The Galitzi Diamonds Page 3

  George stood by the fireplace draping an arm across its mantle and a glass of brandy in the other. He was a little tipsy and swayed occasionally when he lost his balance.

  The Duksbury’s were absent from the room at present as Celia had pleaded a headache from too much fresh air in the afternoon, and they had retired to their room.

  Lord and Lady Galitzi looked to be having a serious discussion on the opposite divan to Aida’s and Lady Amelia kept wringing her hands tensely and looked positively terrified, much to Aida’s amusement.

  Madame Genevieve, who up until then had also been absent from the room, now joined the party and walked across to where Aida was sitting.

  'May I sit here, my dear?' She asked.

  'Of course.' Aida said reluctantly sliding across to make room for her.

  'I have just been taking a tour of the hall with the housekeeper, my dear. I would recommend it. Such a fine house.' Madame Genevieve exclaimed rather too loudly.

  Aida smiled falsely and continued to sulk in silence while Madame Genevieve, having not noticed that she was unwelcome, continued to prattle away about the history of the hall.

  'Would you excuse me for a moment, Madame Genevieve?' Aida said interrupting her in full gusto.

  Aida stood and walked out of the room rudely, without waiting for a reply from Madame Genevieve.

  Hadley’s eyes followed her from the room and he made his excuses to Mr Sanderson and followed her at a distance. He watched from the doorway and saw her go out onto the balcony on the left. He stole quietly along the corridor and stepped out into the still, warm air. She was weeping quietly and his heart melted away, not for the first time upon observing her.

  'Miss Sanderson.' He said gently.

  She wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief and turned around, trying to act naturally.

  'Is everything alright?' He asked edging forwards until he was standing right in front of her.

  'Of course, Mr Hadley. I just needed some air, it is a little stuffy in there.'

  'It is a fine night.' He said leaning over the balcony.

  'Yes, I suppose it is.' Aida said still with her back to the balcony.

  There was an awkward silence of about five minutes, after which, Hadley turned to face her suddenly and she was watching his face closely. Their eyes met and seemed to stick in that position. Neither of them wished to break the chemistry between them by speaking.

  Aida reached out her hand and with her eyes still on his, stroked the side of his face gently. Her touch was soothing to him and he moved towards her, placing his hands around her waist and leaning towards her he went to kiss her and she put up her face to be kissed. Before he could do so however, there was some commotion coming from the hallway.

  It was Galitzi’s voice shouting out but the words were inaudible. Hadley sprung up.

  'It’s Galitzi.' He cried.

  He sprung open the balcony doors and as he did so Galitzi appeared on the balcony, his face ashen and his black eyes wild with fear. He fell into Hadley’s arms forcing him to the ground.

  'Their gone, Hadley. The diamonds are gone.' He cried wildly.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  'Do something, Hadley. You must find them, find the thief' Galitzi continued to cry out in desperation.

  Hadley got him to his feet and restrained him a little.

  'It will all be alright.' He said to him soothingly and it seemed to calm him for a while.

  Aida, who had been surveying the scene in amused silence, finally spoke.

  'What does he mean you must find the thief? Shouldn’t you get the police?' She asked puzzled.

  Hadley turned to her.

  'I am the police, Miss Sanderson.' He said taking out his ID badge.

  'Detective Inspector Hadley.' He said holding it up for her to see.

  Aida stared at him in shock.

  'You’re with the police?' She asked a little disdainfully.

  'That’s right, Miss Sanderson.' Hadley said.

  'Manne.' Lady Amelia’s voice echoed in the hallway. She appeared on the balcony soon after and became extremely distressed when she saw how pale her husband was looking.

  'Amelia. The diamonds have been stolen.' Galitzi cried becoming more agitated at the sight of her.

  'Oh, my dear.' She cried embracing him.

  'My Lady, why don’t you get him to his room to calm down a bit. I’ll be up shortly to survey the scene. I’ll take care of things down here first.' Hadley said.

  'Yes, Mikey. Come with me Manne.' Lady Amelia said leading him by the hand.

  'Miss Sanderson, I need you to wait in the drawing room, please.' Hadley said avoiding her gaze.

  Aida stared at him with her hands on her hips.

  'Why did you not tell me?'

  'I couldn’t. Does it make a difference, anyway?'

  'Yes, it does as a matter of fact. I thought you were a gentleman. It was very selfish of you not to tell me, Mr Hadley.'

  She brushed passed him firmly before he could reply and headed for the drawing room as he had instructed.

  I’ll take that as a rejection then. If she doesn’t care for me as I am then I’m better without her. I don’t need her good opinion. I have seen her as she really is. He thought in irritation.

  Hadley had everyone assembled in the drawing room, which included dragging down Mr and Mrs Dukesbury who were less than pleased and came down the stairs in a flurry of curses. Celia Dukesbury was still in her dressing gown, her hair in a wild mess and her face devoid of make-up.

  'I’m going to call my Sergeant at the station. Nobody leaves, except by my instructions.' Hadley said threateningly.

  'You’ll find a telephone at the foot of the stairs, Inspector.' Lady Chalem called after him as he was about to leave the room.

  'Thank you, my Lady.' Hadley called over his shoulder.

  'What cheek. Dragging me out of bed like that when I have a migraine. I couldn’t possibly have done it. Not in the state I am in.' Celia Dukesbury lamented from the divan where she sat beside her husband who rubbed her back in sympathy.

  'He has to, dear. We are all suspects, you know.' Madame Genevieve put in from behind the divan where she stood.

  'You had more opportunity than most, you know Celia.' George Sanderson said still standing in the same manner by the fireplace.

  'How dare you, Sir.' John Dukesbury cried angrily.

  'Well, you were upstairs at the time.' George continued.

  'George, please be quiet.' Aida said folding her arms sulkily.

  'Yes, George, dear. This is hardly helping matters.' Mrs Sanderson said from the window.

  'Madame Genevieve was also missing from the room at some point during the course of the evening.' Celia Dukesbury said defensively.

  'Oh, we were all absent from the room at some point during the evening.' Lady Chalem said.

  'Well, I am most upset with this Inspector chappy. Fooled us all he did and now he stands there all high and mighty.' George slurred.

  'I agree with you there, George. It was most highhanded of him.' Aida said.

  'He is only doing his job. The Galitzi’s wanted him here to keep an eye on things. They have been concerned about this very thing happening ever since the diamonds came into their possession. The Inspector could hardly shout it from the rooftops now, could he?' Lady Chalem said.

  'No but he could be a little less authoritative and arrogant.'Celia said.

  'Well, seen as you are innocent in all this Celia, I don’t think you have anything to worry about from him, do you?' George said a little sarcastically.

  Celia pulled a face at him.

  Once DS Scallop had arrived, he was poised as a guard to stop anyone leaving the drawing room, while Hadley was in Lord Galitzi’s dressing room where the diamonds had been stolen out of the safe, surveying the scene of the crime.

  'You say you checked the safe throughout the day and evening, at what time did you last check them before they went missing?' Hadley asked Galitzi who had recovere
d his self- possession enough to be questioned.

  'I think it must have been just before dinner.'

  'So, it could have happened anytime between dinner and within the interval until you went to check them and they were gone. So, we are talking within a two hour time frame. Did anyone else know the combination apart from you or Lady Galitzi?'

  Galitzi shook his head.

  'So, the thief must have learned the combination to your safe. Are all your combinations the same?'

  'Yes. I use the same one because my memory is terrible with these things.'

  'Could anyone have got hold of your combination?'

  'I don’t see how.' He replied throwing up his hands in despair.

  'What about Lady Chalem?'

  'No, absolutely no one knew.'

  'Well, someone must have.'

  'A lucky guess maybe. I don’t know.' Galitzi said despairingly.

  'Mr Dukebury is your banker, isn’t he? Could he have found out the combination from the bank'

  'It’s a possibility, I suppose.'

  'What was the altercation about between you and him at the party?'

  'I told you it had nothing to do with the diamonds.'

  'I need to know, Galitzi.' Hadley pressed.

  Galitzi paused as though deliberating with himself.

  'Alright. He was blackmailing me if you must know.' He said at last.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  'Blackmailing you?' Hadley said.

  'Yes.'

  'Well, why didn’t you say before.' Hadley roared.

  Galitzi shrugged.

  'This is a perfect motive for taking the diamonds. He obviously needed money, that is why he was blackmailing you.' Hadley cried in frustration.

  'I’m sorry, Hadley. I didn’t want to worry Amelia.' He said covering his face with his hands.

  'Why was he blackmailing you, Galitzi? I have to ask.'

  'There is a scandal of so great a magnitude that if it were known, it would bring down the whole Galitzi family. The good name, my father worked so hard to maintain.'

  Hadley watched him silently.

  'My father had an affair with a nursery maid of a friend in Italy where he went back to frequently on his travels, and she bore him an illegitimate son. The child later died.' He continued shamefacedly.

  'Mr Dukesbury found this out?'

  'Yes. He had found some old letters pertaining to it that had been left in a safe at the bank. My father must have kept them for sentimental reasons. Foolish mistake.'

  'How long has he been blackmailing you?'

  'A few months.'

  'Did he mention the diamonds to you at all?'

  Galitzi shook his head.

  'Could anyone else have found out about the scandal?'

  'Not that I know of. Unless Dukesbury has spoken of it.'

  'Thank you, Galitzi. That couldn’t have been easy for you. You have no need to worry that I will think any less of you for it.'

  'That means a lot, Hadley. Please don’t tell Amelia.' He said patting him on the back.

  'You may be assured of my secrecy. I am afraid I’ll have to ask you to wait in the drawing room with the others. It’s just routine. I’ll take a look around for a while longer.'

  When Galitzi had left the dressing room, Hadley examined the walls for an opening of any kind but finding none, walked through the door adjoining the bedroom and examined the windows. They opened out onto a balcony, which on closer inspection, revealed that someone could have easily climbed up, but there was no sign of a break-in and the windows had been locked.

  A team of officers were dispatched to go over each room to search for signs of a break-in and try and find where the diamonds may have been hidden.

  Hadley, meanwhile, started the interrogations in the dining room adjoining the drawing room, joined by Scallop, who sat by him at one end of the large table.

  'Lady Chalem, please.' Hadley called through the adjoining door.

  She immediately stood and serenely joined him in the dining room, seating herself at the chair opposite Hadley's.

  'I have a few questions about the running of the household, my Lady.'

  'Of course.' She said with dignity.

  'Who sees to the locks on the doors and windows?'

  'That will be Mrs Hutchington, the housekeeper. She keeps all the keys on her person at her belt.'

  'Right, I’ll need to speak with her in a moment, please.'

  'Of course, Inspector.'

  'Lord Galitzi stays here often, doesn’t he?'

  'He does, Inspector.'

  'And he always uses the safe with his own combination?'

  'Mostly he does.'

  'Could anyone amongst your staff have got hold of the combination to Lord Galitzi’s safe?'

  'I doubt it, Inspector, and anyway my staff have been with me from the beginning and are one hundred percent trustworthy. I can vouch for them.'

  'I don’t doubt it, my lady.' He said bowing his head slightly.

  'Did you leave the room at any time during or after dinner?'

  'Yes. I went to the housekeeper’s sitting room with Madame Genevieve to organise a tour for her and then I came straight back to the drawing room and didn’t leave it again after that.'

  'You would have passed the stairs?'

  'I did. I can show you the route when we’re done here.'

  'That won’t be necessary, thank you, my Lady. Did you see anyone else?'

  'No, the corridor was empty.'

  'One more question, my Lady. Where were you on the morning of the twenty first, the morning after Lord Galitzi’s party, at precisely the hour of ten?'

  'Well, I was here. I came straight back after the party. My driver will tell you.'

  Hadley next had the housekeeper and James, Lady Chalem’s driver, brought to the dining room and they both confirmed her Ladyship’s story. James was then sent away again immediately while Mrs Hutchington remained.

  'Mrs Hutchington, you keep the keys to the doors and windows on your person, I understand?' He asked the housekeeper.

  She stood poker straight in a dignified manner, her hands clasped together in front of her. She was a plain woman with sharp brown eyes that looked suspiciously into Hadley’s and the wrinkles on her forehead showed her age to be about sixty.

  She hesitated and took a deep breath before speaking.

  'That is correct, Inspector.' She said in a stern voice.

  'Can you show me, please?'

  She reached down at the belt on her side and pulled the wad of keys from under her grey pinafore, until Hadley signed for her to put them away again.

  'You never take them off during the day?'

  She shook her head, keeping her lips tightly shut.

  'At what time exactly do you lock the doors and windows, Mrs Hutchington?'

  'Always after dinner, unless instructed otherwise.'

  'And did you receive any instructions this evening?'

  'No.'

  'So, you locked all the doors and windows straight after dinner?'

  'As always, yes.'

  'Did you see anyone at all in any of the rooms or in the corridor?'

  She became thoughtful for a moment.

  'I think I did see someone now that you mention it.'

  Hadley looked up sharply.

  'Who did you see?' He asked.

  'It was too dark to tell but I saw a figure dissappearing into the shadows. I thought nothing of it at the time as it is quite normal when my Lady has guests, but now you mention it, it puts me in mind.'

  'What time was this?'

  'Well, dinner was over by seven-thirty and I had reached the second floor by then so, it would have been probably about the hour of eight.'

  'Is there anything else you’d like to mention?'

  She fell silent again.

  'I don’t think there is anything else.'

  'So, Scallop. Someone from the outside could have broken in while the guests were at dinner, taken the diamonds an
d got out again somewhere on the second floor before the housekeeper locked up for the evening.' Hadley said aside to Scallop when they were left alone again.

  'You don’t think it is one of the guests then, Sir?'

  'On the contrary, Scallop. I think it is more likely to be one of the guests, but it could well have been someone on the outside. There was the grey haired character on the grounds who, I think, is following Galitzi for some purpose unknown.'

  'His car could not be traced, Sir. Nor could the black saloon.'

  'Just as I thought, Scallop.' He said thoughtfully.

  CHAPTER NINE

  'Mr Dukesbury. You were blackmailing Galitzi?' Hadley asked the next morning after they had breakfasted.

  He was stood outside on the terrace of Sewsbury Hall, where John Dukesbury had wandered through the patio doors to get some fresh air. He was pacing up and down as Celia watched through the glass anxiously.

  'Galitzi told you this?' He said angrily raising his voice and waving his arms in the air.

  'He did. Do you deny it?' Hadley asked firmly.

  'Alright. I was blackmailing him but I didn’t take those diamonds.' He cried out after a short hesitation.

  'You were short of money?'

  'Keep your voice down, Celia doesn’t know.' He said lowering his voice.

  'What did you need the money for?'

  'I owed a huge debt. My wife doesn’t come cheap, you are not married, Hadley. You wouldn’t understand.'

  'You stole the diamonds because Galitzi wasn’t cooperating?'

  'No. I told you I never touched those diamonds. Stop trying to put words into my mouth. I hate the way the police always do that.'

  'Yet, you had the perfect opportunity. You and your wife were absent from the drawing room after dinner. Remind me, why was that?'

  'Celia was taken ill with a migraine.'

  'Did she sleep?'

  'A little, yes.'

  'So, you were left in your room which, happens to be just along the corridor from Galitzi’s room and there is no one who can prove that you stayed there the whole time. You could have easily sneaked along the corridor and taken those diamonds.'

  'But they were in a safe.'

  'That didn’t prove a difficulty for somebody though, did it? And you are his banker.'

  'I didn’t do it.'

  'Do you know the combination?'