Don Gutteridge - Unholy Alliance

Bragg’s lip began to curl in defiance, buthis response was meek enough: “I don’t see how that’s possible. Itold yer friend here the truth.”

“We know all about the quarrel you had withMiss Finch as you two came downstairs from your chores at about aquarter to ten.”

“So what? We didn’t try to hide it — we wasloud enough to wake the dead.”

“But you failed to mention it when firstinterviewed.”

“Why should I have told you people? It didn’tmatter a fig to Chilton bein’ poisoned.”

“Oh, but it did,” Cobb said. “Who’s gonnabelieve you an’ Finch cozied up together after yer screamin’ match,and after that filthy word you yelled at her, eh?”

Bragg started to glower at Cobb, whom heconsidered a lesser being than a manservant in a prestigiouscountry manor. Then he sat back and let a contemptuous grin slideacross his face. “I called her a fucking slut, that’s all. I wasangry. But I was soon sorry I done it an’ — ”

“You called her that vile thing for lettingMr. Chilton accost her in the hall-pantry and otherwise accede tohis advances,” Marc said quietly. “Didn’t you?”

Bragg’s black eyes blazed. “You got nobusiness snoopin’ about in people’s personal affairs!”

“Ah, but we have, Mr. Bragg,” Marc said.“Your response to Miss Finch was one of anger and jealousy, both ofwhich are powerful incentives to murder. You feared that Chiltonwould steal the affections of your bride-to-be, didn’t you?”

Bragg snorted. “You can’t provoke me intasayin’ somethin’ I’d regret. Prissy and I made up. I said I wassorry, an’ that was all there was to it. I knew she’d never reallygo fer such a fancy Dan as Chilton.”

“You were heard goin’ inta yer own room an’she was heard slammin’ the door of hers,” Cobb said.

“Got yer spies everywhere, ain’t ya?”

“So, Mr. Bragg,” Marc said, “are you nowprepared to tell us what really happened? What you did after thequarrel had driven you to your separate rooms?”

Bragg stared hard at Marc, then Cobb, andbegan to smile slowly as he said, “Chilton was poisoned by someoneafter midnight, wasn’t he? I was with Prissy all night. An’ sheain’t said otherwise, has she? Else you would’ve come right outwith it, wouldn’t ya?”

Cobb gave the show away by saying sharply,“We know you’ve talked that girl inta lyin’ fer ya!”

Bragg got up, grinning. “You got nothin’ onme. I’ve got an alibi. I’m goin’ back to my work, where I should’vebeen all along.”

And he stomped out.

“He’s a tough customer,” Marc said to Cobb,who was seething.

“Not as tough as me, he ain’t! He thinks he’sput one over on us, but all he’s done is make us more certain he’sthe killer.”

“It looks that way,” Marc said. “It’s hard tosee why he’d go through with the lie and the stress it’s obviouslyputting on his fiancée unless he were guilty of something .”

“So, Major, just how’re we gonna go aboutprovin’ it?”

“I’ll need to think about that somemore.”

“I say we drag Prissy in here an’ get her to de-track that alibi.”

“But even if she does, Cobb, we’ve got noreal evidence against Bragg. You searched his room and foundnothing. In fact, you searched all the bedrooms down there.”

“Except fer Mrs. Blodgett’s.”

“I’d bet ten pounds that Bragg would neverconsider hiding the laudanum bottle or anything else in thatquarter. Mrs. Blodgett may be ailing, but nothing goes on in herkitchen or its vicinity that she won’t know about or soondiscover.”

“So what’ll we do? You wanta come up with aguilty party before that meetin’ of yers, don’t ya?”

Marc nodded. “Bragg will go straight to MissFinch and tell her about the pressure we’re putting on them. Let’sgive her an hour or two more to sweat and worry. Also, the nexttime we bring Bragg in here, I want to know a lot more abouthim.”

“How’re we gonna do that? Unless we could getMrs. Blodgett to help.”

“Possibly. I’d like to know, for example,whether Bragg and the malcontent, Giles Harkness, were pals. Wereeither of them known to filch a bottle of the best from Macaulay’scellar or the well-stocked stores of other houses they followedtheir master into? That expensive sherry had to come into thishouse from somewhere outside it.”

“An’ Harkness was the one who had it in ferthe new butler long before he arrived, eh?”

“Good thinking. Is it not possible, then,that Harkness and Bragg were in on this together? They both hadpowerful motives.”

“When could they’ve met to plan a murder?Chilton only came here eight days ago.”

“We need to know when Bragg could haverendezvoused with Harkness, in town or perhaps secretly here on theestate.”

“How c’n we do all that this afternoon?”

Marc thought for a minute, then said, “”I’dlike you to take Macaulay’s best horse and cutter and drive intotown right away.”

“To Mrs. Sturdy’s poorhouse,” Cobb saidexcitedly. “If Harkness is there, I’ll in-tear-o-grate himhard, and if he ain’t, I’ll get Mrs. Sturdy to tell me all abouthis comin’s an’ goin’s. She’ll know everythin’.”

“Excellent! Meanwhile, I’ll head out to thestables to talk to Abel Struthers. He’s been here for years, andwill know a lot about both Harkness and Bragg. Do you think you canbe back here by four-thirty?”

“Can a duck waddle?” Cobb said.

Arrangements were quickly made for Cobb to takeMacaulay’s single-seater into the city proper. Young Cal Struthersharnessed the horse and supplied Cobb with a buffalo-robe and a furhat, as a sharp northwest wind had arisen and the temperature hadplummeted. Marc and Abel Struthers watched Cobb glide away, thenwalked slowly back to the Struthers’ cottage.

Seated before a brisk fire, Marc andStruthers lit their pipes, and Marc began the interview.

“I’ll be candid, sir. Austin Bragg is asuspect in the poisoning of Graves Chilton. I need to know a fewthings about him, and I’d like you to be frank with me in responseto my queries.”

Struthers’ heavy brows rose in mild surprise.He was a large man with craggy features, wind-burnt cheeks and anopen, kindly demeanour. “Hard to believe that, sir. Austin c’n be abit bull-headed an’ full of himself at times, but he’s always beena reliable worker. Never been in trouble that I know of.”

“And I do hope we’re wrong about him,” Marcsaid, though he wasn’t sure he wished it so. “You may be able tohelp us eliminate him as a suspect.”

“ Me ? Well now, that don’t seempossible, does it? Cal an’ me spend most of our time out here, faraway from the house an’ the other staff. But I’ll do my best.”

“First of all, were Bragg and Giles Harknessfriends?”

Struthers relaxed a bit and said, “Well,that’s easy enough. Yes, they were good chums. Giles always wantedto be a house-servant like his older brother, Alfred, the butlerthat died. Giles was the one who took wood into the back-shed an’did any heavy liftin’ about the kitchen. Sometimes, I know, he’dfollow Bragg about upstairs to get the hang of how things worked upthere.”

“Did his brother encourage him?”

“Not at all. Alfred was very strict aboutwhere our proper place was. Giles was a wonder with horses. Alfredthought he should stay out here where he belonged.”

“Did Bragg and Giles ever go to towntogether?”

“Only to church on Sundays. But they did gohuntin’ together. An’ sometimes I’d let them use this cottage whenthey had a Saturday afternoon off.”

“To do what?”

Struthers hesitated, then leaned forward andwhispered, “They had a fondness fer drink an’ dicin’ — nothin’serious, mind you, just a way to pass the afternoon and unwind abit. Mr. Macaulay didn’t allow the servants to drink on thepremises, except fer a glass of wine or beer at supper.” He leanedfarther forward and added, “I never seen either of ‘em reallydrunk.”