A Very Messy Business In Belgravia

Chapter Ten

Gabriel looked across at Amalthea and gave a brief nod of his head.  Realising that he was ceding the floor to her, she quickly quelled her surprise, steeled her nerves, and started to speak.

"It saddens me to say, Charlotte, that the person who killed Aunt Emily – was you."

A cacophony of voices broke out, and it was a testament to Gabriel's commanding presence that the second he raised his hand, there was silence.  Amalthea continued.

"We know that Aunt Emily told her good friend, Mrs Agnes Bateman, that she wanted to 'right a wrong' before she died.  We also know from the staff here that she had recently been corresponding with an address in Italy, but when we went through her papers, we found no letters.  Someone had removed or destroyed them."  She took a breath.

"We also found out that Aunt Emily had been in contact with her solicitor.  When we spoke to him, he told us that she had asked about adding a beneficiary to her will.  This was odd.  No new Banforths had been born in the last few years, and she had not had an opportunity to make any new friends in the long period that she had been confined to her room through illness."

"When we eventually heard from a contact of Mr Carrington's in Italy, who was following up on the letters Aunt Emily had sent, it made sense.  The address she had been corresponding with was a convent which took in unwanted children born out of wedlock.  The mother superior confirmed that they had been handed a baby girl approximately eight years ago, but she could not say by whom."

"It was around that time, Charlotte, that you and Aunt Emily went travelling for a year.  It was not difficult to surmise that the reason you disappeared was because you were expecting a child.  Your aunt was far too old to conceive.  Your family organised for you to leave London before your pregnancy started to show, and you stayed in Italy until you had given birth and arranged for the child to be taken in by the nuns.  She was eventually adopted by a couple visiting from Switzerland, by the way."  Her friend showed no reaction, so she continued.

"We believe that Aunt Emily felt guilty about abandoning her niece's baby in a foreign country, and wanted to track down the child's whereabouts and leave her an amount of money that would ensure she lived in comfort.  She was a very kind woman, your aunt, and you are a very clever woman.  You must have noticed the letters postmarked Italy in Emily's room, and we know that you approached her solicitor, seemingly out of concern for her welfare.  When he divulged the information you needed, it would not have taken long for you to put two and two together."  In the corner, Mr Bracewell tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.

As she reached her conclusion, she took a steadying breath.  Glancing at Gabriel, she saw a look of encouragement on his face, and it gave her confidence.

"Lord Grey knew nothing about your past indiscretion, but you knew that if the bequest to the child you gave up made it into the will, he would start asking questions.  However, if you kept him from the will reading that, too, would only have raised suspicion.  As your husband, he had every right to be there.  Consequently, your only option was to ensure that your aunt never had a chance to make the amendment."

"As soon as you had decided to kill her, the rest was easy.  Arsenic was readily accessible in the house, and you often visited your aunt alone, who I suspect was prone to napping in your presence.  Slipping the poison into her food or drink on any one of these occasions would not have been difficult.  Once she was dead, you had time to find the Italian letters and the correspondence with her solicitor, and dispose of them at your leisure."

"Of course," she conceded, "the same could be said about a number of the other staff and family residing here who regularly tended to or visited Aunt Emily.  But, while they also had the means and the opportunity, you were the only one with a motive.  It could only have been you."