Charles Todd - A test of wills

Then she smiled at Royston, stood back, and he drove on. Noticing Rutledge on the sidewalk, he waved.

Charles Harris had been fortunate in his steward, Rutledge thought. Few men worked so devotedly on another man's property without a stake in it for themselves. He'd probably spent more time and love on Mallows than Harris had ever been able to give. Was that because he'd never had a wife to lavish time and love on? It was an interesting possibility.

Helena crossed the street, saw Rutledge, and paused. "Good afternoon, Inspector." She indicated a large box in her left hand. "I didn't bring a black hat with me. And I felt I ought to attend the funeral tomorrow. I didn't know the Colonel well, but I was a guest in his home. It seems-courteous-to attend. Mr. Royston has been kind enough to promise to send a car for me."

She looked tired. As if aware of it, she added, "The storm yesterday left us mired in mud. I had to walk into town today, there was no way to take out my bicycle. Maggie is always terrified of thunder, so she didn't sleep much, and neither did I. But it seems to have cleared the air, in more ways than one."

"A beautiful day," he agreed.

"And I've spent enough of it indulging myself. I'll be on my way."

"Before you go, I wonder-did you notice a child out in the fields, a little girl picking wildflowers, on the morning of Harris's death? Either before or after you saw Captain Wilton on the path?"

She frowned thoughtfully. "No. But that doesn't mean she wasn't there. I was using my field glasses. I could well have missed her. There are often children about, and I try to avoid them-well, they frighten off the birds I'm watching! The Pinter children are usually wandering here and there. The little girl is a charmer, but with any encouragement at all, the boy talks your ear off." She smiled wryly to take the sting out of her words. "He'll make his mark as a politician, I've no doubt at all about that! Maggie will be looking for me, I must go."

She walked away with a countrywoman's clean, swift stride. He watched her, wondering again how much of her interest in birds was real and how much was an excuse to be out of the cottage as often as she could. Or perhaps her cousin preferred to have the house to herself. Safe, familiar ground in a rather frightening world. Make-believe in the place of reality. He felt a sense of pity, knowing how harsh life could be for the Maggies, ill-equipped to cope with anything more demanding than domestic chores and small comforts.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that he'd have time for a drink before dinner. He'd earned it. Time enough afterward for the last task on his list. Rutledge was greeted at the door of the Pinter house by a wary Agnes Farrell. Long rays of the sun, still warm at nine- thirty, gave her face a glow that faded as soon as she stepped back to allow him to enter. The thinness of long nights of no sleep, the sallowness of stress were marked in the dimness of the narrow passage between the door and the parlor.

"How is the child?" he asked, smiling down at her, trying to be reassuring.

"Well enough," she answered doubtfully. "Eating. Sleeping. But grieving somehow, clutching that doll as if it was a lifeline."

Meg appeared behind her mother, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. "Inspector?" she asked anxiously. The child's illness had worn her too, the confidence of youth lost, the dread of death haunting her, buoyed only by a blind hope that soon it would all be back as it had been, normal and comforting.

"Good evening, Mrs. Pinter. I've come to have a look at Lizzie," he said, as if it was an ordinary thing to do on a Monday evening. "If I may?"

She glanced at her mother and then said, uncertainly, "Yes, sir?" Both women stepped back, allowing him to enter, and from their attitude he gathered that they were alone in the house, that Ted Pinter hadn't returned from the Haldane stables. He had chosen his time well, he thought with relief.

He began to move toward Lizzie's small room, saying something about the lovely day that had followed the rain, in an attempt to set them at ease. They followed, close together for comfort. A lamp was burning on the low table, and the child stared up at him as he came in with large, sober dark blue eyes. He wasn't really sure she saw him, in the sense of comprehending that he was a stranger, someone she didn't know and wasn't used to, because there was no spark of curiosity, no quick look at her mother to see if all was well. Instead there was an apathy about her still. But she wasn't screaming, and he took that as a good sign.

"What did Dr. Warren have to say?" he asked over his shoulder.

Agnes answered, "He said it was what he'd hoped might happen, but didn't expect. And we'd have to see if this new quietness lasted. In truth, sir, I think he was more than worried she might die, she was wasting so fast."

Meg added, "She's not in the clear yet-" as if hoping Rutledge might take the hint and go, now that he'd done what he came to do.

Instead he walked over to the bed. "Lizzie? I'm-er-a friend of Dr. Warren's. He asked me to come and see you tonight. In his place."

Her eyes had followed him, watched him, but she said nothing.

He went on, talking to her for several minutes, telling her he'd seen a woman with a basket of strawberries at market, and a man with a dog that did tricks. But nothing touched the blankness on her face.

Rutledge wasn't accustomed to children. But he'd seen enough of the sad refugees on the roads of France-hungry, frightened, tired-to know that it wasn't very likely that he'd be able to break through the barrier of her silence on his own. Not without days of careful groundwork to gain her confidence.

He thought about it for a time, watching those blue eyes, wondering what the best way of reaching her might be. He didn't have days to give.

Hamish said softly, "Your Jean has such eyes; your children might have been fair and very like Lizzie…"

Turning to Agnes, Rutledge said, "Do you have a rocking chair?"

Surprised, she answered, "Aye, sir, a nursing rocker. In the kitchen."

"Show me." She did, and he saw that he had come just at the end of their meal; there was a chicken partly carved on the counter, a bowl of potatoes sat on the table next to a half loaf of bread and a plate of pickles, and dishes were stacked in a wash pan in the sink, while a big kettle whistled softly on the stove. The nursing rocker-small and without arms to allow a woman to breast-feed comfortably-stood by the hearth, worn but serviceable.

He carried it back to the bedroom, turned it with its back to the doorway, and said to Meg, "You'll want to finish in the kitchen. Then I'll have a cup of tea, if I may. And a few questions for you."

She didn't want to leave, but Agnes said, "Go on, Meg. I'll call you if I need you." But Meg still went out reluctantly, looking back over her shoulder at Rutledge with worried eyes.

Rutledge waited until he could hear the familiar clatter of dishes and then said to Agnes, "I don't want to frighten the child. Or make her uncomfortable. But if you'll sit here and hold her, rock her as you must do, sometimes?" She nodded. "Good! I'll be here by the door. And when she's settled, at ease, I'll tell you what to say to her."

"I don't know, sir!"

"It won't harm her. It might help. And-I need to know what she saw! There in the meadow where Colonel Harris was shot!" "I can't take the chance! What if she saw the murder? What if that's the thing that sent her into this decline? We don't want to lose her! Not now!" She was an intelligent woman; she knew the risk he was going to run. "Trust me," he told her gently. "Let me at least try." And so she went to the bed, lifted the child in her arms, talking in that soft singsong mothers the world over know by heart. Lizzie whimpered, but seemed content enough when Agnes went no farther than the chair, sat down, and began slowly to rock, humming under her breath. Afraid she'd soon put the child to sleep-in fact, he thought that might be her intention-Rutledge said quietly, "Ask her if she saw a man with a shotgun." "Did you see a man carrying a gun, love? A big long gun that made a big noise? Did you see that, love?" Lizzie didn't stir. "Did the noise scare you? Loud and nasty, was it?" Nothing. Agnes repeated her questions, varying the words, probing over and over again, but Lizzie was silent. And still awake. "Ask her if she remembers losing her doll." That elicited no response, although Agnes tried several variations on that theme too. But Lizzie began to pluck restlessly at the front of Agnes's apron. "It's no good, sir!" "We'll try a different tack, then. Ask her-ask her if she saw the big horse." Agnes crooned to the child to soothe her, and then said softly in the same tones, "Was there a big horse, my lamb? A big shining horse in the meadow? Was he standing still or riding along? Did you see the big horse?" Lizzie stopped sucking her thumb, eyes wide, tense. Listening. Rutledge could hear Meg in the kitchen, speaking to someone in a low voice or singing to herself. He couldn't tell which it was. He swore silently, irritated by the distraction. "And a man on its back?"