The Castlemaine Murders (12 page)

Eliza blushed and ruffled her hair, a gesture Phryne remembered from childhood.

‘Oh, well, it’s the same as the East End but not so dirt poor. It’s all people.’

‘Eliza, why did you get sent to Australia? I’ve got letters from both Father and Mother today but I haven’t read them yet, and I won’t if you don’t want me to, but can’t you tell me what is going on?’

‘I’d like to, Phryne, but I can’t. I really can’t.’ Eliza’s voice was strained, near to breaking point.

‘Why can’t you?’

‘I just can’t. Read the letters. Perhaps Father has told you.’

‘I won’t if you don’t want me to,’ Phryne said again.

‘No,’ said Eliza, and burst into tears. ‘No, please don’t.’

‘All right,’ said Phryne. ‘And when you trust me again, as you used to, you shall tell me yourself. But tell me this—is it a medical problem? Would you like to see a very discreet lady doctor who is a close friend of mine?’

‘No!’ exclaimed Eliza. Muffling her face in her handkerchief, she upset her tea cup as she sprang to her feet and rushed out of the room.

‘Sisters,’ said Phryne to Mr Butler when she went into the kitchen for a dishcloth.

‘I have had the same problem myself, Miss Fisher. Do allow me,’ said Mr Butler as he preceded Miss Fisher to the parlour. ‘In my sister’s case it was religion. One of those ranting ones. Most unpleasant while it lasted.’

‘What cured her?’ asked Phryne, watching him remove tea from the small table with precise, economical movements, never spilling a drop on the carpet.

‘She fell in love, Miss Fisher. With a most eligible young man in the ship’s chandler’s line.’

‘We can hope, then,’ said Phryne.

‘We can always hope, Miss Fisher,’ Mr Butler told her as the doorbell rang.

It was Hugh Collins in a fine state of disarray. Phryne grabbed his arm.

‘Dot’s all right,’ she said sharply. ‘But if you rush in looking like that you’ll startle her and she’s had enough shocks for one day. Straighten your collar, comb your hair, take a deep breath. Dot values her self control. You don’t want to puncture it.’

Obedient to the voice of female authority, Hugh Collins did as he was bid. When he was the picture of a tidy young gentleman again, Mr Butler took him out to the garden and Phryne sagged back in her chair.

Mysteries all around, and now an attempted murder. Who cared that much about a man seventy years dead?

Later in the day Phryne answered the door to reveal a huge bouquet of white peonies and Lin Chung.

‘Camellia sent these,’ he said, handing them over. ‘And I have news to relate.’

‘That is very kind of Camellia. They’re beautiful. I trust she is well?’

Phryne accepted the blooms and gave them to Mr Butler to arrange. She approved of Lin Chung’s new wife, a Chinese widow with green fingers and perfect English. Before she married Camellia had agreed to Phryne’s concubinage, and they had become friends.

‘I have news to relate too,’ she said. ‘Sit down and let’s swap.’

The conversation lasted through three cups of Chinese tea (Phryne) and a glass of lemon squash (Lin).

‘How curious! You see what this attack on Miss Williams means, Phryne,’ said Lin, putting a hand on Phryne’s knee. She covered it with her own.

‘I see that a nasty and possibly final revenge is about to be wreaked on the motorcyclist as soon as I lay hands on him,’ said Phryne. ‘What are you trying to say?’

‘Someone must have seen us find that body. How else would they have known that Miss Williams was part of it? Someone at Luna Park saw us talking to that stupid policeman.’

‘Y-e-s,’ drawled Phryne. ‘It would not have been hard to find out who I was. That bone-headed cop might have told anyone who asked. And I left my card with Messrs Bennet and Dalby. What do you suggest? An employee? A visitor?’

‘The only people I am sure weren’t in it were the nuns and the orphans,’ replied Lin, ‘and that’s only because they were roped together.’

‘That might explain the strange messages from the mermaid. They were all in the “beware” category, as far as memory serves. I’ll ask the girls when they get home . . . Lord, what about the girls? Are they in danger?’

‘They will be, if Miss Williams is in danger,’ said Lin.

Phryne corrected him sharply. ‘Will you stop calling her “Miss Williams”? You usually call her Dot.’

‘Sorry, I’ve spent the afternoon being excessively polite to my oldest ancestor. My great great grandfather’s brother, Lin Gan. It’s odd, Phryne, but I always ran away from him when I was a child because he was so censorious. Now he seems almost heroic, though all he did in the riot was to stand and stare.’

‘You’re not a child any more,’ said Phryne. ‘And perhaps he approves of you, just a little.’

‘Yes,’ said Lin, ‘he does. Which is why I have to go to Castlemaine.’

‘When?’

‘Wednesday, I expect. First I must speak to the old Hu lady, then I will take the car. That will get me out of Grandmother’s way, at least.’

‘And out of the firing line, with any luck,’ said Phryne.

‘If that is the case, then I shall not go,’ said Lin. ‘I can at least be as brave as my ancestor.’

‘Lin, dear,’ said Phryne.

She leaned forward, soliciting a kiss, and his smooth lips had just touched hers when Phryne heard a shocked gasp and opened her eyes.

Eliza was standing in the doorway. She said, ‘Oh, sorry!’ and fled. Phryne leaned forward more emphatically and kissed Lin Chung hard. His inner lip was like silk; he tasted of lemon squash. Heat bloomed in Phryne’s spine, grounding with a thud at the base. If the delicious Lin was going to Castlemaine, Phryne thought, it might be an idea if she followed him.

‘But I have a suggestion,’ he said, once he had freed his mouth and got his breath back.

‘And that is?’ asked Phryne.

‘I will leave my own bodyguard with you. You like Li Pen. Your household knows him. No one gets past a Shaolin monk.’

‘He is supposed to be looking after you, beautiful man,’ Phryne pointed out.

‘Yes, but this is my decision. You and I, Silver Lady, we take our own risks. But I cannot undertake any journey which might leave your family in danger. My own family is well guarded. Anyone getting into the Lin compound will have only a few moments for prayer before the dogs eat him. But until Molly gets a little bigger or we train Ember to claw on command, this household needs a guard.’

‘And Ember has always been of the view that training is something which happens to inferior animals, haven’t you, my precious?’

Ember paused in his saunter through the parlour to blink, twice, and move on.

‘Well? Shall I send Li Pen?’

‘Yes,’ said Phryne. ‘I agree with you. And I may be joining you. Where will you stay?’

‘Apparently we still have a market garden at Golden Point,’ said Lin. ‘I haven’t been instructed in all the ramifications of the Lin family business. I was trained as a silk buyer. I don’t know much about the rest of it, though I now must learn. There are still Chinese people in Castlemaine. The person I am looking for is a lady called Mrs Ah, who saw the couriers last.’

‘She must be pretty antique by now,’ commented Phryne.

‘I am an expert on antiques,’ said Lin. ‘If you come to Castlemaine, where shall I find you?’

‘Let’s look at the book.’ Phryne rose and extracted a touring guide from the small walnut bookshelf. She flipped through the pages. ‘Ah, yes. The Cumberland looks like the best hotel. Thirty-nine rooms. Nothing with a private bath, though. Oh well. One must suffer for one’s revenge. My wharfie friend Bert told me that the secret of successful travelling is never to stay at a hotel called Railway or Commercial. There’s the Imperial as well—I shall have to see when I get there. Now kiss me again before the girls get home and think of the pleasures of a good, large, impersonal hotel. I’m beginning to feel a touch constrained in my present home.’

Lin obliged enthusiastically. Just in time to hear another shocked gasp from Eliza, who had come back again, and who fled again in the same way.

Phryne pushed Lin away and sat up.

‘A nice, big, uncaring, uninteresting hotel,’ she told Lin. ‘I look forward to it. How am I to find you in Castlemaine, then?’

‘I shall telegraph,’ said Lin. ‘And now I must take my leave. I will send Li Pen soon.’

‘I shall lay in a store of Vegemite,’ said Phryne. Li Pen was one of the few Shaolin monks to admit to a taste for bread and Vegemite. ‘And get Mrs Butler on to vegetarian cooking. I’m sure that Mrs Beeton has a chapter on it.’

‘He would be just as happy with rice and steamed greens,’ said Lin.

‘But Mrs Butler wouldn’t be,’ said Phryne. ‘She likes a challenge.’

Lin smiled, kissed Phryne’s hand, and departed, leaving her restless. She wished for a moment that she had never acquired all these followers and family and could just ravish her beautiful lover on the floor of the parlour. But living in the world meant living with people and it was time to get up, see how Dot was, greet the returning daughters and perhaps—for the day seemed to be getting warmer—go for a swim.

No. Until Li Pen arrived they were rather confined to the house, which made Camellia’s garden more attractive than ever. At least it was outside. And if anyone came over the wall, Phryne could belt him with a rake. This made her feel slightly cheered as she walked through the house.

Mr Butler joined her after a few minutes with the afternoon post. He looked a little apprehensive. Dot took her sewing away to a safe distance.

‘Put it down here, Mr B, and we shall sort,’ said Phryne bracingly, suiting the action to the word. ‘Bills, bills, a postcard, a letter from Peter, a card for Lady Mary’s At Home, nothing explosive. You may come back, Dot dear. I’m thinking of a little trip.’

‘A trip, Miss Phryne?’

‘Yes, just to Castlemaine. I feel that the solution to our mystery lies there, or somewhere near. Someone had Castlemaine newspapers to hand when they needed to stuff a mummy, and I feel that makes him local. First, of course, we must talk to Reverend Mother about Mrs Carter, and then we must make sure that you are all safe. So Lin has lent me Li Pen.’

‘Oh,’ Dot was a little cast down. ‘So we aren’t coming with you.’

‘No,’ said Phryne as gently as she could. ‘It also means that I am leaving you with Eliza, which is a filthy rotten trick. I apologise for that, Dot dear. But she seems to have mostly lost her anger, so she might be easier to live with now. If you can find out what on earth is the matter with her, Dot, it would be a mercy. But I am not going to read my letters from my parents until she says I can, and that leaves me a bit gravelled for lack of matter. Try to find out who the man is, there’s a dear. She indignantly refused a delicate hint that she might like to see Doctor MacMillan, so events haven’t proceeded too far. And if she should confide in you, Dot, do try and convey to her that I do not in the least mind if she marries a Welsh coalminer, even if he sings, or a wharfie with a three day beard. I will cover up for her and I will keep Father away. I just want her to trust me. I just want my little sister back, Dot.’

Dot drew a thread through her drawn thread work and said, ‘I understand,’ very solemnly. ‘And it will be nice to have that Mr Li here while you are away,’ she added.

‘Yes, Li Pen is an asset,’ agreed Phryne.

They sat for almost an hour in the shade of the bamboo house. Phryne listened to the hens clucking behind the screen. It was very quiet. The tall bamboo fence which Camellia had ordered cut out a lot of traffic noise. There didn’t seem to be anything you couldn’t do with bamboo.

She must have said this out loud because someone answered quietly, ‘You can make scaffolding out of it. You can cook rice in it. You can build houses from it. Beaten flat, you can make a cape of it that will keep out the rain. And it makes a fine, unbreakable weapon.’

‘Hello, Li Pen,’ said Phryne. ‘You move like a shadow.’

‘My master sent me to guard your household,’ he said reasonably. ‘One cannot do that by stumping up and down like an elephant.’

‘True. What do you mean, bamboo makes a weapon? It’s only wood.’

‘I will show you,’ said Li Pen. He walked along the bamboo screen, selected and removed one piece, and danced with it. It was the only word to describe it. In the centre of the spinning, whirling staff, there was Li Pen, easy, relaxed, and any attacker would have been whipped and stabbed and tripped and flattened and utterly at his mercy in around five seconds. In the middle of the whirlwind of deadly blows and kicks he danced, his face quite calm, and Phryne was suddenly much more comfortable about leaving her family. Li Pen was quite possibly the best defence anyone could have, not excepting a Hotchkiss gun.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of the glorious Emperor Lord of
the Dragon Throne Kwong Sui of the Ching Dynasty, Sung Ma
the elder brother greets Sung Mai the younger sister.

We have landed at Melbourne. The solar calendar month is April
and the year is 1855. The city is a poor, bare, busy place with few
mountains and only one river, which is brown. I bade farewell to
Dark Moon and the shipmaster and went with the Lin family to
their compound in the city. There we were fed and rested the night.