Page 36 of Murder at the Dinner Party
“That’s what we’re trying to discover.”
“I see.” He picked up the box of ties he’d been rearranging when we entered and returned them to the display shelf on the counter. Once it was in place, he did not look up, but seemed to be thinking something through.
Harry and I exchanged glances. “Mr. Gannon, is there something you’d like to tell us?” I asked.
He adjusted his tie, even though it was perfectly straight, and cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I didn’t tell the police everything. I didn’t lie,” he quickly added. “Unless omitting something is a lie.” When he did not go on, Harry stepped in to reassure him.
“You won’t get in trouble for it now. The investigation into Charlotte’s death hasn’t been reopened. We’re simply curious to know if it is connected to Hardy’s.”
Mr. Gannon smiled gently at Harry. “You’re very kind to reassure me, sir.” To me, he added, “I told the police how drunk Master Rupert was when I saw him that night. He could barely stand up and I had the devil of a time undressing him and getting him into his pajamas. He also wasn’t making much sense, just rambling, which he tended to do when he was drunk.”
“That was at about two in the morning?” I asked, recalling his statement.
“That’s right.”
According to the coroner, the murder had occurred at around four. “Did Rupert have blood on his clothes?”
“No, but that’s the thing I omitted to inform the police. Rupert didn’t have blood on his clothes, but his father did.”
“Why did you keep such a thing from the police? It could have been important.”
He put his hands up in defense. “I was afraid of losing my position, and I needed work desperately at the time. His lordship told me he fell and grazed his arm. The blood was inside his jacket, not the outside.” He took a jacket off one of the dressmaker forms used for display and unbuttoned it. He indicated where he’d seen the blood on the lining, mostly at the back.
Mrs. Hatch had told us that she saw Lord Whitchurch throwing on his dressing gown as he passed her just before dawn. “At what time did you see him in bloodied clothes?”
“You misunderstand. I didn’t see himwearingthe jacket. I saw it the next day. He asked me to clean it. This was after the police had left. That’s when he told me about grazing himself.”
If he’d never seen Lord Whitchurch wearing the jacket, then Mrs. Hatch’s recollection of seeing him and his wife at the time of the scream still held water.
“Was it definitely Lord Whitchurch’s jacket?” Harry asked. “Could it have belonged to Rupert?”
“No. They were a different size. I would have noticed something like that.”
“What about Arthur?” I asked. “Could it have been his?”
“He was also a different size to his father. Old Lord Whitchurch was a large fellow.” Mr. Gannon patted his stomach. “Besides, I believe Arthur was asleep in his room all night.”
“We have evidence to the contrary.”
His eyes widened. “Really? Where was he?”
I didn’t answer. “What do you think happened that night, Mr. Gannon? Do you think old Lord Whitchurch killed Charlotte and that’s how he got blood on his jacket?”
He parted his hands before re-clasping them on the counter. “I’ve thought about it a lot over the years, and no, I don’t think he did it. He wasn’t a violent man. Argumentative with his wife and eldest son, yes, but he wouldn’t kill a maid. Why would he? If he wanted to get rid of her, he could simply dismiss her without a reference. Unable to work in service without one, she’d vanish from his life. I don’t know where the blood came from, but I don’t think he murdered her.”
“What about Rupert?”
“Ah. That’s a different matter. He couldn’t have Charlotte dismissed without his parents asking questions, and he wouldn’t want that.”
“Why would he want her dismissed? Did they have a falling out?”
Mr. Gannon shrugged. “There could be a number of reasons. He may have got her with child, or she could have been blackmailing him, threatening to tell his parents if he didn’t pay her. Lord and Lady Whitchurch were upright people, very concerned about appearances, and would have been furious with him for taking one of the maids as his mistress.”
“You don’t think they knew?”
“I’m not sure. If they didn’t, they certainly found out after Charlotte’s death. It all came out then. I think Lord Whitchurch tried to hush it up, but a scandal like that can’t be contained. So he did the next best thing.”
“Which was?”
