Wedded to Death (The Inspector Felix Mysteries Book 12) by R. A. Bentley

Author:R. A. Bentley [Bentley, R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-03T04:00:00+00:00

Rising to greet Andrew, Felix was surprised to see the change in him. Quite apart from his impressive injuries he carried with him a weariness of spirit not apparent the last time they’d met, though the circumstances then had been harrowing enough. ‘Hello again, Mr Haigh. It seems you’ve been through the wars.’

‘Somewhat,’ said Andrew, ‘though nothing to compare with what poor Jane has suffered. No woman should have to go through that.’

‘No, indeed. How is she now?’

‘Putting a brave face on it. I’ve got her with me but if you intend to talk to her you must promise to be gentle with her. She didn’t seem too bad after we broke in here last night, but Sir Peregrine’s shooting seems to have been the last straw. She was beside him when he died, you know.’

‘Then perhaps I can rely mainly on you to describe events and just have Miss Herring fill the gaps as and when she feels able. She’s physically unharmed, Sergeant Nash said.’

‘Yes, apart from a few bruises.’

‘Good. That’s a relief anyway. Now, bearing in mind that I know nothing whatever about this business, did you want to start at the beginning? Why did you two come to Harpford Castle?’

‘I wish to God we never had!’ said Andrew, and began to tell him about Jane’s disastrous decision to marry Sir Peregrine for a consideration of one thousand pounds. ‘Except, it wasn’t Sir Peregrine she married,’ he explained, ‘it was someone impersonating him. She never met the real one until she found herself locked up with him.’

‘Impersonation with a view to defrauding Sir Peregrine of this forty-thousand inheritance?’

‘Yes, although they seem to have been systematically robbing him of every penny he possessed; according to Sir Peregrine anyway.’

‘What sort of sum would that have been? Any idea?’

‘None, except that Jane was told by a friend that he’d inherited a million or more and Sir Peregrine himself described his aunt’s bequest as “relatively trivial.”’

‘Hmm, interesting. I’ve known this on a smaller scale, of course, but not a million. Nor is the victim incarcerated for years while they’re about it. You do realise that I’m here principally to find Sir Peregrine’s murderer? We may well unmask these people in the process but properly that is a matter for Sussex police.’

Andrew nodded indifferently. ‘That’s fine as far as I’m concerned. Sir Peregrine was very kind to Jane while they were locked up together and, of course, he saved her from the assault by Pike and his wife. There is also another aspect. Sir Peregrine was probably killed so he couldn’t inform on his tormentors, and who is to say they mightn’t try to silence Jane as well?’

‘And you, perhaps?’

‘Well, yes. We probably both know more than they would like.’

‘Where are you staying, Mr Haigh?’

‘At the farm of some friends. It was they that helped me get her out.’

‘That’s Mr and Mrs Bone?’

‘Yes, and their neighbour Toby Button. While I think of it, have you seen Sir Peregrine’s SOS? He wrote it on the castle wall in his own excrement.

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