Anne Perry - The Sins of the Wolf

“No, Mrs. Murdoch,” Argyll corrected. “That is not true. The police found it in the home of Lady Callandra Daviot, where Miss Latterly had discovered it and had already taken it to her hostess in order to have it returned to Edinburgh. She had reported the matter to her solicitor and obtained his advice.”

Griselda looked confused-and considerably shaken.

“I don’t know about that. I only know it was missing from my mother’s effects and Miss Latterly had it. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

“I don’t want you to say anything, madam. You have answered my questions admirably and with great frankness.” There was only a thread of sarcasm in his voice, but the doubt had been raised. It was enough. Now everyone wondered exactly why Griselda Murdoch had gone through her mother’s possessions, and many thought they knew the answer. It was not a flattering one. It was the first rift in family solidarity, the first suggestion that there could be greed or distrust.

Argyll sat down with an air of satisfaction.

Behind him, Rathbone felt as if the first salvo of return shot had at last been fired. It had hit the mark, but the wound was trivial, and Gilfeather knew that as well as they did. Only the crowd had seen blood and the air was tingling sharp again with the sudden scent of battle.

The final witness of the day was Mary Farraline’s lady’s maid, a quiet, sad woman dressed in unrelieved black, devoid of even the simplest piece of mourning jewelry.

Gilfeather was very polite with her.

“Miss McDermot, did you pack the clothes of your late mistress for her trip to London?”

“Yes sir, I did.”

“Did you have a list of all that you put in the cases, for the maid at the other end, whom Mrs. Murdoch would sup-ply?”

“Yes sir. Mrs. Mclvor wrote it out for me to work from.”

“Yes, I understand. Was there a diamond brooch included?”

“No sir, there was not.”

“You are quite sure?”

“Yes sir, I’d swear to it.”

“Quite so. But there was a gray pearl brooch of unusual design?”

“Yes sir, there was.”

Gilfeather hesitated.

Rathbone stiffened. Was he about to ask if everything she had packed had been returned with Mary’s luggage? It would clear Griselda of the slur.

But he declined. Perhaps he too was uncertain if she might have taken something. It would only have to be the slightest memento, and its loss would seem theft to this straining crowd, eager for drama and guilt of any sort.

Rathbone leaned back in his chair and, for the first time, smiled. Gilfeather had made a mistake. He was vulnerable after all.

“Miss McDermot,” Gilfeather resumed. “Did you meet Miss Latterly that day when she came to the house in Ainslie Place in order to escort Mrs. Farraline to London?”

“Certainly, sir. I showed her Mrs. Farraline’s medicine chest so she would know what to do.”

There was a sharp snap of attention in the court again. Three jurors who had relaxed suddenly sat upright. Someone in the gallery gave a little squeak and was instantly criticized.

“You showed her the medicine chest, Miss McDermot?”

“Aye, I did. I couldn’t know she was going to poison the poor soul!” There was anguish in her voice and her face looked on the brink of tears.

“Of course not. Miss McDermot,” Gilfeather said soothingly. “No one blames you for your quite innocent part in this. It was your duty to show her. You presumed her a good nurse who quite obviously had need to know her patient’s requirements and how to meet them. But the court has to be sure of precisely what happened. You did show her the medicine chest, and the vials in it, and you told her what they contained, and how and when to administer the dose?”

“Aye-I did.”

“Thank you. That is all, Miss McDermot.”

She made as if to leave, turning in the box to fumble her way down again.

Argyll rose to his feet.

“No… Miss McDermot. A few minutes of your time, if you please!”

She gasped, blushed scarlet, and turned back to face him, chin high, eyes terrified.

He smiled at her, and it only made it worse. She looked about to faint away.

“Miss McDermot,” he began softly, his voice like the growl of a sleeping bear. “Did you show Miss Latterly your mistress’s jewels?”

“Of course not! I’m not…” She stared at him wildly.

“Not a foolish woman,” he finished for her. “No, I had not thought you were. I imagine you would not dream of showing your mistress’s jewels to a relative stranger, or indeed to anyone. On the contrary, you would be most discreet about them, would you not?”

Gilfeather half rose. “My lord…”

“Yes, Mr. Gilfeather,” the judge said sharply. “I know what you are going to say. Mr. Argyll, you are leading the witness. Ask questions if you please, do not assume answers.”

“I apologize, my lord,” Argyll said with outward humility. “Now, Miss McDermot, please enlighten the court as to the duties of a good lady’s maid. What would your mistress have said had you shown her jewels, or any other of her valuable possessions, to anyone outside the family? Did she give you instructions on this matter?”

“No sir. It wouldn’t be necessary. No servant would do such a thing and expect to keep her position.”

“So you are quite certain you did not show the pearl brooch, or any other piece, to Miss Latterly?”

“Aye, I’m absolutely positive I did not The mistress kept her jewelry in a case in her bedroom, not in the dressing room, sir. And I didn’t have a key to it.”

“Quite so. Thank you. I had not doubted you, Miss McDermot. I imagine the Farralines can afford to have the best servants in Edinburgh, and would not keep anyone who disregarded so basic a rule.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now, this medicine cabinet. Please think very carefully, Miss McDermot How many vials does this cabinet hold?”

‘Twelve sir,” she said, staring at him warily.

“And each one is a separate and complete dose.”

“Aye sir, it is.”

“How are they laid out, Miss McDermot?”

“In two rows of six.”

“Side by side, one above the other, in two trays? Please describe it for us,” he instructed.

“One above the other, in the same tray… like… like two halves of a book… not like drawers,” she replied. Something of her anxiety seemed to lessen.

“I see. A very precise description. Do you have new vials each time the medicine is prescribed?”

“Oh no. That would be most wasteful. They are glass, with a stopper in. It is quite airtight.”

“I commend your thrift. So the apothecary refills the vials when the medicine is obtained?”

“Yes sir.”

“Especially for traveling?”

“Yes.”

“What about when Mrs. Farraline is at home?”

“It still comes from the apothecary separately, sir. It has to be very exact, or it could be”-she swallowed hard- “fatal, sir. But we have to add the liquid to make it palatable-at least…”

“I see, yes, that is quite clear. And this was a new supply, a full dozen vials for Mrs. Farraline to travel with?”

“Aye sir. If she were gone more than six days then it would be simple enough to get an apothecary in London to provide more.”

“A very practical arrangement. She took the prescription with her, of course?”

“Aye, sir.”

“So there was no anxiety if she ran out?”

“N-no…”

Gilfeather stirred restlessly in his seat. He was impatient, and had his adversary been a lesser man, he would have dismissed the line of questioning as time-wasting.

“Mr. Argyll,” the judge said irritably, “have you some purpose in mind? If you have, it is more than time you arrived at it.”