TLMS 32

Chapter 32

Once suspicion is cast on someone, it is a common experience that everything about that person begins to look suspicious.

Even if it is natural for the police to suspect everyone connected to a case, thinking about it, there were quite a few questionable aspects regarding Eugenia.

Eugenia had suddenly appeared at the Plenigan estate. Of course, considering that her two cousins had died and she had received a notice of their deaths, her visit to the Plenigan estate itself was not unusual.

Even so, Eugenia had lived almost completely cut off from the Plenigan household until now, and she had not even arrived exactly for the funeral. So perhaps she had come intending to exploit the situation at the Plenigan estate for some purpose.

However, the reason the police cast suspicion on her was different.

If it had not been for Eugenia, Jane would not have attended the dance party held at the Hayes estate. Jane liked lively events such as parties and dances, but she was an obedient person and would not insist if her family opposed it.

Moreover, if Eugenia had not deceived Jane into delaying her return time, Jane might have been safe.

Originally, Jane’s curfew was nine o’clock. All the women of the Plenigan family who had gone to see the festival returned before that time.

If Jane had returned at nine, there would have been many people around the west wing. Even if she had slipped on the stairs, someone might have caught her, or at least a doctor could have been called quickly.

Of course, if it was an accident, it could not be helped. But if it was murder, the situation would be completely different. The culprit would not have attempted anything in a place where people were present.

It was natural that such thoughts would arise when suspicion began to snowball. Perhaps Eugenia had a purpose when she lied about Jane’s return time.

For instance, to create a situation where Jane would arrive at the west wing late at night and walk up the stairs when no one was around.

Furthermore, Eugenia herself returned early to her room in the east wing, claiming she had a headache.

Perhaps this was done to avoid suspicion after the incident—or perhaps to gain time to prepare something in advance for the crime.

What the police found most suspicious was Jane’s new dress and high-heeled shoes.

Jane’s long dress and high heels made it highly likely that she slipped on the stairs.

In addition, Eugenia had encouraged Jane to drink at the party. Could this also have been intended to make her lose her balance?

“If Miss Jane was indeed murdered,” a police officer said,

“the culprit may have pushed her down the stairs directly, but it is also possible they created a situation expecting an accident. It is ambiguous because it relies on chance, but directly acting would also carry great risk for the perpetrator.”

He then mentioned another case—a murder disguised as an accident committed by a nephew seeking inheritance.

The nephew had scattered glass marbles on the stairs so that his elderly aunt, with poor eyesight, would slip and fall. The incident only occurred nearly ten months after he began placing them.

At first, everyone thought it was a tragic accident. However, the police grew suspicious after finding marbles in dark corners and under furniture throughout the house, eventually uncovering the nephew’s plan.

The nephew had thought he had cleaned them all up, but he failed to notice many had rolled into hidden places.

In detective novels, criminals often seem like geniuses, but in reality, most are clumsy. That is why they are quickly caught. And in a way, that is fortunate for justice.

The problem was that, although Eugenia was suspicious, there was no obvious “marble-like” evidence.

She had encouraged Jane to buy a new dress and high heels, but whether that was to cause her death or merely coincidence was unclear.

In fact, coincidence was more likely. The dress was long and inconvenient because of Plenigan family fashion, not Eugenia’s doing.

The same went for the high heels. They were simply fashionable at the time, and most women at the dance party wore similar shoes.

The police investigated Eugenia’s alibi, but found nothing unusual, just like with the others.

After returning early from the dance, she went straight to her room in the east wing and did not leave until the next day. This was confirmed by both the narrator and Ian.

Of course, one might ask whether she slipped out around midnight and hid somewhere to push Jane.

However, that possibility was also disproven by testimony from the cook, Mrs. McBride.

Because of the festival, some ingredients for the next day’s cooking arrived late. Although she complained endlessly, Mrs. McBride checked everything and worked late into the night preparing ingredients.

Being extremely responsible, she could not leave her duties even when tired from the festival.

While working, she remained in the kitchen on the first floor of the east wing until after midnight, with the door open and lights on in the hall. Under such conditions, anyone leaving the east wing would have been seen.

With her testimony, not only Eugenia but most people in the east wing were cleared of suspicion. According to her, no one left the east wing between Jane’s arrival and about an hour later.

(Unfortunately, this also meant Mrs. McBride herself remained under suspicion, since she had no one to confirm her whereabouts. The onions and potatoes she worked with could not testify on her behalf.)

Even Inspector Penwood, who had considered Ian suspicious for looking “too neat,” had to drop his doubts thanks to Mrs. McBride’s testimony.

More importantly, Eugenia’s motive was unclear.

She could not have been acting for inheritance. Jane was entitled to a substantial fortune left by her father, William Plenigan, and with her sisters Anne and Aileen recently deceased, her share had doubled.

Even if Jane died, the inheritance would pass to her sister Delia. As a cousin by marriage, Eugenia’s position in the inheritance order was far too low.

Of course, Eugenia was financially strained compared to her cousins, having grown up in her maternal family after her father lost everything gambling.

Still, for inheritance to be her motive, she would have had to commit a series of murders, since multiple heirs would need to disappear for her position to rise.

In this country’s inheritance law, the testator’s will is most important. If there is no will, or named heirs die, property passes according to legal order.

Jane, however, was a maternal relative. In the order of inheritance, paternal relatives came first.

This meant Eugenia would have to eliminate nearly all close relatives—including Delia, Melissa, Edward, and Thomas—to benefit.

Such a thing was beyond the capacity of an ordinary person.

Perhaps it was a grudge. But Eugenia had had little contact with the family for years. Even when she stayed at the estate before, she got along well with her cousins.

Now, too, she showed no conflict with Jane or Delia—in fact, she had been almost inseparable from Jane, like a close friend.

Human emotions are unpredictable, but at least to others, she did not seem to harbor any resentment strong enough to kill Jane.

Thus, despite extensive investigation, no evidence of murder was found, and Jane’s death was ultimately ruled an accident.

Among the servants, however, there were rumors that the investigation ended so quickly because the Plenigan family had paid a large sum to higher officials.

In truth, since Jane’s death was not a suicide like Aileen or Anne’s, there was no need to hide it as a disgrace.

However, because she had died after staying out late at a party, the family was said to feel ashamed.

Whether the rumors were true or not, the case was closed as an accident.

And around this time, I too began to feel an unsettling suspicion growing within me.