Under the Dragon’s Tail

“There will be a record of the infant’s death in the village register I presume?”

“Mrs. Merishaw took care of all that. I was, er, too overcome.”

And I suppose you could say that about Dolly now, he thought. She won’t be able to confirm this story one way or the other.

“Do you now admit you received a letter from Mrs. Shaw which asked for money?”

“Yes, I did. I am sorry I did not tell you the truth at first. I…”

Her voice tailed off, trying to lure him into gallantry.

“Did you answer it?”

“Yes. I felt sorry for the woman. I sent a few dollars with the boy.”

Murdoch was recording all this information in his notebook. He took his time. Like Annie in the beginning, this woman was giving him only as much truth as she could get away with.

“Did your nephew know about Mrs. Shaw’s letter?”

“I believe I did mention it to him, yes.”

“What sort of person is Mr. Henry, would you say? Rash? Hot-tempered?”

“Not at all. He is most equable. Why do you ask, Mr. Murdoch?”

“I wonder if he might have taken it upon himself to seek out Mrs. Shaw. Just to make sure she was only asking for a small gratuity and not going in for a spot of blackmail. Is it likely he would have done something like that, Mrs. Pedlow?”

She was starting to look very tight about the mouth and jaw.

“I suppose it is not totally out of the question, but, Mr. Murdoch, I still don’t see why you are pursuing this line of enquiry when surely you already have your culprit.”

“Who is that, madam?”

“The unfortunate woman, Lily. Her mother treated her badly. I saw such on many an occasion. She must have finally retaliated. You said another boy was killed. It seems to me highly plausible that he was a witness to the first crime and the poor lunatic woman killed him also.”

Murdoch now knew that wasn’t what had happened, but he wasn’t going to tell her yet.

“According to Freddie, Lily ran away before Mrs. Shaw was killed and did not return until the next day. I don’t believe she murdered her own mother.”

Maud gave a small shrug. “An intruder then–”

“Unlikely. The boy says he heard two people come to the house the night of the murder. Annie Brogan admits she was the first visitor, but she swears she left Dolly quite alive.”

“Perhaps she is lying.”

Maud was fickle in her choice of suspects.

“I don’t think so. The person who came afterward is the one I’d like to talk to. Freddie couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, but Mr. Golding heard somebody leaving the Shaw house about two o’clock in the morning. He had no doubt it was a woman he heard.”

“In spite of what you say, we’re back to the daughter then, aren’t we? She’s a husky woman.”

Maud Pedlow was exhibiting more steel at the centre than he would have expected.

“Dolly Shaw was drunk. If she had fallen and knocked herself senseless, it wouldn’t take much physical strength to hold a pillow on her head, just great emotional resolve.”

There was a long silence, more stiffening of the jaw, then Maud said, “If Dolly wrote a begging letter to me, I am sure she wrote to others. I was far from being her only client.”

“The boy swears there was only one letter. She wrote it immediately after she saw the newspaper article about your nephew’s reception.”

“Mr. Murdoch, you are hounding me. I shall be forced to discuss the matter with my husband.”

“In which case I would be forced to explain why I am asking you these questions, ma’am. You have good reason to want Dolly Shaw silenced.”

“I find that an extremely impolite remark.”

Murdoch almost laughed outright. “Politeness seems a little irrelevant in the case of murder, wouldn’t you say, ma’am?”

Maud chose not to reply but she seemed more distressed. He pressed the advantage.

“To come back to Mr. Henry Pedlow for a moment. You say he is of an equable temperament? Is he a loyal person?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“If he thought the happiness of you and your husband was at stake, might he lose that even disposition?”

“How can I answer such a question? However, I…”

“Please continue, ma’am.”

Her voice was shaky when she replied. “I have been concerned about him. It is most upsetting to contemplate the implication of your question but–”

Again she faltered. Murdoch couldn’t quite tell if he was in the presence of an actress of Sarah Bernhardt ability or if she was genuinely afraid of the possibilities.

“Why are you worried about your nephew?”

“He has shown signs of instability since returning from India, the sun–”

“Instability, ma’am?”

“Oh, I am sorry. I am not a physician. I shouldn’t have said–”

“You don’t need a medical degree to use the word. What do you mean by ‘instability’?”

“He laughs at inappropriate moments, weeps at nothing…he has flown into terrible tempers over the smallest thwarting. A cabman who is too slow, a passerby who bumps him.”