by Rose Donovan
28th Oct. Burlington meet. Wet. A doe raised in Loughdown wood. Tracked her Woolton way, over rough ground, and through Parker’s spinney. Hounds lost scent at the bank of the Rye.
3rd Nov. Airesdale meet. Wet, cold. A hind had been harboured in the copse by Braisedale farm. He circled, then led us up Fieldston way, where we lost him. He was fresh put up east of Woolton and we brought him down by the fallow field. A good day’s hunting.
Repressing a sad thought for the deer, Fina focused on the handwriting. Surely it was the same as the hand on the flyleaf of the book Ruby had found in Leslie’s room. She pocketed the paper, silently thanking Ruby yet again for those miraculous pockets, and edged her way into the bathroom.
The layout was the same as Leslie’s bathroom on the lower floor; the only difference here was the brilliant azure tile. With a rapid step, she went over to the washbasin and medicine cabinet. No tooth powder. The murderer must have removed it sometime after the crime, she thought. The toothbrush was there, however. Perhaps there would be residue on the brush. With a satisfied grin of accomplishment, she inserted it in the small red clutch she carried under her arm, along with her leather notebook.
A sudden flash of motion, reflected in the mirror, made her look up. Was there someone there? Turning, she peered around the hallway. Nothing. All was serene. And yet she felt sure she hadn’t imagined it. Then, without warning, she felt a thud on the base of her skull.
24
“Feens, Fina!”
“Can you speak to us, Fina?”
“Mmmhhph…” mumbled Fina in return. She blinked up at the two concerned faces. Ruby’s hair was perfect, as usual, in contrast to Charles. Even in her stupor she could appreciate the rakish charm of his dishevelled nearly-ebony hair.
“This place is a madhouse,” said Charles, more to himself than to Ruby or Fina. “When I find the person that did this, I’ll…”
Ruby said gently, “No need for heroics, Charles. We need to get Fina comfortable and away from this scene.”
Each taking one end of Fina – Fina couldn’t help but have peculiar images of herself as a corpse when they did this – they lumbered awkwardly, but carefully down the stairs. Charles leaned against Fina’s door to open it and they soon had ensconced her in the comfortable bed. After checking her head and giving her some water, Ruby said, “We’ll leave you for now, Fina, so you can rest. I’ll be right here, reading, to make sure nothing happens.”
“I’m groggy, Ruby, but I don’t want to rest. I can’t – not with a murderer on the loose. Especially now that they seem to be coming after me,” said Fina. She looked at Charles. “Please don’t leave, either. You two are the only ones I can really trust, so let’s discuss this together.”
Ruby flashed her a warning look. Fina nodded, almost imperceptibly to let her know she understood.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” said Ruby.
Fina snorted, then winced. “Have you found out who hit me?”
“No, unfortunately. There was no one there by the time we arrived.”
“Blast! If only I’d looked up at the right moment, I’d have seen his reflection.”
“Or hers,” Charles added. “Did you find the toothbrush before you were hit on the head?” asked Charles.
Fina rubbed her head, trying to remember. “Yes, I think so.” She pointed at the clutch she had been carrying. Ruby opened it, rummaged around and shook her head.
“Did you find out anything else before you were attacked?” asked Ruby. Fina proceeded to tell them about her eavesdropping in the hallway. She left out the bit about tripping on the rug.
“That does seem to cast a new light on Julia and Sajida’s relationship,” said Charles, reddening. “I didn’t even think they had met each other before this weekend.”
“Neither did we,” said Ruby. “It is suggestive. I want to follow up this bit about the toothpaste, though, before I lose my line of thought. We can assume the method of poisoning was the same in both cases. Poison in the tooth powder or toothbrush. Most likely in the tooth powder since the murderer couldn’t know if the Granville or Leslie would rinse their toothbrush before using the powder.”
Charles said, “Usually you wet it first, so it wouldn’t be foolproof to put it on the toothbrush.”
Ruby nodded, rose and began to pace back and forth in front of Fina’s merrily crackling fire.
“So it must have been the tooth powder. This information means we have to throw everyone’s initial alibis out the window. Or,” Ruby said, looking out at the mounds of white snow glowing dimly in the dark landscape, “into the fireplace, as it were. The murderer may have planned to kill Granville in advance, but they couldn’t have known about my stain remover.”
“Do you think they just seized the opportunity when you announced it in the drawing room?” asked Fina.
“They must have,” said Ruby. “Is there another alternative?” she said, plaintively looking at Charles and Fina who returned her look as if they were puppies who had failed to please their owner.
“Oof,” said Fina, touching her head. Charles rushed over to her, helplessly trying to rearrange pillows as if that would make a difference. She appreciated the effort, however.
“Please, continue, Ruby. I’m fine.”
Ruby reached over to pat her feet gently and continued. “That means that someone must have gone to my room and then put the poison in Granville’s tooth powder between the time I returned from my room after cleaning Gayatri’s dress and then before Granville went up to bed.”
She turned to Charles. “How long do you think it would take to leave one of the ground floor rooms – the drawing room, dining room, library, study, or saloon – go to my room and then to Granville’s room? We also have to take into account the time it would take to find the poison in my room. I left it out on my dresser so it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”
Charles scratched his head. “I’d say the total round trip would take fifteen minutes at a minimum, plus the time to find the poison – as you said – and to put it in Granville’s tooth powder. That would take an additional five minutes, assuming the murderer knew exactly what they’d be doing.”
“So the murderer was absent for a minimum of twenty minutes,” said Fina. “That’s an awfully long time to be gone in the lavatory that is near the dining hall on the ground floor.”
“Yes, the absence would definitely be noticed,” said Ruby with a grin.
“I had a word with Mrs Lynn, as you asked me to,” said Charles, “and she told me Charlotte spent at least a quarter of an hour with her in the pantry after dinner, discussing the menus. So that seems to be on the level.”
“Possibly… although it seemed to me that she was gone for much longer than that,” said Ruby reflectively.
“What about the second murder?” asked Charles.
“The placing of the poison in Leslie’s bathroom must have occurred well after breakfast. Otherwise, given what we know now about Leslie, he most likely brushed his teeth before or immediately following breakfast and would have died much earlier,” said Ruby. “I think Leslie must have found out something that made the murderer nervous.”
“He had been crying and was rather broody,” said Fina. “Though I suppose we all chalked that up to the death of his lover.”
Charles’ eyes grew wide. “Do you mean… No. That can’t be.”
Oh dear, thought Fina. That may have been a bit too badly put. She pulled out the hunt report from her pocket and brandished it at Charles.
“This is Granville’s hand, is it not?” she asked. “We found a book in Leslie’s room with a rather, er, intimate inscription. In the same hand. There can be no doubt about it.”
“Lover?” Charles made an effort to rally. “I–I–well. That is certainly his hand, but… Ah. Um,” he trailed off, wiping his brow.
Blithely ignoring his shock, Ruby continued. “Let’s assume that something was said during or after breakfast that made the murderer act. I
t’s much more difficult to fix alibis for everyone because that’s such a long period of time between breakfast and his death.”
“If we focus on his movements, specifically, then we might be able to track when there were windows of opportunity. I can ask the staff to find out if we can piece this together,” said Charles in a steady voice, despite his shocked countenance.
Ruby nodded in gratitude. “That will be helpful. Thank you.” As she said this, Fina noticed that Ruby stood still. Her hands were in her pockets and she looked like a schoolmistress ready to dismiss her pupils. Fina took the hint.
“Charles, would you be so kind as to bring me some tea and toast. I think that would help me feel better. You could also interview the staff on the way back – so no rush,” said Fina, looking up at him adoringly.
“Of course, Fina,” he said gently brushing his hand against hers as he rose to leave.
25
“We’ll talk about the two of you later,” said Ruby with a laugh. “Now that he’s gone we can move on to discussing the suspects!”
Ruby pulled out her notebook and drew a neat vertical line down the middle of a page. She wrote the names of Granville and Leslie at the top of each column. “Let’s review motives for each murder. I’ll start with Leslie.”
“Why Leslie? Isn’t he the victim? Or did my head injury cause memory loss?”
“Well, if we assume Leslie committed suicide, then it’s plausible he committed the first murder. It goes like this: he kills Granville because of something having to do with their relationship – maybe Granville threatened to tell someone about it, or maybe it was jealousy. Maybe Granville was in love with someone else and Leslie killed him, felt terrible remorse, and then did himself in.”
Fina began to warm to the subject. She sat up a bit more in bed. “That’s plausible. It’s also plausible – following the same line – that Leslie was killed because Granville’s other lover discovered Leslie had done the deed – and then the other lover sought revenge. Rather sordid, though.”
“Ra-ther,” said Ruby with a grimace. “Let’s stay with this for a minute though. Mind you, I’m just talking this through aloud. What about the timing of the murders? Is there any chance Granville actually murdered Leslie rather than vice versa? What I mean is that Granville puts the poison in both tooth powders, assuming that Leslie will take it at around the same time.”
Fina sighed. “You’re ingenious, Ruby.” She stared into the fire for a moment. “I suppose it’s possible, but the timing seems off. Given what we now know about Leslie, it seems unlikely that he didn’t brush his teeth at bedtime or at breakfast.”
“It does seem unlikely. You’re right. We’ll assume some sort of love-interest complication for Leslie and that he wanted to make his suicide look like murder – either because he didn’t want the truth of their affair to come out or because he wanted to cast suspicion on someone else.”
“Who’s next on our list?” asked Fina.
Flipping the page and smoothing out a new, clean writing surface, Ruby said, “Julia. We’ve been through her difficulties with Granville already, though the conversation you overheard before you were attacked seems to indicate some sort of love triangle—”
“Love star,” said Fina with a grin.
“Quite,” said Ruby, returning the grin. “You’re rather lucid for someone with a head injury.”
Touching her head as if she had forgotten the injury – and then wincing – Fina continued. “It could have been that Julia was just comforting Sajida as a friend, but the tone definitely made it seem like more than that.”
Ruby tapped her teeth with the pencil. “Sajida could have killed one or both of them. She’s rather a mystery, you know. She’s meant to be here to revel in the atmosphere of a grand old traditional English Christmas, but every time I catch sight of her, she looks bored to tears.”
Fina had slid back under the silky covers, so she sat up a little more in bed, but her head started to swim. She nestled back further into the pillows. “What if Granville was protecting Leslie in some way, and he was killed to keep him quiet? That would be really devious. Make it appear the target is Granville when it’s really Leslie.”
“Devious indeed! I cannot see how anyone would have a reason to kill Leslie, unless it was something to do with his relationship with Granville. Still, you might have something when you say he could have been killed to keep him quiet. He certainly wasn’t the type to hold his tongue.”
“Especially after a few too many brandy-and-sodas,” Fina added, remembering her painful encounter with him the day before.
“He may have had some involvement with Lavington’s that we’re unaware of. Those papers in Edgar’s desk were hardly confidential; anyone could have seen them. And that includes Sajida and her sister. I know Gayatri told us they only came here to talk things over with Granville, but can we believe them?”
If they’re the ones who asked you to hand over the Bluegate papers, thought Fina, then I imagine you can. But she kept quiet.
“Cyril Lighton’s issue is still the same as before – the named professorship he so desperately wanted. Let’s turn to the family,” continued Ruby.
“I think you forgot Ian,” said Fina in a quiet voice, knowing it was a sore spot.
“Ian, yes. How could I forget,” said Ruby with a sardonic smile. “Well, I cannot see how Leslie’s death changes anything for him – can you?”
“No, you’re right. Let’s move on to the family now, as you suggested. I don’t know why they would have a reason to wish Leslie out of the way, either. Though there could be something about that locket that we don’t know about.”
“Yes… that locket. I hope Charles has some information about that. Speaking of Charles, I assume we can rule him out, as well as the rest of the staff?” said Ruby with a distinct twinkle in her eye.
Fina tried to appear nonchalant about the suggestion. It was no good, though, as she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. “I cannot see a motive for Charles, nor the rest of the staff.”
“No, you’re right. There could be something, but we just don’t know. If Granville had survived and come into his inheritance, then the entire house could be upended or even sold, and everyone could lose their jobs. Hardly a reason to risk hanging, though,” said Ruby. Her eyes widened in embarrassment over her faux pas. “I’m sorry – I did it again, Fina.”
“It’s perfectly natural under the circumstances,” said Fina in a steady voice, though her lips quivered. “The staff are out of it as far as I can see.”
Ruby sighed. “This feels hopeless until we can work out where everyone was and what they were doing when the deaths occurred. Nearly everyone has at least one motive, if not more. Including ourselves.”
A rather dismal silence was interrupted by the entrance of Charles with the tea and toast. “I asked Mary and the cook about their whereabouts today,” said Charles as he set the tray down carefully on the bed.
“And?” asked Ruby.
“And they said they were in the scullery all day, cleaning and preparing meals. I suppose they could be in on it together,” he said with a wink in Fina’s direction.
“Very funny, Charles,” said Fina, eyeing the toast and tea hungrily.
Ruby did not seem to see the humour in the situation. “What about yourself – and Grimston?”
“Old Grimston could have bumped off Leslie, but he has an alibi for the first murder, just like me.” Picking up on the seriousness of Ruby’s tone, Fina wondered whether Charles was being perhaps a touch too flippant about his whereabouts. No, she thought, I can trust Charles. Yes.
“Are you alright, Fina?” asked Charles with sudden concern. “You looked so far away – I’m worried about your head.”
“Oh no, Charles. Thank you. Just thinking.”
“Well, I’d better be on my way if I don’t want a thorough tongue lashing from Mrs Lynn or Grimston.”
After the door closed, Fina began to munch away happily, e
njoying the slightly sinful feeling of eating toast in bed in the early evening. “Mmm… want a slice, Ruby? It’s marvellously satisfying,” she said as she sipped the strong milky tea.
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, swiping a piece and slathering it with marmalade. “It is scrumptious. I feel almost ready to face the hordes downstairs.”
“How in heaven’s name are we going to get them all to tell us where they were when the second murder was committed? We cannot just ask them individually and expect them to confess. We have the same problem with the initial C from that bloody – sorry – locket. If someone has a middle name that begins with C they’re unlikely to reveal it. We have to devise some sort of plan for tonight,” said Fina, stopping this rant long enough to look up at the window. She sighed and continued. “Time is not on our side. The snow will stop at some point and the inevitable march of the police will begin.”
“Feens, we have to keep our wits about us. The only way to find out about the middle names of our guests is to search their rooms for identification papers of some sort—”
“—and look for the poison! I imagine, though, that the murderer disposed of the poison already,” said Fina, dejectedly.
“Not necessarily. Remember, we could have – and did – make that assumption with the first murder. But the murderer held onto it in case they needed it again. It turns out that they did – since we’re operating on the assumption of one murderer.”
They both sat silent for a few moments, sipping tea and staring into the crackling fire. A light tap came at the door. Ruby rose and let in Charles.
“Grimston has things well in hand, so I have a bit of extra time. What schemes have you two cooked up for this evening?” he said with a grin.
“We were just discussing two tasks for this evening. One is to search the guest rooms. The second is to find out everyone’s movements for the first murder, since we cannot do that effectively for the second.”