Dr. Elias picked up the snuff box and opened it. He shook the box, studied its contents, and even gave it a sniff. “It’s laudanum powder, as you said. Nothing suspicious here.”
Magistrate Hunt glanced around the room.
“Was someone in here? Is the lady’s room always such a mess?”
“I’m sorry,” Louisa said. “I were so afraid when I saw my lady that I didn’t straighten her things…I…”
“Don’t worry about that now,” Aunt Marianne soothed the maid.
“Yes, but what I’m asking is, how did it get to be such a mess? It’sas if someone were in here searching for something. Was it like this when you brought in her tea last night?”
“No, it were tidy. I promise.” Tears pooled in Lousia’s red-rimmed eyes, and she pressed a handkerchief to each of them as she sniffed, “I wouldn’t leave my lady’s room a mess.”
“So, it’s possible someone was in here after you left?” Magistrate Hunt asked.
“I don’t see how. My lady keeps her door locked. She always said a lady sleeping alone should never leave herself vulnerable, but I didn’t know exactly what she meant by that. I had to get Mrs. Marianne to open her door with the master key this morning when I got no response from my knocking.”
Magistrate Hunt frowned. “Could she have been looking for something, perhaps? Something, she misplaced?”
“Oh, yes. She often misplaces things. She can be forgetful at times, and she’d been acting worse of late—since Mr. Otis’s murder.”
“What do you mean by ‘acting worse,’ exactly?” Magistrate Hunt asked.
“I…only mean that she’s been strange—sad and cross at times, and giddy at other times. Sometimes, she’d rage over nothing. And then a few hours later, she’d be her charming self again. It frightened me. I didn’t know what to expect from her.”
“Well, if her door was locked from the inside, then she could not have been murdered. What do you suspect killed her then, Doctor?” Magistrate Hunt asked.
“It’s difficult to know unless I open the body and examine it. But I couldn’t do that without her family’s permission or unless you suspect foul play, which you do not. In that case, I’d say it was likely her heart.”
“She died of a broken heart?” Louisa said, and then began sobbing into her handkerchief again.
“I suppose you could say that. The heart can be a mystery. Onething we do know is that it can sometimes stop beating, quite suddenly, and for unknown reasons. And that appears to be the case here today.”
Nate frowned. Dr. Elias seemed to be making up a reason for Lady Matheson’s death. He couldn’t know for certain it was her heart unless he examined the body, and he would not do that, so the heart seemed as good a reason as any.
Magistrate Hunt stroked his bushy gray beard. “What do we know of her family? Anything?”
“She was a widow,” Bridget said. “And I never heard her mention any children.”
“Is that correct, Louisa?” Nate turned to the lady’s maid.
She nodded.
“Where was her main residence?” Magistrate Hunt asked.
Louisa attempted to answer but was unable to get the words out. Her chest heaved, trying to catch her breath between sobs. Her hand trembled as she lifted the handkerchief to her nose, which was now running in a most undignified way. Finding her mistress dead had shocked her to the core.
“Why don’t I get all the necessary information from the poor girl in a little while?” Aunt Marianne said. “She’s too distressed to talk now.”
“Give her a pinch of laudanum.” Dr. Elias handed the snuff box to Aunt Marianne. “It will help calm her nerves. Perhaps, give her enough to allow her to sleep. When she wakes, she’ll feel a lot calmer.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Aunt Marianne said, taking the box and pressing the cover into place. Then she led her trembling charge out of the room, the box clenched in one hand, maid’s arm gently clasped with the other.
“Well, I suppose my job is complete here,” Magistrate Hunt said. “The lady, bless her, died of natural causes.”
“Will your men be taking the body with you now?” Nate asked.
“Taking the body? Where shall I take it? The lady wasn’t murdered, so it’s not evidence, and it’s hardly proper to leave her with the carpenter. He has been known to keep a body or two while he prepares the coffin, but someone of this stature—a lady—ought to be prepared and dressed by her maid before burial. You will need to store the body in one of your spare rooms. Once you find out where the body needs to be transported, you can arrange as much with the carpenter. He has a wagon for that purpose.”
