Read Online Minor Corruption by Don Gutteridge - Free Book Online

Baldwin for a permanent
position, and had been obliged. Now she was dead, two months into
her sixteenth year. Robert was shocked and similarly outraged. He
sent a note to the coroner to have the girl’s death investigated
immediately. He suggested to Cobb that the police locate Elsie
Trigger and keep her in custody on some pretence until the inquest
could be held. While Robert and his father would like to have seen
her charged with manslaughter, they knew that the “accidents” of
midwifery were notoriously ambiguous. But they would see her in
prison on some charge, there was no doubt about that.
Meantime, the plans for Robert’s trip were superseded for the time
being, despite the risks.
    It was the effect of Betsy’s death on Uncle
Seamus, however, that assumed primary importance in Baldwin House.
The old fellow collapsed in Robert’s arms and had to be revived
with smelling salts. When he was told, tactfully, about the cause
of her death, he broke into an uncontrollable weeping, punctuated
with great wrenching sobs. The Baldwins knew that Uncle Seamus was
fond of all their children and the two young servants, but, if
asked to comment, would have named Edie Barr as his personal
favourite. For it was Edie who regularly played the dummy for Uncle
Seamus’s ventriloquist act and Edie who seemed most flattered by
his teasing and tickling. Betsy was a shy girl, and although it was
clear that she admired Uncle Seamus, she did not naturally take to
his boisterous sense of fun. Obviously the Baldwins had been wrong.
Such an unmanly display of grief was proof positive that Uncle
Seamus had had a deep and abiding affection for the youngster. He
had to be half-carried from Clement’s office to the domestic side
of Baldwin House, where he was put into the care of Diana Ramsay.
Dr. Smollett was sent for.
    “I’ll have to stay for the funeral,” Robert
said to Marc as the latter was preparing to leave. “And the
inquest, if it’s held soon. My father has already sent the girl’s
pay for this month and an additional ten pounds to help the family
with funeral expenses.”
    “We’ll squeeze in another strategy meeting
before you go,” Marc said helpfully.
    “It’s my uncle I’m most concerned about. This
dreadful business could throw him into another depression.”
    “Let your father and I deal with that, at
least in the short term. The future of the province and our battle
for responsible government depends on our efforts in the next two
or three months.”
    “Don’t remind me,” Robert said. “On second
thought, keep reminding me. We’ve come too far to be sidetracked
now, haven’t we?”
    “I promise you, Robert, your cousin and I
will hold the fort here, and I’ll help your father and mother deal
with Uncle Seamus. I’ll ask Beth to help. You know how good she is
with people.”
    “Thanks, Marc.” They were at the door. Robert
sighed: “Now I’ve got to find a way to break the news to Eliza and
the other children.”
    ***
    Angus Withers, the coroner, went out to the Thurgood
house before noon. The body and the foetus had already been removed
and brought to his surgery for examination, but Withers wanted to
hear the Thurgoods’ account of events to see if it jibed with his
findings. The girl had been mauled by a sharp instrument, and if
Cobb’s report, based on his wife’s summary of what happened, was
accurate, a two-month-old foetus had been brutally aborted. Burton
Thurgood did most of the talking, even though he seemed to be in a
state of shock, but it was Elsie Trigger whom both parents pointed
to as the culprit. “The murdering bitch” was Thurgood’s colourful
phrase. At any rate, Withers had seen enough to call for an
inquest, which he set for the following Tuesday, the day after the
funeral. The police were asked to pick up Mrs. Trigger and hold her
as a material witness.
    ***
    Cobb and Ewan Wilkie had worked together in the
Toronto constabulary for five years, ever since its inception,