“Mr. Ratcliffe was already here. He’d stayed with us. He’d ridden over earlier that evening and got caught in the rain. His clothing had become drenched on his way here. I invited him to stay here and ordered a maid see to his clothes,” Mrs. Worcham explained.
“Why was he coming here at that time of day?”
“He often did that. Evening was a good time to discuss the business of Camden House with my husband and Mr. Turnbull-Minchin,” she explained.
Cecilia cocked her head to the side. “Why did he discuss sanatorium business with Dr.Worcham? What is his relationship to the good doctor?”
“Oh! You don’t know! Mr. Ratcliffe arranged for all the investors who bought shares in Camden House. He owns the biggest bank in Stamford.”
“What!” Julia said, sitting straighter.
“Makes sense,” Mrs. Vance said, nodding sagely. “Sanatoriums can be a lucrative business from what I’ve read. Wish I’d known. I’d have bought a share.”
“I don’t understand,” Julia said.
“Camden House is a business accountable to investors for profit and loss,” Cecilia explained. “Isn’t that correct Mrs. Worcham?”
“Precisely, Lady Branstoke,” Mrs. Worcham said. “I liked it better when we were a small, private sanatorium, not an institution driven by money,” she said forlornly, dropping her cheery disposition.
She spread her hands then dropped them in her lap. “Thaddeus is not a money person. Once Mr. Ratcliffe sank his claws into him with flattery that he could have a renowned sanatorium if he expanded Camden House, he’s had stars in his eyes. He does anything Mr. Ratcliffe tells him to do, promising it will build the business.—Business! A sanatorium should not be considered a business! Certainly not like a factory with investors and the like is a business.”
“I think you have answered my question as to why Dr. Worcham agreed to Mr. Montgomery’s fake death.”
“If you mean Mr. Ratcliffe talked my husband into agreeing to the scheme, you are correct, though I argued against it.Unfortunately, my words to Thaddeus fell on deaf ears,” she said sadly. She stared off across the room. “We used to be so close as a couple. Now we seem so far apart, and I think that is when it started.” She looked back at the ladies. “Look at me here in this small parlor. I used to sit out in the library with Thaddeus and others in the evening, partaking in the discussions as I did a bit of needlecraft. Now I’m not allowed to sit with anyone. Nor am I allowed to chat with patients. That’s Mr. Turnbull-Minchin’s edict. I feel like a prisoner here. Patients have more liberties than I do. That’s why I like to go to the linen drapers, where we met, Lady Branstoke. There I have people to talk to.”
“Did Mr. Turnbull-Minchin say why you are not to talk to patients?”
“He gave some rambling, disjointed excuse that it set a bad precedent to be conversing with patients as if they were normal people.”
“Which we are!” interjected Julia.
Mrs. Worcham nodded. “Such an attitude shows you precisely why he is unfit to be a superintendent here. He has no knowledge of the needs of our patients.”
“Has anyone done anything to Mr. Montgomery’s room since he passed?” Cecilia asked.
Mrs. Worcham shook her head. “No one should have. If a patient dies while they are here, we have a rule that the room remains undisturbed for a minimum of one month. If any relative is going to claim their belongings, it would be in that month, and a month allows any spirits that might be lingering to decide it is good to move on.”
“Spirits?”
“We say that for the other patient’s benefits. After a month the notion of a ghost fades.”
“Might I have a look in his room?”
“We’d probably have to sneak in,” Mrs. Worcham warned. “That won’t be easy.”
“Where is his room?”
“Here on the ground floor. When Mr. Montgomery was threatening suicide by jumping out of his second-floor bedroom, Thaddeus had him moved to the ground floor. It’s actually a nice room. He even has a terrace door. It is kept locked as far as I know, both the inside door and the terrace door.”
“Will I have to pick the lock to gain entry?” Cecilia asked.
“You know how to do that?”
“Yes. Hairpins are quite useful in that way, especially on older locks, as are on the doors here.”
“Well, you won’t need to do so as we have a second set of keys in our rooms,” Mrs. Worcham said.
“Splendid!”
