Once they had been propped upright again, feathers burned under their noses and tots of brandy administered, the Coroner enquired, ‘And were you able to draw any conclusions as to the assailant from the nature of the injuries?’
They had certainly been caused by the poker, he said. It was produced, unwashed. The first blow had been to the centre back of the skull, almost vertical. Subsequent blows had been to the right side and the doctor was of the opinion that Talbot had fallen to his knees having been hit from behind and that the murderer had then struck him repeatedly, still from behind, until he collapsed onto the floor.
‘I would conclude that the assailant was right-handed, although I consider the first blow may have been struck with the poker held in both hands,’ he said. ‘I am unable to estimate his height, other than he was probably not an exceptionally short man. The number of blows inflicted seem to me to indicate either an angry, personal attack or that the attacker was seized with panic and, having struck the first blow, continued until he was more than certain there was no hope of retaliation or recovery.’
I was about to nudge Luc and whisper a question when a lad pushed his way through the mass of spectators and handed him a note. He glanced at it and passed it to me.
An address in Hill Street. I memorised the number, put the note in my reticule and realised I had forgotten my question. After that the evidence was not very helpful. Talbot’s solicitor was called to testify to his family circumstances – no-one but some cousins in Perthshire and an elderly aunt in Bath – and his estate. He was comfortably off but not in any way that could not be accounted for by inheritance and a successful practice. There were no significant debts, no borrowings and nothing in his papers that might give cause for suspicion.
Then about half a dozen witnesses gave evidence on Talbot’s social and professional life. I felt James tense on my other side, but the doctor had been careful. He belonged to a number of well-known clubs, to various medical associations and groups and attended a variety of smaller clubs and places of entertainment. None of them appeared to cause any raised eyebrows and none of the witnesses could think of any quarrels Talbot had been involved in or any enemies he might have made.
Bromley was recalled to go over the security of the house and the daily routine. He was then asked about enemies, threats or any signs of anxiety on Talbot’s part. After some shuffling of feet he confessed that one gentleman, becoming suspicious of the doctor’s relationship with his wife, had uttered intemperate threats. This had caused a tightening of security and the temporary employment of the ex-Runner but had blown over and was many months in the past.
The Coroner asked Bromley to write down the name of the gentleman in question, which he did. The Coroner glared at the note, pursed his lips and transferred the frown to the jury. ‘The name here written is known to me as that of a gentleman of the utmost respectability who is not resident in London or the South Est of England at this time. As the upset in question was several months ago I feel safe in keeping the name under seal.’
He went on to sum up, sent the jury out to consider their verdict and we all sat back as much as possible in the jammed space. They were not out for long. The foreman stood up and delivered a verdict of murder by person or persons unknown.
Luc led the way out, along the road, down a cross street and into a small but brightly-painted inn with flowers in tubs outside and cheerful copper jugs on the shelves. The landlord found us a private parlour, promised an excellent luncheon as soon as his wife removed the pigeon pie from the oven and brought ale all round, with a slightly startled look at me.
‘Did that get us any further forward?’ James asked.
&n
bsp; ‘A right-handed killer who Talbot trusted enough to turn his back on,’ Luc said.
‘A man of normal stature or above,’ Garrick contributed.
I remembered my query. ‘How do we know it was a man?’ I asked. ‘I’m five foot six inches and I could easily have inflicted those injuries, especially if I used two hands for the first blow. I’m a little above average height for a woman in this time, but I’ve seen plenty who are my height or taller and many men shorter than me.’
‘You have been trained to fight,’ Luc objected.
‘You heard what the doctor said – the blows could have been inflicted by someone in a panic or a frenzy of rage. Any well-fed, healthy woman might have done it. Look – Garrick, stand up.’
He was nearest the hearth. I picked up the poker, went behind him and raised it in both hands, then lowered it slowly. The top part lay against Garrick’s head from crown to nape.
‘He falls to his knees, stunned. I swing it up over my right shoulder – ’
‘Your pie – ’
‘Thank you, landlord.’ Luc got up, took the tray and smiled at the man. ‘My cousin is a lady golfer from Scotland. Just demonstrating her swing.’
I stopped battering Garrick and sat down again while the bemused landlord went out. ‘Golf? Me? Still, you see what I mean? If I was angry, or frightened enough, I could kill with that poker.’
We passed plates, then I said, ‘If I was attacking from behind, then using both hands and bringing it straight down feels right. Taking a sideways swipe for the first blow would actually give him some warning, especially if he had good peripheral vision. That means we cannot rule anyone out, provided Talbot would have allowed them to get behind him.’
‘But no lady would visit a man, even a doctor, without a chaperone or a maid,’ James objected.
‘You aren’t serious?’ I halted a forkful of cabbage halfway to my mouth. ‘I decide to commit murder but think, Oh, bother, I can’t go and pulverise the doctor with a blunt instrument because my maid won’t like it?’
‘What I mean,’ James said, with some dignity, ‘is that a lady by herself would attract attention, both leaving her own house and on the street.’
He was right and I was forgetting the constraints on ‘respectable’ women in this time, but I could still think of ways to get around it – wearing simple clothing and a cloak and looking like a maid out on an errand, for one. ‘Then it would need more planning and forethought, I admit. Or considerable luck. Or conspiracy. Leaving aside a female murderer, how would you have done it?’
‘Pistol or knife,’ Luc said. ‘Always assuming this isn’t someone avenging a matter of honour, in which case they should have called him out.’
‘Yes,’ James agreed. ‘Although if Talbot didn’t consider the murderer to be a gentleman he wouldn’t have accepted a challenge from him.’
I swallowed several comments on the idiocy of duelling along with the very excellent piecrust. ‘If the motive involved a lady, for whatever reason, wouldn’t the murderer have avoided a duel in order to keep her name out of it?’