G Malliet - Death of a Cozy Writer

He had sent Sergeant Fear home to his family hours ago, and now sat staring once again at the scene-of-crime photos of Ruthven, hoping for a clue, seeing only a cold dead man in a cellar.

The Beauclerk-Fisk case had been stamped “priority” by the Chief Constable, who was tired of what he called “the hounds of hell” (the press) nipping at his heels. More than that (for St. Just was the type to say “yes” to his boss and then do as he pleased, for as long as he could get away with it), St. Just felt without any prodding that the situation at Waverley Court was only going to worsen the longer it took him to wade through the examiner’s report and Fear’s interview notes.

So it was that the call that reached him at seven fifty-eight this Sunday night came as little real surprise. In some subconscious way he had been expecting it, all the while helpless to prevent it. Something more had been due to erupt at that household, in spite of the police presence stationed inside and outside the gates, and here it was. It was as if someone had lit a fuse in that house with the killing of Ruthven Beauclerk-Fisk.

He swung by Fear’s house on the way, interrupting a family meal, which earned him awe-inspiring glowers from both Emma and Mrs. Fear. He and Fear took the dark narrow streets of Cambridge, its outer burbs, and the surrounding countryside at reckless speed. At the entry to the manor house, St. Just slowed just enough to signal Constable Porter, stationed outside the gate, to follow them in.

They arrived in a screech of tires and sirens that brought Paulo angling more rapidly than usual to the door.

And there he was, the famous man in the study that had been the scene-at least in his imagination-of countless poisonings, shootings, head coshings, and other acts of malicious mayhem.

“You’ve touched nothing?” barked St. Just to Paulo, who slouched in the doorway in a manner that managed to combine impertinence with idle curiosity. The rest of the family had hiked off at some point to various places of safety in the house, after the nearly senseless Sarah had been dragged to a sofa in the drawing room by Paulo and Albert and deposited like a sack of undelivered mail.

“I know better than that,” said Paulo.

“Good. Your prior knowledge of police procedure no doubt served you well. He was just found?”

Paulo raised an eyebrow, somewhat anxiously. Were they going to stir up that old dust again?

“Just now, by my mother. She’s in a right state.”

St. Just stepped delicately around the desk, taking in the scene: the scattered papers; the soil from the tipped-over pot; the ghastly, medieval weapon, reminder of a time that was more violent-perhaps- than his own. At least we’ve done away with the pots of boiling oil poured over the ramparts, he thought. Highly inefficient compared with nukes.

“Forensics on the way?” he asked Fear.

“So they said. On a Sunday Malenfant may have more trouble than usual rounding up his team.”

St. Just didn’t appear to be listening; he was bent over sideways trying to peer at the papers Sir Adrian had been working on. No hope from this distance; at any rate, the pages were largely covered by his round head. St. Just did a token check for pulse and saw that a poinsettia leaf was crushed in Sir Adrian’s hand, the milk from the broken leaf sticky in his grasp.

He turned and surveyed the rest of the room, once again taking in the linenfold paneling and packed bookshelves. The dying embers of a fire glowed faintly in the handsome old fireplace, but there was nothing else to show him how long Sir Adrian may have lain there.

Easy enough to see where the killer had gained entrance: One of the French doors behind the desk where the body lay stood slightly ajar. He walked over; it hadn’t been forced. Outside in a melting mush of snow and ice were the barest outlines of what seemed to be largish boot prints. He doubted forensics would be able to make much of that. Still, someone had been out here, that was clear. Someone who had been able to sneak up on the man as he sat engrossed in his work. Someone who walked softy and carried a big knife.

He turned back to Fear.

“Go see what’s missing from that goddamn display in the hallway. Hang it all, I guess we should have seized all of that crap in the first place.”

“There’s a kitchen full of knives. It wouldn’t have mattered-”

“Then go and find out where the bloody family’s got to.”

It took Malenfant nearly another twenty minutes to arrive, just ahead of the forensics team, peevish in an entirely Gallic way because his own leisurely Sunday meal had been interrupted. He spent a few minutes on a cursory exam, then turned to St. Just and said, “Yes, he’s dead. He’s been stabbed. A few hours but don’t press me for a time yet. Anything else you want to know?”

“The last one was bludgeoned to death. What do you think we have on our hands here? A multi-talented killer? Or two different killers?”

Malenfant shrugged.

“You’re the detective. How should I know? Although two killers seems unlikely, doesn’t it?”

“You haven’t met the family yet, have you? Nothing in this crowd would surprise me.”

“No forced entry?”

“No need. Either Sir Adrian let the killer in himself-which seems unlikely; he to all appearances was absorbed in his work- or he helpfully left the French door off the latch.”

“The ever-popular ‘Murder by Person or Persons Unknown’ will of course be my recommendation.”

Malenfant made it sound as if Sir Adrian were being put forward for membership in some exclusive London club. But the also-popular ‘Death by Misadventure’ was certainly out of the question- legal jargon St. Just had always thought made it sound as if the victim had hopped on a plane for Paris and somehow ended up in a Turkish prison.

Malenfant added, “There were no prints the first time, and I doubt there will be any this time. Is there a criminal alive today who doesn’t know from viewing Crime Watch to wipe up after himself? Still, there was a fireplace handy for destroying whatever evidence-gloves, say-the murderer wanted destroyed.”

Fear’s head appeared in the doorway.

“There’s something missing from the display, Sir. There’s a gap in the wall where there’s a collection of knives and daggers, and two bare brackets that once held something. There’s a sheath still hanging near the empty space. It would seem the killer just helped himself to what was handy.”

Malenfant was peering at the object protruding from the back of Sir Adrian’s body.

“It’s a dirk. Scottish. The kind of thing you see in museums. Appears to be the real thing. Nasty piece of work. The blade will be about a foot long unless I miss my guess, triangular in shape. See the ballocks?

“The what?”

“The ballocks. The bulges between the handle and blade. Supposed to represent testicles. Ay, ’tis a manly weapon, forsooth.”

“You don’t think a woman…?”

“Oh, a sturdy child could kill someone with a sharp blade like this. No problem. Just like cutting through butter.”

“Ugh. Well, thank you for widening the field: just what we needed. When will you be able to give us a time?”

“I’m never able to give you an exact time and you know it. Especially if that door was banging open and shut, which it probably was, and the fire dying down to nothing. I’ll be able to give you an estimate sometime tomorrow. But what you need to know, you know already. He’s been dead awhile, and somebody killed him.”

“Thanks,” said St. Just. “We’ll just sit around and wait for someone to confess, then.”

REPEATED SIGHTINGS OF THE majestic gothic spires of King’s College Chapel cannot dull their impact. As the visitor to Cambridge ambles south from St. John’s Street into Trinity, Trinity into King’s Parade, the Chapel never fails to catch the eye unawares, often bringing the stroller to a standstill, reminding him of his ant-like status in the grand design. The enormous structure stretches forever overhead, in summer piercing blue sky, in winter blending into the gray, its carved stone spiraling into an ever more elaborate frenzy of fifteenth-century devotion.