Mrs. Jeffries Appeals the Verdict by Emily Brightwell (black authors fiction .TXT) 📗

“She went to fetch more help,” Smythe continued. “We

heard the constable’s whistle blast and knew he was summoning more men. But then all of a sudden we heard a great ruckus comin’ from the house. The girl had left the

door partially open and we could hear all this shoutin’ and

thrashin’ about.” He nodded his thanks as Mrs. Jeffries

handed him a cup of tea. “It went on for a few moments,

and once again we didn’t know whether or not to barge in

and help. But as there weren’t any guns goin’ off, we thought

we’d best stay hid.”

“Then what happened?” Mrs. Jeffries asked.

“Then Charlotte and two more constables came running

back and into the house. A few minutes later, a doctor arrived. But by then they’d led Lucy Turner off in handcuffs.”

“When the ruckus died down a bit, I managed to sneak

around the back of the house and talk to Charlotte. Accordin’ to what the other maid said, Miss Turner went mad 204

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and shot Mr. Merriman and then claimed it was an accident. She thought she’d killed him.”

“But that didn’t work, as Merriman wasn’t dead,”

Smythe added. “Apparently, he didn’t take kindly to being

shot. I’ve got to say, Mrs. Jeffries, I had my doubts today. I

didn’t think anything was goin’ to ’appen.”

“I knew we’d catch the killer,” Wiggins said smugly. He

helped himself to a treacle tart.

“I wasn’t sure,” Mrs. Jeffries admitted. “As a matter of

fact, I didn’t know which of the three had actually done the

murder, but I was fairly confident it had to be either Keith

Muran or one of the Turner women.”

“You really didn’t know?” Betsy asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Mrs. Jeffries replied. She helped herself to a tart. “I was fairly certain it was one of those three, and I was also sure it would happen today.”

“Why today?” Smythe took a sip of his tea.

“Because Russell Merriman was going to sign the contracts to complete the purchase of the row houses. He was going to honor his sister’s wishes. Once those contracts

were signed, all the company’s money would be tied up. I

knew that the killer would strike today because I was sure

that the main reason Caroline had been murdered was to

keep the company’s capital from being spent on worker

housing. I just wasn’t sure who the killer actually was.”

“But how could you know?” Betsy asked. “You only

found out this morning that Merriman had told Muran and

the Turners of his plan.”

“No, I had it confirmed this morning,” Mrs. Jeffries

replied. “Yesterday the inspector said that Merriman had

told him he was going to honor Caroline’s wishes. Once I

realized that Merriman was sharing that sort of information with a policeman, I decided there was a good chance he hadn’t been keeping it a secret. He’d probably told any

number of people, so it seemed logical that the killer might

have already heard of Merriman’s plans.”

“But he only told Muran last night,” Mrs. Goodge

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insisted. “So how could you know this morning that Merriman was going to be murdered by one of those three?”

“Because Merriman was the key,” she explained. “I kept

asking myself who wanted Caroline Muran dead. Well,

there were a number of people who wanted her dead, but

as Wiggins once said, the killer had to be someone who

wanted her dead and Keith Muran alive. At first glance, you

could make the case that that circumstance was applicable

to all our suspects. But upon closer inspection, it became

obvious to me that Sutter didn’t particularly want Keith

Muran alive. Muran wouldn’t have given him his job back.”

“What about Addison?” Smythe asked. “He made it clear

that the husband was easier to deal with than the wife.”

“Yes, but at the time of Caroline’s murder, everyone

thought Russell Merriman was dead, so that means if Addison was prepared to do murder to acquire the company, why not kill both of the Murans and deal with the estate?

That would have been the easiest of all. No, there were

only three people who wanted her dead and him alive.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t him,” Betsy said. They all knew who

she meant.

“I think Keith Muran loved his wife,” Mrs. Jeffries said.

“And I know that the Turners were angry and bitter over being poor relations. I think Lucy murdered Caroline knowing full well that she’d be the next Mrs. Muran. She wanted it

all. She wanted the man, the house, and the money. Then

Russell Merriman came back, and all of a sudden the house

and the money might not come with marriage to Muran.

The only way to be sure to get it all was to make sure Merriman didn’t sign those contracts. She’d gotten away with murder once; she was sure she could do it again.”

“I still don’t see how she did it that night,” Mrs. Goodge

complained. “I mean, she couldn’t have known that Caroline was going to insist on going to Barrick Street to look at those buildings.”

“But I think she did know,” Mrs. Jeffries countered. “Remember, Caroline’d had a terrible row with her husband 206

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that day and neither of them was in a forgiving mood. The

Turners came back to the house that afternoon for tea. Caroline might have mentioned she was thinking of looking over the buildings.”

“But what if she didn’t?” Betsy frowned in confusion.

“How could Lucy have known to be there?”

“She could have walked. Several witnesses mentioned

that the traffic was so bad that night that you could probably

have walked somewhere faster than a hansom would carry

you,” Mrs. Jeffries replied. “We know she left the house that

night after she’d argued with her mother, and we know she

knew where the Murans were going to be. She could easily

have seen them come out of the concert hall and get into a

hansom. She could have followed the cab, seen them get

out, slipped up behind them, and done her worst.”

“That would explain why she knocked him out before

she murdered the wife,” Betsy murmured. “She didn’t want

him to recognize her.”

“She hit him pretty ’ard,” Smythe commented.

“Only hard enough to knock him out,” Mrs. Jeffries

pointed out. “Not hard enough to do any permanent damage.

Another reason I thought of the Turner women—whoever

murdered Caroline Muran probably knew something