Chertsey Park: A 1920s historical mystery of drama and suspense (Sophie Burgoyne Mysteries Book 4)

Chertsey Park G J Bellamy This publication is a work of fiction. All names, characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Copyright © 2023 by G J Bellamy. All rights reserved. The moral right of the author has been asserted. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior express written permission of the publisher. G J Bellamy gjbellamy.com Contents Cast of Characters 1. An evening's entertainment 2. Paper! Paper! 3. Going to the dogs 4. Repairing to Rotten Row 5. A network of intrigue 6. Dinner at Lyall Place 7. Chasing an idea 8. Dear old Fleet Street 9. Important arrangements 10. Wildlife 11. Red Fist and blackmail 12. Planning stage 13. The dormitory 14. A bear in its den, and a lion in the hall 15. Head counts and speeches 16. Hunting grounds 17. Shoot 18. A strange dance 19. Plans large and small 20. A stop on the stairs 21. Pull 22. Watching and whispering 23. Probing attacks 24. Everything stops for tea 25. Courses 26. Time to leave 27. The best laid plans of mice and maids... 28. Running with the hare & hunting with the hounds 29. Sunningdale 30. Enemy at the gates 31. The Grand Salon 32. Reunion 33. Aftermath 34. Epilogue Also By Cast of CharactersFamily & FriendsSophie Burgoyne / Phoebe KingHenry Burgoyne, vicar - Sophie’s fatherLady Shelling (Elizabeth Burgoyne) - Auntie BessieAda McMahon / Nancy Carmichael - Sophie’s friendFlora Dane / Gladys Walton - Sophie’s long-time friendArchie Drysdale - Sophie’s second cousinThe AgencyMiss Jones, typist and office manageressElizabeth Banks, researcher and office helperNick, errand boyFern / Dora Datchet, maid with a photographic memoryAlfie Tanner, footmanDouglas Broadbent-Wicks / Dan Ely, footmanWhite Lyon YardHawkins, butlerMary Roberts, maidMarsden, footmanLyall Place, BelgraviaGeorgiana, Countess StokelyMr Dalgleish, butlerMiss Beech, maidChertsey ParkLord Stokely, Roderick FieldingUncle Teddy, Edward Fielding, Roderick's uncleMrs Newnham, housekeeperBertha, maidMrs Potter, cookKemp, estate managerJohn, one of Kemp's menMiller, another of Kemp's menAgnes at the Gardeners ArmsLord Stokely's entourageVincent Cobden, Secretary.Lester Dawkins, executive officerMorris Wilberforce, financial officer.Aides, bodyguards, drivers, and a photographer.Newspapers and othersJack Long, editor-in-chief London MercuryJeremy Rushton Editor-in-chief Albion NewsAuckland of the TimesNigel Johnston, M.P. for Walthamstow NorthScotland Yard and Government DepartmentsSuperintendent of Special Duties (Inspector) PenroseInspector Morton, CIDSergeant Gowers, CIDRalph ‘Sinjin’ Yardley, Foreign Office agentLen Feather, Yardley’s chauffeur, Foreign Office agentLord Sidney Laneford, Home OfficeCharlotte Terrence, professional gambler and recruited spy. Chapter 1 An evening's entertainmentBritons drive on the left. This is a well-known fact. However, when approaching the entrance of the Savoy, the law of the land has been set aside. Turning off the Strand and onto Savoy Court, which is private property, all vehicles must drive on the right. This regulation-ousting convention, undergirded by a Special Act of Parliament, was born out of the economical habits of bygone hackney carriage drivers. Instead of getting down and doing a proper job of opening the door for his passengers, the cabbie, remaining seated on his perch, reached back for the handle and, without inconveniencing himself any more than strictly necessary, unlatched the right-hand door. A motorized cab turned onto Savoy Court and, at the halfway point of the tight turning circle, it came to a stop. The doorman opened the passenger’s door. Sophie alighted, immediately followed by Sinjin Yardley who, quick to join her, was wearing a long, immaculate black coat, with a white silk scarf and a faultless topper.Sophie stood on the pavement and gazed, awestruck, taking in the distinguished entrance to the legendary establishment. So many famous and celebrated people had stayed at the hotel or dined in its restaurant that it fired her imagination — making her not only think of things she had read about but also wonder who she might see there tonight.Yardley had a glimpse of Sophie’s profile in that attitude. He thought her beautiful — fresh-faced and, in that second, very young-looking and charming in her unguarded moment. Her cap was a soft, dark brown velvet with a long tassel, and looked like an artist’s oversized beret. Her long, sweeping, mid-brown woollen coat hid a dark blue evening gown, created by Mrs Green, the Burgoyne Agency’s preferred couturier. When Sophie had tried it on in the Spartan dressing rooms in Brick Lane, Mrs Green said it was as if she had designed the gown with Sophie in mind, so well did it suit and become her.By some process, which Sophie could only assume included divination, Flora and Ada had guessed that Sophie was to meet Mr Yardley and had then extracted from her that she was going to dinner with him at the Savoy. This had occurred because he had diverged from their agreed-upon agenda by telephoning Sophie at her office instead of writing. Yardley had furthered his outrageous behaviour by suggesting they have a quiet dinner together instead of the originally proposed meeting in a general setting with others present. Sophie, for once forgetting to upbraid him, had surprisingly said yes.Once they learned of the dinner, Ada and Flora decided they should be involved, too. In the afternoon at White Lyon Yard, Sophie’s long brown hair was first brushed, and then clasped into place by Flora, who used her very pretty silver and turquoise comb shaped like a resplendent crown. Use of the hair comb was possible because Flora’s jewels had yet to be returned to her pawnbroker for safekeeping.Ada had ensured that Sophie was turned out to the highest standard possible, while giving pointers to Mary, Sophie’s maid courtesy of Aunt Bessie, as she did so. The matter of make-up was a joint decision by the agents. The result — comprising a light application of powder, a dark pink lipstick, faintly pencilled eyebrows, the merest suggestion of kohl, and a faint blush of rouge on Sophie’s cheeks — met with approval of all three.At the