Death of a Scoundrel Read online

  ‘Aye well, he’ll slip up again soon enough. We all know he ain’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.’ Salter chuckled. ‘I hear tell that Barton’s got him in his sights. He’s trying to find out where he goes nowadays to get his arse whipped so that he can taunt him with that information—or at least figure out how to deploy the information for the maximum impact.’

  Riley knew he ought to chastise Salter for talking in such terms, but following this latest example of Danforth’s spite he didn’t have the energy to issue the reprimand. Danforth, for his part, didn’t seem to have the sense to realise that he had lost a powerful ally in Riley. Arguably the only ally he’d ever had at the Yard.

  The day passed with frustrating slowness. Riley made meticulous plans with Barton and Salter for the following afternoon’s operation, going over the plan repeatedly and poring over a map of the park to make sure they had all the entrances covered. At the same time he rode his detectives hard, urging them to follow up on every loose end regarding Woodrow’s murder in the optimistic hope that some clue would magically appear to point a finger in the killer’s direction and avoid placing Alice directly in his path.

  Unsurprisingly, his hopes proved to be in vain, and when he called to collect Amelia to keep their engagement with Jake and Olivia he was in a distracted state of mind.

  ‘I promise to leave my work behind me as much as I possibly can in future,’ he assured Amelia as Stout drove them to Grosvenor Square. ‘I realise that I have been preoccupied and have not given you the attention you deserve.’

  ‘Nonsense! I should think a great deal less of you if you were not concerned about endangering Alice. To a man with your principles it cannot sit easily with you, having to allow her to take the small risk involved.’

  ‘Small risk? I have deliberately brought her existence to the attention of a murderer.’

  ‘A murderer who’d be desperate if he attempts to kill her in broad daylight in a public place. You only need to identify the person who approaches her and you will have your man.’

  ‘Even so…’

  ‘He is more likely not to approach her at all. In his shoes I would follow her home, then wait for darkness and break in to steal that box. Madame Elaine’s security is, I’m told, second to none. Besides, the moment he appears you will arrest him.’

  ‘I don’t deserve you,’ Riley said softly, feeling himself relaxing in the light of Amelia’s sound common sense.

  ‘Very likely not, but I don’t intend to release you from our engagement so I’m afraid you are stuck with me.’

  ‘Such a penance,’ he said mockingly, earning a sharp punch on the arm from his beloved.

  Their arrival at Grosvenor Square was greeted by the entire family, all of whom appeared to know what Jake and Olivia had been agreed to do to forward Riley’s investigation.

  ‘There’s no keeping a secret in this household,’ Tom told Riley as he shook his hand. ‘We always know when the old folks are up to something—’

  ‘Less of the old, if you don’t mind,’ Jake chided.

  ‘But at least you can relax in the knowledge that those secrets won’t spread past our doors,’ Tom added with a rueful grin.

  Riley and Amelia greeted their friends with easy affection. Only when they were all seated in the drawing room and drinks had been dispensed by Parker did Olivia explain how the reception at Lady Eldridge’s had progressed.

  ‘No one knew quite what to wear to mark the occasion,’ she said, eyes sparkling with amusement. ‘It was not a wake precisely, but it was hardly an occasion for celebration either. Anyway, Lady Eldridge’s drawing room was crammed full, which suited our purpose, since it was impossible to speak without raising one’s voice and being overheard.’

  ‘All of your suspects were in attendance, Riley,’ Jake added, ‘and Olivia excelled herself in spreading your message.’

  Riley smiled. ‘I expected nothing less.’

  Olivia beamed. ‘Glad to make myself useful.’

  ‘Did anyone pay particular interest?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Lord Durand pretended not to hear a word, but never strayed far from whichever part of the room I happened to be in,’ Olivia replied. ‘The ladies were united in their grief. The men, for the most part, were respectful but not particularly upset. I could see that Lord Durand found it hard to pretend he wasn’t delighted.’

  ‘He seemed preoccupied, though,’ Jake added. ‘He actually asked me if I knew how your investigation was progressing. It was not the sort of question that a man in his situation would ordinarily ask, which makes me think he must be desperate.’

  ‘Mrs Kempton seemed…well, distracted, I suppose,’ Olivia added. ‘It was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that she and her husband were barely on speaking terms.’

  ‘William and Francis Woodrow were both in attendance and put on a united show of grief. It was sickening to watch,’ Jake said.

  ‘I hope to goodness that neither of them knew or guessed at Rod’s feelings for Alice,’ Riley said, his anxiety returning. ‘Alice insists that they did not, but Rod blackmailed his elder brother when he tried to…’ He glanced at Carolyn and allowed his words to trail off.

  ‘To what, Uncle Riley?’ she asked with an innocent smile.

  ‘Nothing to do with you, sprog,’ her brother Sebastian replied, giving her a gentle cuff around the ear.

  ‘You always say that when the conversation gets interesting,’ Carolyn protested, to smiles and muffled laughter.

  ‘Anyway, if either of the Woodrows did know of his attachment to Alice, they wouldn’t know where she is now.’

  ‘They did not write letters to incriminate themselves,’ Amelia pointed out.

  ‘No, my sweet, but if they thought that Rod kept diaries, William would not be willing to risk having his political ambitions thwarted by a scandal from beyond the grave. Anyway, there is nothing more we can do about that. Thank you both.’ He inclined his head towards Jake and Olivia and smiled. ‘You have made things a great deal easier for me. Now all that remains to be seen is whose cages you have rattled.’ He transferred his smile to Carolyn. ‘Have you heard from my niece recently?’ he asked. ‘No doubt the two of you are keen to discuss the preparations for the wedding.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  At least the weather cooperated with Riley’s plans, which he chose to interpret as an encouraging omen. He travelled to work the following morning in conditions that felt tropical after the recent cold snap.

  ‘Morning, sir,’ Salter said. ‘A fine day for a walk in the park.’

  ‘I wouldn’t go that far, Jack.’ Riley threw himself into his chair, endeavouring to tamp down his misgivings about the entire rigmarole. The plans were in place and it was his duty to lead by example. ‘Any developments overnight that I need to know about?’

  ‘Nothing, sir, I’m sorry to say. Did Lord and Lady Torbay managed to set the bait?’

  ‘They did, most successfully by all accounts. All our suspects attended Lady Eldridge’s reception and none of them could have failed to learn of Rod’s secret passion. Some of the ladies were quite put out, I gather.’

  Salter chuckled. ‘I imagine they would have been. Each of them seemed to think that she was his one and only. You have to hand it to the man, he had stamina. Mrs Salter is more than enough to wear me out. Can’t imagine the trouble it would cause, juggling all them women’s expectations and keeping ’em secret from one another.’

  ‘It was his living, Jack, and a very lucrative one too, as we’ve already found out.’

  Salter sniffed. ‘Not an honest living though, even if none of his victims were…well, dissatisfied.’

  Riley chuckled. ‘That’s one way of looking at it.’

  Riley and his sergeant immersed themselves in the preparations, going over everything three times to ensure that no eventualities had been overlooked. The two constables that Riley had borrowed from Barton—sadly not Peterson or Harper who were known to some of the suspects—arrived dress
ed in the scruffy attire of outdoor workers. Mufflers covered the lower parts of their faces and their drab clothing failed to draw attention to them. They were both young, tall and fit, which was one of the reasons why Riley had selected them. If matters turned ugly, he felt confident that they could handle themselves and, more to the point, protect Alice.

  By late morning Riley had run through the procedure a dozen times and people were starting to become restless with his fastidiousness.

  ‘I understand your concerns, guv’nor, I absolutely do,’ Barton said, taking Riley aside and addressing him in a calm, avuncular manner, ‘but you’d be best advised to put your trust in my men. They won’t let you down. If they do they’ll have me to contend with, and that ain’t a situation they’d knowingly put themselves in.’

  ‘You’re right, Barton.’ Riley sighed. ‘I just wish I could shake the feeling that I’ve overlooked something significant.’

  ‘You can’t cater for every eventuality. There’s always an element of risk in situations like this one. The girl knows all about that and still wants to help, so let her.’

  Riley offered the wise old sergeant a wry smile. ‘Not many people have the courage to tell me to my face when I’m making an ass out of myself.’

  ‘Ah well, I tend to speak as I find.’

  ‘Salter and I will take ourselves off to collect Miss Fanshaw and make sure that she’s fully prepared. You know where I shall be if there are any developments.’

  Riley and Salter arrived at Bond Street to find Alice dressed in respectable and warm outdoor clothing that reflected her status as a senior servant. She looked nervous yet resolute.

  ‘Still time to change your mind,’ Riley told her.

  She lifted her chin defiantly. ‘Not a chance.’

  ‘Very well, if you’re absolutely sure then we should get you to the park. You would ordinarily travel by omnibus, I imagine.’

  ‘I would, sir.’

  ‘Good, since that is how anyone watching would expect you to arrive.’ Riley conducted her to the side of the road. There were no designated stopping places for the omnibuses but several people had gathered on a corner, Parker included, waiting to flag one down. Riley pointed Parker out to Alice.

  ‘That man will follow you every step of the way,’ he told her. ‘Don’t speak to him unless you sense danger. He will ignore you, but rest assured he will have you in his sights continuously.’ Riley squeezed her shoulder. ‘Good luck, my dear.’

  Riley and Salter watched as on omnibus swerved to collect the waiting passengers. The two of them took a hansom to the park and were there, concealed across the road, in time to watch Alice arrive. She played her part superbly, looking neither left nor right as she waited for a gap in the traffic and crossed the road to the park’s entrance. Parker sauntered along behind her, casually scanning the headlines in the newspaper held in front of his face.

  ‘Now we wait,’ Riley said, tapping his hand anxiously against his thigh.

  There were several entrances to the park, but the one they watched was the busiest and the most convenient if one arrived on foot or in a hired carriage. They waited for an hour and saw absolutely nothing to excite their interest. The better weather held but was not sufficiently warm to tempt any but the hardiest of souls to venture into the park. Riley began to fear that they were wasting their time. He felt frustrated yet relieved that Alice would come to no harm.

  ‘Nothing’s gonna happen,’ Salter complained.

  No sooner had the words left his lips when a sudden commotion and a loud whistle had both detectives running across the street, narrowly avoiding being run down by a cart. Its driver swerved to avoid them and turned the air blue with his language. Riley ignored him and ran hell for leather into the park.

  ‘What?’ he asked breathlessly, aware of his people surrounding Alice and another figure. They parted to allow Riley through. He thought at first that he was seeing things when he observed Susan Kempton squirming on the muddy ground, held down by Barton’s two constables, screaming at them to unhand her. She turned her head, saw Riley and demanded that he do something. Riley obliged by having her hauled from the ground and held firmly in the clutches of Barton’s constables.

  Riley ignored her continuing protestations and turned his attention to Alice. She sagged on her bench, leaning forward and clutching her arms around her body. Riley noticed that her teeth were chattering.

  ‘She tried to manhandle you?’ Riley asked, crouching in front of her. ‘Are you all right? Did she harm you?’

  ‘I’m fine. Just a little winded.’

  Satisfied that Alice would not swoon, Riley turned furious eyes upon his men. ‘How in the name of Hades did she get so close?’ he demanded in a mordent tone.

  ‘Begging your pardon, sir,’ one of the constables said, ‘but we was told to look out for a man. We didn’t think nothing of another woman sauntering along and sitting on the same bench as Miss Fanshaw.’

  No, Riley thought, and that was all his fault. He had been convinced that a woman wouldn’t have had the strength to commit the crime and so didn’t allow for that possibility.

  ‘Did she speak to you?’ Riley asked Alice.

  ‘Yes, sir. She asked me if I was Rod Woodrow’s intended? Looked ever so put out when I said that I was. Did I do right, sir? I wasn’t sure, you see. I didn’t expect…well, I didn’t rightly know what to expect. She took me by surprise.’

  ‘You did very well indeed, Alice,’ Riley replied. ‘What happened then?’

  ‘She grabbed my arm and said we needed to talk somewhere more secluded. I think…well, she kept looking at those trees over there. She wanted us to go in there, but then Mr Parker and the others realised what was happening and dragged her off me. Is she…did she kill my Rod?’

  ‘It looks that way, Alice.’

  ‘Who is she, sir? She never gave me her name.’

  ‘I will come and see you as soon as I’ve sorted all this out and explain everything. In the meantime, you need to get yourself somewhere warm. Thank you so much for being brave and helping us, Alice. We never would have got this far without you.’

  ‘It’s my pleasure, sir.’

  ‘Escort Alice home, Stout,’ he said. ‘The rest of you back to the Yard with me. Needless to say, Mrs Kempton is under arrest for the murder of Roderick Woodrow.’

  ‘Murder. I did not kill him!’ she spat at Riley. ‘I loved him and this…this strumpet turned him against me. I simply wanted to talk to her, to understand how she managed it and make her realise how impossible it would have been.’

  ‘Don’t you just love it when suspects condemn themselves with their own words, sir,’ Salter said gleefully, watching Stout solicitously escorting Alice to a hansom. ‘That is one brave woman,’ he added.

  ‘Indeed it is.’ And I almost got her killed.

  Mrs Kempton was thrust, protesting, into a cell and left there to contemplate her situation. Meanwhile, Riley organised a full search of her property to be carried out, leaving Carter and Soames to arrange it. They knew what to look for. He had a feeling that Mrs Kempton would continue to deny all involvement in Rod’s murder and that he would need more than her attack on Alice to strengthen the case against her.

  ‘Well, Jack,’ he said after an hour of receiving individual reports from those present in the park. ‘Shall we see what she has to say for herself?’

  ‘Should be interesting,’ Salter grinned. ‘I’ll arrange for her to be brought up. Do you really think she killed him, sir?’

  ‘Oh yes, and I should not have dismissed the possibility out of hand when I learned that Rod had fathered her child and she was still in love with him. We knew she was a woman scorned, determined to have Rod at whatever cost. We also know he would have let her into his rooms if she’d lain in wait for him, rather than deal with her in the street where anyone might have overheard their conversation. He wouldn’t have felt threatened by her and probably assumed that he would be able to calm her down as easily as he alway
s had in the past.’

  ‘He underestimated her grievances, and didn’t realise he had pushed her too far.’

  Riley stood. ‘Let’s find out, shall we?’

  A short time later Riley and Salter joined a dishevelled, pale and clearly frightened woman in one of the bleak interview rooms.

  ‘Tell me what happened just now in the park,’ Riley said without preamble as he took occupation of the chair across from her.

  ‘I was about to ask you the same question. I had just begun to address that woman in the park, and the next thing I knew I was wrestled to the ground by your thuggish constables,’ Mrs Kempton replied, attempting to gain the moral high ground. She would have been more successful if she had been able to conceal the fear in her eyes. ‘I shall be making a complaint to your superiors, make no mistake about it. Your officers’ conduct was beyond the pale. They manhandled me and humiliated me.’

  ‘Why did you want to speak with the lady?’ Salter asked.

  ‘Lady?’ She clucked her tongue against her teeth and sent him a sour look. ‘That was no lady. You can take my word for it.’

  ‘Answer the question,’ Salter snapped.

  ‘Since you insist, I heard a rumour at Lady Eldridge’s reception about Rod having developed a passion for a servant.’ She flapped a hand. ‘I knew it couldn’t possibly be true, of course, yet I needed to satisfy my curiosity. Someone said she frequented that park so…well, I just wanted to talk to her. I suggested we went somewhere out of the wind and the next thing I knew I was face down in the mud.’

  Salter broke the silence that greeted this fiction with a slow round of applause. ‘More entertaining than the music hall, the stories we hear in this room, wouldn’t you say, sir?’

  ‘My sergeant’s in the right of it, Mrs Kempton. We don’t believe a word of what you just said.’ Riley settled himself into a more comfortable position. ‘Shall we try again?’

  ‘I have nothing more to say to you and I would like to go home now,’ Mrs Kempton said with a lofty toss of her head.