Page 68 of Death of a Courtesan
Chapter Fourteen
‘Good morning, Jack,’ Riley said cheerfully.
‘And good morning to you, sir. Do I take it from your cheerful demeanour that there has been progress with the case?
‘Not precisely. At least not yet. Take a seat and I’ll explain.’ He waited for Salter to settle himself on the opposite side of his desk and then posed a question. ‘How did we finally get to the truth in the Ashton case?’
‘Through the discovery of the girl’s diaries,’ Salter replied without hesitation. ‘But to the best of my knowledge Adelaide didn’t keep one.’
Riley laughed. ‘You and I know that, but our suspects don’t.’ Salter’s grin widened as Riley laid out his plans. ‘Actually,’ he admitted, ‘the idea came from Olivia Morton. She and the earl send you their best wishes, by the way.’
‘Good of them to remember me,’ Salter replied. ‘And I can see merit in the suggestion. But the thing is, how do we let word of these diaries slip, casual-like?’
‘Each suspect will have to be lured in a different way. That’s why I’ve just sent Carter and Soames off to Ware to give Huxton a progress report. That report will touch upon the discovery of private papers hidden in Adelaide’s room that have only just come to light and which we are hopeful will lend us a few clues as to her murderer’s identity.’
‘She can hardly have known she was about to be murdered,’ Salter pointed out.
‘No, but she would have been aware if someone was threatening her.’
‘Hmm.’ Salter didn’t sound convinced.
‘If you can think of a better way to scare the murderer into indiscretion, let’s hear it.’
‘No, you’re right.’ Salter nodded, warming to the idea. ‘We’ve got sod all else to go on.’
‘The aunt will, of course, be there to hear of this startling discovery and you can wager that word will reach the uncle, assuming he isn’t at home, before the end of the day.’
Salter grinned. ‘And Clement? How will you alert him?’
‘Stout did a good job of befriending him and getting him talking yesterday, once he’d poured a few tankards of ale into him, that is.’ It was Riley’s turn to smile. ‘I told Stout to use his initiative and he didn’t disappoint. He brought the conversation round to his “cousin” who’s a detective here at the Yard and implied that his family deplored his career choice. Fortunately Clement is not overburdened with intelligence and didn’t seem suspicious about Stout’s sudden appearance, or the nature of their discourse.’
‘And, let me guess,’ Salter said, his grin widening. ‘He said his mythical cousin was working on Adelaide’s case.’
‘Precisely. Clement had many disparaging comments to make about Adelaide’s profession but was more interested to learn if Stout’s cousin was aware of any imminent arrests.’
‘So today he will go back and mention the papers we’ve supposedly found?’
Riley nodded. ‘And speculate about the problems any suspects will have if they can’t account for their movements on the night of the murder. Stout will imply that we’re very keen to lock people up on the flimsiest of excuses, just to clear the case up.’
‘So being resented by the public at large might actually work to our advantage for once.’ Salter grunted his approval. ‘Someone like Clement will be well aware of the prejudices we struggle to overcome.’
‘I am depending upon it. I want him to wonder how much we know when we bring him in for questioning.’
‘And you’ll let me grill him?’ Salter asked, practically salivating at the prospect.
‘I was saving you for the uncle.’
‘Can’t you let me do both?’ Salter looked angry and Riley knew that despite his condemnation of their behaviour towards him the day before, his sympathies must reside with the girls forced by circumstances into the oldest profession. ‘What about Mirabelle? I get the impression that she’s still high on your list of suspects.’
‘She is.’ Riley allowed himself a reflective pause. ‘There’s just something about her smug satisfaction at Adelaide’s fate that gives me pause. It’s a harsh world those ladies occupy, competition is fierce and friendships are rare, but even so…all that spite.’ Riley shook his head. ‘I wish I knew why she disliked Adelaide so much. It has to go beyond jealousy, surely?’
‘If she was the guilty party she’d probably try and pretend remorse at Adelaide’s death, just to put us off the scent.’
‘Unless their relationship was so acrimonious that she knew we would be told about it, so preferred to tell us herself.’
Salter conceded the point with an abrupt nod. ‘Possibly.’
‘Anyway,’ Riley said with an expansive sigh. ‘We’ve allowed Mrs Sinclair to reopen for business but Adelaide’s room is still locked up. Peterson has charge of the key and no one is permitted entry. I had a feeling that we weren’t finished with that room, I just didn’t know why. Now I do. We shall go back there this afternoon, at a time when we can reasonably assume that all the ladies will be up and about, and ask to speak with them all together. At the same time we’ll have Peterson and Harper in their uniforms making an almighty racket, ripping up floorboards and what have you in that room. Whilst we are talking to the girls downstairs, I will be obliged to chastise Peterson for his indiscretion when he bursts in on us and announces in front of everyone that he’d found hidden diaries.’
