Anne Perry - A Sudden, Fearful Death

"Because he is a very respectable gentleman," Jeavis defended himself, keeping his temper with difficulty. "And he came and went again inside ten minutes or so, an' at least one of the other nurses thinks she saw Barrymore alive after Mr. Taunton left."

"Oh." Runcorn's face fell. "Well, make sure of it. He might have come back again. Hospitals are big places. You can get in and out of them easy enough. Just walk in off the street, seems to me," he said, contradicting his earlier statement. Then his expression sharpened. "Haven't you got anything, Jeavis? What've you been doing with your time? There's two of you. You must have learned something!"

Jeavis was aggrieved. "We have learned something, sir," he said coldly. "Barrymore was a very bossy, ambitious sort of a person, always giving orders to other people, but very good at her job. Even them that liked her least gave her that. Seems she used to work a lot with Dr. Beck-'that's the foreign doctor-then she switched to working mostly with Sir Herbert Stanhope. He's the head of the place and a very fine doctor. Has a spotless reputation both as a surgeon and as a man."

Runcorn's face twitched. "Of course he has. I've heard of him. What about this Beck fellow? She worked with him, you say?"

"Yes sir," Jeavis replied, his smooth features taking on a satisfied look. "He is a different matter altogether. Mrs. Flaherty-she's the matron, a superior sort of person, I judged-she overheard Beck and Barrymore quarreling only a few days ago."

"Did she indeed?" Runcorn looked better pleased. "Can't you be more exact, Jeavis? What do you mean a 'few days'?"

"She wasn't sure, or I'd 'ave said," Jeavis responded sourly. "Two or three. Seems days and nights all melt into one another in a hospital."

"So what did they quarrel about?"

Evan was growing more and more uncomfortable, but he could think of no reasonable protest to make, nothing they would listen to.

"Not certain," Jeavis replied. "But she said it was definitely a powerful difference." He hurried on, seeing Runcorn's impatience growing. "Beck said ‘It won't get you anywhere,' or something to that effect And she said that if there was no other course open to her she'd have to go to the authorities. And he said 'Please don't do that! I am quite sure it will gain you nothing, in fact it will harm you if anything.' " He ignored the smile on Evan's face at the "he said" and "she said," but his neck grew pinker. "And she said again as she was determined, and nothing would put her off, and he begged her again, and then got angry and said she was a foolish and destructive woman, that she risked ruining a fine medical career through her waywardness, but she just shouted something at him and stormed out, slamming the door." Jeavis finished his account and looked squarely at Runcom, waiting to see the effect his revelation had had upon him. He totally ignored Evan, who was keeping sober-faced with an effort.

He should have been well pleased. Runcorn sat bolt upright, his face glowing.

"Now there you have something, Jeavis," he said enthusiastically. "Get on with it, man! Go and see this Beck. Pin him down. I expect an arrest within days, with all the evidence we need for a conviction. Just don't spoil it by acting precipitately."

A flicker of uncertainty crossed Jeavis's black eyes. "No sir. It would be precipitate, sir." Evan felt a twinge of sympathy for Jeavis. He was almost certain he did not know the meaning of the word. "We have no idea what the quarrel was about-" Jeavis went on.

"Blackmail," Runcorn said sharply. "It's obvious, man. She knew something about him which could ruin his career, and if he didn't cough up, she was going to tell the authorities. Nasty piece of work, all right." He snorted. "Can't say I grieve much when a blackmailer gets killed. All the same, can't let it happen and get away with it, not here in London! You go and find out what the blackmail was about" His finger jabbed the desk once more. "Look to the man's history, his patients, his qualifications, anything you can. See if he owes money, plays fast and loose with women."

His long nose wrinkled. "Or boys-or whatever. I want to know more about the man man he knows himself, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Evan said grimly.

"Yes sir," Jeavis agreed.

"Well, get on with it then." Runcorn leaned back in his chair, smiling. "Get to work!"

"Now then, Dr. Beck." Jeavis rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, his hands thrust deep in his pockets. "A few questions, if you please."

Beck looked at him curiously. He had exceptionally fine eyes, well shaped and very dark. It was a face at once sensuous and refined, but there was something different in the shape of the bones, something indefinably foreign.

"Yes, Inspector?" he said politely.

Jeavis was full of confidence, perhaps remembering Runcorn's satisfaction.

"You worked with the deceased Nurse Barrymore, didn't you, Doctor." It was more of a statement than an inquiry. He knew the answer and his knowledge sat on him like armor.

"I imagine she worked with all the doctors in the hospital," Beck replied. "Although lately, I believe she assisted Sir Herbert most often. She was extremely capable, far more so than the average nurse." A flicker of amusement touched with anger curled his mouth.

"Are you saying that the deceased was different from other nurses, sir?" Jeavis asked quickly.

"Of course I am." Beck was surprised at Jeavis's stupidity. "She was one of Miss Nightingale's nurses from the Crimea! Most of the others are simply female employees who clean up here rather than in some domestic establishment. Frequently because to work in a domestic establishment of any quality you have to have references as to character, morals, sobriety, and honesty, which many of these women could not obtain. Miss Barrymore was a lady who chose nursing in order to serve. She probably had no need to earn her living at all."

Jeavis was thrown off balance.

"Be that as it may," he said dubiously. "I have a witness who overheard you quarreling with Barrymore a couple of days before she was murdered. What do you say to that, Doctor?"

Beck looked startled and his face tightened minutely.

"I say that your witness is mistaken, Inspector," he replied levelly. "I had no quarrel with Miss Barrymore. I had a great respect for her, both personally and professionally."

"Well you wouldn't say different now, sir, would you, seeing as how she's been murdered!"

"Then why did you ask me, Inspector?" Again the flash of humor crossed Beck's face, then vanished, leaving him graver than before. "Your witness is either malicious, frightened for himself, or else overheard part of a conversation and misunderstood. I have no idea which."

Jeavis pinched his lip doubtfully. "Well that could be the case, but it was a very reputable person, and I still want a better explanation than that, sir, because from what was overheard, it looks very like Miss Barrymore was blackmailing you and threatening to go to the hospital authorities and tell them something, and you begged with her not to. Would you care to explain that, sir?"

Beck looked paler.

"I can't explain it," he confessed. "It's complete nonsense."

Jeavis grunted. "I don't think so, sir. I don't think so at all. But we'll leave that for now." He looked at Beck sharply. "Just don't take it into your head to go for a trip back to France, or wherever it is you come from. Or I'll have to come after you!"

"I have no desire whatever to go to France, Inspector," Beck said dryly. "I shall be here, I assure you. Now if there is nothing further, I must return to my patients." And without waiting to see if Jeavis agreed, he walked past the two policemen and out of the room.

"Suspicious," Jeavis said darkly. "Marie my words, Evan, that's our man."