Page 49 of Murder in Highbury

“So you took it upon yourself to question Miss Bates.”

“Only to ascertain that she was the owner of the handkerchief. After doing so, I immediately relayed that information to my husband, who then took it to you.”

He peered suspiciously over his spectacles. “So, you were not attempting to warn Miss Bates in any way or to influence the outcome of my investigations?”

Emma adopted a wide-eyed expression. “Why would I wish to do that?”

Dr. Hughes glared at her a moment longer before turning to the jury. “Do you have any questions for the witness?”

“We do not,” Mr. Weston firmly said, apparently wishing to forestall any additional questioning.

“Very well,” said the coroner. “You may step down, Mrs. Knightley.”

Emma breathed a mental sigh of relief and held out a hand, all but obliging Dr. Hughes to assist her back to her seat.

After she was settled, George leaned over. “One of your better efforts, my dear.”

“I thought so,” she whispered back.

After a short break for luncheon, Dr. Hughes called Harriet to the stand. She gave a rather confused but mostly accurate accounting of what she had seen. Then George gave his testimony. With unflappable calm, he related his role that day, both as witness and magistrate. His testimony was clear and to the point and concluded in short order.

Mr. Elton’s testimony took longer, since he was overcome with emotion throughout, even though he had very little to add. He confirmed that his wife had been wearing her pearls that day, and that the necklace was missing when he arrived at the scene. The vicar also indicated that he believed a thief had robbed his wife and then murdered her.

Thankfully, that drew some of the attention away from questions about Miss Bates’s suspicious behavior. But when Mrs. Ford was sworn in, Emma mentally grimaced. Her testimony could undo all that.

“Mrs. Ford, you reported seeing Miss Bates passing your shop on the way to the church. Did you, perchance, speak to her?”

“I tried, but Miss Bates failed to hear me.”

“Was she too far away for her to hear you?”

Mrs. Ford wavered for a few seconds. “No, she simply didn’t seem to hear me.”

Dr. Hughes adopted a tremendously solemn expression. “And why do you think that was?”

“She seemed distracted. Or, perhaps, in a hurry.”

“And was she not also in a hurry when she came back down the street approximately thirty minutes later?”

“I suppose you could say that,” she reluctantly replied.

Dr. Hughes stared over his spectacles. “According to Mrs. Cox’s written statement, Miss Bates was all but racing down the street in a very flustered manner. Would you say that is an accurate description?”

“I suppose so,” came the terse reply.

Obviously, Emma wasn’t the only witness who was worried about Miss Bates.

After Mrs. Ford stepped down, Dr. Hughes declined to call additional witnesses. He did note that Mrs. Cox’s statement supported previous testimonies, and that everything had been duly entered into the record.

“Such a shame not to call Mama,” Anne loudly whispered to her sister. “She wore her new bonnet especially for the inquest.”

“It’s just plain mean,” Susan replied. “Mama would have been a splendid witness.”

Emma repressed the impulse to turn around and whack them both with her reticule.

In excruciating detail, Dr. Hughes then summed up the witness testimony and his own findings. The room grew stuffier andquiteodiferous, since someone seated nearby had consumed onions for lunch. Finally, however, the doctor concluded his summation and sent the jury off to a private room to begin their deliberations.

With sighs of relief, Emma and Mrs. Weston stood, thankful to stretch cramped limbs.