Crime for Christmas (1992) Anthology by Richard Dalby (ed)

Author:Richard Dalby (ed) [Dalby, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

[Interpolation by Mrs. Sheila Murray of the Schneiderman & Murray Investigation Agency, from notes in her casebook.]

I arrived downstairs one morning a few days after Christmas to find my husband in conference with a friend who rose to greet me. He was short and innocent-looking—almost cherubic—with an engagingly shy and childlike expression, belied by a pair of eyes that looked dreamily enough through half-closed lids, yet I was conscious of being shrewdly studied and analysed. Another of them!

‘Sheila, my dear. Let me introduce Reginald Fortune, one of my brighter Oxford students, now active in the same criminal investigations as ourselves, but on the more factual plane; in fact, a surgeon and consultant to the CID.’

‘Reginald. This is my wife and partner.’

We shook hands and Mr. Fortune waited for me to sit down.

‘Reginald is married to Miss Joan Amber: you will remember her Rosalind as the definitive performance.’

Mr. Fortune bowed modestly, blushing slightly.

‘Reginald has an interesting problem involving simultaneous, unexplained deaths in his father’s practice. Since he is supposedly looking after it, he wants us to probe via Nat Schneiderman. I have appraised him of our techniques and since we conducted a number of psychic experiments together at Oxford he wishes to partake in the inquiry. Please take notes as usual.

‘Reggie has a theory that he is holding out on me, but he has forgotten his old tutor’s aptitudes and I think I can link up the chain myself.’ (Mr. Fortune smiled broadly at this.)

‘Briefly the details are these.’ (He recounted the sequence with which the reader is already familiar.) ‘I guess he wants to know how Rattu effected the killings without leaving any traces or clues, eh?’ My husband turned to his pupil who nodded.

In accordance with our practice, I darkened the room for the seance and placed cushions for Arthur to relax. It seemed only a few moments before he sat up in the character of Nat Schneiderman, a dead Pinkerton Detective Agency operative, who was his ‘guide’ in the psychic realm.

Mr. Fortune took it very calmly and shook hands when Arthur spoke in a heavy drawl and stuck out a hand. I began my transcription.

‘Glad to meet you, Mr. Fortune. I admired your work with Lady Chantry, last Christmas sir. Just great! It’s not often we see summary justice. Say, would you care to speak with the lady?’

Mr. Fortune held up his hand with a grimace.

‘Ah, well, just a thought.’ Arthur shook his head.

‘This Westhampton stunt then. You ain’t quite got it right. Ole Nat can still show you sumpin’, eh? You have a vampire here, sir, and quite a potent one. You spotted actor Rattu had contracted syphilitic meningitis. . .good. There’s your proof he was used by his uncle. Old Sam’s earthbound spirit was mad at the cheatin’ over income from his book. He got into William’s drunken mind, just as I use Art here, and killed the other three principals, includin’ the actor-manager-playwright.’

‘How did he do it?’ asked Reginald.

‘Takin’ the vital force from them: spirit, not blood—that’s vampirism.

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