The Librarian of Forged Goodbyes

How it begins

The first farewell was written by a woman who had served Beatrice tea ten minutes earlier.

My dearest son, it began, by the time you read this I shall be beyond all reach.

Below it stood Mrs Bell's unmistakable signature.

Beatrice looked toward the library door. Through it came the housekeeper's voice, giving someone precise instructions about the silver.

Evidently beyond all reach had not included the dining room.

She turned the page.

The second letter belonged to the gardener. The third to a cousin who had arrived yesterday with enough luggage to suggest an extended visit.

All three had been purchased by Sir Arthur for his celebrated collection of final correspondence.

Beatrice checked the acquisition ledger. The entries were in her employer's hand, but the seller's name had been cut from each page with a knife.

She heard a step behind her.

Mrs Bell stood in the doorway holding the forgotten sugar bowl.

“Where did you get that?”

“From the new folio.”

The housekeeper placed the bowl on the nearest table. Its lid rattled.

“My son was told that letter had been destroyed.”

“Did you write it?”

Mrs Bell looked past her toward the locked cabinet at the end of the room.

“I signed something.”

Before Beatrice could ask what, a bell rang from Sir Arthur's study. Three short pulls, then one long one.

The emergency signal.

In twenty years of service, Mrs Bell had never run inside the house. She ran now.

Beatrice followed, still holding the letter.

At the study door, the gardener blocked their way. Behind him, Sir Arthur sat motionless at his desk. On the blotter lay a fresh sheet of paper.

It began My dearest friends.

Beatrice saw the familiar signature at the bottom.

This time, the man who supposedly wrote the farewell really had gone beyond anyone's questions.