Chapter 3 — Forty Years In This House

CharlesMrs Doyle, my mother wants the staff assembled in the drawing room.

Mrs DoyleYour mother can want.

CharlesI'm not going to pretend that was anything other than what it was.

Mrs DoyleThen don't.

CharlesWhere's the girl?

Mrs DoyleIn the pantry. She's got glass in her knee and she's still trying to finish her shift.

CharlesTell her to stop.

Mrs DoyleYou tell her. She won't hear it from me.

CharlesMrs Doyle — how long have you worked here?

Mrs DoyleForty-one years in September.

CharlesDid you know Elena Marchetti?

Mrs DoyleI did.

CharlesMy father never mentioned her.

Mrs DoyleNo. He wouldn't have.

CharlesWas she dismissed?

Mrs DoyleShe was paid to go.

CharlesBy him?

Mrs DoyleBy your mother.

Charles sat down on the arm of a chair.

CharlesHow much?

Mrs DoyleI don't know the figure. I know she left on a Tuesday with two cases and no reference, and that she was four months along, and that your mother stood in this hallway and watched the car leave.

CharlesFour months.

Mrs DoyleYes.

CharlesMy father died in March.

Mrs DoyleI remember.

CharlesHe left instructions with Hanrahan that weren't to be opened until the estate cleared probate.

Mrs DoyleI know he did.

CharlesHow do you know that?

Mrs DoyleBecause I witnessed them.