Free The Coffin Lane Murders by Alanna Knight Page A

epidemics, her body could not be returned to Britain. She was allegedly buried near Florence.'
    He shook his head. 'Celia's is a tragic case, a prime example of the gross mishandling of a woman's life by her family. As matron knows, this is one of the cases that I have been investigating, trying to put right a wrong after so many years.'
    A sniff from Miss Smiles indicated that his faith was a little in question and looking at her sharply, Conan continued, 'My resolve is unshaken. I am determined to prove that insanity is a sickness of the mind, especially to a woman after the suffering involved in concealing the birth of an unwanted child. With understanding, care and the right treatment I believe it can be cured, the patient returned to society fully healed, a respectable, reliable citizen.'
    'Much of what Dr Pursley says is admirable and is certainly true regarding Lady Celia,' said the matron. 'She has never shown the least sign of derangement, as I've told you. Distress, and sorrow, naturally, but such emotions have responded to medical care, and the administration of a little harmless laudanum has been sufficient to put her to rights again.'
    She sighed. 'Personally I enjoy her company. She is bright and intelligent and I look forward to our occasional walks together in the gardens. I assure you, sir, it's a tonic after dealing with the needs of some of our more desperate patients.'
    As an afterthought she added somewhat reluctantly,
    'True, she has a rather bad temper at times - but the laudanum helps to quiet her. A wildness sometimes seizes her, the desire for self-destruction-'
    'Particularly at the full moon, is that not so, matron?' Conan put in.
    'Indeed. But her anger is against herself, rather than against others, as if at such times she realises the injustice of her virtual imprisonment and banishment from the world outside.'
    She shrugged. 'But, gentlemen, if we were to put away behind locked doors everyone who lost their patience from time to time, then we would have most of the population behind bars - and I include myself,' she added with a little laugh.
    With a look at the doctor, she continued, 'We were assured that her violent past when she drowned her newborn child and attacked her family with a kitchen knife was far behind her. Such days are happily long forgotten. Or so she has cleverly led us to believe,' she added anxiously.
    Again she turned to Faro. 'We have put her in charge of our little library, Inspector. We even allow her to go into town unaccompanied. And she has always - always returned.'
    'Until this particular Monday,' said Conan sternly.
    Miss Smiles sighed. 'When she didn't put in an appearance at teatime we presumed that Dr Pursley had met up with her in the grounds.' She looked at him, made a helpless gesture.
    'And so you allowed her to disappear,' said Conan slowly. 'And when did you discover she was missing?'
    'Not until Thursday evening, I'm afraid.'
    'When she had been missing for three days!' exclaimed Conan. 'Then why didn't you notify me - you know the rules about getting in touch with someone of authority in such cases. Anything might have happened to her,' he added indignantly.
    'I assure you we would have done so in the normal way but with the weekend intervening - many of our staff have their time off then - and of course, this outbreak of influenza among the nurses has left us severely short-staffed.'
    And inefficient, thought Faro grimly as she continued, 'As you know, Doctor, Lady Celia spends most of the day on her own with her books.'
    She looked across at Faro appealingly. 'She isn't supervised in any way, Inspector. She has free access to the kitchen to prepare her own meals if she wishes and we don't look in every night to lock her in her room. Such behaviour would be unthinkable. In her case since she trusts us and has come to regard this as her true home, it would upset her dreadfully and destroy all Dr Pursley's good work.'
    When Conan didn't respond, she