The Half-Term Mystery
The CBB -> St Hild's Sitting Room

#1: The Half-Term Mystery Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:35 pm


Nineteen o’clock chimed and Joey Bettany surveyed her packing with great satisfaction. Jem had been teasing her that she wouldn’t get it done in time for supper, or Abendessen as they called it in the Tyrol, and now that she had, she felt great pleasure in besting him for once. He was the most authoritarian figure she had encountered yet, in her short life of just over sixteen years, and she was still getting used to his manner.

In the next room Madge was still packing for her, David and Jem. Her face was serious as she pushed items further into the corners of the suitcase, trying to make everything fit. Jem never helped her with these housewifely tasks and she didn’t really expect him to. But neither did she expect him to order her to do them, as he had begun to do lately. She knew that in marrying him, she would have had to give up some of her own independence. What she hadn’t really realised at the time, was how much. They had married without ever really getting to know each other first. She had been busy with the school, and he with the setting up of his precious sanatorium. With a delicate little sister and an expensive scheme that hadn’t at that point shown signs of its future success, she had a lot on her hands and not a lot of options. The handsome, rich, English doctor had proved the most attractive decision, solving, as he did, a lump of her problems in one. The honeymoon period had lasted some months before she fell pregnant with David. Madge had found Jem’s slightly dictatorial manner alluring at first, especially when it extended into the bedroom. She found the most pleasure there in being dominated, and as this came easily to him, their relationship had been passionate at night, easy in day, for a time. Jem’s medical experience and knowledge, however, prohibited him from lying with a pregnant woman. Without this, their special connection, his character had become clearer to her, and it was less she was liking him rather than more.

He entered the room at that moment. “What in heavens are you still doing here? You know we must leave by nine, Madge, and here you still are, bandying about. How will the supper table look to our visitors without the lady of the house at its head?”
She flushed and tried to work faster. “Darling,” she tried. “It’s just that…”
“No excuses, Madge!” Jem’s eyebrows drew together in a deep-knit frown. “There is precisely twenty minutes left before supper. Kindly see that you join me in the Saal then.” He left the room, tangible silence that Madge could almost see, occupying the space where he had been. Her eyes full of unshed tears, she hurried to finish.

Downstairs in Die Rosen, the Robin played happily with Mrs. Cowley, previously Miss Durrant, who had been her form teacher for long. She would not be staying up for many more minutes and was looking forward to the wonderful story she knew Joey would conjure for her before she snuggled down under her plumeaux.
“I hear Zoë! I must go!” She lifted her baby face up to Mrs. Cowley’s for a goodnight kiss. Mrs. Cowley responded in kind and the baby of the school ran away upstairs to meet her beloved Joey.
“Marjorie.” Jem entered the room and greeted Mrs. Cowley briefly.
“Jem,” she replied pleasantly. “I trust you are all ready to leave at twenty-one?”
“Madge is still packing upstairs.” He lit his pipe and settled back on the Chesterfield. “You two will be alright here, won’t you? Any outstanding issues we haven’t addressed?”
Mrs. Cowley wished he wouldn’t speak to her as if she were a hired servant rather than a caring friend who had offered to take care of the chalet while Jem and Madge took the girls away for an extended half-term holiday. She answered him politely, however, and assured him that they would manage magnificently. Jem nodded once and retuned to his pipe, picking up a newspaper. It wasn’t often that he accompanied schoolgirls on a half-term holiday but the sanatorium required him to be in Dublin for a few days, where he would meet with a number of young doctors from the medical school in Trinity College, with a view to hiring one of them. Madge would need to go with him for who, he asked himself with a little silent chuckle, could expect a man of his standing to attend to such things as laundry and cooking! Where Madge went, so did little Davy, as he was still being breastfed. Jem thought of his baby son with private pride. He held little patience for those parents who farmed their children out to milk nurses. All sensible science pointed to the benefits of breastfeeding one’s own children. It was a pioneering prospect, yes, but wasn’t that what Dr. James Russell was all about? The bell for supper interrupted his thoughts and he started, upsetting his pipe. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was still ten minutes before nineteen and reminded himself to speak to Madge about punctuality later. For now, however, he was hungry and so he strode into the Speisesaal to take his seat as master of its table.


Last edited by Róisín on Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

 


#2:  Author: SophoifeLocation: down under Down Under PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:48 pm


Eew! What a thoroughly nasty Jem this is!

Good, though, Róisín.

 


#3:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:57 pm


What a complete tyrant he is!

*pokes him with sharp stick* poke

Thanks Róisín

 


#4:  Author: JennieLocation: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:36 pm


Down with Jem!

 


#5:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:45 pm


He is rather...er...domineering in this.

poke Madge is nice - leave her alone!

 


#6:  Author: AliceLocation: London, England PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:50 pm


Ooo, Jem is awful. This is very good Róisín, looking forward to more.

 


#7:  Author: LadyGuinevereLocation: Leicester PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:26 pm


Jem is not pleasant in this one at all!

Great start... looking forward to more.

 


#8:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:27 pm


Agrees with those poking Jem! I do hope he is riding for a fall, Róisín Wink

 


#9:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:12 am


I am enjoying this thread so far. Thanks for starting it. When is it meant to be set?

 


#10:  Author: Cath V-PLocation: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:53 am


Great start - what a right little LGA this Jem is!

 


#11:  Author: Amanda MLocation: Wakefield PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:51 am


poke I don't like Jem at all in this. He's very domineering and arrogant.

Thanks Roisin.

Star Wars

 


#12:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:28 pm


Juliet finished her milky coffee with a final gulp and begged leave of Jem to leave the table. “There’s a letter I want to write most awfully, Jem, and if I don’t post it tomorrow morning from Paris, it won’t get to Ireland in time.”
“Who is it to?” Jem leaned in towards her, interested.
“You remember my telling you of a friend with whom I am studying in Holloway – Kay, Kay O’Hara?” Jem nodded and Juliet rushed on, “Well, while we are in Ireland, even if it is only for such a short time, I should like to look her up. She would never forgive me if I returned after this time I’ve taken out for my illness, only to find out that I had been within shouting distance of her, so to speak, and not called. May I run?”
Jem nodded. “Off you run then. As long as you are ready to leave for nine, there should be no problem.” He looked around at the table in general, “Will all of the rest of you be ready to leave in an hour?” There was no dissent and Madge nodded with a very bright smile upon her face. Jem smiled back, “Very well then, you are all excused.” Joey leapt up from the table to run and pack a book she had forgotten. Jem went to instruct Andreas in loading the motor. Madge spent the hour having some final words of conversation with Mrs. Cowley before she carefully lifted the Robin, still wrapped up in her plumeaux, into the back of the motor.

Twenty-one o’clock saw Mrs. Cowley with her husband standing at the gate of Die Rosen, waving to the fast-departing motor car as it made its way down the Sonnalpe towards Innsbruck. At Innsbruck they would park and leave the motor in the charge of the Mensches, and catch the night train to Paris. From Paris there was a local train to Calais and from here they would catch an afternoon ferry that would take them the short sea journey to Rosslare harbour. It was an easy enough journey, especially if taken partly at night, and one that they were used to taking, as the Calais port also served Dover. All in all, Jem did not foresee any problems.

The Robin slept peacefully until they arrived in Paris the next morning. David had proved restless towards the early hours, but Madge had managed it so that he didn’t wake Jem. Joey had been surprised at the care she had taken over this matter but put it down to Madge’s own fatigue. Madge mentally cautioned herself about letting her real feelings about Jem show. Her little sister only saw them in the holidays and presumed that their relationship was as happy as ever. Madge would have given worlds for that image to have been real but, as it wasn’t possible, she concentrated on preserving it for Jo.

It was six in the evening when the ferry docked in Rosslare harbour and there was a fine mist descending upon the world in which they found themselves. The sky was grey, its clouds reflecting the choppy sea, and Jem hurried the children indoors as soon as he could, lest they caught a chill. The Robin especially had to be protected from such fears but her instant obedience had, he congratulated himself, sheltered her so far. Mr. O’Hagan, Deira’s father, met them at the port. There were no cafés in Ireland, he informed them, so he brought them into a nearby public house for such refreshment as it could offer them until he could get them to his own abode, just over the border in County Cork. Jem was secretly rather unhappy with these arrangements but there was no other option and, as it was the custom of the country, he assented. Joey and Juliet were wild with delight at the idea of “drinking ale with so many grown up men!” as Jo called it. The reality was a little different however and the establishment they were ushered into was a small, clean one, presided over by a formidable matron who introduced herself as Mrs. O’Brien. She wore a wide linen apron, as they were wont to in those parts, and a headscarf held back dark curls that were put up in a huge bun. Hot milk was no problem, she assured them, and she provided thick slices of brown soda bread too.

“This butter tastes… strange somehow,” Jo said, rather inelegantly, it must be owned.
“It’s salted,” Madge answered her briskly, as she buttered another small piece for the Robin. “And quite heavily too.”
“Oh! I’ve read about this,” history-crazy Joey replied excitedly. “The salt preserves it for exportation, just as it does with fish. Deira told me about it once.”
Juliet nodded, suddenly remembering the story. “Yes. It was once the biggest export of the south part of the island and still they salt it as it’s become so much a part of the national taste.” She began to laugh. “Goodness! Joey! Do you remember how she squealed so when she first came to the school and tasted the butter there?”
Joey giggled, “Said it tasted of nothing, as I recall. Covered it with jam, just to make it taste!” Madge smiled and was about to add her own description of the event, which had gone down in the annals of the school, when Jem intervened.
“I say, do you realise the time? Mr. O’Hagan, if we’re to reach your house this evening, I should say we leave now, eh?”
“Indeed, Dr. Russell, I’d say you have it right there enough.” Mr. O’Hagan grinned gruffly and proceeded to gather the Robin up in his arms. It was nearing half-seven and her head was nodding sleepily. Once again, she was tucked up in the back of a motor-car as they completed the final leg of the journey that would take them to their half-term holiday destination.

 


#13:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:33 pm


Thanks for another great update.

 


#14:  Author: kerenLocation: Israel PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:52 pm


Very clever idea, take Jem as represented in the books, and slightly exagerate one of his characteristics, and there you are!


I guess you are going to talk somewhere about abuse of her (although I hope he would not hit her)

 


#15:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:26 pm


Poor Madge having to put on a front for Jo, pretending that everything in her marriage is ok.

Thanks Róisín

Liz

 


#16:  Author: AliceLocation: London, England PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:42 pm


I feel so sorry for Madge, it's not a nice situation to be in. Thanks Róisín.

 


#17:  Author: Elle PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:53 pm


Adds to poking Jem poke poke

horrible man!

 


#18:  Author: nikkieLocation: Cumbria PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:19 pm


Ooooooooh!
Evil Jem!
looking forward to seeing where this goes Confused

 


#19:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:29 pm


Russell,
Things worse. Secure funding, or all will be lost.
Maynard.


***

“Have another crumpet,” Mrs. O’Hagan drawled as she lazily passed the plate to Jo. “It really is most delightful to be able to enjoy the comforts of one’s own home, is it not?”
“Oh no, Mrs. O’Hagan, please, I’m full to bursting already! It really has been a most lovely meal,” Joey declined.
“Yahs, well, one does have to watch one’s figure when one is of a certain age, eh?” Deira’s mother winked knowingly, much to Jo’s disgust, at both her and Juliet. That lady blushed furiously and looked imploringly at Madge.
“I think we’ve all had enough, really,” she intervened accordingly. “What shall we do today then?” Madge looked round the table. “What about you, my Robinette? Robin?”

The Robin didn’t answer. She had been staring, wide-eyed, at Mrs. O’Hagan. A naturally innocent little soul, who had never known anything but love in her short life, she had never quite met anyone like the lady she was now devoting all her attention to. The long and lurid purple dress fascinated her, as did the fox that was draped over her shoulders. Mr. O’Hagan had been educated in Eton and Oxford, and while there had met his soon-to-be wife, one Angelica Smithers. The girl Angelica had been entranced by his dark, Celtic beauty which was so foreign to her. She was much less entranced with her married life once it actually began. Bored with the isolation of the country estate, she had convinced Deira’s father to establish a winter home for them in the capital, after the tradition of the country she had just left. He, trusting in her ability to raise the social prowess of the family, agreed, and it was to this Dublin townhouse that the Joey, Madge and the rest were to retire to in two days time. Jem was already there, having left Cork once he had seen Madge and the children settled. It wasn’t a holiday that he had come for, at any rate.

At this same moment that the Robin sat entranced with Mrs. O’Hagan, Jem himself was stepping from the train into Heuston Station, Dublin. He glanced round the gloomy station briefly before stepping briskly out. He was familiar with the city, having spent two months researching at the medical school when he was training as a doctor. His briefcase clutched in his hand, he began walking smartly down the quays of the Liffey river. It was a short walk – thirty minutes only – and he was used to much more vigorous exercise in Austria anyway. Some tow-headed urchins flocked around him on his exit of the station but he strode through them blindly. The O’Hagan’s townhouse was his destination. He intended to unpack there and refresh himself before meeting some old Trinity acquaintances over brandy in the evening. The house, he had been informed, was on Nassau Street and overlooked the grounds of the college itself, a fact which pleased him greatly.

All this was going through his mind as he walked along the straight line of the river before turning off at O’Connell Bridge in the direction of the university. Glimpsing the doorway that gleamed with two brass decorations, declaring it to be number fifty-one in the street, he ascended the steps and knocked loudly. The door opened.
“Good afternoon! I am Dr. James Russell, here at the invitation of Mr. O’Hagan and his lady wife!” he boomed at the maid.
“Oh yes sir, hello, and fáilte romhat to Dublin,” she answered, giving him the pretty welcome in her own lilting language.
“Where is little Deira?” he demanded, as he entered the hallway. “It was planned that she should be here to make the house ready for us. Is she out?”
The maid flushed. “No, sir... I mean, yes...”
“What on earth is the matter with you?” Jem was getting impatient. “She is either at home or not, although I must say I would not let a young lady of just seventeen wander the streets of any city alone.” Here the maid, Fionnuala was her name, brightened up a little, for here was an opporotunity for her to show that she did know something.
“Oh but, she is not alone, sir! Mr. Kiely escorted her on her journey and he stays with her yet!” she finished triumphantly. Jem raised a dark eyebrow. “Who is this Mr. Kiely? One of her brother’s tutors?”
“No,” Fionnuala replied. “Mr. O’Hagan’s manservant.”
Jem gave a little shrug. “That’s as may be, but I’m still standing here in your master’s hallway waiting for you to take my coat. I have work to get to, even if you don’t, though I must say, our Marie and Rosa at home always seem to have plenty to keep them busy. Would you like me to tell Mrs. O’Hagan that you have not enough work?” he remarked, questioningly.

Fionnuala blushed brightly then and hastened to take his coat and usher him up the stairs to the room that had been given over to him for the duration of his stay. After giving him directions to the little sitting room, just off the hallway, where she would bring his tea in an hour’s time, Jem was left to take in his surroundings alone. His eyes glanced over the dark wood panelling that spoke well of Mrs. O’Hagan’s anticipations of a man’s taste, and the broad Chesterfield that stood at the end of his bed. He let himself into the little dressing-room that was his and there he stood exactly still. For there were strange noises coming through the walls and unless he stood as still as he did, he would have difficulty in making them out.

Double post deleted - Lesley with her Mod hat on. Laughing

 


#20:  Author: AliceLocation: London, England PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:44 pm


I have to repeat, Jem is AWFUL.

 


#21:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:49 pm


oh Roísín.......you forgot to tell us what the noises were.....

more please!

 


#22:  Author: DawnLocation: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 12:00 am


Róisín this is excellent - can just imagine Jem behaving like this, but poor Madge

Rather worried that he will find out what the noises are

After the cable (at least I presume it was) I'm worried that he's going to be heading for a spot of blackmail Shocked

 


#23:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:07 am


Róisín 0- this is wonderful, and you have made Jem a thoroughly nasty piece of work.

Thank you.

 


#24:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:51 am


poke Jem

Who does he think he is talking to Fionnuala (pretty name) like that?!

Liz

 


#25:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 9:49 am


I'm starting to wibble..... (doesn't take much Laughing )

 


#26:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:04 pm


My darling Kay,
Thank you for your note which I received at the O’Hagan’s estate in County Cork. It’s wonderful to hear from you again – I have missed you dreadfully this last while. Yes, I am feeling better after that simply awful bout of scarlet fever. Dr. Jem tells me that they are working on a new cure for it in St. Andrew’s university in Scotland. We must all hope and pray that this may come about sooner rather than later.

Mrs. Cowley was a dear and it was entirely thanks to her that I am better again. When I returned to the Tyrol, it was she and her husband who escorted me, and they have stayed on now to take charge of Die Rosen while Madge, the girls and I accompany Jem on a medical research trip here. The landscape around Cork is simply marvellous, but I am dying to see the capital city, especially after all your vivid descriptions! And of course, I am anxious to meet your family, particularly this twin, of whom I have heard so much.

Mr. O’Hagan is coming to Dublin a day earlier than Madge and the girls and I will travel with him. That means we shall have a full day to ourselves! I agree with you that I should never find your house by myself and I would be very grateful if Donal called for me at 51 Nassau Street.

Yours in love,
Juliet Carrick.


***

Upstairs in the attractive rose-coloured bedroom that Angelica O’Hagan had allocated her, Madge sung David a lullaby. Finally, his long, lusciously black lashes fell down to sweep plump red cheeks that were striped with angry tear stains. He was a happy little boy, as a rule, but the general excitement of recent days had tired him out and he was inclined to be fractious. Jem would consider very carefully before taking him on a trip with them again, Madge thought to herself.

The door slid open as Joey entered, a question about that evening’s entertainment bubbling on her lips. Her face changed as she saw Madge, however. “Madge! Whatever is the matter? I do declare that your face is as white as porcelain! Is anything the matter?” She knelt by her sister and scrubbed her face in Madge’s lap. When she raised her head again, her eyes were full of anxious tears, in sympathy for her sister.
“Oh, Joey-baba, don’t cry!” Madge’s voice cracked as she begged. “I’m alright, honest Injun I am.”
“Don’t you think we’re having a topping time here? I just love the Irish countryside – it really is green... oh Madge!” For that lady had dissolved into tears, unable to hold back any longer. Her own fatigue combined with Davy’s fractiousness that day so as to make it impossible for her to keep up the image she had worked so hard on building for Joey. Robin, too, had added to her worries by taking a slight chill that afternoon and having to be put to bed immediately. And she felt sure that Jem was keeping something about the sanatorium from her. Despite all Joey’s cajoling and soothing, she was unable to stop sobbing for quite some time. It was heart-rending for Joey to hear her so, especially as even in her most dire sorrow, she never forgot to try and keep quiet in case she woke the baby. When she did finally manage to choke back her the grief that had poured out so suddenly, her eyes were scratched and sore-looking and her nostrils flared widely. Mutely, she let the baby of the family hold her for a few moments before she drew back, still mopping her face with a handkerchief.

“Now, tell me what is the matter,” Joey demanded firmly. “I won’t have you in such a state without knowing what has caused it. If anyone has hurt you Madge, anyone!, they shall have me to answer to!” With such admonition she sat back and waited to hear the tale, though she kept one of Madge’s hands in her own hot, sticky paws and held it there comfortingly.

Thus Madge confided in her. She told everything, bar issues of intimate, private nature, and as she spoke on, Joey’s eyes grew wider and angrier. She thought to herself that she would give anything to free Madge of all her care and to restore her to the happy, contented girl she had been. They sat together, sisters in unhappiness and regret, long into the night, talking and finally sleeping the sleep of the truly exhausted. They were not to know then how the confidences that Madge had shared that night were to affect what was to come.

 


#27:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:09 pm


*wibbles*

Thanks Róisín

Liz

 


#28:  Author: JennieLocation: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:25 pm


What a terrible, nasty Jem he is in this drabble.

 


#29:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:56 pm


This is building up well - sad for those who don't know what's coming.... Twisted Evil

 


#30:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:29 pm


Lesley I don't know how you can bring yourself to gloat!

*wibbling*

Thank you Roísín

 


#31:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:45 pm


LOL - I had to PM Lesley to ask her if the content was too adult - that's where her gloating power comes from.

I wouldn't mind hearing criticism or suggestion as this is my first drabble.

Thanks for all the encouragement! Very Happy

 


#32:  Author: LyanneLocation: Ipswich, England PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:55 pm


I hope Fionnuala spits in Jem's tea...

 


#33:  Author: Cath V-PLocation: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:21 am


Very thought-provoking. Hugs for Madge and Joey

 


#34:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 10:24 am


Jem stood in the tiny dressing-room, silently listening to the noises coming from behind the panelling. Muffled groans interspersed a heavy, regular panting that was peppered with brief giggles in a high-pitched voice. He heard the sound of sweaty hands slapping unknown flesh and loud whispers silenced by urgent kisses. He only wished he could see through the wood. As it was, he became satisfied with quietly pleasuring himself to the tune of the invisible anonymous lovemaking. He finished before them, however, and, his curiosity piqued, he crept out the door and down the corridor to see if he could snatch a look at the identification of the passionate partners.

“That little minx of a maid, I suppose,” he grinned widely at the memory of Fionnuala. Now that he had a face, and a pleasingly plump body, to put to the high-pitched and obviously feminine voice, he found himself becoming aroused again. It had been a long time since he had felt the soft, warm curves of a woman’s body. His thoughts quietened as he came upon the door, the room behind which was silent now. He turned the handle.

“Jem!” A voice cried out to him in delight. A tall, fair-haired girl stood alone in the room, clearly in the middle of unpacking a small, blue overnight bag. Her dark eyebrows, a great contrast to her sunny locks, raised as she took in his flushed cheeks and slightly bloodshot eyes. “Are you alright? I’ve just arrived – Mr. O’Hagan was leaving a day early and he consented to bring me along. My friend’s brother is calling...” she trailed off confusedly in the glare of Jem’s eyes. She thought he was looking at her strangely, and it was so unlike him that she started to feel a little afraid. “Jem?”
“Juliet,” he responded in a deep, heavy voice. “Juliet.”
His eyes slipped over her slenderly rounded figure, in its short, fresh summer dress. Suddenly, he could hold himself back no longer and lunged, seeking her embrace.

Juliet shot back, her eyes wide and frightened. She gasped out a shocked, “Jem!” before both of them turned to hear the click of the doorknob.
“What’s going on here?” the tall young man at the door looked around with a slightly unsure, but worried, look.
Jem, aware at once of the awfulness of what had almost happened, withdrew from the room, muttering that he was due in the tea room. Juliet stared after him, then rapidly recovered her senses and awoke to the fact that the young man at the door was staring at her.
“Donal?” she questioned him and he nodded. “Goodness, this is a way to introduce ourselves! Donal, I’m Juliet, your sister’s dearest friend from college.”
He nodded again and added, “The maid showed me to this door but then was called away by the master. I presumed it would be alright to knock, but then I heard a crash and...”
“Oh, everything’s fine,” Juliet reassured him breezily. “Jem just had some bad news – that’s why he looked so rotten.”
“Oh,” Donal rejoined, a little confusedly. “Oh, well that’s alright. Fáilte romhat. I’m pleased to meet you, pleased indeed.”

The episode of confusion gave them a common bond, somehow. Donal resolved not to press Juliet until he got to know her a little better. And that, by the way he was feeling right now, was looking very likely. He was going to do his damnedest to gain the confidence of this little cailín, if it meant he could protect her from the tyrant he had just seen leave the room.

Meanwhile, Jem turned around the corner and into his own door, strangely and unexpectedly hearing two sets of men’s boots running away in opposite directions from nearby rooms.

 


#35:  Author: NellLocation: London, England PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:14 am


Two sets of men boots - what is going on in that house? Intrigued.

Thank you Roisin. Very pleased that Donal arrived when he did.

 


#36:  Author: AliceLocation: London, England PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:21 am


This IS good. So many interesting threads. It brings in so many issues from the books.

 


#37:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:27 pm


Wow! Thanks Róisín.

Jem is ... just urgh! *creepy feeling down spine*

I'm so glad Donal arrived when he did and that he can see through him - I hope he's able to protect Juliet at least.

Liz

 


#38:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:16 pm


*slps bromide into Jem's tea!*

He gets worse with every post Evil or Very Mad

 


#39:  Author: RoseaLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:20 pm


Jem really is vile! This is wonderful, thanks Roisin.

 


#40:  Author: JennieLocation: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:49 pm


This gets creepier. Jem is a disgusting tyrant. Where's Madge's spine got to? and just what is going on?

 


#41:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:45 pm


I don't even want to poke Jem now because he's so disgusting - would have to disinfect the poking stick afterwards! Poor Juliet Mad

Thanks Róisín

 


#42:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:09 pm


My Precious Treasure,
We must confer. I believe that we are suspected and I cannot lose you. A separation would still my heart that beats so wildly for your fiery love and I would die. Every night that we are apart I sleep clutching a lock of your dark luscious curls to my cheek, a cheek which mourns dreadfully the absence of your honey-sweet lips upon it. My adorable pet, come to me as soon as humanly possible,
Your dearest beloved, B.K.


***

The Robin slept peacefully on the train to Dublin, but the cheeks that the dark lashes fell upon were a worryingly bright shade of pink. Ever since her earliest years there had been the threat of the disease that her pretty Polish mother had died from, and they were doing their best to protect her from everything they could while she was in her formative years. Jem had taken her case as a special, personal project, for he possessed a great and natural love for the little child. This was the reason that, on reaching the O’Hagan’s townhouse, the Robin was put immediately to bed in Jem’s little dressing-room, so he would be on hand during the night, if she worsened. Mrs. O’Hagan’s personal maid, Niamh, was to stay with the baby until she fell asleep.

The whole house went to bed a little subdued that night, in worry over the baby. They had arrived earlier that evening in good time – Mrs. O’Hagan having taken along her own servants to ease their travelling. Joey had greeted Deira delightedly and Madge had been very pleased to see her too. Madge remarked to herself that it was quite a young woman Deira was becoming, which was good, as she was to be presented at court next May. Juliet had arrived just after six from her visit with the O’Hara’s, with a new sparkle in her eyes that Madge noticed immediately. After a pleasant but hushed supper, Fionnuala had shown them down the long, dimly-lit corridors to their various rooms. Madge, as she had little Davy with her, had her own and of this she was glad. Joey’s comforting words the other night had given her an entirely new perspective on her marriage and she had resolved to make some major changes, some of which she was a little afraid of, but which she was nevertheless determined to carry out. She stayed awake for a long time, anxiously planning.

Joey in her room was busy with thoughts of outrage at how Madge had described Jem’s treatment of her and their marriage. Her heart felt cold at the thought of the trap in which Madge found herself. Separation was impossible, as there was David to think of. Bitterly, Joey rued the day that she and Madge had taken that train to Innsbruck with Juliet and Grizel, four years ago now. She wished desperately that there had never been the crash, or the fire, or the doctor who rescued Madge from the flames. Regrets were useless, she decided. The thing was, what could she do to make things better? And as she was a wholesale little person as a rule, she came up with a rather wholesale idea almost at once.

So the moon rose over the tall, angular house with its occupants, some wakeful, some sleeping. They were not to know that the scene would not stay thus peaceful ere long.

 


#43:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:39 pm


Thanks Róisín

Who has got dark curls?
Who has the initials BK?
What is Madge planning?
What is Jo planning?

So many questions!

*waiting patiently for the answers to be revealed in due course*

Liz

 


#44:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:46 pm


Oh look....cliffs!

Thanks Róisín

 


#45:  Author: nikkieLocation: Cumbria PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:51 pm


*echos Liz*
Thank you

 


#46:  Author: EilidhLocation: Macclesfield PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:12 pm


Madge has dark curls...

Thanks Róisín.

 


#47:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:27 pm


Joey is very brave trying to help Madge through all of this.

 


#48:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:49 pm


so many questions!!!!

so few answers....

more soon please Roísín

 


#49:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:12 am


Jem awoke suddenly in the dark room. Except for a sheaf of twilight coming through a crack in the curtains, all was a dense black. He wondered what had woken him, as he was a heavy sleeper as a rule. After all, wasn’t the life of a doctor’s one of the busiest and most tiring of all?

A small noise in the corner brought him back from his thoughts. Immediately he thought of the Robin. Softly he called out, “Robin? Robinette, are you awake?” Silence, even thicker than before, answered him.

He tried once more, in a slightly louder voice, “Robin, is that you?” Abruptly, his eyes narrowed. The silence was too thick to be natural. His voice lowered, “Who’s there?”

The dressing-room emitted a quiet, childish cough. Almost directly after, Jem heard a muffled sound of exasperation or impatience before he felt a presence very close to him now in the room.

Ah!” he gasped as a piercing pain flooded his groin.

Faltering backwards, he clutched the dark patterns of the bedcovers. He tried to speak again, but a hand pressed down on his mouth, pushing him into the thin ray of moonlight. Looking at the hand, he exclaimed mutely as he recognised its shape and features. Swiftly, the other hand came towards his chest, grasping a long and sharp knife, already bloodied with its first gash and sodden with ghastly hues of moonlit ruby. Hazy now, Jem felt a plunging invasion in his chest, and he tried to bring his hand up to stem the blood he could feel seeping slowly out. He had lost control of his body at this stage, however, and could only fall back helplessly as the great knife rose, to plummet rapidly again. Where it fell for its third blow, he was never to know for at that moment, his world disappeared and everthing became night.

The intruder vanished. Only the sound of a gentle, frightened, childlike sobbing filled the room and very soon, that too disappeared.

 


#50:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:42 am


Shocked

errrr....gosh! didn't see that coming
who was it?!

 


#51:  Author: RosyLocation: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:43 am


*meeeeep*

*hides*


Blimey!

 


#52:  Author: RoseaLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:00 am


Wow! I wonder if that was Joey's wholesale plan...

 


#53:  Author: RobinLocation: London PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:29 am


oooh this is very creepy
glad that Jem has had his come-uppance though..

thanks

 


#54:  Author: Carolyn PLocation: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:44 pm


Did Joey really do that? Shocked

 


#55:  Author: RosieLocation: Huntingdonshire/Bangor PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 3:02 pm


Golly.

 


#56:  Author: LyanneLocation: Ipswich, England PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 4:58 pm


Carolyn P wrote
Quote:
Did Joey really do that?

Well, it's certainly wholesale. Gulp.

 


#57:  Author: nikkieLocation: Cumbria PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:58 pm


Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked
I didn't see that coming either

 


#58:  Author: EilidhLocation: Macclesfield PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:59 pm


Joey? Or Madge? Or even Juliet?

Thanks Róisín.

 


#59:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:16 pm


Wonderful mystery! Thanks Róisín.

 


#60:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:17 am


Thanks Róisín

*wonders who the knife-wielder was*

Liz

 


#61:  Author: MoraLocation: Lancaster PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:48 pm


Shocked Eek! And wow, I wasn't expecting that. He certainly had something nasty coming to him...

 


#62:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:25 pm


That was definitely an unexpected twist. Thanks for surprising us.

 


#63:  Author: AllyLocation: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 3:01 pm


Oooh this is rather fab and a great surprise, thanks Róisín
Very Happy

 


#64:  Author: AlexLocation: Hunts, UK PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:46 pm


I wonder if he was killed in error for someone else? As however wholesale Joey is, I can't see her doing it; I don't think the Robin is a knife-wielding maniac in this drabble Wink and Madge's plans seemed to be to improve the marriage, not to kill Jem. Hmmmm.

More!

 


#65:  Author: AnnLocation: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 11:57 pm


Intriguing! Along with everyone else, I didn't expect that!

 


#66:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:34 am


The room was utterly silent, even Angelica O’Hagan’s hysterics having ceased for a time. A Garda Síochána, as a policeman was called in Ireland, paced the room, taking notes in his little pad. Everyone was present bar the Robin, who had been in a sleep from which they could not rouse her since she had been found huddled in the corner of Jem’s bedroom that morning. Niamh sat and watched over her. A local doctor had been sent for and he was on his way.

The Garda, Daithí Clancy, looked around. They were a strange family, he thought to himself. He had seen many tragedies in his job but the reactions of this doctor’s family members were startling. He was struck by the ... lack of emotion that he thought he could feel. The sixteen-year-old, for example. Her eyes were huge black pools of ink and shiny, had he but known it, with unshed tears. Her skin was stretched across her face like white rice paper. She stood next to the wife. Mrs. Russell concentrated on her baby who was asleep in her arms. She hadn’t stopped clutching that baby since his arrival. Her eyes told him that she was feeling frightened, but he put this down to shock.

He turned towards the huge Victorian fireplace in which flames merrily blazed oblivious to the room and its occupants. Standing near it were the tall, fair girl and a young man he presumed to be her beau. Her lips were clenched in a straight line and her eyes were deadly serious, though bloodshot from crying. Her young man looked confused but was devoting himself to comforting her.

On the chaise longue sat the lady of the house, Mrs. O’Hagan, with her husband. She had only recently stopped bawling loudly and feverishly, though whether it was the death of her reputation in the city, or of the doctor, she was mourning, he couldn’t tell. Soothing her was her husband, a well known lord from County Cork, if he used his title. Garda Clancy couldn’t see this man’s face as it was bent over his wife’s. Curled up on the floor was another girl, who looked to be sixteen or seventeen as well. She was so like Mrs. O’Hagan in her features that he at once assumed her to be their daughter. Worry was the most prominent emotion in her face, he thought. She kept wringing her hands in the most repetitive fashion. Behind the chaise longue a tall, brawny servant stood to attention – some kind of butler or manservant, he presumed. Sighing, he turned away.

Tapping his pencil on his notepad, the Garda summarised the situation in his own mind. Witnesses. He had only one that he knew of, and she was an eight year old girl. What was more, she was in a coma for the unforeseeable future. And when, or if, she woke, he had to take into account that it was dark in that room and she may not have any information for him at all. Evidence. He had taken possession of the dead doctor’s things and had found some letters and notes there that he would go through later, back in the station. The weapon had not been recovered and the killer had left no other trace that he could find. The body was waiting to be examined by a pathologist – there might perhaps be some clues there. Suspects. He looked around the room again. The window of the doctor’s room had been undisturbed and no door of the house had been opened all night. It looked to have been an inside job. But who? Running fingers through dishevelled red hair, he sighed. He needed some coffee before he could untangle this mess. In the same moment, he decided he also needed some help with this case.

“Hev youse any coffee dair, madam,” he addressed Mrs. O’Hagan in a broad and nasal city accent. The lady of the house fluttered her handkerchief in the direction of her eyes before reaching to ring a bell. Presently, Fionnuala would bring coffee and barm brack, but until then Garda Clancy spent his time using the telephone in the study to call on someone who might be better able than he to find a criminal so hardened and callous that they would be capable of killing a brother, a friend or a lover.

 


#67:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:39 am


Oh, so many suspects! And poor Robin a witness! But what was she doing in Jem's room anyway?

Thanks Róisín, wonderful mystery.

 


#68:  Author: nikkieLocation: Cumbria PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:41 pm


Shocked Confused Shocked Confused Shocked Confused
I'm confuzzled
Thanks Roisin

 


#69:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:55 pm


This drabble seems to have turned into a murder mystery - no complaints about that at all! I'm really enjoying this drabble.

 


#70:  Author: AlexLocation: Hunts, UK PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:08 pm


Are we going to recognise this new detective from somewhere else? The only Irish fictional detective I can think of is Sr Fidelma and I don't think she'll fit with the timeline somehow!

 


#71:  Author: Cath V-PLocation: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:42 am


Oooh, how exciting!

 


#72:  Author: Margot's DevilLocation: Sydney, Australia PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:12 am


Ooooer, this story is very interesting!
I love whodunnits
more please!! reading

 


#73:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:04 am


Beangarda (for so the female police force were known in Ireland) Carmel McCarthy steepled her fingers in a reflective movement and pursed a prettily lipsticked mouth.
“I’ve interviewed the women, Daithí,” she addressed her colleague. “The impression I get from Mrs. Russell is that the marriage was not a happy one, although she was at pains to prove to me that it was.”
He nodded.
“And the younger girls,” she went on. “They seem to know nothing, although Miss Carrick seems to hold some bad feeling toward the dead doctor.”
Garda Clancy interrupted her here, “An’ dair is of course, the nature of the killin’.” Carmel’s high-plucked eyebrows raised inquiringly.
“The pathologist’s results got back half an hour ago. The doctor first received a stab wound to the groin, which effectively sliced off the penis and one of the testicles. The attacker then targeted the heart before finishing him off with a cut throat.” Carmel gasped at the viciousness of the crime.
“Of course, youse know what this means,” Daithí rejoined.
She nodded slowly, “Tackling those areas of the body means it was a love-murder...”
“...and an Irish one at tha’,” he finished for her. “Thing is, all the women in the group are English, and would, I presume, know nothing of our ancient custom of the three-fold death.”
“Unless they had studied Irish history, that is. Are any of them crazy on history?”
“I doubt they are, Carmel. And that’s not all, youse know. I’ve just finished going through the dead man’s possessions.” He laid some papers out on the long oak dining-table, for they were using the O’Hagan’s dining room for their conference.

Carmel’s eyes swept through the little collection. She held a cable in her hand for a long minute, then exclaimed, “Blackmail! His sanatorium was in trouble. He must have been here to try and get money somehow...” She tapped the tabletop with an elegantly long, shiny-red fingernail and closed her eyes. Daithí pulled another paper from the pile on the table.
“I couldn’t think meself what he could blackmail about, until I found this. It wasn’t in the doctor’s possessions. I found it in the master bedroom.” He handed the letter to Carmel, who scanned it rapidly.
“Hmm. It doesn’t say who it’s to and the signature is just an initial, but you look like you have an inkling. So, tell me, who was having a torrid affair with whom?”
Daithí’s eyes twinkled, “I think it was O’Hagan’s manservant, Brian Kiely.”

“Oh?” Carmel squinted at the letter again. “And who was he writing to?”

 


#74:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:14 am


This gets more and more intriguing! Shocked Shocked

 


#75:  Author: RobinLocation: London PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:14 am


euw, gruesome!
But v intriguing!

 


#76:  Author: JoeyLocation: Cambridge PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:18 am


Róisín wrote:
“Are any of them crazy on history?”
“I doubt they are, Carmel.”


That would be Joey, then.

This is hilarious, Roìsìn - keep it coming!

ETA: Oo, I have two stars! When did that happen?

 


#77:  Author: AllyLocation: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:26 am


Im very intrigued! This is excellent Róisín, thanks Very Happy

 


#78:  Author: Elle PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:41 pm


Gosh! What will happen next?? This is getting quite worrying! I think Jem had it coming though!


hammer hammer poke poke

 


#79:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:21 pm


Thanks Róisín

*starts working through clues*

The O'Hagen's & staff are Irish
Juliet has an Irish friend
Madge & Jo have an Irish sister-in-law
Donal is Irish

So any of them could have heard of the Irish custom

Jo is into history and wanted revenge
Madge wanted to do something about her marriage
Juliet had been nearly assaulted by Jem

Plus throw in the blackmail, somebody having an affair with the manservant and there's loads of possible motives

I'm going to suspect Robin I think! Maybe her mother was really executed for murder!

Liz

 


#80:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:24 pm


I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next. This drabble has a really good plot.

 


#81:  Author: KatLocation: Swansea PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:19 pm


Thank you Róisín! Just read through from the start - totally intrigued by where this is going! Hope you manage to update again soon!

 


#82:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:55 pm


Deira O’Hagan screwed the rag that had been her handkerchief into her eyes harder,
“It’s not true! I’ve told you already, I would never do such a thing!”
“Oh? Do youse really expect me to believe tha’, Miss O’Hagan? Look at you – you’re a young woman now, with a young woman’s needs and desires. If you weren’t with your father’s manservant, then where were you when Dr. Russell arrived to this house?” Garda Clancy folded his arms and his eyebrows drew towards each other in an impatient gesture. Then, in a softer voice, “We’ve found the letter, Deira.”
Deira’s eyes opened wide but she continued to shake her head. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about at all, at all. I don’t know anything about a letter... I don’t!” she became slightly hysterical at his insistent manner. Sighing, the Garda nodded towards the door. “Send in Mr. Kiely, if you will.”
Deira scrambled up and fled out the door. Outside, she found Niamh pressed up against the wall, waiting. Though surprised, Deira thought nothing of it, and bade her find Mr. Kiely and send him in to the detective. Niamh flushed and nodded.

Daithí stood alone in the room. This was proving more difficult than he had thought. The motive was there – he believed that Brian Kiely had killed the doctor because the doctor had either caught them and threatened him with blackmail, or caught them and threatened Deira’s parents with blackmail. But without an admission from either of the lovers, his case fell to pieces.

His interview with Mr. Kiely proved fruitless also. That man claimed that he had never before been alone with Deira in a room, was not in love with her and would never think of it. His master, Mr. O’Hagan, he informed Garda Clancy, was extremely strict with his servants and they were not allowed to carry on intimate relationships with each other, never mind with members of the family they served. The Garda wrote all this down in his notebook and then dismissed him.

The doorknob clicked and he spun around to find Mr. O’Hagan.
“You have upset my daughter, sir, and I will not have it.”
“Mr. O’Hagan! Come in and sit down, sir, if you will,” Daithí smiled tiredly but patiently. “The investigations are going nowhere today, I’m afraid. I’m thinking we will call it a night, sleep on it, and begin again tomorrow.”

“Oh? And what, may I ask, have you concluded so far? What evidence has been presented and who are on your list of suspects?”
Daithí gave the man a strange look.
“Sir, it is my house and the reputation of my family is at stake here. I mean to get to the bottom of it and then release it from our lives as soon as possible,” Mr. O’Hagan’s eyes were strict. “Mrs. Russell wishes to return as soon as possible to her home and her school, before any of this damages the girls in her care further,” he paused.
“I understand, but you must be understanding too that a serious crime has taken place. The evidence and the list of suspects are confidential, as is usual in these matters.”
“Hmm,” Deira’s father made an impatient sound. “I understand alright. There is nothing and no-one without a price. What, Garda Clancy, is yours?”
Daithí’s eyes opened wide. Silently, he pushed the remaining papers from the pile on the table into his suitcase and made for the door.
“I will pretend you did not say those words, Mr. O’Hagan, and I advise you to do the same. I leave now to confer with my partner and I will see you in the morning. Good bye.”

Mr. O’Hagan’s eyes followed him out the door. Had Daithí turned around, he might have seen despair in them, or fear, or anxiety. He might have thought, when he saw these things, that Mr. O’Hagan was a man who cared deeply about his family and their future. But he saw none of this. Instead he headed for the station, and Carmel.

 


#83:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:53 pm


Poor Deira

Thanks Róisín

Liz

 


#84:  Author: nikkieLocation: Cumbria PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:02 pm


Gruesome murder
very intruiged
Thanks Roisin

 


#85:  Author: RoseaLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:15 pm


This is a wonderul mystery story - thanks Roisin.

 


#86:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:05 pm


Excellent mystery - thank you.

 


#87:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:35 pm


Hiyo,
Just thought I'd drop into my own drabble, installment-free, to answer a few questions ye have been posting:

Clare: It is set in the Tyrol years, specifically in the middle of Eustacia, if you need an exact time, although in the EBD Eustacia, of course, other things happen in half term...

Jennie: Madge’s spine may have been exactly like this – she was missing from most of the action from the wedding on in, so...!

Lesley: If you read back a bit, you’ll see that Robin had a chill and was sleeping in Jem’s dressing-room so as to be having him close to hand if she took a turn for the worse.


Last edited by Róisín on Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:52 am; edited 1 time in total

 


#88:  Author: MoraLocation: Lancaster PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:19 am


Róisín wrote:
Also *snigger* I've left clues all the way since the first entry *smug snigger*


Well they're the very best kind of mystery clues then- the kind that we can't work out! I'm sure they'll become glaringly obvious afterwards but I for one am totally baffled. I'll re-read all the posts and try harder.
You're very hard to criticise Roisin. You've got a very good writing style, you dangle us off cliffs and keep us hooked. Of course, there could always be more... Wink

 


#89:  Author: Cath V-PLocation: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:30 am


Great stuff Roisin. Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

 


#90:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:12 am


Great update, thanks. Poor Jem, but he did sort of deserve it!

I think it's Madge!

 


#91:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:51 am


“Alright, Miss Carrick, that’s enough. I have all I need. Return to your lodgings and please don’t have more to do with Mr. O’Hara than you can, in the next twenty four hours,” Carmel smiled kindly at the distraught young woman seated in front of her. It had taken a lot for Juliet to approach the beangarda with her dreadful suspicions. She had been through so much in the past few days and, though her mind was traumatised, she believed that she could decipher the truth. Donal had fallen madly in love with her and, enraged at the doctor’s behaviour, had carried out a passionate killing. After discussing it tearfully with Madge, she had decided to place her trust in Beangarda McCarthy.

Carmel watched the door swing shut behind the girl. Pursing lips that today were coloured a deep maroon, she tried to puzzle out how she would tell Daithí what had just happened. That man was still convinced that the love note and the cable were at the centre of the crime. This new suspicion would disregard all the evidence so far. There was also the problem of how Mr. O’Hara had gotten into the house, for the doors had been locked tight. She resolved not to come to any conclusions until after their conference.

***
While Carmel deliberated thus down at the station, Daithí was putting in some time going over the dead doctor’s room again. The body had been removed to a morgue, but other than this, the bedchamber was undisturbed. Even the little dressing-room where the little girl had been sleeping still had its cherry-red coverlet thrown back where she had left it. His mind wandered to her now. She lay in an upstairs bedroom, far away from noise and disturbance. Miss Bettany sat with her constantly and the local doctor’s visits were regular. Late last night, she had shown some signs of wakefulness, but had lapsed again shortly after. Scrubbing tired eyes, he wished again that she would wake and put an end to the investigation.

He left the room on a mission for some strong coffee. Entering the empty drawing-room, his hand went towards the bell before he remembered that Fionnuala had been sent on an errand. He didn’t know how the kitchens of the great townhouse worked and was too impatient to find any of the family, so he walked down in their direction himself.

Through the corridors and down narrow stairs he wandered, til he came to a big door, half open. At the sound of voices, he paused. A woman was sobbing.

“Oh, Brian, what’s going to happen to us? What can we do?”
There came the sound of a hand stroking fabric and then a deeper voice answered. “My love,” he kissed her here. “We must leave. If we are found out we will be forced to go, and our reputations tarnished forever. Come with me!” he urged.
“But where will we go?”
“My brother’s works as a butler in a big house in County Meath. He may get us positions...”
“Leave my family?” At this the woman dissolved into anguished tears again.
“Oh, Niamh, don’t look at it like that!”

He may have gone on trying to persuade her, but at that moment Garda Clancy entered the room.
“Niamh! Niamh! You! And Niamh!”
The lovers looked at him, too surprised to say anything. Then, regaining his composure, Brian Kiely addressed him imploringly, “You won’t be letting on to the master, will you, Garda? Please. It would be meaning the end for us if you did.”
Daithí was too flabbergasted to reply at once. Niamh added her own, tearful plea.
Hurriedly Daithí answered, “No, no, of course not. It’s none of my business, I suppose, and nobody else’s either. Only, Kiely, why didn’t you just tell me, like, in the interview?”
“I couldn’t be risking it,” Mr. Kiely responded sombrely. “Niamh means the world to me.”
Daithí fished around in his pocket for a moment, then pulled out a scrap of paper. “And this, this was written by you?”
The couple looked at it, intrigued. Recognition dawned in Mr. Kiely’s face, but Niamh remained blank.
“It’s mine,” he owned. “I wrote it to Niamh but didn’t send it. I thought the language too flowery and wrote another version. Where did you get this? Have you been searching my rooms?”
“No, I haven’t. If you don’t mind, Mr. Kiely, I’d like to hang on to it for a time. It may be crucial in solving our mystery.”
Mr. Kiely assented and Garda Clancy left the room, coffee forgotten, with a new glimmer of understanding in his eyes.

 


#92:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:30 am


Interesting - and I still have no idea - never any good at solving Agatha Christie books either!

 


#93:  Author: Elle PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:51 am


I am useless at detective stories too, I suppose that is why I enjoy them so much.

I am enjoying this one too, thanks!








(Double posts deleted, Elle - Lesley with Mod hat on!)

 


#94:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:48 pm


Thanks Róisín

Curiouser and curiouser

Liz

 


#95:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 1:09 pm


wow Roísín I'm very impressed

and very confuddled!!!

more soon please

 


#96:  Author: LadyGuinevereLocation: Leicester PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:02 pm


So Juliet thinks it's Donal? Interesting....

does that mean it's not him? Lol Smile

 


#97:  Author: Emma ALocation: The Soke of Peterborough PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:07 pm


Hmm. I think it's very unlikely to be Donal, whatever Juliet thinks - how could he have got into the house? Feel suspicious of Mrs O'Hagan, but not necessarily for the murder.

Anyway, this is really intriguing, Roisin (sorry I can't do the accents) - please post some more.

 


#98:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:25 pm


Thanks for answering my question, Roisin. I am looking forward to finding out what happens next.

 


#99:  Author: LianeLocation: Manchester England PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:59 pm


Just found this!
*Another who can't solve mysteries*
More please

 


#100:  Author: RroseSelavyLocation: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 2:29 pm


This has me hooked - thanks Roisin!

Have some suspicions but will probably turn out to be completely wrong Very Happy

 


#101:  Author: Tiffany PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 4:53 pm


Ohhh, this is very intriguing! I'm never any good at picking up clues until it's too late... Laughing

 


#102:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:32 pm


His eyes were bloodshot and wild as he flicked feverishly through the small stack of papers. Picking up a small cablegram, he scanned its details about funding for the sanatorium, before casting it to one side. He had never seen it before and it held no interest for him. Pulling a thick finger across the stretched skin of his forehead, unfeeling of the thick veneer of sweat there, he picked up what looked like a letter. Aha! This he had seen before. This meant that Garda Clancy had been in his bedroom. Though this letter had not started Mr. O’Hagan on his bloody path, it had been the catalyst to the killing itself. No, he thought grimly to himself, what had begun it all was hearing that monster of a doctor seduce and deflower his little girl. He had heard them! He cast his mind back to that grim day that he and Juliet had arrived at the townhouse, a day earlier than Mrs. Russell and her clan. Knowing that the doctor would be there already, Mr. O’Hagan had gone to greet him but had stopped in the corridor on hearing the hot and passionate sounds that filtered through the walnut panelling. A quick look into Dr. Russell’s empty bedroom confirmed for Mr. O’Hagan that Jem was the principal partner in the secret tryst. Heavy eyebrows, that had been scratched and pulled into frightened untidiness, drew down over the wild eyes. Deira had been due to be presented to the English Queen! At the English court! In May! Knowing her presentation into society couldn’t be ruined, for her own or her family’s sake, Mr. O’Hagan had resolved that it wouldn’t. What kind of father would have let the scoundrel who raped his daughter live?

***
Madge and Joey sat close together next to the Robin’s bed.
“I feel so guilty, Madgee,” Joey sobbed piteously. “The night that Jem died... I, I, wanted him dead, I did!”
“Hush, Joey-baba,” Madge whispered softly, stroking the gleaming shingled bob that normally sat above her small sister’s shoulders but which was now standing on end. “He didn’t suffer. The pathologist said that death would have been fairly instant. None of it was your fault.”
“But, Madge,” Joey insisted.
“Yes, my darling?”
“I... I haven’t been able to say the Our Father ever since.”
“Honey, you’ve had a bad shock. If you had come through unscathed, then I should be worried. You just need time. We all do,” here Madge moved her gaze to somewhere distant and reflected. Life without Jem would be strange. She had loved him, but that love had come to be replaced by tolerance, and finally, dread. On the whole, she was glad he was gone, and she looked forward to reclaiming her old position as actual Head of the school she had started. She turned to Joey.
“Dying,” Madge imparted in soft tones to the young head buried in her lap, “is just falling asleep to wake with God, Joey. Jem is with God now, and happy, and safe. And when we see him again, it will be with a smile upon our faces, for we will be in Paradise.”

Joey lifted her head and her eyes were saucers of black ink. Thoughtfully screwing her lips up into a most unbecoming gesture, she had been about to reply to Madge’s words of wisdom when a flicker of the plumeaux interrupted her. Madge saw it too and both girl and woman turned to the bed, faces full of nervous anticipation. Would the Robin wake up to a natural state or, as they feared most terribly, to fever and delirium?

 


#103:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:14 pm


Oh and another cliff - and possibly murder due to mistaken identity?

Thanks Róisín

 


#104:  Author: JoeyLocation: Cambridge PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:16 am


Oo, this is so good, Róisín. Thank you.

 


#105:  Author: JennieLocation: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:13 am


Please post some more soon, Roisin, I want the solution to the mystery.

 


#106:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:04 pm


“Run downstairs and fetch the doctor, Joey,” Madge bade her as she leaned over the cot. The Robin’s eyes were fluttering most anxiously now, as she strove to wake. With a brief nod, Joey ran from the room, and presently Madge heard many footsteps hurriedly approaching.

The door flew open and a veritable crowd burst in. All the occupants of the house had been anxious about the school baby, as she had captured them utterly with her childlike angelic beauty and ready, open manner. The doctor ran to her side and took up her wrist, applying another instrument to her little chest.
“Out! All of you, except Mrs. Russell,” he added with a sympathetic glance in Madge’s direction. Joey roundly ignored him but, as she knelt next to her sister, she escaped his notice. Only Garda Clancy remained in the room.

Presently, the Robin opened her eyes slowly and her easy smile curled upwards.
“Tante Guito. Zoe.” she murmured sleepily. “But I am hungry!” The little girl turned her head slightly and saw the doctor. “Mais, Herr Doktor. May I have some milk please?”
The Dublin doctor chuckled and nodded. “You may be having whatever you wish, my crathereen.” He nodded at Madge, whose face was looking very much relieved, to step outside the door with him for a moment. Garda Clancy caught the look and was about to move aside from the door, when it burst open.

“Is she awake?” a hoarse, deep voice preceded the rough inquiry. Pushing past Daithí, Mr. O’Hagan entered the room. A fraction of a moment after the rest of the faces of the room had looked up, surprised at both the sudden entrance and the dishevelled appearance of their host, the Robin stirred in her blankets and turned around.

Her eyes opened wide. Into the silence of the nursery she injected a most horrific and blood-curdling scream. It lasted some seconds and when it was over, she dissolved into hysteric sobs and a garbled mixture of French and Polish patois.

Garda Clancy had his answer. Grabbing Mr. O’Hagan’s wrists, he held them together in preparation for handcuffs. Before he could act further, Joey looked up from comforting the Robin.

“She says to come away from that man,” she leaned in again. “She says he has a terrible knife and that he had blood – at least, I think that’s what she meant.” Joey cast a frightened glance at Madge. “I say, Madge, the baby’s trying to say that Deira’s father killed Jem!” Madge registered the mix of horror and doubting disbelief on the teenager’s face. Being older and more experienced than Joey, she privately was unsurprised. Mr. O’Hagan’s behaviour in the last few hours had been extremely odd. She was still shocked that such a thing had happened, but convinced that the Robin had witnessed truly.

“I don’t think the children need to see anymore,” Madge said firmly. How easily her old resolve had returned with Jem’s disappearance! Garda Clancy nodded and led the criminal off to the nether regions of the house for some intensive questioning, before wiring Carmel to come and help him break the news to the rest of the man’s family.

Madge arranged for the doctor to prescribe soothing medicines to both Joey and the Robin, and was rewarded by soon seeing them fast asleep together. She knew the strong, clear, alpine air, along with plenty of love and support, would soon remedy any vestiges of this awful half-term holiday.
“I jolly well won’t fret!” she told herself steadily as she looked down at her charges, two asleep in the bed and one asleep in her arms. “I’m all these kiddies have. After the reunion that Juliet and Donal enjoyed this evening, I don’t think I’ll have her to worry about much longer. So fret I will jolly well not!”

Gazing out the window onto the early morning grey drizzle, she thought of the journey that lay ahead of her. After the train had left them in Innsbruck, a new life waited for her at Briesau, the tiny hamlet where the school stood on the shores of the gloriously blue Tiernsee. Thoughts of resolutions enchanted her, and she fell asleep with a smile upon her lovely face, a little older, wiser and more worn than it had been a week ago, but hopeful yet. And she dreamed of new beginnings.

 


#107:  Author: Tiffany PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:14 pm


Gosh! Shocked Shocked Thanks Roisin! (sorry, I can't make it do the fada thingies on the i's...)

 


#108:  Author: JoyfulLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:48 pm


Ooh...thanks Róisín! Very Happy

 


#109:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:28 pm


Thanks Róisín

Glad Madge is looking forward positively to the future

Liz

 


#110:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:21 pm


Thanks for such a great ending, Roisin. I'm glad that Madge and her family will be able to live peacefully now.

 


#111:  Author: Cath V-PLocation: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 9:08 am


Thank you Roisin. this is great!! Very Happy

 


#112:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 5:15 pm


Thanks Róisín - are you sure it's complete though? I'm sure you must be able to think of more to write! Wink

 


#113:  Author: SugarplumLocation: second star to the right! PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:29 am


That was great thanks ! Just read the whole lot and it was really good.

 


#114:  Author: AllyLocation: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:53 pm


Oooh a great ending, thanks Róisín Very Happy

 




The CBB -> St Hild's Sitting Room


output generated using printer-friendly topic mod, All times are GMT + 1 Hour

Page 1 of 1

Powered by phpBB 2.0.6 © 2001,2002 phpBB Group