Deadly Treasures

by Vivian Conroy

  Or maybe not. Had Page incriminated Kramer? He had said that Kramer wasn’t done here yet. That implied he knew something about Kramer’s activities in Blackcastle. Maybe he had led the bloodhounds on this trail to make sure they didn’t go snooping somewhere else?

  Alkmene rubbed her forehead. In her prior investigations the list of suspects had gradually become shorter, but here it seemed the picture was just shifting and shifting, without anybody getting completely cleared or showing up as the number one suspect.

  She closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. She had no doubt Lady Eleanor would send the family solicitor to look after Kramer’s interests, or rather the Woolsbury interests of keeping the arrest out of the newspapers. She would no doubt be incensed that it was her driver, but she might feel better learning it could also have been her son. She’d never believe Duncan had done anything like it, but the mere mention of it in her circles would be a blow to the family name.

  In fact, it was a very good thing for the Woolsburys that Kramer was now arrested, suspected, accused.

  Alkmene chewed on her lower lip. Very good, indeed. You’d almost think somebody had tipped off the police to look in that direction. And not the local police who might not take any action, but Scotland Yard. Coones and his assistant would be keen on immediate success in this venture.

  There was a knock on her door. She went to peek out. Jake pushed the door open at once and slipped in. ‘It’s even worse than I feared,’ he whispered.

  ‘Inspector Coones of Scotland Yard is here,’ Alkmene said.

  Jake blinked. ‘You know him?’

  ‘He introduced himself to me. It seems he wants a statement about Kramer. The poor chap is under lock and key in London.’

  Jake whistled. ‘Then he will have a tough time getting out again. Coones is like a terrier. When he digs into something, he doesn’t let go. He has a terrible prejudice against people with a title and money…’

  ‘Oh, that must feel familiar,’ Alkmene interposed sweetly.

  Jake continued unperturbed, ‘So he will feel pressure already not to let Kramer off the hook because he happens to be employed by people with influence.’

  ‘If he has such a grudge against the peerage, why not arrest Duncan for the crime? That would have been much more gratifying, I imagine.’

  ‘Yes.’ Jake frowned. ‘That’s odd. If you had told me that Coones would be handling this case from here on, I would have told you that was bad news for your friend Duncan. Now Coones has Kramer and… Why? Do you think somebody from the Woolsbury circles tipped off the police, pointing to Kramer? To create a smoke screen shielding Duncan?’

  ‘Could be. But I heard him asking for Leonard Page. What if our little clerk handed in some vital information? It seems he knows much more than he is letting on. He was at the inn when the bracelet vanished; he was there when news of the death came in. He went out to the dig to see the body being carried off. He was there every single time something vital happened. He might just be curious, but he could also be…’

  ‘Our killer?’ Jake made a face. ‘He is pretty short and thin. Could he deliver a lethal blow to the head? I just heard details from the autopsy and Goodman was tall and wiry. It is assumed only a strong man could have clubbed him.’

  ‘Unless he was leaning down or squatting.’ Alkmene held his gaze. ‘There was a meeting in the open air, at night. It could have been about the treasure. You point out a spot on the ground. Somebody leans over to look closely at it. You strike. Bam! If his head is low, you don’t need as much strength.’

  Jake made a so-so gesture with his hand. ‘Not impossible, but I doubt it. I’m betting on a tall, strong man.’

  ‘Like Kramer,’ Alkmene said gloomily.

  Jake nodded. ‘Knowing Coones, he will also have impounded the car. I bet he expects to find a bloody wrench in it.’

  Alkmene scoffed. ‘Kramer would not be so stupid as to hide the murder weapon in the car he drove around in. He has had ample time to get rid of it.’

  Jake nodded. ‘Sure, but Coones has a one-track mind. He will think: driver, and then he will assume a weapon was used that drivers have easy access to, like a tool for repairing a car.’

  Alkmene frowned. ‘There would be logic to that if the fight had taken place in a garage. But you don’t go out into the fields carrying a wrench. A gun maybe, if you feel unsafe, a knife, yes, but a wrench? No. If the hammer didn’t finish Goodman off, it must have been a rock.’

  ‘No, it was not.’ Jake gave her a satisfied grin. ‘I asked about that over the phone. They did look closely at the wound and it seems it was inflicted by an object that was rounded and weighted. They doubt it could have been the hammer because the edges of that would be rather sharp.’

  Alkmene stared at him. ‘So a rock is out of the question too. It would be edgy in places and not rounded, smooth.’

  Jake nodded. ‘They’re thinking more of a club-like thing, weighted in some way. They’re still working it out. There might be traces of something left in the victim’s hair or on his clothes that can give further clues as to the murder weapon and also the spot where the killing took place. The body was indeed moved, judging by the fact it had bled so little on the place where it was found. They’re not quite sure how it was moved. If dragged, there would have been damage done to clothes and shoes, they said, and there was none. To them it proves the body was carried, but I wonder if it might have been wrapped in something and then dragged along. It might not have been moved far. Just onto the site so Duncan would be incriminated.’

  Alkmene was staring into thin air, focusing on the murder weapon. A club-like thing, and weighted. What could that be?

  And who would have it at hand? After all, if the hammer had not been grabbed at the spot, the killer might have brought his or her own weapon.

  Did that also mean the killing had been premeditated? Not an argument, not a haze in which one of the people present had lost his temper and struck out. No, a coldly planned and executed crime.

  A fake invitation to come see something important.

  The killer lying in wait.

  It changed the whole scenario. Who benefited from Goodman’s death, apart from the struggles surrounding the dig? Had somebody wanted him dead, even before he had come here? Had somebody followed him from London to commit the murder here and lead suspicion away from himself?

  That meant a whole new circle of suspects, most of whom where nothing but shadows in the margins.

  No, she had to keep looking at the picture that had emerged here in Blackcastle.

  Goodman coming over to see the dig, to find out if Duncan could really make good on his boast that his personally paid dig would deliver a spectacular find.

  Goodman getting worried it might be true. Wanting to find something first. Asking local people for information so he could outwit Duncan, or sabotage the excavation.

  Who could have provided him with the information after Miles had refused to do so any longer?

  Leonard Page was a likely candidate. Scotland Yard wanted to talk to Leonard Page in connection with Kramer’s arrest. Had the smart little clerk framed someone else for his crime?

  Another knock on the door. Alkmene started upright. ‘Who can that be?’

  Jake shrugged. ‘Duncan, Peartree, a courier with a message. Just open it up and we’ll know.’

  Alkmene opened the door a crack and peeked out.

  A woman stood in the corridor, neatly dressed with a hat on her head, a veil covering her face. She said in a low voice, ‘My name is Anderson. Would you talk to me a moment? I need your help.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alkmene stepped back, perplexed, and the veiled woman entered. As she came into the light flooding in through the large window, Alkmene saw her clothes were neat but not new, thin in places, mended several times, with great care.

  Ms Anderson’s hands had clean, well-manicured nails, but the fingers were reddish as if they had
been exposed to cold outside, or perhaps to too much hot or cold water. Did she have to earn her living doing laundry for other people?

  She spoke in her low sophisticated voice. ‘I realize it’s impolite to impose upon you, but I really have no other place to go.’

  Her voice became brittle a moment, and she had to swallow before she could go on. ‘I understand you came here a few days ago, with the Woolsbury family car?’

  ‘Indeed,’ Alkmene said. ‘Duncan Woolsbury and I are childhood friends. I spent summers with the family on their estate. As he was so busy digging here, I thought it would be a nice surprise to come see him, find out what he was up to. Unfortunately, there was this…grisly business with the murder.’

  ‘Yes, that is exactly what I’m here for.’ Ms Anderson held her head up straight and spoke in a firm tone now. ‘They’ve arrested the wrong man.’

  ‘Duncan has been released,’ Alkmene hurried to assure her. Her mind raced. Was this the woman Duncan had allegedly been seeing? Was she the reason he had come here, rather than for the Black Castle gold?

  ‘I don’t mean Mr Woolsbury,’ Ms Anderson said, ‘although I’m grateful he was released if he is innocent. I mean…Mr Kramer.’

  Again her voice had this uncertain quality as if she was about to cry.

  Alkmene said, ‘Would you like to sit down?’ She pulled some of her clothes off the chair and threw them on the bed.

  Ms Anderson sat down with a straight back, her hands in her lap.

  Jake asked, ‘You think Kramer is innocent?’

  ‘I know he is. He didn’t even know this murdered man.’

  ‘That might not be relevant.’ Alkmene kept her eyes on the woman, but the veil shadowed her face, completely hiding any telling facial expression she might catch. ‘The motive for the murder is most likely in the treasure Duncan Woolsbury and his party are looking for. If Kramer knew where it was and wanted to keep others from finding it…’

  ‘But he didn’t know where it was. I had told him not to look for it either.’ She wrung her hands. ‘I’ve been telling my father to stop about this nonsense for ages, but he was sure there was something there and it should be ours. He infected Heinrich with his talk and…’ She lowered her head a moment.

  Heinrich? Alkmene closed in a few steps. ‘You know Mr Kramer personally?’

  Ms Anderson swallowed again. She reached up and lifted the veil. Her brown eyes were red-rimmed from crying. ‘You have to save his life. He didn’t hurt that man. He wasn’t spying on the dig either. At least not in the way you think he was.’

  Jake eyed her, leaning back on his heels. ‘So Kramer was spying on the dig in some way?’

  Ms Anderson sighed. ‘It was my father’s talk. He was raving about it being unfair, our family suffering from it. Heinrich got angry because of it and said rich people always thought they were entitled to everything. He wanted to know whether…’

  Her cheeks flushed a bright red. ‘Heinrich was convinced that his master, Duncan Woolsbury, was a bit of a ladies’ man. He said that if he could prove that he was carrying on here with ladies his family would think unsuitable, the family would demand he come back home. The dig would end, and my father could try and find the treasure for us.’

  ‘You are Old Paul’s daughter!’ Alkmene exclaimed. ‘The one who left for Plymouth and…’

  ‘Came back in shame.’ The woman smiled faintly. ‘I see my father even told you, perfect strangers to our town.’

  ‘We were trying to glean information from him about the murder,’ Alkmene rushed to say. ‘We were not trying to gossip about you or anything.’

  Jake added, ‘We’re trying to find out who killed Reiner Goodman. If you believe Kramer is innocent, you can help us find out who the real killer is.’

  Ms Anderson made a gesture. ‘I don’t know very much.’ She stared at the floorboards, her brows drawing together as if she thought about something hard.

  Alkmene studied the woman’s face. ‘Your husband betrayed you, Old Paul told us. You are…alone now?’

  ‘Yes. My family never liked me falling for him. My father would not have wanted me to marry a man from another village, let alone another country. My husband’s father was Danish, you know, and the family moved here when he was fourteen. He was a sailor, but he gave it up for me. He promised me he’d make a fortune with the tourists in Plymouth. I believed him. It was so easy to believe him. He could be very charming when he wanted to have his way.’

  She smiled sadly. ‘From the start things didn’t go as planned. He couldn’t start his own business and had to work for others as a coachman. On Friday night he liked to have a drink or two. Then more. He became cruel to the children and after our second was born, a girl, I couldn’t stand it any more. He had promised me so often he would change and we would make all of our old dreams come true, but it only got worse. For the children’s sake I decided to come back here. There may not be much money, but at least there is no violence around them. And they can play outside.

  ‘Last November I heard my husband had died in an accident. The drinking affected his ability to handle the horses, you know. It seems they panicked and bolted, throwing him off the box. He hit his head. Must have been dead instantly. I was not really sorry although I felt bad for the children. They did care for their father and often asked if he would be coming back to us. I guess they were too small to remember much of the bad times and only wanted a father like other children here have.’

  She looked down at her clenched hands. ‘I knew he would never come back to us, but I didn’t say bad things about him to the children. Especially my son – he needs a man in his life.’

  ‘And Kramer provided that,’ Alkmene said in sudden understanding. ‘We saw him meet up with a little boy. We thought he was using children to spy for him when he himself was away to London.’ She slapped her flat palm against her forehead. ‘We misjudged him completely.’

  The woman smiled faintly. ‘My boy meets him in the fields, because he knows I do not like them spending time together. I don’t want Heinrich to be close to him and…give him money for presents for me.’ She swallowed. ‘I made a mistake once marrying the wrong man. I paid for that. Now I’m careful. Not that Heinrich is anything like my first husband but…’

  ‘Your family thinks he is.’ Alkmene studied her. ‘First a man who came from Denmark, now a German. Your father must not like it.’

  Ms Anderson smiled sadly. ‘He tells me day by day not to believe any fancy tales, but think of my children.’

  Jake asked, ‘How did you two meet?’

  ‘Through my boy. He was playing along a dirt road one day in spring, not paying any attention to his surroundings because he had a new kite. Running after it, he was almost hit by a car.’

  ‘Kramer,’ Alkmene understood.

  Ms Anderson nodded. ‘He insisted on seeing my boy was not hurt and taking him home. Then he saw me.’

  Her cheeks reddened again. ‘Heinrich took an immediate interest in me. He wanted to know how I had come to live with my parents again, if I was widowed, how I was coping with all of the responsibility alone. He was very kind and interested, but I was suspicious of his motives and talked very little. He came back some time later, with presents. I refused to take them. I told him that a smart city man had once courted me and it had made me very unhappy. That I wasn’t about to repeat that mistake.’

  She frowned. ‘My father acted strangely when Heinrich was around. On the one hand he kept telling me that no good could come of it. He often complained that I hadn’t learned my lesson about staying away from foreign men. On the other hand he did confide in Heinrich about our family troubles and the injustice of the rich man exploiting our land for his dig and possibly carrying off our gold. Heinrich agreed with him completely.’

  ‘And got angrier and angrier because of your father’s prodding.’ Jake rubbed his hands together. ‘Sounds like your father was using Kramer’s interest in you to turn him
against his master.’

  Ms Anderson bit her lip. ‘I suspected that my father hoped Kramer would cause trouble for Mr Woolsbury with his family and he’d have to leave. That was all that my father wanted: to be left alone. I don’t think he ever expected a real treasure to be there. He is interested in nothing but what the sea delivers to him. Her gifts as he calls it.’

  Alkmene asked, ‘But I met your mother at the cottage and she was insistent the dig should continue. She said to me it should not end.’

  Ms Anderson sighed. ‘My mother sensed that something was going on between Heinrich and me and she wanted the dig to continue so Heinrich would keep coming here to see me. But I was afraid he would only land in trouble. You see, once Heinrich had agreed to spy for the viscountess, I think he also tried to interfere with other things. I’m…scared he took away the gold bracelet so there would be nothing to show that the dig had yielded any success. He wanted it to fail. For my father’s sake so he would agree to our relationship. So in the end it was for me.’

  She bit her lip. ‘I would feel terrible if Heinrich has stolen for that reason. It is not like him to steal and he would only do it to protect people he cares for. But I know he would never kill.’

  ‘We have no way of knowing what Goodman really came for,’ Jake said. ‘He might have had some threat against Kramer that compelled him to silence him.’

  ‘No! Heinrich has done nothing wrong. You must help him. You must prove it was somebody else.’

  Ms Anderson jumped up and crossed the distance to Alkmene. She grabbed her hand and said, ‘Please. I know you’re here to help your friend and not a driver who is probably just dispensable in your eyes. But Heinrich is an innocent man about to be charged with a crime he did not commit. You have to help him.’

  ‘I certainly don’t consider him dispensable just because he is a driver,’ Alkmene said. ‘And should I ever run a risk of forgetting such a thing, Jake here will remind me of it. Everybody has a right to a proper defence. Every man has to be deemed innocent until his guilt can be proven.’