Read Thomas & Charlotte Pitt 29 - Death On Blackheath for Free Online

again.
    ‘Didn’t see anyone else,’ the sergeant said. ‘Didn’t bark. Didn’t want to chase anything. Just found the body, an’ howled!’
    Pitt had a sudden vision of the dog throwing its head back and letting out a long wail of despair as it came across sudden death in the grey fog before dawn, shivering and alone amid the dripping weed heads and the few shadowy, skeletal trees.
    ‘Thank you, Sergeant. I’ll keep you informed as I may have to hand the case back to you.’
    ‘Ah … yes … sir,’ the sergeant said awkwardly.
    Pitt smiled, although he felt very little humour. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb the Kynaston family again, but it had to be done some time. Perhaps it was not only the most efficient thing to do, but also the kindest not to leave the news, which would inevitably reach them, hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles.
    He came to the entrance to the pit, spoke briefly to the sergeant, then set out briskly to walk to the Kynaston house.
    Because of the early hour of the morning, he went again to the back door. He did not want to be announced and ask permission to speak to the servants, with an explanation, and possibly an argument about the body in the gravel pit.
    The areaway steps were scrubbed and clean, nothing worse on them now than a thin rime of ice, slick on top from the misty rain. He went down carefully, and knocked on the scullery door.
    After several moments it was opened by Maisie, the little scullery maid. For a moment she was confused. He was obviously not a delivery man, and yet she was aware that she knew him.
    ‘Good morning, Maisie,’ he said quietly. ‘Commander Pitt, Special Branch, you remember? May I come in?’
    ‘Oh, yeah!’ Her face lit with a smile. Then she recalled his original reason for coming, and suddenly she was terrified. ‘Yer found Kitty, ’ave yer?’ She wanted to add more, but the rest of her thoughts were clearly too hideous to speak aloud.
    ‘I don’t know,’ he answered, still keeping his voice low so as not to attract the attention of the other servants in the kitchen a few yards away. ‘You will hear very soon, probably from the first delivery boy of the day, that we’ve found a woman’s body up in the gravel pits, not far from here. It’s difficult to tell who she is.’
    Maisie gulped but she did not reply.
    He pulled the handkerchief and the key out of his pocket. ‘Have you seen this handkerchief before, or one like it?’
    She took it gingerly as if it were a live thing that might have bitten her. Very carefully she opened it out.
    ‘It’s pretty,’ she said with a shiver. ‘If she got one like this, mister, she’s a lady. It’s got summink stitched on it in the corner, ’ere …’ She held it out.
    ‘Yes, it’s a letter “R”. I imagine it belonged to someone whose name begins with “R”.’
    ‘Kitty don’t begin with an “R”,’ she said with certainty. ‘I can’t read, but I know that much.’
    ‘The thing is,’ he said as casually as possible, ‘it may not be her own handkerchief. As you said, ladies have ones like this. It may have been given to her by someone …’
    The understanding in Maisie’s face was immediate. ‘You mean the woman wot you found could be Kitty, and someone give it ’er?’
    ‘It’s possible. If we could find out whose handkerchief it is, then it might help us to know if this is Kitty, or not.’
    ‘Did she drown in the pits?’ Maisie asked. She was shaking now, as if they were standing outside in the wind and the ice.
    ‘I don’t know yet.’ He had no choice but to be honest. Evasion would only make it worse. He showed her the key. ‘Do you have any keys like this in the house?’
    She frowned. ‘Everybody does. What’s it for?’
    ‘Probably a cupboard, or a desk drawer.’ He offered it to her.
    She picked it up reluctantly, then walked over to one of the cupboards on the further side of the room. She tried it in the lock, and it would not