The Case of The Lonesome Lushington (Bow Street Society Book 2) by T.G. Campbell

Author:T.G. Campbell [Campbell, T.G. & Campbell, T.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Mr Suggitt wetted his lips but kept his head bowed as he rubbed his cuticles. “I didn’t murder her…” he began in a strained voice. “I was looking for her that night, yes,” he took in a deep breath, “but I never found her.”

“Why were you seeking her out at all?” Mr Locke enquired as he opened his cigarette case and held it before Mr Suggitt’s gaze. Mr Suggitt took a cigarette with trembling fingers, and putting it between his lips, lifted his head to allow Mr Locke to light it. When Mr Locke struck the match against the side of its box, though, he caught sight of Miss Webster’s flinch from the corner of his eyes. Igniting Mr Suggitt’s cigarette, he then glanced at Miss Webster, intrigued, as he extinguished the match with a shake of his hand and discarded it into the ashtray.

Meanwhile, Mr Suggitt took several deep pulls from the cigarette before resting both hands upon his knees. Whilst one held the cigarette, the other rubbed at his leg as he replied, “I’d presented Mrs Roberts—Maryanna—with a proposition only the day before.” He took another deep pull from the cigarette. “A rather generous sum of money in exchange for leaving London.” He took a final pull from the cigarette and crushed it out in the ashtray. “She was making our lives a misery.”

“Whose?” Mr Locke enquired as he tapped another cigarette against the side of his case. Placing it between his lips, he then lit it with another match.

“Her daughter’s, her husband’s… but mostly my wife’s,” Mr Suggitt replied. “Diana cared a great deal for her sister, too much, in all honesty. Too many times, she would offer assistance, which Maryanna would take with promises of giving up the gin, and too many times Diana’s heart was broken. I couldn’t bear to stand idly by and see her in pain any longer. If Maryanna wished to drink herself into the grave, then so be it.” His eyes became downcast once more. “But she refused. Two hundred pounds I offered her to leave London and that… Lushington wouldn’t accept it.” He drew in a deep breath and pinched at the skin between his thumb and his forefinger. “After her usual vile insults, she threatened to tell my wife everything. I knew she wouldn’t understand why I had done it; all she’d see was an attempt by her husband to rid himself of a parasitic relative who he despised.” He glanced sideways at the Bow Streeters and added, “I’d never made a secret of my dislike of the woman.”

“We know,” Lady Owston replied with glance to Mr Queshire. “You thought you could persuade her not to tell your wife. You therefore resolved to find her the night she died, having presumed she’d come to the store that day to tell your wife, correct?”

“Correct…” Mr Suggitt replied with another grimace. “I didn’t know how I would persuade her—more money, probably. I checked the usual doss and public houses my wife had told me she frequented.

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