Murder Is At Hand.

Chapter 9.

A few hours later, I was standing determinedly in the centre of the lounge, with a gathered crowd around me. Hettie, her husband, Newham, Nesbitt, Church, Hanson Grange, the Commander and Dr. Scott, who had been called up from Harley Street on the double, were all sitting closely around me, with the rest of the soldiers and the hotel staff taking up the rest of the room.
"Right!" I yelled over the chatter. It silenced instantly.
"Before I start" I began. "I would like to point one thing out. This is going to get ridiculously complicated. I mean really complicated. Frankly, I'm amazed I've understood it, so I can't expect you all to get it first time. In fact, if you do, I'll buy you a drink tonight."
Ripples of laughter flew around the room. I sighed.
"I bet now I'm going to be completely broke by this evening. Nonetheless."
More laughter. I decided to dive in.
"From an outside point of view, this whole affair seemed relatively straightforward. Indeed, by the end of the first day I thought I had it almost done and dusted. Then it proceeded to get more complicated, and more complicated, and more complicated..." I trailed off. "You get the picture. But that's just it. What happened in that room was unbelievably complicated, with, I think, three different dramas happening at the same time. In fact, in total, I believe there were three intended victims, three different plots, two attempted murders, two potential murderers, one actual murder, one accident, and one person with no relation to the whole thing whatsoever. Now, who do I owe a drink?"
That last statement had been for the comedy effect. A few hands wavered up, encouraged by the people sitting around them. I smiled.
"Sorry, I'm not done yet."
More laughter. I clapped my hands together for silence.
"So, where should I start? Probably at the beginning, I'd hope. Let's go to India, shall we?"
"I suppose you're wanting me to confess now, do you?" the Commander asked. "Do you really want to know why I got sent back from India?"
"Please" I said seriously. "The whole thing spirals around it."
The Commander raised his voice so the whole room could hear.
"The rumours were true. I found a hoard of Indian treasure, up in the mountains. Sadly, I was ratted out before I had chance to retrieve it."
There was a lot of chatter. I smiled.
"Well done, sir" I told him quietly, leaning down to talk to him. "But did you ever wonder how you were found out?"
"I'd never really given it much thought" the Commander replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"I think you may be about to find out."
I clapped my hands again, standing back up and addressing the room.
"The one thing I could find that linked these four men was the fact that they had all been in India at the same time. Around the same time that Commander Armstrong here found that Indian treasure."
"So?" came a voice from the back. I rolled my eyes.
"So I think that treasure was the motive behind what went on in that room. You're now not getting your drink."
The laughter started up again, and it allowed me to gather my thoughts.
"Let's move on to the night in question. As I said, there were three different murder plots going on in that room, all at the same time. The first was attempted by our friend Nesbitt here."
It seemed Nesbitt had seen this coming. He hung his head in shame.
"You were trying to pop off the Commander, weren't you?" I asked, to uproar around the room. The Commander himself rose to his feet. I settled everything with a hand.
"You see, the Commander mentioned to me that you kept dealing him the same card. The card with some sort of nasty poison on the edge, am I wrong?"
"Top corner" Nesbitt mumbled. "Five of spades. As long as I kept it the right way up, I'd be alright."
"But" I sighed, taking pity on him. "The Commander's still alive, isn't he? So your plan didn't work, did it?" Nesbitt shook his head, ashamed.
"You won't be hung, at least" I smiled, patting him on the shoulder. He chuckled dryly.
"Moving on" I said, raising my voice toassume control of the room again. "That's one victim, one plot, one potential murderer and one failed attempt dealt with. Agreed?"
There was a general murmur of assent. I smiled. I was enjoying this.
"Wait" the Commander butted in. "You haven't told us why this boy tried to kill me."
"All in good time, sir, I promise" I told him. "Now onto plot number two. This one is probably my favourite. The potential murderer this time was Nathan Grange."
Again, uproar. I waited patiently for it all to die down.
"He had it in his head that he wanted to kill Luke Nesbitt" I added. Nesbitt himself jumped out of his skin, and the noise levels in the room went skyrocketing up again.
"What?" the young soldier gasped. I nodded sadly.
"You were lucky, Lucky. Very."
Nesbitt ignored my play on words as the room quietened itself again.
"It was Nathan's plot that I first spotted" I explained. "The powder in the glass. Only it wasn't poison, rather a powdered form of mushroom, designed to give someone a very bad case of vomiting."
"Then how come I was taken ill as well?" Newham asked. I sighed, smiling.
"That was your own fault" I explained to him. "When you all swapped around the table after drinks, you sat on Nesbitt's left. Nesbitt being right-handed, and you being left-handed, and the fact Nesbitt was having to concentrate really hard to stop the Commander spotting his scheme, meant you drank out of his glass and he drank out of yours. They were so close together, you kept mixing them up. Probably saved his life, actually. I wouldn't have liked to see the result of one man drinking all that powder."
Newham looked along at Nesbitt, and Nesbitt looked back. A mutual bond formed between the two of them, both grateful to the other for drinking the amount of the spiked drink as they did. I smiled. Nesbitt was going to need friends in the immediate future.
"Now then" I shouted over the talk. "These two attempts were all well and good, but once you've worked them out, it still leaves more questions. Both Nesbitt and Nathan Grange were both convinced their plans were going to work, so why didn't they? When you think about that, you begin to see the real course of events. Another figure begins to appear, another piece of the puzzle, hidden from sight, who, for his plan to work, didn't even need to be in the room."
There was a deathly silence, as everyone took in what I had just said. Nesbitt looked round, his mouth slightly open.
"I have a feeling, Mr. Nesbitt, that you've just arrived at the same conclusion as I did" I said smoothly, without even looking at him.
"Now onto the third plot. The murder. The simplest murder you ever did see." I said, my words echoing around the silent room. "The pen. The pen which, due to my own fault, was taken from the poker room this morning when I stupidly left the door unlocked. The pen which, if it had been left where it was, would still by lying there, completely forgotten, while I blundered around like a bull in a china shop trying to sort out right from wrong. The leaky pen, with its ink sac filled to the brim with poison."
I paused for effect. I couldn't resist being dramatic.
"Nathan Grange was using the poisoned pen to keep a tally of how well he was doing in the games. The pen leaked onto his fingers, and, when he licked his fingers to pick up his cards, he died" I explained, to the still silent room.
"But who poisoned the pen?" someone shouted from the back.
"Well" I smiled wickedly. "Wouldn't you all just love to find out? Let's establish what we know. This man didn't need to be in the room, and he was also good friends with Nesbitt and Nathan Grange. He had to be, since I'm pretty sure he helped them concoct their little plots, in order to cover up his own master plan. I believe, Nesbitt, he never intended for your plan to succeed, since the Commander didn't really bother him. What bothered him was you and Nathan, the other two men in the plot to steal the Indian treasure, after you all ratted out the Commander. So he convinced you the Commander was still after the treasure, and persuaded you to use your skills as a dealer to get rid of him. He then turned Nathan against you, probably saying that you were planning to make off with all of the treasure, swindling them both in the process. He may or may not have intended to kill you too, Nathan's mushrooms would probably have done the trick if it hadn't been for Newham. With his smokescreen now in place, our murderer filled the pen, gave it to Nathan, and sat back to let the whole charade play out."
"He manipulated all of us!" Nesbitt groaned. I nodded.
"He did. He was quite the puppeteer, really."
"But who was it?" Percy Broker asked. I smiled.
"You told me that" I explained. "Do you remember? When I asked you about India, you said you overheard the rumours about the treasure from two soldiers and a private talking. Didn't you?"
"Two soldiers...and a private!"  Hettie gasped, turning to stare at none other than Private Hanson Grange. The rest of the room did the same.
"Well done, Het" I smiled. "I'll make a detective of you yet."
"You've got absolutely no proof of this" Hanson Grange said calmly.
"She's got my word!" Nesbitt argued, jumping up.
"Mine too!" Percy Broker added, coming to join Nesbitt.
"But that's just it" Hanson pointed out. "Nesbitt, you're in over your head already, what with you trying to kill the Commander. Nobody'll believe a word you say. You're an attempted murderer. And as for Broker, we were in India two years ago. Any evidence from back then is debatable, at best. So really, Miss Winter, you've got nothing. You can't prove I was ever associated with Nesbitt and Nathan, and you can't prove the pen was poisoned, since it's gone missing. Although, I have to admit, you've told us a very interesting story."
"Not so fast" I said.
"What?" Hanson asked, and for a second, I caught the first hint of uncertainty.
"Nesbitt?" I asked.
"Yes, Miss Winter?" Nesbitt replied instantly.
"Who did you tell about the Commander discovering the treasure?"
Nesbitt paused, thinking.
"I can't remember."
"Who were you most likely to tell? What rank?"
"Probably one of the Colonels, Miss Winter."
I nodded.
"Will all the Colonels who were out in India at the time of Commander Armstrong's return please stand up?" I ordered loudly. A few older men got to their feet.
"Do any of you remember this incident?" I asked sharply. There were a couple of hesitant nods.
"Would it have been documented?" was my next question.
"Definitely, ma'am" one of them replied. "Everything gets documented in the Army."
"Would you have written down the names of the men who gave you the information?"
"Almost certainly, ma'am."
"Well" I sighed. "That clears that up." I turned back to Hanson. "We can prove you three were plotting, and we can prove you knew about the treasure. Also, thanks to your lack of focus this morning" I added, whipping Nathan Grange's notebook out from nowhere and waving it in front of Hanson's face "I can prove that the pen was poisoned. Any further complaints?"
"You don't know what you've let yourself in for" Hanson Grange croaked, looking up at me, almost pitifully. "You really don't. There were people other than me who wanted that treasure. They helped me put this plan in place. We'd made a deal, you see. If the plan worked, we would split the gold. Now you've found me out, they won't get their gold. And they won't be happy."
I cracked my jaw thoughtfully.
"Well, I have to admit, I didn't see this coming. It seems that my dear old friend the consultant criminal can't keep away from me."
"You know him?" Hanson asked, obviously surprised.
"We've met twice before. Well, not really met. More I've messed up two of his plans" I admitted casually.
"Then I'd be a bit more careful if I was you."
The tone in Hanson's voice unnerved me a little. Determined not to waver, I kept my cool.
"He doesn't think too much of me. Apparently I'm too stupid to be a real threat to him" I told Hanson.
"Well, he's underestimated you" Hanson replied bluntly. "And he doesn't do that often."
"Who is this person?" Newham butted in suddenly.
"I know him as Old Man Stephenson" I said reluctantly, looking at Hanson for support. The private nodded.
"That's his name."
"Well, that got very dark very quickly" I commented, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't really work. Someone volunteered to get on the phone to the police, and slowly, the room filtered out, with Nesbitt and Hanson Grange securely under observation. Newham pulled me to one side.
"This Old Man Stephenson character" he asked. "You say you've met him before?"
"He was Edward and James Stephenson's father. The one that owned the odds and ends shop. He also supplied Lewis Shackleton with the laudanum he needed to poison Septimus Waters. He appears to be a sort of consultant criminal. People ask him to help them break the law."
"And now he's got his eye on you" Newham sighed. I nodded.
"Yep."
"There's no point in telling you to be careful, is there?"
"Nope. I tried to avoid him, but it seems he's got his finger in all sorts of pies. Maybe one day I'll find a case he hasn't got his hand in."
It was meant to be a joke, but Newham didn't seem in the mood for laughing.
"What are you going to do?" he asked seriously.
"Nothing" I told him confidently. "I can look after myself. Besides, I've got you. And Izzy. And Het. And Dr. Scott. I'd like to think you'll watch out for me if I can't."
"I'll try" Newham sighed, giving me a hug.
"I'll try too" Hettie added, coming up behind me. "I heard what you've been talking about. I'll watch out for you too, Allie."
"Me too" the doctor added, coming over to join us. "Although next time, a bit of warning would be nice before I get flung into an investigation."
"Of course!" I laughed.
"What about Isabel?" Newham asked suddenly. I smiled.
"Izzy's my sister. She has to look after me. She doesn't get a choice."