Chapter Three
Riley and Salter lingered in the drawing room, giving Vermont a moment to organise the removal of his younger daughters and to prime Kemp regarding their need to speak with the servants individually. He opened the door to the hallway and found Carter and Soames awaiting instructions.
‘Anything of interest?’ he asked, referring to their search.
‘A few heavy footprints in the soft ground, but they could have been caused by any of the dozens of people who’ve trampled the area since the body was discovered,’ Soames replied. ‘In other words, nothing significant.’
Riley hadn’t expected anything else. ‘Right, take yourself off to the kitchens, Carter, on the pretext of needing tea—’
‘That won’t be no pretext,’ Salter chortled.
‘Thank you, sergeant.’ Riley returned his attention to his two detective constables. ‘I dare say all the servants will be congregated there. Keep it casual, Carter. I don’t want them concocting stories amongst themselves before I can talk to them all. I need to know who seems the most affected by the tragedy. I will come and find you once I’ve finished up here. Soames, go up to the top floor and find Miss Mottram’s room. It will be the one adjacent to the school room. Conduct a methodical search. I’m looking specifically for diaries, address books, personal papers…you know the type of thing.’
The two constables acknowledged their orders and went about their assignments.
‘Right, Jack. Before we talk to Heather, what did you make of Lord and Lady Vermont?’
‘Her ladyship’s a cold fish. I personally wouldn’t be taken in by her fragility. Underneath it all, she’s as hard as nails.’
Riley curled his upper lip. ‘I tend to agree,’ he said.
Salter sniffed. ‘You’re thinking that Daniel Vermont and Miss Mottram were more than casual acquaintances?’
‘The possibility has occurred to me, given that she made a habit of spending her spare time in London. What’s more, no one raised the alarm when she didn’t return before dark, which implies that she regularly stayed out late.’
‘How did she get back into the house then?’
‘Perhaps she had a key, but that is something Kemp will be able to tell us.’
Salter rubbed his chin. ‘Vermont didn’t want you bothering his precious son, that much was obvious.’
‘And is why he will be the first person we speak with when we return to London.’ Salter grinned in anticipation. ‘Those three little girls are the only people we have seen so far in this household who appear to regret Miss Mottram’s passing.’
‘Perhaps she wasn’t a very nice person,’ Salter suggested, ‘or, God forbid, didn’t know her place.’
‘Thank you, sergeant,’ Riley replied in a droll tone. ‘Your insight is always appreciated.’
‘Happy to oblige, sir.’
‘Shall we see if Heather is ready for us?’
Riley led the way through the adjoining door, where he found father and daughter in close conversation.
‘Would you like me to stay?’ Vermont asked, looking up at Riley.
‘Only if Heather would prefer it. My sergeant here is a family man. Children respond well to him.’
‘I am not a child,’ Heather protested. ‘You may leave us, Papa. I will speak with the inspector alone.’
‘As you wish, my dear.’ Vermont showed no surprise at the child’s precociousness and quietly left the room, unable to completely disguise his relief.
‘Now then,’ Riley said, seating himself across from the woman-child. ‘Show me just how observant you actually are, Heather, by telling me what you know about Miss Mottram that no one else did.’
‘Was she kind to you?’ Salter asked, when Heather didn’t immediately respond. ‘Or did she make you work too hard?’
‘She was lots of fun, but that’s a secret. I suppose it doesn’t matter now that she’s dead.’ Heather sniffed. ‘She made learning interesting and made fun of people behind their backs.’
‘What people?’ Riley asked.
‘Some of Mama’s friends who she said were stuffy and pretentious.’
‘What about her own friends? Who did she like the most?’
‘She was walking out with someone, but she said it was a secret.’ Heather lowered her voice. ‘I wasn’t to tell anyone, so I didn’t.’
‘Did she say who he was?’
Heather shook her head, looking reluctant to admit that she didn’t know. ‘But she promised me that she wouldn’t leave us, and she always kept her promises.’ Heather sniffed. ‘Except she didn’t this time, because she has left.’
‘Not because she wanted to, love,’ Salter said softly. ‘And I expect she’s relying on you to help us find out who took her from you.’
The child’s lower lip quivered. ‘I don’t know anything else.’ Tears of frustration trickled down her cheeks. ‘Will the man who killed her come after us? He might if he thinks we know who he is?’
‘Why would he think that?’ Salter asked.
‘He might think that Miss Mottram told us about him.’
‘You imagine it was her special friend who killed her? The one she was walking out with.’ Riley frowned. ‘Why do you think that?’
‘She didn’t know anyone else in Dulwich,’ she said, as though it was obvious. ‘And now Julia and Isabel are scared.’
‘No one will hurt you,’ Salter told her. ‘Now, why would the man who killed her think you know who he is.’
Heather suddenly looked vulnerable, unsure of herself. ‘I’ll get into trouble.’
‘No you won’t, sweetheart.’ Salter smiled at her. ‘We won’t tell your papa what you say to us and that’s a promise.’
‘Well…’ The child swallowed down her tears, the desire to be the bearer of useful information winning out over caution. ‘I followed Miss Mottram once. We were supposed to be looking for wild flowers on the other side of the orchard. She said she had to go out for a short time and that we were to carry on picking flowers and not tell Mama.’
‘Had she done that before?’ Riley asked.
Her eyes round and solemn, Heather nodded.
‘How did she get out of the grounds? She would have been seen from the front of the house if she’d walked down the drive.’
‘There’s a small side gate, in the wall behind the stables. It’s locked but Miss Mottram had a key to it.’ Riley and Salter exchanged a significant look, thinking that would explain the key they had found in her purse. ‘I don’t know where she got it from, but Mama didn’t know about it and I promised not to tell.’
‘You followed her that day,’ Riley suggested.
Heather nodded. ‘She seemed unhappy. I think she was angry about something. I was worried we’d done something wrong and wanted to make it right so that she wouldn’t leave us. She went to the field at the back of the college—’
‘Dulwich college?’ Salter asked.
Heather nodded. ‘A man came out. A teacher, I think. He must have been because he was tall. A lot taller than Miss Mottram and he wasn’t wearing a uniform. The boys lose privileges if they’re seen out of uniform.’ The child frowned. ‘But then, he wasn’t wearing a gown like the teachers do, either.’
‘You are very observant,’ Riley said gently.
Heather beamed. ‘I hid behind a tree and watched them, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. They talked for quite a while. It looked like the man was trying to persuade her to do something, but she kept shaking her head. Then he took her arms, like this.’ She placed her own hands on her opposite upper arms. ‘And he shook her really hard. Then she shouted at him, he let her go and she came dashing back here. I had to run through the trees so that I arrived before her.’
‘Well done, Heather.’ Riley smiled at her. ‘That might be really helpful. Thank you for telling us, but make sure you don’t tell anyone else for the time being.’
‘I won’t.’
‘Thank goodness for nosy children,’ Salter said as the two detectives went up to the nursery floor to see how the search of Miss Mottram’s room was progressing.
‘I wish I knew if she’d continued seeing the tutor from the college after last spring,’ Riley said. ‘It seems unlikely, otherwise she would have spent her spare time locally. But the question remains, did the tutor want the relationship to continue and—’
‘And accosted her upon her return yesterday, trying to persuade her to give him another chance. She rejected him, he got angry, things got out of hand…’
‘My thoughts precisely, Jack. Whoever killed her knew her habits. He waited for her to return. Perhaps she came in through the side gate. In fact I’m sure she did, seeing that she had the key with her. It would be quicker for her coming from the station than walking all the way around the front, like we had to. Anyway, our killer followed her, the confrontation turned violent and she ran into the orchard, scared for her life. He followed her and silenced her permanently.’
‘It still could have been someone from the house,’ Salter pointed out. ‘From what Heather told us, our Miss Mottram wasn’t exactly a paragon of virtue. A pretty lass like her probably had more than one cove sniffing round her petticoats and I’m guessing she enjoyed the attention.’
Riley nodded his agreement. ‘Already we have two potential suspects. Daniel Vermont and the tutor from the college. Once we’ve spoken to the servants, we might be able to add more names to our list.’
Their speculations took them to the top floor. They found Soames sitting on the edge of a neatly-made single bed, its untouched state eradicating any lingering possibility that Miss Mottram had returned to the house and then gone out again to meet someone. Riley’s detective looked up from the papers he’d taken from an open drawer. Riley acknowledged him, then took a moment to absorb Miss Mottram’s private space. There was a bed and small table beside it, and a wardrobe which Salter opened. There was a row of grey gowns, presumably the victim’s working attire, but there was also a surprising number of other garments, all in bright colours and of reasonable quality. He wondered when she had the opportunity to wear them, thinking Lady Vermont would take a dim view of a servant, especially a younger and prettier woman, drawing so much attention to herself through flamboyant clothing.
There was a desk beneath the window and a single upholstered chair. A few novels sat on a shelf, a shawl was thrown casually across the back of the chair, but there was nothing of a personal nature to lend insight into the victim’s character.
‘Anything?’ he asked Soames.
‘Just a few letters from her father urging her to reconsider, sir.’
‘Reconsider what?’ Salter asked.
Soames shook his head. ‘No idea. He doesn’t go into specifics. These letters date back six months to the time of her arrival here, then they ceased to correspond. Either that or Miss Mottram stopped saving the letters she received. She obviously answered these earlier ones because her father refers to those responses and keeps reminding her of her duty.’
‘Sounds as though he wanted her to return to the West Country,’ Salter observed.
‘Seems that way. There are no letters from anyone else, and no address books or diaries that I’ve been able to find.’ Soames looked up and frowned. ‘This room feels unlived in, if you know what I mean, sir.’
‘I do, Soames. In fact, I was just now thinking the exact same thing. It’s as though she didn’t intend to stay for long, but something or someone kept her here.’ Riley sighed. ‘Right, bag up those letters, sergeant. We’ll go through them back at the yard. Let’s go and talk to the servants now. Soames, you and Carter talk to the cook and the maids. Get their honest impressions of the victim. Did they like her? Was she a flirt? Did she share any personal information with them? That sort of thing. I suspect that she did not. I have already formed the opinion that she was not a woman’s woman, but I could be wrong. Salter and I will talk to the men.’
They walked into the kitchen to find Carter seated at the table with a pot of tea and plate of fresh scones in front of him.
‘Working hard, constable?’ Riley asked.
Carter jumped to his feet. ‘Sorry, sir.’
‘No need to be.’ He turned towards Kemp. ‘I should like to talk to the male servants, one at a time, starting with you. The morning room has been set aside for that purpose.’
‘So I understand, inspector.’ Kemp clapped his hands. ‘Return to your duties, the rest of you, and offer these gentlemen all the assistance they require.’
‘Yes, Mr Kemp,’ several voices muttered.
Upon reaching the morning room, Riley took a chair and invited Kemp to follow his example.
‘I would prefer to stand, if it’s all the same to you, sir.’
Riley wasn’t surprised to hear it. ‘Very well. I understand from Lord Vermont that you are a long-standing and loyal servant, Kemp, and you are therefore likely to be of enormous help to my investigation.’
‘I shall certainly endeavour to be so, sir. This is, if I might be permitted to say so, a shocking and distressing affair which doesn’t reflect well upon Lord Vermont or the household as a whole.’ Kemp shook his head. ‘I never thought to see the day.’
‘Tell me about Miss Mottram. What did you make of her?’
‘The young ladies were greatly attached to her.’
‘Which is not what I asked you.’ Riley’s tone became firmer. ‘If I am to discover who committed this crime, I need for you to be candid, Kemp. If Miss Mottram’s character was questionable, that defect will not reflect upon you. It’s not as though you employed the lady.’
Kemp’s stiff posture relaxed slightly. ‘And frankly, sir, I would not have done so if the decision had been mine. There was something about her that made me uncomfortable. She thought she was better than the rest of us and made no attempt to fit in.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Well, for example, she didn’t dine with the family, but chose not to eat in the servants’ hall either, despite the fact that she was a servant herself, albeit a senior one. But then, so am I and I don’t have ideas above my station.’ Kemp gave a disdainful sniff. ‘She insisted upon having her meals sent up to her room, making extra work for the kitchen.’
‘I get the impression that she hoped to marry well,’ Riley said, although he had no actual evidence to back up that supposition.
‘Oh yes. She was a comely girl—and well aware of the fact.’
‘None of the male servants in this household would have stood a chance with her then,’ Salter remarked.
‘Lord above, no!’ Kemp gave the suggestion of a smile and then shook his head, failing to meet Riley’s gaze. ‘She was aiming much higher.’
‘How high?’ Riley asked sharply. ‘Daniel Vermont?’ he added, when Kemp hesitated.
‘I think it’s fair to say that there would have been interest on her side, given the slightest encouragement. I certainly observed her efforts to attract the young master’s attention.’
Riley quirked a brow, thinking that if she’d been that obvious then Lord Vermont would have noticed, too. However, he had strenuously denied any attraction on Daniel’s part. ‘Did she succeed?’
‘I really couldn’t comment, sir. But I can tell you that nothing of an unseemly nature occurred between them beneath this roof.’ He straightened his spine and looked down his rather long nose in an aloof manner. ‘As to elsewhere…well, I am not in a position to hazard a guess, but I like to think that the young master would exercise more discretion.’
‘I see.’ Riley paused. ‘The side gate that we used to gain access to the house this morning. Is it locked at night?’
‘Oh yes, sir. At twilight, like clockwork. I see to the matter personally. It is part of my duties to ensure the family’s safety.’
‘Unfortunately, you failed in Miss Mottram’s case,’ Salter said in a belligerent tone.
Kemp’s entire body jerked to rigid attention. ‘With the greatest respect, sergeant, Miss Mottram was not family, and if young ladies choose to gallivant about unescorted after dark I cannot be held responsible for the consequences.’
‘How did Miss Mottram gain access to the house upon her return from her afternoons off, if the gates were locked and, I assume, the house also?’
‘She was required to be back before dark, sir, or risk being locked out. She knew that. It was not up to me to ensure her safe return.’
‘And yet she did not return last night and wasn’t missed.’
Kemp cleared his throat. ‘As I already said, she kept herself apart from the rest of the servants and, if I may speak plain, it was not our place to check up on her. If she had a key she did not obtain it from me.’
‘Is there anything else you can tell me about the young lady?’ Riley asked. ‘Did she have visitors, or talk about particular friends?’
Riley wasn’t surprised when Kemp shook his head. ‘I do not encourage gossip below stairs,’ he said primly.
‘Very well. Thank you, Kemp. You may go. Please send the footman in next.’
Kemp inclined his head and left the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him.
‘Well,’ Salter said, waggling his bushy brows, ‘it seems our Kemp was no admirer of Miss Mottram.’
‘On the contrary, Jack, I think he was quite taken with her.’
‘Blimey, how did you reach that conclusion?’ Salter dug his fingers into his scalp and scratched vigorously. ‘He didn’t have a good word to say for her.’
‘It showed in his expression; real sorrow that he tried to disguise as disapproval. He might be a bit long in the tooth, but he’s still got an eye for a pretty girl.’
‘You think he tried his luck and she rejected him?’
‘Miss Mottram wasn’t the only person in this household with pretentions. Kemp’s not more than forty, and wouldn’t look upon himself as being beyond acceptable age. He condescended to smile upon Miss Mottram and I’m betting she laughed in his face.’ Riley rubbed the side of his chin as he thought the matter through. ‘He knows more about her activities than he told us, probably kept an eye on her and deliberately locked her out last night when she didn’t arrive before dusk, just to prove a point.’
‘Now he has to live with her death on his conscience, even if he didn’t wield the knife that killed her.’
‘Exactly.’
A tap on the door announced the arrival of Giles Manton, the footman.
‘You wished to see me, gentlemen.’
He stood before them, feet slightly apart, hands clasped behind his back. He was a short, stocky individual with a shock of ginger hair and the freckles to go with it. He took little persuading to talk about Miss Mottram.
‘A right madam, so she was, full of herself. Looked upon herself as above her company, as my old Mum would say.’
‘Attractive, though,’ Riley remarked.
‘And well she knew it.’ Giles sniffed. ‘I’m sorry she’s dead. She didn’t deserve that, but I didn’t like her much.’
‘She rejected your advances, I take it,’ Riley suggested mildly.
‘You what?’ Giles laughed. ‘Not me. Too self-aware for my tastes, was that one. Anyway, I’m walking out with Sally, one of the maids here. She’d come after me with a blunt knife if I so much as looked at another woman. Besides, I’m no oil painting. I know that, but Sally likes me for who I am. Why would I want to risk all that for a tart like Melanie Mottram? She would never settle for a mere footman and would always want more than I could provide her with.’
‘Why indeed?’ Riley settled himself in a more comfortable position, stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his feet at the ankles. ‘Any idea who Miss Mottram did have in her sights?’
‘The young master. Batted her lashes at him at every opportunity, so she did, but he didn’t take much notice of her. That made us all laugh, seeing her getting some of her own medicine.’
Giles knew nothing about Miss Mottram’s extra-curricular activities and seemed genuinely disinterested in her. Riley thanked him and sent him on his way, asking him to send Sterling in next.
Lord Vermont’s valet proved to be younger than Riley had anticipated—no more than thirty—and devastatingly handsome. With a thick fall of dark hair and keen grey eyes, Riley found it hard to believe that the victim wouldn’t have been attracted to him. If she resisted him because he couldn’t further her ambitions, it implied that she really was very single-minded.
‘You have worked as Lord Vermont’s valet for three years,’ Riley said by way of introduction.
‘That I have, sir.’ Sterling kept his response short and respectful, making no effort to enhance it, as so many witnesses felt a pressing desire to do when confronted by a detective’s questions.
‘How did you get along with Miss Mottram?’
‘Well enough. She kept herself apart from the rest of us, so I didn’t have much to do with her.’
‘You must have wanted to though,’ Salter said. ‘She was a pretty gal, by all accounts.’
‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ Sterling responded evasively.
‘Quite so,’ Riley said, cutting across whatever Salter had been about to say. ‘Can you tell us anything about the lady’s friends, or what she did in her spare time?’
Sterling shook his head. ‘I cannot. I saw her once, in the tavern in the village, The Greyhound. She was with some gent. I couldn’t see who. I was across the road, obviously.’
Riley flexed a brow. ‘Obviously?’
‘Ah, of course, you wouldn’t know. There are two taverns in the village, more or less opposite one another. The Greyhound is frequented by the gentry, which made me a bit surprised to see Motty in there. Not that I’d expect to see a lady in a tavern at all, but there you have it. Across the road is The Crown, which is the local’s local. A far more down-to-earth, spit and sawdust sort of place, if you take my meaning.’ Riley nodded to confirm that he did. ‘Anyway, I have no idea who took Miss Mottram into the Greyhound and didn’t tell her that I’d seen her because I really didn’t care.’
‘You expect us to believe that?’ Salter growled.
‘Believe what you like, sergeant. I didn’t kill Motty, nor do I know who did. I was here all of last night. I share a room with Giles Manton and he can vouch for my whereabouts. I was never alone and didn’t leave the house at any point.’
‘Thank you,’ Riley said. ‘You can go.’
‘Why’d you let him off so quickly?’ Salter asked the moment the door closed behind Stirling. ‘Don’t tell me you think he didn’t try it on with the gal.’
‘That is what I am telling you, Jack. How many times must I remind you to observe witness’s evasiveness to certain questions and learn from what they don’t say.’
Riley waited until his sergeant caught on. ‘Ah, you think he doesn’t have any interest in the opposite sex.’
‘I would say that you or I would be more to his liking.’
‘Aw gawd, another one of them.’
‘I think it very likely.’ Riley pushed himself to his feet. ‘Come along. Let’s have a word with the groom, and I’d like to see that side gate for myself. Bring the key we found in the victim’s purse. We need to be sure that’s what it unlocks.’
‘Where do you suppose she obtained the key?’ Salter asked as they retrieved their hats and coats and made their way out into the cold.
‘From Daniel Vermont, is my guess. Think about it, Jack. If she went up to London on her afternoons off in order to be with him when he finished his duties, there wasn’t the slightest chance of her returning before dark, so she had to have a way to get into the grounds.’
‘And the house itself?’
‘Ah, that’s the stumbling block. She must have had help, but so far we haven’t found anyone who has a good word to say for her.’
‘I reckon Kemp would’ve watched her comings and goings,’ Salter grumbled. ‘Perhaps he colluded with her, in return for…well, favours.’
‘Can’t see it myself,’ Riley replied. ‘She was aiming higher than a butler. If she couldn’t charm her way into his good graces, she would have found another way to overcome the inconvenience of a curfew.’
‘Aye, most likely.’
Davidson, the groom, looked old enough to retire. Small and wiry, he walked with a permanent stoop and bandy legs. Even so, Riley suspected that he was as strong and as healthy as the horses he cared for. His twinkling eyes were bright with curiosity, but his expression remained sombre.
‘Miss Mottram was a live wire,’ he said, allowing himself a brief smile. ‘A bit of a law unto herself, she was. But she had some spunk about her. Knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it. “Davey,” she said to me on more than one occasion, “life is what you make it and I don’t plan to spend mine trying to drum dull facts into the heads of other people’s children.” Aye, she was ambitious, right enough, but she obviously sailed too close to the wind once too often.’ He turned his head and spat on the ground. ‘Shame about that.’
‘You found her?’
‘I did. Gave me a right turn, I don’t mind telling you.’
‘What made you look in that direction?’
‘The key,’ he replied as though it ought to be obvious.
‘What key?’ Riley asked.
‘The key to the kitchen door. I keeps one in the tack room. Part of me duties is to lug in logs for the fires, and I do that first thing. Don’t have much need for sleep at my age so I likes to keep busy. That’s why I have me own key. Anyway, when missy comes in late from her afternoons off, which she does more often than not, she lets herself in through that gate over yonder.’ He pointed to the gate in question with a gnarled finger. ‘I gave her the spare key to it myself.’
‘This key?’ Salter produced the one they had taken from Miss Mottram’s purse.
‘Aye, that looks like the one.’
‘Why?’ Riley asked. ‘Surely, if you were caught handing out keys it would be more than your position is worth.’
Davidson shrugged. ‘Didn’t see no harm in the lass having a bit of fun.’ He paused. ‘Given what happened, perhaps I should have. Anyway, she lets herself in through the gate, then takes the kitchen key to let herself in. But it were still there this morning, which is why I worried something might have happened to her.’
‘Do you know who she went to see on her afternoons off?’ Riley asked.
Davidson chuckled. ‘Nope, and I didn’t want to. But she used to laugh herself silly sometimes when she came out for a chat. She’d tell me that men were universally stupid, myself excluded. She was always careful to make that point.’
‘I don’t suppose you know what she meant by all men being stupid,’ Salter said, sighing.
‘I can take a good guess. She used her feminine wiles to make an impression upon any man with brass in his pocket who might be in need of a wife. She fully intended to raise herself up from her relatively humble origins. Her words, not mine. “Davey,” she used to say to me, “it’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is a blacksmith and a great deal more comfortable.”’ The old man chuckled and scratched his nose. ‘Well, you have to hand it to her. She was right about that much.’
Having extracted all the information that the groom could supply them with, Riley and Salter rejoined Carter and Soames in the morning room.
‘None of the female servants had any time for the victim,’ Carter said, ‘and didn’t know much about her activities.’
‘None of them will be weeping over her demise, either,’ Soames added. ‘Sally tells us that she walks out with the footman and never had reason to feel threatened by Miss Mottram’s presence, so I think we can rule him out.’
Riley updated the constables on what he and Salter had learned and surmised.
‘I want you two to take yourselves off to Devon,’ he told Carter and Soames. They looked pleased at the prospect of the unexpected jaunt. ‘Someone has to inform Mr Mottram of his daughter’s demise and I would prefer not to send the news in a telegram. I want to know how he reacts to it. Besides, he will have to come up to London and identify the body, at which point I’d like to talk to him myself. I want to know what it was that he asked her to reconsider in his letters, and why those letters stopped. You have taken his address from his correspondence?’ Carter nodded. ‘Right. Get back up to London and then onto the first train to Devon. Put up overnight somewhere local, see Mottram first thing in the morning and bring him back with you once you’ve broken the news. Insist upon his coming if he tries to prevaricate. I don’t have the time or inclination to go to him.’
‘Right you are, sir.’
‘What about us?’ Salter asked, watching his colleagues depart.
‘We are going to the college to see if we can discover the identity of Miss Mottram’s friend there. After that, I think a visit to Daniel Vermont is overdue.’