Mrs. Jeffries Defends Her Own Read Online Free PDF

Mrs. Jeffries back to her chair when she started to reach for it.
    “I know, you’ve already told me that. But do you know how many times?”
    “How many times?” Fiona looked confused by the question. “Oh, you must mean how many times was he shot. I don’t know. I didn’t look closely when Lucretia started screaming. It was obvious he was dead, so I pulled her away and sent the porter for the police.”
    “I’m getting ahead of myself. Tell me in your own words what happened. Start at the beginning, please.”
    “It began this morning. I’d just finished breakfast and was going downstairs to speak to Cook when I heardthis awful banging on the front door. As none of the servants were anywhere in sight, I went to the door myself.”
    “That’s not like you,” Mrs. Jeffries said.
    “I know, but John is away in Birmingham on business, and for some reason, I suppose because they were making such a racket, I was alarmed. So instead of waiting for the butler, I opened the door myself. Lucretia was standing there. She was upset. She said that Ronald hadn’t come home the night before and she wanted John to take her along to the company offices to see if he was there.”
    “What time was this?”
    “About seven fifteen,” Fiona smile faintly. “When John’s gone, I breakfast very early.”
    “Why didn’t she just wait until the office had opened and go along herself?” Mrs. Jeffries asked.
    “The office doesn’t open until half past eight, and she claimed she was too worried to wait. Frankly, I think she wanted to get there before the office opened because she was frightened of what she would find. She didn’t want to be humiliated in front of the staff. There have been rumors that Ronald drinks more than he should.” Fiona couldn’t keep the note of contempt out of her voice.
    Mrs. Jeffries glanced at the glass in her hand. “I take it Mr. Dearman had been working late the prior evening?”
    Fiona nodded. “That’s what Lucretia told me. I told her that John was out of town and I’d no idea where his keys were. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to say. We’re not the best of friends, and there’s been gossip about their marriage, so I thought it perfectly possible that he’d decided not to come home for reasons of his own. But Icould hardly say that. She insisted that we get into the building, so I told her I’d go with her and have the porter let us. She was satisfied with that, and we took a hansom cab to the office.”
    “Where exactly is the office?” Mrs. Jeffries asked.
    “On Queen Street Place by the Southwark Bridge. Lucretia seemed to get more and more nervous as we made our way there—she kept yelling at the driver to hurry. We went into the building, and I told the porter that I needed to get into our suite of offices on the second floor.”
    “Had the porter let you in on other occasions?” she asked. Their previous cases had taught her to question people carefully about the details.
    “He knew who I was. Last week, John had left his spectacles at home and as I was going to be shopping close by, I came in to give them to him. He can see without them, but it does cause a great strain on his eyes.”
    “So the porter took you right up,” Mrs. Jeffries pressed. She wanted to understand the exact sequence of events.
    “We had to wait for a few moments,” she replied. “It’s a large, modern building, and several of the other businesses were already open for the day. When we arrived, the porter was busy helping another gentleman. When it was our turn, I explained what we needed, and then we waited while he went to his kiosk in the back to get the spare keys.”
    “Did he give you the keys, or did he accompany you?” she asked.
    “He accompanied us and unlocked both the outer door and the door to Ronald’s office.” Fiona closed hereyes and took a deep breath. “I was certain he’d be in the room asleep or drunk, and not wanting to witness a scene, I hung back a bit so