“How many more deaths does there have to be before the magistrate begins to suspect that something more sinister is going on?” Clementine bit out. “What about the doctor?”
“He is adamant it is a seizure.” The clergyman shook his head, as if he didn’t believe it possible now either.
“The man’s a fool,” Clementine spat.
“We don’t know that something more sinister is going on,” Cameron warned darkly, but his voice wasn’t forceful.
Clementine looked sceptically at her father, who uncomfortably dropped his gaze to the table before them. Her gaze turned from one man to the other.
“I have said to the magistrate
that it all looks very odd. I mean, to have one death was bad enough but to have four is enough to be suspicious, don’t you think? But the magistrate merely pointed out that Mrs Riverton was aged and had not been in good health of late. She also tended to be affected quite badly by her nerves,” the reverend intoned, as if reciting the magistrate’s declaration word-for-word. “He said it is unsurprising that the stress of trying to help organise an event like the Autumn Fair had affected Mrs Riverton’s health even more. He refuses to acknowledge that she died of anything other than natural causes.”
“But being of a nervous disposition would never give her a seizure the likes of which killed her,” Clementine argued.
The reverend shook his head. “I tried to tell him that people will think four deaths in the space of three weeks is worrying. He won’t hear of there being any other reason for them dying except natural causes. I don’t know what to tell my parishioners. They are upset and quite worried about who is going to be next. The deaths are causing a lot of suspicion already and that was before Mrs Riverton’s death. Now, people are terrified about stepping outside.”
His gaze slid to Clementine and then fell away.
“They are terrified of talking to me.”
“Clementine,” her father sighed.
“But that is what people are saying, isn’t it?”
The vicar sighed. “Nobody should put any store in rumours, my dear. People will gossip, you know that.”
“But gossip in this place sticks. People will forever associate me with being the last person all the deceased talked to. Tell me, Reverend Ormstone, do I have a reputation for being cursed yet?”
“Clementine.” Her father’s voice was now a sharp reprimand, but Clementine still ignored him and stared hard at the vicar.
“Nobody is saying anything,” the vicar lied. “However, people are connecting the deaths to the Fair Committee. I am not saying that anybody considers one of the committee members may be responsible, just that someone wants the committee dead.”
“That includes you, Clementine,” Cameron bit out. “Given the numbers are dwindling, you have to take precautions now. We – I – cannot take the risk that you might be next.”
“I have to confess that I too have spent a lot of time contemplating who might be behind the deaths, if they were murders,” Clementine admitted. “I just cannot see that any of the committee members might be murderers. What would be the point?”
Her father looked deeply troubled.
“I am sorry, but it is difficult not to suspect there is something else going on around here.” Clementine looked at the vicar. “But the deaths cannot have anything to do with the Fair Committee. Mr Richardson wasn’t on the committee and he has died.”
The clergyman didn’t answer for a moment or two. When he lifted his gaze, he looked out into the garden. “I have been in this parish for nearly fifteen years now and I have never had to deal with four deaths so close together like this.”
“Maybe the magistrate is right, and they all died from natural causes?”
“Mrs Riverton was not prone to seizures,” Clementine said.
“We don’t know that,” Cameron replied.
“We would have heard about it, or seen something, wouldn’t we? You know how people gossip around these parts.”
“Her medical problems would have been discussed but only amongst her family. I doubt it would be gossiped about by the villagers. Who is to say what the woman suffered from? You don’t discuss your problems with people, do you? I mean, the last time we were ill neither of us left the house for a while, and nobody knew we had been ill at until it was all over. Mrs Riverton was not sharing that house with anybody. Nobody can say what she experienced, or what illnesses she faced prior to her death.” Cameron poked at the table as he made each point. His voice rang stringently into the silence of the room. “I am sorry, but it is best not to jump to conclusions.”
“It is best not to discuss what you think with anybody,” the vicar added.
“What about you?” Clementine demanded. “Your parishioners are going to be asking you about the deaths, aren’t they? If they are going to turn to anybody, they are going to discuss the deaths with someone like you, if only to seek religious counsel and be able to make sense of it all.”
“Clementine.”