Harriett (The Tipton Hollow 1)

“Her drink.” Mark paused and waited while Mr Montague absorbed the news. The stunned look of shock on his face was genuine.

“I drank sherry too and I am fine,?

?? Mr Montague murmured weakly. “How could she choke on something so innocuous?”

“There was something else in her glass that she choked on. We think it was put there deliberately.”

“Oh, good God,” Mr Montague dropped down into his chair and swallowed harshly. “Poor Minerva,” he muttered in hushed tones. “Poor, dear, Minerva.” He turned slightly hardened eyes on Mark. “I will do whatever it takes to help you find the person responsible.”

Mark’s lips twisted wryly. “Just leave the investigation to us, Mr Montague and stay safe, that’s all we need. It would also help if you kept quiet about this so as not to forewarn the person responsible that we are on to them.”

“Oh, of course, of course, gentlemen. You can rely on my upmost discretion.”

Mark mentally winced and hoped to heaven that was the truth. Minutes later they took their leave of a rather shaken Mr Montague, and stood outside in the relative quiet of his back yard for several moments.

“We need to look into Madame Humphries’ background,” Mark sighed. He mentally ran through the number of people they had yet to speak to. “At this rate, we will be lucky if we get to bed before midnight.”

“Mr Montague seems harmless enough,” Isaac replied thoughtfully. For the first time that day he actually felt as though they were starting to get somewhere. “Cross another one off the list?”

“Right now, we can’t cross anyone off the list of suspects, no matter how banal they might be, you know that,” Mark sighed. “Right, onwards and upwards. Let’s go to Miss Haversham next; she is just down the road.”

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Miss Haversham boomed at them as they approached the walled garden at the front of her small cottage. “I take it that you have news for me then?” She pushed her garden fork into the soft soil at her feet and brushed off her hands as she walked down the path toward the door. “Come in, come in. Don’t stand on ceremony.” She beckoned toward the gate but didn’t wait for the men to enter. Instead, she turned on her heel and headed into the house, and left the front door open behind her in silent invitation. From the depths of the house they could hear the rattle of pots and crockery as she made tea.

Once in her kitchen, Mark almost groaned at the sight of sandwiches and tea things already on the table. He sniffed appreciatively at the fruit cake that sat next to the cups and saucers, and realised that he and Isaac had yet to have any lunch.

“I take it you haven’t had lunch yet? Good’o, take a seat then. I have made enough for everyone, but if you want more, you only need to say,” Miss Haversham gushed and handed out plates before she poured the tea.

“Right then,” she sighed as she helped herself to a sandwich. “Help yourselves. I don’t stand on ceremony here, you know. Just dig in. We can eat while we talk.”

“How did you know we were going to be here in time for lunch?” Isaac asked with a frown as he helped himself to a sandwich.

“Oh, rough guess, that’s all. I made the sandwiches just in case. If you didn’t arrive in time for tea, I was going to take them next door to Mable. I usually share lunch with her but seeing as you are here now, she can make her own.”

Isaac shared a look with Mark, and sent a mental apology to the unknown Mabel as he bit into his sandwich. “It’s very kind of you but we didn’t expect to be fed,” Isaac muttered around a slice of cucumber.

“I was going to make myself some lunch anyway. Now, what do you want to know? I take it there is news about poor Minerva?”

“Yes, I am afraid that it appears she didn’t die of natural causes,” Mark sighed as he helped himself to a cheese sandwich.

“Oh? What from?”

“I am afraid that she choked to death. I would warn you that whatever we discuss today must remain confidential. You need to refrain from discussing it with anyone until we can establish what happened with a bit more clarity.”

“I take it that you want to know from me what I saw?” she asked bluntly. Her eyes were honest and frank, and Mark heaved a sigh of relief at the openness in her gaze. “Fire away then,” the woman offered and helped herself to several more sandwiches.

“Tell us in your own words what happened last night.”

“Absolute nonsense, that’s what happened,” Miss Haversham replied with a disparaging snort. “I got caught up with it as much as everyone else, you understand?” She flicked Mark and Isaac a look that warned them she knew she had been a fool to be there at all, but would make no apology for it. “We were all sitting in the dark at the request of Madame Humphries. Pitch black, it was. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my own eyes so it is difficult to say what everyone else was doing, you understand. I remember Miss Smethwick scolding Constance, or it may have been Tuppence, about lying on the table in order to keep her finger on the glass. A small argument ensued but, other than that and the rather odd messages, there was nothing unusual happening while we were sitting at the table. It took ages to get the glass moving and, when it did, there wasn’t much sense coming off it,” Miss Haversham frowned blankly down at the table-top. “Except,” she seemed to search her memory for something and it was several moments before she looked at Mark. “There was one unusual thing that happened. While we were getting the message about ‘H’ being in danger, a loud bang from upstairs broke the séance. We stopped while Mr Bentwhistle and Babette went upstairs to see what it was. A stool in Harriett’s room had been knocked over. Nobody else was in the house though, and everyone who was there was around the table.”

“Did anyone go to the outhouse at all?”

Miss Haversham frowned and shook her head. “No, we were all involved in what was going on around the table. Miss Smethwick kept saying it was nonsense and we should stop it but nobody paid her the slightest bit of attention.”

“Did you check the table regularly to make sure that everyone was there?”

“You mean, was it possible for someone to sneak away from the table while the messages were being given?” After a few moments Miss Haversham shook her head decisively. “I shouldn’t say so. I am fairly confident that everyone was there throughout the entire evening. We were all actively engaged in what was happening and everyone added their bit to the general conversation at some point. I can’t see that anyone would have had the time to sneak out of the room, run upstairs and knock the stool over.”

“Did you see Madame Humphries and Miss Hepplethwaite at all times?”