Murder at Mansfield Park

"Do you not see the significance, Mr Maddox? Miss Price was discovered at the bottom of the trench, lying on her back. I was present at that dreadful moment, and I can attest to that. But the marks on her gown would suggest that she had also, at some point, fallen forwards, onto her knees."

Maddox looked at her with new respect. "Was there anything else about her appearance that you noted? Was she, for instance, wearing a wedding ring?"

"No."

"Was she carrying a purse?"

"No. Nor, I believe, was one discovered in the trench."

"So she had no money about her at all?"

"No, Mr Maddox, none."

This exchange was succeeded by a silence of some minutes. Mary was suddenly aware of the sound of the clock on Sir Thomas’s desk, and the crepitation of the subsiding fire.

"Now, Miss Crawford," said Maddox at length, "we come to what we might call the heart of the matter. It is clear that you are not a young woman given to fits of the hysterics. Nonetheless, these are not pleasant subjects. Not pleasant subjects, at all. Would you like me to fetch you a glass of water, before we proceed?"

"No, thank you, Mr Maddox. I am perfectly composed."

"Quite so, quite so. My next question, then, returns to the subject of her clothes. You have given ample proof of a discerning eye, Miss Crawford, so tell me, was her dress in such a state as you might expect to find it?"

"How so, Mr Maddox?"

"Was it, shall we say, torn, or rent in any way?"

"There was, I believe, a small tear to the collar of her pelisse. The trim had come away in one place."

"It was her dress I enquired after, Miss Crawford, not the pelisse."

"In that case, the answer is no. Apart from the stains I described, it was unharmed."

"And when you washed the body, you noticed no other injuries, beyond those you have described? None, shall we say, of a more intimate nature?"

Mary shook her head, feeling her face must be like scarlet; so this was why he had wanted to question her alone. Much as she resented being indebted to him on any account, she could not but be grateful that Edmund was not in the room at that very instant. Maddox gave her no time to recover her composure; indeed, he gave no sign of having perceived her confusion.

"And what state was the body in," he continued, perfectly collected, "when you laid it out? Let me be absolutely clear, Miss Crawford. How advanced was the progress of decomposition?"

Mary looked at him, but her gaze was steadier than the beatings of her heart. "You do not mince matters, do you, Mr Maddox?"

Maddox spread his hands. "I did warn you I would be candid, Miss Crawford. In my experience, there is little to be gained by evading the truth. Not in cases of murder, at any rate."

Mary took a deep breath. "Very well. Let us say that the — the — natural process — had commenced, but I do not believe it had advanced more than one or two days."

"Indeed? And why should you say that? There are those in the household, I am told, who believe that she must have lain there above a fortnight. Nay, sixteen full days, if my own computations are correct."

Mary shook her head. "That is quite impossible," she said quickly. "As you are already so well informed, Mr Maddox, you must also know that the work on the channel did not commence until after Miss Price was missed from the house."

"Indeed," he said, with a look that confirmed that it was, indeed, exactly as she had surmised, and she was so much vexed at this manner of proceeding as to be betrayed into uncharacteristic carelessness. "And even were that not the case — "

She stopped at once, suddenly conscious of where her words were tending.

"Do go on, Miss Crawford," he said. "I am all agog."

Mary wished it unsaid with all her heart; he had provoked her into imprudence, and she had allowed herself to be taken in. She was mortified by her own lack of caution, but there was no help for it now. If Maddox was at all aware of what was passing in her mind, he gave no outward sign, and sat quietly in his chair, exercising his excellent teeth upon his thumb-nails.

"You were saying, Miss Crawford?" he asked quietly.

Mary lifted her chin, and held his gaze." "If Miss Price had been lying in the open air, during a period of inclement weather, for more than two weeks, the body would have been in a quite different state from the one in which we found it. Is that plain enough?"

Maddox took out a gold snuff-box, tapped it, and let the snuff drop through his fingers, then shut it, and twirled it round with the fore-finger of his right hand. Mary watched with rising irritation, perfectly aware that this was precisely the response he hoped to induce.

"And you base this assertion on personal experience?"

Mary swallowed. "Yes. I have been unfortunate enough to have seen such a corpse once before. It is not an event I wish to recall."

Maddox leaned back in his chair. "No doubt. But it might assist me to know a little more of the circumstances."

"Really, Mr Maddox," she said angrily, "it can have no possible relevance here."