“I suppose so.” The police chief was hesitant. “Let’s just wait and see that the autopsy confirms what she has just told us. We should hear their initial findings later today with any luck.”
“And if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if we could stay at least until tomorrow morning,” I said. “My husband is not at all well. He needs a day of rest before we attempt the journey home.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Chief Prescott said. “I noticed he was coughing this morning. Caught a chill, has he? The wind can be fierce at this time of year.”
“He’d recover better in his own bed at home,” Joseph Hannan said. “That’s the first thing I want when I’m ill. My own bed.”
“I’d prefer they didn’t leave at this very moment,” Chief Prescott said. Then he actually extended his hand to me. “Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan. You have been most helpful and most observant. No doubt our autopsy will reveal the presence of alcohol in his system and we can close this case.”
And he escorted me to the door then shut it firmly behind me.
Fourteen
Daniel opened his eyes as I came into the bedroom.
“Oh, there you are,” he said wearily. “I wondered where you had gone. I’m so thirsty, I needed a drink of water, but I didn’t feel like going all the way downstairs to fetch one.”
“I’ll get you one,” I said and did so. He drank as if he’d been lost in a desert for days. I put my hand on his forehead. “You’re rather hot,” I said.
“And my head aches like the devil,” he said.
“I’ll go into town and get you some aspirin from the chemist if you like,” I said.
“Thank you, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“What else do I have to do?” I looked down at him fondly and stroked his hair. “I want you to get well as soon as possible, don’t I?”
Having left Daniel with a carafe of water and a glass at his side I put on my hat and cape again and set out on my errand. As I joined the main driveway close to the gate I saw my gardener from yesterday working nearby.
“Morning, ma’am,” he called. “You’ve heard the terrible news, no doubt.”
“I have.” I didn’t need a second excuse to go over to him. “What an awful thing to have happened. The whole family was in shock this morning.”
“I can imagine. The servants were pretty cut up too, I can tell you. Especially Mr. Hannan’s own servants he’d brought from the city. Couple of maids bawling their eyes out and even his cook looked as if he’d been crying—but then he’s a French guy so you expect that kind of thing from foreigners, don’t you?”
“How many staff actually came from Mr. Hannan’s house in the city?”
He sucked through his teeth, thinking. “Not many this time. It wasn’t worth bringing up the whole household like he does in the summer. Let me see. The French chef, for one. Mr. Hannan never leaves him behind. He was fond of good food and frankly Mrs. McCreedy’s cooking isn’t too wonderful. What you’d call Irish basic, I think. And usually the butler comes up in the summer, but this time he stayed behind. And who else was there—Mr. and Mrs. Van Horn brought their personal servants. They have a maid and valet who look after them, like in all the good households. But the master just brought a couple of maids and a footman to serve at table, oh, and his chauffeur. He keeps an automobile here to run him around and he has another one in the city. Imagine—two automobiles, and I hear he has a very fine carriage and pair too. Nice what money can do, isn’t it?”
“No use to him in the end though, was it?” I said.
“True enough. We’re all wondering what’s going to happen now.” He looked around before speaking again. “We don’t know if the whole kit and caboodle will go to Mrs. Van Horn, seeing as how she’s his only child. Or to Mr. Joseph as his business partner, or whether the fortune will be shared between all the family members. If it’s Mr. Joseph he may not even want to keep on this place. He doesn’t really like it here. He’s a city gent. He doesn’t even stay in the house most times—he sleeps out in the guest cottage where you are now.”
“And I have a good idea why,” I said. “He arrived unexpectedly a couple of nights ago and brought a woman with him.”
“That’s what we’ve heard.” The boy lowered his voice even though there was nobody within sight. “He and his wife don’t get along. He only married her for her money, of course. That’s what we hear. And she’s very religious and into charity work and he—well, let’s just say that he likes a bit of fun, if you know what I mean. They say he has a regular mistress—all set up in a house of her own and everything. But the master didn’t approve so I suppose Mr. Joseph kept her away from prying eyes in the guest cottage.” He laughed in disbelief. “He’s got a nerve, hasn’t he? The way rich folk carry on.”