‘And he had the resources to pay that sum?’
‘No. At that juncture his situation was extremely serious, and the bank would not have honoured a cheque on his account. He made no large cash sales of stock which might have alerted his creditors to his difficulties. He paid in gold, and we never discovered the source. We assumed that he must have borrowed it, but no-one came forward to say that they loaned it to him.’
Mina wondered about Mr Sutherland as a possible source of the funds if he was complicit in the fraud. A private loan, either from his own resources or from the business, to be repaid with interest when Mr Holt’s insurance was received. Without knowing Sutherland or his circumstances she could not judge if he would be willing to take such a risk.
‘If Mr Holt did try to defraud the insurance company and he was in such a precarious financial situation, that might not have been the only crime he committed, either alone or with an associate. There might have been irregularities in his business or personal dealings as well.’
‘That is possible, although of course he was not there to be questioned and I don’t think that was ever gone into. As you are no doubt aware the police did decide at the time that there were no grounds to charge either Mrs Holt or Mr Sutherland.’
Time passed as Mina collected her thoughts.
‘Do you wish me to look into it further?’ asked Mr Phipps.
‘Yes, please do. And thank you for your help.’
Mr Phipps put his papers away and rose to his feet. He hesitated for a moment. ‘Miss Scarletti, on another matter, I am still hoping to find a suitable nurse companion for my aunt. Would you be prepared to recommend Miss Cherry for that position?’
‘I would, certainly.’
‘Thank you. My aunt is very particular, you see, but as her age advances the more assistance she requires. Whenever I suggest employing a companion, she protests that the usual nurses are too coarse or too strident. From my brief observation, Miss Cherry appears to be neither.’
‘She is not. Her manner towards me has always been as you have seen. Her care has been excellent.’
‘Perhaps when you no longer require her services —’
Mina suddenly sensed an opportunity. ‘Oh, you need not wait that long. If Mrs Phipps approves, I can arrange for Miss Cherry to have a free morning or afternoon and then she can pay a call on your aunt and they can become acquainted.’
‘That is very kind. Are you sure you can spare her?’
‘I believe so. Our maidservant Rose can look after me for a short while, and I do not need as much attention as I did.’
‘That is extremely generous of you, Miss Scarletti, I do appreciate it.’ Mr Phipps, looking like a less unhappy horse, took his leave.
When Miss Cherry returned, Mina informed her of the enquiry made by Mr Phipps and the suggestion that she pay a visit to his aunt, both of which were received without protest.
Mina omitted to mention what she planned to achieve during her nurse’s absence.
CHAPTER SEVEN
M. Merridew
Brighton
March 1872
Dear Miss Scarletti,
I hope I may be permitted to call upon you this afternoon as I have stories to tell which I know will amuse and invigorate you and are rather too long and far too interesting to commit to a mere letter.
Respectfully
Marcus Merridew
Mina eagerly anticipated Mr Merridew’s visit. She was anxious for him to speak freely of the fascinating information he had acquired, but without alerting Miss Cherry to the fact that she was launching herself recklessly into a new investigation. If Miss Cherry suspected her for a moment, firm words would be said to Dr Hamid. Then Dr Hamid would fold his arms and look at Mina reproachfully, shaking his head in that way he always adopted whenever she did anything interesting.
Mina was obliged to lay careful plans. She first requested that cook prepare a modest tea party for herself, Mr Merridew and Richard, thus avoiding any concerns Miss Cherry might have had about her conducting a second private interview with a single gentleman in the theatrical profession.
With these arrangements in place, Mina next asked Miss Cherry to assist in a difficult and arduous task, attending her mother who had recently received a letter from Enid. According to Richard, the letter was no more than the usual miserable litany of Enid’s numerous complaints but Louisa Scarletti had chosen to take the contents powerfully to heart and needed comforting, or at least the company of someone who had no option but to listen to her and make the appropriate noises at the correct intervals. Miss Cherry braced herself for the ordeal, hunted through her little book for an appropriate reading, and thus armed, departed to do her duty.
Mr Merridew arrived with his usual flourish, in a brand new suit of clothes and an auburn wig, while Richard, looking unsure as to why he had been summoned, slumped in a chair and fidgeted.
Rose brought in a small tea-table and a laden tray, which Mina inspected anxiously. Cook was a good plain cook. If asked for a pound cake or a treacle tart, or a boiled pudding, she would provide generously. Further than that she ought not to have gone, but often did. Whenever Nellie called to take tea, Mina sent to the pastry shop for her favourite treats; delicate wafers and sugar cakes; and the result was that cook sometimes tried to imitate them with indifferent success. Mina’s appetite was still in question, however the gentlemen, who were less dainty and rather hungrier, unashamedly loaded their plates, and Rose saw to it that Mina was provided with a plain bun dipped in tea before she left them to their refreshments.
‘Is your kind nurse not in attendance?’ asked Mr Merridew.
‘She is helping Rose look after Mother,’ Mina explained.
‘Miss Cherry will feel quite bereft at being sent away,’ observed Mr Merridew, a little smile showing that he well understood why Mina had ensured her nurse’s absence. ‘She is dedicated to making your existence as dull as possible. Of course, one must know when to rest but it also important to know when to play.’
‘Doctors and nurses can be so boring,’ agreed Richard washing down a lumpy cake with a gulp of tea. ‘All they want to do is stop you having fun. Miss Cherry seems like a good sort, but she has her stays tied too tight. So what is this all about?’
‘You might know,’ Mr Merridew explained to Richard, ‘that my ambitions have recently taken a literary turn, and I am about to embark on a history of the court of the late King William, with particular attention being paid to his sojourns at the Royal Pavilion. A former member of that court, a Mrs Barnham resides in Brighton, and I have sought her out and was permitted to pay a call on her. The results were more than usually informative.’
Mr Merridew cleared his throat and began his tale.
‘Mrs Barnham occupies a set of rooms on the first floor of a respectable lodging house, tidily kept but devoid of any hint of luxurious living. I was met at the front door by the between stairs maid, a small very pale girl hardly more than thirteen, all wispy hair and dry elbows, and looking in urgent need of a nourishing meal. In my life as an actor, I have often been obliged to take humble lodgings where such poorly remunerated and underfed maidservants endure a dismal existence devoid of hope of anything better, and her situation naturally provoked a deep sympathy.
I spoke to her kindly. Her name was Maggie, and she told me that Mrs Barnham is very elderly, and lives with her maid, Miss Stone. Maggie led me up the stairs, which were fragrant with the odours of cheap soap and cabbage, to Mrs Barnham’s door. I pressed a penny into the poor child’s hand and she scurried away like a little mouse.