Murder in Belgravia

Chief Inspector Beech has an unusual case on his hands.  A young aristocratic woman has admitted to the killing of her husband.  He had come home from the war injured and addicted to opiates.  She refuses to see her husband’s doctor, so Beech is arranging for a female doctor to help.  Dr. Caroline Allardyce has to order an ambulance when she discovers the state of the woman.

Beech wants to set up a small organisation to help get women into the police force.  He approaches the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Edward Henry, with his idea.  Two women, a detective and a doctor, plus two men to oversee them.  He has two women in mind, and they wouldn’t need to be on the payroll because they are well off.  Surprisingly, Sir Henry agrees.

The woman he approaches first is Victoria Ellingham.  Her husband had been killed at Ypres.  She had also studied law at university before the war.

PC Billy Rigsby, another wounded veteran, is to be attached to the team.  His role will be to be a bodyguard to the two women on the team.

Now to the murder scene.  Caroline is sure that the injured young woman was so badly injured that she would not have been able to kill her husband.  Beech wants Rigsby to chat with the ladies of the house.

The other policeman to join the team is DS Arthur Tollaman.  He has a prodigious memory.  That evening the team met together for the first time.  Beech tells them of the pathology report.  The murder victim had shrapnel near his spine, which likely caused him a great deal of pain, leading to his drug addiction and pneumonia.  He was also suffering from syphilis.

Could the young maid, Polly, have stabbed the victim to protect her mistress?  Beech has brought the victim’s medicines to the meeting.  Caroline tells them that some are cocaine and heroin, readily available at any pharmacy.  However, Polly has disappeared, possibly abducted by the butler to the murder victim.

Is the team prepared for more deaths?  Now that the Zeppelins have started to bomb London, will people accept women policing them?

Author Lynn Brittney has the answers to those questions and many more that arise as the team continues its investigation.  The team works well together and the end of the case comes to an unusual conclusion.  A good quick read.