Page 26 of Marriage and Murder
“Apropos of his identity,” Penelope said, “there’s that line in Viola’s letter that suggests that Madeline will recognize the man’s name and will understand why Viola shouldn’t have trusted him.” She looked at Barnaby and arched a brow. “Possibly someone from their shared past?”
Stokes huffed. “Likely someone they knew by reputation from their years in Salisbury.”
“Madeline seemed to have no idea who the man might be,” Barnaby said.
“No point speculating at this stage,” Stokes said. “Let’s get back to facts. Where were we?” He consulted his notebook. “All right. So on Thursday at noon, Mrs. Gilroy leaves Viola at the cottage and takes the letter to the post. We don’t have any information about Viola’s movements from that point until she was found dead the next morning by Mrs. Gilroy when she returned to the cottage.”
Barnaby said, “We suspect that H called at the cottage on Thursday afternoon, but did he?”
Penelope put in, “We do know that she was dead by four-thirty, when Henry called, and if we accept the evidence of the clock, which seems reasonable, then she died at three-thirty-three or thereabouts.” She looked at Stokes. “Did Morgan or O’Donnell check Henry’s alibi?”
Stokes nodded. “They did, and he was, indeed, here for lunch and left about three, as he said. And Morgan borrowed a horse and rode down to the farm Henry said he’d called at after leaving here, and the farmer was clear that Henry was there and left about four, again as Henry told us.”
“So Henry’s clear on firm evidence.” Penelope was pleased. “He couldn’t have been anywhere near Lavender Cottage at three-thirty-three.”
“And,” Barnaby said, “I think we can cross Arthur Penrose and therefore Jim Swinson off our list of potential suspects as well.”
“I daresay Iris Perkins and Gladys Hooper can alibi Ida Penrose as well as each other.” Penelope looked at Stokes. “Who do we have left?”
“Aside from H?” Stokes consulted his notes. “We need to interview Mrs. Gilroy—she was, after all, the last person to see Viola alive—and her son, who apparently had a long-runningdisagreement with Viola. And at this point, we need to allow for someone we’ve yet to get wind of.”
“We do know that the house was ransacked,” Barnaby pointed out. “Whether by the murderer or someone else, we can’t yet say, but the fact that only the bracelet and the necklace that H gave Viola are missing and other potentially more valuable jewelry was left behind strongly suggests that the ransacking, at least, was done by H.”
“Indeed,” Penelope agreed. “But while he’s obviously the prime suspect for the ransacking and stealing, we can’t yet be certain that he was the one who strangled Viola. He might have arrived after the murderer had fled, and H realized the pieces would implicate him and retrieved them.”
Stokes grunted. “The simplest solution is usually correct. For my money, the most likely option is that H, realizing that Viola had seen through his scheme and wasn’t about to fall like a ripe plum into his hand, lost his temper and strangled her, then ransacked the house and removed the telltale jewelry.”
“That raises two points,” Barnaby said. “First, why strangle her rather than simply shrug and walk away? And as for the jewelry, if he didn’t kill her, why bother with that?”
They fell silent for a moment, then Penelope answered, “Because he did kill her—although yes, I agree, I can’t quite see why—but having killed her, he then realized that the jewelry is, as Stokes described it, telltale. He must have commissioned some jeweler to copy the bracelet and make the necklace to match, and therefore, the jeweler will be able to identify him.”
Stokes was nodding. “Our prime suspect is this secret admirer, H. Taking the jewelry—just those two pieces and not the other valuables—only makes sense if he was the one who murdered Viola.”
Barnaby pulled an undecided face. “Or he found Viola dead and feared the jewelry would implicate him.”
Stokes wrinkled his nose. “Spoilsport.” Then he sighed. “That said, you’re right. H might not be our murderer, but I still contend he is our prime suspect.”
“Whoever he is,” Penelope said.
“By all accounts,” Stokes said, “he’s a gentleman?—”
“Or can pass for one,” Barnaby put in.
Stokes inclined his head. “Seen from a distance, he’s tallish, lean, dark-haired. In fact, he could be Henry, although we know it isn’t him.”
Barnaby and Penelope nodded.
After a moment, Stokes went on, “If I was H, I would be long gone, but regardless, we have to make every effort to identify him. The only concern I have with us chasing him down is if, in doing so, we overlook a murderer nearer to hand. And no, I don’t know who that might be, yet nevertheless, we need to bear that possibility in mind.”
“So,” Barnaby asked, “what’s our next step?”
Penelope promptly stated, “We need to learn where Viola went in Salisbury on Wednesday. Who she visited and what she learned that so upset her. Was it that knowledge that led to her death?” She paused, then, frowning, went on, “Because of what she wrote in her Thursday letter to Madeline about H, we’ve assumed that what she learned in Salisbury—the reason she was so upset and, later, angry—was wholly to do with him, but what if it wasn’t?” She looked at Barnaby, then at Stokes. “What if everything to do with H is purely coincidental and nothing more than a distraction that’s getting in the way of us seeing the murderer more clearly?”
Stokes snorted. “That’s precisely what I’m worried about. I therefore suggest that, before we divert our attention to what Viola did in Salisbury, our next step should be to interview the remaining potential suspects and any likely sources of information in the village and find out as much as we can aboutViola, enough, at least, to know if there’s someone of potential significance of whom we’ve yet to hear.”
Barnaby said, “We have the Gilroys, mother and son, and it might be useful to speak with Reverend Foswell. Especially in country villages, men of God often have more insight into their parishioners’ states of mind than one might think.”
Stokes made a note. “He might be able to steer us toward someone we’ve thus far missed.”
