A Shadowed Livery: A chilling mystery inspired by true events (Inspector James Given Investigations Book 1) by Charlie Garratt

Author:Charlie Garratt [Garratt, Charlie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2019-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

Jervis and I were sitting in the morning room. He looked perfectly relaxed, his hands resting on the table in front of him, fingers entwined, in the toadying way servants have when addressed by their masters. It made my skin crawl.

‘I have some more questions for you, Mr Jervis, do you mind?’

‘Of course not, Inspector, how can I help?’

‘How long have you been at Grovestock House?’

‘For about twenty years, I came here soon after Sir Arthur took over.’

‘So you didn’t work for his father, then?’

Jervis shook his head. ‘No, sir, I didn’t.’

‘Tell me something. I’ve often wondered how a man gets into being a butler, always imagined it’s handed down father to son. Is that how you came into it?’

‘It wasn’t quite like that, sir. My father was a farmer but I was the fourth eldest and was put into service. I’ve three older brothers so there was never any chance of me taking over Dad’s land. I worked as footman for Lord Gresham over near Snitterfield but when the war started I joined up, like his Lordship and many on his estate. Sadly he lost his life on the battlefield, as did lots of my friends. I served all the way through, mainly in France, but when I came back the Gresham estate had been closed up, the family having moved to their other home on the south coast. I asked around and heard that Sir Arthur was in need of a butler. When I approached him, and he heard of my army service, he offered me the position.’

‘Did you already know him, then?’

‘Not really, sir. He’d visited his Lordship on a couple of occasions and I’d served them at dinner but he wasn’t a regular visitor. I believe they may have had business connections.’

‘Can I take you back to the day of the shootings? You told me you were in the lift at the time when Mr Barleigh and Lady Isabelle died. Can anyone verify that?’

‘I don’t think so, sir. I’d carried the linen through from the store cupboard on the landing and into the lift. I heard Miss Parry speaking to one of the maids in Mr Barleigh’s room but I don’t think she saw me.’

‘And later, you weren’t with the others in the kitchen. You said you were waiting for Miss Bamford to return. Is that correct?’

‘Yes, it is.’

‘You spoke to no-one other than Miss Bamford herself?’

‘No, sir, not after Sir Arthur asked me to wait for her.’

‘Now, I want to ask you about an envelope. One that’s been found.’

‘An envelope? What envelope? And found where?’

‘Well, that’s the point, isn’t it, Mr Jervis? Found where? Found in your cupboard upstairs.’

I watched his face for any signs of recognition but saw none.

‘I don’t know of any envelope which could have been in there. Really, Mr Given, I don’t.’

‘Come on, man, it was a large, brown envelope, hidden beneath a box of rags at the back of your cupboard. How could it have got there if you didn’t put it there?’

Jervis didn’t respond immediately.

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.