Page 72 of Lies in Little Sutherland
“Precisely,” Christopher said.“One way or the other.”
The other way being divorce, I assumed, if the one way was murder.Or vice versa.
“She’d be out on her bum, no longer the Viscountess St George, with no chance of ever becoming the Duchess of Sutherland.Not to mention that no one else would want her, if she was barren.”
“Except she wasn’t,” Christopher said.“She had no problem getting with child when Dad got involved.”
Ugh.I made a face.“Let’s not discuss that part of it, Christopher.But yes, I could see Aunt Charlotte throwing herself on your mum and dad’s mercy.Help me give him an heir.I could even see Aunt Roz taking pity on her, with her two children and another on the way.”
Christopher nodded, even as his face twisted.“That’s one way to assure that there’s no question about legitimacy, anyway.Crispin is a Sutherland through and through.”
Indeed.“I don’t see what was in it for your dad, though.It wasn’t because he wanted to bed his brother’s wife.Uncle Herbert has always been goofy about Aunt Roz.And if Uncle Harold had no heir, Uncle Herbert would become Duke of Sutherland if he outlived his brother.With Crispin in place, Uncle Herbert is one step farther away from the dukedom.”
“But his son would become duke either way,” Christopher said.“Francis in the event Uncle Harold had no heir, and Crispin otherwise.”
He hesitated a moment and added, “I never got the impression that Dad particularly wanted to be duke.He’s happy at Beckwith Place with Mum and his hobbies.”
“He could have your mum and his hobbies at Sutherland Hall.”
“At Sutherland Hall, he would be too busy for hobbies,” Christopher said.“The estate doesn’t run itself, after all.”
After a moment, he added, “Besides, none of this matters, does it?It happened.”
“You believe it happened,” I corrected.
He slanted a look my way.“I’m fairly certain it did do.I heard the conversation.You didn’t.Dad admitted it.”
“There’s no way to know for certain,” I said firmly.“Crispin might still be Uncle Harold’s son.I’m sure he was still bedding his wife, too.”
“But it’s more likely that he’s Dad’s, isn’t it?If Uncle Harold couldn’t get Aunt Charlotte up the duff in several years of marriage, what are the chances that it happened at the same time that Dad was trying?”
Not good, I would have to say.
“All right,” I conceded.“I accept your premise.But it doesn’t explain why you think Crispin would kill anyone.”
“Doesn’t it?”
He didn’t wait for me to answer, just went on.“What if he found out about this during that weekend in April?This was probably the secret that Grimsby was holding over Aunt Charlotte’s head, you know.The secret that she killed Grimsby and Grandfather over.She may have told Crispin that Morrison knew, as well.But he couldn’t go anywhere to deal with it right after Aunt Charlotte’s death.Uncle Harold kept him at Sutherland Hall until the funeral, remember?”
I did remember that.Christopher and I had gone back to London, and the tabloids had been quiet about Crispin’s exploits for an entire fortnight because he was buried in Wiltshire.
“By the time he got to the Dower House for the weekend party it was two weeks later,” Christopher continued, “and Morrison was long gone.Then in July, there was the engagement party for Francis and Constance, and he learned that Hughes knew, as well.So he waited a month to throw off suspicion, long enough for Hughes to get settled in Bristol, and then he drove there and got her alone in an alley and hit her over the head and made it look like a robbery.Tom went to Beckwith Place after Bristol, to make certain that Dad—and I suppose Mum—had an alibi, but I don’t think he went to Sutherland Hall to check theirs.”
“No,” I agreed, “why would he?Hughes hadn’t blackmailed either of them.”
“So far as we know,” Christopher said darkly.“At any rate, it’s only a few hours from Little Sutherland to Bristol.He could have easily motored there and back in a day.”
Yes, of course he could have done.Especially in the Hispano-Suiza.
“And Morrison?”I asked.
“Until this weekend,” Christopher said, “none of us knew where to find Morrison.And he did want to come with us, remember?”
“You think he motored up there by himself?And back, overnight?That’s farther than Bristol.”
“If anyone could do it,” Christopher said, “Crispin could.He makes the trip from Wiltshire to London all the time.He’s used to traveling on his own.He’s also used to staying up all night.The Bright Young Set often cap off their parties with breakfast.”
Yes, of course they did.However— “I don’t think he runs much with that crowd anymore, Christopher.Between Gladys getting killed, and Cecily Fletcher and Dominic Rivers ditto, and Ronnie Blanton being stuck in the country to kick the dope habit, and Hutchison and Ogilvie… well, we all know what happened there.I get the feeling that Laetitia keeps him on a pretty short leash these days.The last time I saw him in London, it was for supper at the Criterion and a play.Almost staid.”
