“Miss Bennet and I confided some personal information,” Mrs. Rushworth added. “We presumed that whoever was skulking in the passage, whoever dropped their trinket, overheard me say such things as would implicate Mr. Crawford and myself, when my husband was killed hours later.”
“Vicious liar,” Mr. Crawford said, cuffing Sir Walter again. “You killed Rushworth with the rest of them, to shift the blame away from yourself.”
“A red herring?” Lady Susan laughed. “How convenient.”
Sir Walter spat the blood from his lip at Mr. Crawford. “You have my confession for the five I killed, which makes me abetter man than you. She is a fine bit of muslin, but not worth killing for, you pathetic tyke.”
Mr. Crawford stood up a little straighter, but Sir Walter towered over him by several inches. Mrs. Rushworth started to go to him, but her brother yanked her back. “No, Maria. He is obviously guilty; it is far too convenient for him.”
“He cannot be! He has scarcely left my sight! What evidence have you?”
“Yes, I should like to know the same,” Mr. Bertram said. “You all seemed to have some scheme in mind when you confronted Sir Walter. You could not have known that he would expose himself in such desperation.”
Cathy, Emma, and Mr. Willoughby launched into an explanation of how they had deduced their answers, citing the explanation for every murder, though they had only conjectures for the poisoning of Mr. Rushworth.
Miss Denham blanched. “So you had the dossiers all along?”
“We did,” Mr. Tilney said. “I lied for the sake of our safety, since everybody who was known to be aware of the secrets they contain was killed. Can you blame me?”
Mr. Parker also began to look very nervous. “And you read them, I take it?”
“I looked over the dossiers of my preferred companions first,” Mr. Tilney said smoothly, unflinching in his falsehood. “Once I knew they could be trusted, I read Sir Walter’s dossier, and the handwriting was quite different. Mr. Willoughby confirmed it to be written in his uncle’s own hand.”
Elizabeth could see what Mr. Tilney was about, hedging his way around admitting he knew the contents of Miss Denham and Mr. Parker’s dossiers. If the pair of schemers knew theywere found out, they could hardly trust that Mr. Tilney would not turn them over when the royals arrived.
Mr. Parker scowled at Sir Walter. “But why did you not destroy them, if you wished to protect your secret? Why switch it out with a false history?”
“I knew Tilney would look for them, and I thought it likely that those with moreinterestingsecrets would appear the guiltiest. That would serve me far better than destroying them, thus rendering us all of equal suspicion, of course. You prove my point by your outrage, given your own crimes,” Sir Walter said haughtily.
Cathy eyed the dossier warily, and swiftly turned the subject. “We compared this to our other evidence. Sir Walter’s valet confirmed that his master wasnotbathing, as he said that he was at the time of the first two murders. And we found thevinaigretteand the remnant of the handkerchief in the fire.”
Mr. Bertram picked up the little scrap of fabric. “VF? Ah, it is singed on either side. You supposed it must be WE, for Walter Elliot. But why should he deny this, and admit to the other killings? No, it must be WF, the middle letters of Crawford, and the rest burned away.”
Miss Denham moved closer to examine it. “Could it be VE, like Vernon?”
“That makes no sense,” Mr. Parker said. “Crawford has motive enough. Why would Lady Susan kill Rushworth?”
“An excellent point. Though I welcome Mrs. Rushworth to the ranks of the merry widows, I should hardly risk my own neck doing her that very large favor. A lady of competency ought to solve her own problems.”
“How dare you,” Mrs. Rushworth hissed. “I had no need to kill my husband!”
“Yes, why should you? You were able to carry out your affair without his ever discovering it,” Mr. Bertram drawled. “I should think Crawford stands more to gain in getting rid of your first husband so that he can become the second. Father made sure you would have a generous settlement if that bumbling oaf broke his head doing something idiotic. In addition to the advantages he already enjoys, he stands to gain considerably in matters of finance.”
“He had every cause to be content with things as they were,” Mrs. Rushworth cried. She also moved closer for a better look at the handkerchief scrap and then let out a shrill whimper. “Good God!”
Mr. Crawford motioned for Sir Edward to take his place restraining Sir Walter, and he hastened to Mrs. Rushworth’s side. She handed the scrap to him, but spoke to Elizabeth. “You asked me about the handkerchief I was stitching for Henry today. You never told me of this piece of evidence, and so I answered you entirely without guile. What did I say to you, Miss Bennet?”
Elizabeth felt an uncanny sense of foreboding as she answered the woman. “You told me that you were making Mr. Crawford a new handkerchief, as you often do, because your brother borrows them and does not return them.”
Mr. Bertram sneered and scoffed. “What poppycock! Do I not have my own handkerchiefs? Why should I take his? That I might weep over the death of our blackmailers?”
“Hardly,” Lady Susan said with a cheerful laugh.
Mr. Bertram ignored this outburst and continued to berate his sister. “And did you not listen, Maria? They explained not ten minutes ago that Tilney came in and mixed the place cards up that night. Rushworth might not have been theintended victim. It could have been Willoughby attempting to hasten his inheritance, or perhaps Mrs. Younge or Mrs. Clay attempting to kill Sir Walter before he could do the same to them. It could have been anybody, but if Rushworth was the intended victim, it must have been Crawford.”
Mrs. Rushworth shoved her brother and moved to stand by Mr. Crawford. “These others you accuse, how and why would they have contrived to leave Henry’s handkerchief in the fire? By all means, persuade me. I cannot believe it was Henry.”
“If he truly mislaid it, anybody might have picked it up,” Cathy fretfully suggested. “And if Sir Walter is telling the truth about thevinaigrette,someone might have pilfered that, as well. They might have used objects belonging to someone else as misdirections….”
