The Villa of Death: A Mystery Featuring Daphne du Maurier (Daphne du Maurier Mysteries) by Joanna Challis Page A
Authors: Joanna Challis
Ads: Link
Daphne.” Choking back a sob, Ellen crashed into my arms. “My heart feels dead and I feel lifeless. I don’t want to go on living. If Charlotte wasn’t here, I’d…”
“But Charlotte is here and even if she wasn’t, as hard as it is, we must go on. That’s what Teddy would have wanted. Have you heard from Charles for the funeral arrangements?”
“He and Clarissa are organizing it. I couldn’t bear to do so. Oh, how I wish we hadn’t had separate rooms those last two nights! Then I could have made certain he took his heart medicine. But he was always so diligent, Daphne. Something about it doesn’t ring right to me.”
I examined her carefully. “Do you think somebody tried to murder him?”
She looked away. “We have been receiving threats. Well, to be more accurate, Teddy received the threats. He never wanted me to know about them but one day, about a month ago, the mail came to me first. In it was a note with cut-out letters from the newspaper saying, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’”
I stopped short to blink. “Isn’t that from the Bible?”
Ellen shrugged.
“Did you go to the police?”
“No. Teddy didn’t want to. He laughed; he wasn’t concerned about it at all. He said he’d received many such threats since he became rich. You see, Teddy’s investors and his companies are intertwined. While they usually make profits, sometimes they invested poorly.”
“And some people lost a great deal of money,” I finished for her.
“It doesn’t seem fair, but Teddy maintained he conducted all his businesses in an equitable manner and he’d never stoop so low as to cheat to make money. People trusted him, you see, that’s why, if anything, he got annoyed when paper threats arrived in the mail. He said it was from people who didn’t possess all the facts.”
“What did he do with these threats?”
“Toss them in the fire,” Ellen answered, gazing down at the ground. “But I did keep one or two of them without his knowledge. I don’t know why. Maybe because I thought they might be important one day.”
“And you are so right…” I began to see Teddy Grimshaw’s death differently. I no longer believed he died of natural causes.
Punching her hand through the hedge, Ellen wept. “I believe he may have been murdered. That somebody killed him. Somebody who was at the wedding…”
“At the wedding.” My echo faded into the breeze. “But who could want him dead?”
“Those after his money: his family. They all stand to benefit, you know. All of them. I know because Teddy had a new will drafted this week. He said he made many changes but his second witness couldn’t sign it until next week.”
“But surely the new will will take precedence?”
“If the matter is taken to court, I stand to lose everything. Not that I want even a dime of it for myself. If it weren’t for Charlotte, I’d wish them all well, greedy vultures.”
I was horrified. I knew little of these affairs. The writer in me had always wanted to watch a squabble after a death, greedy vulture-like relatives, as Ellen said, clawing over the money. However, I never expected to land right in the middle of one. “Ellen, don’t give up without a fight for Charlotte’s sake if naught else.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Ellen muttered under her breath. “But it would give me great satisfaction to spit the money right in their faces.”
* * *
I had grave reservations about locating Major Browning on Ellen’s behalf.
I didn’t want to go, foremost.
What kind of friend was I, though, if I did not?
Swallowing my pride, I asked the remaining guests if they knew of his whereabouts. Apart from the Fenwicks, ourselves, Megan, and the American camp, all had now removed from Thornleigh, shaking their heads sadly as they left.
“I believe Major Browning has rooms at Jamaica Inn,” Colonel Ramsay said. “We ourselves are heading in that direction if you’d like a lift?”
I hadn’t
“But Charlotte is here and even if she wasn’t, as hard as it is, we must go on. That’s what Teddy would have wanted. Have you heard from Charles for the funeral arrangements?”
“He and Clarissa are organizing it. I couldn’t bear to do so. Oh, how I wish we hadn’t had separate rooms those last two nights! Then I could have made certain he took his heart medicine. But he was always so diligent, Daphne. Something about it doesn’t ring right to me.”
I examined her carefully. “Do you think somebody tried to murder him?”
She looked away. “We have been receiving threats. Well, to be more accurate, Teddy received the threats. He never wanted me to know about them but one day, about a month ago, the mail came to me first. In it was a note with cut-out letters from the newspaper saying, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’”
I stopped short to blink. “Isn’t that from the Bible?”
Ellen shrugged.
“Did you go to the police?”
“No. Teddy didn’t want to. He laughed; he wasn’t concerned about it at all. He said he’d received many such threats since he became rich. You see, Teddy’s investors and his companies are intertwined. While they usually make profits, sometimes they invested poorly.”
“And some people lost a great deal of money,” I finished for her.
“It doesn’t seem fair, but Teddy maintained he conducted all his businesses in an equitable manner and he’d never stoop so low as to cheat to make money. People trusted him, you see, that’s why, if anything, he got annoyed when paper threats arrived in the mail. He said it was from people who didn’t possess all the facts.”
“What did he do with these threats?”
“Toss them in the fire,” Ellen answered, gazing down at the ground. “But I did keep one or two of them without his knowledge. I don’t know why. Maybe because I thought they might be important one day.”
“And you are so right…” I began to see Teddy Grimshaw’s death differently. I no longer believed he died of natural causes.
Punching her hand through the hedge, Ellen wept. “I believe he may have been murdered. That somebody killed him. Somebody who was at the wedding…”
“At the wedding.” My echo faded into the breeze. “But who could want him dead?”
“Those after his money: his family. They all stand to benefit, you know. All of them. I know because Teddy had a new will drafted this week. He said he made many changes but his second witness couldn’t sign it until next week.”
“But surely the new will will take precedence?”
“If the matter is taken to court, I stand to lose everything. Not that I want even a dime of it for myself. If it weren’t for Charlotte, I’d wish them all well, greedy vultures.”
I was horrified. I knew little of these affairs. The writer in me had always wanted to watch a squabble after a death, greedy vulture-like relatives, as Ellen said, clawing over the money. However, I never expected to land right in the middle of one. “Ellen, don’t give up without a fight for Charlotte’s sake if naught else.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Ellen muttered under her breath. “But it would give me great satisfaction to spit the money right in their faces.”
* * *
I had grave reservations about locating Major Browning on Ellen’s behalf.
I didn’t want to go, foremost.
What kind of friend was I, though, if I did not?
Swallowing my pride, I asked the remaining guests if they knew of his whereabouts. Apart from the Fenwicks, ourselves, Megan, and the American camp, all had now removed from Thornleigh, shaking their heads sadly as they left.
“I believe Major Browning has rooms at Jamaica Inn,” Colonel Ramsay said. “We ourselves are heading in that direction if you’d like a lift?”
I hadn’t
Similar Books
