travels, the two women decide to do likewise?’ said the inspector, sitting back heavily in his chair.
‘Yes. They seized the opportunity. Or should I say Jemima did. She managed to persuade Emmeline, who was rather nervous and somewhat reluctant. If you remember, the fear of being kidnapped had been instilled in her from an early age. No doubt at first she refused even to contemplate it no matter how tempted she might have been. That, I think, is when Jemima came up with the suggestion that they swap identities for the duration of their travels. It made Emmeline feel that she was not taking so great a risk.’
‘But how did you know that was what they’d done?’ asked Sergeant Lane. ‘From what I can gather, they both looked and acted their parts very well.’
‘A little too well,’ said Rose. ‘I always thought Emmeline, pretending to be Jemima, looked a little too dowdy and plain. I would imagine the real Jemima would have been given a handsome dress allowance. And Jemima, pretending to be Emmeline, played her part overly enthusiastically. And a chance remark Miss Brewster made remained with me: “… look how much she is enjoying all the attention … You’d think she’d be used to it by now, wouldn’t you? Instead she behaves like a child let loose in a sweetshop.” And that was just how the girl we knew as Emmeline behaved for the very good reason that she was not used to all the attention she was receiving as an heiress, and was making the most of it while she had the opportunity to do so.’
‘It explains also,’ said Cedric, ‘why the real Emmeline did not discourage Jemima’s relationship with Theo Harrison. The doctor would have made an ideal husband for her companion.’
‘And it would also explain the magazine article about Miss Montacute being an accomplished rider, I suppose,’ admitted the inspector.
‘Yes. There were a number of other things as well,’ said Rose. ‘The real Jemima was always seeking Emmeline’s approval, which seemed rather strange to us all at the time. Once or twice both girls also almost slipped up when referring to Mr Montacute. The real Emmeline of course went to refer to him as father instead of Mr Montacute, and the real Jemima as Mr Montacute instead of father. They both corrected themselves just in time.’
‘And the diamond necklace?’ asked the inspector. ‘What about that?’
‘It was only ever a paste replica,’ said Rose. ‘Jemima wanted to take the real one on their travels but Emmeline, being by nature more cautious, decided to take the fake necklace instead.’
‘Do I take it that she omitted to tell Jemima?’ asked Cedric.
‘Yes, I think she thought Jemima wouldn’t notice and so there was no reason to tell her and spoil her enjoyment in wearing the necklace,’ said Rose. ‘I don’t for one moment think she ever imagined that the necklace would be looked at through a jeweller’s loupe.’
‘But what I don’t understand,’ said the inspector, ‘is why Miss Montacute did not reveal her true identity to us after the murder.’
‘I think I can answer that, Inspector,’ said Rose, smiling. ‘I’m afraid she was suspicious of you.’
‘What?’ thundered Inspector Bramwell. He sat forward in his chair and grabbed the desk. ‘Why should the girl not trust me?’
‘You must remember, Inspector, that Miss Montacute has always had a fear of being kidnapped. As soon as she was informed that Jemima was missing, that is what she thought had happened to her. When we discovered that Jemima had been murdered, Emmeline did not know quite what to think. Undoubtedly a part of her hoped that it was as it first appeared to be: Lavinia had killed Jemima. But then we discovered that Jemima had been dead for some hours. So a failed kidnapping attempt was still a real possibility. And rumour had it that some very prominent people, including policemen, Inspector, had been involved in the previous kidnap attempt, although of course nothing was ever proved.’
‘You mean to tell me that she thought I was involved in the kidnap and death of Miss Wentmore?’ exclaimed the inspector, his eyes watering.
‘She thought it a possibility, yes. After Jemima’s body was found she was very frightened and did not know whom to trust. She had heard that I had some experience of murder investigations and saw me greeting Sergeant Lane. It was obvious to her that we were already acquainted and that this was a policeman she might be able to trust. She was just beginning to consider confiding her true identity to the police when I informed her of something that was to her very worrying.’
‘And what was that?’ demanded the inspector.
‘I informed her that I did not know you. That I had never met you before. What was more, I told her that Inspector Deacon had been wounded and that you had been brought in to replace him.’
‘Are you saying that Miss Montacute thought Inspector Deacon being shot was in some way connected with Miss Wentmore’s murder?’ asked Sergeant Lane looking incredulous.
‘Yes … well, that is to say, I think she thought it was a possibility.’
There was rather an awkward silence that saw the inspector huffing and puffing irritably in his chair.
‘Well,’ Inspector Bramwell said at last. ‘This is all well and good, and no doubt Miss Montacute will corroborate your version of events and offer a few embellishments of her own. But it does not address the fact that we are no nearer knowing the identity of the murderer.’
‘Oh, but we are!’ cried Rose. ‘Don’t you see, Inspector? Once we had established the women’s true identities, everything else fell into place.’
‘No, I definitely don’t see,’ grumbled Inspector Bramwell. ‘Out with it, Miss Simpson. Who do you think is the murderer?’
‘Why, Felix Thistlewaite, of course.’
There was a stunned silence as the others took in the news.
‘Thistlewaite?’ said Cedric at last. ‘Are you sure about that, Rose, really? The chap seems such a good egg.’
‘I’m afraid I am.’
The inspector glared. ‘Well, I for one am far from convinced. Perhaps you will give me your reasons for believing that young Thistlewaite is our murderer.’
‘Well, Inspector. I think I shall start at
the beginning as I did before.’
‘Please do.’
‘I suppose it all began on the Continent before they all came to Sedgwick. Inspector, you have been looking for a jewel thief. The most likely person seemed to be Count Fernand, who was rather too obviously not a count. You even wondered if it might be Emmeline, when she was pretending to be Jemima. I think, however, that a successful jewel thief had to be less conspicuous.’
‘Just like Thistlewaite, in fact?’ said Cedric.
‘Yes. An affable young man on a European tour funded by a rich great aunt. He did not pretend to be wealthy or titled. Instead he went out of his way to inform anyone who would listen that he was about to start employment as an articled clerk in a London legal establishment as soon as he returned from his travels.’
‘But that wasn’t true?’ enquired Sergeant Lane.
‘No, it was all a lie, including the bit about the rich great aunt. It just provided him with a reason for being on the Continent and staying at an expensive hotel.’
‘How do you know all this, Miss Simpson?’ asked Inspector Bramwell. ‘Is it all conjecture?’
‘Well, for one thing he forgot the name of his rich great aunt. He called her both Maud and Mabel. If she had really existed and funded his travels, then surely he’d have remembered her name, wouldn’t he?’
‘One would have thought so. But I do hope that you have more than that on which to base your accusation, Miss Simpson.’ The inspector frowned.
‘Indeed, I have, Inspector. But I digress. To return to the Continent. Felix Thistlewaite was no doubt intending to ingratiate himself with either Lady Lavinia or Emmeline Montacute. But, much to his annoyance, he finds that role has been taken by Count Fernand, of whom he is highly suspicious. He settles instead for whom he believes is Jemima Wentmore, but whom we now know is the real Emmeline Montacute. From his perspective, it does not matter so very much which woman he chooses. He only requires an opportunity to discover what jewels the women have brought with them and which are the easiest to steal.’
‘But he didn’t steal any of their jewels on the Continent.’ pointed out Cedric.
‘No, he didn’t. Quite why, I’m not sure. Perhaps he didn’t have an opportunity to do so, or perhaps he thought he’d do better waiting until he came to Sedgwick. I suppose Lavinia has many valuable jewels here?’
‘Oh, a lot,’ agreed Cedric.
‘At Sedgwick, Felix’s plans go astray. After dinner one evening, as we all know, Vera makes a scene alluding to the failed kidnap attempt, which results in the count introducing his game of looking at the women’s jewels through a jeweller’s lens.’
‘Felix must have been delighted,’ said Cedric. ‘It gave him the ideal opportunity to examine both Emmeline’s and Lavinia’s jewels. We all had a turn with the lens, if you remember?’
‘I do. And Felix must have been thrilled as you say, until he discovered that Emmeline’s necklace was in fact a paste replica. I think at first he assumed that Jemima, who he believed to be Emmeline, would produce the real necklace at the end of the evening and laugh about them all being taken in by her fake necklace. But as we know she didn’t, because she believed it to be genuine.’
‘So he decided instead to concentrate his efforts on acquiring Lady Lavinia’s jewels?’ said Inspector Bramwell. He turned to address Cedric. ‘I take it your sister’s jewels are genuine, my lord?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘But,’ said Rose, ‘Lavinia had mentioned that evening that you insisted her jewels be kept locked up in your personal safe whenever she was not wearing them.’
‘Did she? I’m afraid I don’t recall.’
‘She did. So you see, Felix Thistlewaite was suddenly faced with the very real possibility that he would not have an opportunity to steal any jewels while at Sedgwick. All his meticulous planning had come to nothing.’
‘So what happened next?’ asked Sergeant Lane.
‘Well, the next evening there was talk of the maze which, as we know prompted Vera to entice Jemima, pretending to be Emmeline, to meet her there in the early hours of the following morning. It was still dark when Jemima set off for the maze. But Vera mentioned there was a full moon. If we believe that Vera did not murder Jemima, someone must have followed Jemima to the maze. Unless it was Emmeline, who might have heard Jemima leave her room, hers being next door, then that person must have been looking out of their window at the time and seen her set off.’
‘So that’s why you asked my housekeeper who occupied which room,’ said Cedric.
‘Yes. Other than Lavinia or myself, the only two other people who could have looked out of their windows and seen Jemima setting out was you, Cedric, or Felix Thistlewaite.’
‘Well, I assure you I didn’t set off after the girl,’ said Cedric, with a slight grin.
‘I never thought you did,’ said Rose. ‘But getting back to my theory, I think Felix decided to follow Jemima, who he believed to be Emmeline, because above all else he had been thinking over what to do if he was unable to steal any jewels. And the conclusion he had reached was to kidnap her and hold her for ransom. Her setting off like that gave him the ideal opportunity to carry out his plan. And it would explain something that has been bothering all of us.’
‘What?’
‘Why someone took a candlestick to the maze. Don’t you see? Felix had to act quickly in case he lost sight of Jemima. Remember, he had no idea where she was going. So he picked up the first weapon that came to hand. The knives were all locked away in the butler’s pantry, as is custom, but he remembered seeing the candlesticks on the sideboard. He dashed into the dining room, picked up one of the candlesticks, and then ran out of the house, following Jemima to the maze. But I don’t think he followed her into the maze itself.’
‘Why not?’ asked Cedric.
‘Well, for one thing he didn’t know who Jemima, pretending to be Emmeline, was going to meet. I expect he assumed it was Theo Harrison. Felix needed to wait until Jemima was alone to carry out his plan. So I think he hid at the entrance to the maze and waited for her to come out.’
‘It must have occurred to him that he might have been wasting his time,’ said Sergeant Lane. ‘For all he knew, Miss Wentmore and Dr Harrison might have walked back to the house together.’
‘But instead Vera came out alone,’ said the inspector.
‘Yes. It must have been something of a surprise to him that it was her Jemima was going to meet,’ said Rose. ‘But fortunately for him, Vera did something when she came out of the maze which enabled Felix to navigate his way to the centre. She threw away the plan of the maze she had drawn for Jemima.’
‘So what you are saying is that Thistlewaite picked up the plan and made his way to the centre of the maze where he found Jemima lost and frightened?’ said the inspector.
‘Yes. He should probably have stayed at the entrance of the maze and waited for Jemima, playing the role of Emmeline, to come out, but I imagine he was impatient. Besides Jemima, you will recall from Miss Brewster’s interview, Inspector, did not know her way back out of the maze without the plan. It would have been a long wait.’
‘What do you think happened when Felix encountered Jemima in the maze? Whatever made him decide to kill the girl?’ asked Cedric.
‘I’ve been thinking about that. I imagine he was not particularly keen on the idea of kidnapping her. But he was desperate. I have no doubt his funds were running out. To begin with I think he would have asked her about the necklace. Jemima of course would have been adamant that it was genuine. Perhaps he was persistent with his questions and she became suspicious. Whatever occurred, I think Felix informed her of his intention to kidnap her.’
‘And Jemima panicked and told him she wasn’t Emmeline?’ said the inspector.
‘Yes. If only she had kept quiet she might still have been alive today. But her fatal mistake was not just telling him who she was not, but also who she was. If she had just told him she was an impostor, Felix might
have let her go, thinking no real harm had been done. But by telling him who she was, it was obvious that the first thing she would do on reaching the house would be to warn the real Emmeline of the danger she was in. And then of course the police would have been called, and that would have been that.’
‘So he killed her to keep her quiet,’ said Cedric sadly.
‘But it’s still all conjecture, Miss Simpson,’ complained the inspector. ‘I’m not saying you’re not right, because I think you may very well be, but there is no real evidence to support your theory.’
‘What about the plan that Vera drew for Jemima?’ said Rose. ‘Of course Felix might have thrown it on to the fire as soon as he got back to his room, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it’s still in his coat pocket. He hasn’t got a valet to see to his clothes. And Vera told us she made a slight mistake when drawing the plan, so if he still has it in his possession we could prove it was the one Vera had drawn.’
Sergeant Lane charged out of the room. They could hear him calling to the constables.
‘Wait a minute,’ said Cedric. ‘Something doesn’t make sense. Felix tried to stop me from wiping the fingerprints off the candlestick.’
‘No he didn’t,’ said Rose. ‘He waited until you had wiped the candlestick of fingerprints before he made a fuss. Anyway, although Inspector Bramwell and I may disagree on this point, I imagine he wore gloves to wield the candlestick.’
‘But what about Emmeline’s jewellery box?’ asked the inspector. ‘I assume it was Thistlewaite who tampered with the lock?’
‘Yes. He did it to throw suspicion on the count. He put the box in his room, you see. But fortunately for the count he found it before it was discovered by the police.’
‘What a despicable thing to do.’ cried Cedric. ‘For all Thistlewaite knew he could have been responsible for sending an innocent man to the gallows for his crime.’
‘Not quite the affable young man he appeared to be,’ said Inspector Bramwell grimly.
03 - Murder at Sedgwick Court Page 29