Page 42 of Evidence of Evil
Providing the maid, Bingham, didn’t solve the whole mystery.
If she turned up.
But John was as good as his word, for they had just risen from breakfast when the butler informed Constance that the girl awaited her in the kitchen.
Elizabeth, who overheard, looked startled. “Do you want me to come?” she asked, looking from Constance to Solomon and back. “Use the morning room to see her if you wish.”
“I’d rather talk to her where she’s more comfortable,” Constance said. “And no, you don’t need to come. You should go and talk to your husband.”
That was rather pointed. There was a definite atmosphere of tension between the Maules, relaxing only when the children were present.
Together, Solomon and Constance went down to the kitchen. Bingham, seated very straight at the kitchen table consuming a cup of tea, looked both nervous and defiant. The Willows servants were clearly curious, as though they suspected her of applying for a position with Constance.
For a moment, Constance contemplated a well-spoken, obedient maid, and realized she would miss Janey, if or when the girl ever moved on to a more respectable mistress.
“May we use your sitting room?” she asked the housekeeper pleasantly.
“Of course, madam.” Mrs. Haslett even showed them inside and closed the door without as much as a sniff of criticism.
“We’re sorry to drag you over here to talk,” Constance began. “But we thought it might be easier without the other servants or the family at the Grange interrupting.”
“That’s what Mr. John said, and I don’t mind. There’s nothing to do back there anyway, since they won’t let me box up Miss Frances’s clothes and things. I’m serving out my notice doing nothing but writing to apply for new positions.”
“I can imagine it must be difficult for you. Sit down. Did Mr. Niall tell you that we really need you to be honest with us? Not that I believe you have beendishonest previously,” Constance added hastily, “but you are naturally loyal to your late mistress and her family. The trouble is, other people’s lives could be ruined or even lost without the truth. And I believe I can say that we will see you lose nothing by it. If Colonel Niall denies you a character—which I doubt he will—Lady Maule will give you one instead.”
“I’ve never worked for Lady Maule,” Bingham said flatly.
“Then we shall see that you do. Should it become necessary. As things stand, it is Lady Maule who is being accused, quite unfairly, of harming your mistress.”
“I know,” Bingham said. “And I told you yesterday, I don’t hold with that. It’s the colonel’s grief talking, but it still damages her ladyship.”
“Exactly,” Constance said. “So…we have learned some things about Miss Niall since we last spoke. Things that might mean she had made enemies.”
Bingham looked down at her fingers twisting together in her lap and seemed to still them deliberately, but she said nothing. She had not, after all, been asked a question.
“I asked you yesterday, but please tell me truthfully, was Miss Niall a kind mistress?”
Bingham drew in her breath, then slowly shook her head. “She could be,” she said. “When she was in a good mood, shecould make me laugh and be kind as anything. Then she’d turn in an instant and slap me. Weren’t a tap, neither. She knocked me down once.”
“Why?” Solomon asked.
“No idea. I’d interrupted her, shesaid. If you ask me, it was never anything to do with what I did, just how she was feeling.”
“And yet you stayed with her,” Constance pointed out. “For how long?”
“About six months. Since she came back from India. It looks bad if you change positions too often, and then employers won’t trust you.”
“Is that the only reason you stayed?” Constance asked. “Did you look for other positions?”
“No,” Bingham admitted. Constance did not speak further. The maid shifted uncomfortably in the silence. “I told you why. I can’t tell you more.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Constance asked.
“Both,” Bingham said, glaring at her.
“How did you obtain the position with Miss Niall?” Solomon asked. “Did you answer an advertisement?”
“No, I was with an agency in London. They put me forward. Colonel Niall interviewed me and said I would do. Miss Frances deigned to approve.”
