Page 23 of The Masterful Mr. Montague

A murder where the motive was solidly and simply financial transactions held far less risk of any danger.

Meeting Stokes’s gaze, Barnaby all but imperceptibly nodded—an encouragement to go ahead, to take the lead, with his blessing.

Stokes shifted his gaze to Penelope’s eager face. “It’s a matter of murder.” When she and Griselda only looked more interested, he went on, “This morning, a Lady Halstead, who lived in Lowndes Street, was found dead by her staff . . .” In his usual, bare-bones, policeman’s language, he described all that had happened that day.

Predictably, Penelope asked questions, and Griselda posed a few, too. Both focused on the people, insisting that Stokes, and Barnaby, too, report what they’d sensed, as well as what they’d seen and heard, of all those involved.

Stokes had forgotten that, unlike him and Barnaby, their wives tended to concentrate on people, their foibles and emotions first, and secondarily on facts and actions.

Penelope knew Montague; she gave Griselda a quick verbal sketch, ending with, “He’s utterly reliable and trustworthy. A real rock, the sort one can always rely on to behave . . . in the way that will best serve justice.” Penelope glanced at Stokes. “Montague’s amazingly astute about everything to do with money and finances, and his ability to get information on those subjects is nothing short of astounding.”

Stokes snorted. “I’ve heard tales enough of the information he can get. If it comes to that in this case, I won’t be asking questions about how or where he gets his facts.”

Penelope grinned. “Precisely.” She turned back to Griselda. “But the point I find most interesting is not that the companion, Violet Matcham, sent for Montague—the poor woman clearly had the family to rights and must have been desperate for a way to see her late mistress’s death properly investigated, so sending for Montague makes perfect sense—but that Montague dropped all his usual work and came. Now that I find quite fascinating.”

Barnaby eyed the light in his wife’s dark eyes and decided he wasn’t going to comment. Instead, he steered the conversation on. “We were in Smithfield when Montague’s message reached us, so by the time we got to Lowndes Street, the doctor had already arrived.” Going over all that had occurred and, in catering to Penelope’s and Griselda’s particular bent, having to describe the people and their reactions proved an excellent exercise in reviewing what they had actually seen, what they actually knew.

Unsurprisingly, the description of the family gathering consumed many long minutes as their wives extracted every last little detail Barnaby and Stokes had noticed about the Halsteads and Camberlys.

Penelope fixed Barnaby with a direct look. “Your father would know about Camberly. And your mother might know more about Mrs. Camberly and the son.”

Barnaby nodded. “I’ll ask.”

“We’re due there for dinner tonight, which will be the perfect opportunity.” Penelope looked at Griselda. “What do you make of the family? They seem . . . well, not quite right to me. They’re destructive rather than supportive.”

Her gaze abstracted, Griselda nodded. “But what makes them like that, what drives them . . .” She focused on Penelope. “Do you think it might have something to do with their ages?”

Barnaby straightened; he glanced at Stokes and saw his friend blink, then pay greater attention, too.

Frowning slightly, Penelope was slowly nodding. “I see your point—and, yes, that might well be it.”

When neither said anything more but just sat there cogitating deeply, Barnaby prompted, “ ‘It’ what?” When Penelope glanced up, he caught her eye. “What are you two thinking?”

“Well,” Penelope said, “it’s the sort of thing that can sometimes happen when two siblings are born close—a year or less apart. From what Miss Matcham told you, Mortimer is the eldest, but Cynthia is less than a year younger. People assume that children close in age will support each other and share a deeper bond, but it can also go the other way. Especially if the second child has a stronger, or even equally strong, character. Then you have competition, a battle for supremacy.” She glanced at Stokes, then back at Barnaby. “Is that what was happening across that table? Was it competitiveness? One-upmanship? That sort of thing?”

His gaze on her face, Barnaby nodded decisively. “That’s exactly what it was.”

“And if that’s so,” Griselda said, catching Penelope’s gaze, “that makes Maurice and William more understandable, too.” She glanced at Barnaby, then Stokes. “Imagine what it must have been like when all of them were children. Mortimer and Cynthia are fighting for dominance, most likely portraying themselves as the most perfect, the most successful, to gain the most praise and status. Maurice can’t compete, so, in a bid for attention, and even perhaps rebelling against his older siblings, he goes the other way. Because Mortimer and Cynthia are fighting over the perfectly correct end of social behavior, Maurice goes to the other extreme and becomes a black sheep.”

“But”—Penelope held up a finger—“Maurice can go to the other extreme while still remaining within the social pale. But when William came along, he had nowhere to go—no way to distinguish himself within the social pale because both the perfect end and the imperfect end had already been claimed.”

Barnaby was nodding. “So William stepped beyond the pale and out of society altogether.”

“Exactly!” Penelope looked at Stokes. “So that’s why those four are as they are, and if you bear that in mind, you’ll have a much better chance of predicting their behavior and understanding the reasons behind what they say and do.”

Stokes digested that, then said, “One thing—you say that the characters the Halstead children have grown into came about because they were, each of them, seeking attention.” When Griselda and Penelope nodded, Stokes asked, “From whom?”

Penelope looked at Griselda, then Griselda turned to Stokes. “Most likely from their parents.”

All four of them paused to consider, then Barnaby mused, “According to Violet—Miss Matcham—both Lady Halstead and her husband were nice people. Which suggests this is one of those strange instances where perfectly decent parents raise a brood of much less acceptable children.”

Stokes humphed. “It happens.”

After a moment, Penelope sat back and asked, “So what are you planning to do next?”

Stokes exchanged a glance with Barnaby and saw in his friend’s expression the same acceptance he felt. Their ladies’ insights were proving useful, even potentially invaluable, and, really, with this case, there was no reason they couldn’t assist. He looked back at the pair seated on the sofa. “Our next move is to examine all the information Montague has thus far assembled about these mysterious payments, and then, I suspect, while he pursues them as only he can, we”—he inclined his head toward Barnaby—“will continue investigating the murder itself.”

“And the family,” Barnaby added.