The Skeleton Tree by Diane Janes (reading women TXT) 📕

‘I suppose the layout of the house has changed a bit in a hundred years,’ he said, as he followed Wendy towards the back of the house.

‘No, no. Hardly at all. This is the kitchen.’ She flung open the door. ‘There was no water supply in this part of the house until we had the pipes run through.’

‘But this was the original kitchen?’

‘Yes. You can see the shape of the original fireplace and where the range used to be.’

‘So if Alice had fetched a powder from here …’

‘She would have had to go to the scullery for water, which was just along here, where our utility room is now.’

‘And those outbuildings …’ John glanced out of the window as they crossed the back passage. ‘They look original as well. There was nothing unusual about a manservant sleeping outside at that time – and of course people didn’t always bother to lock their doors.’

‘Servants slept in the outbuildings?’

‘Oh, yes. The men frequently bedded down in barns and outbuildings and thought nothing of it at all. People were grateful not to have to share a bed. The average agricultural labourer was lucky to have a two-room cottage for himself and his entire family: one up, one down. They had big families back then, so miladdo was probably extremely grateful to have a shed to himself. Would have seen it as a step up in the world.’

‘This is the scullery. Let me show you outside.’

They went into the yard, speculating about which building might have been occupied by Edward Graves. ‘Probably not that one,’ John said, when Wendy explained about the wooden stalls which had still been fixtures before the space beneath Tara’s rooms had been turned into a garage. ‘More likely one of these, facing the kitchen.’

‘I’ve got it!’ Wendy exclaimed abruptly. ‘I bet the jury weren’t brought here. If they had been, they’d have seen it too.’

John Newbould looked at her expectantly, so Wendy continued, ‘It says in Mr Warmsworth’s book that they couldn’t see how Edward Graves would have just happened to be inside or even known the right moment to enter the house and accost Alice, unless Alice had pre-arranged it, but standing here, you can see exactly how it’s possible. You see that end skylight there? Well, that’s the room where Alice Croft would have slept. From here in the yard, and also through the window of this end shed, you can see that skylight. You would be able to see the light of a lamp or a candle in that window, and you’d see the light moving as the person carrying it moved through into the next room – see that skylight there? Well, that was the cook’s room, and you still have to walk through there to access the rest of the house from the little room at the end. After that, the light would show in the window of the upstairs passage, and then in that tall, arched window as she walked down the stairs. Edward Graves would have known that was Alice’s light, because it started in her room, and he would be able to see exactly where she was without even moving from his window. He would have seen the light moving into the kitchen and then along the back passage, where he would have been able to slip inside and intercept her in the scullery. Poor thing. You know, I’m sure she was telling the truth. Come back inside and I’ll show you what used to be the pantry.’

When they got inside the study, Wendy explained the alterations which had been made, showing her visitor where part of the wall had been taken out to link what had originally been the old pantry and the big walk-in cupboard off the main hall. ‘When we first bought the house there were floor to ceiling shelves all the way round, which made it much smaller and more cramped.’

‘So there was only one way in or out.’ John nodded. ‘Just the place to corner and rape the kitchen maid, in fact. The knife might have been left in the pantry accidentally, or Graves might have brought it in himself, in order to threaten her.’

‘Do you suppose he intended to murder her? Otherwise, if he’d raped her, wouldn’t she have given him away later?’

‘Probably not. There wasn’t much sympathy expended on servants back then, and the family might have chosen to disbelieve her. It’s much more likely that any suggestion of immoral goings on would have meant her being dismissed as well as him. Didn’t you notice the way that Mr Coates was more interested in denying that anything improper could possibly have been going on between his servants than he was in establishing who had murdered whom? And the cook’s evidence isn’t to be relied on either, because if she’d admitted that she’d known anything was up between Edward and Alice, she would probably have got her marching orders for not telling on them sooner.’

‘But if she’d told her master what was going on, both her fellow servants might have been dismissed, even though one of them hadn’t done anything wrong?’

‘Exactly. And without good references it would have been pretty much impossible to get another job.’

‘That’s awful.’

‘No one ever said that life in the 1870s was fair.’

‘It’s a funny thing, but this is the only room in the house that I’ve never much liked. When we first saw it, the window was boarded up, but even with the window as it is now, the room is still rather dark.’

‘Has anyone …’ he hesitated. ‘Has anyone actually seen anything?’

‘No. There used to be stories that the house was haunted, but that was a long time ago and the actual details are a bit vague.’ She didn’t want to discuss her own experiences in the room. They were the sort of things not easily explained to a mere acquaintance, and she could imagine how her story might translate on retelling: ‘Wendy Thornton says that she’s been