Chapter Five
The car journey to Cavenham had been quiet. Isobel wanted to say something, but wasn't really quite sure what. She was conscious of the Inspector being in the car as well. As they approached the house, the front door opened.
"Good afternoon m'lord" a gentleman stepped forward to shake Dickie's hand "It's been some time"
"Hello Mr Stevens. I hope you've been keeping well?" He turned to introduce Isobel "This is Mr Stevens: he's been agent for the estate for, what is it, getting on 12 years now? My wife, Isobel"
Stevens chuckled "Hardly seems like it can be, really, but yes. It'll be 13 in another 3 months. My wife is on at me to retire, but I don't think I'm ready for that quite yet! It's a pleasure to meet you m'lady. Shall we go in? I've brought the ledgers with me and laid everything out in the study. Just like the old days!" He smiled wistfully.
"Yes, of course. Lead the way" Dickie turned to the butler "Hargreaves, can you ask Mrs Pearce to arrange for tea and cake to be sent into the study for four please. Thank you"
"Of course m'lord." replied the sullen butler with the merest nod of his head. He kept his eyes on the Inspector as he followed the party into the house.
As they had never lived at Cavenham and she had rarely visited, Isobel was quite unsure of where they would go. This was very much Dickie's domain and quite out of her comfort zone. She followed him as he chatted to the agent and tried to take in as much detail as possible. The house looked very well cared for, although there had clearly been recent modern additions added to the décor. They didn't seem to sit quite right somehow, but that might just be her taste in things.
It wasn't long before they entered a room that was clearly an office of sorts. While it had large windows overlooking the gardens and the park, it was panelled in a dark wood and had a significant number of bookshelves. A fireplace held a roaring fire, and there were 2 large chesterfield sofas at right angles to it. Across the room was a an old fashioned desk with a few ledgers placed open on it. It all looked very grand, but had the air of a place that had seen years of hard work too.
"I'm pleased to see Larry hasn't changed anything in here at least" Dickie raised the smallest of smiles. "It still looks as if Father has just stepped out to meet Mother for tea"
"I'm not sure Mr Larry ever stepped foot in here, to be honest with you m'lord" said Mr Stevens quietly. "I must say I'm mighty glad to have the chance to discuss some matters with you." He gave the Inspector a quick glance.
"Well, before the tea arrives, I'll introduce you quickly. This is Inspector Money of the City of London police. He came to us this afternoon as he's looking for Larry. We're hoping to find something that might help us work out where he is." Mr Stevens looked a little startled. Dickie turned to the Inspector "This is Stevens, and as you heard he's been the agent here for years. I trust him implicitly"
"That's good to know m'lord. Mr Stevens, what we discuss in this room this afternoon must not go any further please."
"I understand, at least I understand as much as I possibly can on so little" Stevens looked between the 2 men worriedly.
Just then tea arrived. Isobel made herself useful by serving the gentlemen, and resolved to follow their conversation as much as she could. She knew Dickie would need to talk about things later, and she wanted time to process things before being called on to discuss what had been said.
"So, Mr Stevens, as things stand there's nothing specific that I'm looking for, but I am trying to trace the whereabouts of Mr Larry Grey so that he can help with an ongoing enquiry I'm part of. I came here earlier today to ask after Mr Grey, but the butler turned me away. Lord Merton was good enough to suggest he bring me over." The Inspector précised his day "Obviously anything you tell us is in strict confidence, but I'd be interested to know if you are aware of where Mr Grey might be?"
"I'm afraid I can't help on that score Inspector" Mr Stevens replied "In fact, although he's held various parties here in the last couple of years I could probably count the number of times I've spoken to him on one hand."
"What!" exclaimed Dickie "How does he manage the estate without regular contact?"
"In short m'lord, he doesn't. I had hoped you'd visited today to come and see to some of the outstanding issues that I have been writing to Mr Grey about. There are numerous repairs that have not been completed and we're coming into winter. Mr Grey told me early on that the estate must pay for itself - which is fair enough - but he has taken regular sums from the estate accounts meaning that I'm not in a position to pay for the repairs to take place. If you'd care to step across to the ledgers m'lord." Stevens led the way to the open books on the desk "As you can see, the tenants rents are up to date and the harvest was adequate this year. But we struggled with some of the machinery being in need of repair and we didn't do as well as we should have. These are the outstanding repairs needed on the tenants cottages, and I'm having to deal with complaints on a near daily basis. This is the bank ledger: you can see we should have more than enough to operate well enough, but these withdrawals have made that impossible. I've also been trying to get Mr Grey to see that we need to be investing in, or at least investigating, the newer methods coming in. It's clear in the current climate that we need to be looking to diversify and hopeful earn an income year round. I did want to try some winter wheat this year, but we didn't have the cash for seed in the end"
Dickie sat down heavily in the desk chair, his face pale. It was as if he was watching 30 years of work disappear in front of his eyes. "I see" he said quietly "I'm sorry Stevens, I shouldn't have left Larry to manage alone. It was what he wanted, but he clearly wasn't willing to do what it takes."
The Inspector looked up from making notes in his notebook "Is there any sort of pattern for these withdrawals Mr Stevens? Did they occur regularly? Or at certain times? Like before a big party visited or something like that?"
"Not that I can tell Inspector, but as I wasn't in the house much I couldn't be too sure. It would be best to ask Mrs Pearce about that: she runs the household accounts."
Isobel wanted to be able to comfort Dickie, but it wasn't the time in front of these gentlemen. He seemed to have shrunk into himself at the news of how the estate was faring. She knew that he would be most affected by how his tenants had been treated, and that they were facing the winter with homes that weren't necessarily fit for purpose. Their eyes met briefly: he seemed to be asking her for help.
"Shall I ask to see the housekeeper?" Isobel offered "It might be that I can get some information about the household accounts that she might not be willing to share with you men." She smiled hesitantly "I'm still an outsider, but at least I'm female"
"Are you sure?" said Dickie "I feel like that's asking you to face the music on your own, rather."
Dickie's concern stirred her spirit and spurred her into action. She stood with purpose "Of course I don't mind! We're in this together!" She smiled more confidently this time. This was something she could do. "What sort of things am I looking for Inspector?"
"I'd be interested to know if the spending is excessive, unpaid bills, overall spending or account balances: that sort of thing. And if there were major parties it would be helpful to get the dates so that we can maybe tie them up with some of the withdrawals from the estate ledgers" He motioned to the books on the table "It adds up to a pattern of behaviour, if you will."
"I understand. Symptoms and causes" Isobel nodded. She moved to the door "I hope not to be too long" and stepped out into the hallway to find someone to take her to the housekeeper. To her surprise, Stokes was there and appeared to be waiting to speak to someone.
"Mr Stokes: can I help?"
"I hope so m'lady. I didn't want to interrupt, but I was hoping to speak to you. I've been chatting to some of the old hands that were here before his lordship and I came to Crawley House. I'm a little concerned, m'lady" Stokes spoke quietly, looking left and right.
"Would you be more comfortable speaking somewhere else? I was about to go and find the housekeeper, but I can spare a few minutes if you help me find her afterwards." Isobel suggested.
Stokes looked relieved. "Mrs Pearce isn't a bad sort. She joined after the old Lady Merton died, so she doesn't have the same family history as some of the others. Come on, I'll take you down to see her" He hurried off and Isobel rushed to follow him. She was sure he'd forgotten she didn't know the house and had shorter legs!
They finally reached a door with 'Housekeeper' written on in lovely gold lettering. Mr Stokes knocked, and a strident feminine voice called "Enter!" Mr Stokes opened the door and motioned for Isobel to enter first.
"Good afternoon Mrs Pearce, I'm Lady Merton" The housekeeper rose hurriedly when she realised Isobel was there. Mr Stokes stepped inside and closed the door.
"Good afternoon m'lady, won't you have a seat. How can I help you?" Mrs Pearce sunk back down into her chair.
"Well, this is a little difficult for me really" Isobel began "As you know, Lord Merton and I have always lived at Crawley House. I was never raised to run a house this size, although having helped administer hospitals I'm sure I would understand the nuts and bolts of how it's done. I would imagine it's like running my own household, just many sizes larger?"
"I would imagine so m'lady" Was Isobel imagining things, or was Mrs Pearce playing cagey?
"We visited today so that Lord Merton could see Mr Stevens and review some things about the estate" Not quite true Isobel, but keep going… "And there are some payments that seem a little spurious and I just offered to check with you if they were made for a reason, like a big house party or a shooting party maybe? Could I possibly see the household accounts please?"
The room was very quiet and still. Mrs Pearce seemed to have turned to stone.
Just as the silence was becoming awkward, Mr Stokes spoke quietly "Mrs Pearce" The lady jumped and looked at him startled "This Lady Merton really is a decent sort. I was looking for her because I'd been talking to Joe and Tommy. They said the staff haven't been paid yet this quarter. If anyone can help fix this, it's Lady Merton."
Isobel looked at Mr Stokes and gave him a grateful smile. She turned back to the desk as she heard Mrs Pearce rise. After the jangling of keys, ledgers were brought out of a locked cupboard and placed on the desk.
Mrs Pearce sighed in defeat "You can look m'lady, but there's nothing there. The household accounts are empty."
Isobel opened the top ledger "I don't understand. What do you mean empty?"
"Mrs Grey would arrange for a monthly amount to be paid into the household account. You can see the deposits here" Mrs Pearce pointed to them on the left hand side of the ledger "I accounted for the spending on household items, reconciling as I went. There were a few occasions when I had to ask for extra - like here when the Mistress had a large house party of 40 guests. We needed extra staff, extra food, and the like" Isobel nodded. "It's all above board m'lady, I promise."
"Mrs Pearce, please believe me when I say that you are not suspected of any wrongdoing, but I am concerned to hear Mr Stokes say that some of the staff haven't been paid." Isobel looked up.
"Not some, m'lady, none. Myself included." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "Truth be told, we're getting to the point where we're stuck for funds. Luckily we're only feeding the staff, but I'm having to rely on the home farm for everything at the moment. We have outstanding bills at our local suppliers, and they are not willing to extend our credit further."
"I see." Isobel said quietly "When was the last time that Mrs Grey paid any money into the household account?"
Mrs Pearce took the ledger and flicked through a few pages "Here: September. It wasn't as much as I asked for, but it was something"
"Do you have a tally of how much is owed? And to whom?" Isobel asked
"Yes m'lady" Mrs Pearce reached into her drawer and retrieved some papers "These are the supplier's bills and this" she took a book off the shelf behind her "Is the payroll ledger. I updated it at the end of the last month with the outstanding amounts"
"May I take these? I think I need to discuss this with Lord Merton" Isobel flicked open the payroll ledger "Does the house always have so many staff?"
"The Mistress like to entertain large parties when they visited Yorkshire m'lady. She asked me to retain a large staff so that we didn't have the problem of hiring in at short notice. Even so, it is a little excessive, if you'll forgive me m'lady"
"Of course" Nodded Isobel "Don't mention it to anyone, but could you do me a favour? Could you compile 2 lists for me: one that would be the minimum number of people required to keep the house ticking over, and another that would be a normal number of people you would expect to employ? I just need to speak to Lord Merton and I'll be back. Hopefully we can make a plan to get this sorted out quickly"
"Thank you m'lady, that would be a great relief" Mrs Pearce smiled gratefully.
"I'll carry those for you m'lady" offered Mr Stokes. " And I'll show you back up to the study"
"Thank you. And thank you Mrs Pearce, for your help and for trusting me" And with that Isobel headed out to break the bad news.