Murder in Moreton Page 2
“Studying medicine isn’t an easy option.” Archie gave Eliza a playful scowl. “Despite what people might say, it’s not only a matter of cutting people open any more. It’s a responsible job.”
“And clearly too responsible for women to do.”
Archie shook his head as Eliza walked into the room nearest the front door.
“Are you going to unpack the medicines while I take a look through the records the old doctor left?”
“I will if we have the space.” Eliza stood in the middle of the room and glanced around. It was a modest room by her standards, maybe fifteen feet long by twelve feet wide, fitted with a range of mahogany cupboards and drawers neatly arranged behind a long, matching counter along the back wall. Half a dozen wooden chairs lined the wall opposite the door while the sun illuminated the room as it shone through a large sash window to the front.
“There’ll be plenty of room. We didn’t bring that many medicines with us.”
Eliza frowned. “We didn’t, but we acquired a lot of stock when we bought the surgery and so there might not be much extra room. Now, be off with you while I get on. I’d like to get everything unpacked before luncheon.”
Once she was alone, she walked to the cupboards and pulled open those nearest to her. All she had to do was unload the crates and boxes standing in the middle of the room into the available space. Where do I start? Thank goodness Iris had arrived several days earlier. She’d cleaned and polished all the surfaces and existing bottles and made sure they were in alphabetical order. It shouldn’t be difficult.
With homes found for the books and most of the equipment, Eliza lifted the final boxes onto the counter. There was a lovely display shelf behind the cabinet for her ornamental coloured glass jars and she polished them carefully before arranging them in symmetrical rows. Satisfied with her work, she turned her attention to the medicines. Another twenty minutes and she’d be finished.
She opened the first box but paused as she noticed the contents. She hadn’t packed them like that. When they left London, she’d wedged the bottles in tight to stop them moving, but now there were gaps. She lifted them onto the counter and lined them up. Was she imagining it? She emptied the remaining boxes, noticing nothing else unusual, before returning to double-check the empty crates. Some bottles were missing. She did a full turn, studying each shelf as she did. No, they’re not here.
She wandered out into the hall and down towards the surgery at the far end. “Darling, are you there?”
Archie looked up from his reading. “Did you say something?”
“Have you taken anything from the crates in the front room?” Her eyes rested on several empty boxes on the examination table. “Or is there anything of mine in here that hasn’t been unpacked yet? What about these?”
Archie stood up and walked to the boxes. “No, I think they’re empty. Iris helped me put all my stuff away earlier and I’ve not touched anything in the dispensary. What have you lost?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m worried a couple of bottles have disappeared.”
Archie stood up and the two of them walked back to the dispensary. “What are you missing?”
Eliza sighed. “That’s what’s annoying me. I can’t be sure. I think one is codeine tablets, but I can’t remember what else we had in London.”
The doctor studied the collection of bottles in front of him. “All the usual things are here, and so I imagine it’s something we don’t use very often. I’m sure they’ll turn up. Why don’t you ask Iris when we go back to the house? She may have unpacked some of your things for you before realising you wanted to do it yourself.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re right. Let me get this lot locked away and I’ll go and ask her.”
Iris was in the kitchen when Eliza found her.
“No, I’ve not been in the dispensary, madam. I pointed the removals men in the right direction and came back into the house to supervise here.”
“How strange. I’m sure we packed everything. I checked the old house after they had taken the boxes and there was nothing left. They must be here somewhere. Never mind. Let’s get something to eat and I’ll carry on looking later.”
With luncheon over, Eliza stood up to leave the table as there was a knock on the front door. A moment later, Iris showed Connie in.
“You’re late. Are you still keeping London time?” Connie said.
Eliza glanced at the grandfather clock by the door. “We were so busy unpacking I didn’t notice the time. What can I do for you?”
“It’s such a lovely day, I thought we could go for a walk around the village. It might not look like it, but a lot’s changed since you left and there are plenty of new people for me to introduce you to.”
Eliza hesitated. “I’m not sure…”
“If you want, we could walk over to your old house. It’s not changed much but I thought you might like to see it.” Connie’s eyes pleaded with Eliza. “I’ve been so looking forward to showing you off around the village.”
Eliza held up her hands. “How can I refuse? I was going to stay in and look for a couple of bottles that have gone missing from the dispensary, but where’s the fun in that? I’ll look for them later. I don’t suppose anything’s going to happen to them and you’re right. It would be a shame to miss the weather. Besides, I need to put up a notice in the post office about the surgery opening. Shall we go there first?”
Connie held the door open for Eliza as they left the post office. “Are you sure you’ll be ready to open by Thursday? It only gives you another day to sort yourselves out.”
“We’ll be fine. The poor people around here haven’t had access to a doctor all week, and if we leave it until next week we’ll be inundated. No, let’s get a couple of days under our belts and then we can take some time off at the weekend.” Eliza paused and surveyed the neatly kept bowling green situated on the inside of the bend at the top end of the village green. “You’ve got a new pavilion.”
“And not before time either. The old one was about to fall down, but they reached their savings target at the end of last summer and the rebuilding finished a couple of weeks ago.”
The sun bounced off the white wooden walls causing Eliza to shade her eyes with a hand. “Good for them. I wonder if Archie would enjoy bowling. I’ll suggest he gets involved once he’s settled in. It’ll do him good. Now, where shall we go first?”
“How about we take the footpath across the village green, behind the pavilion and visit your old house, then we can walk back around the road and I’ll show you some of the newer houses?”
Eliza nodded. “Lead the way then.”
The sun ducked in and out from behind the clouds as they walked along the footpath.
“It’ll seem strange seeing the house again after all these years,” Eliza said. “Did the new people you were telling me about arrive in the spring?”
“They did, but they might as well not have bothered. Nobody’s seen hide nor hair of them since they arrived, not even the housekeeper. Rumour has it they’re from London and we think they travel back there on a regular basis.”
“Perhaps they haven’t taken to village life. I don’t suppose it’s for everyone.”
“If you ask me, they haven’t given it a chance.”
“Don’t you know anything about them?”
Connie shook her head. “Not much. The current view is there are at least four children, three girls and a boy, but to be honest, I suspect that’s only Mrs Petty’s guesswork. If there’s something she doesn’t know, she’ll make it up.”
Eliza laughed. “The village gossip is she?”
“You could say that.”
“So why are we going there now? Are you sure it’s for my benefit or is it just an excuse for you to be nosy?”
C
onnie’s cheeks coloured and the corners of her mouth turned upwards. “Me, nosy? I don’t know what you mean.”
As they approached the far side of the village green, Eliza spotted two women leaving one of the larger houses. The younger of the two would have been tall and elegant had it not been for the pronounced stoop as she walked. She was pushing the older woman in a wheelchair.
“Who’s this coming towards us?” Eliza asked.
Connie gave her a sideways glance. “Don’t you recognise her? It’s Judith Wilson, Judith Roberts as was. You must remember her. From school?”
Eliza’s brow creased. “Who did she marry then? Not Joseph Wilson?”
“Yes, I’m sure I told you.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. I’d remember something like that. What’s happened to her? Is she ill?”
“You’re about to find out, but let me tell you, the woman in the wheelchair is Mr Wilson’s mother, now known as Mrs Milwood after her second marriage. I’ll introduce you.”
Within seconds the ladies came together.
“Judith, how nice to see you, and you too, Mrs Milwood.” Connie put on her best smile but a seething glare from Mrs Milwood caused it to freeze on her lips.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend? You wouldn’t make a very fine hostess.”
“Y-Yes, of course. Don’t you remember her? This is Mrs Eliza Thomson, the new doctor’s wife … Eliza Bell as was.”
“Eliza?” Judith’s face broke into a smile. “How lovely!”
“So you’re back, are you?” Mrs Milwood interrupted. “You take note, Judith, everyone comes back in the end. Taking my son back to London won’t work. You can go on your own if you want to, nobody will miss you.”
Judith closed her eyes and clenched the handles of the wheelchair until her knuckles turned white, while Mrs Milwood turned her attention to Eliza.
“What are you staring at? That fancy education didn’t get you far, did it? I don’t know why they even bother educating women.”
“What a terrible attitude.” Eliza’s eyes widened.
“Nonsense. How much of your father’s money did you waste? And now you’re back, no better than the rest of us. You don’t need an education to learn how to keep a house.”
“She’s not just keeping house, she’ll be working in the dispensary…” Connie said.
“Working in the dispensary?” For a moment Eliza thought Mrs Milwood would step out of the wheelchair and accost her. “Well, don’t expect to do anything for me. I’ve been waiting for the new doctor to arrive for weeks and I don’t expect him to pass half his work to someone with ideas above her station. Come on, Judith, we haven’t got all day; I need my walk.”
Judith thrust the wheelchair forward, her expression mortified. “I’m sorry; will you excuse us?”
Eliza nodded. “Yes, of course. Call in any time … when you get a minute.”
Judith said nothing but pushed the chair past them, her frame once again slouched over the old woman.
“What on earth happened to Judith?” Eliza asked when they were alone. “She used to be such fun.”
“Three years of living with Mrs Milwood. Nobody knows how she manages, poor thing. Judith’s told me they had a good life in London until Mrs Milwood’s second husband died, leaving her a wealthy woman. That was when they were summoned back to Moreton and Mrs Milwood now expects Judith and Mr Wilson to take care of her. She’s threatened to disinherit them if they don’t.”
“Is Mrs Milwood always so nasty?”
Connie grimaced. “You’re fortunate she took an immediate dislike to you. She’d have interrogated you for hours otherwise while she found a reason to criticise you.”
Eliza put a hand to her heart. “Thank goodness for that. At least my education wasn’t a waste of time if it cut short that exchange. Come on, let’s keep going. Hopefully Judith will call in to the surgery and we can have a proper talk with her then.”
It was another ten minutes before Eliza and Connie reached the front gates of Oak House, an impressive three-storey mansion at the far end of an exclusive cul-de-sac. Eliza peered through the gates of her former home and turned to Connie. “There it is, looking as grand as ever. I wish Father hadn’t sold it.”
“It wasn’t his fault.”
“No.” For the first time in years, Eliza let her mind drift back to her childhood and the dreadful days following her mother’s death.
Connie put a hand on her arm. “I shouldn’t have brought you. It was a long time ago and I thought…”
Eliza blinked and took a deep breath, pulling herself up to her full height. “No, you were right to bring me. I had to come sooner or later and it was better to get it out of the way. Come on, if we’re going to walk the long way round we’d better get a move on. Just be ready to throw yourself into a bush if we spot Judith and Mrs Milwood coming the other way. I’ve no appetite for talking to that woman ever again.”
Chapter Three
Eliza reached for the nearest chair and hauled herself back to her feet, flicking the dust from her skirt as she did.
“What on earth are you doing?” Archie wandered into the dispensary where Iris was also pushing herself to her feet.
“Looking for those bottles. I wondered if they’d rolled under the cupboards, but we can’t find them anywhere. We’ve gone back through all the boxes but they’ve disappeared.”
“Are you sure you packed them? Could we have left them in London?”
“I hope not.” Eliza’s brow furrowed. “No, the only place they would have been in the old house was the study, and I checked the room once the boxes had gone. There was nothing left.”
“Well, they must be here somewhere, then. I’m sure they’ll turn up.”
Eliza sighed and studied the clock. “I suppose so. Come on, we’d better go through to the dining room. Cook will be wondering where we are.”
Archie held the door open as the ladies filed past him.
“Don’t worry about the bottles. Why don’t you take yourself out again this afternoon instead? Once we open tomorrow, you’ll be too busy to go very far. You said yourself you didn’t see everything you wanted to yesterday, and I’m sure Connie will be glad to escort you again.”
With luncheon over and Archie once again in his surgery, Eliza reached for her hat and a pale blue summer coat before making her way next door.
“Eliza!” Connie’s smile lit up her face. “How marvellous of you to call. Come in, come in; please excuse the house.” Connie ushered Eliza into her small living room before she rushed to remove her plate and cutlery from the table in the far corner. Seconds later, judging by the noise that came from the scullery, Eliza guessed she’d thrown them into the sink.
“Sorry about that,” Connie said as she returned to the room. “I’m running late.”
“That’s not like you, what have you been doing?”
Without pausing for breath, Connie hurried to the two chairs in front of the fireplace to shake the cushions. “I decided to tidy the big cupboard upstairs, and it took me longer than I thought. Why don’t you take a seat while I go and wash up? It won’t take me a minute.”
As Connie disappeared, Eliza studied the compact living room. Alongside the table and chairs stood a wooden dresser, while the armchairs by the fire took up most of the front portion of the room. She perched on one of the seats and waited for Connie to reappear. “I didn’t call to judge the place.”
“Even so, I have my pride. The house might only be small, but I like it to be well presented.”
“And very nice it is too.”
Connie’s cheeks reddened. “I’m glad you like it and at least it’s mine. Mr Appleton made sure I was provided for before he died.”
Eliza stood up and took hold of Connie by the shoulders. “Connie, stop. Your house is lovely and you’re very fortunate, but I only called to ask if you wanted to take a walk.”
“A walk, are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure,
why wouldn’t I be?”
Connie exhaled and let her shoulders relax. “I’d love to. I wanted to ask you the same question, but I thought you might have seen enough of me for one week.”
Eliza rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly, you’ll tire of me before I stop calling. You’re the only one I know around here.”
Connie’s face broke into a smile. “Splendid, let me get my coat.”
“You can introduce me to a few more people as we go, as long as no one else around here is like Mrs Milwood.”
“No, she’s the worst,” Connie said. “We’d better keep an eye open for her though, in case Judith’s taken her for a walk.”
Once Connie had fixed her hat and coat, the two of them turned left out of the house, past the surgery, towards to the shop.
“Who’s the vicar at the church nowadays? I take it the old reverend has long gone?”
“Reverend Lamb his name is. He’s been here at least ten years now. Another one who moved from London to get away from all the noise.”
“Is he married?”
Connie shook her head. “No. He’s a nice enough man, but never settled down with anyone. He lives in the vicarage on his own but he has a cook and a housekeeper who come in daily. Mr Hewitt’s churchwarden now and he spends most of his days round there.”
“Mr Hewitt who used to run the Sunday school?”
“That’s him. He still keeps an eye on the Sunday school, in fact he keeps an eye on pretty well everything involving the church.” Connie gave a chuckle. “Some folks reckon he even checks over the vicar’s sermon before he preaches on a Sunday.”
Eliza gazed up at the medieval church as they approached it. “If he’s anything like he used to be, that wouldn’t surprise me. Perhaps I’ll leave meeting him until I go to church. Shall we keep walking?”
Beyond the church, the road curved round to head back down the other side of the village. A row of benches lined the inside of the bend overlooking the bowling green, but they were empty at this time of day.
“I look forward to sitting there in the summer watching the bowls,” Eliza said.