Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

worst sort,’ she said fiercely, little trace left of her tears. ‘Where Mr Haversham is decent and honourable, Mr Edward is profligate and untrustworthy. He is constantly mired in gambling debts and entreating his brother to rescue him, which George has done again and again. No, I have little love for him, nor I suspect has he much love for me. He knows my opinion of him.’
    ‘To return to the map,’ Charlotte said, with a pointed look at our mutual friend for her interruption. ‘Do you say you saw him take it? Did he leave with it?’
    ‘No, he did not. But who else could have stolen it? Only Mr Haversham and his partner Mr Clarke were even aware of its existence.’
    ‘And yourself?’
    ‘No, not at the time. Let me explain. George … Mr Haversham … and his partner had been absent from Bradford for some time, but they were expected to return in a day or two. I visited his office that I might bring some letters that had been sent to this house by mistake. You see my mother and I were visiting here and were staying at the Swan. Then George was called away and I thought to visit his office when I could … just that I might be of use.’ #
    Mrs Streetham said, ‘Mr Haversham’s office boy is … he is the crippled son of one of the workers on the canal. George took it upon himself to employ the boy, but he is challenged in what he can do.’
    ‘Yes, so I visited the office on occasion to see what help I might offer,’ Miss Streetham said.
    ‘Excuse me,’ Charlotte said. ‘Where is this office?’
    ‘On St Margaret Street, nearer the canal.’
    ‘Please continue.’
    ‘I visited the office that day and saw Mr Edward waiting in his brother’s office. The office boy, being familiar with him for all the times he had visited George, had let him in. And when I confronted him, Mr Edward that is, he was very upset and fled shortly after.’
    ‘But he did not have the map? He could have secreted it upon his person?’
    She smiled and said, ‘I suppose he might have, but it is a very large map. I do not think he had it. And …’
    She stopped, obviously unsure what she should next say.
    ‘And?’ Charlotte prompted.
    ‘George arrived only a few minutes after Edward had left. He had returned early and visited his office that morning and then called at the Swan, and learning he had missed me, he hurried to his office.’
    ‘I see,’ Charlotte said. ‘And Mr Haversham did not notice the absence of the map?’
    She looked down at the floor and said in a small voice, ‘No, he did not. In fact, he rather called attention to it being there.’
    Her words hung in the air. I made a small noise of surprise at this, whence Charlotte shot me a glance as if to say keep quiet.
    ‘What did he say?’ she prompted, when Miss Streetham said nothing further.
    ‘He … he said he should put it away for safekeeping. That is when I learned of the map and its significance.’
    ‘What?’ I cried. ‘If it was the map then surely you have no reason to suspect …’
    ‘Hush, Jane,’ Charlotte said calmly. ‘Please continue, Miss Streetham. What did Mr Haversham do with the map?’
    ‘I watched him unroll it, fold it and put it in the strongbox.’
    At this even Mrs Fitzhugh voiced her amazement, which Charlotte chose to ignore.
    ‘And yet you still suspect the brother?’
    ‘Yes, if you had seen him, the guilt was there upon his face. And this is a man who has admitted his every crime with a face that has never shown guilt or remorse. But this time, I know he understood the severity of what he had done.’
    ‘Or was about to do,’ Charlotte said. ‘You must think then that he later stole into Mr Haversham’s office, opened the strongbox and left with the map.’
    ‘Yes, that is what must have happened.’
    ‘Then it would be a simple matter to look into the strongbox and …’
    The look of distress on her face made it clear that it would not be a simple matter.
    Charlotte sighed. ‘Yes, you do not want to burden Mr Haversham with the knowledge that his brother is the instrument of his downfall. Nor do you want him to think badly of you if you wrongly accuse his brother. Yes, it is a pretty puzzle all round.’
    She sat back and lightly drummed her fingertips together. ‘Very well, we have a plan of action. One, I must inspect the office and see whether the map remains locked away. And two, I must meet this brother and learn for myself whether he is capable of so terrible an act. And finally, I must