Thursday, 26 November 2015

Episode 12 - Mrs Riddle


Sunday

Since Robert thought it bad form for Cleo to go off sleuthing on a Sunday morning, in his view a day of rest that belonged to him, Cleo was forced to emphasize the necessity of finding Dr Marble’s killer as soon as possible to avoid further bloodshed.
Working on a Sunday was part of her job. He should go to church and sing the other church choir members into the ground, after which he could spend an hour at Delilah’s bistro buying rounds of drinks for all and sundry and come home thinking his morning had been more productive than hers.  
“I expect you’ll be glad to see Hurley again,” he said.
“I don’t expect you to understand the urgency of the situation, though you listened to the discussion last night between catnaps, but I do expect you not to belittle my work with Gary. It’s very petty of you to accuse me of doing the investigating in order to be with him.”
“You should be spending your free time with me.”
“It is not free time for me, Robert.”
“As usual, you’ll go anyway, so let’s not talk about it. I’m going to have a lie-in and then spend the morning waiting for you”.
“That’s entirely up to you, Robert.”
***
Cleo was glad to get away from Robert. It was becoming increasing more evident that what she felt for him was not love or even much affection. Why the hell didn’t she kick him out?
***
To Cleo’s surprise, Gary was at the Marble villa before she was. That made it easier for her, since the policeman guarding the door had been told that she was coming and instructed to let her in.
Mrs Riddle had left things as they were the day before. She had watched Dr Marble being taken away and apparently shown no emotion. The forensic team had finished its work, but the ring-binders were still strewn over the study floor since tidying them away was not one of their tasks and Mrs Riddle was not allowed to touch anything.
Cleo and Gary were going to scrutinize everything. Cleo decided that it would be useful to accompany the investigation with restoring order. She would get Mrs Riddle to help her later in the hope that the housekeeper would remember something helpful. Cleo and Gary put on the latex gloves they used to examine exhibits and started on the job in hand.
***
Whoever had been disturbed had already dislodged ring-binders containing files starting with the letter K, and strewn them on the carpet as he or she searched through them. Pulling out the K files was an indication that it could have been Kelly except that someone else might have had a vested interest in finding out more about the Irishman. The wills Cleo had seen and photographed were no longer there.  Had other documents been stolen? There was no way of telling. The K ring-binder was jam-packed when the documents strewn on the floor were filed. Only a few pages could be missing.
Together with any prints found, the chaos in the study and any other evidence forensics could find would, however, be enough to support the breaking and entering charge that Greg had brought against Kelly. A charge was not a conviction, but it was a valid reason for keeping a suspect behind bars.
“I just hope that whoever did this did not remove any other wills,” said Cleo. ”What a good thing I managed to photograph the ones Dr Marble took out, but as far as the signatures are concerned, I expect Kelly had copied document signatures from documents he found at the farmhouse. If his parents had washed their hands of him years ago, it’s logical that they refused to sign their property over to him when he turned up. That would be a reason to kill if he was desperate and still felt the kind of hatred that had accompanied him all the years in between,” said Cleo. “But if he wasn’t their son, it was simply a case of carefully planned murder.”
“Always assuming that the scenario we are envisaging did occurr,” said Gary.
“He’s kept the game up for about 20 years so he’s unlikely to change the story everyone seems to know,” said Cleo.
A quick search through the files brought more Kelly documents to light in the XYZ file. Was filing them a method of hiding them? Not a very clever one, but the files seemed intact and the ring-binder was still on the shelf alongside one entitled UV.
“I wonder what Kelly did before he came to the farm,” mused Gary. “What if he is a relative, after all?”
“You’re talking like Dorothy. She comes up with hunches like that.”
“But why would Kelly indulge in cloak and dagger stuff if he was going to inherit anyway?” said Cleo.
“To make sure he did, I suppose,” said Gary. “He was not mentioned in the first will, a copy of which he had read. That meant that he had to invent a will if he wanted to inherit.”
“Or he was a stranger and had no rights except the ones he invented for himself by becoming the prodigal son,” said Cleo.
“Very biblical. Sounds like a Dorothy hunch,” said Gary.
“Be generous, Gary. Dorothy is a great supporter of the Hartley Agency, and I’m going to make her a partner. She also believes implicitly in you.”
“She does?”
“What are you going to do with the Kelly documents?”  Cleo asked.
“I’ll confiscate them and get Nigel to look through them again at HQ. He’s good a spotting anomalies.”
“Or ask him to come here, Gary. That would make it easier.”
“You’re right,” said Gary.
“I’ll stay here and clear up with Mrs Riddle. She might say something of note.”
“Can we lock this door so that no one gets in before Nigel?”
“There is a key in the door, but someone else may have a duplicate,” said Cleo.“
“At the moment, Kelly is our only suspect., Cleo. What about that nephew?”
“I rather hope Mrs Riddle will tell me,” said Cleo. “But if there is a second person involved, it makes sense to have police presence.”
***
Cleo and Gary found Mrs Riddle in the kitchen sorting out all the fresh foodstuffs.
“I’m going to stay with my sister and my niece,” she told them. “I just wanted to make sure there’s nothing in the fridge that would go off while I’m away.”
“Tell us where we can reach you, Mrs Riddle,” Gary said rather officiously.
“You are coming back soon, aren’t you, Mrs Riddle?” Cleo asked.
“It’s my home, Miss Hartley. I’ve been left part of the house, haven’t I?”
“Have you?”
“Dr Marble said I would be.”
“Maybe that’s not quite what he meant.”
“His only relative lives somewhere abroad. Dr Marble didn’t approve of him.”
“Do you know him, Mrs Riddle?” Gary asked.
“When he a boy I saw him once or twice, but that’s a long time ago. I don’t suppose I’d recognize him now.”
Cleo and Gary exchanged glances. Was the guy really abroad?
“Have you seen Dr Marble’s most recent will, Mrs Riddle?”
“What’s recent, Miss Hartley?”
Cleo was unable to decide if that meant yes, I have, or no, I haven’t. She wondered how much Mrs Riddle had seen or known of anything. The woman was sewn up under questioning.
***
Something was holding Cleo back from trusting Mrs Riddle. Was there a will among the papers that actually left the villa to the housekeeper? Cleo planned to make a systematic search when Mrs Riddle was out of the house. Dr Marble’s filing system was organized according to his logic. Files he wanted to hide from Mrs Riddle or anywhere else were stuffed into other ring-binders according to a system only he knew about. A will benefitting Mrs Riddle would not have been removed by her and possibly not found by anyone looking it.
“Did Dr Marble keep some important documents in a bank safe, Mrs Riddle?” Gary asked her.
“No. He used to say that the bank looked at his things when he was not there. He has a small safe behind that picture of Snowdon in the sun,” Mrs Riddle said, pointing to the painting, a rough and ready account of Snowdon or some other hill.”
“But you can’t open the safe yourself, can you, Mrs Riddle?”
“Heavens no, Sir.”
“So you don’t know the safe code.”
“Not really.”
“Meaning that you do, Mrs Riddle?” said Gary.
“I did once, but he changed it every so often.”
“How do you know that, Mrs Riddle?”
Because he once told me.”
“Well, never mind,” said Cleo. She did not think Mrs Riddle was being truthful. “The will leaving you the villa must be here somewhere.”
“We’ll get a safe expert to open it,” said Gary, realizing that Mrs Riddle would hardly conceal knowledge of the will’s whereabouts if she was the main beneficiary. So that document might not exist.
“Can you come into the study for a moment before you go, Gary? I’ve just thought of something.”
“OK.”
“Excuse us one minute, Mrs Riddle” Cleo improvised.
In the study, Cleo pointed out that as Mrs Riddle was being cagey about Dr Marble’s will. It might be useful to have a look at it pretty soon. Gary thought it must be in the safe if it existed, and he would  get someone to open it a.s.a.p., although he was sure that there was no such will leaving the villa to Mrs Riddle. Cleo went to a slim ring-binder marked ‘Artisans and Plumbers’ and put it on the desk.
“I’m rather surprised that the intruder did not pull this one out,” said Cleo.
“I can’t see why an intruder would be interested in Dr Marble’s plumbers. We all have our pet artisans. Dr Marble obviously wanted to keep a record of the workmen who came here. A quick look at the contents verified what Gary had assumed.
“Would you like me to tell Mrs Riddle to stay here, Cleo?”
“No. Let her believe we believe her. After all, she might be telling the truth and she would not hide a document if it was to her advantage to produce it.”
“I just don’t see the reason for Dr Marble’s cloak and dagger filing system,” said Gary.
“You are not an elderly solicitor with a pathological fear of people nosing around, Gary.”
“Justified, as it transpires,” said Gary.
“Dr Marble had a tidy mind, so we’ll have to look carefully for that will, if it exist, and we’ll start with the artisans,” said Cleo.
“Your wish is my command,” said Gary.
***
The will in question was found between receipts for new wiring and various other invoices. The house had been left in equal parts to Mrs Riddle for life and someone called Sylvie Thomson, whom Mrs Riddle had not mentioned. Who was Sylvie? She would have the whole villa after Mrs Riddle’s decease so she had a motive, too.
“She was right, wasn’t she?” said Gary. “Assuming Sylvie is a young lady, leaving his property to the next generation would be normal, while taking care of his housekeeper.”
“Except that the nephew is not getting anything and we have no idea who Sylvie is or how old she is.”
“You don’t have to leave anything to someone you dislike, so he probably disliked Harry,” said Gary, “ and we don’t know if Dr Marble was a ladies’ man and may have other progeny he has also excluded.”
“I wonder if that nephew knew he was not going to inherit anything.”
“The will is still here,” said Gary. “He would only have to read it to know how things stood. And he may have photographed it, of course.”
“So you now suspect that the nephew might have searched for the will, and found it.”
“It is likely, isn’t it?”
“We now probably have two cases of someone chasing after the solicitor’s will, neither of whom took it away,” said Gary. ”We also have a housekeeper who believes that the will is in the safe. There are usually verified copies of important documents, so Mrs Riddle would be confident that her rights were protected by that safe.”
“That does not take account of digital possibilities, does it?” said Cleo.
“No, and I’ll get photos of the will now. Then it can stay here filed somewhere else.”

***
“Mrs Riddle must know who Sylvie is,” said Cleo. “I wonder if someone tried to force Dr Marble into something.”
“Assuming that person knew about the original will, Cleo. You sounded like Dorothy then.”
“But she would say that she does not think Dr Marble’s death was premeditated.”
“The guy is dead. Whoever killed him for whatever reason must be caught,” said Gary.
Harry was turning out to be a second suspect now the idea that more than one person was hell bent on finding the will was taking shape.
“We must trace Harry,” said Gary, going back into the kitchen. “Do you know the nephew’s surname, Mrs Riddle?”
“I can’t remember. Dr Marble’s sister was married twice. I don’t know which husband is the father. I only met Harry as a child.”
“It would be useful to know a bit more about him,” said Gary, and Cleo frowned at him. He was jumping the guns and possibly scaring Mrs Riddle off.
“But don’t worry about it. I’m just curious, Mrs Riddle,“ said Gary smiling at her. “Thanks for your help. I know it must be hard for you.”
Mrs Riddle was putting on a brave face.
“Just one more question, Mrs Riddle,” said Cleo. “Do you know Sylvie Thomson?”
Mrs Riddle looked perturbed. Cleo decided Gary should leave now and let her ask questions about Sylvie.
“I’ll see you out, Gary. I’m planning to stay here with Mrs Riddle for a while.”
At the door, Cleo told Gary that she would find out about Sylvie and let Mrs Riddle chat about anything she cared to. She would offer to take the housekeeper to officially identify Dr Marble the station the following morning.
“By the time I’ve finished talking with her we will be old friends, Gary.”
“Thanks, Cleo. I’m grateful for your support. No one can ask questions like Miss Hartley.”
“Thanks, Gary. It means a lot to me, even if you are bad-tempered some of the time. You knocked Mrs Riddle over with that smile!”
“See you around,” said Gary innocuously in quite a loud voice. If Mrs Riddle was to hear anything at all, it would be an innocent adieu. On the steps of the villa the adieu was followed by a quick embrace.
***
Cleo went back into the kitchen. Mrs Riddle was taking food out of the fridge and a large sports bag was waiting to hold it. Her sister would be delighted. Dr Marble had been a gourmet.
“That inspector is in love with you,” said Mrs Riddle.
“I know and I’m in love with him, Mrs Riddle, but I’m trying not to be. I’m married to someone else.”
“Oh, dearie me. And the baby?”
“I don’t know whose it is, Mrs Riddle.”
“Follow your heart, Miss Hartley.”
“If the Inspector was here, he’d want to hug you for that, Mrs Riddle, so I will instead.”
“I know how you feel,” said Mrs Riddle. “I went through something similar.”
Shaking off her distress, she announced that she would turn the freezer-fridge down before she left, so that the frozen stuff would not deteriorate.
“Do you want me to come in and check?” Cleo asked.
“Would you?”
“Of course, but I’ll need a door key.”
“There’s one in the cutlery drawer over there, Miss Hartley. I’ll be back in a week.”
“Don’t forget to leave me your phone number and address.”
“They are written in the phone book in the hall, Miss Hartley.”
“Good. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Not really.”
“What about Sylvie, Mrs Riddle? Was she very special to Dr Marble?”
“She’s his child, Miss Hartley. My sister had an affair with him.”
“Wow!”
“I’ve always thought there was a likeness, then, when I saw the will…”
“You’ve seen the will, then.”
“Yes, but only briefly. I’m sorry I told a lie, Miss Hartley. Your policeman seemed so stern. He frightened me a little.”
“I don’t think he meant to, Mrs Riddle. He’s really as gentle as a kitten.”
“Not all the time, I hope.”
“You mean as a lover?” Cleo asked.
Cleo realized that the conversation was getting rather intimate, but she had plenty of experience to know that telling a confidence or two often produced vital information.
“Well, yes. I suppose I do,” said Mrs Riddle.
“He’s fantastic, Mrs Riddle.”
The housekeeper nodded and smiled to herself.
“Did you ever get another look at the will when Dr Marble was out?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t do that. Dr Marble was very particular about his privacy.”
But not particular about having an affair with his housekeeper’s sister, Cleo decided.
“Do you remember anything more about yesterday, Mrs Riddle?”
“I didn’t want to tell that inspector of yours, but there was money in the top left drawer of Dr Marble’s big desk, and it has gone, Miss Hartley.”
“Really? You know you should have said something to Mr Hurley straightaway.”
“I’m telling you now, Miss Hartley.”
“How much money do you think was in the drawer?”
“Well, I get my house-keeping from it and I take 20 pound notes out as I need them. Dr Marble put £400 in on the first of the month. If it wasn’t enough, and it usually wasn’t since he ate such expensive food, he gave me more out of his wallet.”
“That sounds like a good arrangement, Mrs Riddle. It’s half way through the month so there must have been about £200 left, unless you took extra money out.”
“I didn’t need to. I took £100 out on the first and £100 last week. Today I wanted to take £100 out and pay the milkman from it. He wants paying twice a month. There should still have been £200 in the drawer. That’s how I discovered that all the money had gone.”
“I understand, Mrs Riddle. It’s a good job the milkman wanted paying or you might not have discovered that the £200 had gone until much later. The drawer is kept locked, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but the key is in the other drawer. Anyone wanting to get into that drawer would easily have found the key. I did not get to pay the milkman today, Miss Hartley, so the milkman will want his money tomorrow. What shall I do?”
“It will come out of the estate, Mrs Riddle. I’ll pay the milkman myself and charge the estate. I’ll give you £100 to help you with your travel expenses. You must just sign for the money so that I can claim it from the estate.”
“I’ll write the milkman a note not to deliver any more milk, shall I?”
“Only for a week, Mrs Riddle. You’ll be back here soon.”
“I’m not sure I want to live here alone, Miss Hartley. This house creaks at night and Dr Marble may want haunt it since he was taken so suddenly.”
“Then you will have to ask your sister and Silvie to share it with you,” said Cleo. “But Dr Marble won’t haunt you. I’m sure he liked having you here, so he will want you to look after the villa, not run away because you are scared.”
Mrs Riddle thanked Cleo effusively.  She told her that Dr Marble had been generous to a fault. She wished she had had a husband like Dr Marble.
It flashed though Cleo’s mind that Mrs Riddle had been very fond of her employer.
“I suppose you miss your husband at times like this, Mrs Riddle.”
“There never was a Mr Riddle, Miss Hartley. Dr Marble’s sister thought it would be improper if I called myself Miss because of the neighbours talking.”
“I see. Where is Dr Marble’s sister now?”
“My sister?” Mrs Riddle had not understood the question.
Cleo mused that Dorothy would be proud of her. People often misheard questions if their mind was elsewhere.
“That’s alright, Mrs Riddle. I understand your dilemma.” said Cleo. “I know you are going to visit your sister – and her daughter Sylvie, I guess.”
Before leaving, Cleo asked Mrs Riddle if Chris had remembered to take her fingerprints.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Mrs Riddle insisted.
 “I know that, but forensic science includes counting out the innocent. Your fingerprints are on lots of objects. The thief’s prints are probably on top of them if that person did not wear gloves to open the money drawer.”
Cleo thought that claiming innocence was a strange thing to do under the circumstances. Had she been a suspect, she would not have been allowed to go to her sister’s. Cleo pointed that out and made a big effort to reassure the housekeeper.
“It’s part of the forensic team’s job to identify all the fingerprints and then yours can be eliminated.”
“Oh, and I was so worried.”
“No need to worry, Mrs Riddle. I’ll collect you and bring more cash to pay the milkman,” said Cleo. “I’m sure you are looking forward to seeing your sister’s girl.”
Mrs Riddle nodded. “My niece, Miss Hartley. Just say she’s my niece.”
“I will. If you prefer that, but there isn’t a sister, is there?
“I do have a sister, but she lives in Scotland. She visits Silvie and I think she’s there now.”
“I think she is, Miss Hartley. If you need help at home, I’ll be back in a week and would be glad of something to do.”
“Would you really?”
“That’s settled then. The usual rate,” said Mrs Riddle, offering her hand to seal the deal.
“The cottage is Number 10, Monkton Way, Mrs Riddle, and here’s my business card. All my phone numbers are on it so you can’t miss me. What time is your train tomorrow?”
Just before ten, Miss Hartley. From Middlethumpton.”
“I’ll pick you up at nine. That will give you plenty of time.”
“Would you do that? I’m so grateful.”
***
On the way home, Cleo decided that Mrs Riddle was innocent of anything criminal. She had lost her employer and would lose her home if Sylvie Thomson wanted to sell up, as she surely would if she did not want to live in the house her father had left her. She was sure to have made a life for herself elsewhere. Selling the villa seemed like a sensible option to Cleo.
As far as Dr Marble’s death was concerned, the implications were clear. Harry could have had a strong motive to kill his uncle if he had done more than just threaten to disinherit his nephew. Had there been any contact recently? Was Harry Marble’s visit a last attempt to get his uncle to change his mind? Cleo wondered if there had been e-mail contact. Dr Marble did not have a computer on his desk, but there was a sleek notebook in one of the desk’s capacious drawers and it was probable that he had communicated per e-mail. Cleo thought the laptop was probably secured by a password that she would be unable to crack herself and whoever had broken in did not have any use for it, or it would no longer be there. There were several reasons for meeting Gary again pretty soon. She would phone him on her mobile where there were no eavesdroppers: in her car..
***
“Gary, there are one or two things we must discuss.”
“Go on!”
“Sylvie Thomson was Dr Marble’s daughter, not a niece.”
 “So the sister had an affair with Mrs Riddle’s employer.”
“It gets more complicated. I assume that Mrs Riddle is Sylvie’s mother. The sister lives in Scotland. Judging from what Mrs Riddle had to say, Harry could be a suspect.”
“Did Mrs Riddle remember his surname?”
“No, but there may be something in the Marble telephone book if we’re lucky. I didn’t want to press the matter. Mrs Riddle needs time to get over the shock of Dr Marble’s fate, which is no wonder, seeing that almost certainly had a child together and she was in Dr Marble’s view only the housekeeper, and the child farmed out to the sister.
I think Mrs Riddle was hoping the guy would marry her one day. I’m going to take her to the station early tomorrow morning, and then I will go back to the house and pay the milkman. I also advanced Mrs Riddle £100 from the estate. I have a receipt for that money and will get a receipt from the milkman tomorrow. I hope the lawyer dealing with the estate can organize the interim finances quickly. The house has to be looked after. Mrs Riddle gave me a door key.”
“How did you manage that? The police guard will still be on duty.”
“They should watch out for Harry.”
“I’ll give instructions to detain anyone who turns up.”
“Except the milkman,” said Cleo.
“Especially the milkman, Cleo! Who knows if it’s the genuine one or he lies in a ditch somewhere.”
“Cop’s nose again? You’re right, of course. I’m going to water the house plants, but I’ll be careful.”
“She really trusts you, doesn’t she, Cleo?”
“Why shouldn’t she? I’m not the cops! She has offered to do some cleaning for me, Gary and I said it was a good idea. That shows that she believes I trust her, too.”
“It all depends on Mrs Riddle being innocent, of course. Otherwise she might find herself behind bars before she has time to clean your office. For now she is not a suspect. She would hardly have smashed her boss’s head to smithereens, hit herself on the head then put it herself in the gas oven, would she?”
“No, but an accomplice might.”
“Did she tell you the sister’s name?”
“I forgot to ask. I don’t know where the sister is now. I was so taken aback by the news that Dr Marble had an illegitimate daughter. I expect we’ll find her address in the phone book next to the phone in the hall. I would have taken it, but Mrs Riddle might have needed it before leaving.”
***
“Our solicitor was quite a dark horse,” said Gary. “Mrs Riddle will be out of the way from tomorrow and by then Chris should have evaluated all the fingerprints. I know we could go in today and read that phone book, but I don’t want Mrs Riddle put on her guard. She can deal with the funeral arrangements when she gets back. I don’t think the body will be released for some days. Chris will want a second opinion on the cause of death. He says it’s better for him, since once a corpse has been cremated there is no chance of changing an autopsy report.”
“The cop at the villa front door spells out crime, Gary.”
“That’s true, but he’s needed in case Harry turns up.”
“Except that he’d get away fast when he saw the cop.”
“Police procedure, Cleo. I have to obey the rules.”
“It’s time they were changed. No felon will stick around to deal with a cop. They aren’t even armed. That makes them vulnerable and even more superfluous.”
“Tell that to the Home Secretary.”
“I might just do that. You suspect Mrs Riddle of being implicated in some way, don’t you, Gary?”
“Don’t you?”
“I can’t see how. She even told me about the housekeeping money missing from Dr Marble’s desk.“
“Why didn’t she tell me that? It could be a vital clue.”
“I think she was afraid you would suspect her of theft, Gary.”
“Do you suspect her, Cleo?”
“No. If she had taken the money she would hardly have told me about its existence, would she?”
“That’s a sound argument. What are you doing for the rest of the day?”
“I should concentrate on the Blakes.”
“Who are...?”
“The witnesses on Kelly’s will. They wrote clearly on the first of the two wills I photographed, but might have just scribbled their names on the second one. I want to know for sure that they did not sign that second will, as I suspect. That would mean that the testament is definitely forged.”
“A graphologist would know, Cleo, but since they witnessed the first will they must have known the Kelly family. So it’s worth talking to them first.  Keep me posted and don’t get into any dangerous situations. Take Dorothy along. She seems to be a good catalyst! On second thoughts, do you want me to go with you?”
”I want you, Gary, but not there.”
“Message read. Later?”
“It is Sunday, Gary. I’ll have to show my face at home.”
“Your decision, Cleo.”
“Point taken. One more idea for now.”
“Go on!”
“If Harry Marble knows he has been omitted from the valid will and also knows Sylvie is Dr Marble’s daughter, he might decide to look for her and kill her.”
“But surely he has known that for a long time.”
“Not necessarily. He lived abroad for years.”
“So we should keep tabs on the girl, too.”
“I think it would be a good idea, Gary.”
“Then I’ll get a plain clothes cop to follow Mrs Riddle to her destination without her noticing. Presumably that’s where she’ll meet up with her family.”
“That’s her plan. I’m collecting her at nine and taking her to Middlethumpton station. Your plain-clothes guy could pick us up there. Give me his cell phone number and I’ll give him exact information about the train.”
“That sounds great. Are you busy tomorrow?”
“I should look for a new blazer, so I’ll be in Middlethumpton for hours.”
“Do you need a new blazer?”
“No.”
“So you’ll meet me at Romano’s?”
“Yes.”
“No regrets?”
“No.”
“I mean about us?”
“No. Je t’aime, Gary.”
“Moi aussi. A bientot.”


No comments:

Post a Comment