One Last Smile, page 15
Rupert simply wanted the baby gone. He didn’t want the responsibility. That could be motive enough to murder her, or it could be motive to let her leave and simply say nothing. With no record of the pregnancy, there would be no proof that he was the father. I am not familiar with the court system in Britain, so perhaps she could challenge him later and prove he was the parent. Perhaps that would be motive to murder her too.
But Eliza… I don’t know. I know she lied, but she could be lying to protect Oliver. Or perhaps she simply didn’t see Oliver leave with her the night she disappeared. She could be the culprit, an accomplice, or simply another foolish young woman taken in by a charismatic older man.
The key will be to determine if her relationship with Dr. Chalmers started before or after Minnie’s disappearance. He could simply enjoy boffing his secretaries prior to every workday, or he could have taken to Eliza before Minnie, seeing her as a consolation prize in place of Veronica. Eliza does take after her somewhat in appearance, and it’s not exactly rare knowledge that men prefer youth.
In any case, I still need more. I can’t show these pictures to the police and tell them my hypothesis about Eliza and Dr. Chalmers.
So I decide to confront her. God knows it’s the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done, but I can no longer dance around this. I won’t ask about Minnie’s disappearance. I’ll present myself as an older woman trying to give her matronly advice without alerting her mother to her mistakes. Then I can mention Minnie and say that I suspect Dr. Chalmers was using her the same way.
It’s not a foolproof plan, but maybe she’ll reveal something. At the least, I can determine how long things have been going on between her and Dr. Chalmers.
That dinner is the longest of my life. I smile and laugh and joke with the others as though I’m part of the family. The suspense is nearly enough to kill me. I look at Eliza, and every sly smile, every flush in her cheeks reminds me of what she was doing earlier that day.
How could she be with him knowing what he did to Minnie? How, if she wasn’t also complicit?
I’m jumping to conclusions. First things first.
After dinner, the family slowly disperses. I manage to learn that Eliza plans to take a walk in the west garden after dinner. It’s a clear night and a full moon, and she wants to enjoy the fresh air.
“That sounds lovely!” I interject. “Could I join you?”
It’s horrifically impertinent of a servant to invite herself to such an outing, but Eliza smiles graciously. “Of course. A fellow stargazer?”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” I demur, “but I like the pretty lights.”
Oliver laughs at that. “You’ll have to tell us a story about pretty lights one of these days. I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share.”
“I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to say, Oliver,” Eliza replies, “but I’m sure it’s some sort of nasty joke, so shame on you.”
He grins at her. “Perhaps I’ll join you, and we can all tell stories about what goes on in the dark.”
I struggle to contain my fear. I need to talk to Eliza alone.
Lucas glances at me, and a knowing look flashes across his face. He turns to Oliver and says, “Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you some advice later.” He blushes and says, “You see… I spoke with Tilly over the phone earlier today. She’s visiting over the summer holiday, and she and I were thinking about… well…”
He glances at Veronica and reddens a little. Oliver gets the hint and winks at him. “Say no more, little brother. I shall turn you into the world’s most successful Lothario.”
“What’s that?” Veronica asks.
“Nothing, Mother,” Oliver replies. “Lucas here has just saved our sister from a thoroughly annoying evening.”
Eliza rolls her eyes. “And I am grateful to him, though disgusted by his reasons. Honestly, is that all boys ever think about?”
You’re one to talk, I don’t say aloud.
***
We finally head to the gardens. Eliza talks brightly about her day, gossiping about the patients they saw and confiding her relief that Alistair’s visit was brief. “I like him well enough, but he does linger sometimes.”
I wait until we’re out of view of the house, then turn to her. “Eliza, I’ve come across some disturbing news.”
Her smile fades. “Oh?” she says warily.
I meet her eyes. “I’ll just come out and say it. I know about you and Dr. Chalmers.”
She blanches but catches herself and laughs airily. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“The two of you are involved romantically. I suspect you have been for quite some time.”
Her smile fades. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but my love life is none of your business.”
“No, it isn’t. But I’m taking it upon myself to warn you anyway. What you’re doing is very dangerous.”
She laughs, another sound like crystal shattering. “I don’t know what you’re on about, but you’ve clearly gone mad. I’ll see if Rupert can schedule you for an evaluation.”
I pull a photograph from my coat pocket and show it to her. She blanches further and becomes very still. “Where did you get that?”
“I won’t tell you,” I reply.
“Was it Lucas? It was, wasn’t it? That little brat.”
“Eliza!” I say sternly, pulling her focus back to me. “What you’re doing is very dangerous.”
“Oh, come off it,” she snaps at me. “I’m a grown woman, and I can shag whoever the hell I want.” Her face changes, becoming something vicious. “You’re jealous, aren’t you? I could see it in your face when you met him. You want him, and you’re jealous that he prefers me.”
“Believe me, I have long since grown past caring whether any man wants me, and a man who would impregnate his nineteen-year-old secretary, then urge her to abort, is far from my type.”
She slaps me, hard enough that I gasp and take a trembling step backward. She takes a menacing step forward, and I say, “I’ll scream. If I have to, I’ll fight. Be careful what you’re about, Eliza.”
She stops and stares at me, also trembling, though for a different reason. She lowers her head and takes a deep breath, then lifts her gaze to me again and says in a controlled voice. “How did you know about that?”
I decide not to mention the medical report. “It’s not hard to figure out. Minnie was your friend, then you two had a falling out. She was Oliver’s girlfriend, and he broke up with her. I assume the advice Alistair gave him was not to do anything foolish about it.”
“Alistair wouldn’t know his ass from his left hand if you labeled the pictures,” she says. “If he’s the one that told you—”
“He’s not,” I interrupt. “I’m an old woman, but not so old that I can’t tell when two people are attracted to each other. You say you saw attraction in my eyes? I saw lust in yours.”
She laughs and nods. “Wow. Well done. You…” She laughs again. “Yes, bloody well done, Mary. Well, here’s what you don’t know. It’s not lust, it’s love. I loved Rupert long before that cunt ever met him. She was a bloody girl when Rupert and I fell in love, and then she grows tits and all of a sudden the two of them are meant to be together? Ha.” She shakes her head almost violently. “No. No, no, no. He was mine, and she was in the way.”
“Did you get her out of the way?”
She moves as though she’s going to slap me again, but glances toward the house and controls herself. “I didn’t kill her, you old fool. I told her to get rid of the baby. She had no right to carry his baby.”
“You didn’t think that was a decision for her and Rupert?”
“You… Oh my God!”
She presses her palms to her temples and paces back and forth. I watch her warily, prepared to fight, flee, or scream if necessary. After a moment, she pulls her hands from her temples, shaking them in front of her like claws.
“You don’t understand! Rupert didn’t want the baby either! He wanted me!”
“But he slept with her.”
“Yes! Because he’s a man, and if a man’s in the mood, a bloody cow could wave her arse in front of him, and he’d drop his pants. But she wasn’t the future for him. She wasn’t anything. She was… It was a bloody afternoon! We both told her to get rid of the baby, and she wouldn’t listen!”
“So what did you do?”
“Nothing! I don’t know who fucking killed her! Do you think I’m a murderer? Is that it? Do you think he and I conspired to have her killed?”
Almost certainly. Out loud, I say, “No, dear. I just think that Rupert is using you. He’s telling you what you want to hear so he can keep using you, and as an older woman speaking to a younger one—”
“Oh, bugger off with your advice. I love him, and he loves me, and Minnie meant nothing but a bloody hole to fill while I happened to be out of town for graduation. She was never supposed to be pregnant. She was never supposed to be anything.”
“She was your friend. He used her too.”
“She was a selfish whore, and she used him. She knew I loved him. She was jealous of me. She always was. She just wanted to take what was mine, and she caught him in a moment of weakness.”
She stops pacing and looks at me. “Why am I talking to you like this? You’re just the servant. Who’s going to believe you?”
“I’m not trying to tell anyone anything. I’m only giving you—”
“Right. Advice.” She reaches forward and strips the photograph from my hand. She holds it in front of me tauntingly and says, “Here’s my advice.” She begins tearing the photograph and as she does, she says, “Fuck off out of my business. I knew it was a mistake inviting you to dinner, letting you put on airs, acting like you’re our sweet aunt or some shite. You’re a servant. You’re nothing. You’re here to make sure Lucas passes sixth form so he can fuck off to Oxford, and I don’t have to stare at his stupid face anymore. Do your job, like good little help, then bugger out of our lives.”
She storms away, stopping after a few paces to call back, “And tell Lucas if he takes any more pictures of me, I’ll break all of his cameras.”
She continues toward the house, and my heart pounds. I shouldn’t have shown her the photograph. Of course she would deduce that the only person here interested in photography would take that picture. Thank God she didn’t think to search me and find the others.
I need to warn Lucas. I don’t know what she’ll do to him. Perhaps nothing. After all, killing her mother’s favorite child is a far cry from killing a girl no one likes. And if I came forward and exposed them, she would immediately become a suspect. More likely, they’ll try to kill me.
I need to stop that before it happens, but how?
An idea comes to mind. It’s not a great one, but it’s the only way I can think of to possibly bring Minnie’s killers to justice.
I let that idea work its way through my brain that night. By the morning, I have the intricacies worked out. I’ll only have one chance to make it work, and it will mean sacrificing my employment and, unfortunately, exposing Lucas.
But if it does work, then Minnie’s killers will be behind bars, and Lucas and I will be safe.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
When Lucas and Eliza come downstairs together for breakfast, I look at them, tension stiffening my shoulders. He smiles and says, “Good morning, everyone,” and I nearly collapse with relief. Eliza hasn’t confronted him.
Eliza looks at me, venom shooting from her eyes. But when she looks at Lucas, she only gives him an exasperated smile. She must have somehow decided that he wasn’t responsible for the photographs after all.
Veronica beams at Lucas. “Well, look who’s so cheery this morning!”
“I had a wonderful day yesterday,” he says. “I let Mary borrow one of my cameras, and we challenged ourselves to a picture-taking contest.”
He meets my eyes, and I realize what’s happened. Eliza must have asked if he was taking pictures by the office yesterday, and he crafted a story about loaning me a camera.
That’s all right. I can work with that.
“Oh?” Veronica says, smiling gratefully at me. “How wonderful! I must see the pictures!”
Lucas’s smile fades, but before Eliza can notice the change in his face, I say, “Oh. I’m afraid I completely forgot to remove the lens cap. It’s been so long since I’ve used a camera.”
“That’s all right,” Lucas says. “You can use it again today.”
Eliza looks shrewdly at me, and I say, “That sounds wonderful, Lucas! I’ve been meaning to take a picture of each different tree in the arboretum.”
Sebastian perks up at that. “Mary! You never mentioned you were an amateur botanist.”
“Well, I don’t know if I would say that,” I reply, “but I am truly impressed at your collection.”
“Well, perhaps the three of us can label the photographs when Mary is done,” Sebastian says. “I know a fair amount about those trees.”
Veronica rolls her eyes. “Oh no. You’ve gotten him started on trees again.”
“That sounds lovely!” I say. “I’m particularly interested in the baobab.”
Sebastian’s eyes fly open with joy. “I love that tree! It’s truly incredible how nature adapts to challenging conditions. Did you know their trunks can hold up to—”
“Not now, Father,” Eliza interrupts. “Let’s allow Mary something to occupy herself while she’s here.” She casts her venomous eyes at me. “Something to keep her out of trouble.”
I return a beatific smile. “Yes, I do have a tendency to get into trouble when I’m alone. Besides, I don’t want to rush my botany lesson. Aside from that, I have to take excellent photographs to have a hope of competing with Lucas here.”
“Quite right, quite right,” Sebastian says. “You’re in for a treat. I remember when I first visited Madagascar—”
“Dear, perhaps we should save it for later,” Veronica says. “The brunch will start in less than an hour.”
Sebastian frowns. “Already? Then why are we eating breakfast?”
“Probably so Mother can have something to soak up the alcohol,” Oliver quips.
Veronica gives him a hard look, then says to Sebastian. “The meal won’t be served until at least noon, but if we show up too late, Georgia York will have taken the best table.”
“Can’t have that,” Oliver says dryly.
“Do you intend to be cheeky all day?” Veronica scolds him.
“We really should go, Mother,” Eliza says. “Let’s give Mary all the time she needs to take her pictures.” She turns to me. “I demand to see hundreds, no, thousands of images of all the wonderful plants Father has showered our estate with.”
I meet her eyes. “I assure you, you won’t be disappointed.”
“I’m sure I won’t,” she says with a bright, diamond-hard smile.
“Well, let’s go then,” Sebastian says. “We’ll leave our botanist to her work and bring your mother to her drink.”
Veronica slaps Sebastian’s shoulder playfully and says, “Enough out of you. Besides, I’ll only have one. Maybe two.”
“Or three,” Oliver says as the family files to the door. “Or four.”
Veronica slaps his shoulder too, a little less playfully, as evidenced by his “Ow!”
The door closes, and I wait until it’s been five minutes since the sound of their car quiets. Then I take a deep breath and begin.
It’s two miles to the village. The road there is mostly uphill, so I figure an hour for the walk and perhaps the same amount of time back due to fatigue. Dr. Chalmers is off today, so he won’t be in the office, and Eliza is out with her family for at least the next three or four hours.
Still, I don’t want to dally. Who knows if Eliza will find a chance to slip out and return to the estate to be rid of me?
Well, it’s a risk I’ll have to take. In any case, I’m still not convinced that Eliza was the one who actually killed Minnie.
Still, I’m sure she knew of the murder, and I’m reasonably sure she conspired with him. Today, I hope to gain the evidence I need to prove it.
As I walk to the village, my trepidation grows. I could be wasting my time. Eliza could already have warned Rupert of my suspicion, and he could have removed the medical report or destroyed it. He could be waiting along the road to waylay me and make me disappear as well. Despite appearances, I could once more be mistaken and simply exacerbating drama left behind by a very-much-alive girl who succeeded in her plan to leave and find a new life for herself free of her enemies.
I continue anyway. I’ve learned that I will always think of ways things can go wrong, or reasons why I should stop or let things go. I’ve also learned that for better or for worse, the part of me that’s capable of listening to those warnings is gone. Annie’s memory spurs me forward, and while it may be too late to do something for my sister, I can help this unfortunate girl as I helped Johnathan Ashford and his children.
I reach the village and find it bustling. There are dozens of people in the streets, and in typical English country fashion, all of them smile and greet me.
I return their greetings and smiles, cursing their presence silently all the way. I need to get into the doctor’s office unnoticed, and I can’t be seen climbing through a window or entering through the front door. They almost certainly know everyone who works for him, assuming he even has employees other than Eliza.
I need to get inside somehow, though. I’ll do my best to avoid being seen, but otherwise, I’ll just have to hope that I can enact the rest of my plan before word gets back to Dr. Chalmers that I’ve been snooping.
I reach the office and start by memorizing the phone number listed on the sign. That won’t help me for at least two days, but if I can’t find a better number for him, I’ll have no choice but to wait.
I reach the door and look around as casually as I can. No one’s paying close attention to me, but if I fiddle for too long with the door, I’ll be noticed for sure.
_preview.jpg)
