Iris Pierce Mysteries

Part 11

'If he doesn't know Beatrice Banks than we've just lost our only suspect,' Howard said as we walked up to the agency building. 'It's a key piece of information. All we know is that Beatrice Banks was stabbed but we don't know by who! And then there is the circumstances of Elizabeth's murder. No weapon, she was strangled. So I wonder if our callous killer has any preferred method of killing.'

Howard turned the key in the lock and the door swung open revealing a living room that could not have possibly belonged to Howard. The table was overturned and the cushions flung to opposite corners of the room. The kitchen cupboards open, exposing the cracked plates stacked into a terrifyingly wobbly tower. It was like a tornado had made its way through the house. Howard ignored all the mess and displaced items and went straight to his office.

The door was unlocked, most likely by someone skilled with a bobby pin. 'Howard-' I began. The office was a total disaster. His desk was spilled over and the filing cabinet was on its side. Papers strewn all over the floor, drawers pulled out-someone had come in here knowing exactly what they were looking for.
'The evidence, locket, papers-they're all gone!' Howard exclaimed. His face was a mix of horror and frustration.

Howard knelt down and turned his attention to something on the floor. I joined him and found myself looking at something oddly familiar. It was a pin with a pale pink blossom on one end. I remembered seeing it recently. And then it came to me. 'Mrs Martin's pin,' I said. Howard turned his gaze to me, excitement burning in his eyes. As if he hadn't been robbed at all, Howard seemed incredibly pleased with a new lead. The anger had been forgotten. 'Call Robert. We've got our new suspect.'

➿

By the time Rowena and Hampton arrived back home, Howard and I had more or less tidied up the living room. The rest of the house was yet to be cleaned. 'What happened here? The kitchen looks a mess!' Rowena exclaimed. We had lost all our photographs, papers, the locket which Edward Martin had claimed to have owned but on the other hand, we had found incriminating evidence that Hilda Martin, wife of Edward, had robbed our agency.
Howard ignored Rowena's inquiry and busied himself with Hampton's notes and spread them out on the table. 'You see, I put everything in order from Elizabeth's death to the robbery of the evidence. And I'm starting to make sense of it all. But first, Robert, Rowena, tell us about the Black Lodge.'
Rowena, Howard and Hampton all sat down on the couches and I joined them after bringing the tea. I sipped my tea while Hampton talked, Howard leaned forward and had his hand running through his hair several times in worry and Rowena-well she was unruffled like nothing remotely displeasing had occurred today.

'Me and Rowena met up with an officer of Jesperson's. Miss Bank's body was removed, he informed me an autopsy would take place on Monday.'
'Anything about why the lodge was a mess?' I asked. I had picked up a pen and paper and was noting everything down. No doubt the page looked like it was scribbled on by a child, mainly because I was studying my boss's expression, Hampton's as well. I may see them everyday and work with them but that didn't mean I could trust every word that came out of their mouth. Everyone had secrets, I was no different.

As he spoke, I sensed annoyance. Perhaps it was the lengthiness of this case. 'The way things were thrown over the place, just like your house Howard, I think someone was looking for something. Perhaps it was another attempt at robbery, but nothing was taken.'

'But why do they destroy the house? Isn't it better to be subtle?' I asked.
'Creating a huge mess and basically destroying anything in the house makes it harder to realise what's missing,' replied Hampton.

'Do you think, whoever trashed the Black Lodge was looking for the same thing as when they came through here?' Rowena asked the very question in my mind.

'It's extremely possible,' Howard said, 'that they were searching for the locket. It is a piece of incriminating evidence. Hilda Martin might have searched the lodge for her husband's locket, conscious of his killings, but of course she couldn't have found it because we had the locket. This all would've had to happen before Beatrice Banks returned back home from the police station. And then Hilda had come here after we visited the Martins, knowing that we had the locket. All we need to arrest her is a motive and her movements today, yesterday and the third of July.'

It was just a theory and may or may not have been true. The thing with this case is there are barely any suspects! Our first suspect has been murdered and the other two seem to never have met the victims! It was incredibly difficult to make sense of any of the information we find. All of it just feels like a puzzle with pieces missing.

Howard thought for a while, walking around the living room, taking quick glances at the notes of Edward's, Thea and Colette's interrogation. 'I think I can put everything in order from Elizabeth's death to the robbery.

'Enlighten us all Howard,' Hampton said, rubbing his eyes. I could tell he was tired. It was just like the detectives to spend nights reviewing information like they were afraid of a pop quiz the next day. I could only imagine what Howard was feeling right now. His home and personal space had been invaded, his belongings searched through things taken. But he wasn't panicking or looking worried. He just looked like Howard. The man we all relied on in this agency.

'Elizabeth died on the third of July around 2 PM. This is why Beatrice Banks told us that she had not been at home at the time the first time we interviewed her. She told us she was at the grocery store but the story was nothing but claptrap.' Howard was pacing the room, thoughts and theories buzzing around in this mind. 'After we found Elizabeth's body dumped in the pond-thanks to Iris, we learned that a man strangled Elizabeth to death.' Howard's sudden excitement and burst of energy had galvanised the rest of us, fatigued and wanting to rest, into putting together the facts. Still, I knew the others didn't take kindly into me keeping vital information from them so I decided to keep quiet unless I needed to say something. 'After being arrested, Beatrice accidentally let slip that she was protecting her son. That provides a motive for Edward to kill her. So that he wouldn't be found out.'

Howard sat down as Hampton began to speak.'While you and Iris were at the police station talking to Beatrice, Rowena and I had gone to the Black Lodge to see if any other clues could be found that connect to the locket.' Hampton was in his spirit. Connecting the dots, setting the scene for the perfect murder. 'If what Iris says is true, then the murderer didn't trash the lodge so there must have been a second person. That person would've come after Rowena and I left and before Miss Banks died so around two to five in the afternoon. Beatrice Banks was only half an hour dead when Iris and Rowena found her.'

'But what would be the motive for a son to kill his own mother in the first place? Revenge for putting him up for adoption?' Rowena interjected. I was wondering this too. But Edward had assured us that he had never met Miss Banks. So could it have been that someone with a grudge against Elizabeth and Miss Banks posed as her son, knowing she couldn't have recognised him to get close to her? Or maybe Edward was lying and I wasn't able to detect it.

'The thing is Rowena, Robert, Edward had never actually met his mother.' Howard said. Immediately Hampton's face turned into confusion. I suppose that fact eliminates one of his main suspects, leaving him with a robber, not a murderer.

'But then who could have murdered the two women?' Rowena questioned.
'The answer to that question will come in due time but first, we need to have a chat with Hilda Martin.'

First of all, are you enjoying the story so far? Do the Martins seem suspicious to you?