Page 86 of Murder at the Dinner Party
Lady Campbell and Mrs. Turner followed without question, but Sir Ian refused.
“Is it one of the other staff?” he demanded.
I didn’t answer as I headed down the flight of narrow stairs.
“Do you mean to tell me we’ve been living with a thief and murderer under our very roof?” he thundered.
I found Harry in the kitchen explaining the situation to Mrs. Cook, Birdy and Betty. There was no sign of Davey.
At my arched brows, Harry shook his head. “He’s gone.”
CHAPTER17
The collective gasps of the staff and their employers filled the kitchen. Only Mrs. Turner looked relieved, however. She blew out a shuddery breath as she clasped Betty’s hand. Betty didn’t seem to understand why, but I did.
“Explain yourselves,” Sir Ian demanded. “What makes you believe the footman had anything to do with the thefts?”
“And Mr. Hardy’s murder,” Mrs. Turner added. Now that she knew Betty wasn’t in any danger of being arrested, she no longer cared about thwarting me. Davey’s guilt was obviously a more palatable option than Betty’s.
Harry handed me a notepad that I hadn’t noticed him carrying. It was open to the last page where an indentation of the words written on the page that used to be above it had been exposed by using a pencil to lightly shade over the top.
“‘Pay up or else,’” I read. “Mr. Hardy wrote that and gave it to Davey. He was threatening to expose Davey’s thieving. That’s why Davey killed him. He’d already paid Mr. Hardy a considerable sum for his silence, but clearly Mr. Hardy was asking for more and Davey either couldn’t pay or didn’t want to anymore.”
Mrs. Turner asked to see the notepad. “That’s Mr. Hardy’s handwriting.” She shook her head. “I cannot believe it. I thought he was a good man.”
“That’s how he could afford the silver watch,” Lady Campbell murmured.
“It also explains why he hid it in his shoe,” I said. “He was afraid Davey would break into his room and steal it. Even though he had a lockbox, he knew not to keep valuables in it. A lock wouldn’t keep Davey out.”
“Nor did it,” Mrs. Turner said. “Mr. Hardy knew someone had been in his room. I suppose Davey didn’t find what he was looking for and gave up.”
“I’m not entirely sure about that,” I said. “It’s possible Mr. Hardy had evidence that proved Davey was the thief.”
Mrs. Turner’s eyes widened. “The button! Davey was missing a button! Mr. Hardy told him he found it. Then they went into his office and had words.”
I’d forgotten about the argument Mrs. Cook reported hearing. Davey had even admitted it was over a missing button, but he’d simply explained that Mr. Hardy scolded him for losing it and that the butler expected better standards.
Sometimes, the best lies are the ones containing a measure of truth.
I took up the explanation. “Mr. Hardy must have found the button somewhere it shouldn’t have been, like Lady Campbell’s bedchamber after she’d discovered her things had been moved. I suspect Davey’s very good at picking locks and that’s how he got into Mr. Hardy’s room.” It also explained how he got into Mrs. Danvers’ house, but I didn’t mention that. “After Mr. Hardy confronted him, Davey searched the butler’s room and took back the button, which he found in the lockbox. He didn’t continue his search for other valuables, because he didn’t know about the watch and tiepin and he’d got what he needed. He didn’t know there was a tiepin and watch at all until he saw you give them to me, Mrs. Turner.”
She gasped. “He was standing right there when I handed them to you!”
“He stole them,” Harry added with certainty. “He had a friend follow Cleo, and when she was alone, the friend bumped into her and stole them from her bag.”
“That cur. I cannot believe we all trusted him. We liked him!”
I glanced at Betty, but her face revealed only shock, confirming my suspicion. Before I had a chance to ask her, however, Sir Ian had a question.
“Are you saying he poisoned Mr. Hardy? But there were no signs.”
“Hyoscine poisoning can be mistaken for death by natural causes,” I said. “It’s harmless in small doses, given to otherwise healthy people, and is included in some medicinal tonics and powders to relieve headaches and other conditions.”
“Such as seltzer salts?” Mrs. Turner asked. “But you had Mr. Hardy’s bottle tested and the contents were harmless.”
“It was probably in the tonic Davey acquired elsewhere. I’ll hand over the bottle to the police for testing. I’m quite sure they’ll find it contains hyoscine, and an autopsy will find traces in the body.”
Poor Betty turned quite pale.
