Don Gutteridge - Unholy Alliance

“They’ll have no choice but to deny that anyagreement was reached here. They may even be forced to argueagainst positions they accepted here — in order to maintain anycredibility among their compatriots in Quebec.”

“They could even decide to fly the coop,”Marc said, “though I don’t honestly believe LaFontaine would doso.”

“And everything was going so well. I don’tknow how I can walk back into the dining-room and tell them what’sin store for them.”

“We don’t have to do that right away, Garnet.They’ll certainly be expecting to have to hang around here for atleast a day or two while the investigation is being carried out.Leave telling them about the deadline and the possibility of aninquest until tonight, when Cobb and I will have interviewedeverybody and perhaps developed some leads. I don’t want them in astate of panic or whatever before I’ve had a chance to interviewthem.”

“But you were supposed to meet with Robertand Louis this morning to draft a written accord.”

“I’ll be too busy, obviously, but when Iinterview Robert and Francis, I’ll see what they have to say aboutit. Don’t despair. With any luck, Cobb and I will find the culpritby nightfall, and we can take up our business where we left off,”Marc said with more optimism than he felt.

“Where do you intend to start?”

Marc nudged Macaulay towards the library.Inside and seated, he said, “I saw Cobb headed onto the grounds assoon as Angus pulled away. He’s going to walk the boundaries of theestate with Struthers to see whether anyone came onto the propertylast evening.”

Macaulay brightened. “Let’s hope it was somebody from outside, eh? I can’t for the life of methink of anyone in here who would deliberately kill a man.”

“We’ll soon know. The light snowfall willhelp us determine for certain whether anyone penetrated theperiphery. Meantime, you can start things rolling by telling meeverything you know about Graves Chilton.”

“All right. As I mentioned earlier, he wasrecommended to me by a long-time friend of my father’s in London,Sir Godfrey Milburn. I have two letters from him, one in responseto my general request for help in procuring an experienced butlerand a second one answering the questions about Chilton I had put tohim in a follow-up.”

“Why did Chilton leave his former post tocome to the colonies?”

“Sir Godfrey candidly informed me thatChilton, who had been addicted to alcohol as a young man but hadbeen sober for years, began drinking again, and committed anindiscretion with one of the women in his employ.”

“Not usually a sacking offense — sadly,” Marcsaid.

“In this case the offense was so public itcould not be hushed up, he told me, and he had no recourse but tolet Chilton go.”

“Then, why recommend the fellow to you? Hesounds like a potential drunk with an eye for the tender sex.”

“True, but Sir Godfrey assured me that hisindiscretions with the maids heretofore had always been minor anddiscreet. Such affairs, as you know, are commonplace. Moreover, inChilton’s case, the man showed remorse, climbed immediately backonto the water-wagon, and was deemed worthy of a secondchance.”

“Well away from Sir Godfrey and Londonsociety.”

“In addition, as the baronet and his familyfrequently spent long periods of time on the Continent, Chilton wasfarmed out to a number of different houses whose masters wereacquaintances of the Milburns. Sir Godfrey sent me half a dozenglowing letters of commendation from these satisfied gents over theyears. Chilton, so long as he kept off the bottle, was a paragon ofbutlerhood.”

“I see why you’d be tempted to take himon.”

Macaulay got up. “I’ve got the letters overthere in that desk drawer. I’ll let you have a look at them, if youlike.”

“Yes, I’d like to read them.”

Macaulay took a key from his pocket andunlocked the drawer. He brought a handful of letters over to Marc.“Here are the reference letters, and here are Sir Godfrey’s — ”

“What’s wrong?”

Macaulay looked puzzled. “The one Idistinctly remember leaving on top of this pile has been shuffledinto the pack.”

“Which one?”

“The letter that Chilton sent me from NewYork the very day he disembarked. Apparently, he arrived there illfrom the rough voyage.”

“What does the letter say?”

“Not a lot,” Macaulay said, holding thesingle sheet up to the light. “It says he planned to rest in NewYork for a week or so, and then set out for Kingston via the NewYork route. He gave me the date he expected to arrive and, as itturned out, he made it only a day beyond his prediction. Strutherssaw him get off the Kingston to Toronto stage outside our gateslate last Thursday afternoon.”

“So someone may have gotten into this drawerand looked over this letter?”

“Possibly. Though, like Bergeron, I may bemistaken about its being on top.”

Marc didn’t pursue the point, as it was clearthat the good-hearted Macaulay did not want to believe one of hisservants was illicitly and recklessly curious about the man whowould rule their lives.

“I don’t see how this particular letter couldhave anything to do with the murder?” Macaulay said.

“Neither do I. However, I do want to scanthose reference letters to see if I can form a picture of thefellow beyond his status as a paragon.”

“Well, somebody didn’t think he wasperfect.”

They heard Cobb enter the front hall and kickthe snow off his boots. He came straight into the library, drippingprofusely, his cheeks as scarlet as his nose.

“Any sign of intruders?” Marc asked.

“No, Major. Not even a jackrabbit crossed theproperty-line last night.”

“Damn,” Marc said. It was now undeniable: someone in this house had hated or feared Graves Chilton enough tomurder him in cold blood.

“So, how do you plan to proceed with theinvestigation?” Macaulay said when Cobb had removed his greatcoat,helmet and mitts, and sat himself down at the table.

“I’ll set up shop in here, if you don’tmind,” Marc said, “and call in our gentleman guests one by one,while Cobb will make himself comfortable in the northeast wing tointerview the staff.”

Macaulay paled. “You’re not going to treatthe Quebecers like suspects ,” he gasped.

“No, no,” Marc reassured him. “I intend totreat them as important witnesses who will be assisting us in oursearch for the killer. I’ll simply ask them what they saw and heardlast evening, and whether or not they can help us discover whathappened to your wife’s laudanum.”

Macaulay looked much relieved. “I’ll informMrs. Blodgett and Priscilla that for today at least there will beno formal meals served. I’ll have her prepare cold fare and lay itout in the dining-room to be sampled whenever we wish.”

“Good thinking,” Marc said. He glanced atCobb, then said to Macaulay, “We’ll start our questioning with you,Garnet.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Tell us about last night after your guestsleft this area to go to bed,” Marc began. Cobb dragged his notebookout of his pocket, fished about for his pencil-stub, and preparedto take notes (‘prepared’ being all he ever did, as he invariablyrelied on his memory and, when he got back to the police quarters,he would dictate his findings to the police clerk, AugustusFrench).

“Well, Marc, after you left to see about Beth- and I’m delighted to hear that everything is all right at home — Francis and Bérubé played billiards for a while, while I watchedand tried to help them converse in two-and-a-half languages. Asyou’ll recall, Robert and LaFontaine were together in the parlour.They came out about nine-thirty or so and asked Chilton for asupply of paper and ink. Very mysteriously, I must say, they thenslipped off to their quarters.”