Chapter Ten #2
“Exactly. However, upon further inspection of the surrounding area, it appeared as though he had not been alone. We had to ask ourselves, if he had simply succumbed to a heart attack or some other malady, who would have left him there without notifying the police?”
“Who indeed?” Mr. Timms took another gulp of ale and narrowed his eyes a moment, as if considering. “Could you tell if he struggled with someone?”
“It did not appear so.” I was impressed that he asked pertinent questions. Perhaps he would have made a good coroner.
It seemed that Hetty shared my sentiment. “Were you not also considered for the office of coroner?” she asked. “Perhaps you might wish to examine the body. Someone with medical experience would surely observe more than we would.”
Her last few words tapered off as I turned a glare upon her. I may not be a member of the police force, and my investigation was unofficial, to say the least, but Mr. Timms was on my list of suspects until I could confirm he was nowhere near Dr. Penhollow when he died.
“Do you mean an autopsy?” When Mr. Timms spoke, I turned back to him in time to see the look of horror on his face. “You are mistaken, madam, I have no medical background. Were I the coroner, I would reach out to a doctor to perform any such examinations, if they were necessary.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what we have done,” I said, relieved that the man had no interest in taking over the investigation and asking us to leave off. “I believe I heard that Dr. Penhollow was granted the office of coroner over you because of his medical background.”
He took another drink, then spent more time than I would think necessary dabbing the napkin at his lips. “Medical knowledge is not a requirement for the office. A legal background and an understanding of criminal behavior, which I have, often makes more sense.”
“Indeed, coroners are almost never medical people,” I added.
“That is true,” he said.
“Then why do you suppose the county chose Dr. Penhollow?” I leaned a fraction closer and raised a brow. “It certainly wasn’t due to his relationship with the villagers.”
“Hardly!” He barked out the word. “Most of them couldn’t stand him.”
“Well, it looks like you have another opportunity to nominate yourself for the office,” Hetty said. Though I know she spoke the words with complete innocence, Mr. Timms flinched, as if stung by the accusation.
“Now, see here, I had no bone to pick with Penhollow. Yes, I think he wormed his way into the office of coroner, and that made me think less of him, but not enough to kill him, if that’s what you are suggesting.”
“Heavens, I don’t believe for a minute my aunt would suggest such a thing,” I said while Hetty looked completely aghast.
“Then I had better not hear it mentioned around town.” His face had gone quite red as he dropped his napkin on the table and came to his feet.
“As I said, I didn’t even arrive in town until yesterday afternoon.
My understanding is that he was already dead by then. I had nothing to do with his death.”
Hetty and I shared a glance while Mr. Timms retrieved his hat from the fourth chair at the table.
“I may not be a doctor, but as a solicitor, I know a thing or two about slander. If I hear my name mentioned in connection with Penhollow’s death, I will file charges.
” He popped his hat on his head. “Good day, ladies.”
We watched him stride across the room and out the door. “Does the gentleman protest too much?” Hetty asked.
“I wonder.” Before she and I could discuss the matter, I noticed Fiona gesturing for us to join them. All six members of our party watched us.
“I expect they will want to hear everything,” Hetty said, getting to her feet. “We might as well enlighten them.”
We took our seats together at the center of the long table and managed to relay the conversation with Mr. Timms while finishing the shepherd’s pie.
Fiona sat opposite Hetty and me. The young children were to our right, listening intently, while Lissette and Christine, to our left, conversed with each other.
“I don’t know that there’s any reason to suspect him,” Fiona said. “I would be irate, too, if someone had accused me of murder.”
“He interpreted Hetty’s comment as an accusation,” I said. “But no matter how he feels about losing the coroner job to Dr. Penhollow, if he was in Cromer yesterday morning, as he told us, then he couldn’t have been in the village at the time Dr. Penhollow was crossing the field.”
“But wait a moment.” Hetty’s eyes narrowed as she leaned into the table, closer to Fiona and me.
“Doesn’t the train headed to Norwich originate in Cromer?
If it was the same train waiting at the station and ready to depart for Norwich at eight, couldn’t Mr. Timms have arrived on that train?
We only have his word that he was in Cromer until the afternoon.
Perhaps it was he Dr. Penhollow was to meet before catching his train.
” Her gaze flitted between Fiona and me.
“I know this is just conjecture, but it’s worth checking on, don’t you think? ”
I certainly did. “Fiona and I spoke with the stationmaster yesterday.” I caught her eye. “Correct me if I’m in error. He never saw Dr. Penhollow there, and no one boarded that train to Norwich. But he never mentioned anyone arriving from Cromer.”
Fiona concurred.
“We ought to inquire,” I said. “There was so little activity that morning, I am certain the stationmaster would know.”
“We really need a doctor to tell us how Penhollow was killed,” Fiona said.
“Otherwise, we are simply grasping at straws.” She glanced down the table at the children, who were absorbing our conversation with great fascination.
“And none of this can be repeated to anyone not currently seated at this table, do you understand me?”
The children each gave her a casual nod, but that was not quite convincing enough for Fiona.
“Not a word to the servants, nor to a neighbor, and you two—” She shot a warning glare first at Gregory, then at Grace. “Should you finally send your Christmas greetings to your cousins, you are not to leak a single word of this to them, either.”
That seemed to cover just about everyone. Fiona was nothing if not thorough.
“How will the doctor know how Dr. Penhollow was killed?” Since Rose hadn’t been singled out by Fiona, she still felt brave enough to ask questions.
“He’ll examine the body,” I said.
“What if he was poisoned?” Lissette asked.
I glanced left to see her waiting for an answer. Until now, she and Christine had been singularly disinterested in determining what happened to Dr. Penhollow, but apparently, constant exposure to the topic had drawn them in.
“I believe there are tests for different types of poison,” I said.
“The problem with poison,” Hetty said, “is that it wouldn’t act so quickly. At least I don’t think it would.”
“Even if it did, would someone walk up to Dr. Penhollow in the middle of a field of wheat in the rain and offer him a drink of something?” Christine asked.
“‘Here, Doctor, come into the field with me and taste this,’” she said, lowering her voice an octave.
“And then what? Did the person stand there and wait for him to die?” She quirked her head.
“Actually, wouldn’t he become sick? Did you see any signs of that? ”
“Eww!” all three children exclaimed at once, their faces showing their disgust.
“Hush this instant.” Fiona spoke in a stern whisper with a strong hiss to it, which had all the children riveted to her words. “You are all wild to be involved in the conversation about a horrible murder, but this is too much for you? Do I have that right?”
Hetty and I shared a sour glance. Frankly, any talk about the contents of one’s stomach when one has just finished lunch truly was too much.
“I think it’s time to end this conversation,” I said. “After all, we are not here simply to investigate, but to offer our assistance, and we’ve yet to do that.”
Hetty was quick to agree. “I’m growing concerned that the doctor you sent your footman for will arrive while we are gone.”
“After going to all the trouble of finding him and bringing him back to Hadley Grange, James is not likely to let the doctor slip away,” Fiona said breezily.
“But it would be best to get him to work as soon as possible. If we’re all finished here, we can walk to the church and check with the vicar about the needs of the villagers.
That shouldn’t take long, and then we can return home. ”
“Back to our story,” Gregory said. “I have a lot of ideas now.”
“Lovely.” I made a vow not to bring the children along the next time I did any investigating. They could do with a retelling when I returned. Then at least I could withhold those details I thought too gruesome for them.
While we all donned our coats and gathered our belongings, Hetty pulled me aside. “Lissette’s mention of poison sounded like a good possibility, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps, but as you said, poison doesn’t usually act so quickly.”
She held up a finger. “Yes, but after thinking about it, I’m not certain it would have to, and that’s a problem. The doctor could have been poisoned much earlier and simply succumbed to it that morning. Many poisons act within a day.”
“But Christine also made a good point,” I said. “Wouldn’t he have been ill?”
“Perhaps he was ill before he left home.” She shrugged. “Then he felt better, ventured out, and bam!”
“Bam,” I echoed. “Meaning he died.”
Hetty gave me a look of sympathy. “Here’s the troublesome part. In many villages like this, people often pay for services, like those of a doctor, with foodstuffs—a chicken or a dozen eggs or something they could poison easily, like a pie.”
It took a moment before I grasped the implications of this new possibility. “That means anyone might have administered the poison.”
“Not just anyone,” she said as if she were reassuring me. “They’d have to be a patient.”