Chapter Two
The men began to search the room more thoroughly, rolling back the rugs, prying at the underneath of drawers in grim silence.
‘I’ll go and talk to the landlady,’ I said. ‘Mrs Kentish, isn’t it? What’s the time?’
James glanced at the mantelpiece. ‘Just past ten. See if you can keep her from coming up – we need to search the bedchamber as well.’
I thought about timings as I went downstairs. After ten last night, I guessed, not long after midnight, but there were far too many variables – temperature, George’s health, how quickly he’d died…
The door was ajar onto the hallway and I could hear the landlady’s sniffles and a young woman speaking rather loudly. I tapped and went in. ‘Mrs Kentish? I’m Miss Lawrence, Lord Radcliffe’s cousin. From Boston in America. May I come in?’
The American pretence had worked before to explain my accent and my ignorance of London life and etiquette – and it still should, provided I managed to avoid the American ambassador.
‘You’ll have to speak up, Miss. She’s a bit hard of hearing. Come and sit this side.’ The young woman looked about seventeen and, from her clothes and her chapped red hands, was the maid of all work. ‘I’m Dora, Miss. Would you like a cup of tea?’ She scurried out before I could answer and came back with a cup and saucer. ‘It’s ever so sad, Miss. He was a lovely gentleman, Mr Coates. Always said please and thank you and kept his hands to himself.’
A polite male lodger who didn’t prey on the female help must have been popular. I sipped the strong tea and asked, raising my voice a little for the landlady’s benefit, ‘When did you last see Mr Coates? Either of you?’
‘Last night, when he came in,’ Mrs Kentish said immediately. ‘It would have been about nine because I’d just finished my supper and Dora was clearing up. And you said, There’s the door, didn’t you, Dora?’
‘That’s right, and I looked out and he was just climbing the stairs,’ the maid confirmed. ‘Which was odd, because he usually taps on the door if he’s that early and calls out something, like, I’m home, Mrs K!’
‘Did he say anything when you came out?’
‘No, Miss. Didn’t even turn. He just lifted his hand, to show he’d heard me when I called out Good Night to him and carried on trudging up. Looked tired, I thought.’
‘You’re sure it was him? And he was alone?’
‘Yes, Miss. He was holding his hat and I could see the back of his head and he’s got this funny little bald patch, heart-shaped. And then I took his hot water up at six and I knocked, like I always do, and set it by the door. He’s the last one I do – I take the cans up to the attic floor first, then the next one down, then Mr Coates – so I didn’t notice he’d not taken it in. I was busy laying up for breakfast after that and I didn’t see him, but I never thought nothing of it because when he’s busy at work he often left really early and had a bite to eat in a coffee house.’
Mrs Kentish gave herself a little shake, as though coming out of a dream. ‘I took his sheets up,’ she said, her voice toneless. ‘And opened the door and there he was.’
‘Who else came in last night after Mr Coates?’
‘I couldn’t say.’ She frowned into her tea. It was becoming scummy and cold so I took it from her and handed it to Dora who poured fresh and added sugar. ‘Thank you, dear. You see I’m a little bit deaf and I don’t always know who it is. I can hear the bells and the door and people on the stairs, but not always who is speaking.’
I glanced upwards. George’s sitting room must be directly overhead but I could hear neither footsteps nor voices. There were those thick rugs on the floor, I reminded myself. ‘But visitors would have to ring?’
‘Each apartment has its own door bell. I’ve a very nice class of lodger here, Miss Lawrence. Professional young men with good references. They like their privacy and they all have keys. I don’t mind if they give a key to a reliable friend or two, I’ve never had reason to regret it and it saves us answering the door every time. No ladies, mind you. Not upstairs. If they want to have a young lady to tea I let them use this parlour and either Dora or I sit in the corner and knit quietly. This is a respectable house.’
‘I can see that,’ I assured her. And it clearly was – clean, orderly, comfortable. ‘And did Mr Coates have ladies to tea?’
‘No.’ The spoon rattled in the saucer and she put the cup down. ‘A very quiet young gentleman that way, he was. Very steady. I don’t think he was the marrying kind. Or, rather, not yet. He’d his way to make in the world first, I’m sure.’
Yes, she knew, I thought. Or suspected. But she liked him so she pretended not to know. ‘But someone did come in after him?’
‘Oh yes, Miss Lawrence. Several people. I heard them on the stairs, they run up and down so fast, the young gentlemen.’ She was silent a while and I let her brood. ‘There was someone… Not one of the young gentlemen. The footsteps were heavier, slower. I wouldn’t have noticed, but I was just locking my door so I was right next to it. He was going up and I didn’t hear a doorbell ring. I didn’t hear him come down
but I was off to my bed by then.’
‘What time would that have been?’
‘A bit before midnight, it was.’
‘But the person you heard might have gone up to another apartment? Who else lives here?’
‘He might, that’s true. There’s Mr Dettmer, he’s German, in the piano business. He has the rooms above Mr Coates, the ones Mr Coates had until he could afford better and moved down. That’s the best set of rooms, you see, the ones he has... Had. Nice high ceilings and mouldings and bigger windows. Then there’s the attic at the top with three bedchambers and a shared sitting room. That’s Mr Edwards and Mr Dawkins and Mr Terrington. They all work in the City for a trading firm and they are good friends.’
‘And they all got on well with each other, your tenants?’