A Christmas Case by L B Hathaway

Author:L B Hathaway
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780995569461
Publisher: Whitehaven Man Press London
Published: 2017-10-23T21:00:00+00:00

Six

In the silence which fell in the red parlour, Rufus gasped. Everyone looked, as if drawn by one will, towards the spectacular doll’s house sitting underneath the tree.

The Major coloured slightly and started to stammer.

‘No offence, sir,’ said Lovelace politely. ‘Your doll’s house is a thing of beauty, not a death-trap. But in a way it was the reason why I remembered this old tale. It reminded me of it all twenty years ago. Sorry for the negative association.’

The Major flushed and coughed: ‘Not at all, not at all…’

‘What did you do, sir?’ Posie demanded, on edge.

‘I did everything I could in my power to investigate the boy’s report. By this time the odds seemed stacked in my favour. The next day happened to be the first working day after the Christmas-New Year holiday, and everything was open. I investigated Clampton’s claims to work for an electricity firm, and came up against a blank. I also threw what weight I had about at the Forensics laboratory and got them onto that doll’s house. They were very good and called in an electrics specialist who came and gave it the once over.’

‘And? They found that the lad was telling the truth?’ Posie stared hard, unable to imagine anything quite so awful.

‘That’s right, Posie. It was a beautiful piece, bought from a big toyshop in town. Cost a pretty penny. It was all rigged out with lights, every little room, even the linen-room on the top floor. I called the toyshop and they were adamant they had never sold the piece with lights: they weren’t that advanced yet, and there was no real call for it. So it had been done at home. By Mr Clampton. As the Butler saw.’

Rufus was staring slightly wildly, and balled his fists angrily. He was probably thinking of his two daughters and one precious son, sleeping so peacefully upstairs, and trying not to think of those poor three children who had been forced out onto the balcony.

‘So what the blazes went wrong?’ he barked.

‘Nothing went wrong, your Grace. It all went perfectly to plan. To Clampton’s plan. Our Forensics team managed to establish that the whole toy was wired in such a way that as soon as its doors were opened, the lights went on automatically. They had been designed to short-circuit, and the thing was packed from behind with a parcel of highly inflammable hay and straw and soaked in oil. It was effectively a powder-keg, ready to ignite. It was also situated next to the Christmas tree, which was dry, and would have gone up like a firework in a second.’

Dulcie Fairbanks squeaked, covering her mouth. ‘In other words, sir, it was a trap? For those poor little girls?’

The Inspector nodded.

Posie shook her head in disbelief. ‘I suppose it would have been easy, sir, wouldn’t it? For Robert Clampton to have tipped the eldest little girl off, told her what a spectacular Christmas present they were all to receive, and to hint to her

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