Marion Chesney - Sick of Shadows

A LSO BY M ARION C HESNEY

Sick of Shadows

Hasty Death

Snobbery with Violence

BY M. C. B EATON

The Skeleton in the Closet

The Agatha Raisin Series

The Perfect Paragon

The Deadly Dance

Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House

Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate

Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell

Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam

Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage

Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener

The Vicious Vet

The Quiche of Death

Once more, methought, I saw them stand

(Twas but a dream I know),

That elegant and noble band

Of fifty years ago.

The men, frock-coated, tall and proud,

The women in a silken cloud,

While in the midst of them appeared

(A vision I still retain)

The Monarch sipping pink champagne,

And smiling through his beard.

JAMES LAVER

The Tremaine family were interviewed at Scotland Yard separately. Harry was given permission to sit in on the interviews.

All were claiming that they had been overset by Dollys death and outraged by Lady Roses visit, thinking she was prodding and prying and opening the fresh wounds of their grief.

During a break in the interviewing, Harry drew Kerridge aside. I think you should point out to Jeremy that unless he owns up to murder, his mother and father will hang as well as himself.

I think hes the toughest one of the three, said Kerridge. Oh, by the way. Berrow and Banks have been found.

Where? How?

About forty miles south of Glasgow. They were driving and their motor hit a bridge. Banks was thrown clear but hit a stone and was killed outright. The motor with Berrow went up in flames, so the state is spared two expensive trials. Banks had been stripped naked, probably by the locals. The police did a house-to-house search in the nearby village but found nothing. They probably buried the stuff somewhere and will dig it up later when they think the heats died down. Berrow must have taken the wheel after the village because the locals did say that it was Banks at the wheel when they drove through.

Good riddance, said Harry. Lets try Jeremy again.

As they entered the interview room, Harry was struck afresh by the difference in looks between Jeremy and his beautiful sister.

Jeremy looked at them with flat eyes, sitting hunched at a table. He had refused a lawyer, saying he was innocent.

I do not think you understand the gravity of the situation, Mr. Tremaine, began Kerridge. He sat down opposite Jeremy; Judd joined him and Harry sat in the corner of the room beside a policeman with a shorthand pad.

I have done nothing wrong, said Jeremy. God is my witness.

Do you realize that because of your silence, you will all hang? Do you want to know that you sent your parents to a shameful death?

There is no proof.

Your servants are talking now. On the night Dolly was killed, they heard her screaming, No! Dont! We have the proof that you visited Reg Bolton in prison. He had money in his wallet. I am sure we can trace it to your bank. You killed the footman, Will Hubbard, or had Bolton do it for you. The police are interviewing everyone in Sweetwater Lane armed with photographs of you and of Bolton. But until there is actual proof that you yourself killed your sister, there will be enough circumstantial evidence to hang the lot of you.

Jeremy buried his head in his hands.

Harry suddenly spoke from his corner. Had she been your own sister, you would not have killed her. But she was not your real sister, was she? Out with it, man. Confession is good for the soul, and you will be double-damned if you let your parents hang.

Jeremy began to sob. They waited patiently. At last he dried his eyes on his sleeve. All right, he said in a weary voice. All right. Ill tell you.

It was Fathers fault to start with. He had a good parish in Oxfordshire. But he got one of our servant girls pregnant. He had the living from Lord Dyrecombe. The girl went to Lady Dyrecombe. My father said it was her word against his, but the girl was the daughter of one of the Dyrecombes respected tenants and they believed her. My father was told to look for another living. The bishop was angry with him and Apton Magna was all that was on offer. After the baby was born, the servant girl drowned herself and Lady Dyrecombe called on my father and said the least we could do was to bring the baby up as our own.

My father had little to do with her until he noticed that she had become a great beauty. We all saw a way to restore our prestige and fortunes through Dolly. My father had received an inheritance and we decided to give Dolly a Season in London. She said she was in love with the blacksmiths son, but we told her she owed us everything.

He spoke in a dull, flat monotone. For a moment the only sound was the policemans pencil catching up on his shorthand notes.

Jeremy sighed and began to speak again.

Then Lord Berrow asked leave to pay his addresses. We told her he would be calling in the morning and she was to accept. We had such hopes. Berrow had spoken to me. He said once he was married to Dolly and I had finished my studies at Oxford, he could get me a good living, maybe even in Mayfair. He also said he would speak to the archbishop and get my father somewhere better than Apton Magna. We were so full of hope. We were so happy.

Then Dolly began to scream that she would not do it, that she was going to run away. She went to her room.

My parents sent me to see her. She defied me. She dared to laugh in my face. Me! That cuckoo in our family nest, that bastard, dared to laugh at me. I was blind with rage. I went to my room and got a dagger, a Turkish one, that someone had given me.

I went back to her room and held it on her. You will do as youre told, I said, or I will kill you.

She laughed again. You! Youre not a man like my Roger, she said. You wouldnt dare.

Thats when I stabbed her. There was blood everywhere. My parents came rushing in.

We knew we had to get her away from the house. At the ball wed seen her slipping a note to Lady Rose, and we stole it. We knew she planned to meet Lady Rose at the Serpentine. We thought, let Lady Rose find the body. With luck theyll think she did it.

Wed had that Lady of Shalott costume made for her, because her engagement was to be announced at the fancy-dress party the following week. We cleaned her and dressed her in it. I got the carriage round from the mews, and we put her in it and took her down to the Serpentine and laid her out in that rowing-boat. My father said prayers over her. Somehow it eased the horror to see her lying there so calm and beautiful.

In the morning, we gathered all the servants together. We told them Dolly had run away. One asked what all the commotion the previous night had been about. I told them if they said anything about it they would lose their jobs.

So why did you go after Lady Rose? asked Kerridge.

The newspapers implied she was holding something back. I was terrified. I went to see that villain, Bolton. When I visited him in prison, he told me he would do anything for money. I never thought at that time that I would have any use for him. But I needed him. The only gun we had was a ladys purse gun. I gave that to him.