Chapter Seventeen #2
‘They’re not admitting to anything, as is their right, I suppose, but they’ve both been formally arrested and we’ll be taking them into custody as soon as we’ve spoken to Mr McIntyre. Where’s he?’
I stayed with Bridgewater while Lady Hardcastle showed the policemen the way to JB’s room and we discussed the possibility of actually making it home before Wednesday.
At the rate things were going, I wasn’t hopeful but, despite everything, Bridgewater was a cheerful optimist and was absolutely convinced he’d be back in his own bed before the clock struck midnight.
Lady Hardcastle returned with Inspector Ellis and Dotty.
‘I can see we’re going to have the usual trouble with those three,’ said the inspector.
‘They’re all blaming each other, but that’s what crooks tend to do in my experience.
We’ll have the truth out of them, though, don’t you worry.
’ He drew his watch from his waistcoat pocket and consulted it.
‘I put in a request to the Coastguard at Plymouth before we set off this morning, asking them to send a boat and some men over to Guardians Rock. They had some business to attend to first, but the commander assured me he would have someone with us by midday. So I propose we all have a nice cup of tea while the sergeant and I take your statements, then we’ll take care of the suspects and the .
. . er . . . the bodies – begging your pardon, ladies – and Vickerman can take you back to the mainland.
If all goes well you should be in time to catch the afternoon train to Plymouth. ’
By half past twelve, a charming coastguard lieutenant and his men had secured the prisoners aboard his launch, along with the bodies of Everett and Sidwell-Plant.
Lady Hardcastle and Bridgewater had a long chat with the Crawfords, who were, as predicted, rather keen to stay on at the fort even in the absence of their employer.
Vickerman assured them that he knew a man who could salvage and repair JB’s diesel yacht, and Bridgewater offered them the job of caretakers until .
. . Actually, he put no time limit on it.
JB might wriggle free of the accusations but it was unlikely he’d return to the fort.
Then again, he might swing for his part in the murders, in which case his trusts would be wound up and the monies and properties disbursed according to the terms of his will.
Whatever happened, Bridgewater controlled the purse strings and was perfectly happy to let them stay and take care of the place.
‘It’d make a lovely hotel,’ said Peggy once he’d explained everything.
Bridgewater laughed. ‘Do you know, I rather think it would. Let’s let the legal matters play out and then I shall put it to the board.’
‘Thank you, sir. I’ve always fancied runnin’ a nice little hotel somewhere.’
‘It’s a splendid idea, Mrs C, and you and Mr C would make the perfect managers. Leave it with me.’
With Crawford’s help, Vickerman managed to get everyone’s luggage aboard his little fishing boat and the six of us crammed ourselves in among the nets, lobster pots and four cases of cognac as Crawford untied the lines and waved us off.
‘Do you have any suggestions for how we might get to the railway station?’ asked Lady Hardcastle as the little boat swished through the choppy water.
‘Don’t you worry about that, m’lady,’ said Vickerman. ‘Old Jethro’ll come and pick you up. Him and Jemima was the ones what brought you from the station t’other day. His cart’s big enough for all of you if you don’t mind squashin’ together.’
‘I’m sure we won’t mind, but will Jethro?’
Vickerman flicked a glance towards the cognac and winked. ‘Any friend of Jago Crawford is a friend of ours, m’lady. We’ll see you right.’
Clarice was sitting with her back to the gunwale, a happy grin on her face and her violin case clasped tightly to her chest.
I sat beside her. ‘What will you do now?’
‘In the long term? I don’t know. I shall carry on performing, I imagine. The world is full of accompanists and I can’t imagine not playing. I say, I don’t suppose your pal would like a job?’
‘Oh, you can do much better than her – she’d drive you mad in no time.’
‘And you couldn’t live without her, could you? I hear it in your voices.’
‘You might be right.’
She chuckled. ‘And in the short term, I’m taking Patience up on her offer of a room at her London place.’
Patience had heard us. ‘We’ll have the jolliest time. Two single ladies razzling about the town.’
‘We know a few rather degenerate nightclubs if you want a properly debauched evening or two,’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘Oh, and we can introduce you to some ragtime musicians if you ever fancy a change of pace from the classical repertoire.’
‘I might take you up on that,’ said Clarice. ‘I enjoyed playing with you.’
The Bridgewaters kept to themselves on the crossing, but by the time we were all disembarked and waiting outside Vickerman’s cottage for Jethro’s cart, they seemed to have settled things between them and their customary bonhomie returned.
Bridgewater looked at his watch. ‘By the time we get to Plymouth I think we’ll all be too late for trains to London and Bristol.
What say I try to sweet-talk the stationmaster into letting me use his telephone so I can try to get us some rooms in the city?
We can have supper together and then go our separate ways in the morning. ’
Everyone agreed.
‘Marvellous. So, there were six travellers on the road to . . .’
After a surprisingly convivial supper in Plymouth, we all retired to the neighbouring rooms Bridgewater had managed to book for us in a rather nice hotel.
The following morning, the whole group had made our way to the railway station together to catch our trains and only then realized that we’d all be on the same one – the train for London Paddington would be stopping at Bristol Temple Meads, where Lady Hardcastle and I would leave them so we could catch the local line to Chipping Bevington.
We couldn’t find a compartment with enough seats for all six of us, but by happy chance the steward was our old friend Pearson, who was happy to see us and was kind enough to arrange a large table for us in the restaurant car so that at least we could have lunch together.
We sat down to eat shortly after stopping at Exeter St Davids, and I soon saw a familiar figure hovering around near the restaurant door.
I beckoned Pearson over. ‘Do you see that gentleman at the end of the carriage?’
‘I do, miss. Isn’t he the one who shared your table last week?’
‘He is. We have room for one more if he wants to dine with us. My companions won’t mind.’
I honestly had no idea whether my companions would mind, nor did I much care – a chap has to eat.
Pearson made his way adroitly along the moving carriage and spoke to the man. I saw the smile of recognition and the tentative wave as Pearson explained my proposal, then the two men came back to the table.
‘I hope you don’t mind,’ I said to the group, ‘but this is our old friend Mr Dymond and I’ve invited him to eat with us.’
‘Not at all, dear boy,’ said Bridgewater jovially. ‘The more the merrier, what?’
‘It’s more a case of whether you’ll mind dining with us,’ said Clarice. ‘We’re an appalling bunch.’
‘Quite dreadful,’ said Patience. ‘Sit yourself down. Mr Dymond, is it?’
‘It is,’ said Dymond. ‘Like the jewel but with a Y.’
‘Splendid, splendid,’ said Bridgewater. ‘I suppose it falls to me to make the introductions. I’m Bridgewater, and this is my lovely wife. Then there’s Lady Hardcastle and Miss Armstrong, but I gather you already know them. Then we have Mrs Sidwell-Plant, and Mrs Everett.’
Dymond looked open-mouthed at Clarice. ‘Mrs Clarice Everett? The violinist?’
‘The very same,’ said Clarice.
‘What an honour. I’m a great admirer of your work. One of my most treasured memories is of a recital you performed at the Royal Albert Hall last year. You were spellbinding.’
‘You’re very kind to say so. Thank you.’
‘How was your weekend, Mr Dymond?’ asked Lady Hardcastle.
‘Very enjoyable, thank you. My friend was greatly impressed by my Titanic Bear and the two American examples he recently acquired were simply marvellous. As promised, he let me have one, so I’m taking him back with Titanic.’
‘Oh my goodness,’ said Patience, ‘do you have a Titanic Bear? I adore Steiff bears. I have three, but not the Titanic. Clarice, darling, you’d love them.’
‘I’m sure they look charming,’ said Clarice.
‘Oh, you goose. I meant you’d love the feel of them – they feel wonderful. The fur is so soft and comforting.’
Dymond beamed. ‘It’s rare to meet a fellow arctophile. I usually brace myself for mockery and incomprehension.’
‘Not at all,’ said Patience. ‘I adore toy bears.’
‘Or teddy bears, as the Americans call them,’ said Dymond. ‘Speaking of which, how did your weekend with your American host go? I got the impression from Lady Hardcastle and Miss Armstrong that it had the potential to be quite an exciting weekend.’
There was the briefest of silences around the table before everyone began laughing.
As the laughter subsided, Bridgewater held up his hand for calm. ‘You’ll have to forgive us, dear boy. No mockery intended. But it has been quite the weekend. It all began on Thursday afternoon, d’you see . . .’
We had telephoned the house from Plymouth station to let Edna the housekeeper know we would be returning later, and although she and Miss Jones, the cook, had gone home for the day, they had left food for us and made sure there was fresh milk and bread in the larder.
By the time the cabman had finished hauling our luggage into the hall, I had the kettle on and Lady Hardcastle was in the sitting room going through the post.
I brought the tea tray through. ‘Any invitations to country house weekends in there?’
‘Not yet, dear, no.’
‘If you come across any, do turn them down, won’t you.’
She laughed. ‘Absolutely. But you’re safe for now. So far I have a bill from the vintner, a bill from our dressmaker, and a letter from my brother.’
‘How is he? Oh, and how is Lavinia?’
‘He seems well, though he makes uncomplimentary comparisons between her and assorted large animals – notably the hippo. But the doctor says she’s in fine form, as is the baby, and that all is exactly as it should be for a woman who’s seven months along.’
‘Another niece or nephew for you to corrupt by the middle of April, then.’
‘I do hope so. It’s a pity he or she won’t be with us when we go up for your birthday treat.’
‘It just gives us an excuse for another trip to London later in the spring.’
‘I suppose so.’ She put down her letters.
‘I don’t know about you, but I could do with being in the company of people who aren’t trying to defraud each other, steal from each other, murder each other, fit each other up for those murders, or generally pretend to be that which they are not. Shall we go to the pub?’
‘Will we find anyone like that there?’
‘Perhaps not, but they’ll be our friends and we’ll forgive them their foibles.’
And so we put our hats and coats back on and set off down the chilly lane to the village green and the Dog and Duck.
Loud, smoky and a little bit dishevelled. And the pub wasn’t in great shape, either.
My friend Daisy was behind the bar, wiping glasses with a suspect tea towel.
‘Evenin’, ladies, what can I get you?’
‘I’ll have a brandy, I think,’ said Lady Hardcastle.
I nodded. ‘Me too, please.’
Daisy began fussing with the glasses. ‘It’s lovely to see you both. We was expectin’ to see you yesterday, though, to tell the truth. How was your swanky weekend away?’
‘Absolutely marvellous, Daisy dear,’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘Though I confess I should prefer to go to Devonshire in the summertime if we visit again. It was more than a little nippy.’
‘I can imagine. We ’ad a bit of a storm here Saturday – took some roof tiles off our ma’s next-door neighbour’s house.’
‘Was anyone hurt?’
‘Nooo – they’s all right. Bedroom got a bit damp but it weren’t nothin’ a bucket couldn’t take care of. Sam Hardiman come round and fixed it yesterday mornin’.’
‘No other damage?’
‘None as I know of. Few branches blown down, that sort of thing. But I wants to know about this fort you went to. What was it like? What did you get up to?’
‘Oh, you know,’ I said. ‘The usual.’