Shades of Murder by Ann Granger Page B

await his opportunity. It came soon enough. Following a painful dental extraction, his wife had asked him to bring laudanum from the pharmacy in Bamford. She would be taking it that night and under its influence first become drowsy and then sleep heavily. Oakley’s plan was that his wife should die in that sleep and that the death would be attributed to another cause – namely, over-indulgence in the laudanum. Oakley’s plan was as follows: once he was satisfied that his wife was in a drug-induced slumber, he would creep into her room and construct a primitive but working apparatus, using the heat from the bedside lamp to vaporise the arsenic. He would then leave the room, making sure windows and door were shut. His intention was to return later, his nose and mouth well muffled, throw open the windows to let out the smell of garlic caused by the vapour, remove the evidence, pour away much of the laudanum and then return to his own room and await the morning. By then, the tell-tale garlic odour would have disappeared, Mrs Oakley would be dead in her bed and the large amount of laudanummissing from a full bottle, purchased only that day, would indicate she had overdosed herself with the drag.’
    Taylor paused at this point.
Checking the jury’s reactions!
thought Stanley. Taylor need not have worried. The whole courtroom hung on his every word.
    ‘Things didn’t go to plan. Mrs Oakley had not taken so much laudanum that she was unaware of the odour of garlic filling the room. Or possibly, her husband, on closing the door as he left after setting up his dastardly apparatus, had disturbed her. She awoke, saw that something very strange was happening, and attempted to get out of bed. Alas, she was overcome by the vapour and fell, bringing down the lamp. That set alight her nightgown and, dying as she was from the effects of the toxic vapour, she could do nothing to save herself.
    ‘At this point, another thing unforeseen by William Oakley happened. The housekeeper Mrs Button arrived on the scene. She was unable to save her mistress but she did notice the smell of garlic, so typical of the process, and threw open a window to let it out. Had she not opened that window, gentlemen of the jury, it is possible the housekeeper might also have died from inhaling the dreadful vapour. You will also hear that she noticed foreign items amid the wreckage of the shattered lamp, although she had no way of knowing what their presence meant. We shall show that what Mrs Button saw was the remains of the apparatus set up by Oakley, also brought down in Mrs Oakley’s fall.
    ‘The inquest on the death concluded that Cora Oakley had fallen while drugged and brought down the lamp, dying of burns and shock. Defence will doubtless seek to make much of the fact that Mrs Button said nothing to contradict this at the time, only later when she had been dismissed from Mr Oakley’s service. Mr Oakley must indeed have disliked seeing daily a woman who had witnessed incriminating evidence of his crime. He may have suspected the housekeeper had noticed the smell and seen the remains of his devilish device and was puzzling over them. Mrs Button had indeed been worried; once dismissed, and feeling herself released from any obligation to her former employer, she went to Mrs Oakley’s parents. They had never been satisfied with the manner of their daughter’s death and set in train the events which brought William Oakley to be in the dock today.’
    Neat!
scribbled Stanley.
But you’ve got to prove it, old son!

Chapter Eight
    Ron Gladstone stood in front of the dilapidated stone building, sucking his front teeth. His whole attitude was one of deep disapproval.
    ‘Shocking,’ he said aloud. ‘And I dare say worse inside.’
    The building in question had been put up more years ago than anyone could remember. It stood in the far corner of the grounds, away from the house, and was hidden by a tangle of shrubbery. When Ron had started working in Fourways