Charles Todd - A long shadow

Certain that Keating wouldn't be on his heels, Rutledge went into the bakery to find the postmistress.

A warm wave of yeast and cinnamon and rising bread greeted him as he stepped inside the door. The trays of baked goods displayed in a counter were already well picked over, as if the baker's shop had done a brisk business in scones and poppy seed cakes and dinner rolls.

There was a woman behind the counter who was so much like Martha Simpson that he assumed she was the girl's mother. Her face was pink with the warmth of the shop, and her apron was dusty with flour. He nodded to her and walked on to the tiny cage in one corner that served as the post office. Mrs. Arundel, a rangy woman of about thirty, was sitting on her stool, counting coins into a tin. She looked up as Rutledge came up to the cage, and smiled at him.

"Inspector Rutledge," she acknowledged. "What can I do for you?" She had tucked the coins out of sight and was reaching for a large book of stamps, as if prepared to send a letter for him. "You found your little box from London, did you? I asked Ben Lassiter to drop it by Constable Hensley's house on his way home."

"Yes, thank you. I wonder," he began, lowering his voice as Mrs. Simpson listened unashamedly to the conversation, "if you can recall sending letters to London for Emma Mason or her grandmother. I'm trying to locate Emma's mother."

"Indeed." She peered at him. "I do remember the letters going out with the post. But they were returned, for want of a proper address."

"How often did you see these letters?"

"Oh, not often-I expect one or two a year at most. It was sad, you know. Emma would come in with them, such hope in her face. And I took it personally when the letters came back, as if I were responsible for misdirecting them." She shook her head. "Very sad."

"How long have you been postmistress here?"

"Since August 1914, when my husband went to Northampton to enlist. He didn't come home, though he'd promised he would if I let him go."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a waste," she said, "such a waste. We lost ten young men from Dudlington. And they're our dead. We've got seven more trying to cope with severe wounds. Another shot himself rather than live with both legs gone." She cleared her throat, as if the memories were too fresh. "Yes, well, letters to and from Beatrice Mason. I remember her, you know. Such a pretty girl, and so talented. I wished her well when she went off to London, and I always believed that Mrs. Ellison was too hard on her. Giving her an ultimatum, so to speak. Go and I shan't take you back. That's what Beatrice told my older sister. It's a choice, she said. I must make a choice. I can't imagine a mother being so harsh to her only child! But it's brought bitter fruit in its wake, hasn't it?"

"Why was Mrs. Ellison so adamant about Beatrice leaving? Was it money?"

"No, Mrs. Ellison is a stickler for the proprieties, I think, and the idea of her daughter hobnobbing with bohemian artists and naked models was more than she could bear. Nice girls didn't concern themselves with all that."

Mrs. Simpson spoke, breaking into the conversation. "Beatrice was like her father. He would have taken her to London himself, if he'd been alive. To show her what sort of life she could expect there and prove to her that it wasn't the lovely adventure she'd dreamed it would be. Her mother just put her foot down, and for Beatrice, that was nothing short of the red flag in front of the bull."

Rutledge turned so that he could see both women. "What was Mason like, the man Beatrice married? Did Mrs. Ellison approve of him?"

"I doubt she ever met him," Mrs. Simpson commented. "He was dead by the time Emma was three or four. That's when Beatrice brought her home to be cared for by her grandmother. I don't think he had any desire to come to Dudlington, to tell you the truth. Beatrice had probably told him what a witch her mother was."

"What did he do for a living? Do you know?"

"Another artist, very likely," Mrs. Arundel said. "I never heard, other than that he was poor as a church mouse and left poor Beatrice nothing with which to feed herself or the baby."

"Mrs. Ellison told you that?"

"Lord, no!" Mrs. Simpson laughed. "We got it from the woman that did for her sometimes, Betsy Timmons. I wouldn't put it past her to listen at keyholes-"

The shop door opened, and a woman came in with two small children. Mrs. Simpson turned away to greet her.

Mrs. Arundel said, in a voice that wouldn't carry, "I was told that Mr. Mason came from a very good family that had cut him off, much as Mrs. Ellison had cut Beatrice off. While he was alive, selling his work, they lived rather well. But after he died, there was no one to bring in such grand sums of money." "Who told you that?" "I believe it was Grace Letteridge. Who got it from Emma, most likely." Hamish said, sourly, "Aye, the granny's fairy tale. To save her daughter's good name." It would, Rutledge thought, be just like Mrs. Ellison to put as good a face on her family's trials as she could. The door opened again, and a man stepped in, breathless and anxious, his eyes sweeping the shop and lighting on Rutledge. "I'm looking for Inspector Rutledge." "I'm Rutledge. What's happened?" "Dr. Middleton sent me to find you. The rector's had a terrible fall. He-Dr. Middleton-says it would be best if you come at once." With a nod to the postmistress, Rutledge was out the door on the messenger's heels. "What's happened to Mr. Towson?" "He was in the attic, searching for something. He shouldn't have gone up there by himself. The stairs are small. He missed his step and fell hard on his hip. Dr. Middleton thinks it's broken." "Who are you?" Rutledge asked as they hurried down Whitby Lane and turned into Church Street. "I don't believe we've met." "My name is Ben Staley. Farmer. It was my wagon that carried Constable Hensley to Northampton." At the rectory there were four or five men milling about in the parlor, their muddy boots tracking up the wood floors. Rutledge recognized Ted Baylor among them and asked, "Where's Middleton?"

Baylor jerked his head toward the stairs, and Rutledge went up them fast.

The passage that led to the bedchambers was dark, the doors shut.

Hamish was saying, "Which one?"

But farther along the passage to his left, Rutledge could see light pouring from an open door, and he turned in that direction.

It was, as he thought, the door to the narrow, uncarpeted stairs leading up to the attics. Lying sprawled across the landing between the two flights was the rector, his face twisted in pain. Dr. Middleton was busy examining him with some care, trying to determine the extent of his injuries without doing further damage.

Hamish said, "It's a wonder he's no' dead."

Middleton looked up as Rutledge arrived, and said in a low voice, "I sent for you because there's something of a mystery about his fall. Here, take this."

He passed a bottle of laudanum to Rutledge and added, "I don't want to give him anything until I know whether the hip is broken, bruised, or dislocated."

His hands went on gently exploring the rector's body.

Rutledge took the bottle. "Shall I fetch a glass and a little water?"

"No, stay here and fend off the men below. I don't want them upsetting him."

The rector seemed half-conscious, his eyes sometimes rolling back in his head.

"Who found him?"

"It was Hillary Timmons. She comes to clean for him in the afternoon, while the pub is closed. She heard something, thought it was an animal in pain, and went to look. When she found the rector, she was terrified out of her wits and went screaming next door to Ted Baylor. Fortunately he was in his barn, and he came at once for me. It was Hillary who told everyone else. I sent her home with Bob Johnson, with a powder to calm her."