A Death at the Church Read online

  ‘Well, you won’t hang, and you won’t spend another moment behind bars.’

  ‘But Rory,’ I said.

  ‘You can leave me to deal with McLeod,’ said the spy, his face grim. ‘I don’t take kindly to anyone mistreating one of my assets.’

  ‘But what can you do?’

  ‘Ah, now this is the bit I wanted you to sit down for. There are a couple of options to consider. Do you want me to get you some breakfast first? Coffee?’

  I shook my head. ‘I would be sick,’ I said.

  ‘Let’s avoid that, shall we? I am in need of a shave and a bath as it is, but I would rather not make my unkempt condition worse.’

  ‘At least you are not wearing clothing covered in blood. My wedding dress...’ My voice broke and tears started to fall again.

  He reached over and passed me a clean handkerchief. His voice softened slightly. ‘I need you to stop crying, Euphemia. I can see how distressed you are, and I understand why, but we have some serious decisions to make. I need you to be fully conscious of the choices at hand.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘It’s all so awful...’ ‘C’mon, Euphemia. You’re stronger than this. I promised that no further harm will come to you. Do you trust me or not?’

  For the first time in over twenty-four hours I smiled.

  Fitzroy smiled wryly back at me.

  ‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘What do I need to do?’

  He leant forward and briefly brushed my hand. ‘Good girl. Oh, by the by, I met Hans on my way here. He told me of the offer he had made you...’

  ‘He told you?’

  Fitzroy shrugged. ‘I gave him a little encouragement. Then I declined on your behalf.’ ‘Thank you,’ I said.

  ‘Don’t think too badly of him. It might have been a most ungentlemanly offer, but it wasn’t made without, I suspect, some affection and genuine desire for your well-being. He would have been putting himself at some risk. Especially if he believes you to be guilty. If you had both been caught, he would likely have hanged alongside you. Besides, you always liked him, didn’t you? If he’d known you were an heiress, he’d have married you rather than Richenda.’

  ‘How delightful you make him sound.’

  ‘That’s more like my Euphemia. Now, of the options I am offering you, my last resort is to get you out of the country. Alas, I would not be setting you up in some bijou chateau, but rather lodging you with some very ordinary French folk who owe me a favour. Of course, you would not be able to return to England until the real killer has been caught. In the normal way of things, I’d be more than happy to take that on, but as the reality of war with Germany comes closer, I will have other calls upon my time. I might not be able to devote as much time as is needed before war is upon us, and then solving this crime would become even more difficult. To be frank. I also don’t like the idea of you being out of England when the war begins... I have. well, never mind that. It wouldn’t be my first preference for you.’

  I nodded. ‘I dreamed – when we were in the Highlands – about what is to come. I don’t normally believe in omens, but having met Madame Arcana...’

  ‘She might do work for the nation, but she’s a charlatan.’

  I shook my head. ‘Not all the time... however, I agree this is not the best option. What are the others?’

  ‘There is really only one other viable option,’ said the spy. ‘And you’re not going to like it. It would mean spending a great deal more time with me.’

  ‘You said no chateau...’

  ‘No, no. I don’t mean in a romantic sense,’ said Fitzroy curtly. ‘I’m no Hans Muller, trying to take advantage of a woman in dire circumstances.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, blushing furiously. ‘It feels like so many people have let me down...’

  ‘We all have lines we will not cross, even I,’ said the spy sounding slightly ruffled. He smoothed down his hair and fiddled with cuff in a most un-Fitzroy manner. Then he added, ‘Unless I was ordered to do so,’ in a low voice. His head was down, avoiding my gaze. I chose to pretend that I had not heard his addendum.

  ‘I am sorry,’ I repeated.

  ‘Yes, well, never mind. Have you ever seen one of these?’ He produced a small, triangular badge from his pocket. It was black with some curious sigils enamelled in white.

  ‘Is it a good luck charm?’

  Fitzroy threw back his head and roared with laughter. When he had recovered himself, he put the badge back in his pocket and wiped tears of amusement from his eyes with the back of his hand.1

  ‘Oh, Euphemia, even in the direst straits you make me laugh! Can you see me with a good luck charm?’

  ‘No. I imagine you believe you make your own fortune.’ ‘To some extent. It’s an insignia.’

  ‘Of what?’

  ‘Of authority. All agents of the crown carry these.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘It allows us a certain licence, but it also demands a level of duty that you have never been asked to undertake.’

  ‘You’ve made me choose between saving my relatives and following your orders!’

  The spy nodded. ‘Yes, but if you carry one of these, there is no choice in the matter. Duty to the Crown supersedes all. You’ve seen me bend the rules on more than one occasion, but I’ve never broken them. In the final instance, I am no one’s son, no one’s father, no one’s friend and no one’s brother. I am an Agent of the Crown.’

  ‘That is quite a burden.’

  ‘I am glad you recognise that,’ said Fitzroy.

  ‘It’s why you said you’d never marry, isn’t it?’

  Fitzroy nodded. ‘But you are to marry Bertram.’

  ‘That is by no means a certain thing. Not now.’

  ‘Oh, it will be,’ said Fitzroy with a certain grimness.

  ‘You will not force him to marry me,’ I said. The spy grunted noncommittally. ‘I’m serious, Fitzroy. I want no unwilling bridegroom.’

  ‘The man’s a fool in many ways, but he loves you.’

  ‘So says the confirmed bachelor!’

  Fitzroy flashed me a wicked grin. ‘I never said I lived like a monk. I know something of relationships – and the need for them. Especially in this line of work. As a man, I have far more options open to me than marriage. You, however, don’t.’

  I felt the blood creeping into my cheeks. ‘Interesting as all this may be,’ I said, in an attempt to change topic, ‘but what has this all to do with my current situation?’

  Fitzroy gave me a disbelieving look.2 ‘Work it out.’

  I thought for a few moments then the truth gradually dawned on me. I looked up and saw the spy was trying not to laugh. ‘Really? You find my consternation amusing?’

  He shrugged. ‘Your expression, as they say, is worthy of a picture.’

  ‘You’re offering me the chance to become an Agent of the Crown? You can do that?’

  ‘I can swear you in here and now. You will walk out of the door a free woman.’

  ‘And then?’ I asked.

  ‘If we can, I suggest we solve this murder in the next forty-eight hours – for your sake. I assume you don’t want your friends and family believing you to be a killer?’

  ‘Why forty-eight hours?’

  ‘Because that is likely all the time we will be able to spare before other duties demand our attention.’ ‘The war?’ I said.

  Now very sober and grim, Fitzroy nodded.

  ‘I see. My two options are to retreat to France or become an Agent of the Crown?’

  ‘We could see France as a temporary measure, until something better came up,’ said Fitzroy.

  ‘Like?’

  ‘Someone unmasking the real murderer.’

  ‘But I’d still have run away,’ I said.

  ‘You would have put that aside too,’ said Fitzroy.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your sense of honour. While you work with me, I will do my best to ensure you are not put into a situation that is too morally demanding for you, but
you must accept you may not always be working with me.’

  ‘If I marry?’

  ‘It makes no difference to your oath.’

  ‘So, I would have to face those choices that you deliberately ruled out?’

  ‘Possibly, but if your family is a low profile one that lives out of London, we should be able to keep them at a distance to your other activities.’

  ‘I could not tell them?’

  Fitzroy shook his head. ‘You can tell one person. I recommend telling any husband you take, after you are married –’

  ‘You mean in case they jilt me?’

  Fitzroy coughed. ‘I seem to remember it is generally you who do the jilting. How many times have been engaged, Euphemia?’

  ‘Touché,’ I said. ‘I do not have the most successful of romantic records.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. Having people tumble into love with you all the time must be quite entertaining.’

  ‘So, until I marry Bertram, I couldn’t tell him, even though he’s signed the Official Secrets Act?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you would consider recruiting him?’

  Fitzroy made an odd noise somewhere between a chuckle and a cough. ‘Honestly, Euphemia, your naivety can be amusing, but this is not the place for it. The Service is not some kind of social tea-taking club. We consider many people but recruit very few. That I am recruiting you, or offering to, is akin to a minor miracle in terms of the department’s history.’

  ‘And Bertram?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘We are a military service and Bertram’s heart condition makes him unfit to be enlisted. Besides, he has no unique talent to offer that would take him over the line from asset to agent, even if he were healthy.’

  This last speech was delivered in a flat, merciless tone and it gave me pause, as Fitzroy intended.

  ‘I take it my unique talent is my sex?’

  ‘Partly, but not entirely. You also have a first-class brain, as well as an innately adventurous nature – you are capable of being merciless when required. That is your most rare talent.’

  I started as if he had struck me.

  ‘You have, have you not, watched me shoot more than one man to death? Indeed, on more than one occasion you have encouraged me to execute a person who might not otherwise have been subject to justice.’

  ‘You make me sound bloodthirsty,’ I said. I could feel bile rising in my throat at this description of me.

  Fitzroy shook his head. ‘Not at all. If you were, it would make you most unsuitable. However, you have come to terms with understanding that justice and necessity are cruel partners in this line of work.’ He gave an almost imperceptible sigh. ‘I know I make the service look very glamorous and adventurous, but that is my personal charisma. The job is often dirty and frequently harsh on an agent.’ He gave me his wry grin. ‘Am I selling you this?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘And it has taken me some moments to realise what you are doing, because I do not think I have ever seen you do it before.’

  This time the eyebrow raised was an enquiring one.

  ‘Be totally honest,’ I said.

  Fitzroy gave a crack of laughter. ‘Touché,’ he said. ‘Are you in?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, and so began my service to our country as an Agent of the Crown.

  * * *

  1 A gentleman would have used a handkerchief.

  2 Both eyebrows raised instead of the one. He isn’t the most communicative when it comes to facial expressions, but even by then I had learned to read him to an adequate degree.

  Chapter Three

  He swore me in right there and then.3 I remember my voice shook as I repeated the words. It was not the strong, steady avowal I would have liked to have made. Later, he told me that if it had been, he would have worried that I did not understand what I was getting myself into.

  Not long after this, almost as if he had timed it to perfection, Merry arrived with a bag of my clothes. Fitzroy left while she helped me to change into the least favourite of my dresses. My skin still bore traces of my interaction with Richard and would until I enjoyed the comfort of a hot bath.

  ‘Do you know where you are going?’ Merry asked as she did up the last of my buttons.

  ‘No,’ I said.

  ‘’E said ’ow I was not to ask you questions, but I hope you know what you’re doing, Euphemia. Can you trust this special policeman? ’E could be taking you off to Gawd knows where.’

  I turned to face her and took her hands in my own. ‘I can trust him. Thank you for coming to me.’

  ‘You know ’ow I’d do anything for you,’ said Merry. ‘Even if you had killed that bas – that bad man.’

  ‘I thought everyone believed I had done it?’ I said.

  ‘Both believed and not believed, if you ask me,’ said Merry. ‘Mr Bertram is right worked up. ’E...’

  3I can’t give you details of the oath. I’m sure you understand why.

  ‘Mistress Merrit, I thought we had agreed there would be no chatter?’ said Fitzroy, coming back into the room. ‘Your help is very much appreciated. If there is anything more you can do to help, I will be in touch, but now Euphemia and I must leave.’ He offered me his arm. I took it. It felt strange to be standing thus with him. I had taken both Rory’s and Bertram’s arms on occasion. Even Hans’, but I had never imagined I would be in such close proximity to the spy. It felt like crossing a line into another world. I also could not help but notice, for all his protestations of his being a far from glamorous position, that his jacket was both well-cut and of the finest cloth. I wondered if, now I was an agent, I would be paid? Possibly I would be able to support myself without resorting to marriage?4 Merry broke in on my thoughts.

  ‘What do I do with this?’ she asked holding up my wedding dress.

  ‘Burn it,’ said Fitzroy and I as one. Merry looked a little taken aback. Then, to my surprise, she bobbed a slight curtsey. Fitzroy touched the brim of his hat to her and walked away. As I was holding his arm, I was also carried off before I could say goodbye.

  ‘Are you using her as an asset?’ I asked.

  ‘I had thought about it,’ said Fitzroy. ‘However, her location, as well as her condition, makes me doubt her usefulness.’

  ‘Condition?’

  He looked down at me. ‘Did you not notice she is with child? Her hair? Her skin? Her expanded waist-line? The mints she keeps sucking?’

  I looked down at my feet as the blood rushed into my face. This was not the kind of thing one discussed with a person of the opposite sex.

  ‘You no longer have the luxury of being prudish,’ said Fitzroy. Then I felt him stiffen slightly. ‘Damn, I had hoped to spare you this. Follow my lead.’

  I looked up and saw Rory McLeod striding towards us. ‘What the hell is the meaning of this?’ he shouted.

  Fitzroy stopped to meet him and showed him the small emblem he had shown me earlier. ‘I know what you are,’ sneered Rory. ‘But you have no right to take this woman from her cell. She is not above the law.’

  ‘Show him, Euphemia,’ said Fitzroy softly to me.

  I took the identical badge from my pocket and showed it wordlessly to Rory.

  ‘Good God,’ he said. ‘I should have known. You wrap every man who crosses your path around your finger. I would have thought at least you would have been immune to that, Fitzroy.’

  ‘Oh, I am,’ said the spy. ‘Euphemia’s recruitment has been planned for some time by my superiors. Your actions merely brought that day forward a little.’

  ‘If I believed that for a moment,’ said Rory, ‘I would wish God’s mercy on her. But I don’t. You’ve had your eye on her from the beginning. I know why you want her.’ His eyes looked me over from top to toe. ‘She caught me the same way, once.’

  ‘You overestimate my rank,’ said Fitzroy in a mild voice. ‘I do not determine who is to be recruited.’ His tone might be soft, but I could feel the muscles tensing in
his arm under my hand. I got the distinct impression he wanted to punch Rory in the face. However, outwardly he remained calm. ‘How is the position, by the way? Are you enjoying being an agent of the law? Do you find the police suits you?’ A look passed between them that I could not interpret.

  ‘If war comes, I will enlist. I want nothing to do with you or yours.’

  ‘Very noble, I’m sure,’ said Fitzroy. ‘Now, if you will excuse us, we have somewhere to be.’ ‘I could summon –’

  The spy cut him off. ‘You could summon all kinds of people, but you know the rules, you have to let her go. Let’s avoid any more unpleasantness, shall we?’ The latter sentence sounded to my ears clearly a threat. Rory must have thought so too, because with a noise not unlike a snarl, he stepped aside.

  Once we were out of earshot, Fitzroy commented, ‘I did warn you not to get involved with him. He has a streak of jealousy and a desire to possess and control that is bound to sabotage any relationship with all but the meekest of women.’

  ‘Did you get him his job? Did he come to you when he left Bertram?’

  ‘Yes, and yes. He also believes he is still in love with you and hates both himself and you for it.’

  ‘That much I had worked out for myself. Where are we going? And how do we get there?’

  ‘As for where, you will find out. As for how, we will use my motor car. I haven’t had it long and have been keen to give it a good run. I hope that hat is tied on securely.’

  Fitzroy’s style of driving certainly proved adventurous. The speed of the night air passing us negated any ability to communicate and more than once I found myself gripping the side of my seat. The spy drove with a curiously calm expression on his face. I eventually worked out that he was enjoying himself no end.

  We arrived in the outskirts of London as dawn broke. He pulled into a mews lane and stopped outside a building that showed recent signs of renovation. A smart two-storey dwelling, it stood at the end of the mews next to a walled area. Fitzroy turned off the engine and jumped out. He appeared at my side to help me down.

  ‘You’re trembling,’ he said.