03 - Murder at Sedgwick Court (13 page)

‘Who’s to
say I won’t?’ retorted Felix, amicably, although he appeared satisfied with
Cedric’s explanation. ‘But I say, old chap, I know it’s frightfully rotten for you
and all that, but I mean to say, isn’t this searching business an awful waste
of time?’ He averted his gaze so that he was looking up at the sky rather than
at Cedric. ‘What I am trying to say is, we already know who the murderer is,
don’t we?’

As Felix
had predicted, the search of the rest of the maze proved fruitless. There was
no one crouching behind the hedge on any of the more obscure paths. The two men
made their way back to the entrance to the maze where they met up with the
others. Felix at once went over to Jemima but she withdrew from him. It was
clear to all from both her manner and posture that she wished to be alone.

Cedric,
leaving one of the estate servants to stand guard at the entrance to the maze
with strict instructions not to admit anyone, headed the party back to the
house. It was a mournful procession that returned. Barely a word was spoken
between them as each was lost in their own thoughts, trying to come to terms
with what had happened as best they could. Notwithstanding their sorrowful
state, they walked at a fair pace as if to put as much distance as possible between
themselves and the scene of violent death.

It was
not long before the remnants of the search party made out the two young women in
the distance making their own slow progress to the house. They were there to witness
both Rose discharging Lavinia to Eliza’s care, and Vera’s sudden appearance. And
although they could not hear what she was saying, they saw clearly that the
woman was in an agitated state as she tore desperately at Rose’s sleeve. The
look of horror on her face was not lost on them, the way her mouth fell open
and she slowly released Rose’s arm. As they looked on she balanced precariously
on the edge of consciousness, before tottering and falling in a crumpled heap
at Rose’s feet.  

‘How
is she?’ Cedric demanded, as soon as Rose joined the others in the drawing
room. More quietly he said: ‘Did she say anything?’

‘Your
sister’s still in shock, as you’d expect,’ Rose answered wearily, sitting down
on one of the Queen Anne chairs, and suddenly feeling very tired. ‘Her lady’s
maid is with her now. But I think she will be all right.’

‘But did
she say why she did it?’ Felix asked, interrupting their conversation.

The
intrusion was unwelcome. Cedric glared at Felix and Rose averted her gaze to
stare at the carpet miserably. 

‘I mean
to say, it’s awful and all that to ask,’ persisted Felix, apparently undeterred
by his reception, ‘but the police will want to know. Personally I always
thought that Lavinia and Emmeline got on like a house on fire. It just goes to show
how wrong one can be.’

‘Thistlewaite!’

Cedric
leapt towards the man and Rose thought there was a real possibility that he was
going to strike him. The count was obviously of the same opinion and moved
surprisingly quickly to intervene. His dark, physical presence between them was
effective in holding the two men apart. And although Cedric continued to glower
fiercely at Felix, he made no move to push Count Fernand aside. Even so, Felix
backed away a step or two, obviously frightened by the reaction his words had
caused.

‘Everyone
is very upset, I think,’ said Count Fernand soothingly, in his heavily accented
English. ‘What has happened is most tragic. We say things without thinking,
just as they come into our heads. We need to think a little bit before we speak,
I think, do we not?’

Rose did
not know what to think. Part of her admired Felix for being so resolutely
determined to find out what had happened however unpleasant the truth might
prove to be. But another part of her felt only that he was goading Cedric, even
if it were unintentional, and she wished he would leave well alone. There would
be time enough later for accusations and incriminations when the police arrived.
Most of all she wanted time alone to consider what Cedric, normally so upright
and law-abiding, had done, and the part she herself had played. She thought of
Lavinia’s blood-smeared coat, which now no doubt was freshly washed and drying
in front of the fire in the servants’ hall. She stifled a sob in her throat.
What had they done?

‘Lavinia
didn’t do it, or at least she says she didn’t,’ Rose said at last.

But even
as she spoke it suddenly occurred to her that Lavinia had said no such thing. Admittedly
Lavinia had been very worried that everyone would think she had killed Emmeline,
but she had not actually denied doing the deed. Rose went over their
conversation quickly in her head. Lavinia had been afraid that Rose thought her
guilty and wanted her reassurance that she believed her innocent. If she really
had something to hide, would she have been so persistent? And more importantly,
thought Rose, warming to the idea, would Lavinia really have waited for them to
find her standing over Emmeline and holding in her hand what they all believed
to be the murder weapon? How easy it would have been for her to have fled the
maze instead or, if there had not been sufficient time to do so, to hide in
another part away from the main path until the coast was clear.

‘Well, of
course she didn’t do it,’ Cedric said with conviction. ‘That goes without saying.’

Even so, the
young earl looked relieved by Rose’s words. She studied his face closely and fancied
she saw signs of something else, or perhaps it was just that she wanted so much
to see another emotion etched on his face for all to see. She wanted him to
feel a sense of guilt for what he had done, tampering with the evidence. Now
that Lavinia was not standing before him, a bloodied candlestick in her hand,
did he bitterly regret the rashness of his actions in his futile attempt to
protect her?

‘If you
were so very sure of your sister’s innocence,’ said Felix quietly, from the
relative safety of the other side of the room, ‘why did you wipe off any
fingerprints that there might have been on that candlestick, and insist that
Lavinia leave the scene and be cleaned up? It seems to me that you thought she
was guilty like the rest of us. Only, unlike us, you decided to do something
about it. I think you’ll find that the police will take a pretty dim view of
your actions, messing about with the evidence and all that.’ A sudden thought
struck him. ‘I say, I take it you have telephoned the police, or at the very
least instructed your butler to do so?’

What
might have resulted in an uncomfortable silence with Cedric finally being
obliged to admit that the police had yet to be summoned, was prevented by Theo
entering into the proceedings. Up to then, the doctor had been sitting so
quietly in the corner, his head buried in his arms and uttering not a word to
anyone, that his presence in the room had been all but forgotten. 

‘Be quiet
you two, damn it,’ Theo snapped.

The
doctor had not spoken loudly, but there had been sufficient anger in his voice
to reduce the two young men to silence. He began to pace the room, and every
now and then he passed a hand through his hair in an agitated manner. His face
looked haggard and he had an unhealthy grey hue to his skin. To Rose, he seemed
to have aged ten years since breakfast.

‘Lavinia
hadn’t just killed Emmeline if that’s what you’re getting at, Thistlewaite,’ Theo
said quietly, but in a doctor’s authoritative voice. ‘Sh-she’d been dead a few
hours from the look of h-her corpse …’

Theo
gulped and they all wondered whether he would go on or break down and weep
again. Somehow though he managed to regain his equanimity, the physician in him
triumphing over the distraught lover.

‘She’d
been dead a few hours I’d say when we came across her. Of course we’ll know
more after the post-mortem.’

He turned
to look with some contempt at Cedric. ‘For God’s sake man, telephone for the
police. You should have done it ages ago, as soon as we discovered the body.’

‘Yes,
yes, of course old chap. It was very remiss of me,’ said Cedric, getting to his
feet. ‘I’ll telephone the chief constable, name of Whitmore, right away. I’ll
ask him to bring in Scotland Yard. Any luck and we might get the chaps who
investigated the incidents at Dareswick and Ashgrove.’

The four
of them were left in the drawing room, standing around awkwardly, not knowing
what to do until the police arrived. In the end, Theo decided to retreat back
into his own thoughts and chose a high-backed armchair at the other end of the
room, which he pointedly turned towards the fire so that his back was to them. The
count, who looked the most composed of all of them, walked over to the windows
and looked out at the fine gardens that stretched out before him, before
turning around and aimlessly picking up a newspaper which he then proceeded to
read. Felix appeared more inclined to talk, although he still looked a little
sheepish from his dressing down by the doctor.

‘I
suppose you think that I spoke rather out of turn to Lord Belvedere, accusing
his sister and all that?’ Felix said, walking over to Rose and, although clearly
addressing her, avoiding looking her in the eye.

‘Well you
certainly didn’t beat about the bush, did you?’ retorted Rose, not feeling
altogether kindly towards him, even if she knew it was because she herself felt
guilty. ‘You’re jolly lucky Cedric didn’t punch you. I can’t say I would have
blamed him if he had done.’

‘I only
said what everyone else was thinking, but was too polite to say,’ argued Felix,
rather feebly. ‘I probably wouldn’t have said anything at all if the fellow
hadn’t gone about trying to destroy the evidence.’

‘Cedric just
wasn’t thinking,’ replied Rose defensively.

But Felix
was right, of course he was right. And the police would see it that way too.
Why, Rose saw it that way, and if Cedric was even half the man she took him to
be, he would too. Why had he been so foolish and done what he had? She had no
doubt that he had had the very best of intentions. He had been trying to
protect his sister, but his actions had only made matters worse. Still, however
badly she felt, however much she despaired over Cedric’s behaviour, she was not
about to say as much to Felix Thistlewaite. She did not wish to talk any more
about it to anyone until she had had a chance to speak to Cedric alone. With
considerable effort, because she did not feel so inclined, she made attempts to
put an end to Felix’s reproaches and her own guilt by trying to lighten the
mood.

‘I say,
though, you’ll have to curb your tendency to speak bluntly if you go into the
legal profession, otherwise you’ll frighten away all your clients.’

‘You’re
right, of course.’ Felix grinned and had the grace to blush. ‘And it isn’t very
becoming is it, to admonish one’s host?’

‘I say, where
is Jemima?’ asked Rose suddenly, looking around the room.

It was
only now that she noticed the girl’s absence. Jemima had such a tendency to
watch from the shadows of a room, seeming to perch precariously on the threshold
between guest and servant, that her presence was never obvious or overstated at
the best of times.

‘Jemima walked
back with you all, didn’t she, I was sure I saw her?’

‘Yes,’
said Felix, ‘but she insisted on going straight to her room. She wanted to be
alone.’ For the first time Felix looked worried. ‘She’s taken it all very
badly, as you can imagine. Yes, indeed, she feels pretty shaken up about it all
as one would expect. I don’t mind telling you that I’m awfully worried about
her. She’s hardly said a word. She was trembling like a leaf when we were
walking back, and her face was as white as d … well, yes, I might as well say
it … death. I did try and insist that she stay here with us all in the drawing
room, where it’s warm and she’d have company, but she would have none of it. I
hate to think of her sitting in her room alone. She refused even to have one of
the maids sit with her.’

‘Well, I
can understand why she would want to be alone. It must have been a frightful
shock for her. She and Emmeline were awfully close, weren’t they?’ said Rose.

‘Yes,
they were. Although I could never quite understand it, myself. Emmeline put
upon Jemima something rotten, you know.’

Felix
cast a look around the room before continuing in a slightly quieter voice than
before. To Rose this seemed an unnecessary precaution for she felt it unlikely
that Theo, with his back to them staring at the fire and the count, engrossed
in his newspaper, had heard a word of their conversation up to now. Even so,
she bent her head towards Felix in a conspiratorial way.

‘In the
first place it’ll be frightfully rotten for her having to explain to old Montacute
why they went against his wishes and left the mansion in the Highlands
unaccompanied.’ Felix sighed and raked his hair with his fingers, a gesture
which Rose thought made him look very young. ‘You see, the old man’s always had
a bit of a bee in his bonnet about his daughter being kidnapped after that
first attempt. As a consequence, he’s always insisted that either he or an army
of servants should accompany the girls whenever they left the grounds. Well,
one can imagine how tiresome that was for them. It isn’t really any wonder that
they decided to venture out alone when the opportunity arose, is it?’

‘No, I
suppose not.’

‘As soon
as he’d set off on his travels to goodness know where,’ continued Felix, ‘they
upped and left. Of course it was Emmeline’s decision to do so, not Jemima’s,
but I doubt Montacute will see it like that. Jemima really didn’t have any
choice in the matter. Once Emmeline had made up her mind, there was nothing
that Jemima could do to change it, and she was obliged to follow her. She’s
been ever so worried that something might happen. But of course she thought it
would be on the Continent, not here. They thought they’d be safe here at
Sedgwick.’

If Felix
intended to say more, he did not get the opportunity to do so. For just at that
moment the door opened and Cedric reappeared, his face clearly showing signs of
strain. Nevertheless his voice when he spoke sounded steady and firm.

‘I’ve
spoken to the chief constable and he’s agreed to call in Scotland Yard. I
hardly had to persuade the fellow. He doesn’t think the chaps here are up to
investigating a murder, certainly not the murder of an heiress at the home of
the local aristocracy. Petty theft and poaching are more what they’re used to.
But he’ll send over a constable for form’s sake to stay here until the men from
the Yard arrive.’      

Felix
went over to the French windows and looked out. Theo still stared into the fire
and the count, after looking up briefly when Cedric came in, returned to
perusing his newspaper. Rose went immediately to Cedric who, having delivered
the information about the police, looked suddenly done in.  She took his hand
and led him to one of the settees placed at some distance from the others so
that they could converse without being overheard, even by the belligerent Felix.

‘I
suppose,’ began Cedric, ‘you must think me awfully stupid, that business about
Lavinia, I mean? All the time I was on the telephone to the chief constable, I
kept wishing I had left things well alone.’