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long face into an expression of distaste. “Can’t say that surprises me a great deal. What normal woman would want to go off to a foreign battlefield and take up such an occupation?”
It flashed into Evan’s mind that if she had shown interest in men, Runcorn would have said she was loose principled and immoral. Monk would have pointed that out, and asked what Runcorn would have considered right. He stared at Jeavis beside him, then across at Runcorn’s thoughtful face, his brows drawn down above his long narrow nose.
“What should we take for normal, sir?” Evan let the words out before his better judgment prevailed, almost as if it were someone else speaking.
Runcorn’s head jerked up. “What?”
Evan stood firm, his jaw tightening. “I was thinking, sir, that if she didn’t show any interest in men, she was not normal, and if she did she was of loose morals. What, to your mind, would be right—sir?”
“What is right, Evan,” Runcorn said between his teeth, the blood rising up his cheeks, “is for a young woman to conduct herself like a lady: seemly, modest, and gentle, not to chase after a man, but to let him know in a subtle and genteel way that she admires him and might not find his attentions unwelcome. That is what is normal, Mr. Evan, and what is right. You are a vicar’s son. How is it that I should have to tell you that?”
“Perhaps if anybody’s attentions had been welcome, she’d have let him know it,” Evan suggested, ignoring the last question and keeping his eyes wide open, his expression innocent.
Runcorn was thrown off balance. He had never known exactly what to make of Evan. He looked so mild and inoffensive with his long nose and hazel eyes, but seemed always to be on the brink of amusement, and Runcorn was never comfortable with it, because he did not know what was funny.
“Do you know something, Sergeant, that you haven’t told us?” he said tartly.
“No sir!” Evan replied, standing even more upright.
Jeavis shifted his weight to the other foot. “She did have a visitor that morning, sir, a Mr. Taunton.”
“Did she?” Runcorn’s eyebrows rose and he jerked forward in his chair. “Well, man! What do we know about this Mr. Taunton? Why didn’t you tell me about this in the first place, Jeavis?”
“Because he is a very respectable gentleman,” Jeavis defended himself, keeping his temper with difficulty. “And he came and went again inside ten minutes or so, an’ at least one of the other nurses thinks she saw Barrymore alive after Mr. Taunton left.”
“Oh.” Runcorn’s face fell. “Well, make sure of it. He might have come back again. Hospitals are big places. You can get in and out of them easy enough. Just walk in off the street, seems to me,” he said, contradicting his earlier statement. Then his expression sharpened. “Haven’t you got anything, Jeavis? What’ve you been doing with your time? There’s two of you. You must have learned something!”
Jeavis was aggrieved. “We have learned something, sir,” he said coldly. “Barrymore was a very bossy, ambitious sort of a person, always giving orders to other people, but very good at her job. Even them that liked her least gave her that. Seems she used to work a lot with Dr. Beck—that’s the foreign doctor—then she switched to working mostly with Sir Herbert Stanhope. He’s the head of the place and a very fine doctor. Has a spotless reputation both as a surgeon and as a man.”
Runcorn’s face twitched. “Of course he has. I’ve heard of him. What about this Beck fellow? She worked with him, you say?”
“Yes sir,” Jeavis replied, his smooth features taking on a satisfied look. “He is a different matter altogether. Mrs. Flaherty—she’s the matron, a superior sort of person, I judged—she overheard Beck and Barrymore quarreling only a few days ago.”
“Did she indeed?” Runcorn looked better pleased. “Can’t you be more exact, Jeavis? What do you mean a ‘few days’?”
“She wasn’t sure, or I’d ’ave said,” Jeavis responded sourly. “Two or three. Seems days and nights all melt into one another in a hospital.”
“So what did they quarrel about?”
Evan was growing more and more uncomfortable, but he could think of no reasonable protest to make, nothing they would listen to.
“Not certain,” Jeavis replied. “But she said it was definitely a powerful difference.” He hurried on, seeing Runcorn’s impatience growing. “Beck said ‘It won’t get you anywhere,’ or something to that effect. And she said that if there was no other course open to her she’d have to go to the authorities. And he said ‘Please don’t do that! I am quite sure it will gain you nothing, in fact it will harm you if anything.’ ” He ignored the smile on Evan’s face at the “he said” and “she said,” but his neck grew pinker. “And she said again as she was determined, and nothing would put her off, and he begged her again, and then got angry and said she was a foolish and destructive woman, that she risked ruining a fine medical career through her waywardness, but she just shouted something at him and stormed out, slamming the door.” Jeavis finished his account and looked squarely at Runcorn, waiting to see the effect his revelation had had upon him. He totally ignored Evan, who was keeping sober-faced with an effort.
He should have been well pleased. Runcorn sat bolt upright, his face glowing.
“Now there you have something, Jeavis,” he said enthusiastically. “Get on with it, man! Go and see this Beck. Pin him down. I expect an arrest within days, with all the evidence we need for a conviction. Just don’t spoil it by acting precipitately.”
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Jeavis’s black eyes. “No sir. It would be precipitate, sir.” Evan felt a twinge of sympathy for Jeavis. He was almost certain he did not know the meaning of the word. “We have no idea what the quarrel was about—” Jeavis went on.
“Blackmail,” Runcorn said sharply. “It’s obvious, man. She knew something about him which could ruin his career, and if he didn’t cough up, she was going to tell the authorities. Nasty piece of work, all right.” He snorted. “Can’t say I grieve much when a blackmailer gets killed. All the same, can’t let it happen and get away with it, not here in London! You go and find out what the blackmail was about.” His finger jabbed the desk once more. “Look to the man’s history, his patients, his qualifications, anything you can. See if he owes money, plays fast and loose with women.” His long nose wrinkled. “Or boys—or whatever. I want to know more about the man than he knows himself, do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” Evan said grimly.
“Yes sir,” Jeavis agreed.
“Well, get on with it then.” Runcorn leaned back in his chair, smiling. “Get to work!”
“Now then, Dr. Beck.” Jeavis rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, his hands thrust deep in his pockets. “A few questions, if you please.”
