Murder on Charles Street - Leighann Dobbs Page 0,16
a few questions, if you have a moment.” Throughout his mumbled explanation, he looked anywhere but at the pretty young woman. No one would accuse Lyle of being a womanizer. Unlike some Harriet knew.
“Oh.” The young woman glanced over her shoulder, her hesitation clear. “Will it take long?”
“Only as long as you have to give. I’m afraid the matter is paramount.”
The girl accepted Lyle’s explanation and stepped back. “Then come in, but you mustn’t tarry. I’d offer you a cup of tea, but I’m afraid I haven’t got the time. My mistress is in the bath and will be calling for me at any moment.”
Lyle glanced at Harriet and raised his eyebrow. She nodded subtly, reining Emma closer to prevent the pug’s penchant for stealing. Not that there were many items in the scullery, where the side door opened, to steal.
“We’re here regarding Dr. Gammon. Have you seen anything—or anyone—suspicious in the past day or two?”
The girl made an uncertain sound in the back of her throat. Harriet braced herself, ready to receive the same answer they had been given at the other two houses whose occupants had deigned to answer their knock. No one, thus far, had noticed anything out of the ordinary on Charles Street of late. What with Lady Katherine’s recent arrival, the street was in a stir every time a new visitor came to call at her house.
“No one in particular,” the young girl said.
It wasn’t precisely the answer they had gotten at the past couple houses. Lyle exchanged a meaningful look with Harriet before he prodded further. “Then you’ve seen people coming and going at Number Four?
The girl tucked a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. “Well, yes. But that’s hardly unusual. The doctor always had visitors.”
Lyle fished a small notebook out of his pocket and flipped through the pages. “Visitors such as his son?”
The girl shrugged. “Not only. All sorts of people visited hoping to secure his services.”
Harriet nodded. “Yes, he treated animals.”
The girl looked at her, confused. “Not only animals. Anyone sick, really. At least, if you could garner an invitation through a friend. Why, we thought my mistress would die from pneumonia a few weeks ago before he gave us a remedy. All she had to do was sip a bit of this medicine, and she’s right as rain now.”
Lyle opened his mouth, but a faint call from further in the house had the young woman ushering them out into the cold once more. The wind bit against Harriet’s nose. As the door shut in their faces, she longed to be nearer those warm kitchens once more. Or even her own. She pressed her lips together and returned to the street.
Once they were out of eyeshot of the house, she rounded on Lyle. “Is that what Katherine’s looking for? If so many people were coming and going…”
Lyle’s frown spoke volumes. “It isn’t out of place for a physician to treat patients.”
Harriet’s shoulders dropped. Emma took advantage of her slack hold on the leash to tug Harriet closer to her particularly interesting smell in the snow. Harriet wrapped leash around her fist two more times for extra leverage.
“Harriet? Did I offend you in some way?”
She turned back to Lyle, who looked sheepish.
“Of course not.”
“You look…” Apparently, he couldn’t think of something flattering to say, because he rubbed the tip of his nose instead. “It isn’t your fault we haven’t found anything.” Softly, he added, “There may not be anything to find.”
“Katherine thinks there is!” Harriet’s words rang on the street. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It’s just… it’s been such a grueling month, doing everything on my own. All I wanted was to make Katherine proud…” To her shame, Harriet felt tears stinging her eyes.
Lyle’s soft footsteps crunched against the crusts of snow bordering the street as he approached. Gently, he squeezed her shoulder. She didn’t look at him, but focused on Emma, who was perhaps the only one merry to find herself in this blasted weather.
“It isn’t your fault,” he said again, this time with more conviction. “Just because Katherine wants this to be a murder doesn’t mean that it is one. Dr. Gammon was old and might have died from natural causes. I am looking into the matter as much out of courtesy to Katherine as anything else, but she has been restless. She might be concocting suspicions where there are none.”
Harriet took a deep breath. “Do you