Chapter Seven
"What were you just saying about my detective powers?" he mumbled softly, leaning in to Julia's ear.
"I didn't say a thing, William. I merely said why did every… oh never mind!" she exclaimed in frustration at being wrong, shooting an exasperated look at William. However, her displeasure quickly dissipated as she realized that that she was looking at the body of one of her old friends.
Mr. Baylis and Mr. Shaggis had transported Samuel's battered body up to the house and into Samuel's room, for lack of a better plan. Thelma had seemed dazed by her brother's death, standing a few feet away from his bed away to observe the corpse, then left to 'make arrangements,' mumbling something about Mr. Shaggis knowing what to do.
Julia was puzzled. "What arrangement is he going to make? The local magistrate? Samuel's physician? An undertaker?"
"Thelma seemed strangely calm, did she not?" William asked. "Do you think this is an accident? The result of one of these pranks?" He paced, "Or more….?"
"I agree with you that she is hiding something, but I don't think she murdered Samuel, if that is what you are thinking," Julia countered.
"Can you give me an estimated time of death?"
"No more than ten hours, certainly. But that is rather obvious as we all saw him alive last night." She manipulated the neck and jaw, flexed Samuel's arm. "The cold water slows rigor. You can see his body carries many abrasions; whether pre-mortem or not needs to be established." She dropped her hands in frustration.
"Oh, Samuel," she murmured. "Who did this to you?" Julia asked the body as she straightened up.
"That's what I intend to find out, Julia," William answered.
William and Julia came downstairs, both occupied by their own private thoughts. In the drawing room Thelma was being comforted by Rose and Keziah as servants busied themselves covering the mirrors and readying the house as place of mourning. Meanwhile, the assembled guests sipped tea and brandy, whispering in hushed tones. William heard the term 'Lakeside Lasher' bandied about. Daphne Wilmont and Grant King were the only ones missing. Everyone looked up when Mr. Shaggis came in.
"Sorry, Miss Thelma, the causeway is not jus' blocked by downed trees, it is flooded, looks like parts is pushed clean away. There's no way to get into town," the man explained.
Leonetta whined. "You mean we cannot leave? What shall we do now?" Robert Fairweather tried soothing his wife.
"What was he doing out there anyways?" Rose's voice wavered.
"The Lasher…" Julia did not hear who that was but shushed it immediately.
"Nonsense! I am sure Samuel was out early surveying the damage. The boat house was swept away by the storm. Perhaps he was trying to walk the causeway or get one of the boats." Bruce answered, patting his wife's hand gently. "Probably to get to the mainland once he saw the road was washed out. He might have tried to snag something that was still sea-worthy."
Donald was irritated. "The water cannot be that deep. Why not just take a wagon and go? If I were in charge…"
"Thank God you are not!" Thelma hissed.
"Depth is deceptive." Josiah answered automatically. The other sailors in the room nodded. "The water is still running fast. Just a few inches of water can sweep a man off his feet. You risk the horses and the driver if you cannot tell how deep the water is."
The room was quiet, the only sounds were of a log sliding down in the hearth.
"Three can keep a secret, if two are dead." Leonetta's low moan broke the tension. She rose swiftly, a flush on her face. "What secret was Samuel keeping? And who of you is the last one alive?"
Philomena stubbed out a cigarette in disgust. "What do you mean? Leonetta, you are being absurd and are upsetting Thelma."
But Leonetta was not slowing down, even though her husband hushed her. "That is what that horrid gypsy woman told Samuel. She cursed him, just like she cursed me!" Leonetta's fists bunched. "This is all her fault. Her's and Grant's. Get him away from Daphne before more terrible things happen in this whole cursed house." Robert pulled unsuccessfully at her hands to get her to sit again. "Stop it, Robert! I want to go home!"
William saw the other guests absorb Leonetta's hysterical rant, looking away, shifting uncomfortably. Caroline Balfour's face was blanched white.
"A curse?" Dorcas shrunk against her husband. "Are we in danger?"
Julia closed her eyes and shook her head. She did not believe in ghosts or supernatural forces, but many of the others did. She looked at William and they sighed in unison. They were accustomed to death, but Julia knew for a fact that the other houseguests were not. It would be up to them to conduct the investigation into Samuel's death.
"Mrs. White…Thelma. If I may?' William asked softly. "I'd like to look into Samuel's death, just to calm everyone's nerves, until the authorities can get here."
Clyde Harrington objected. "Surely this is a tragic accident?"
"And who are you to do so?" Marcus Murray challenged mildly. "Your wife is a medical person, which I can understand, but you are some sort of teacher, or philosopher, according to Philomena, are you not?"
Josiah Atkinson's eyebrows shot up. "I thought it was physics?"
"Or a chemist," Robert Fairweather added.
"Grant said you were some sort of inventor. Just who are you?" This came from Margaret.
William rubbed his forehead, inhaling to declare himself when Donald Harvey spoke up.
"Didn't you know? Mr. Murdoch here is a lowly copper. Don't you ever read the Toronto papers? He can't seem to stay out of them…one way or another. Isn't that right, Julia?" Donald sneered.
William was not sure that was the introduction he wished to make, but there was no turning back. "Yes. I am a detective with the Toronto Constabulary." He eyed the man carefully and knew why most of the women disliked him. He was no better than a pig, just as Julia had said. If the victim had been a female, he would have been the likeliest suspect in William's eyes. Even still, the man had spent the most time with Samuel Wilmont before his demise, what does he know?
"I believe it is Detective Murdoch and Doctor Ogden to you at the moment, Mr. Harvey," Julia countered, trying to keep her face calm before the tragedy unfolding at present.
"Thelma, I don't feel comfortable performing an autopsy here under the circumstances, but if you would allow me to externally examine the body, perhaps I can allay any fears as to Samuel's cause of death." She did not wish to allude to the possibility of foul play. Several of the party reacted with alarm so Julia rushed to reassure. "I only wish to find the truth, not tar any of our reputations," she stated calmly.
"I should do it. I don't care one whit about your fancy title, that sort of work is better left to men," Donald Harvey asserted.
"No. A trained professional such as Julia should do it, I do believe," Philomena Murray asserted. "Besides, I didn't think you were allowed to practice medicine after that one incident that got your own name into those very same newspapers," she shot back, taking a drag on her cigarette.
"Yes, I trust Julia," Thelma nodded her head in agreement, ignoring the inopportune sniping.
"With your permission then, I will go upstairs and examine the body," Julia replied, standing.
Rising with her, William nodded. "I believe I will assist Dr. Ogden and then go examine the shoreline to look for evidence of what might have happened, if I may," William asked Thelma.
"Yes, of course, then you will speak directly to me." Thelma's eyes pleaded for discretion.
"I assure you that we will speak about our findings only with you," William assured her.
Julia tried to ignore Donald Harvey's unsettling glare. "Call it a hunch, but I suspect our supposed ghost and this tragic event are somehow linked," she told William, holding out her arm as they left the drawing room and went up to Samuel's room.
"I fear that you may be right," he agreed as he escorted her upstairs.
With William's assistance in undressing and turning the body, she was able to examine Samuel's wounds while William took notes of her findings.
"Given that his lungs expelled water when I attempted resuscitation, I feel reasonably sure that drowning is our cause of death. However, what I am less than sure of is the manner of death. "
"So…misadventure, murder or suicide." William listed on his fingers.
"That does cover it rather thoroughly. I won't swear to one particularly," she replied, examining a deep abrasion on Samuel's head and the lacerations on his body. "Some of these may have happened in life, but others were most assuredly post-mortem. There's no telling what structure, boat, rock or flotsam he may have encountered in the lake," she answered.
"But if you say he obtained some while still alive, how do you know they weren't inflicted by an assault?" he asked.
"I don't know for sure, and I'll come back to examine the body later to see if any hematomas have appeared, but if he were pushed, dragged, or thrown, I would expect to see some sign of a struggle. There doesn't appear to be one at this time," she shrugged.
Nodding, William agreed. "Very well, if you would be so kind as to share your findings so far with Mrs. White, I'll look for any signs of a struggle or accident around the lake," he replied, kissing her cheek.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
After asking for tea to be brought to Thelma's small private boudoir, Julia sat quietly for some time as her old friend unburdened herself of her grief.
"Oh, Thelma, I am truly sorry," Julia comforted her. "I can't imagine how difficult it must be to face this problem individually, let alone with a house full of guests."
Thelma wiped her eyes and cleaned tear stains from her glasses. Her normally smooth hair was frizzled out. "This was supposed to be a fun, farewell weekend to this place, with just us women, but Samuel said he'd found a potential buyer, said he wanted to invite him too – I was shocked that it was Donald Harvey. I tried to get Samuel to have him the following weekend, but Donald insisted upon this weekend. Something about wanting to see all of 'his girls' again," she replied with a shudder.
"Typical Donald," Julia snorted. "I'm assuming there are no other buyers," she asked.
"I have no idea. The house was never listed, when he said he found someone we knew that was interested in the property, I assumed it was Marcus and Philomena Murray, as they live here in Newcastle. But it was Donald, and that made me angry that that pig was being given first crack at it over others," Thelma stated.
Julia saw that Thelma was more settled now, so she thought it was time to share her findings. "Thelma, I have examined Samuel. I believe your brother drowned—that is likely to be the cause of death."
"You think he slipped and fell in the water?" Thelma's face showed her pain. "He was a strong swimmer. The water must have been so difficult." She trailed off, her gaze unfocused.
Julia spoke cautiously. "I don't know all the circumstances as of yet—I will be able to know more in a few hours and of course William will be reporting what he can find about where and how we think Samuel went in the water."
"I…I understand."
"Thelma, tell me, and please be honest. I don't believe in supernatural events, and neither do you, unless you've changed. Tell me, did the house suffer from any of these supernatural events previous to this weekend?" Julia forthrightly asked.
"No, it did not. It has its quirks much like any old house, but nothing like what's been happening the past few days."
"That's what I assumed as well," Julia prompted.
Thelma put her head up. "I was embarrassed, but I just assumed that it was the boys playing pranks on us as they used to do," she admitted, frowning. "Samuel insisted it was merely lack of maintenance. I swear this property was going to be the death of us…I just did not think that was going to be so literal…"
Thelma looked like she was going to say more, before startling at a noise.
A soft knocking sound on the chamber door interrupted the flow of conversation. Julia gestured to Thelma to stay seated and went to the door, opening it to admit William. She glanced at the case clock in surprise—almost an hour had passed.
William approached Thelma, standing with his hat brim in his fingers while Julia seated herself next to their hostess. "Mrs. White. Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell exactly where Samuel went in the water, other than it was on the bay side." The area where Samuel had been pulled up was a muddy, sandy mess. William himself almost slipped in while prowling along the water-softened embankment and he saw the entire shoreline was a wreck, making any signs impossible to read. "One theory is that Samuel was trying to beach a boat to empty the water, perhaps to row to the mainland, and he was injured or pulled under. The water is very rough by the river outlet."
Sighing and rubbing her face, Thelma nodded. "Poor Samuel-he tried so hard."
William shared a look with Julia before continuing. "Mrs. White. There is the possibility of foul play, or another answer. Did your brother have any disagreements with anyone? Anything troubling him?"
Thelma's lips remained sealed for a long time before she licked them and spoke. "Of course there was the poor investments he made, which are now necessitating the sale of this place, and while we were sad to be losing it, neither Daphne nor I were devastated by it. It's become quite the burden to maintain and run, to be perfectly honest," she shrugged sadly. "I made it known to him that selling the property was a minor loss in the grand scheme of things."
"I have to ask…was he despondent?" William questioned.
Thelma's posture stiffened. "He even commented once that his death would be enough to keep this place in the family, I told him that that was an incredibly absurd idea," she choked up, wiping her eyes again with her handkerchief before replacing her eyeglasses. "I cannot countenance that he'd take his life, if that was what you are suggesting! He was very angry about all the odd goings on."
Julia knew better than to push the topic at the moment, guessing that suicide was exactly what Thelma feared. "Perhaps we need to look to see if these so-called hauntings play a role in what has transpired here…?" Julia said, holding Thelma's hands in hers.
"That means William and I may ask some questions of the guests and staff, and we'll need to look around the house in greater detail than we already have," Julia pressed.
"Of course, but…" Thelma's tight voice implored, "Just please, promise me the utmost discretion."
"I promise you, we shall continue to share our finding first with you prior to anyone else," Julia agreed, getting a nod from William.
There was nothing left to do now but get on with it.