by Rose Donovan
Everyone sat with their feet planted firmly on the floor. It looked as if they were waiting for the impact of a runaway train, she thought.
Ruby took a sip of her tea, placed it on the mantel and then pursed her lips. Her voice was quite soft at first, like a floating feather, falling to the ground. “Thank you all for agreeing to be here together. I know it appears frightfully melodramatic, but discussing murder demands this type of collective attention.”
Cyril snarled, “Fancy yourself a detective as well as a fashion designer, Miss Dove?”
“Watch your tone, sir,” said Ian half rising out of his seat. “Do you have any better ideas?”
Cyril shot back, “That’s what I thought the police were for, my dear fellow.”
Ian snorted and muttered under his breath, “Police.”
Everyone began to shift in their seats.
Lady Snittlegarth put out a calming hand toward the middle of the room. They all fell quiet. Fina was impressed again by the alternating slightly-batty yet iron maiden persona of the Countess.
“Thank you, Countess,” said Ruby, smoothing her dress. “I will spend time exploring what Fina, Charles and I have found with regards to these murders. I’m sure we’d all rather clear this up before the police arrive.”
Putting it this way, Ruby’s words had a pacifying effect on the crowd. Shoulders visibly softened, and clenched hands relaxed.
“Let us begin with the purpose of this weekend. Fina and I were invited both as guests, but also as dress designers for our clients, Lady Charlotte and Julia Aston,” Ruby said, looking at the two women who nodded their agreement. “Perhaps we can briefly review the other reasons you all had for your invitation to join the weekend at Pauncefort.”
Cyril sat to Fina’s right, so he began his explanation. “I was invited by my student and mentee, Edgar. We know one another through Oxford. As I explained previously, he has been supporting the initiation of a professorship, funded by the Sykes-Duckworth family. I would be a beneficiary of that bequest.”
Gayatri stopped moving her index finger rhythmically on her nose – lost in thought, Fina noticed. Lightly putting her arm on her sister’s shoulder, she said, “As I explained to Fina the first night, I know Granville and Edgar as acquaintances at Oxford. Sajida has been staying with me on her visit to England, so I asked permission to bring her along with me. It was meant to be her first experience of a real English Yuletide festival… but…” Her voice trailed off.
Ruby interjected, “You also had met Ian before this weekend, correct?”
Gayatri gave a somewhat shy, gentle nod.
Julia leaned forward in her chair, looking straight at Ruby. “I’m not exactly sure who issued the invitation, sweetie… in my crowd, it is just something that happens. Granville, Leslie and I did cross paths – as one does – a few times. I think Ian suggested I come down this weekend.”
Ian gently rubbed his hands on his thighs. “Did I, darling? I must have…” he said in a rather unconvincing manner, thought Fina.
“I think we shall return to that inconsistency later, Julia, when we discus motives for these murders,” said Ruby, in a matter-of-fact tone.
Julia gave a tight smile and eased back into the sofa.
“I was invited by Granville to discuss the funding of my productions,” said Ian, defiant. “I also met Leslie one or two times – probably at Ciro’s Club in London.”
“And as for Mr Dashwood, we know that he was a… very… close friend of Granville’s, correct, Charlotte and Edgar?” asked Ruby.
“Yes, that’s correct,” said Charlotte. “Leslie often motored down for the weekend with Granville.” There was no trace of irony in her voice, Fina noticed. How odd: hadn’t she had suspicions about their relationship?
“Fine,” said Ruby. “We obviously do not need to establish the reasons for the family to be at their own home for the weekend. Let us proceed to a recounting of the crimes.”
“Must we go through this all again, Miss Dove?” asked Edgar. He rubbed the back of his head where he had been hit.
Ignoring the interruption, Ruby continued. “On Friday evening, sometime after I announced the existence of a deadly poison in my possession – or I should say in my room – someone purloined that poison from my room. Though we initially thought Granville’s brandy snifter or his hot cocoa must have been laced with the poison, we now know that was not the case. The murderer crept up to my room, pilfered the poison and then inserted the poison in Granville’s tooth powder container. We can assume the poisoner did not know a great deal about the effects of oxalic acid. That is why they emptied most of the tooth powder to ensure the full and immediate effect of the poison.”
Taken aback, Fina had to work to keep her surprise from showing on her face. They had never found the tooth powder container. How did Ruby know? Was she bluffing?
Charlotte interjected, “But Granville was fastidious about everything – particularly his personal hygiene. Wouldn’t he have noticed that the tooth powder container was nearly empty?”
Gayatri answered, “Yes, but remember he was quite inebriated. He probably wouldn’t have noticed.”
“I agree,” said Ruby. “With the little re-enactment we had last night, we established that nearly everyone had the opportunity to slip up to my room and Granville’s bathroom to set the stage for the murder. Granville was the last one to retire for the night. He must have brushed his teeth and then retired to bed – where he died.”
“Just a moment, m’dear,” said the Earl. Ruby flashed a look of annoyance at the term. Fina noticed that he was oblivious or indifferent to her facial response. “How do you know that he was the last one to retire for the night? What were you doing up and about?” He looked triumphant, as if he had just cornered his quarry and was now ready to pounce.
Not missing a beat, Ruby responded, “Fina and I were in the library looking for books to read. We were both unable to sleep.”
Fina nodded as proof to support her friend’s assertion, but noticed by the expressions on the faces of the assembled guests that they were unconvinced by this explanation.
“Next, we come to the murder of Leslie Dashwood. Unlike Granville, Mr Dashwood was found face down on the floor of his bedroom, facing away from the entrance to his bathroom. We discovered two items of interest in that crime. First was the discovery of the method of delivering the poison in both murders – the tooth powder. Leslie had obviously just come from the bathroom before he died, so we checked to see if there were traces of oxalic acid on the toothbrush. There were. Accordingly, Fina went to Granville’s bathroom to see if she could find the same evidence for his murder. As we all know, she was assaulted when she tried to do this. I think it is safe to assume that she was getting too close to the truth for our murderer.”
Fina said, “I also heard a conversation between Julia and Sajida before I was coshed on the head. Though I’m a little fuzzy about the conversation, I do remember hearing Julia say, ‘I can’t believe he’s gone…’ then Sajida’s voice said in a hush, ‘Yes, he won’t bother us any more’.”
A collective gasp went around the room. All eyes turned to Julia and Sajida. Both looked defiant. Sajida said, “I cannot see what this private conversation has to do with the murder.”
Fina replied, feeling the anger rise up from her stomach, “Well, it does seem to suggest you had a good reason for wishing Leslie out of the way. Besides, how do we know you didn’t hit me on the head when you realized I’d heard your conversation?”
Sajida’s defiant look melted away. Julia responded by taking up the task of response. In marked contrast to her usual bombast, Julia nearly whispered, “You see, Leslie Dashwood was simply a horrid man. Sajida and I met at a party and became fast friends. We bonded, initially, over our stories of Leslie’s… behaviour.” Julia faltered.
Fina gave an involuntary shudder. She could feel what was coming.
Sajida continued, the spoiled princess act – if it were an act – now va
nished. “Leslie Dashwood was a fiend. A fiend of the worst type. One who preys on women. Assault. That is the best word for it in polite company. Julia and I did come to Pauncefort with the intention to take our revenge.”
Gayatri’s mouth opened as wide as one of the Countess’ ornamental fish. Looking at her sister, Sajida continued, “Yes, my sister did not know what had happened to us – or about our thirst for revenge. But you must believe us that we came only with our anger and injury. We did not have a plan, and certainly did not commit either of the murders. The conversation you heard, Fina, was about how our problem – if you will – had been solved. We never would hurt anyone – not physically, at least.”
36
It was so silent they all could hear the faint wheeze of the Earl’s breath. Then Fina sensed a shift of energy in the room. There was an air of prurient – no, salacious – interest that hung in the ether.
Ruby said, “That seems plausible, and from what we know of Leslie’s behaviour, it certainly seems in keeping with his character. I must say I had no idea it went that far, however. Let us leave this aside for a moment and continue on with the recounting of events. We know that anyone in the house could have committed the second murder. During the course of the day, anyone could have entered Leslie’s bathroom and inserted the poison in the tooth powder or the toothbrush. Remember, we did not know at this point that the method of delivering the poison was through the tooth powder, so Leslie would have had no reason to be wary of brushing his teeth.”
Then Ruby pulled the locket and broken chain out of her blue clutch on the mantel. “We have one other item relevant to the murders,” she said, holding it aloft so everyone could see.
Charles chimed in. “Miss Badarur and I found that locket with the broken chain on Leslie’s body after the murder was committed.”
“The locket is empty, but it is engraved, as you can see,” Ruby said, pointing to the centre of the locket, “with a large letter C.” She then passed the necklace to Charles who proceeded to hand it around the group.
“Shouldn’t we have left it alone for fingerprinting by the police?” asked the Earl.
“Yes, we thought of that, but when Charles removed the locket from the pocket of Leslie’s dinner jacket, he had already placed his hand around it, thus removing the possibility of useful fingerprints… Beyond that,” said Ruby in a low voice, “I hope we won’t need to rely on the police for a confession.” She hurried on before anyone could object to her statement. “As this appears to be a woman’s necklace, we assumed that the C must refer to the initials of a woman. Though having a name that begins with the letter C is hardly damning evidence, it is suggestive.”
“So, out with it, Ruby,” said Cyril impatiently.
Ignoring him, she continued. “Besides the obvious Lady Charlotte, the Countess’ middle name is Christine and Julia’s is Cicely.”
“So what?” said Julia. “It doesn’t prove a bloody thing, sweetie.”
Ruby nodded. “As I said, it is merely suggestive. It is peculiar that Leslie would have this in his dinner jacket pocket. It may be completely unrelated, nevertheless it is an important clue to consider.” She cleared her throat and continued. “So far, we have two murders and one physical assault on my dear friend, Fina. Next, we come to the re-enactment. Edgar suffered a concussion to the head—”
“I did not suffer a concussion, Miss Dove. Someone hit me on the head with murderous intent,” said Edgar in a burst of anger.
“Quite right. This assault was rather convenient – and I use that word in a purposeful manner – in that it allowed us to narrow down the list of suspects. When I thought back to the wide-open field of opportunity for committing these crimes, I thought this attack on you to be most intriguing. The other crimes were committed so that suspicion was cast on everyone. I thought this was quite ingenious from the murderer’s perspective. We often read about so-and-so having been framed for a crime. That seems to be often the case – the murderer tries to frame a particular individual for a crime.”
“But that is a risky strategy,” said Fina.
“Exactly, Fina,” said Ruby. “It is much easier to hide in a crowd than point the finger at someone, because so often it is easier to trace who is instigating the finger pointing. No, it is ingenious precisely because everyone is suspected, and therefore no one can be responsible! That is why this attack on Edgar struck me as odd. It seemed a deliberate attempt to narrow the field of suspects to just a few people: Cyril, Charlotte and Julia.”
Ian interjected, “Are you saying that the attack on Edgar was unrelated? Or not committed by the murderer? Does that mean we have two mad people plus this apparent mystery green man?”
“Ah yes, the madman. I will come to that in a moment. As for the attack on Edgar, I do believe it is connected to the murder, but was not committed by the murderer themselves.”
“Do you mean an accomplice?” spluttered the Earl.
“Perhaps. But I’m thinking more along the line of someone who wants to protect the murderer,” replied Ruby.
The Earl stared at her, dumbfounded. “I confess I am becoming more confused than enlightened, Miss Dove.”
Ruby smiled. “I know. I want to lay out all the possibilities so we can arrive at a crystal clear conclusion. Now, let’s assume for the moment that the attack on Edgar was committed to narrow the list of suspects. We have yet another diversionary attempt with the citing of this supposed madman on the loose in Pauncefort Hall.”
Lady Charlotte and the Countess began to speak at once. Charlotte let her aunt proceed. “But Charlotte saw the madman, and I have evidence that he tried to get into my room!” the Countess shrieked.
“I understand, Lady Snittlegarth, but that was a ruse as well,” Ruby said in a calm and steady voice. “Both the attack on Edgar and the sighting of the rather convenient madman were diversions from the murders. However, let’s return to these events later – otherwise we’ll be distracted from the truth of this affair itself. Let’s review the reasons why the murders might have been committed. Fina, would you be so good as to help me with this portion? I should say at the outset that we’ll come to our own reasons at the end. Don’t worry, I shall leave out nothing.” She motioned to Fina.
Fina cleared her throat and pulled out her notebook. Reading aloud in a rather wooden tone to begin, she soon found her rhythm. “Cyril Lighton. Professor at Oxford. Friend and mentor to Edgar. Leftist political beliefs. In line to be the recipient of prestigious new professorship endowed by Granville. Granville, an active Fascist, threatened to withdraw funds for the professorship once he found out someone holding leftist political beliefs would be the recipient of the professorship. Political beliefs alone could have been the motive, but I think we all agree that is a little weak. But certainly people have killed for less than a prestigious named professorship at Oxford. Cyril is one of the few people who could conceivably have committed all of the crimes – including the somewhat dubious assault against Edgar—”
Cyril’s face screwed up in a little red clutch of skin. “We’ve been through all this before. Nothing new here.”
“Yes, that’s true, Professor Lighton, but that doesn’t change the facts,” said Ruby. She turned her head away from Cyril to indicate the transition to the next suspect.
Fina continued. “Ian Clavering. Successful producer. Invited by Granville to discuss prospects of funding productions. Ian knew Granville was set to come into a great deal of money, so he was priming him for this venture. Ian also has a relationship with Julia, so he may have sought revenge on her behalf.”
Ian said coolly, “Though chivalry isn’t dead, I would never commit that type of murder. My motive would have to be much stronger.”
“Yes, indeed, Ian,” said Ruby, almost faltering.
Fina continued. “Next we have Gayatri Badarur. Student of medicine at Oxford. Her younger sister, Sajida, is visiting from India. Both sisters had the chance to commit the crime, assuming the assault on Edgar was a
separate incident. Sajida wished to take revenge on Leslie Dashwood – we do not know if Gayatri knew or did not know about Leslie’s crimes – we only have her verbal assurances of this. If they were in it together, perhaps even with Julia, then this could become a three-person crime.
“In any case, there’s also the matter of Lavington’s plantation holdings in Assam. We discovered this connection after finding a report in Edgar’s room that related to Dulcet & Sons. They have plantations in Assam, an area presided over by the Badarurs, which Lavington’s have their eye on. It would be an evil day for Nowgong if the purchase of those plantations went through, and I believe Edgar – and the Badarur sisters – were well aware of that.”
“Good God – have you been searching our rooms?” the Earl interjected.
“All will be explained in due course, Lord Snittlegarth. Please let’s continue on this thread at the moment.”
Looking somewhat mollified, the Earl sat back and waved his hand to continue.
“Thank you, Fina and Ruby. I will explain it myself, if you don’t mind,” said Gayatri, sitting fully erect with her hands placed delicately in her lap. Fina nodded her assent.
Gayatri proceeded to recount the same story she had shared with Ruby and Fina earlier in the library.
In wrapping up her explanation, she said, “However, as I explained to Fina and Ruby when they questioned us earlier about this, we did not come here this weekend seeking revenge – at least not for this reason,” Gayatri said, looking pointedly at her sister. “Moreover, neither my sister nor I have the physical urge to violence. If we did actually feel that inclination, I assure you we have enough connections that we could hire someone to carry out an assassination, if necessary.”
Fina happened to glance over at Charles, whose face indicated he found this assertion plausible. Scanning the rest of the room, Fina could see that most of the company appeared to be placated by this explanation.