Page 61 of Murder on the Brighton Express
“If that’s what he told you, then he has indeed misunderstood,” I said. “My friend was merely trying to discover everyone’s movements. You were in the fourth compartment, next to ours. A witness saw Odette sneak past the other compartments and enter the victim’s.”
Lady Pridhurst’s nostrils flared. “A lady doesn’tsneak, Miss Fox. It’s true that Odette went to that woman’s compartment, but it was done openly and without guile. If anyone says otherwise, they’re lying. Please pass that on to your investigator friend.”
I’d expected a flat denial. Her admission that Odette had indeed gone to Ruth’s compartment made my task a lot easier. I would let her win the argument over the way Odette had moved about the carriage. There were more important truths to be uncovered.
But they were Odette’s truths, not her mother’s. I wanted to hear whatshehad to say. Considering she’d come along, it would seem she intended to speak for herself. That was a point in the girl’s favor.
I gave her a sympathetic smile. “This has been a most trying situation for you, hasn’t it?”
Odette lowered the handkerchief to her lap and nodded.
“The woman who fell from the train was named Ruth Price. I believe she didn’t jump or fall by accident. I believe she was rendered unconscious in her compartment then bundled out through the window.” I paused to let her take that in. “It’s very important you tell me the truth, Odette. I know this is difficult for you, and you’re worried about Mr. Holland discovering your father’s…difficulties, but I won’t be the one to tell him.”
Odette finally lifted her gaze to mine. “Thank you, Miss Fox. It has been my greatest fear that he won’t propose. I very much want to marry him.” She glanced at her mother who encouraged her with a nod. “What do you want to know?”
“Was Ruth alive when you went into her compartment?”
“Yes. She was alive when I left, too.”
“Why did you go?”
“My father noticed her following us late on the last day of our holiday. Father confronted her and she admitted she worked for a gossip columnist who goes by the name Mrs. Scoop.”
“She just admitted it?” I asked.
“My husband can be persuasive,” Lady Pridhurst said. We locked gazes for a long moment before she looked away.
“He followed her to the hotel where she was staying,” Odette added.
No wonder Ruth had given up enough information to satisfy Lord Pridhurst. She must have been concerned that he knew where to find her. She may not have felt safe anymore.
Neither Odette nor Lady Pridhurst seemed to realize they’d just given Lord Pridhurst a strong motive for murdering Ruth.
“My father told us on the journey back to London that his misfortune was about to be splashed over the gossip pages ofThe Evening Bulletinthanks to Miss Price. He told me that Mr. Holland would feel deceived when he read about it. I was very upset. I blamed him, but he told me to direct blame to the person responsible for our imminent downfall.”
“That woman,” Lady Pridhurst bit off.
Odette pressed her lips together and lowered her head.
I bit my tongue. Pointing out that the family’s downfall was solely the fault of Lord Pridhurst wouldn’t keep Odette talking.
“I went to her compartment,” Odette went on. “I didn’t want anyone to see me and wonder why I was speaking to a stranger, so I was careful not to be seen.” She glanced at her mother, but Lady Pridhurst sat quite still. She looked like a classical marble statue, all pale and elegant and cold.
“And you confronted Ruth Price,” I prompted.
Odette nodded. “She told me she couldn’t stop the newspaper printing salacious details. She was merely the assistant to Mrs. Scoop, and it was up to her as to whether she wrote the article or not. Then I left and returned to my compartment.”
Lady Pridhurst patted her daughter’s hand in the first sign of affection since their arrival. “That woman was alive when Odette left her. She didn’t harm her.”
“Does the name Alastair McAllister mean anything to you?” I asked.
Both ladies shook their heads. Lord Pridhust must have met the driver alone when his wife and daughter were otherwise occupied. It was quite possible he noticed Ruth following him to that meeting and warned McAllister. Perhaps McAllister had panicked and decided to confront Ruth. He’d somehow found out when she was leaving Brighton and dressed in a disguise to follow her unobtrusively. Then he’d slipped into her compartment, according to the conductor, although Geraldine Lacroix hadn’t seen him leave the compartment they shared. Someone was lying to me.
“Thank you for coming here and talking to me,” I said. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”
“This has been most upsetting for Odette. For me, too.”
I waited for them to rise and leave, but both remained seated.
