Page 13 of Deadly Murder (Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe Murder Mystery #14)
Eight
Brodie returned to Marlborough House the next morning with the drawing my sister had made of the man Lily saw the night the son of Sir Huntingdon was attacked. Lily had spent the previous night at the townhouse in Mayfair and we prepared to leave for Sussex Square.
I wanted to learn more about something Aunt Antonia had mentioned about the Prince of Wales’s reputation as a younger man and that somewhat unusual title that he and his university friends had been given.
It was a windy, wet morning, with clouds heavy with rain overhead. The rain grew heavier as Lily and I departed the townhouse.
I was not at all pleased about the outcome of our conversation with His Royal Highness the previous evening, informing us that Sir Avery Stanton was now making inquiries at the request of the Queen.
Even with HRH’s assurances that he would intervene in the matter, I was not convinced that we should continue. Still, I had deferred to Brodie. It was, after all, his past experience with the Agency that had caused his refusal to work with them further at this time.
“Ye’re not pleased about His Highness’s request to continue with your inquiries,” Lily astutely observed, no doubt due to the less-than-subtle conversation between Brodie and myself the previous evening upon returning to the townhouse.
“There was a difficult situation previously…” I chose not to get into details at the time.
“Ye do not trust Sir Avery,” she concluded, quite perceptive.
“People often have other motives,” I replied.
“And they can be dangerous?”
As I said, most perceptive.
It had been a situation where I deferred to Brodie’s judgment in the matter even though I strongly disagreed. And it could have ended very badly for him after interference from Sir Avery.
Now, here we were again, pulled into a situation where we might once again find ourselves at cross-purposes with the man that might well cause extreme difficulty between His Highness and the Queen, when it was the murder of two young men that was most important.
Brodie knew my misgivings, not unlike his own.
We had finished our somewhat heated discussion the previous evening, with his comment, “I know yer feelin’s in the matter, but I’ve given my word to His Highness, and we have his written authorization to continue.
If there is a conflict, we will end our part in it.
If ye’ve a mind to refuse to participate, I understand. ”
He knew very well that I would not refuse.
Bloody, stubborn Scot.
Mr. Symons, my great aunt’s head butler, greeted Lily and I as we arrived at Sussex Square.
“Her ladyship is in the solar this morning, Miss Mikaela. With Mr. Arneson, this morning.”
“The ship builder!” Lily exclaimed with some excitement as we reached the solar and were greeted by my great aunt.
“Here you are!” she exclaimed. “What do you think of this design?”
The “design” was a drawing of a Viking longboat, made of wood, long—of course, with an enormous dragon’s head at the helm, arched tail at the rear, a mast with a sail, and oars. The dimensions were written just below the drawing. It was to be over thirty feet long.
It was quite impressive.
“Going somewhere, are we?” I commented.
“I do believe one must be prepared,” she replied. “Now, I need to decide where I will have it launched when the time comes, and the sail must have the design of my ancestor’s banner,” she added.
That, of course, was William of Normandy, William the Conqueror, the first king of England and a direct ancestor.
Our family had been in England for several generations, yet at the time I learned of it I admittedly thought her stories about that particular ancestor were an exaggeration.
That is, until I was older and discovered the “family” archive in the library which clearly proved that she was in fact a descendant of that somewhat notorious king who had arrived from France in 1066 to pillage the island.
“I do believe that we have a banner around here somewhere,” she explained to the boatwright, who managed to maintain a serious demeanor as I was certain he didn’t usually receive a commission for a Viking longboat.
“It may perhaps be in the old part of the house,” she added. “I will see that you have it for the sailmaker.”
“Of course, madame.”
“One must always be prepared,” she explained after he left. “Agnes Moorpark dropped dead without leaving any instructions, and her three sons squabbled for weeks.
“There she was, laid out in a casket after the usual mourning period, turning a definite shade of green, as they were not in agreement if she should be embalmed. It was very near another month before a decision was made, and there she was moldering in their front parlor. I will not be moldering in the front parlor,” she added emphatically, then smiled.
“How are you this morning, dear?” She looked past both of us. “Brodie is not with you?”
“He’s at Marlborough House to question the staff about that young man’s murder,” Lily shared.
“Such an unfortunate situation,” Aunt Antonia commiserated. “I understand that the Queen is most upset over the matter and called in Sir Avery.”
I was not surprised that my aunt already had the latest inside word regarding goings-on at Buckingham Palace. She did have her circle of friends from among several well-placed families, which also included one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting.
“I am surprised that you did not accompany Brodie.” She motioned for one of the servants who had brought a serving tray with coffee and scones to put the tray on the table near the hearth.
After the servant had departed, I reminded her that she had mentioned the Prince of Wales’s earlier exploits with his circle of friends from their university days. She poured coffee.
“The gossip was most entertaining,” she said as she sat and gathered her satin robe around her.
“There was the tale about the alligator one of the young men managed to bring to university. It was a small one, yet it apparently created quite a bit of excitement when it was discovered in the headmaster’s office. It reminds me of your friend, Templeton, and her lizard.”
Said lizard was in fact a four-foot-long iguana Templeton had named Ziggy, a gift from an admirer after one of her tours.
Ziggy now resided at the London Zoo after he was accused of absconding with the pet of an acquaintance, even though he had a preference for roses and other plants over small dogs.
“I suppose the gossip was more the usual sort of things young men do at university,” she continued. “There was the usual episode of sneaking off into the city and indulging in gambling, women, and other escapades.
“Then there was the rumor of the young woman who was found in one of the young men’s off-campus accommodations, a tavern that several had taken over in some celebration or other.
“As I remember it, one of the young men was very near turned out from the university over the incident. Come to think of it, that was very near same time that His Highness’s father, Prince Albert, traveled there quite abruptly and his son departed shortly after for service with the military.
“After that particular episode I don’t recall that the Four Horsemen were mentioned again.”
Most interesting. And now over thirty years later, two young men who were sons of two members of that somewhat notorious “brotherhood,” were dead.
“You will be continuing with this new inquiry?” Aunt Antonia added.
“His Highness has requested it,” I replied.
“Do be careful, dear. You and Mr. Brodie, of course. Pursuing something of this nature can reveal things that certain people might not want known.”
I had thought of that as well.
Everyone had secrets. Things that might be dangerous if the truth was known. We had encountered that in past inquiry cases.
In speaking with her, I now knew somewhat more about the men who had once been known as the Four Horsemen. While I didn’t know a great deal about their sons, that original note now seemed quite threatening— Sins of the Fathers will be visited upon their sons…
A threat? But from whom? Someone who merely sought attention or perhaps blackmail, as was frequently the case when it involved someone of position.
Yet, as far as we knew, there had been no demand for payment. Then, what could be the motive?
Perhaps Brodie would learn something from among the staff at Marlborough House. Something that someone saw that might be helpful.
And then there would be the need to speak with the young man’s father. Not a pleasant prospect, yet necessary if anything was known by the family before that attack.
I kissed her on the cheek, then stood.
“You’re leaving so soon?” Aunt Antonia remarked.
“I might be able to learn something from the archive at the dailies that could be useful.”
I had used the newspaper archives for past inquiries. If the scandal sheets from 1861 had carried write-ups about the deeds of the four young men, there might be something useful there.
“I’ll go with ye,” Lily commented. “Two pairs of eyes will make it easier.”
It did seem as if we had acquired a new partner for our inquiries…
brODIE
His Highness’s personal secretary, Sir Knollys, had provided a room adjacent to the library at Marlborough House for the purpose of his meeting with those who had been present the night of the murder.
“Will this suit your needs, Mr. Brodie?” he had asked with a hint of what might have been disapproval that Brodie had experienced in the past in other places. That spoke of the differences in their social classes. It was something else that was not there when Mikaela was present.
“Quite well, Sir Knollys,” he assured him as he waited for the next person to arrive from a list that Mikaela had provided of those most likely to have been present the night of the murder.
It was possible that one of them might have seen something or had an exchange with the murderer, who appeared to have moved easily among the guests.