Chapter 13
Harry agreed that I should be the one to speak to D.S. Forrester on the telephone. While the sergeant may no longer be bruised from my obvious preference for Harry, he was still likely to tell me more than he would Harry.
After waiting several minutes, Forrester’s voice finally crackled down the line. “I wondered how long it would be before you telephoned, Miss Fox, although I admit I didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“I heard about Mr. Hamlin’s arrest from a member of his family,” I said. “We met him as part of our investigation. Do you have evidence that points to him?”
“Of course I do.”
“My apologies, I didn’t mean to imply you would arrest a man with no evidence.”
“You know I can’t tell you anything.”
“I do, but Harry’s client will appreciate no longer being the focus of your attention, Sergeant. Is there anything we can tell the doctor to give him hope?”
He paused, which was better than an outright refusal.
“Please, Monty.” Hopefully using his first name would work in my favor and not strike another mark against me.
“We both have the same objective. In fact, perhaps we can help gather more evidence for you while you interrogate Mr. Hamlin. We’ve made some solid contacts while investigating this case, including people close to him.
They trust us and might open up to us more than to the police.
” I chewed my lower lip as I waited for his response.
While I hadn’t completely lied, it was certainly an embellishment of the truth.
He gave in with a sigh. “Very well. We were given a letter he wrote some time ago to his former employer threatening to destroy him by sabotaging his device, the Electro Therapy Machine.”
Mr. Reid had told us Mr. Hamlin had been upset at his dismissal, but he’d not mentioned a letter. “Why did it take Mr. Reid until now to give it to you?”
“He only just found it.”
“How convenient.”
“I thought it was coincidental, too, but Hamlin hasn’t denied writing it, so I can only assume he did.”
“What does Mr. Hamlin say about it?”
“Nothing. He’s refusing to talk.”
I wondered if Forrester knew Edith Hamlin had been a patient of Dr. Iverson’s, and the doctor had failed to diagnose her cancer.
If he didn’t yet, he would soon. It would seal Mr. Hamlin’s fate, and I didn’t want to be the one to tell him.
Not yet. It didn’t feel right. There were pieces of the puzzle missing, most notably the reason Duncan would kill Isabel Kempsey.
“Thank you, Sergeant. You’ve been a great help, and I’m sure you’ll crack him soon. You’re a marvelous investigator.” I hung up the receiver.
Harry stood on the opposite side of his desk to me, his arms crossed over his chest. “That was a little much at the end.”
I pushed myself to my feet and rounded the desk. “Probably, but I feel as though I need to bolster his confidence a little. It took a bit of a dent after…you know.” I clasped his jacket lapels and stood on my toes to kiss him.
He unfolded his arms and circled them around me, kissing me back. When I finally pulled away, he resisted. “We don’t have to go just yet, do we?”
“A man has been arrested, Harry. I feel sorry for Duncan Hamlin, but I know that doesn’t mean he’s innocent. Even so, if he is, we need to find the real killer quickly, because Forrester can build a strong case against him. Hamlin has motives to destroy the doctor in abundance.”
“Perhaps he’s not innocent.”
He tried to kiss me again, but I placed a hand to his chest, warding him off.
He sighed. “Very well. From what I overheard of the conversation, it sounded like Reid is involved.”
“He found an old letter written by Hamlin threatening to destroy the Electro Therapy Machine. It seems suspicious that he never mentioned its existence before today.”
Harry glanced at the clock on the mantel. “We’ll call on him now, but we shouldn’t stay too long. We have the meeting at the hotel, and I don’t want to miss it.”
“I’m not sure our presence is entirely necessary. We’ve given the best description of Pierce that we could. We can’t do more than that.”
“Sir Ronald has asked me to go, and I don’t want to disappoint him. Not now when I’m trying to stay on his good side.” He stole a kiss, then fetched my coat from the stand.
I glanced at the clock, too. “We’ll make sure we’re not late.”
Mr. Reid invited us into his office with enthusiasm, but not because he was pleased to see us.
“I’ve been meaning to contact you, Mr. Armitage.
You promised to clear my device of any fault in causing the death of that woman at Iverson’s clinic, but there’s been no retractions in the newspapers.
They continue to mention the Electro Therapy Machine in a negative light every time they report on the police investigation. ”
“I promised no such thing,” Harry said, his voice calmer than mine would have been. “I was hired by Dr. Iverson to clear his name. In doing so, I suspected I’d be proving your device was sabotaged. But I didn’t promise.”
Mr. Reid rested his elbows on his desk and buried his hands in his hair. “This is a nightmare. My reputation is ruined a little more each day this isn’t resolved.”
“Is that why you faked a note from Duncan Hamlin?”
“It’s not a fake! He did write it.”
“Then why not mention it earlier to us? Or the police? Why wait until now?”
“Because I forgot about it. I found it this morning among my paperwork.” He indicated his office with its cluttered desk and workbenches.
“I received it in the mail shortly after I dismissed him last year. It wasn’t signed but it’s written in his hand.
I provided the police with a copy of notes he took when he worked here so they could compare the writing. ”
“They arrested him a short time ago,” Harry said.
Mr. Reid swallowed. “Good. The sooner this is over with, the better.”
It was easy to believe a piece of paper got lost in the large, untidy office, but not for an entire year. “What did it say?” I asked.
“He accused me of not paying him appropriately for his design. If I didn’t compensate him, he would ruin me.”
Although I had sat, Harry remained standing. He now wandered around the office, his hands clasped behind his back. “Did you use his design without adequately compensating him?”
“He was employed by me at the time. Any design he worked on was owned by me.” He pointed at the door. “I’d like you to leave.”
“We’re not finished.” Harry finally sat. “Let’s presume Hamlin did design the Electro Therapy Machine during his employment here.”
“He has no claim!”
Harry put up a hand to stop him. “I’m not interested in whether that’s true or not.
It only matters if Hamlin believes it. Ever since his dismissal, he’s been something of a thorn in your side.
Not only does he think he ought to have been compensated better, he established his own company to create a device that will rival yours. ”
Mr. Reid sniffed. “It won’t be as good.”
“The reputation of your device is currently suffering. You just told us your reputation is being ruined a little more each day this isn’t resolved. By having your rival arrested, you remove the man who has been bothering you for some time.”
Mr. Reid shot to his feet. “Now listen here, Armitage. I did not fake that letter. Hamlin wrote it. I dare him to deny it in a court of law.”
That was the part that niggled at me. According to D.S. Forrester, Duncan hadn’t denied it. He wasn’t talking at all. If he were innocent, why not say so?
“You once described Duncan as a good employee,” I said. “You even said you treated him like a son.”
“He betrayed me by taking my designs with him. I owe him nothing.”
“That letter could be enough to convict him. He’ll hang for murder, Mr. Reid. Is that what you want?”
He lifted his chin and peered down his nose at me. I peered back, unblinking.
After a moment, he sat again. “The death of Hamlin’s wife changed him.
She was ill for quite some time before she finally passed.
The disease weakened her, made her tired, and she could spend all day in bed.
Apparently, she used a tonic and powders that eased the pain and enlivened her enough so he would come to work, but the effects never lasted long. ”
Her file at the clinic said she was using the Nerve Elixir, which would explain her brief periods of revitalization. The cocaine’s effects were strong but temporary, and she would have required more and more of it to achieve the same result.
“I was very patient with him during that time,” Mr. Reid went on.
“You say her illness changed him,” Harry said. “Do you think he became a man capable of murder?”
“He adored her. If he blamed the doctor…” Mr. Reid shrugged, as if that answered the question.
“If he blamed the doctor, why kill Mrs. Kempsey?” I asked.
“It may have been an accident. I don’t know. That’s for the police to determine now.”
It may well have been an accident. Isabel Kempsey had complained of an erratic heartbeat.
Dr. Iverson may have cleared her of a problem, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t existed.
It was entirely possible the person who tampered with the machine never meant for her to die.
They presumed the doctor would switch the device off immediately.
She would be seriously hurt, but most likely alive.
Taking all the evidence into account, as well as the motive, it was looking very likely that Duncan Hamlin was guilty.