03 - Murder at Sedgwick Court (14 page)

‘Well,’
Rose began and hesitated a moment before continuing because she felt so angry
with him. ‘I realise you were only trying to protect your sister, but whatever
were you thinking, Cedric? What made you do such a thing? You could be arrested
and, don’t you see, you’ve only made matters worse for her.’

‘I know,
I know. It was a moment of madness, I promise you. Sitting here now in this
drawing room, it’s almost as if someone else had done it, not me. Say you
forgive me, Rose.’

Cedric
put his head in his hands, and Rose regarded him with a mixture of anger and
compassion. She did not know what to say, and so said nothing. If truth be
told, she was desperately afraid that he might not be the man she thought him
to be.

‘I’ll
have to try and brazen it out with the police,’ Cedric said, and gave her a feeble
smile. Rose squeezed his hand.

‘We
should have stopped you,’ she said finally, and sighed. ‘It was just such a shock
seeing Emmeline’s body lying there with her head all disfigured and Lavinia
standing over her like that. I think we were all rather slow to take it all in.
You’d taken the candlestick from her and wiped it before we could think to stop
you.’

‘It was a
very stupid thing to do, I see that now,’ admitted Cedric. ‘And wrong, of
course. To say nothing of foolish. For one thing, it’s made it look as if I
thought Lavinia had killed Emmeline, which of course couldn’t be further from
my mind.’

‘It is
now. But it wasn’t then. When we first came upon the scene, a part of all of us
jumped to the obvious conclusion that Lavinia had killed Emmeline. It was only
to be expected given the circumstances.’

‘Yes … I
suppose you’re right.’

‘We
should have realised that there must have been an innocent explanation for why Lavinia
was standing over the body as she was. I mean, for the life of me I can’t
imagine what motive Lavinia could have had for wishing Emmeline dead, can you?’ 

‘Haven’t
an inkling. If only she hadn’t picked up that damned candlestick. Did she tell
you why she did?’

Cedric
however did not remain silent long enough to allow her to answer. For this Rose
was relieved, for it occurred to her that Lavinia had said very little. Of
course, she had been in shock, probably still was, but even so …

‘I don’t
know what I’d do if you weren’t here, Rose,’ Cedric was saying. ‘I’m not so
very worried about the police. I can give them some cock and bull story about
not thinking things through and being concerned that Lavinia be taken indoors
into the warm … which of course I was. To tell you the truth, I’m finding it
hard to feel anything at the moment … but I know that I will soon.’

‘I know,
darling. It’s the shock of it all.’ Rose said, holding his hand. ‘It’s too awful
to think about.’  

‘It’s not
just the frightful way in which that poor girl died and the tragic waste of the
life of someone who was … well … full of life. She was a sweet natured little
thing, wasn’t she, always so bright and laughing … But it’s no good dwelling on
all that now. It won’t do any good, it won’t bring her back.’

‘No, it
won’t.’

‘But what
I can hardly bring myself to think about, darling, is that it happened here at
Sedgwick.’ He clung to Rose’s hands. ‘My ancestral home. The place where I
spent my childhood. The place that I love most in all the world.’     

‘Yes, I
know.’

‘It seems
terrible to think it when that poor girl’s life has been so cruelly cut short, but
what I am so afraid of Rose is that I will never feel the same way about
Sedgwick again. And that it should have happened in the maze, the very place
where Lavinia and I played for hours and hours as children and had so much fun.
I wanted my children to play there, to have the same wonderful experiences I
did, to – ’

‘It will
be all right,’ Rose said quickly. ‘It isn’t all spoilt, I promise it isn’t. The
police will find out who is responsible for poor Emmeline’s death, and they
will be punished. It’ll take a little time, but you will love Sedgwick again,
and life will get back to how it was. This house and grounds have a long
history. Who knows what violent acts have occurred here in the past that have
now been forgotten?’

Rose
smiled at Cedric encouragingly. He wasn’t being callous or thinking only of
himself, she knew. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Emmeline, for she could tell
by the look in his eyes and the slight tremor in his voice when he spoke, that
he cared a great deal. He did not view her death only as an inconvenience to be
overcome or to be borne with dignity. He felt that he had let her down. He felt
that he had let Sedgwick down and his ancestors that had gone before him. He viewed
himself, she knew from their numerous conversations, as the current custodian
of all that was Sedgwick Court and believed it was his role to protect and
nurture the stately pile for future generations of Sedgwicks.  

‘Rose,
will you find out who killed Emmeline? Say that you will, darling? I daresay
Scotland Yard is very capable and all that, that they’d get there in the end.
It’s just that I have so much more faith in you. Look how you solved everything
singlehandedly at Ashgrove and Dareswick.’

‘I did
have some help from the police,’ Rose replied modestly. ‘But I promise you I’ll
do my best. I know how important it is to you. Of course, if the police will
let me that is,’ she added as an afterthought.

Rose blushed
suddenly for she could not forget how she had not been completely open with the
police during the last incident that she had investigated. She had even gone so
far as to suggest a possible alibi to someone she was trying to protect. Such
actions had not endeared her to the police force or to a certain Inspector
Deacon in particular. And now she had only made matters worse. What would the inspector
think of her when he discovered that she had helped Cedric tamper with the
evidence to protect Lavinia? Would he ever trust her again, or would he always
view her with suspicion? How unbearable it was that Cedric had placed her in
this dilemma. How she wished she had thrown herself against the green baize
door and refused to let Eliza leave until she had given up the clothes.

She would
have to try and make amends by telling Inspector Deacon everything she
discovered as soon as it became apparent to her. It never occurred to her for
one moment that she would not have the opportunity to do so.     

The
door to the drawing room opened and, with the exception of Theo, who was still
sitting resolutely turned towards the fire lost in his own sad thoughts,
everyone turned to ascertain the identity of the newcomer. A mixture of
expressions appeared on the faces of those present, predominantly being ones of
disappointment. Cedric had clearly hoped it would be Lavinia, while Felix was
eager to discover how Jemima was bearing up. Only the count looked indifferent
on finding that it was Vera who entered the room.

It was
not lost on Rose that Vera came in tentatively, as if she were unsure of her
welcome. She first looked anxiously at Rose and then scoured the room for Theo,
who she did not see at first, seated as he was with his back to her. On locating
him, she made to go towards him but Rose, who had anticipated such an
eventuality, sprang forward and caught her by the arm before she had moved more
than a couple of steps.

‘Vera, I
wouldn’t,’ Rose said gently, ‘really I wouldn’t. I daresay it hurts damnably my
saying so, but Theo is pretty shaken up by Emmeline’s death. I know it’s jolly
rotten for you, but I think you need to leave him alone for a while.’

Vera
looked about to protest, but Rose had no intention of loosening her grip on her
arm.

‘Only for
a little while, Vera. Surely you can allow him that? If you go to him now, you
both may say something that you’ll later regret.’

‘But I
love him,’ said Vera so sadly that Rose felt a lump form in her throat.

How awful
unrequited love must be, Rose thought, particularly in Vera’s case where
presumably Theo had once loved her enough to get engaged. She tried to put herself
in Vera’s shoes and imagine how she would feel if Cedric were to fall in love
with someone else.

‘I’m
sorry, Vera, I really am,’ Rose almost whispered.

‘Is it
true what the servants are saying?’ Vera asked, brushing a tear or two hastily
from her eye. ‘Did Emmeline really die from having her head bashed in?’

Rose
could not stop herself from looking appalled at Vera’s bluntness.

‘What I
mean,’ added Vera quickly, ‘is did someone … kill her? She didn’t, for
instance, die from … the … cold?’

‘No,’
said Rose, somewhat frostily, ‘she was murdered if that’s what you’re asking
me.’

Was it
her imagination or did Vera look relieved? Yet how could Emmeline being
brutally murdered be considered favourable to her dying from natural causes? An
unpleasant thought suddenly occurred to Rose and she held Vera’s arm more
tightly so that the woman winced.

‘Just
before you fainted, what did you mean when you said: “what have I done? I never
meant to …”? What did you mean by that, Vera?’

‘N-nothing,’
stuttered Vera, trying to pull away from Rose’s grip. ‘I meant nothing by it. I
was just upset, that’s all … It was an awful shock.’

‘You
didn’t accompany us on the search. Why not? Did you know what we’d find?’

‘Of
course not,’ protested Vera, although she looked frightened. ‘I wasn’t feeling
very well, you know I wasn’t. I said so at the time.’

‘You may
not want to tell me the truth,’ said Rose, slowly, ‘but it would be in your interests
to tell the police. It’ll only make matters worse for you if you don’t. Vera,
listen to me.’

Rose
tried to get the woman to look at her, but Vera insisted on averting her gaze
as if she would rather look anywhere but at Rose’s face.

‘Have it
your own way then,’ Rose said. She was too tired to argue with her. ‘But the
police are certain to find out the truth one way or the other.’

Silently
cursing Vera under her breath for her being so obstinate and refusing to see
reason, Rose had left the others in the drawing room to ascertain how Lavinia
was faring once the first throes of shock had diminished. While she was eager
to advise her friend that the others no longer considered her guilty of
Emmeline’s murder, she was honest enough to admit to herself that being left
alone in the drawing room with only Vera, Theo and Count Fernand for company
was too dismal an experience to contemplate. For Cedric had seen fit to leave
shortly after Vera’s arrival to consult with the servant guarding the maze. No
doubt, she thought, he felt the need to make amends for his previous
ill-advised behaviour in trying to protect Lavinia.

Mindful
of her promise to Cedric that she would try to solve Emmeline’s murder if it
were within her power to do so, Rose was keen to ascertain from Lavinia if she
had seen anything when she had first come across Emmeline’s body in the maze. Although
she acknowledged that if Theo was correct about the time of death, and Emmeline
had been dead some hours rather than the few minutes that they had originally supposed,
it was unlikely that Lavinia had seen anything at all. Nevertheless it was the
excuse she needed to leave the room and the others behind.      

At the
top of the staircase on the landing, Rose was just about to make her way to
Lavinia’s room when it occurred to her that Jemima was still alone in her room,
no doubt miserable and upset. She had been left alone too long, Rose thought.
She might not want to join them in the drawing room, but it would be for the
best.

‘Jemima,
it’s me … Rose.’

There was
no answer to either her gentle tapping on the door or to her calling out, and
when Rose tried the door it held fast.

‘Jemima,
please open the door. I don’t think it right for you to be alone. You mustn’t shut
yourself away at a time like this. Do come down. Felix is very worried about
you as are we all, and the police will be here soon. They’ll want to speak to
you.’

Rose
heard both the turn of a key in the lock and a bolt being slid back before the
door opened. It occurred to her then that the girl was frightened as well as
upset. She wished again that Emmeline’s companion had not been left alone.

‘Is
sh-she
down there with you all?’

The words,
when they were uttered through trembling lips, were almost spat out with an air
of disgust. Even in the dim light Jemima looked ill. She had half opened the
door but still stood resolutely in her room, peering out. It was obvious to
even the most casual of observers that she had no intention of opening the door
any further or of inviting Rose to enter inside. There were dark circles
beneath her eyes which in turn were red-rimmed and bloodshot. When she spoke, her
voice was accompanied by sniffing and her handkerchief, which she held rolled
up into a little ball in her hand, was completely wet. Her plain clothes did
nothing to alleviate the general picture of misery and despair.

Rose
could barely restrain herself from stretching out a hand to the girl. She knew,
however, that if she did so such a gesture of compassion and kindness would be
rejected. For Jemima appeared to her to be a solitary figure. Rose thought that
even if it were Felix standing before Jemima now, the intrusion by him into her
grief would not be welcomed.

‘She?’ It
suddenly dawned on Rose to whom the woman was referring. ‘Oh, you mean Lavinia?
Jemima, listen to me. Lavinia didn’t kill Emmeline, if that’s what you’re
thinking.’

‘We all
saw her standing over Emmeline’s body with that dreadful candlestick in her
hand. It was smeared with blood. There was blood on her hands and her coat,
there was – ’

‘Yes,
yes,’ interrupted Rose quickly, for the girl was on the verge of becoming
hysterical. Jemima’s voice had risen and become quite shrill and she was afraid
of it carrying to Lavinia, only a few doors down in her own room.

‘Lavinia
didn’t kill Emmeline.’ Rose said the words slowly and deliberately, hoping that
they would sink in. ‘She just came across her body in the maze as we did. Theo
said Emmeline had been dead for hours when we found her. Do you understand what
I’m saying? Lavinia didn’t do it?’

‘Then why
was she holding the candlestick?’ asked Jemima doggedly, looking far from
convinced.

‘I don’t
know,’ replied Rose truthfully. ‘For some reason she decided to pick it up. Perhaps
she did it instinctively finding it there on the ground. Whatever reason made
her pick it up, she didn’t do it Jemima. She didn’t kill Emmeline.’

‘Cedric
thought she’d done it,’ Jemima continued stubbornly. ‘Otherwise why would he
have done what he did? All that destroying – ’

‘He
didn’t think it through. He jumped to the obvious conclusion, as did we all,’
said Rose hurriedly, ‘But he was wrong. We all were. Think about it, Jemima.
Why would Lavinia wish Emmeline dead? They were friends after all. It was Lavinia
who invited her to stay here at Sedgwick. What possible motive could she have
had for killing her guest?’

 ‘But if
what you say is true – ’, began Jemima slowly.

‘It means
that someone else killed Emmeline … yes, of course it does,’ said Rose quickly,
pleased that Jemima was beginning to take in her words.

But if
she had thought that Jemima would be relieved to discover that her hostess was
not the murderer, she was mistaken. If it was possible, even more colour had
drained from Jemima’s face and her bottom lip had started to quiver. Jemima
clung to the doorframe, as if for support, as realisation dawned on her.

‘Someone
else killed Emmeline,’ she half whispered, ‘Oh my God, no!’

‘So they
know I didn’t do it?’ said Lavinia, sitting up.

She had
been reclining on her bed, bedclothes pulled tight up to her neck. She had been
so still that Rose had at first thought she was asleep. But when she looked
closely, she found that Lavinia had instead been staring into nothingness, her
eyes wide open. And when Rose had spoken, Lavinia had roused herself quickly
enough as if leaving behind some troublesome dream.

‘Well, I
suppose I should feel relieved, shouldn’t I? That no one thinks I’m a murderess
anymore, I mean? But the truth is that I don’t feel anything at all ... I still
feel numb ... I still can’t quite believe what’s happened, even though I saw
her body with my own eyes and picked up that awful candlestick –’

‘Why did
you do that? Why did you pick up the candlestick, Lavinia? Why didn’t you leave
it where it was?’ asked Rose curiously.

‘I don’t
know ... Why did I do it?’

Lavinia
sounded vague. The look on her face showed clearly that she was trying to cast
her mind back. She clung at her bedspread as the awful image sprung up before
her, and she passed her tongue over her lips, as if she suddenly found them
dry.  

‘Here,
have some water,’ said Rose, passing her the glass of water beside her bed. ‘I
wonder if it wouldn’t be better for you to have some brandy.’

‘I’ll be
all right in a minute or two,’ said her friend, taking a few sips. ‘It’s just
so frightful. But I want to remember why I did it, picked up the candlestick, I
mean. It does seem such a strange sort of thing to have done, doesn’t it? The
police are sure to ask me, aren’t they, and I haven’t the faintest idea how to
reply.’

‘Did you
see the candlestick before you discovered Emmeline’s body?’

‘Yes …
now I come to think of it … I am sure I did. Yes … that was it.’ Lavinia closed
her eyes to enable her to think better. ‘I came across the candlestick first.
It made me stop, because I wondered what it was doing there. It seemed so out
of place. It was gleaming in the sun and I thought how bright it looked, only
it seemed to be smeared with something, and I wondered what it was. So I picked
it up to have a look. I didn’t know what it was, only that it was red. I didn’t
realise it was b-blood. All the time I was thinking: why would someone throw
away a perfectly good candlestick in the maze? And then I thought that I
recognised it, that I had seen it somewhere before.’

‘Where
had you seen it before, Lavinia? Here at Sedgwick?’ asked Rose eagerly. ‘Please
try and think. It could be very important.’

‘It
seemed familiar, so I suppose I must have seen it at Sedgwick, mustn’t I? But
I’m not sure where. I wonder if I passed it every day without noticing it, as
if it had become part of the wallpaper. Do you think that very likely, Rose?’

‘Yes I
do. We’ll have to check with the servants to see if any of the candlesticks are
missing.’

‘Won’t
the police be doing that? Can’t we leave it to them?’

‘Yes, of
course, it’s just that – ’

‘It’s
just that Cedric has asked you to investigate,’ said Lavinia, giving her an
ambiguous stare.

‘Yes, do
you mind awfully?’

‘That you
intend to take it upon yourself to find the murderer, or that you’re still in
love with my brother and he with you?’ Lavinia was looking at her closely, and
Rose felt herself blush.

‘Both I
suppose,’ she stuttered.

‘Well, I
would like you to investigate this murder,’ said Lavinia. ‘You seem to have
quite a knack for it. Murder does seem to be rather attracted to you. I daresay
that the police will get there eventually, but it may be rather good to have
you there sleuthing away to keep them on their toes. I say, do you think it
will be the same inspector fellow that investigated at Ashgrove? He
investigated the murders at Dareswick too, didn’t he? I thought he was rather
handsome, didn’t you? Not that I think he liked me very much. That sergeant of
his certainly didn’t.’