The Murders of Richard III - Elizabeth Peters [88]
“Good Lord,” Thomas said, starting up. “It’s a wonder Frank didn’t attack you, Jacqueline. If I had realized—”
“I was never in any danger.” Jacqueline sounded a little regretful. “Frank couldn’t spoil the ‘murders of Richard the Third’ by attacking someone who wasn’t on the list. Besides, Sir Richard knew from the start that I was no expert, and Lady Isobel made sure everyone else knew it. Where is she, by the way?”
“Resting,” said the rector. “She was totally prostrated, poor lady, by the excitement.”
“Prostrated with frustration,” Kent corrected, with an unpleasant laugh. “She’s lost her quarry. By this time she is probably drunk.”
“Never mind her,” Thomas said. “Go on, Jacqueline.”
“Frank dispatched the letter,” Jacqueline said. “Not to Sir Richard—that would have been too obvious—but to Mr. Ellis. I suppose he invented some tale of noble families brought down in the world, of theft and mild skull-duggery, in order to explain his desire for anonymity….”
Mr. Ellis looked down at his folded hands. “I was culpable. And gullible. I cannot excuse myself; I have allowed a worldly interest to assume monstrous proportions. I wanted so much to believe…”
“You mustn’t blame yourself,” Jacqueline said, with the gentleness she always showed to the little man. “Whatever your reservations, you had to show the letter to Sir Richard; you had no choice. You tried to stop the show when it started to turn into a circus….
“Of course Frank sent the letter in order to bring about an early meeting of the executive board. He didn’t dare wait until October; Liz was showing signs of restlessness. He planned to commit the crime during a weekend house party, when the place was teeming with eccentric Ricardians. He did not expect that Sir Richard would fall completely for the forged letter and invite the press to the meeting, but he saw that this development could be useful. More confusion, more people wandering around, more suspects.
“The jokes were designed for the same purpose—confusion. But they served several other purposes. The whole setup suggested a joker with a mania about Richard the Third. Sir Richard’s death, which horribly simulated the bloody end of his prototype, was supposed to be only a joke gone wrong. Thus it would appear to be one of a series, and the police would look for a monomaniac, not a killer who profited by Sir Richard’s death. And if the worst happened and Frank was caught, the jokes gave him several choices of defense. It would be hard to prove premeditated murder. Insanity, accident—this poor young chap, troubled by his fiancée’s sick passion for a dead man…
“I’m sure all this was in Frank’s mind, but of course he didn’t mean to be caught. The bizarre nature of the jokes suggested Percy as the joker. Adolescence is an unstable period, and adolescent killers commit crimes for the most trivial reasons. That was why I was sure no attempt would be made on Sir Richard today until Percy was free. It took him longer than Frank had anticipated. He got so impatient he went upstairs and shouted directions at the boy.”
“Right under my nose,” Thomas said disgustedly.
“If you hadn’t been with him, he might have unlocked the door,” Jacqueline consoled him. “Percy would have gotten out eventually, and Frank took advantage of his appearance at the window. He knew Sir Richard would immediately rush to check on the safety of his precious letter.”
“What if Percy hadn’t shown himself?”
“Frank would have thought of some other method of distraction. All he had to do was point and shout, ‘My God, there’s Percy,’ or ‘I see Strangways in the garden.’ The important thing was that Percy should be out, on the loose, and unable to prove an alibi. I kept Mrs. P.-J. under surveillance, just in case, but I didn’t think Frank would bother with her. He had altered the correct sequence before, with Percy and Philip.”
“You had it