Page 37 of Marriage and Murder
The four of them stood and watched the carriage disappear down the lane, then, each wrapped in thought, they turned and went into the inn.
CHAPTER 7
With Barnaby and Stokes, Penelope had only just entered their private parlor, tossed off her bonnet and coat, and sat, when the door opened, and Henry and Madeline peeked in.
On seeing them, Henry smiled. “There you are. We were waiting in the snug in the hope you might have made some progress that you would be willing to share.”
Stokes waved them in. “By all means, come and join us.”
Penelope smiled warmly. “Indeed. I believe we could do with your insight, Madeline. And yours, too, Henry.”
The five of them settled in the various chairs about the fireplace, with Barnaby and Penelope once again on the old settle.
Stokes opened the discussion with “We seem to have taken a significant step forward today.” He related what they’d learned from Swithin regarding Viola’s visit to his shop on the Wednesday afternoon, which had resulted in him informing Viola that the stones in her bracelet were now fake.
“Oh dear!” Madeline looked horrified. “She would have been…” She broke off, then continued, “Horrified at first, then devastated, then angry.”
Penelope thought, then nodded. “That seems to have been the case.”
Stokes drew the necklace and bracelet from his pocket and handed both to Madeline. “Are these your sister’s?”
Madeline took the pieces and examined both. “This is definitely Viola’s bracelet. I hadn’t seen the necklace before, but as Swithin said, it’s clearly been made to match the bracelet, so I assume this is, in fact, the necklace Viola wrote to me about.” Madeline looked up. “The one her secret admirer, H, had given her.”
Stokes nodded. “Well, the reason Swithin got on to us was that Billy Gilroy had the bracelet and necklace and tried to sell them to Swithin.”
“Billy?” Henry looked shocked. “I know he’s a bit of a difficult lad, but surely, he wasn’t the one who ransacked the cottage.”
“No,” Stokes said, “he wasn’t.” He went on to describe what they’d learned of Viola’s movements in the hours preceding her death and how she’d hidden the two pieces of jewelry in the urn in the graveyard.
Madeline looked utterly bewildered. “Why hide those pieces in the graveyard?”
“Oh.” Penelope searched in her pocket and tugged out the handkerchief they’d found in the urn and handed it to Madeline. “That’s Viola’s, isn’t it?”
Madeline examined the embroidery and nodded. “Yes.”
“The bracelet and necklace were wrapped in that,” Penelope said. “Billy left the handkerchief in the urn when he took the jewelry.”
“I think,” Barnaby put in, “that with Reverend Foswell’s confirmation, we’re correct in thinking it was Viola herself who left the jewelry there.”
Madeline shook her head, then looked at Stokes. “I don’t want Billy charged with any crime. His mother’s life has been hard enough without that.”
Stokes smiled. “As it happens, Billy didn’t commit any crime. Your sister left those pieces in a public place. Finders keepers more or less applies.”
Madeline’s expression eased, but then her frown returned. “Why on earth did she hide her favorite pieces of jewelry?”
“Perhaps,” Penelope said, “because not only weren’t they her favorites anymore, given the stones were paste, but to her, those pieces would have been constant reminders of H’s perfidy.” She looked around the company. “I suspect we can assume that in arranging for such a perfectly matching necklace to be made, H, whoever he is, borrowed the bracelet from Viola to show the jeweler.”
Madeline nodded. “He did. She mentioned loaning the bracelet to him in order to have a matching necklace made.” She grimaced. “After the fact, sadly, or I would have warned her against trusting any man she had only recently met with her favorite piece. The stones might only have been aquamarines, but they were very fine specimens.”
“Swithin mentioned that,” Stokes said.
In her mind, Penelope was turning over all they’d learned, trying to see how the pieces might fit. “Do you think,” she said, “that it’s possible, having realized it had to have been H who stole her aquamarines and had them substituted with paste, that Viola viewed those two pieces of jewelry as evidence of his crime?” Penelope looked at Madeline. “Was Viola likely to have thought that through?”
Madeline’s expression firmed. “Oh yes. There was nothing whatever wrong with Viola’s ability to put two and two together.” She paused, then added, “And in this case, I believe she wouldhave been correct.” She looked at the others. “The jewelry itself is the only proof she had of H’s actions.”
A moment of silence ensued, then Henry cleared his throat and said, “If, as the villagers are saying, this man we believe must be H came to call on Viola on the afternoons that Mrs. Gilroy had off, then Viola would have expected H to call that Thursday afternoon.”
Penelope eagerly added, “And she couldn’t put him off because she had no way of contacting him.”
