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 4: A Surprise Visitor

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There were fewer people in the manor than there were before lunch, and the children could get a better look at the things in the sale. Eunice, once again, asked the porter to open the cabinet so that that she could show the others the puzzle box she intended to buy for her father.

She would not allow Larry and Pip to push the various parts around in case they damaged it, and they wandered off in search of something more interesting to look at. Bets, however, was fascinated by it and thought it very beautiful.

'I'm sure he'll love it,' she told Eunice. 'It's a really lovely thing.'

'Yes, it is,' came a voice from behind them.

They turned to find Lady Fitzjames beaming at them. 'It's been in the Fitzjames family a long time.'

'Really?' Eunice said excitedly. 'How long exactly?'

'Well, it's difficult to say exactly,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'But it appears in Sir Henry Fitzjames' will of 1820. He bequeathed it to his grandson.' She smiled kindly at the three children and turned to Fatty. 'And how is your mother keeping, Frederick?'

'She's very well, thank you,' Fatty replied. 'Busy with her various causes, you know what she's like.'

'I'm very glad to hear it,' Lady Fitzjames replied. She smiled at Eunice. 'I hope you manage to buy the puzzle box tomorrow, my dear.'

'Thank you,' Eunice said. 'So do I. My father will love it. You may have heard of him, Professor Hugh Tolling, he's an expert on beetles.'

'I'm afraid not, my dear,' Lady Fitzjames replied. 'Having lived in India for a number of years, with all its diverse array of creepy-crawlies, the world of coleoptary is one that I tend to avoid these days.'

'Oh is that when your husband worked at Government House?' Eunice asked.

Lady Fitzjames raised her eyebrows. 'Yes it was,' she said impressed by Eunice's knowledge. 'Before the last war, we were there for almost ten years.'

'I thought so,' Eunice said eagerly. 'I've been reading up on your family history, you see.'

'Well, if you're interested in the history of the Fitzjames family, perhaps you would like to see some of the family portraits?' Lady Fitzjames said.

'I would very much,' said Eunice. 'And I'm sure Frederick and Bets would as well.'

Bets was very sure she did not want to look at a lot of old portraits but smiled meekly and nodded.

Fatty looked at his watch. 'We haven't got too long as we're expected back, but I'm sure it'll be fascinating seeing your ancestors,' he said.

'My husband's ancestors, at least,' Lady Fitzjames said leading them to the door. 'The portraits are arranged along the stairs and the main landing.'

They went out into the entrance hall and onto the staircase that swept up in a wide curve. The children thought the portraits all looked rather similar. They each showed a rather stern man gazing out of a very ornate frame. As they climbed the stairs, Lady Fitzjames recounted a little anecdote about each of them. 'This is Sir Hercules Fitzjames, he was an important banker in the City of London back in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.'

The children looked at the portrait of a very pale and thin man with thick spectacles. 'He doesn't look much like my idea of Hercules,' giggled Bets. 'I can't imagine him fighting lions.'

Lady Fitzjames laughed. 'You're right,' she said. 'Hercules may not have had big muscles, but he had an enormous brain and was a very clever man indeed. He managed to rebuild the family fortune after it had been lost by this man, his father, Sir Jasper Fitzjames.'

They all looked at the next portrait. It was of a rather portly man with a red complexion and very curly hair.

'His hair looks rather strange, sort of frizzy,' Bets said and then blushed, feeling that this was the second time she had been critical of Lady Fitzjames' ancestors.

'That's very observant of you, my dear,' Lady Fitzjames said. 'Sir Jasper suffered from something called alopecia which means that he hadn't got any hair. Alopecia runs in my husband's family, although he himself didn't suffer from it. The hair you see on Sir Jasper's head is a wig, and rather too curly, I always think.'

'Fatty...er, I mean Frederick, wears a wig,' Bets said and laughed.

'Do you really?' Lady Fitzjames said, peering closely at Fatty's hair.

'Um, I'm not wearing one at the moment,' he said feeling rather awkward. 'I only wear one when I'm...er...in disguise.'

'Yes, quite,' Lady Fitzjames replied, not knowing quite what to say as she had no idea what Fatty meant by being 'in disguise'

'How did he lose the family fortune?' Fatty asked bringing the subject back to the portraits.

Lady Fitjames shook her head. 'Gambling, I'm afraid,' she said. 'Cards, horses, I'm sad to say he would bet on anything, it was a kind of illness with him. An addiction if you like. It's not uncommon amongst the landed gentry and many a fortune has been lost on the turn of a card.'

They moved on to the next painting. 'And this is Jasper's father, Sir Henry Fitzjames. Sir Henry lived a long life. He finally died at the age of eighty nine in 1822.'

They could see the family likeness. Sir Henry also had a red face and was rather stout. Sir Henry's portrait was different from the others they had looked at. In his left hand he held a small white carving of a fat, old man.

'Now this portrait is unusual,' Lady Fitzjames explained. 'As you can see, Sir Henry is holding an ivory figure of a Chinese, a kind of Budha, I suppose. But why it's included in the portrait, no-one has been able to discover.'

The children all looked very closely at the painting.

'The little fat figure is wearing a belt with a small purse or something hanging from it,' said Bets, her keen eyesight picking out the details. 'And the frame is very beautifully carved, but it's so grubby.' Bets suddenly felt herself blushing again. 'Oh, I'm sorry,' she said. 'I didn't mean to say it was dirty.'

Lady Fitzjames laughed. 'That's all right, you're perfectly correct, it is very dirty. Sir Henry had this portrait hanging in his study for many years above the fireplace and what with the smoke from the fire and the tobacco smoke from the pipe he was continuously smoking, it got very grimy. My husband always intended to have it cleaned, but never got round to it. And now,' she added with a sigh, 'I doubt it ever will be.'

At that moment a voice called up the stairs: 'Lady Fitzjames, is it possible for you to have a quick word with Mr. Johns from the auction house?' It was her secretary, Mrs Chivers.

'Yes, of course, thank you Emily,' replied Lady Fitzjames. 'If you'll excuse me children, I'm needed elsewhere.'

Fatty looked at his watch. 'Well, we ought to be going anyway, it's nearly three.'

'Good luck at the auction tomorrow, I do hope you manage to win your puzzle box.' Lady Fitzjames said to Eunice as they went down the stairs.

The children said their goodbyes and looked for Larry and Pip, who were enjoying themselves inspecting the toy railway set, and together, they all went out into the sunshine. Daisy was sitting on the bench with Buster who went wild when he saw the children emerging from the hall. She decided to keep Buster on the lead in case he caused another mishap and he dragged her across the forecourt to Fatty and the others.

'How was your walk?' Fatty asked as he crouched down to pet Buster.

'Not too enjoyable,' Daisy replied. 'Every time we turned a corner, we ran straight into Goon who was sniffing around all the windows. How about you?'

'We had a most enjoyable time, thank you. Lady Fitzjames showed us some portraits of her husband's ancestors,' Eunice said rather grandly.

'That sounds thrilling,' Daisy replied sarcastically.

'Larry and I looked at this wonderful old train set,' Pip said. 'I wish I could buy it, it was smashing.'

As they began their way down the gravel drive, the sun disappeared behind dark, threatening clouds.

'I felt a spot of rain then,' Eunice said holding out her hand and peering up into the sky. 'I'm sure I did.'

She undid the clasp on her umbrella and up it went covering both her and Fatty, who was walking next to her.

At that very moment, Mr. Goon cycled past.

'Ooh, look at the two love-birds cuddling up under the umbrella,' he shouted and gave a loud laugh.

Fatty scowled and immediately stepped out from under the umbrella. 'I don't think it's raining, Eunice, so you can put that thing down before you injure someone with it,' he said irritably. 'Now come on, buck up, let's get home.'

The walk back was uneventful and the rain kept off until they reached Peterswood. Just as they got to the high street, there was a clap of thunder and it started to pour. The children ran off their separate ways having agreed to meet up at Pip's next morning to go to the auction.

In spite of himself, Fatty had to join Eunice under the umbrella, though keeping a keen lookout for Goon, and they got home reasonably dry.

They ran round the side of the house to the garden door where Eunice let down the umbrella and rushed inside. Just as Fatty was about to follow her, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

'Coo, Fatty, I thought you'd never come back.'

Fatty turned in astonishment. 'Ern,' he cried. 'Ern Goon, what are you doing here?'

A bedraggled figure emerged from the bushes soaked to the skin.

'I was waiting in the lane for you to get back,' Ern said. 'And then it started raining, so I thought I'd get under these bushes and wait for you here instead.'

'Well, come inside,' Fatty said pulling the dripping Ern through the door. 'You'll catch your death.'

'I thought the bushes would keep the rain off, but they leaked and I went and got all wet,' Ern explained as he bent down to pat the equally wet Buster who was overjoyed to see his old pal.

'Who is this boy, Frederick?' Eunice asked eyeing Ern with suspicion. 'The gardener's son?'

Fatty turned to her. 'This, my dear Eunice, is Ern Goon, a great friend of mine and the nephew of one Constable Goon. And this, Ern, is another friend of mine, Eunice Tolling.'

'Pleased to meet you, I'm sure,' Ern said suddenly remembering to remove his cap. He held out his hand, which Eunice took limply in hers.

She turned to Fatty. 'I'm going up to change out of these damp things,' she said and disappeared up the stairs.

'Come into the kitchen,' Fatty said. 'I can hear Cookie in there and I think that's Hot Cross Buns I can smell.'

'Why, if it isn't young Ern Goon,' Cookie said as they entered the kitchen. 'And you're drenched, poor thing. Come over here and warm yourself at the stove. Haven't you got something he can change into Master Frederick so that I can dry his clothes? He'll catch pneumonia, poor dear.'

Cookie had a soft spot for Ern.

'Er, yes, of course,' Fatty said. 'I'll get him my dressing gown.'

He went out of the room and Cookie placed Ern in front of the warm stove. She handed him a towel to dry his hair.

'There,' she said. 'Now once you're out of them wet things, you can have a Hot Cross Bun and a nice cup of tea.'

'Coo, thanks Cookie,' Ern said eyeing the pile of fresh buns hungrily.

'Here you are, Ern,' Fatty said returning with one of his warm dressing gowns. 'Slip those wet things off and pop this on.'

Ern, rather shyly, peeled off his wet clothes and wrapped himself in the dressing gown. Cookie took his trousers, shirt and cap and hung them on the airer by the stove to dry.

Soon, both Fatty and Ern were sitting comfortably at the kitchen table eating fresh buns and drinking tea whilst Cookie sat in her chair by the window drinking tea and listening to the wireless.

'So, young Ern' Fatty said. 'To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence in Peterswood?'

'Well, it's like this, Fatty,' Ern began. 'My brother Sid got the measles, see, and then he goes and gives it to my other brother Perce and Mum said as there was such a lot to do looking after them and me being at home all day, what with it being Easter hols and that, and me already having had the measles, so she said would I like to go and stay in Peterswood for a fortnight and I said not with Uncle Goon and she said no with her cousin Auntie Woosh and I said yeah coz their kids, Liz and Glad, are on a school trip so they won't be there and there'll just be Auntie and Uncle. I've told them not to tell Uncle Theophilus that I'm in Peterswood, and they said they wouldn't, coz they don't like him now, having fallen out with him over something or other.' He paused to draw breath and finish his bun. 'So I came over to Peterswood earlier and left my things at their cottage and come on straight here to see how you were and your Mum said as how you'd all gone out and wouldn't be back till later. So I hung about in the lane and when it started raining and thundering and that, I come into the garden to find some shelter.'

Fatty pushed another bun across to him.

'Crumbs Fatty, I won't want me tea at this rate,' Ern said. 'But I'll risk it all the same.' He bit into the bun. 'Who's that girl, I've forgotten her name already?' he asked spitting crumbs across the table.

'That girl, as you put it, Ern, is Eunice Tolling, the daughter of a friend of my father's, who is staying here for the next two weeks,' Fatty answered. 'She looks more fierce than she actually is. She's stayed with us before,' he continued, 'and on that occasion she helped get me out of a particularly sticky situation when I was tied up and dumped in an exceedingly smelly old caravan.'

'Oh, I remember you telling me about that,' Ern said. 'The mystery of the missing man or something, wasn't it?'

'That's the one,' Fatty said, helping himself to another bun.

'And are you involved in any mystery at the moment?' Ern asked hopefully, picking some stray currents off his plate.

'I'm afraid not,' Fatty said dismally. 'We went up to Fitzjames Manor today as there's to be an auction there tomorrow and Eunice has her eye on something. Your Uncle Goon was there and we did hear him talking to Lady Fitzjames about her security. But that's about as exciting as it got.'

They chatted for a time, reminiscing about past adventures, and then the clock in the hall struck five. Ern jumped. 'Lawks, Fatty, I'm expected back for tea. I'd better jump to it.'

He quickly pulled on his clothes, which were now almost dry and thanked Cookie for the buns and tea.

'And don't you go standing out in the rain again without a proper coat, young Ern,' Cookie said. 'That Mr. Goon should look after you better than he does, I shall be having words with him, you see if I don't, you might have caught a bad chill.'

Ern thought that catching a bad chill would be preferable to having Cookie scolding his bad tempered Uncle, who had no idea he was even in Peterswood.

'Oh, I'm not staying with Uncle Goon,' he explained quickly. 'I'm with my Auntie and Uncle Woosh, my mum's cousins.'

'Oh I know,' Cookie said, 'them as lives up in the cottage by the river. They've got twin girls as I recall.''

'That's them,' Ern said. 'Well, goodbye and thanks again for the buns, Cookie.'

Fatty went with him to the door. 'We're all meeting at Pip's tomorrow morning at ten so we can go to the auction,' Fatty said. 'Why don't you join us, the others would love to see you?'

It had stopped raining now and Ern stepped outside. 'I'll be there,' he said. 'You know, I always think as how mysteries follow you around. So I'm sure one'll turn up, Fatty.'

'I doubt it,' Fatty said. 'I think these hols are going to be mystery free.'

But Ern was right and Fatty was wrong, for the very next day a mystery most certainly did turn up.

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