No Shred of Evidence: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

“They are upstairs. I’ll send for them. But before I do, I should like to say that these are young women of impeccable backgrounds and reputation, and their families have been very upset by this matter, as have I. They have been here to visit their daughters, and I have persuaded them to leave me to deal with the local police and the Yard. I think you’d prefer that as well.”
    Rutledge, reserving judgment, said, “I’m sure this was appreciated.” For Pendennis was, apparently, still being harried by their legal representatives.
    “I will be honest with you. I’m afraid Inspector Barrington received the full force of their anger. I can only hope it did not contribute to his heart attack.”
    When Rutledge didn’t answer, Grenville strode to the bell pull and summoned the maid.
    “Would you prefer to see them one at a time or all together?”
    “Have they been allowed to spend time together since they were taken into custody?”
    “I am a father, Inspector, and not a gaoler. My daughter’s friends have been treated as guests.”
    And had time to compare stories and settle on an acceptable one?
    “Separately, if you please.”
    “Very well.”
    The maid came to the door, and Grenville said, “Would you ask one of the young ladies to come down to the library? You will not tell any of them why she is being summoned.”
    “Which one, sir?”
    “Miss Gordon, I should think.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    When the door had closed behind her, Rutledge asked, “I gather these women were guests of your daughter’s?”
    “Yes, it was her birthday. She invited three friends down for the weekend. They arrived on Thursday evening, and the boating—accident—occurred on Saturday afternoon.”
    The door opened and a young woman stepped in.
    “You asked to speak with me—” She broke off as she saw the man standing beside her host.
    And at the same time, Rutledge felt the room shake around him, thrusting him into a past he had put behind him and did not want to revisit ever again.

 
    3
    K ate Gordon found her voice first, by an effort of will so great that she was suddenly pale.
    “—sir?”
    Grenville looked from one to the other.
    “Do you know each other?” he asked, as if it were impossible for this woman to be acquainted with a policeman.
    Rutledge answered for her. “I knew the Gordon family. Before the war.”
    He thought to himself that knew was hardly an adequate word to explain his connection to Kate Gordon. She was Jean Gordon’s cousin, and he had been engaged to marry Jean in the summer of 1914. And in the spring of 1919, he had released her from that promise when he’d seen the shock and horror in her eyes as she looked at the shell of a man who had returned from France and been in hospital for months with some undisclosed affliction. The last time he had seen Jean was quite by accident, after he’d returned to the Yard. She was coming out of the church where she was to be married to someone else the following week. Later, in Canada, where the war was a distant memory, she had died in childbirth.
    The doctors had thought that seeing a familiar face would help him find his way back to the world he’d shut himself away from. Instead, it had sent him into a downward black spiral that had almost cost him his life. It had been his sister, Frances, not Jean, who had insisted that he be removed from the hospital and put in the care of Dr. Fleming, in a clinic that specialized in cases such as his.
    He could hear Hamish thundering in the back of his mind, and he forced himself to shut out the voice.
    “I should like to speak to her alone, if you please.”
    “I refuse—”
    “You are not a relative, sir, and I believe she is of an age to speak for herself.”
    Grenville’s mouth tightened into a thin line, and for a moment Rutledge thought he was about to argue. And then with a curt nod, he strode to the door.
    They waited until they were certain he was out of earshot.
    Kate lifted her hand, holding it