Love and Marriage at Harpers, page 28
‘Yes, but perhaps there is something else your aunt had that she hid from her husband.’ Harold shrugged. ‘I’m not sure why he decided to attack you, Beth – but it was his undoing. It was that act that brought you to me and I have a good record of unravelling these sorts of puzzles.’
Beth nodded and looked sad. ‘So my aunt was right – he did marry her for money. When he discovered she didn’t own her house and had only a few hundred in the bank, he decided to insure her, but she suspected and arranged for me to be the beneficiary. I suppose that made him angry enough to try and harm me even if he couldn’t get that money, and if I hadn’t married he might have got it anyway, because he would still have been my closest relative.’
‘Who knows what goes on in the mind of a man like that?’ Fred muttered.
‘I believe the mind of a criminal is centred on himself and nothing else,’ Harold said. ‘In my years as a police officer, I found that murderers were nearly all cold, calculating and supremely arrogant.’
‘Thank you for telling us,’ Beth said. ‘I understand now and I pray he hangs for his crimes – but I just wish Aunt Helen had never met him. She thought him so kind and generous at the start…’
‘He knows how to charm women,’ Harold said. ‘However, he made a mistake with you, Beth. He should have tried to be your friend rather than setting you against him.’
‘I never liked him from the start. He must have felt that even though I tried not to let anyone see it.’
‘Well, several police forces are looking for him now and the photographs I have of him will be circulated. Wherever he goes, someone will recognise him – unless he changes his appearance, though he hasn’t in the past, just his name.’
‘I noticed someone wearing a cap pulled low over his eyes the other night, but I don’t know if it was him,’ Beth said and shivered at the memory. ‘He is still out there watching and waiting for the chance to get me alone.’
‘You make sure to wait for Dad when you leave work at night.’ Jack scowled. ‘I’ll be glad when they have the murdering devil under lock and key.’
‘We’ll all be glad of that,’ Harold said. He finished the slice of cake he’d been eating and stood up. ‘I’d best get back. I’ve got someone coming to see me this evening – your case has given me a taste for more of the same and one of my colleagues from the station wants me to help them sort out another mystery.’
Beth went to the door with him herself. He offered his hand, but she kissed his cheek impulsively. ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done for me,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad we asked for your help.’
‘It was an interesting case and I enjoyed pitting my wits against Mr Makepeace. I don’t think you need worry too much, Beth. My friends at the Yard will soon have this rogue in their cells.’
‘Good.’ She smiled and watched him walk away before returning to the warmth of the kitchen, where her husband and father-in-law were talking earnestly. They looked at her as she entered the room.
‘Sit by the fire, love,’ Jack invited. ‘Dad and I were wondering whether you should stay home for a while – just until they’ve got that devil…’
‘No, I won’t let him win,’ Beth said and lifted her head. ‘I shall write to the solicitor. Harold left us the address on the table.’ She scooped it up and read: ‘Messrs Pickford and sons, lawyers of London. Yes, I’ll tell them that we suspect my aunt was unlawfully killed and the insurance money should not be claimed. I do not want blood money.’
‘No, certainly not,’ Fred agreed. ‘That is the right thing to do, Beth. It is a lot of money, but you would feel wrong if you took it.’
‘I couldn’t.’ She shuddered at the very thought. ‘That despicable man – when I think how he took three women’s lives for money and still hadn’t enough…’
‘It makes you feel sick,’ Jack said. ‘I wish she hadn’t left it to you. It must be the reason why Gerald attacked you and yet he must have known it would never come to him.’
‘Revenge or anger.’ Fred shook his head. ‘It is a mystery though – because he couldn’t have hoped to get it once you were married.’
‘There must be something more,’ Jack said. ‘Surely, a cold-blooded killer like Harold said he was wouldn’t let anger cloud his judgement…’
‘Please, don’t let’s talk about him any more,’ Beth said. ‘When I think of what he’s done I want to scratch his eyes out – but I know he is going to hang and that is all that really matters.’
The subject was changed and Beth started to clear the tea things into the scullery. Jack came to help her with the washing-up. She looked at him uncertainly as he took a china plate and started to dry it.
‘I’m sorry about the money, Jack. I know it would have meant the world to us, bought you all you need for your own business and set us up for life…’
‘You were right when you called it blood money.’ He smiled at her. ‘I wouldn’t expect you to accept it even if they pay out.’ He leaned in and kissed her. ‘I’m proud of you, my love.’
Beth nodded and sighed. ‘It’s a pity she did it, she must have known in her heart why he’d asked her to take out the insurances.’
‘Perhaps she wasn’t thinking straight – just wanted to punish him…’ Jack suggested.
Beth made an effort to change the subject. ‘So what will you do about your job?’ she asked. ‘Given that the doctor confirmed I’m pregnant I shan’t be able to work for more than a few months longer.’
‘I’ll hang on and make them fire me,’ he said, setting his mouth stubbornly. ‘Why should I make it easy for them? I’ll take my wages and in the meantime look for something else.’
Beth wiped her hands. ‘I think I’ll have an early night…’
‘I’ll come with you,’ he said and put his arm about her. ‘Don’t worry, Beth, we’ll manage.’
36
Rachel pulled her scarf a little tighter around her throat. The wind was chilly and she shivered, thinking she would be glad to be home. She’d been to the little corner shop near their apartment, filling her basket to the brim, and it was heavy on her arm. Shifting it from one arm to the next, she sighed, feeling a little down. Her job was enjoyable and she liked living with Maggie and Minnie, though she missed Sally and Beth in the evenings. Maggie went out quite often, with Tim Burrows or to Becky Stockbridge’s house, and her first-aid classes, which she’d begun soon after her mother’s tragic death, and Minnie often sat at her needlework for hours.
‘That looks heavy – may I carry it for you?’ Rachel turned her head and saw William Bailey looking at her. ‘You’ve done a lot of shopping…’
‘Yes, I have. We were getting low on butter, tea and other essentials. Beth and Sally used to shop regularly. Now it is mostly down to me.’
William reached out and took the basket from her. ‘I was hoping I might see you earlier, but you must have left Harper’s before I got there. I was visiting in the area and I knew you lived here somewhere…’ He offered a hesitant smile. ‘Do you think you might like to have lunch with me on Sunday? I am visiting an elderly aunt in Hampstead and I thought she would like to meet you – she so wants me to meet a nice lady and settle down…’ Now there was laughter in his eyes. ‘Could you possibly bear it? I would call for you at half-past ten…’
Rachel hesitated and then relaxed. Unless she allowed herself to make friends, she could spend the rest of her life regretting it. ‘Very well, William,’ she said. ‘I do hope you won’t let me down regarding the Movement again.’
‘I promise you I am converted,’ he said. ‘I’ve decided to take up another cause – one that I believe you will approve of. I want better working conditions for the miners of Britain.’
‘Now that is a cause I heartily agree with,’ Rachel said. ‘I believe the conditions they are forced to endure are terrible… Perhaps you would like to share supper with Minnie and I this evening? We are having soup and sandwiches, plain food, I fear – but I promise you it will be good.’
‘I would enjoy anything in your company,’ he promised and smiled. ‘Thank you – I shall be happy to help prepare it if I am able.’
‘Oh no, I don’t think we’ll make you work for your supper,’ Rachel said, ‘but you can tell us more about this project of yours over supper if you wish.’
Rachel smiled. Having another friend would help to ease the emptiness left by Sally and Beth. She knew they were both happy and wished them well, but she did miss them.
Beth received a letter two days after she’d sent hers to the solicitor. They thanked her for her honesty and said they would refer the matter to the insurance company. However, her aunt had also left her another small bequest.
Your aunt’s late father – your grandfather – invested in a goldmine in South Africa some twenty or thirty years ago. However, his shares were deemed worthless when the mine was thought to have run out. When your aunt inherited them, she was advised they were worth nothing, but quite recently another valuable mineral, palladium, was discovered in the mine. It is not sure how extensive the seam is, but we have been made an offer for your grandfather’s shares. That offer is for the sum of two thousand pounds. We are taking advice on this and at the moment we would advise you to wait. It is possible that we might raise at least twice that sum at a later date. Perhaps you would like to come in and discuss the possibility of a sale in the future.
Beth had opened the letter while sitting on the bus to work. Fred was beside her and she clutched his arm, handing it to him. He read it and then stared at her in surprise and dawning pleasure.
‘That’s a wonderful surprise for you, Beth – your grandfather’s shares are worth a lot of money.’
‘I can’t believe it,’ Beth shook her head. ‘I’m sure my mother had some of the shares, I have them with her personal things, because her belongings came to me. She said her father divided them between his daughters and told them to keep them safe because the mine might open again one day.’
‘If they are the same shares you might get twice as much…’ Fred stared at her. ‘You’ll be rich, Beth.’
‘It will be for us.’ She smiled at him. ‘Jack will invest whatever we get and it means he can buy his own place.’
‘I’m so happy for you,’ Fred told her. ‘Be sure what you want before you tell him he can have it, Beth. You might want to save some for yourself and the baby.’
‘A few pounds perhaps,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll miss my wages when I leave work – but most will go into Jack’s business.’ The smile left her eyes. ‘I wonder if Aunt Helen knew they were worth money. Mum thought they were worthless – just another one of Grandfather’s reckless schemes. He had a good business, was a rich man – until he lost it all…’
‘They say a fool and his money is soon parted,’ Fred said, nodding sadly. ‘That’s another reason you should keep a bit of the money back, Beth. Look after this windfall, it won’t come again.’
‘It’s such a lot of money – even the two thousand…’ Beth frowned. ‘I wonder if Gerald knew about the shares. He would think they should belong by right to him, no wonder he is angry. He lost the insurance money and now the shares.’
‘We must hope the law deals with him appropriately,’ Fred said. ‘Don’t let your aunt’s misfortune spoil your pleasure, Beth. These shares belonged to your grandfather and in the circumstances he would want you to have them.’
‘Oh, I shan’t refuse them,’ Beth said and smiled. ‘I couldn’t take the insurance money knowing Aunt Helen had been murdered – but the shares are different. It will make so much difference to our lives.’
Fred looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Will you still work until the baby is almost due? I know it was in your mind – but now there’s no need…’
‘I love my job now I’ve been promoted,’ Beth said and sighed, because she knew he was right, but she wanted to stay at Harper’s. ‘Let’s wait and see what happens. Until we actually get the money, I shan’t be sure.’
‘Your lawyers know what they’re doing,’ Fred said and tapped her arm. ‘Time to get off now, Beth. In all the excitement we nearly missed our stop. You’ll have to talk to Jack this evening – hear what he has to say about it.’
‘Yes.’ Beth frowned. ‘It’s my half day today, Fred, I think I’ll take a cab home when I leave work. I might try ringing Jack from the telephone box at the end of the road. He will be so excited.’ She smiled at him in sudden excitement. ‘He was upset over his job – but now it doesn’t matter.’
‘No, it doesn’t.’ Fred took her arm and steered her safely into the store. ‘I’ll see you this evening, love.’
Beth nodded as they parted, he departing to the basement where he was in charge of the stores and she to the first floor. Her news was burning inside her, but she had made up her mind that she would not tell any of her friends until Jack had been told.
It was difficult to calm herself down and see to the customers. Beth’s mind kept wandering and she had to pull herself up sharply, because she needed her wits about her when dealing with the expensive bags and silver jewellery. She sold just one leather bag and two bracelets that morning and when the time came for her to leave, she handed over to Rachel, who would stand in and keep an eye on the department for the afternoon.
Outside, Beth was fortunate enough to see an empty cab and hailed it immediately. She’d always felt in the past that it was an extravagance because it cost twice as much as her bus fare, but today she relaxed. Fred couldn’t take her home and she was safer with the cabbie, who chatted to her in a friendly way, commenting first on the Zeppelin L2 exploding with the loss of the twenty-eight passengers on board, and then on the way the authorities had tried to deport Emmeline Pankhurst from America.
‘I reckon it was despicable the way they treated the lady,’ he said. ‘She’s only standing up for her rights – that’s what my missus says.’
‘Your wife is right,’ Beth replied.
She gave him a threepenny-bit tip when he dropped her by the telephone kiosk at the end of the lane. The box had only been put there a few months earlier and Beth was a bit nervous when she entered it and followed the instructions to press the button and insert her money when the pips went.
‘This is the Hotel Maddison reception…’ a girl’s voice answered.
‘May I speak to Jack Burrows please?’
‘Mr Burrows is engaged at the moment, madam, may I take a message?’
‘Please tell him that his wife rang with important news – if he could possibly get away early tonight I should be grateful…’
‘Very well, madam.’ The phone went dead with such alacrity that Beth stared at it in surprise. How very odd! The girl had been barely polite. If that was the way she normally spoke to clients then she was no asset to the hotel.
Beth walked the few yards to her home and let herself into the kitchen. She hung her coat up and put her bag on the kitchen table. First of all, she made up the fire and put the kettle on to boil. Then she went into the scullery and took the sheets she’d changed that morning, transferring them from the sink where they’d been soaking to the washtub. There was warm water in the copper and she poured that on top of the sheets in the tin bath, adding soap flakes and giving it a stir with the poss stick. The wooden stick was the best way of moving washing in hot water and she gave the tub a thorough stirring and then left the sheets to soak again. By the time she returned to the main kitchen, the kettle had boiled and Beth made a pot of tea.
As she drank, Beth read the letter through again, still too shocked by its contents to truly take in the difference it would make to their lives. She had never expected to have so much money, though she knew her grandfather had once been wealthy. He’d left a little money in trust for his daughters, a few pieces of his late wife’s jewellery and the shares, which none of them had thought worth a penny. Of course, they hadn’t been until recently, but if her solicitor was correct they were worth a great deal now.
Her drink finished, Beth ran upstairs and got out her mother’s writing slope. She’d put it under the bed for safety’s sake because it contained personal papers, a few pieces of jewellery that she didn’t choose to wear and those shares. Studying them, Beth still wasn’t sure whether or not they were the same – but it didn’t matter, the solicitors would find out for her. She ought to write and let them know she would come to see them next week on her half day.
Penning her letter, Beth signed it, wrote on the envelope and placed the relevant postage stamp on it. She decided she would take it down to the box before she finished her washing. Slipping on her jacket, she ran down to the post box in the lane and back home, waving to her next-door neighbour, who called a cheery greeting as he got on with weeding his garden.
Beth went back inside and rinsed and mangled her washing until the water ran clear and then put the sheets into a basket made of rushes to carry it into the back garden. She hung the sheets on the line, looking anxiously up at the sky. It was overcast but the wind was blowing, so it was better than having to dry them inside. As she went into the kitchen again, she stretched to ease her aching back. All that mangling was hard work, but as she tried to straighten up, an arm went around her throat and she gave a strangled cry as a voice hissed at her ear.
‘Bitch.’ Gerald’s voice sounded low and harsh as it rasped. ‘You thought you could get away with spoiling my plans, but no one gets the better of me.’
Beth kicked back violently, catching him on the shins. He gave a cry of pain and swore, grabbing at her again. Beth ducked out of his way and tried to reach the door, but he was there before her, blocking her way with his arm. He leered at her, eyes filled with a wild triumph as she saw her doom in his face.
‘You won’t get the money if you kill me,’ she said desperately. ‘I’ve made my will and everything will go to Jack.’
