Chapter 10

The constables decided to terminate the interview and to let William take the lad away, at least for now. Their small table was littered with notes. They peered at them together and discussed the case, if there was one, as it was laid out so far. The proprietor came over to clear away used dishes.

"Mr. Crabtree, is there any way we can have a couple more lamps over here?" Constable Higgins spoke up to the proprietor. He felt an insistent nudge from Jackson. "And some more bread and jam, and umm, another round of beer, perhaps?" He hastily declined the additional soup that was offered. In a softer voice he said to his fellow officer, "I don't know what killed poor Miss Brown but any more of that soup would do me in. I feel all queasy as it is." He patted his stomach for emphasis.

Jackson grimaced in sympathy, having failed to heed Higgins' advice not to taste it. "Henry, I think we need to consider that Miss Brown may have died as a result of these shenanigans at the school, maybe an accident…"

"Or, maybe not. There might be a crime here after all. Especially if the students had a motive. They just got trapped here by the weather and ordinarily would have been long gone. I think we need to talk with that James Gillies….actually with all of them again. And this building is a nightmare—five floor including attic and basement, two stair cases, two exits, and all sorts of people unaccounted for. We need to get a handle on the sequence of events." He grumbled and rolled his eyes. "My notes are rather confusing, even to me," Higgins said as he studied his pages in the lamp-light. He sighed and grabbed his stomach again.

The other constable tried to cheer his work-mate up. "This might be your big break, Henry. If it is a murder or death by misadventure," Jackson enthused as he made a face. "Mine too. I would not mind a good start at Station House No 4, myself."

"I think you should locate Mr. Gillies and have another chat with the boys, while I locate the new water closet," said Higgins with a disapproving tone. "Where are the lads, anyway?"

"I'll get 'em, Henry, starting with young Francis again. Mr. Murdoch is trying to protect his students I suppose." Jackson stood and made straight for Francis York, bringing him back to the table, teacher in tow. "Mr. Murdoch, I will allow you to observe and do your duty as you see it regarding your students, but you must not interfere." Constable Jackson got a grudging nod from the teacher.

He asked a few follow up questions of Francis and summarized from his notes. "You think Marguerite was made sick by James Gillies. Now you tell us you also think he put chloroform, of all things, in her drink…at best to get revenge on her for joining your class, and at worst deliberately making her ill and getting her in trouble so she would not tell about the cheating scandal?"

Francis nodded. "Joseph told me about the drug later. I wondered why 'Daisy' er…Marguerite got so sick."

"Why would a student do something like this?" asked Jackson. "Besides, it's just school, and an expensive one at that." He snorted. "I don't know much about the gentry, but won't the parents just get it covered up or buy their way out of the problem? And speaking of which, why would you need to take money, aren't you students all well off?" He crossed his arms on the table and leaned in.

William and his student stared at each other, neither willing to answer right away. Francislooked down first. William continued. "Some students are on scholarship or have sponsors, others have parents with money but a tight purse string. The real problem is not the money, it is the cheating. If it were to become known that the students cheated, all of them would be immediately expelled, and for Mr. York, James Gillies and Joseph Auburn, being expelled and not finishing would deny them admission to the prestigious European universities they have been working so diligently to enter. The board of trustees at Sommerbank is very conservative in their views and I imagine would not make any exceptions, including for the children of wealthy donors, in order to uphold the integrity of the school. They are, shall we say, firm on that point. The parents would suffer disgrace as well, and their punishment of their sons would likely trump any the school could impose."

"You did not mention Jack Brown? What would his punishment be, or the effect on his education?" asked Jackson.

William paused, his shoulders stiffening. "If Jack was involved, he would be expelled of course. An education abroad is not open to him in any event; rather he is restricted in his choices, as a result of how his parents' estate was arranged.

Jackson looked skeptically at Francis York, who had a dejected appearance. "This sounds like an awful accident of some kind. More than that I find that hard to believe, son."

"As do I," William said. Francis shrank even further.

Jackson focused back on the other facts. "Could chloroform kill someone if they drank it, drank enough of it?"

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While Jackson went to round up the remaining students, Henry took a candle and made his way to the back hall. He passed the pantry and cooking area, poked his head in, and thanked Mrs. Kitchen for the tray of beer and bread she was preparing. He examined the rear service door briefly and took a few notes, then went slowly up one flight, to the new toilet closest to the back stairs.

The door appeared ajar and he felt cold air sliding out from the room into the hallway. Thinking a window had gotten broken in the storm he was not looking forward to taking care of his needs in such a chill, and he almost backed away. On second thought, at that moment it was a damned sight better than his childhood memory of having to use a Gaspé privy in the middle of a heavy Quebec snow fall, so he pushed on the door so he could enter. It swung open with a bang that made him jump, the whole business putting his candle out. Swearing, he felt is way into the room, pushed the door shut and relit the candle to set it by the sink so he could get his jacket off, remove his braces and lower his trousers. Backing up, his foot caught on something and he overbalanced, frantically reaching for anything to break his fall.

That turned out to be unnecessary in a certain way: he fell buttocks-first on a figure who was occupying the seat. Henry's loud exclamation was impressively audible throughout the Inn, when he discovered it was the body of James Gillies.

To Be Continued…

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