The Body in the Box Room

by L. A. Nisula

  “I just don’t want you to run into problems in a few months.”

  “I’ll see what Randall says. Here are the digestive powders.”

  Not very helpful if he was doing something with her money, but the best I could hope for at the moment. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about him. Inspector Wainwright is a very fair man, even if his corpse-side manner leaves something to be desired. If Randall hasn’t done anything wrong, he won’t be in any trouble.” But if he has, he won’t be able to fool Inspector Wainwright, but I didn’t say that. No point in worrying Milly needlessly.

  I left Milly to fix Randall’s powder for whatever was ailing him and brought the teapot back upstairs.

  I was outside the sitting room door when the strangeness of it all struck me. Out-of-character strange, not the normal odd that came with stumbling over a corpse. I thought about Randall’s illnesses. He certainly seemed susceptible to them. First fainting and now whatever complaint Milly was preparing a remedy for. And that struck me as odd. Randall had not seemed the type to faint at a body. It was not a particularly bloody murder, and he wasn’t empathetic enough to have fainted in shock at an unknown tragedy. That meant it wasn’t unknown. He knew the victim. I glanced down the hall. Constable Declan was still by the box-room door, but facing inside, as if listening to someone. So Inspector Wainwright was still in there. That would give me a few minutes to talk some sense into Randall. I’d probably need months for that task, but I had to at least give it a try. I glanced into the sitting room and found it empty, which really didn’t surprise me, as I doubted the Fethertons were the sort to follow orders given by Constable Declan, or Inspector Wainwright for that matter.

  I found Randall in the parlor. He had regained enough consciousness to eat two pieces of cake, so he was more than well enough to answer some questions. I put the teapot down so I wouldn’t be tempted to spill boiling water on him and got directly to the point. “Who is she?”

  “Miss Pengear, have some of this lovely cake.” He held out a plate as if it were his to offer. “It’s from a lovely little shop in...”

  “It’s from Milford’s down the street. I bought it, so don’t pretend otherwise. And don’t pretend you don’t know that woman. Inspector Wainwright may be many things, but a fool isn’t one of them. And you are not clever enough to deceive him.”

  “And you are?”

  “You know the victim. If you don’t admit it, you’ll waste time while they have to figure out who she is. That’s time for the killer to get away, or to come back for you and your mother.” I thought a threat against him would work better than appeals to his sense of justice.

  Randall stared at his cup, and I almost thought he was going to say something useful, but then the door opened and Mrs. Fetherton came in. “The inspector wants to see us all in here. He said in the sitting room, but I said Randall was all set up in here so this was better. We wouldn’t want to make him move, now would we?” Her tone implied that the question was actually “could we?”

  Randall looked ready to answer, but Milly came in before I could find out what he would have said. “Here’s your headache powder, dear. I hope it helps.”

  Randall took the mixture from her and swallowed it with a look of distaste worthy of a ten-year-old boy.

  Milly ignored the expression and sat down on the settee across from him. I took the seat beside her. Mrs. Fetherton went to the teapot and began pouring out. She was still fixing her cup when Inspector Wainwright came in. She ignored him until she had finished, and he studied his notes and acted as if he wasn’t expecting to speak with anyone at the moment.

  When everyone had settled, Inspector Wainwright began speaking without preamble. “Which of you actually found the victim?”

  Milly gave Randall the chance to answer. When he didn’t, she did. “Randall, Mr. Fetherton, and I.”

  Inspector Wainwright gave her a moment to elaborate then asked, “And how did it happen?”

  “We went into the box room, and I noticed the window was open. That seemed silly considering how cold it was in the house, so I went and closed it. Or I meant to. I tripped on the rug or something, and there she was, under the desk.”

  “But why on earth did you go to the box room?” Mrs. Fetherton asked, as if the body wouldn’t have been there if they hadn’t found it.

  “We were setting up the sitting room for our visit, and I thought there weren’t enough chairs. Look how crowded it is with all of us in here. So I suggested we find some more, and the box room seemed to be a sensible place to start looking.”

  “And Miss Pengear wasn’t with you?” I wondered if I was the only one who detected the slightly arch tone of his question.

  Apparently I was. Milly replied at once, “No, she bought the cake, so she was helping with it.”

  “I see. And the tea.”

  “Naturally,” I answered. “What’s cake without tea?”

  “Naturally. Now from this information, am I to assume that this was an unplanned visit?”

  “I hadn’t planned for it,” Mrs. Fetherton said.

  “Now, since when does a lad need to plan to see his mother, eh? Or to bring his girl and her sister over.”

  “Cousin,” Milly and I said at once, although I was surprised to hear Inspector Wainwright’s voice in the chorus correcting him as well.

  “So you have all met Mrs. Fetherton before?”

  “Obviously,” Randall answered.

  “We hadn’t,” Milly said.

  “Which is it?” Inspector Wainwright was losing patience and trying to hide it. I could sympathize.

  “Obviously, I have,” Randall clarified, earning him a glare from the inspector.

  I didn’t want to make Inspector Wainwright guess our status, considering all the trouble I was sure he’d have with Randall. “Milly and I met her for the first time today. I came along for moral support.”

  Inspector Wainwright almost sighed but caught himself. “And naturally today was the day there was a body.”

  The Feathertons both looked shocked and a bit confused by that statement. Milly and I were not.

  “Is there anyone else in the house I should take a statement from?”

  “No,” Mrs. Fetherton said.

  “There is the maid, Nora,” I pointed out. “She was sent to bed. And she didn’t actually see the body.”

  “None the less, she will have to be summoned.”

  “I tried to find her room,” Milly offered, to what purpose I wasn’t certain unless she wanted to be sent to look for it again, thereby getting herself out of the room.

  “Nonsense,” Mrs. Fetherton said, “just ring the bell for her. Randall, if you would.”

  Randall didn’t move. Inspector Wainwright stared at him for a full minute before he crossed the room and pulled the cord himself. “If that is settled, then I have a few questions about the contents of the box room. First, when was the room last used?” He looked at Mrs. Fetherton, but it took her a moment to realize she would have to answer.

  “I never go in there unless I need something that’s been stored away. Nora may have, you could ask her, but it’s been weeks since I’ve been in there.”

  “And what would you have gone in there for?”

  “I don’t remember. There’s so many odds and ends there. Possibly the drinks cabinet. I store the things I don’t drink there in case of visitors.”

  “Was anything kept in the desk?”

  “Old correspondence, I would think. I never use it.”

  I realized Inspector Wainwright was trying to figure out if there was anything worth stealing in the box room. So far, it didn’t sound like theft was the motive.

  “What is in the safes?”

  “They were my husband’s. He used to use that room as an office. I would assume they were business papers.”

  “Can you open them?”

  “I don’t have the combinations.”

  “Then I’ll get a locksmith to come by.”

  “I can see
if I can find them in my husband’s old papers. I’d hate to break into them if we don’t have to.”

  “Very well, but it will have to be soon.” Inspector Wainwright looked at his notebook again. “And who was that at the door when I was arriving?”

  Everyone looked blank, including Mrs. Fetherton. I wondered if she had forgotten there had been someone at the door, or if they had been beneath her notice. In any case, I answered, “Two men collecting for a charity.”

  “Which?” Inspector Wainwright asked.

  I shrugged. When that wasn’t enough for him, I added, “I didn’t ask. Mrs. Fetherton knew they were coming, though.”

  Inspector Wainwright turned to her, and Mrs. Fetherton nodded and began dabbing her eyes again.

  “And the name of the organization that they represent?”

  She made a dismissive sort of gesture with her hand. “Angels of something, I think.”

  “You were donating items to an organization whose name you do not know?”

  “I have it written down. I’ll find it when I look for the combinations for the safes. Will that do?”

  Inspector Wainwright didn’t look pleased, but he said, “It will have to.” Inspector Wainwright closed his notebook. “Now I’d like you to come with me into the box room and describe what you saw.”

  “Is it really necessary?” Mrs. Fetherton asked, looking rather ill at the thought of seeing the body again.

  Inspector Wainwright opened his notebook again. “At what point did you go to the box room to look in on the body?”

  “I didn’t, not after it was found.”

  “And you weren’t in the party that found it? Then you will not need to view the scene, but I want everyone to stay together, so you will accompany us.” He turned and started out of the room before anyone else could object.

  We made the short journey to the box room in a quiet single-file line that would have made any primary school monitor proud. Inspector Wainwright stopped at the box-room door and consulted his notebook. “Now, the first to discover the body was…”

  I knew he knew perfectly well it was Milly, and apparently she did too as she answered at once. “Me. I found her.”

  “Then if you would look and tell me exactly what you saw and did. Without touching anything.”

  Milly went into the room and leaned over the desk. “We were looking for chairs, so I came in like this and looked around. The only chair I could see was the one behind the desk, so I went over to see if it could be moved. I called Randall to follow me so he could pick up the chair, and then I saw her. I may have gasped, and Randall came to see what was wrong, and he leaned over to look, and he—um—was indisposed.”

  Inspector Wainwright raised an eyebrow. “And did it look like what you see now?”

  She was quiet for a few breaths then said, “I think so. I mean it feels a little off, but if your people turned the body over or something, that might be why.”

  Inspector Wainwright made a few notes then waited to see if she would remember anything else. When it was clear she wouldn’t, he said, “Very well. You may come back here, and Mr. Fetherton, if you would.”

  Randall reluctantly crossed to the desk and looked over at the corpse. He stood by the desk for a moment then glanced back at us. Inspector Wainwright raised both eyebrows and waited. Randall glanced at me. I glared back, hoping he remembered that he needed to tell the truth. Randall turned back to the desk and leaned over just far enough to see over it. “It’s Grelling,” Randall whispered.

  “Miss or Mrs.?” Inspector Wainwright asked.

  “Neither, I mean, oh my god, it’s Grelling. He’s done this.”

  “You think you know who the killer is? And why is that? What is Grelling’s connection to this woman?”

  “Oh, he doesn’t have any connection to her. He wasn’t after her. He was after me.”

  “You? Why do you say that?”

  “I owe him money. £50. It was due last week. And now he’s killed Susan over it.”

  “Susan? That is the lady’s name?”

  Randall nodded.

  “Her full name, please.”

  “Susan Hayes.”

  “Why would Grelling kill Miss Hayes over your debt?”

  “To get back at me, of course.”

  “And what was your relationship to Miss Hayes?”

  “It wasn’t really a relationship. It was simply...”

  Milly gasped and stormed out of the room.

  Inspector Wainwright looked ready to throw up his arms in disgust, only his hands were filled with his pen and notebook. He settled for scribbling in his notebook. Since whatever he had wanted to accomplish by keeping us together was spoiled, I left to follow Milly. Behind me, I could hear Mrs. Fetherton talking to Randall, but not well enough to make out the words. I paused around the bend in the staircase, but by the time they were close enough for me to hear them, they had finished whatever they were whispering about. I pulled further back into the curve of the staircase so they wouldn’t think I’d been spying and waited for them to pass. Randall did, but Mrs. Fetherton didn’t pass or take the stairs. I was trying to listen and see if I could determine where she went when I was interrupted by Inspector Wainwright’s voice coming unexpectedly from beside me.

  “She’s in the parlor having tea, not that you were listening.”

  “Not at all. You are good at sneaking, though.”

  “I will take that as a compliment. So you were not able to hear the conversation?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Merely that I assume, had you known Mr. Fetherton was going to try and convince your cousin to take him back, you would be there supervising the matter.”

  I rolled my eyes and started for the kitchen, which was the only room in the house without dead bodies or policemen that Milly knew about. Clearly Inspector Wainwright was trying to get rid of me, and he’d done a good job of it. I hurried down the stairs and arrived to hear the end of the confrontation.

  “You have to understand, Milly. It was nothing. I love you.”

  “Then why do you know this Miss Hayes?”

  “It was just a fad. She understood me like no one else did. She...”

  He was cut off abruptly when Milly’s palm made contact with his cheek before she stormed out of the room.

  Randall turned to me like he was hoping I’d explain her.

  “Wrong one.” When he didn’t understand, I added, “You said that about the wrong one.”

  He gave me the same blank look, so I rolled my eyes and followed Milly upstairs.

  Chapter 4

  INSPECTOR WAINWRIGHT MADE US wait for the coroner to arrive, then the fingerprint man to take our fingerprints for comparison, which was followed by a great deal of fuss getting the ink off of everyone’s hands and everything Randall had touched without thinking. In the end, I didn’t make it back to Paddington Street until the next morning, and not in a good mood. Randall had offered to pay for a cab for Milly—not for me, I noticed—but I ended up paying for both of us when the driver refused Randall’s money, saying it was counterfeit, and Milly realized she hadn’t put any money in her handbag. I suspected both of being ploys to get someone else to pay, although not against me personally, although it ended up that way. Mrs. Albright must have heard me as I came through the entryway; at least, she came out of her flat to see who was there. “How did the meeting go?”

  “The usual when Milly’s gentlemen friends are involved. The mother didn’t know we were coming, they got into a fight, then Milly found a dead body in the office-turned-box room. Oh, and Inspector Wainwright was assigned the case.”

  “I made an almond cake yesterday. I’ll bring some up.”

  Mrs. Albright made excellent cakes, so I was quite happy to accept and put the kettle on in my flat while I waited for her. We were just settling down to our tea when the bell on the pneumatic tube rang. I went to see who was calling on me at the most inopportune time. “It’s Milly’s Randall.” I drop
ped the card on the table and left the tube beside it. I’d put it back when he was gone since I had no intention of sending the latchkey down for him.

  “Are we ignoring him, then?”

  “It seems best if I wish to preserve my sanity.”

  Mrs. Albright cut two large slices of the cake, and we ignored the next five rings of the buzzer.

  But Randall was not one to take a hint. No sooner had we started on our cake than there was the rapping of stones hitting the windowpane. Mrs. Albright put her fork down and marched over to the window. She threw up the sash and leaned out to yell, “If you break this window, you’re paying for it. Now, go about your business.”

  “Isn’t that Miss Pengear’s flat?”

  “Why do you want to know that?”

  “I need to talk to her. Milly’s been arrested.”

  I groaned. “I’d best go talk to him.”

  Mrs. Albright shut the window. “Would you like to use my flat instead of inviting him up here?”

  I shook my head. I had the feeling Randall would be hard to extract no matter where we met. “I’ll take him to the gardens; we can walk there, and I can abandon him when I’m done.”

  When I got to the street door, Randall was pacing back and forth in front of the building, interfering with the foot traffic and earning glares from anyone who passed. He seemed oblivious to both. He also did not notice me come out of the building until I grabbed his arm and steered him towards the Paddington Street Gardens.

  “Miss Pengear? I didn’t know if you’d... Um, where are we going?”

  “Someplace we can take a respectable walk, and you can tell me what you’ve gotten my cousin into.”

  “I didn’t get her into... I mean, how could I know? I mean, Miss Hayes wasn’t supposed to be there.”

  “Of course not, but she was, much to her and apparently my cousin’s misfortune. Here we are.” I got Randal across the street and into the park, which was much smaller than Regent’s Park but closer and quiet, and with enough people to be a respectable place to walk.

  “Isn’t this a cemetery?”

  Good, if he was disconcerted by the gardens’ former purpose, he’d be easier to get rid of. “Used to be. Come along.” I started down the nearest path and waited for Randal to fall into step beside me. When he was close enough that we could speak normally, I asked, “Now tell me about Milly’s arrest.”