As if by Magic by Dolores Gordon-Smith Page A

stopped as Corby, the butler, entered the room. ‘Yes?’
    â€˜Mrs Culverton is here, sir, with an Inspector Rackham from Scotland Yard.’
    Jack started. Bill? What on earth was Bill doing here?
    Anne Lassiter looked at Corby in surprise. ‘A police inspector?’ she repeated. She shook her head. ‘You’d better show them in.’ She turned to Mr Lassiter. ‘That’s all right, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Of course, my dear.’ He stood up. ‘This sounds serious.’
    Anne turned to George and Jack as Corby left. ‘I don’t know what this is about. Peggy Culverton is one of my closest friends. She’s highly respectable. I can’t think why she’d have a policeman in tow.’
    Rackham, accompanied by a well-dressed woman in brown – Peggy Culverton, Jack presumed – entered the room a few minutes later. Rackham’s eyebrows rose at the sight of him but he said nothing.
    â€˜Peggy? What is it?’ asked Anne, stepping forward. She reached out her hands to the older woman. ‘Peggy! You’re upset. What’s happened?’
    Mrs Culverton tried to speak but couldn’t. Anne looked a question at Rackham, who coughed.
    â€˜I’m afraid to say that Mrs Culverton has had a distressing experience. She has just come from the mortuary.’
    Peggy Culverton managed to speak. ‘Anne,’ she said, her voice breaking. ‘Alexander’s dead.’
    Mr Lassiter started forward.
‘What?
Alexander Culverton?’ He put a hand to his mouth. ‘Dear God.’
    Anne put an arm round her friend. ‘Come and sit down near the fire. You’re cold. Peggy, this is awful.’
    â€˜I shouldn’t be so upset,’ said Peggy, holding on to Anne’s arm. ‘You know what it’s been like, Anne, but seeing him there . . .’ She swallowed. ‘He was murdered,’ she said starkly with a break in her voice. ‘I had to come here. It was the only place I could think of.’ She looked up at Mr Lassiter. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’
    â€˜No. No, not all,’ he said in a dazed voice. ‘Culverton dead!’ He seemed to pull himself together. ‘You know you have my sympathy, Peggy. My greatest sympathy. Did you say
murdered
?’ Mrs Culverton nodded dumbly. Mr Lassiter stepped back and breathed deeply. ‘Anne,’ he said quietly, ‘I’ll telephone Nigel. He needs to know about this right away.’
    As Mr Lassiter left the room, Rackham drew Jack to one side. ‘What the dickens are you doing here, Jack?’ he asked in a low voice. ‘And is that George Lassiter? The man in the Royal Free? Is he part of the family?’
    â€˜He is,’ said Jack, ‘but he didn’t know anything about it. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. Look, I don’t want to sound like a parrot, but what are you doing here?’
    â€˜Mrs Culverton and Mrs Lassiter are old friends. After seeing her husband in the mortuary she wanted to come here and she was far too upset for me to let her come alone. You know who the dead man is?’ he added. ‘It’s Culverton of Culverton Air Navigation.’
    Jack gave a low whistle. ‘My God, is it? This’ll hit the headlines and no mistake.’ He looked sharply at Rackham. ‘I say, he’s not your naked man in the Thames, is he?’ Rackham nodded. Jack’s eyes widened. He looked at Mrs Culverton. ‘The poor woman. That must have been really nasty for her.’
    â€˜Yes,’ said Rackham, in an odd voice. ‘I think it probably was. Look, Jack, I need to go to Culverton’s office. Lloyd, his secretary, has promised to wait for me there. Do you want to come?’
    â€˜Absolutely,’ said Jack. ‘Of course I do. The only thing is, I’m here with George.’ He motioned to George to join them. ‘George, this is Inspector Rackham. You’ve