The Shadow of Moriarty (A Sherlock Holmes and Elizabeth Bennet Mystery Book 5) by Amelia Littlewood

Author:Amelia Littlewood [Littlewood, Amelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amazon, arthur conan doyle, Crime, Crime Fiction, Detective, elizabeth bennet, jane austen, pride and prejudice, sherlock holmes
Publisher: Cyanide Publishing
Published: 2018-02-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six:

The Necklace

Now that I knew of Miss Crawford’s gambling debts, it made sense to me that she would want to steal the necklace. That had been my original reason in wanting to call upon her before I had forgotten: I had known she had taken it, but I could not understand why. It couldn’t have been simply because she wanted it. She could have asked to borrow it or found out who the jeweler was and have one made up in a similar style for herself.

But gambling debts – that was quite a scandal. Men gambled, although it was something that wasn’t really talked about in polite society, but women weren’t allowed to play cards as anything other than an amusing pastime among friends. Aside from her lack of fortune plummeting her social status, the knowledge that she had entered a gambling hall would make Miss Crawford a social pariah.

The poor woman must have been desperate to rob from a friend, and to blame it on the maid, as well, with that information about the maid’s family. That struck me as cruel. A maid dismissed for stealing, even if it couldn’t be proven, would have meant no references when she went to find another job. She would have found it next to impossible to get a good job and might even have starved to death as a result. The selfishness of people once again, throwing one poor girl in the way of danger in order to save herself.

I called upon Miss Georgiana, who was eager to receive me.

“Have you news?” she asked.

“Yes, but you might wish to sit down and brace yourself, for it is rather unpleasant.”

Miss Georgiana’s face fell. “What is it? Has it already been sold off or broken down?”

I sat down with her on the sofa. “I’m afraid that it was not your maid who stole your necklace, but your friend, Miss Crawford.”

I explained how it was done: Miss Crawford had called at exactly eleven o’clock, the earliest time that one could begin morning calls while still being polite. Being a friend of Miss Georgiana’s and aware of her habits, Miss Crawford had known that Miss Georgiana would be playing on the piano and losing track of the time, would play until a quarter past or perhaps even later than that.

Miss Crawford had entered, announced herself to the servant, and told him that she would wait in the drawing room until her friend had finished piano, and please, no, don’t disturb her. No food, thank you, she was perfectly fine waiting with a book.

Once the servant was gone, Miss Crawford could hurry upstairs. Rebecca would have already completed the tidying up of the room, and so no one would be about. Miss Crawford had picked the lock, and in such a professional manner as to leave few marks, which suggested to me that Miss Georgiana was not the first friend that Miss Crawford had robbed in a fit of desperation.

The necklace secured, and everything put back in its place, Miss Crawford would then simply leave the house.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.