Churchyard and Hawke Page 10

  Talwyn was aware that Amos’s own early life had been very similar to Tom’s. After an unhappy and unsettled childhood he too had joined the Royal Marines as a drummer boy at the age of thirteen and served as a fighting man during the Crimean War. Leaving the Royal Marines when he was still a young man, he had become a detective at London’s Scotland Yard but it was not until he and Talwyn had met that he had learned what it was to enjoy a happy and settled home life.

  Smiling at him, she said, ‘You are just an old romantic, Amos.’

  ‘If I am, it’s what you and marriage have made of me. I like both Tom and Harvey very much and would like them to enjoy as happy a life as you and I have together but, as you said, today I should be very proud of all the men under my command. My only disappointment is that we have not caught Alfie and learned where the idea came from to put together such an ambitious plan to rob the rich people of Cornwall.’

  ‘The fact that you haven’t caught him means he is cleverer than you gave him credit for,’ Talwyn said, ‘Perhaps there was no one else involved and that he thought up the whole idea himself?’

  Amos shook his head, ‘No, Alfie is a crafty and wily criminal, but he lacks the intelligence and ability to plan something on this scale. Besides, he needed to have an accomplice here who is familiar with Cornwall and its great houses. There has to be someone else involved.’

  ‘You already know that his nephew worked at Laneglos and Edith told you that when she last met him, the man he referred to as his "uncle" was with him, so neither are complete strangers to the area.’

  ‘That’s quite true . . . but I still believe there is an accomplice we haven’t yet identified.’

  ‘Well, you have played your part - and played it well, but you look the way you must feel . . . dog tired. Come to bed now and have a good night’s sleep. You have earned it.’

  CHAPTER 18

  Talwyn’s hope that her husband would enjoy a long night’s sleep was not fulfilled. At 6.30 the next morning they were awakened by a constable from the Bodmin police headquarters hammering heavily upon the door of their cottage. He brought Amos some very disturbing news. Laneglos House had been burgled during the night and much of the family silver and a quantity of other valuables stolen.

  The constable was unable to provide any more details, but the incident was considered of sufficient importance for the duty inspector to send him to inform Amos right away.

  ‘Do you think it’s a coincidence that Laneglos has been burgled so soon after the other mansions?’ Tom put the question to Amos as they rode together to Laneglos in the pony and trap. The young Londoner had been woken with some difficulty, having been in a very deep sleep and he still looked bleary-eyed, his face having not yet caught up with the remainder of his body.

  ‘I don’t know. It might be a part of the original plan and would explain why Alfie lay low yesterday. Or it could be a determination on his part to rescue something from what has been a disastrous trip to Cornwall for him. Either way, I should have anticipated that something like this might happen. Alfie would have known that the servants and the family at Laneglos would be very tired after the ball and he’s taken advantage of it . . . but hopefully we’ll learn more when we reach the house and find out exactly what has happened.’

  They were met at Laneglos by Flora who had been up for a couple of hours and looked tired, but she had already set the staff to work tidying rooms that had been ransacked. She told Amos and Tom that the robbery had been discovered by a junior housemaid whose early morning task was to clean out the fireplaces and lay those that would be lit before the family came down to breakfast. She had found Downton, the under-butler, bound, gagged and bleeding in the pantry - where he slept in order to protect the household silver kept here!

  ‘Mr Norris - he’s the butler - is furious with Downton. His instructions were to always keep the pantry door locked so that no one can get to the silver.’

  ‘Did he not do that?’

  ‘No. . . but I can’t say I blame him. There is no window in the pantry. If he stayed inside with the door locked the chances are he would suffocate. I have suggested more than once that a small grille should be cut into the door, but Mr Norris always dismisses the idea. He slept in a locked pantry when he was an under-butler and sees no reason why Downton should not do the same.’

  Accompanied by Flora and a silently disapproving butler, Amos and Tom interviewed Downton. The under-butler had a bandage that went over his head and around his chin with a pad placed on a scalp wound. Another linen strip about his forehead held the first bandage in place, and he was feeling extremely sorry for himself.

  When Amos asked whether he had recognized either of his assailants, Downton replied, ‘Oh yes, one of them was that young footman from London who worked here for a while . . . Jeremy Smith.’

  Amos and Tom exchanged glances and Tom asked, ‘Are you quite sure? Were you able to get a look at the other one?’

  ‘I got a good look at both of them,’ the injured man replied, ‘They weren’t shy about showing themselves, probably because I was unconscious for half the time they were in the pantry, but they were using a lantern and I saw them all right.’ He went on to describe a man who Tom said matched the description of Alfie Banks.

  When Amos asked how the burglars had managed to get into the house, Flora looked grim, ‘I think young Enid Merryn, the scullery-maid, might be able to give you the answer to that. She should have been the first up this morning, to light the kitchen fires, but they were not lit. Someone had drawn the bolts on the inside of the kitchen door at some time during the night - and now Enid cannot be found.’

  Her reply took Amos by surprise, ‘Are you quite certain she is involved? I realized when I spoke to her that she is a somewhat simple girl, but she struck me as being honest and very happy to be working at Laneglos.’

  ‘She is . . . or used to be. I noticed a change in her attitude at about the time she became involved with the footman we knew as "Jeremy", She was more secretive and less eager to please than before. I am afraid everything points to her involvement in this sorry affair.’

  Speaking for the first time, the disapproving butler said, ‘There is something else. Whoever broke in had a knowledge of where everything is kept at Laneglos - and not just in the house. A groom has discovered a pony missing from the stables and it has just been reported that a small wagonette has gone too. The burglars must have made off with them.’

  ‘Did the coachman hear nothing?’ This from Flora, who explained, ‘He sleeps over the stables and should have heard anything that went on there.’

  ‘The coachman was not in his rooms last night.’ said the butler, ‘Lady Hogg sent him to Bude to take the Dowager Lady Peruppa home. He stayed there overnight to rest the horses. The burglars must have known that too. It seems everything fell into place for them, had the coachman been there he would certainly have heard them, I believe he is a very light sleeper.’

  While the butler was speaking, Amos had been thinking and now he asked to inspect the kitchen door that had been found open. He and Tom were taken to the kitchen by Flora where Amos inspected the two bolts that should have been securing the door when the robbery took place. There were two, one at the top of the door, the other at the bottom. He checked them without saying anything, keeping his thoughts to himself.

  On the way back from the kitchen they were in the main hallway when they met with Lady Hogg who was accompanied by her youngest son. The Honourable Charles Delville immediately launched into a scornful verbal attack upon the two policemen.

  ‘It seems the burglary at Laneglos has taken the county constabulary by surprise, Superintendent. It is a great pity the policemen who were available in such great numbers harassing family friends at the summer ball were not on hand to take action when there was a need for them.’

  Amos had not been told what had occurred between Tom and the Honourable Charles on the night in question but before he could reply Tom spoke up, ‘Oh, I don’t t
hink your friends felt in the least harassed, sir. I felt the two gentlemen you were expecting took the routine questioning in good part . . . and I hope it did nothing to spoil your game of cards and that they never made good their promise to win all your money.’

  Lady Hogg rounded on her son immediately, ‘Have you been gambling again, Charles? You promised me you had given it up. I should have known better. I wondered why you were missing for most of the night of the ball. I should have come looking for you . . . or perhaps not. We will discuss this later. For now I believe you wish to tell the superintendent of the money that was stolen from you in the burglary?’

  The Honourable Charles had been glaring malevolently at Tom while his mother was talking, but now he turned his attention to Amos. ‘That’s right, I had more than a hundred pounds stolen, together with a wallet I left on the dressing-table in my room last night. It was gone this morning. One of the rogues must have taken it . . . either that or it was stolen by that scheming little housemaid who let the burglars in and ran off with them. She had probably nosed around the house and knew I kept money in my room. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had taken some before, I have missed the odd guinea on more than one occasion, but thought I must have miscalculated the amount I left around. I believe she was recommended to us by one of your policemen . . . ?’

  ‘We have yet to establish Miss Merryn’s part in the robbery, sir.’ Amos commented easily, ‘. . . if indeed she had anything at all to do with it.’

  ‘There can be no doubt about that, surely?’ The Honourable Charles queried, scornfully, ‘The girl had been carrying on with that young criminal who worked here under false pretences and now she’s let him in to rob us and run off with him. Any fool can see what has happened . . .’

  ‘You are being extremely tedious, Charles.’ Lady Hogg said sharply. ‘I have no doubt there are many things you need to be attending to while Superintendent Hawke and I go around making an inventory of exactly what has been stolen.’

  When her son had walked off with a final malevolent glare at Tom, Amos spoke to Lady Hogg, ‘I would appreciate your help in making such a list, Your Ladyship, but first I would like to speak to my sergeant. I would also be grateful if we might take advantage of Miss Wicks’s knowledge of the house and servants for a while longer?’

  ‘You may . . . but I trust you will not keep her from her duties for too long. With this wretched burglary following so closely on the heels of the ball the staff are all at sixes and sevens. You will find me in the pantry, where that poor under-butler was attacked . . . although I fear he brought it upon himself by not locking the door when he went to bed, after all that was the sole reason he was sleeping there in the first place. If I discover he has committed a flagrant breach of his duties he will have to go . . . although trained staff are so hard to come by these days . . .’

  While Amos was giving his instructions to Tom, Flora stopped two passing maids and gave them instructions about cleaning the burgled rooms. Amos set off after Lady Hogg and when Flora returned to Tom, he said to her, ‘Superintendent Hawke wants you to show me how you draw the bolts on the kitchen door that was opened on the night of the robbery.’

  ‘That will not take long.’ Flora retorted, ‘I can’t draw them. The top bolt is too high for me to reach and too stiff even if I could . . .’

  Stopping suddenly, her eyes widened as she said, ‘Of course . . .! If I can’t do it then neither could Enid. She is not as tall as I am and so could not have reached it. Superintendent Hawke must have realized that . . . but if Enid did not let them in, then who did . . . and where is Enid now?’

  ‘I can’t answer either question,’ Tom replied, ‘but yes, he has realized that Enid wasn’t tall enough to reach up and draw the bolt, but thought she might have used something . . . perhaps a walking-stick from the hall?’

  Flora shook her head, ‘The bolt is much too stiff for that, it must have been another member of staff . . . probably a man.’

  ‘That brings me to the next thing Superintendent Hawke would like.’ Tom said, ‘He wants a list of all male members of staff showing how long they have been working at Laneglos and any comments you might like to make about them. In particular, whether there is anyone you consider is perhaps not as trustworthy as he should be.’

  Flora began to protest but Tom stopped her immediately. ‘He thought you might object and consider you were being disloyal to your staff but, as he pointed out, someone opened the door for the thieves and your first loyalty has to be to your employer.’

  Her indignation ebbing away, Flora said, ‘He is right, of course, and I will try not to allow any personal prejudices to cloud my judgement. Many of the servants have worked at Laneglos for far longer than I . . . indeed, some have been here all their working lives! I doubt whether they are involved in the burglary, but it is a very nasty business and I realize you have a job to do, so we ought to get down to it right away . . .’

  That evening Amos, Tom and Talwyn were talking at the dinner table about the burglary and Talwyn was adamant Enid would never have become involved in anything as dishonest as robbing the house of her employers, saying, ‘No, Amos, gullible she most certainly is - and trusting too, even of someone like this young London criminal who was working at the house, but she would not help him do anything remotely dishonest . . . in fact, I am very concerned for her.’

  ‘Flora . . . Miss Wicks, said very much the same thing when she realized Enid couldn’t have opened the kitchen door to them.’ Tom said, ‘In fact she became quite upset when she realized something might have happened to her.’

  ‘We are all concerned for Enid.’ Amos agreed, ‘and now we have established she couldn’t have opened the door I believe there is very good reason to be worried. We could end up with something rather more serious on our hands than a burglary. We’ll get a search started tomorrow - but without saying a word to anyone that we don’t believe Enid was involved. We must remember to ask Miss Wicks not to say anything about it for the time being.’

  ‘I have already suggested she should say nothing and she has agreed,’ Tom said, ‘but won’t it be obvious when we start searching for Enid?’

  ‘No,’ Amos said, ‘There is no need to mention her. As far as everyone involved is concerned we’ll be searching the countryside around Laneglos for anything unusual that could lead us to the burglars . . . We’ll get Lord Hogg’s gamekeepers involved too, they should be able to notice anything that’s not right in the woods around the house - and I fear that’s where we are going to find the answer to Enid’s disappearance . . .’ ‘What possible motive could anyone have for wanting to harm poor Enid?’ A distraught Talwyn asked, ‘I doubt if she has ever deliberately done a bad turn to anyone.’

  ‘It’s a question that can only be answered when we find her - and perhaps not even then.’ Amos replied, grimly. ‘Unfortunately, we are dealing with men who don’t live by the rules that govern the lives of civilised folk.’

  CHAPTER 19

  Thirty hours after the discovery of the burglary at Laneglos, Enid’s body was found by one of the estate gamekeepers. It had been hidden beneath branches broken from trees and bushes in a small patch of scrubland at one end of the burial ground beside the church, only a very short distance from the great house.

  The body was taken to the mortuary in Bodmin town, where a post mortem would be carried out. However, a preliminary examination was made on behalf of the coroner and from marks found on her neck the surgeon who would be carrying out the post mortem declared there was little doubt that she had been strangled.

  The hunt for those responsible for the burglary at Laneglos house had now become a murder investigation.

  The surgeon, a Doctor Sullivan, was young and keen and wasted no time in performing the autopsy. He was able to inform Amos that Enid had indeed been strangled - adding the unexpected information that the simple young servant girl had been pregnant at the time of her death.

  Amos took on the distressing task of informin
g Enid’s mother of her daughter’s death and the manner in which it had occurred, but at this juncture he decided to say nothing about Enid’s condition at the time she was killed. He had a nagging suspicion that this and not the burglary might have been the motive for her brutal murder.

  Talwyn broke down and cried when Amos returned home and told her of the murder and of Enid’s condition at the time of her death. He held her close until, pulling away and looking up at him she said fiercely, ‘You must catch whoever did this to her, Amos . . . this Jeremy, or Jimmy . . . it’s all so senseless.’

  ‘We will catch him,’ Amos assured her, ‘and I admit that right now everything points to young Jimmy Banks being responsible for Enid’s murder, but we still have a great many more questions than we do answers.’

  ‘How many more answers do you need?’ Talwyn demanded. ‘This young man obtained work at Laneglos using a false reference in order to become familiar with the house and all that’s in it so he could burgle it when the time was right. Along the way he seduces an innocent young girl and makes her pregnant. I still don’t believe she would have willingly helped him to rob the house, so it’s probable he persuaded her to come out and meet him - perhaps on the pretext that they would run away together and be married. Instead, he kills her and goes on to rob the house. He is a callous and calculating young criminal who deserves to be hung for what he has done.’

  Releasing her, Amos moved to the sideboard where he poured brandies for each of them. Handing her one of the glasses, he said, ‘Your theory - and I am afraid that is all it is - has too many "probables" and even more "improbables". We now know it’s very unlikely that Enid could have unbolted the door herself, so whoever burgled the house would have needed the help of another - possibly a male servant. That immediately gives us another unknown murder suspect who must still be working in the house. Someone who would be aware that Enid was a very simple girl and under questioning could easily give his identity away - deliberately, or otherwise, and so he killed her in order to avoid being arrested.’