Page 34 of Murder at the Dinner Party
Her eyes widened and she clutched the small crucifix on her necklace. A wooden crucifix was affixed above the bed and the only picture on the wall was a print of Jesus with his hands clasped in prayer. “What does your current investigation have to do with that?” she asked.
“There may be a link, but we’re not entirely sure yet. We need to re-interview some of the witnesses, and I understand you were a key one. Will you assist us, Mrs. Hatch?”
She smoothed her hand over the coverlet and nodded. “You’d both better sit. This could take some time.” She tried adjusting her position again, only to suck in air between her teeth and wince. “What do you want to know?”
“Can I first confirm that you are Virginia Fryer?”
“That was my maiden name. At the time of Charlotte’s murder, I was unmarried, although I was being courted by my Stanley. We married twenty-one years ago, but I remained in service to the Whitchurches until I had our daughter. I stayed home to raise her and my husband supported us until he died. My daughter was old enough to go into service by then and I returned to work, too. Not for the Whitchurches, mind, although Lady Whitchurch—the younger, not the dowager—was very kind and gave me a good reference even though I hadn’t been employed there for years. I wasn’t in my new position for long when I had a fall. All I did was climb a stepladder to get a jar of polish from a high shelf, something I’ve done thousands of times before. I lost my balance and landed awkwardly.” She sighed heavily. “Now I need help to get out of bed.”
“You’ve lived here ever since?” Harry asked.
She nodded. “I need full-time care and my daughter has to work. But when she’s married, she’ll look after me.” Mrs. Hatch smiled. “She’s hopeful there’ll be a proposal soon.”
“The Whitchurches send you a care package every month,” I said. “That’s generous.”
“Lady Whitchurch is kindness itself, always thinking of others. Unlike the dowager. She was a dragon when I worked for her years ago, and the one time I met her afterward, when I went to ask for a reference, it was clear she was still a dragon. She wasn’t going to give me one, because she said my character may have changed in the intervening years. Her daughter-in-law overheard and sent the reference to me the next day. She’s a good woman.” She frowned at me. “Is any of this relevant to your investigation, Miss Fox?”
“It may be. You were Charlotte’s friend, is that right?”
Her lips pinched in distaste. “Not friends. We shared a bed, as young maids often did. I know it’s not nice to speak ill of the dead, but Charlotte had loose morals. One of the footmen called her Charlotte the Harlot, which sums up everyone’s opinion of her.”
“You said in your statement to the police that Charlotte was having a liaison with Rupert, the eldest of Lord Whitchurch’s sons.”
“She was. She told me. I didn’t believe her at first, but I followed her one night when she slipped out of our room. She entered his room and didn’t come back until dawn.” Her lips pinched in disapproval and she shook her head.
“So, she wasn’t forced by Rupert?”
“She went willingly. I don’t know how it all began, but I suspect she seduced him. She was very pretty and she knew how to attract a man with her flirtations. She used to put color on her cheeks and lips.” She shook her head again. “Silly girl. If only she’d kept to herself and not attracted attention… Now, I’m not saying she got what she deserved, Miss Fox. No one deserves to die like that. But good girls don’t get themselves murdered, do they?”
I managed to keep my retort to myself, but only just.
Harry must have been concerned that I’d say something to jeopardize the interview, because he took over the questioning. “Was there any trouble between Charlotte and Rupert? Did she ever seem upset after spending time with him?”
“Quite the opposite. She was happy, and refused to hear anything against him, even though I and the housekeeper tried to warn her.”
“Warn her about what?”
“That she wasn’t his only girl. Everyone knew he had others. He’d be out until all hours and always return drunk or smelling of perfume. Despite his faults, I liked him. He was kind to the staff.”
It never ceased to amaze me that women often judged other women harsher than men, particularly when it came to intimacy before marriage. Charlotte was criticized for having one partner, whereas Rupert’s multiple partners didn’t matter. He was remembered for his kindness while she was remembered for being promiscuous. I wondered if that attitude would ever change in my lifetime.
“You say he was kind, but the police concluded that he killed Charlotte,” I pointed out. “Are you disagreeing with their finding?”
She clutched the crucifix necklace again. “I can only speak to my own experiences. It’s true that Master Rupert had a temper, but he never turned it on the servants. He and his father, the late Lord Whitchurch, had terrible rows though.”
“About anything in particular?”
“Lord Whitchurch wanted him to settle down. Rupert was too wild, he said. He wanted Master Rupert to be more sensible and studious like his younger brother. As the future viscount, he had a duty to be responsible and steady. I can’t fault his lordship for thinking that, but some young gentlemen just need to get the wildness out of their system. Master Rupert would have matured in time. Marrying would have settled him, I’m sure. Do you know he was engaged to the current Lady Whitchurch? After Master Rupert was declared dead, she went on to wed his brother, Arthur.”
“Do you think that is strange?”
“That’s toffs for you, Miss Fox. Once a suitable girl is found, they don’t want to waste her. It can take a long time to find a good one from the right family, and Lady Whitchurch is as good as they come. I suppose the dowager and the late Lord Whitchurch thought it best to keep her for Arthur. They waited until Master Rupert was declared dead after seven years missing, then they married the following week. It was all very sudden.”
Seven years didn’t seem sudden to me, but I kept my opinion to myself. “Tell us how events unfolded the night Charlotte was murdered.”
She settled into the pillows and released her crucifix. “I woke up to screaming, just before dawn. I found out later it was the scullery maid who’d just discovered the body in the kitchen, but at the time, I thought it was Charlotte. She’d told me when we went to bed the night before that she was going to meet Master Rupert, so I assumed something had happened to her, that she’d had a fall or some such. That’s why I went to the floor where the family’s bedchambers are located when I heard the scream, not all the way down to the kitchen. Once I was there, I heard the scream again and realized it was coming from the kitchen, so I didn’t bother to check Master Rupert’s room. Luckily I didn’t, or I might have been caught coming out by Master Arthur.”
“He’d heard the scream, too?”
