Page 91 of A Slight Problem with the Wedding
Havers nodded. “Your aunt might have come up with the spiteful idea of having you found in your wedding gown, but she was not the one who laced it up so perfectly.”
“Then who did?” Gory asked, and then immediately gasped. “Her maid! Oh, how stupid of me not to think of it. How obvious! Her devoted maid, Flossie, had to be the one. Mr. Havers, you have my sincerest apologies for ever doubting your competence. When did you catch on to her?”
Julius was curious, too.
Havers cleared his throat. “From the first day…um, within an hour of my arrival at the scene of the crime. We conducted interviews with the Easton staff, but I already knew I had to look closely at the maids rather than the footmen or butlers because no man was going to dress you so meticulously in your wedding gown. That was the key to all of this, wasn’t it?”
Julius laughed mirthlessly. “Yes, I thought so. But I did not know how to make the connection between that gown and Lady Easton’s guilt.”
“Well, it was right there all along,” Havers said. “Once I had interviewed and dismissed all the staff sleeping under your roof on the night of the murder, I knew it had to be Lady Easton’s maid who had done the job. She was the only one sufficiently familiar with your home and who would have had a latchkey available to her – Lady Easton’s key – to let herself and her accomplices in that night.”
Julius frowned. “But she had gone to Windsor with Lady Easton.”
“And quietly returned to London by public coach to commit the murder while Lady Easton remained in Windsor and covered up her disappearance,” Havers said.
“However, there was another woman involved,” Gory added. “Because the coachman reported two women and a man traveling together. And you are now certain the other woman was not Lady Easton?”
“That’s right,” Havers acknowledged. “I have my suspicions as to the identity of the other female, but I am waiting for confirmation on that.”
“Do you think it was Lady Easton’s sister?” Gory asked. “After all, Lady Easton was visiting her in Windsor when the murder happened. Was she complicit?”
“No.” Havers frowned as he shook his head. “In fact, Lady Easton’s own sister and her husband are quite innocent in this affair. I will admit, that possibility threw me off the scent for several days because I allowed my preconceived notions to get the better of me.”
“I’m glad they were not involved,” Gory said softly. “They were always decent to me.”
“So, who was the second woman?” Julius asked. “You’ve said you have your suspicions. Can you tell us who you think she is?”
“I believe the two women in the coach were Lady Easton’s maid and the maid’s sister.”
Gory gasped. “Flossie has a sister?”
Havers nodded. “Who also happens to live in Windsor with her husband. I believe the husband is the very man we are holding in custody. I’m awaiting confirmation on their identities, so I cannot say for certain yet.”
Julius felt his heartbeat quicken, for it seemed as though all the pieces were rapidly falling into place. Once Flossie and her sister were brought in for questioning, how long would they hold out before pointing fingers at Lady Easton?
Mr. Barrow had expressed his concern about convicting the wrongdoers if none of them confessed. But even if they never confessed, surely there would be enough circumstantial evidence to bring them all to justice.
Perhaps Lady Easton would never be arrested if her underlings refused to name her, but what harm could she do without them to assist her?
It was quite possible Lady Easton might simply accept her fate and slink away.
“Gad, I am so dense,” Gory muttered.
“Me, too,” Julius said with a sigh, truly vexed with himself for not figuring it out sooner. “As you said, the wedding gown held the solution all along. Gory’s maid adored her and would never have betrayed her or harmed her in any way. So, who was the next most obvious person to lace her gown so perfectly? The only other lady’s maid in the house, of course.”
Havers nodded again. “Yes.”
“And you immediately put that together along with the fact there was no evidence of the house being broken into.” Julius shook his head. “You seem to have all the answers, Havers. And we now have solid leads on all the conspirators, do we not? Have you sent constables out to bring the rest of them in?”
“No, that I will not do until I have them reliably identified. I have my men watching Lady Easton and her maid closely. Unfortunately, we do not know where the maid’s sister is at the moment.” Havers sighed as he ran a hand across the nape of his neck. “But rest assured, we are looking for her. We can only hope she will turn up at the Wallingford Arms at some point in order to get her next instructions.”
“Do you think the woman would be so foolish as to show up at the hotel now that her husband is in your custody?” Julius asked. “She has to be worried constables are posted there. Unless she is a fool, she has to know their plot is beginning to unravel.”
“If she dares not approach Lady Easton at the Wallingford Arms, then she is most likely to risk approaching her amid the crowd at the funeral,” Gory suggested. “All the more reason for me to attend. She must be desperate to collect whatever reward she was promised and somehow get her husband out of custody.”
“If he is her husband,” Havers clarified. “I’ll await solid proof before making any pronouncements.”
Gory smiled at him. “All right, you have earned my respect, Mr. Havers. What matters is that he poses no threat for now. Lady Easton has lost this man who was her ‘muscle’. But will she come up with another plan to get at me during the funeral? Flossie is completely devoted to her and will not hesitate to do her bidding.”
