Yours, Hester
He had found it impossible to rest. An hour later he had made himself a hot drink and was pacing the study floor trying to formulate a strategy for the next day. Eventually, he went back to bed and sank into a deep sleep, when it seemed immediately time to get up.
His head ached and his mouth was dry. His manservant brought him breakfast, but he ate only toast and drank a cup of tea, then left straightaway for the courtroom. He was far too early, and the time he had expected to use in preparing himself he wasted in pointless moving from one place to another, and conversation from which he learned nothing.
Tobias was in excellent spirits. He passed Rathbone in the corridor and wished him well with a wry smile. He would have preferred a little fight of it. Such an easy victory was of little savor.
The gallery was half empty again. The public had already made up their minds, and the few spectators present were there only to see justice done and taste a certain vengeance. The startling exceptions to this were Lucius and Harry Stourbridge, who sat towards the front, side by side, and even at a distance, very obviously supporting each other in silent companionship of anguish.
The judge called the court to order.
"Have you any further witnesses, Sir Oliver?" he asked.
"Yes, my lord. I would like to call Hester Monk."
Tobias looked across curiously.
The judge raised his eyebrows, but with no objection.
Rathbone smiled very slightly.
The usher called for Hester.
She took the stand looking tired and pale-faced, but absolutely confident, and she very deliberately turned and looked up towards the dock and nodded to both Cleo and Miriam. Then she waited for Rathbone to begin.
Rathbone cleared his throat. "Mrs. Monk, were you in court yesterday when Mrs. Anderson testified to the extraordinary story Miriam Gardiner told when she was first found bleeding and hysterical on Hampstead Heath twenty-two years ago?"
"Yes, I was."
"Did you follow any course of action because of that?"
"Yes, I went to look for the body of the woman Miriam said she saw murdered."
Tobias made a sound of derision, halfway between a cough and a snort.
The judge leaned forward enquiringly. "Sir Oliver, is this really relevant at this stage?"
"Yes, my lord, most relevant," Rathbone answered with satisfaction. At last there was a warmth inside him, a sense that he could offer a battle. Assuredly, he could startle the equanimity from Tobias’s face.
"Then please make that apparent," the judge directed.
"Yes, my lord. Mrs. Monk, did you find a body?"
The court was silent, but not in anticipation. He barely had the jurors’ attention.
"Yes, Sir Oliver, I did."
Tobias started forward, jerking upright from the seat where he had been all but sprawled.
There was a wave of sound and movement from the gallery, a hiss of indrawn breath.
The judge leaned across to Hester. "Do I hear you correctly, madam? You say you found a body?"
"Yes, my lord. Of course, I was not alone. I took Sergeant Michael Robb with me from the beginning. It was actually he who found it."
"This is very serious indeed." He frowned at her, his face pinched and earnest. "Where is the body now and what can you tell me of it?"
"It is in the police morgue in Hampstead, my lord, and my knowledge of it is closely observed, but only as a nurse, not a doctor."
"You are a nurse?" He was astounded.
"Yes, my lord. I served in the Crimea."
"Good gracious." He sat back. "Sir Oliver, you had better proceed. But before you do so, I will have order in this court. The next man or woman to make an unwarranted noise will be removed! Continue."
"Thank you, my lord." Rathbone turned to Hester. "Where did you find the body, Mrs. Monk, precisely?"
"In a hollow tree on Hampstead Heath," she replied. "We started walking from Mrs. Anderson’s house on Green Man Hill, looking for the sort of place where a body might be concealed, assuming that Mrs. Gardiner’s story was true."
"What led you to look in a hollow tree?"
There was total silence in the court. Not a soul moved.
"A bird’s nest with a lot of human hair woven into it, caught in one of the lower branches of a tree near it," Hester answered. "We searched all around until we found the hollow one. Sergeant Robb climbed up and found the hole. Of course, the area will have grown over a great deal in twenty-two years. It could have been easier to see, to get to, then."
"And the body?" Rathbone pursued. "What can you tell us of it?"
She looked distressed; the memory was obviously painful. Her hands tightened on the railing, and she took a deep breath before she began.
"There was only skeleton. Her clothes had largely rotted away, only buttons were left of her dress, and the bones of her... undergarments. Her boots were badly damaged, but there was still more than enough to be recognizable. All the buttons to them were whole and attached to what was left of the leather. They were unusual, and rather good."
She stood motionless, steadying herself before she continued. "To judge by what hair we found, she would have been a woman in her forties or fifties. She had a terrible hole in her skull, as if she had been beaten with some heavy object so hard it killed her."
"Thank you," Rathbone said quietly. "You must be tired and extremely harrowed by the experience."
She nodded.
Rathbone turned to Tobias.
Tobias strode forward, shaking his head a little. When he spoke his voice was soft. He was far too wily to be less than courteous to her. She had the court’s sympathy and he knew it.
"Mrs. Monk, may I commend your courage and your single-minded dedication to seeking the truth. It is a very noble cause, and you appear to be tireless in it." There was not a shred of sarcasm in him.
"Thank you," she said guardedly.
"Tell me, Mrs. Monk, was there anything on the body of this unfortunate woman to indicate who she was?"
"Not so far as I know. Sergeant Robb is trying to learn that now."
"Using what? The remnants of cloth and leather that were still upon the bone?"
"You will have to ask him," she replied.
"If he feels that this tragedy has any relevance to this present case, and therefore gives us that opportunity, then I shall," Tobias agreed. "But you seem to feel it has, or you would not now be telling me of it. Why is that, Mrs. Monk, other than that you desire to protect one of your colleagues?"
Spots of color warmed Hester’s cheeks. If she had ever imagined he would be gentle with her, she now knew better.
"Because we found her where Miriam Gardiner said she was murdered," she replied a trifle tartly.
"Indeed?" Tobias raised his eyebrows. "I gathered from Mrs. Anderson that Mrs. Gardiner—Miss Speake, as she was then—was completely hysterical and incoherent. Indeed, Mrs. Anderson herself ceased to believe there was any woman, any murder, or any body to find."
"Is that a question?" Hester asked him.
"No—no, it is an observation," he said sharply. "You found this gruesome relic somewhere on Hampstead Heath in an unspecified tree. All we know is that it is within walking distance of Green Man Hill. Is there anything to indicate how long it had been there—except that it is obviously more than ten or eleven years? Could it have been twenty-five? Or, say, thirty? Or even fifty years, Mrs. Monk?"
She stared back at him without flinching. "I am not qualified to say, Mr. Tobias. You will have to ask Sergeant Robb, or even the police surgeon. However, my husband is examining the boots and has an idea that they may be able to prove something. Buttons have a design, you know."
"Your husband is an expert in buttons for ladies’ boots?" he asked.
"He is an expert in detection of facts from the evidence," she answered coolly. "He will know whom to ask."
"No doubt. And he may be willing to pursue ladies’ boot buttons with tireless endeavor," Tobias said sarcastically. "But we have to deal with the evidence we have, and deduce from it reasonable conclusions. Is there anything in your knowledge, Mrs. Monk, to prove that this unfortunate woman whose body you found has anything to do with the murders of James Treadwell and of Mrs. Verona Stourbridge?"