The Mystery of Fitzjames Manor

©2015 Richard Humphreys

The Find-Outers visit Fitzjames Manor and are very quickly embroiled in a new mystery that has its roots in the distant past. With the help of a couple of old friends, Fatty and the Find-Outers piece together the clues and are led finally to an astonishing discovery.

Chapter 12: Back to the Manor

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Fatty, Bets and Pip arrived at Fitzjames Manor at ten o'clock. Because they had used their bicycles, a rather annoyed Buster had been left at home in the care of a sulky Eunice. Fatty had given her firm instructions not to let Buster out otherwise he may try to follow him all the way to the manor. Eunice had said that she would do her best, which did not fill Fatty with much confidence. But as it simply was not possible to take Buster he relied on his mother's good sense to keep him indoors until they returned.

Before leaving, Fatty had telephoned Lady Fitzjames to ask permission to see her and to enquire whether she had spoken to Superintendent Jenks.

'Yes, of course you may come over Frederick, in fact I have a recipe to give you which your mother asked me to look out for her,' she said pleasantly. 'And I have spoken to Superintendent Jenks and well, really, Frederick, I had no idea you were so accomplished. He speaks very highly of you and your friends. He is such a kind man and he had nothing but praise for you.'

Fatty was pleased to hear this, as he hoped it meant that Lady Fitzjames would give him more information about members of her staff and Sir Henry. He had quite a number of questions that he hoped she would be able to answer. And if she could not, then perhaps the others could uncover something in the library.

The three of them left their bicycles against bushes at the front of the house, then climbed the steps up to the front door and rang the old fashioned doorbell. After a couple of minutes the door was opened by Mrs. Chivers, who seemed surprised to find the children standing on the doorstep.

'Oh, hallo,' she said. 'My, you can't keep away can you?'

'Good morning,' Fatty said. 'We're here to see Lady Fitzjames.'

'Really? Are you expected,' Mrs Chivers asked.

'Yes, we are,' Fatty said. 'I telephoned earlier, my name is Frederick Trotteville.'

'Oh, very well, then,' Mrs. Chivers said opening the door wider. 'Come and wait in the hall and I'll tell Her Ladyship you're here.'

The three children stepped into the hall and Mrs. Chivers went to find Lady Fitzjames.

Pip immediately went to the suits of armour that stood against the wall. 'Gosh,' he said, 'aren't they splendid.'

'Yes, but I don't think they'll fit us though,' Fatty said with a laugh. 'I'm too plump and you're too short.' He turned and saw that Bets was half way up the stairs. 'What are you doing?' he asked.

'Just looking at the picture of Sir Henry,' she said. The others joined her.

'He must be holding this little model for a reason,' she said looking closely at the painting. 'I wonder why?'

'That Chinese fellow,' said Pip. 'He looks a bit like you Fatty.'

'Thank you, Pip,' Fatty said feigning a hurt expression. 'But I'm not at as fat as that, surely.'

'No,' Pip said. 'I'm only joking. If you were that fat, you'd hardly be the school swimming champion.'

'Quite right,' Fatty said, puffing himself up for yet another boast. 'As a matter of fact I shall be taking part in the inter county...'

'Hallo kids, and what are you up to?' a voice called from the top of the stairs.

They all turned and saw a young man standing on the landing looking over the balustrade. It was the same man they had spoken to on the viewing day.

'We're waiting for Lady Fitzjames,' said Fatty. 'I'm Frederick and this is Bets and Pip. And you are?'

The man joined them on the stairs he had dark curly hair and a round friendly face. 'I'm the assessor from the auction house, Mr. Robert Harris, by name, but you can call me Robbie. I think I remember you from the viewing day,' he said in a jolly voice. 'I see you're interested in old Sir Henry,' he added looking at the painting. 'The mysterious Sir Henry Fitzjames.'

'Yes, we were wondering why he's holding this little statue,' Bets suddenly blurted out. Pip poked her in the back and she blushed slightly.

'Oh, that's easy, young lady,' Robbie said winking at her. 'He's probably holding one of his favourite objects, it would have been quite a rare piece in those days.' He pointed to the small oriental figure in the painting. 'He was very keen on Japanese art.'

'Japanese?' Fatty said looking closely at the painting. 'We thought he was Chinese, at least that's what Lady Fitzjames said.'

Robbie laughed. 'Oh pardon me,' he said, screwing his face up into an amusing expression. 'That's what I meant to say. He is Chinese, yes of course he is. I'm getting my nationalities confused.' He pulled a small magnifying glass from his pocket and peered carefully at the painting. 'Yes, he's definitely Chinese.'

Just then Lady Fitzjames appeared in the hall and invited the children to join her in the morning room. They said goodbye to Robbie and left him standing on the stairs.

'Superintendent Jenks has told me that you have all been a great help to him in the past,' Lady Fitzjames said when they were all seated. 'I have to say that I find I can talk much more easily to you than that Constable, who I find very abrasive and dismissive.'

Fatty nodded. 'Yes, he can be, I'm afraid. But he does have Constable Pippin with him, now, and he's far more approachable.'

'Well, then Frederick,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'What would you like to know?'

'Let me tell you what we think about the robberies,' Fatty began. 'And remember this is only a theory and might be miles off the mark. We think that the thief is looking for something valuable.'

'And what leads you to this conclusion?' Lady Fitzjames asked.

Fatty continued: 'Simply because the things stolen have been smashed up. Now we don't believe this is just an act of vandalism aimed at frightening you. We think it's possible that this thief is looking for a clue to the whereabouts of something else. Do you have a list of the things that were stolen from both the auctioneers in Maidenhead and from here?'

Lady Fitzjames went to a desk by the window and opened a drawer. 'Yes, here you are,' she said handing a sheet of paper to Fatty. 'That's all the items that were taken during both robberies.'

Fatty glanced through the list. 'Only a few of these things are dated,' he said. 'Can I assume that they all date from before say, 1822?'

'I'm not sure,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'Let me see.' Fatty handed her the list. She nodded. 'Yes, it seems to me that most, if not all of these things, are from periods earlier than or contemporary with the first quarter of the nineteenth century.' She looked at Fatty. 'But what does that signify?'

'Two things,' Fatty said. 'One is that the thief has a knowledge of antiques and the other is that they were all in this house when Sir Henry Fitzjames was alive. And that brings me to another, and a very important point. To your knowledge is there a story about Sir Henry concealing something of value in the house. Something he didn't want his gambling son to find?'

Lady Fitzjames leaned back in her chair. 'Well there is such a legend,' she said, 'but it's only a legend and nothing has ever been found. We know that Jasper, Sir Henry's son, believed it and almost tore the place apart looking for it. But he didn't find anything, and after his time the story just got forgotten.' She gave a tired smile. 'I don't think anyone believes it now.'

'Well, we think somebody does still believe it,' Fatty said. 'The person who stole the documents some time ago and we think that that person is also responsible for the two recent thefts.'

'Constable Pippin said something similar to me this morning,' Lady Fitzjames said.

Fatty looked at Pip and Bets. 'Yes, Constable Pippin is a bit sharper than Mr. Goon when it comes to drawing correct conclusions,' he said.

'Yes, he certainly seems to be on the ball,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'He quite clearly identified some wheel marks by the maze as well. I told him they were most likely made by Mr. Taffler.'

Fatty frowned. 'Mr. Taffler?' he asked.

'Yes, he's an artist that I've asked to make some drawings and a couple of paintings of the house and estate,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'Well, he uses a pram to move his easel and equipment around. It's highly practical when you think about it, if a little eccentric.'

'Yes,' Fatty said feeling rather deflated at this news. 'I can see that.'

'It was he who saw the intruder, yesterday,' Lady Fitzjames continued. 'Mr. Taffler is a rather excitable gentleman and is prone to exaggeration, but I did pass on his description to the police this morning.'

'Was this intruder young with unruly hair and short trousers?' asked Fatty realising that it was probably Ern who Mr. Taffler had seen.

'I think that was the description, yes,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'Why, did you see him also?'

'Well,' Fatty said feeling rather foolish, 'he was with us, he's actually one of our friends and certainly not a burglar.'

Lady Fitzjames put her hand to her mouth. 'Oh dear, I do hope I haven't got an innocent boy into trouble.'

'Well, I think I'll be able to sort it out when we get back this afternoon,' Fatty said, wondering what Goon would have made of the description and whether he had put two and two together and came up with Ern?

Lady Fitzjames stood up. 'No really, Frederick, I will telephone now and clear this matter up with Mr. Moon.'

She went to the phone and called up Goon.

Fatty turned to the others. 'So Pippin's on the case, is he?' he said in a low voice. 'I wonder what else he's worked out?'

'Do you think he knows about the hidden treasure?' said Bets.

'What hidden treasure?' Pip said. 'Really, Bets, you do dramatise everything. We don't even know if there is any hidden treasure.'

'Pip's right, I'm afraid,' Fatty said, putting his arm around her and giving her a little hug. 'That's probably all wishful thinking. If there was such a thing, surely it would have been discovered by now.'

'It's rather disappointing, though,' Bets said gloomily. 'So this is just a straight case of burglary, then?'

Lady Fitzjames put down the phone. 'Well, I've explained everything to that odious police constable. He said he already knew that it was a mistake, or at least was just pretending that that he did.'

'That sounds more likely,' Fatty said with a laugh.

Lady Fitzjames sat down again.

'Can I ask whether you trust your staff, here at the manor?' Fatty asked.

'Implicitly,' Lady Fitzjames replied. 'Most of them have been with my family for years.'

'Who are the newest members of staff?' Fatty asked.

'Well, none, except Mrs Chivers, who as I said is a relative of my husbands. She's been with me a little over two years,' Lady Fitzjames said.

'And she lives here at the manor?' Fatty asked.

'Yes, she does,' Lady Fitzjames said and smiled. 'And I trust her completely.'

'Did you know that there was a concealed entrance to the maze?' Pip asked suddenly. 'We found it yesterday and its hinges have recently been oiled.'

'Yes, I remember that there is one,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'I expect the gardeners use it when they're clipping the hedges.'

'Except that the maze hasn't been clipped for some time,' Fatty said. 'It's very overgrown. Would anyone else know about it, Mrs Chivers, for example?'

'Oh Frederick, I can't answer these questions because I don't know who knows about it, it's just one of those things. Perhaps Mrs Chivers knows about it,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'I've never asked her.'

Fatty stood. 'Well thank you for answering our questions and we won't take up any more of your time,' he said. 'We'll put on our thinking caps and see what we can come up with.'

'Well, good luck, Frederick,' Lady Fitzjames said and went with them to the front door. 'Before I forget,' she said drawing a sheet of folded paper from her pocket, 'here is the recipe your mother wanted.' She handed it to Fatty.

'Thank you,' Fatty said. 'Just one more thing. Does Mr. Taffler take his pram away with him, or does he leave it here sometimes?'

'He leaves it here quite often,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'He took it with him yesterday, I remember.'

'Well, thank you again,' Fatty said. 'I'll make sure to give Mother the recipe.'

As they reached their bicycles, they saw Mrs Chivers emerge from round the side of the house. She was holding a handkerchief and had clearly been crying. Seeing the children, she hurried up the steps to the front door and went inside.

'She's certainly taken this whole business very badly,' said Pip. 'I wonder why she's taking it so personally?'

'I'd like to find out a bit more about our Mrs. Chivers,' Fatty said climbing onto his bicycle. 'She looks to me like someone with a story to tell.'

They rode up the drive and turned onto the lane towards Peterswood.

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