Chapter Seven
Frederick
Frederick was tempted to remain in his position beneath the chestnut tree.
Lady Mary’s attempts to gain entry to White’s were diverting, his amusement increasing in proportion to her rising aggravation.
But as he also had a job to do, and as he also understood the frustration of being excluded from a place based on no more than a happenstance of birth, he stepped from the shade and climbed the steps of the gentlemen’s club.
“Rollins, officer of the Bow Street magistrate.” He handed the doorman his card. “Is Mr. Bannister within?”
“Of course he is.” Lady Mary stabbed her walking stick into the ground, perilously close to the doorman’s foot. “And as I’ve informed Mr. Blodgett here, he will want to see me. His family has asked for my assistance in discovering his mother’s killer.”
Frederick lifted his eyebrows. That seemed like an excessive bit of truth-stretching.
“And as I’ve informed the lady, only men can enter White’s.” Blodgett clasped his hands behind his back, his face a deep ruddy shade.
Lady Mary practically vibrated from indignation.
Frederick sighed. “There are exceptions to every rule.” It would be easier this way.
Let Lady Mary observe his interview rather than have her harangue him for all the details later.
“I’m certain your members would understand the small breach in custom under these circumstances.
After all, they are smart enough to understand that they wouldn’t want White’s or its members to come under the scrutiny of Bow Street. ”
Blodgett still hesitated.
“I do know the tax authorities have been interested in examining the finances of London’s clubs after that fraudulent scheme Warwick’s was caught out in last year.
” Frederick kept his expression even, the threat friendly.
“I would hate to give them any cause to refocus their suspicions on clubs such as this one.”
Blodgett blotted his forehead with a handkerchief. “Well, perhaps just this one time….”
Lady Mary wisely remained silent, but her smile was triumphant as the doorman showed them inside and quickly led them to a small room off the main hallway.
Bookshelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, and oil lamps were stationed on small tables beside each chair.
A cigar lay in an ashtray on one of the tables, smoke slowly coiling up from its end.
The room had been recently occupied, but was currently empty.
“I’ll ask Mr. Bannister to see you here,” Blodgett said, quietly closing the door behind them.
Lady Mary found a high-backed leather wingchair and settled herself, smoothing her skirts. “That was well done.” She pushed her spectacles up her nose and gave him an appraising look. “You’ve surprised me.”
She made it sound as though that didn’t happen often.
“I’m glad to have met your approval,” he said dryly.
He strolled around the room, reading some of the titles.
The selection was better than his circulating library’s.
It confirmed what he’d always thought. Money equaled access: to information, to people of power, to leisure.
The door opened, and Lord and Lady Richford’s son shambled in.
But money couldn’t protect you from tragedy. Death came for all.
Edgar Bannister was holding up well. His light-brown hair was neatly combed, the barrel knot in his cravat formed by a steady hand, though Bannister probably had a man to do all that.
He dropped into a chair across from Lady Mary and gave them both an insolent look.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“The root causes of the French Revolution.” Lady Mary huffed. “What do you think we wish to speak with you about? Your mother’s death, of course.”
Bannister slouched in his seat. “What do I know of it?”
Frederick moved a chair so it sat to the right of Bannister and to the left of Lady Mary. He settled into it and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “You might know more than you’re aware of. Even the most seemingly innocuous detail could be of help.”
Bannister shrugged. “Fine.”
“As well as being a member of my club, your mother was involved in many charitable committees,” Lady Mary began. “Can you tell us all the extra activities she was involved in?”
“Charitable committees.” Bannister snorted. “Yes, she was all for feeding the poor, trying to raise money for London’s orphanages. She loved to be seen doing good.”
Frederick slid his notepad from his pocket. “It is fashionable to be on those public works committees,” he said diplomatically.
Lady Mary seemed to have no talent for diplomacy. “You show little respect for your mother. Typically when someone dies, those close to her at least try to pretend they’re upset.”
“And why should I?” Bannister cracked the knuckles on his right hand. “Did she respect me? Wasn’t she always speaking ill of me to my father? My mother was no saint.”
Frederick tried to regain control of the interview. “Which is why we’re speaking with you. Have you thought more of who might want to harm your mother?”
“The list is long.” Bannister slid a case from his inside pocket and removed a cheroot. He picked up the smoking cigar and lit his cheroot from the hot end.
“And it includes you?” Lady Mary asked.
Frederick shot her an annoyed look. Her provoking remarks could insult Bannister into leaving.
Bannister remained silent.
“I’ve been told that you and your mother exchanged many cutting remarks.” She patted the lace cap over her ivory hair. “That you were expecting some blunt from your father, which your mother put a stop to.”
The charcoal in Frederick’s hand almost snapped. He didn’t know if he was more annoyed at her brash questions or the fact that he hadn’t been privy to that information.
“It’s no secret my mother kept a tight fist on my father’s purse.” Bannister’s nostrils flared. “She was a greedy, petty woman. She said I didn’t deserve it. Me. What did she ever do to deserve her wealth but spread her legs?”
Frederick had seen and heard much in his time at Bow Street, but even that managed to shock him. “There is a lady present,” he reminded the younger man sternly. “Watch your language.”
“I am a widow of a certain age,” Lady Mary said dryly. “There isn’t much about human nature I don’t know about.” She turned back to Bannister. “Including the disrespect of children, even though I had none of my own.”
“What was there to respect? It wasn’t only me my mother insulted.
” Bannister gripped the arms of his chair.
“She insulted my father in the worst way a woman can. Do you think she joined your club to take tea with her friends? It was an easy answer to where she was going when she left the house. Even when that wasn’t her intended destination. ”
“An affair?” Lady Mary pursed her lips. “With whom?”
Bannister looked toward the door. “I don’t know. I don’t care. But if you’re looking for her killer, look in that direction. A man will only take such nonsense from a mistress for so long.”
Frederick turned to a new page in his notebook. Bannister might not have intended it, but if he spoke the truth, he’d just given his father a motive for the murder, as well.
Once again, Lady Mary’s thoughts were in line with his. “Did your father know?”
“No.” Bannister dropped his chin in his palm. “He was oblivious, as usual.”
“And now that your mother is gone?” Frederick cocked his head. “Will your father give you the money he’d earlier promised?”
Bannister’s eyes briefly gleamed before returning to their sullen set. “Who knows? Who cares? I’m well taken care of either way.”
Lady Mary gripped the handle of her walking stick, the veins in her hands showing faintly blue through her thin skin. “But Miss Lynton said—”
“Miss Lynton? Ellie?” Bannister jerked upright. “Has that mouse been telling tales? What does she know? Nothing.”
The back of Frederick’s neck heated. Just how well did Edgar Bannister know Ellie? And why hadn’t she told him of Bannister’s poor relationship with his mother when he’d questioned her?
Lady Mary patted her white lace cap. “She knows enough. You didn’t deny that your mother put a stop to you getting money, and Miss Lynton is familiar with financial difficulties.”
Bannister smirked. “Her father’s windmill did dwindle to a nutshell. She lost several seasons of prime husband hunting when her family lost their money. Probably why no one wants her now, even if she is flush.”
Frederick wished his notebook pages were larger.
Or his handwriting was smaller. He was going through his book at an alarming rate.
Wealthy or not, he found it difficult to believe that Miss Lynton didn’t have lots of men vying for her attention.
Not with her large, taffy-colored eyes and appealing curves.
“I’d heard,” Lady Mary said carefully, “that the Lyntons had fallen on difficult times once more.”
“The Lyntons? Rolled-up?” Bannister snorted.
“Not again in this lifetime. When Mr. Lynton gained back his fortune, it was the only time I ever saw my mother feel regret. She’d given Mrs. Lynton the cut direct when they’d first lost their money, and she’d burned that bridge but good.
When the Lyntons came back into society, they wanted nothing to do with Lady Richford.
” A sincere smile stretched across his face, making the man look happy for the first time since Frederick had met him.
A knock sounded on the door before it opened. A gangly man with a shock of red hair poked his head inside. “Are you done yet, Eddie? The rest of the lads are leaving for the theater.”
Bannister popped to his feet. “I’m coming. I think I’ve said all I need to these two.” And without even a by-your-leave, he trotted from the room.
“Well.” Lady Mary arched her eyebrows. “Perhaps being childless isn’t such a tragedy if they turn out like that. There was no love lost between him and his mother. He’s just gone to the top of my list of suspects.”
Frederick put away his notebook and stood. “No. It doesn’t mean he killed her, however.”
Lady Mary rose, as well. “It doesn’t mean he didn’t, either.”
“How would he get into your club unobserved?” Frederick nodded as Blodgett flapped his hands at them, in a hurry to show them out.
A man must have gained entry to The Minerva Club.
He had a hard time envisioning a woman committing such a crime, or even having the strength to accomplish it.
He was curious what Lady Mary’s thoughts were on the holes in her club’s security.
“I don’t know. Yet.” She shaded her eyes as they stepped outside, the door seeming to close unnaturally quickly behind them. “But if a man did sneak into my club, I will find out how.”
Frederick gave her an appraising look. For a woman, Lady Mary was made of unusually stern stuff.
Perhaps she would discover how a man got into her club.
He hailed a hackney and waited for the carriage to pull in front of White’s.
Feeling benevolent, he offered, “I’m going to the Lyntons to question them. Do you want to come?”
Lady Mary nodded to her own carriage. The driver had hopped down to open the door. “No, I thank you. I have somewhere else to be.”
Just as well. He saw her inside, and nodded as her carriage drew off. He had some very pointed questions to ask Miss Eleanor Lynton, and he didn’t need Lady Mary there to run interference.