Page 101 of Murder in Highbury

George cut him off. “Why did Mr. Elton specifically call your attention to the note this morning?”

“He heard what happened last night at the Crown,” Sharpe replied, as if that explained everything.

George looked severe. “Mr. Sharpe, I would be grateful if you would clearly and completely detail the sequence of events—from the beginning.”

“Yes, it all seems rather muddled,” said Emma.

Mr. Sharpe gave a stiff little bow. “My apologies. I don’t mean to muddle Mrs. Knightley.”

This time, Emma did roll her eyes. Thankfully, she supposed, the constable failed to notice.

“A few weeks back,” he said, “Mr. Elton received a nasty note from Dick Curtis, all but threatening to kill him.”

When George shot her a quick glance, Emma gave a tiny nod of confirmation. The crude note could be read, if one were so inclined, as a death threat. Certainly, it contained ill intent.

“Do you know why Dick threatened the vicar?” George asked.

“Because he’d applied to be put on the parish poor roll, and Mr. Elton had turned him down.”

“Did Mr. Elton show the note to anyone else?”

“No, sir. He didn’t wish to embarrass Curtis.” The constable shook his head. “Poor Mr. Elton now realizes what a fatal mistake that was, given recent events.”

To Emma, it still seemed rather a longbow to draw. Ugly notes were a far cry from murder, especially for a man who’d never caused any trouble before. “Do you have any other evidence against Curtis?”

“I do,” he triumphantly said. “Dick was at the Crown last night, and in his cups. He was railing and carrying on something bad, full of inflammatory remarks about Mr. Elton. Mrs. Stokes finally kicked him and his mates out into the street.”

“Remarks about Mr. Elton not putting him on the poor roll?” asked George.

“Indeed, and he was using some very ugly language.”

George shook his head. “But that is hardly definitive, I’m afraid.”

“Ah, but then Dick said clear as day in front of everyone that he was glad Mrs. Elton was dead. That she was just as nasty and mean as her husband, and she had got everything she deserved.” He shook his head. “The villain didn’t even care that everyone in the taproom heard him, including Mr. Elton’s groom and Mr. Cole’s coachman.”

As greatly as Emma wished for Miss Bates to be cleared, she couldn’t help but feel skeptical about Sharpe’s conclusion. If Dick Curtis was indeed the murderer, his actions struck her as incredibly foolish.

“Do you know if Dick ever had dealings with Mrs. Elton?” she asked.

Mr. Sharpe addressed his answer to George, which wasquiteannoying. “I asked Mr. Elton that very same question when he brought me the note this morning. He said he couldn’t be sure.”

“Is Mr. Elton also of the opinion that Dick Curtis murdered his wife?” asked George.

“He is, sir. When Mr. Elton refused to put him on the roll, Dick turned . . .” He paused, as if searching for the right word. “Menacing. Yes, that was what he said. Then he got the note a few days later.”

George tapped a finger to his lips. “Why did Mr. Elton turn him down in the first place?”

“I didn’t ask, but everyone knows Dick’s a layabout.”

“Perhaps, but Mrs. Elton had nothing to do with parish business,” Emma objected. “Why murder her and not Mr. Elton?”

“It was clearly a crime of opportunity,” Sharpe replied in a condescending tone. “Dick must have seen Mrs. Elton go into the church and followed her. Maybe he tried to get her to change the vicar’s mind. But when she wouldn’t, he decided to steal her necklace. She fought back, and he killed her.”

Emma had seen Dick Curtis in the village on more the one occasion. Despite his disability, he was a burly and fit man. “Why, then, the need to use the candlestick to kill her? As a farmhand, he was naturally quite strong.”

The constable’s expression suggested the very question itself was offensive. “Mayhap he was injured in the tussle for the necklace. Or he wanted to throw us off the scent by using a weapon, like he didn’t have the strength to kill her.”He tugged on his vest again. “Like a woman had done it,” he pointedly added.

Emma scoffed. “But that would require a degree of forethought. Which suggests it wasnota crime of opportunity.”