The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird (learn to read books txt) 📕

terribly wealthy Freddie Eden-Summers, who threatened her?’ asked Holmes. ‘He, too, must have felt wronged.’

‘I don’t know. That fellow may have written also. Deacon Buttons knows the whole story. May I see him, please? Why are you holding him, Inspector Hadley?’ asked Father Lamb.

‘He attempted suicide,’ said Hadley. ‘That’s against the law, and we are holding him for his own good.’

But Holmes was not finished with Father Lamb. ‘It seems odd that Mr Vitale would murder Miss Wyndham in Deacon Buttons’ room. Father, did he tell you why he did that?’

‘No! My God!’ Father Lamb shuddered at the thought. ‘What on earth makes you think this happened under my own roof?’ he cried.

‘Both the police and I have confirmed it from the evidence,’ said Holmes.

‘How terrible. But you are the detective! Isn’t it obvious why Vitale might have killed her there? To make it look like Peregrine did it! She had probably come to him for help. Vitale must have followed her!’

‘He did indeed follow her, Father Lamb,’ said Holmes. ‘That, too, has been confirmed by the evidence.’

‘Well then, there you have it,’ said Lamb. He stood. ‘I should like to see my boy now.’

‘Sit down, please, Father,’ said Hadley. The priest hesitated, but at Hadley’s stern look did so, reluctantly.

‘As I said, we know that Vitale did follow her there,’ said Holmes.

And, of course, Vitale had just admitted it to us, I thought. Had he lied about the rest?

‘It must have taken a great deal for you to hear him confess.’ Holmes continued, ‘learning that he was a murderer.’

‘Even a murderer is God’s creation,’ said Father Lamb. ‘I offer comfort where I can.’

Just then, Constable Wright burst through the door. ‘Mr Holmes, Mr Hadley, I’ve completed my investigation of the deacon’s room.’

Holmes smiled. ‘Ah. The ink, then, Mr Wright? The dent?’

‘Precisely where and how you described,’ said Wright crisply.

‘Excellent work,’ said Holmes. ‘Thank you. Stay now and enjoy the fruits of your labour. If he may, Mr Hadley?’

Hadley nodded, and Wright remained. The young officer stood in the corner, smoothing his black moustache and watching the proceedings with intense interest.

‘Mr Wright’s findings have just confirmed Peregrine Buttons’ innocence. Dillie was beaten badly. All three young men had injuries to their hands, her two suitors and your young deacon, Father. Mr Buttons told me that his injury came from his punching the wall in frustration. When I examined the room, I saw no such dent, but it apparently was in the hallway just outside the door. Wright has confirmed the dent exactly as Buttons described. Ergo, Peregrine Buttons did not beat the girl.’

‘Well, of course he would not!’ cried Father Lamb. ‘The boy is blameless!’

‘Father,’ said Holmes, ‘it is such a puzzle. We all agree that Miss Wyndham went to the deacon for help. She received a fatal blow in his room some time later. I wonder, though, why she was naked in Deacon Buttons’ bed at some time in the night.’

‘What? She never! Peregrine would not have allowed such a thing.’

‘I found unmistakable traces that Miss Wyndham was in the deacon’s bed with little or no clothing.’

‘You cannot prove this. And why would you want to? Are you so bent on ruining my young deacon’s reputation?’

‘No, in saving it. I have the proof right here. I collected traces from the bedding …’ Holmes reached into his pocket for the small folded card into which he’d placed some evidence in the room, only to find it waterlogged and useless. ‘Oh, no, well … washed away!’ he fumbled. ‘I, uh … you will have to take my word for it.’ He seemed confused and dismayed.

‘Some coffee, Holmes?’ I said.

He waved me off. If this was an act, it was an effective one.

Lamb eyed him superciliously. ‘You struggle, Mr Holmes. Naked in his bed? I tell you, no. Traces? What nonsense!’

‘Well, to continue,’ said Holmes. ‘We all agree that Leo Vitale was in Deacon Buttons’ rectory rooms. Then there is the matter of the bottle of ink.’ It seemed that he was losing steam with his argument. I was worried about him.

Father Lamb looked confused.

‘You remember the purple ink that Deacon Buttons used to write on Dillie’s doll,’ said Holmes, ‘the reason I became involved in this case at the beginning?’

‘What of it?’

‘I wondered why Deacon Buttons kept the bottle. I noticed it was near full when I saw it earlier and half empty last night. And the top was cracked and leaking. Where had all the ink gone to in so short a span of time?’ Holmes began coughing. He seemed to be struggling.

At a pause, the father interjected. ‘What does it matter? Peregrine wrote with it, perhaps.’

‘Half a bottle, so quickly? The notes in his Bible were all in black ink. So, I began to look. The ink had gone to several places, as it turns out. I discovered a small pool of purple ink had caught in the doorframe. It had dripped into the crack between the moulding and the wall, near eye level for a tall man. Then someone attempted to wipe it away. And tonight, I found a dot of it on Mr Vitale’s neck.’

‘Well there you have it!’ said Lamb. ‘As I have told you. Mr Vitale is the killer.’

‘And Mr Wright reports a smear of ink … on the sheets on Deacon Buttons’ bed. Someone got into that bed with ink on their hands.’

Father Lamb shrugged, dismissively.

‘What does all this tell you, Mr Holmes?’ asked Hadley.

‘A great deal, actually. Thank you for that, Wright. Here, then, is what happened. Miss Wyndham went to see Deacon Buttons, and from the deacon’s own testimony she sent him to pawn her two engagement rings so that they could run away together.’

‘I doubt that,’ sneered Father Lamb. ‘Now you are simply concocting.’

‘The rings have been found at the pawnshop, and Deacon Buttons has been identified as the one who pawned them,’ said Hadley, coldly.

Holmes smiled. ‘To continue, then. While Buttons was off pawning the rings, Miss Wyndham disrobed to