Wedding Rows Part 4

"He was angry. I . . . ran away."

"And he was alive when you left him?"

"I . . . I just wanted to get away from him."

"Of course you did, dear," Daphne said. She threw a protective arm about her daughter's shoulders. "You can see the child has had a terrible shock," she said, glaring at George. "Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"Just a couple more questions, madam, if you don't mind." George turned to Rodney. "When did you last see the deceased alive?"

"At the reception. I told him to leave. He was hanging around my daughter and making a blasted nuisance of himself."

"I take it you had no liking for the deceased."

Rodney uttered a bark of contempt. "I had no time for the rotter, no. He was hara.s.sing my daughter."

"And you wanted to stop him doing that," George said, busily writing.

Rodney's face grew redder. "Yes, I did. That doesn't mean I killed him."

"No, sir, but it does mean you had a reason to want him out of the way, so to speak." George lifted his head. "As did the young lady, apparently." He snapped his notebook shut with an air of authority. "I must ask you all to stay in Sitting Marsh until the inspector can have a word with you. I'm putting you under house arrest on suspicion of being involved in a murder."

CHAPTER 4.

For a moment everyone was shocked into silence, then Tess wailed a protest, echoed by an exclamation from Daphne.

"Georgea"" Elizabeth began, but the constable lifted his hand.

"Begging your pardon, your ladyship, but I must ask you to refrain from interfering in police business."

Rodney uttered a snort of disgust. "Don't be ridiculous, man. I have to get back to town. I have important business to take care of and I simply can't sit around waiting for your infernal inspector to turn up. We are leaving first thing in the morning."

George's eyebrows drew together in a ferocious scowl. "May I remind you, sir, that you are addressing a member of the constabulary. I can and will take you into custody if you attempt to leave these premises."

Rodney rolled his eyes, but to Elizabeth's relief muttered, "Oh, very well. I suppose the hospital can manage without me for a few more hours. That's if it's convenient for her ladyship for us to stay."

"Of course," Elizabeth murmured.

"I thought you would see things my way," George said, unsuccessfully hiding a smirk. "I'll see myself out, your ladyship." He moved to the door, pausing to wish everyone a good night before closing it behind him.

The silence in the room, broken only by a few sniffs from Tess, grew uncomfortable.

"I wouldn't worry too much about George," Elizabeth said, getting to her feet. "He tends to jump to conclusions, I'm afraid. I'm sure once the inspector gets here we can clear all this up quickly and you can be on your way. Though I'm afraid it will be more than a few hours. I'd say at least a day or two."

Rodney lifted his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Not much we can do about it now, I suppose."

Daphne sank onto her chair, her face creased in worry. "I'm afraid, Rodney. Things do look rather bad for you and Tess."

"Nonsense," Rodney said gruffly. "You heard what Lady Elizabeth said. The darn chap is jumping to conclusions."

Daphne stared up at her husband. "Well, who else would want to kill Brian? No one but us knew him."

"There was at least one other person," Elizabeth said slowly.

All three Winterhalter's stared at her. "Who?" Rodney demanded.

"The lady Mr. Sutcliffe took to his room." She looked apologetically at Tess, who burst into tears again at this statement.

"Tell us who she was, darling," Daphne said urgently. "It's important that we talk to her. Perhaps she can shed some light on this."

Tess's garbled words, punctuated by her sobs, were unintelligible.

Daphne looked helplessly at Rodney, who muttered, "You're not going to get anything out of her while she's like that. Let her go to bed. We can talk in the morning."

Tess struggled to control her weeping. "I s-said, I don't know who she is."

Rodney muttered something under his breath. "Well, that's that, then."

"No," Daphne cried. "We have to find her and talk to her."

"How did you know Mr. Sutcliffe had a woman in his room?" Elizabeth asked gently.

Tess's answer was m.u.f.fled, but Elizabeth caught one word.

"Sadie? Sadie told you?"

Tess nodded.

"I'll have a word with her first thing in the morning," Elizabeth said, wondering how on earth Sadie had managed to get herself involved in this mess.

Daphne immediately turned to her. "Oh, would you? I would feel so much better if I knew someone intelligent was looking into the matter. I don't trust that constable. He doesn't appear to be all that astute."

"He does seem a little senile for the job," Rodney commented.

Elizabeth sighed. "George, and his partner, Sid, were coaxed out of retirement to take the job, after our constables were called up for military service. I'm afraid they rather regret their circ.u.mstances, but they are stuck with it now until the war is over and our younger men return."

"That doesn't give him the excuse to accuse innocent people of murder then hold them against their will." Rodney undid the sash of his smoking jacket and cinched it tighter around his waist. "I shall have a strong word of protest for the inspector when he gets here."

"I should warn you," Elizabeth said, as she crossed to the door, "the inspector is not at all like George. He'll not take a case of murder lightly. I wouldn't expect too much sympathy from him. On the contrary, in fact. He can be quite merciless at times."

Rodney met her gaze without flinching, though Tess received this news with a wail of fright.

"In that case," Rodney said evenly, "we shall just have to answer his questions as best we can."

"Please, your ladyship," Daphne whispered. "Please find out who did this."

Elizabeth sighed. "I'll do my best. That's all I can promise." She bade them all good-night and left, with the uneasy feeling that this time her best might not be quite good enough.

The next morning Elizabeth confronted Sadie at the breakfast table. Martin had already departed to carry out his "duties," which normally consisted of a morning stroll around the grounds, followed by an inspection of the Great Hall, where he invariably insisted he encountered the late Earl of Wellsborough. After lunch, more often than not, he would retire to the library, from where he could reach the front door within a reasonable amount of time should a visitor summon him with the bell.

Violet was at the stove when Sadie made her appearance in the kitchen. Sunday was Polly's day off, so Elizabeth was alone at the table when the housemaid sat down. She wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Tess tells me you informed her that her friend, Mr. Sutcliffe, entertained a young woman in his room at the Tudor Arms. Is that correct?"

A flush crept across Sadie's cheeks, and she avoided Elizabeth's gaze, pretending instead an avid interest in a piece of dry toast. "I know it was none of my business," she mumbled, "but I thought she should know. I don't like the look of that bloke, and if someone was double-crossing me like that I'd want someone to tell me."

At the stove, Violet turned to send a scathing glare at Sadie. "When are you going to learn to mind your own business, Sadie b.u.t.tons? Don't you know you cause more trouble by sticking your nose in where it's not wanted?"

Sadie opened her mouth to argue, but Elizabeth forestalled her. "It's all right, Violet. I just want to ask Sadie a few questions. I prefer that she answer honestly, so I'd rather you didn't interfere."

Violet rolled her eyes at the ceiling and turned her back on them again. The ferocity she used on the unfortunate saucepan in her hand, however, clearly demonstrated her resentment.

Elizabeth pushed a dish of margarine closer to Sadie. "How did you know Mr. Sutcliffe had someone in his room?"

"I saw her, didn't I. See, I took Tess down the pub with me Thursday night 'cos she said she was bored, and the minute we gets inside she recognizes this bloke, Brian. She was really shocked to see him. He'd followed her down from Cambridge just to be with her. She told me her father hated him and didn't want her seeing him. She was afraid Brian would turn up at the wedding and her dad would cause a big scene and throw him out."

Elizabeth winced as Sadie smothered her toast with the margarine. She'd used half her ration on one slice of bread. "So when did you see this woman go into Mr. Sutcliffe's room?"

"It were the next night. Tess had to go to a rehearsal for the wedding so I went to the Arms on me own. I was on me way to the loo and I saw this woman going up the stairs with Brian so I followed them. Tess is me friend, and I always look out for me friends."

"b.u.t.t into their business, you mean," Violet muttered.

Ignoring her, Sadie went on. "They were giggling and carrying on when they went inside and shut the door, so I knew they was up to no good."

"Did you recognize the lady?"

Sadie made a sound of disgust. "That weren't no lady, m'm. All done up like a tart, she was."

"But did you recognize her?"

Sadie nodded, her mouth full of toast. "Not until the wedding, though," she said, when she'd swallowed it down. "I didn't know she was Prissy's friend at the time or I might have said something to her."

Elizabeth stared at her. "Fiona? Are you saying it was Fiona in that room with Mr. Sutcliffe?"

Sadie grinned. "Shocker, ain't it. Could have blinking knocked me down with a feather when I saw her prancing down the aisle like Lady Muck. That's when I thought I should tell Tess, seeing as how they were bridesmaids together. I was afraid she'd find out from the tart herself, and that would have been even nastier for her."

"I see." Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. She distinctly remembered Fiona saying that Priscilla didn't know the victim. But Fiona didn't mention the fact that she knew him, either. Then again, she probably wouldn't want to advertise the fact that she'd visited the man in his room. Especially in front of Malcolm, who seemed to have a proprietary interest in her.

"I didn't tell Tess before the wedding, of course," Sadie said, reaching for her teacup. "I didn't want them having it out with each other and spoiling everything for Wally and Priscilla. So I waited until we were at the reception before I said anything."

Elizabeth pursed her lips. "Was that before the cake was cut, or after?"

Sadie frowned. "Before. Soon after we first got there, actually. I saw Brian dancing with Tess, then Fiona came in and I knew there'd be trouble so I told Tess right then. She was really upset, so I told her we'd go down the pub as soon as Wally and Prissy left. She was only too happy to get out of there. Practically dragged me out, she did."

"Did she say anything to you about her argument with Mr. Sutcliffe?"

Sadie's eyebrows rose. "No, she didn't. I didn't know she'd said anything to him. What'd she do? Send him packing back to Cambridge?"

Violet turned, a lump of porridge dripping from the wooden spoon in her hand. Her expression mirrored the thought going through Elizabeth's head, but she mercifully kept her silence.

"I'm afraid Mr. Sutcliffe met with an unfortunate accident yesterday," Elizabeth said quietly. "He won't be going anywhere."

Sadie's eyes widened. "He's dead?"

"Yes." Elizabeth pushed her chair away from the table and stood. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about this to anyone until the inspector has paid us a visit. Most likely he'll want a word with you. Just tell him what you've told me."

Sadie's mouth dropped open. Elizabeth had reached the door before Sadie could speak again. "If the inspector's coming, does that mean he was murdered?"

"With Rita Crumm's wedding knife," Violet said, with unnecessary relish.

Sadie clapped a hand over her mouth. "Does Tess know?" she mumbled behind her fingers.

"Yes." Elizabeth paused to look over her shoulder. "She's extremely upset, naturally. It might be better if you don't mention this to her unless she wants to talk about it."

Sadie nodded. "I'll keep me mouth shut, m'm. Promise."

"That'll be a miracle," Violet muttered, but Elizabeth had closed the door on Sadie's retort. Much as she hated to admit it, things looked black for Tess Winterhalter. It was hard to believe that that fragile creature had taken a knife to her faithless lover, but who knows what a woman was capable of when confronted by such an ugly betrayal.

If Tess was guilty of murder, she hated to think what might happen to the young girl once the inspector got his talons into her. Far better that Elizabeth get a confession out of her first, and then present the result to the inspector herself. Perhaps put in a good word for Tess. She wasn't looking forward to the task. It was so tragic to think that a beautiful young woman could have possibly ruined her entire life.

The Winterhalters had already been served breakfast in the dining room, and Rodney still sat at the table, a newspaper spread out in front of him. He rose as Elizabeth entered the room and waited for her to sit before reseating himself.

"What's the latest news?" Elizabeth asked, as he started to close the newspaper.

"The Germans have retreated from Anzio." He tapped the newspaper with his finger. "It's only a matter of time before Rome will be liberated."

So many times she'd heard positive news from the front, only to hear of a setback soon after. Nowadays, everyone was afraid to hope, even though it seemed the tide might be turning at last. "Do you think we are seeing an end approach?" she asked cautiously, not really expecting a positive answer.

Rodney shook his head. "The Germans are not going to give up that easily. I have a bad feeling that they've got something up their sleeve. If we don't invade Europe soon and get this war over with, we could be in for a good deal of trouble."

Elizabeth sighed. "It's hard to believe the war has dragged on this long. Five years. Who would have thought it could last so long."

Rodney nodded, his bleak expression chilling Elizabeth's bones. "Let's just hope it doesn't last another five years."

The thought was so depressing, she dismissed it from her mind. Besides, right now there was an immediate concern that had to be addressed. She hated to heap more worry on him when he looked so downcast, but the problem had to be faced, and as soon as possible. She took a deep breath. "Rodney, we really need to talk to Tess about what happened to Mr. Sutcliffe."

He seemed to stir himself with an effort, and his face was drawn with anguish when he looked at her. "I know. That d.a.m.n inspector will be here soon, and I dread the thought of what will happen to her."

"You think she was responsible for his death."

It was a statement rather than a question. He buried his face in his hands for a long moment, then slowly withdrew them. "I knew that wretched man spelled disaster from the first moment I set eyes on him. I tried to warn Tess, but she wouldn't listen to reason. She has my temper . . . I don't know ..."

"Why don't I talk to her," Elizabeth said, her heart going out to the distraught man. "Where is she?"