aren’t too good anymore.”
Sarah sighed in disappointment. “And nobody saw or heard the killer going in or coming out?”
“Not that they remember. He must have gotten in earlier in the evening, before the doors were locked, and he could have sneaked out later, after everyone was in bed. My guess is he brought Calvin a bottle of sarsaparilla that had been laced with arsenic. The boy drank it down, then started to feel sick. The killer probably helped him to bed and maybe even fussed over him a bit, to prevent him from calling for the landlady. The killer would have left the box of rat poison sitting in plain sight and put the suicide note out on the table, and then sneaked out. A pretty good plan, and I would’ve believed it if it wasn’t for the letter the boy had just written to his mother.”
“The killer is very clever,” Sarah pointed out. “That’s twice he’s almost convinced you his victims killed themselves.”
Sarah got up and poured him some of the freshly boiled coffee. He’d finished the cake and was rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“A killer who thinks he’s clever is usually pretty easy to catch,” he remarked. “You just have to figure out how to let him outsmart himself.”
“Are you suggesting we wait until he kills someone else and gives himself away?” she asked in alarm.
“Not exactly,” he said. “I was thinking more about letting him think he got away with Calvin’s murder. Nobody has to know just yet that it wasn’t a suicide.”
“But would you be able to continue with the investigation if everyone thought Calvin had killed his father?”
“I could pretend I didn’t find the suicide note,” he mused, obviously still working this out in his head.
“Then you could pretend you still didn’t believe Calvin was the killer, or at least that you’re not sure,” she suggested.
“That’s right. And only the killer would know about the note. He might give himself away if he thinks I didn’t find it or was trying to conceal it.”
“I suppose you’ll have to speak with each of the suspects, then,” she said.
“I’ll certainly have to notify them of Calvin’s death, just to see their reactions, if nothing else.”
“Potter will be relieved, even though he’s not the killer,” Sarah said. “I’m sure Mr. Symington will be, too. You’ll have to be careful with him, though. Men like Maurice Symington don’t appreciate being visited by the police, and if he thinks you’re considering him as a suspect, he can make your life very difficult.”
“I know,” he said with a frown. “I think I can get by with pretending I’m just notifying him personally in case there’s anything he wants to do to hush things up and prevent a scandal over the boy’s identity.”
“That’s a good idea. We already know he was aware of Blackwell’s previous marriage and had met Calvin. Don’t be surprised if he pretends he didn’st, though. He may decide that denying the whole thing is the best course of action.”
“I won’t be surprised at anything Symington does,” he assured her.
“At least now you can eliminate the Fitzgeralds as suspects, and all of Blackwell’s other clients, too.”
“And why is that?” he asked with amusement.
Sarah didn’t like it when he found her amusing. “Because they would have no reason to kill Calvin,” she pointed out quite logically.
“Unless it was to throw suspicion on him, which is the reason he was killed by whoever did it,” he pointed out right back. “Of course, they’d have to know about Calvin and his relationship to Blackwell. That’s not something Blackwell was likely to share with paying customers.”
“Wait, the Fitzgeralds knew,” Sarah remembered.
“You mean Blackwell told them?”
“No, remember they were talking to Calvin after the funeral. I heard Mrs. Fitzgerald asking him about his relationship with Blackwell. He looked very uncomfortable, so I told him you were looking for him, to give him an excuse to get away.”
“That’s right. You said they had his life story by the time you interrupted them.”
“I was exaggerating a little. Oh, dear, what did I hear them saying? Something about how much he resembled Blackwell, I think, so they must have discovered the relationship. But even if they did find out he was Blackwell’s son, why would they imagine Calvin would have a reason to kill his father unless they knew the whole story? Calvin didn’t have time to tell them, even if he’d been willing to confide in total strangers, which I doubt. And we’ve already decided Blackwell wouldn’t have told his patients.”
“Clients,” he corrected her absently. “The killer addressed the suicide note to his mother, too. Anyone finding out Calvin was Blackwell’s son would naturally assume Calvin’s mother was dead, since Blackwell had remarried, so whoever killed the boy had to have known the whole story. It doesn’t seem likely the Fitzgeralds did.”
“Unless-” Sarah began, stopping herself when she realized how silly this was.
“Unless what?”
“It’s a little farfetched,” she warned.
“Say it anyway.”
“Remember that Potter was going to meet with Mr. Fitzgerald the day after the funeral. What if he told Mr. Fitzgerald about Calvin?”
“Why would he?” he asked skeptically.
Sarah tried to reason the way Potter might have. She was amazed at how easy it was. “He’s mentioned several times that Blackwell trained him in his techniques. If he wants to set himself up in practice, he’ll need to win over Blackwell’s patients.”
She ignored him, still thinking. “Maybe he was afraid they’d be too loyal to Blackwell, and he wanted to ruin the good doctor’s reputation so they’d turn to him.”
“That’s stupid. They’re just as likely to turn on Potter for speaking ill of the dead,” Malloy pointed out.
“Potter might not realize that. He doesn’t strike me as very bright about dealing with people.”
“He’s not,” Malloy agreed. “Of course, Fitzgerald would’ve had to have a reason to kill Blackwell in the first place.”
“We decided he was jealous because of Blackwell’s attentions to his wife,” Sarah reminded him.
“No,
“Then he didn’t like the fact that his wife was letting Blackwell live in her house for free.”
“Then he could’ve had him evicted.”
“Malloy, you’re ruining my perfectly good theory,” she complained, getting up to refill his coffee cup.
“Murder just seems pretty extreme if you’re only unhappy about somebody’s living arrangements,” he said.
“I guess you’re right,” she grudgingly admitted. “Who else do you think could have done it, then?”
“I’m still favoring the young lovers.”
“Then you have to prove they knew about Calvin and his family,” she reminded him.
“Do you think there’s any chance Potter might’ve told Letitia? For the same reason he might’ve told Blackwell’s clients?”
“To turn her affections from Blackwell to him?” she asked skeptically. “It would never have worked!”
“You think that because you know Letitia already had a lover. But what if you didn’t know about Dudley?” he challenged.
Now Sarah was beginning to understand. “And suppose you were Potter, who doesn’t know too much about women in general. He might imagine that a distraught Letitia would turn to him for comfort and support.”
“Instead she turns to Dudley, who kills her husband and tries to make it look like suicide,” Malloy continued.
“Because he wanted to inherit Blackwell’s money and preserve Letitia’s reputation,” Sarah concluded.
“Now,
“They’re certain to deny it, even if they did,” Sarah guessed.
“Before we confront them about that, we should probably find out if they have an alibi for the day Blackwell was killed. According to the servants, Letitia was out.”
“She’ll probably say she was with Dudley, even if she wasn’st,” Sarah said. “In any case, I suspect she was at
