The Lexington House Murder
~ Chapter Five
In
the hallway at Lexington House, John Mailer remained seated with
Janelle Washington. While he no longer held her about the shoulders,
he had encouraged her to sip the remaining sherry. She had ceased
weeping but remained shaky. Her face bewildered.
“You have
my deepest thanks, Magistrate Mailer, for your help. I think I am
strong enough to return to my employers’ home now.”
She managed
to stand, but her shoulders slumped she approached the hall mirror.
Out of habit, she smoothed out her skirt; removed and replaced the
combs which held her long hair in place.
“Would you
possible have someone available who would walk with me back to Van
Ernst’s. I do not wish to trouble a magistrate with this. You
surely are needed elsewhere.”
Mailer put a strong hand
beneath her arm. “I am strict orders from my superiors to see
you
safely to your home, myself, Miss Washington. And I intend to do so.
I’ll have one of the drivers pull a carriage around to take
us.
“There is no need; it is only two blocks down this street.
And I think I would prefer the fresh air. Would it be too much
trouble, for us to walk?”
“No, not at all, do you good.”
Mailer managed a reassuring smile. In return he received a grateful
look from what surely, he thought, must be the most beautiful eyes he
had ever encountered.
Mailer stepped aside to give one of the
senior officers a few instructions. Then returned to Janelle and
again offered his arm to her. She tucked her own arm through his and
together they went out the door.
They turned right at the end
of the path and walked along the tree lined boulevard. Neither spoke
until they approached a residence bearing a gold plate with the title
“Van Ernst”. It was somewhat larger than the
Lexington house, and
the lawns were adorned with beautiful well-tended flower beds lining
the path to the house and then surrounding it. Janelle motioned for
them to follow the smaller path around to the back of the house,
where the servants’ entry was.
“What a magnificent home,”
Mailer remarked. Just then the front door opened and a woman came
down the steps with her arms out.
“Poor child, come right
in. We were frantic when you ran out like that. Is it true? Has
something happened to Margaret?” The woman was dressed
elegantly
and spoke with an authority that led Mailer to believe she was the
mistress of the house.
“Sir, thank you for bringing our
Janelle back. I am Eleanor Van Ernst. Will you come in and sit
down?”
“Thank you, madam. I am Magistrate John Mailer and I was
only too happy to walk Miss Janelle home. Unfortunately, she has
sustained a great shock.”
All together, they entered the
house and went immediately into a small sitting room off the main
hallway. Several maids and footmen lingered in the hall, too curious
even to affect a pretense at working.
Mrs. Van Ernst called
out. “Give us a few minutes with the child; she is alright
and
nothing for you to worry yourselves. Giddens, bring coffee and a
bottle of brandy.”
Mrs. Van Ernst spoke plainly and
sensible with a kindliness in her voice; she soon had the three of
them comfortably seated with a tray of hot coffee in front of her.
She waived away the footman who had delivered the tray. And after
handing a cup to Mailer, she added a good sized dollop of the brandy
into a second cup and placed it in front of Janelle.
“You
drink this down, child. Now can you tell me, Magistrate Mailer, what
has happened at Lexington house? The servants are talking all manner
of rumor. Has something happened to Margaret?
“Yes, Mrs.
Van Ernst. I am sorry to report, that Margaret Washington has been
found murdered at Lexington house. I regret that I cannot reveal any
more details to you, but our investigation has only just
begun.”
Janelle took several long sips of the coffee. Her eyes began
to tear again. Mrs. Van Ernst produced a crisply ironed white
handkerchief from somewhere within her voluminous skirts.
“Of
course, what a frightful shock to you, my dear,” she patted
Janelle’s hand. I think under the circumstances I will have
one of
the girls take you to your room.” Suspiciously on cue, one of
the
housemaids appeared and took Janelle by the hand. “Mind you
take
her straight away to lie down, Alice and no questions or
gossip.”
Alice nodded.
At the doorway, Janelle looked back. “Thank
you Magistrate Mailer. And thank you Ma’am for
….” She turned
her head and continued out and towards the back of the door.
“You
appear to be a most caring employer, Mrs. Van Ernst, if I am not
being too bold.”
“No good ever comes from lording over
the help, or from refusing to treat them decently. We are all humans
from the same pot of stew, Magistrate Mailer; it is only luck or fate
that prevents my station in life from being any different than
theirs.” She reached for the brandy and added a nice splash
into
her own cup as well as Magistrate Mailers cup before he could
protest.
“Now,” she said “tell me what has
happened?
How did poor Margaret die? Could it have been an accident of some
kind? I cannot imagine a murder happening in any of the fine families
and households which make up this neighborhood.”
Mailer
shook his head. “No, it was murder straight out. I can only
say
that death occurred from a deep stab wound. And that the victim would
have died quickly.”
Mailer placed his cup on the tray and
leaned forward. “Mrs. Van Ernst, can you tell me anything
about
Margaret or Janelle’s background that might help us?
“Well,
I can only tell you what I know or have heard. My dates may not be
exact, but I will do the best I can. Will that be satisfactory to
you, Magistrate?”
Mailer nodded. He removed a small book
from his pocket, and prepared to take notes. Mrs. Van Ernst leaned
back in her chair and remained silent for a few minutes, before
beginning.
“To the best of my knowledge, both Margaret and
Janelle were raised in New Haven. Their father ran a shop or was some
type of merchant there. While the girls were still very young,
Margaret may have only been 15, their parents died in a carriage
accident. It was only the two sisters, no other family. I believe the
parents left a small estate for the girls, and for a while they
stayed on with a family friend.”
“I cannot remember
exactly how Margaret came to work for the Wellington-Trumbells, but
it was not long after the accident. I do remember she seemed very
young, even to be employed as an apprentice house-maid. Janelle will
be able to tell you exactly how old Margaret was when she moved here.
Janelle stayed behind in New Haven, but the money their parents had
left soon ran out. Shortly thereafter, Helen, that is Mrs.
Wellington-Trumbell, recommended Janelle to me when one of my staff
left to be married. I remember interviewing her. She seemed like a
child, but very serious, and of course most desirous of finding a
post near her only family member. I took her on, and she has proved
to be a devoted and hard worker. To think of her with no family at
all; that is indeed a tragedy.”
“Would you say the two
sisters were close?” Mailer asked.
“Oh my goodness, yes.
They spent every day off together. It may only be my impression,
Magistrate, but it seemed Janelle often acted the part of
“older
sister,” she was very protective of Margaret. More than once
she
hinted that she would like Margaret to come to work for me. But we
were fully staffed, and I would hardly lure a good house-maid from a
family we knew socially.”
“Is Janelle close to any other
of your staff that she may have confided in?”
“No, not
really; she spent every spare moment with her sister.”
“Only
a few more questions. What if anything can you tell me about Thomas
Wellington-Trumbell?”
First the first time, Mrs. Van Ernst
seemed slightly uncomfortable. She ran through a variety of facial
expressions, before speaking.
“You’re referring to that
business about the ‘Haunting of Lexington House’? I
honestly do
not know what to tell you. About 4 or 5 years ago, Thomas and James
supposedly quarreled badly. Thomas left his brother’s house
and
moved somewhere….I can not recall if it was southern France
or
Italy, but one of those.”
“James went over to the
continent several times to try to reconcile with his brother. The
last time he even took Helen. That’s James’ wife. I
believe the
last visit abroad ended in an even worse quarrel between the
brothers. Several days after James and Helen had left, Thomas took
his own life. Poor James did not even know about his
brother’s
death for 2 months. He and Helen didn’t return right away.
Since
they were traveling, news didn’t catch up to them very
quickly.
Deplorable event. People wagging their tongues for quite a
while.”
“In any event,” she continued “ever since
Thomas’
death, several of the servants at Lexington began talks amongst
themselves that they saw Thomas walk around at night. Heard all sorts
of peculiar sounds. Items going missing. A lot of poppy-c**k.
Encouraged and perpetuated by that head housekeeper Eloise over
there. I could never have a head housekeeper like Eloise. Frankly,
Magistrate, she scares me a little. One of those grim sorts; always
seems to stare right through you.”
“Well, I am sorry but
I believe that’s all I can think of that would help. Better
you
hear any more directly from either the William-Trumbells or
Janelle.”
Mrs. Van Ernst rose from her seat. “Can I see you to the
door,
Magistrate?”