The Mirror (2)

When I first took the job I heard all the rumours about Mrs Aspeth, of course.  Even after twenty years the gossip lingered. Missing assumed dead was the official stance now. Many said that she'd murdered her husband and hidden his body somewhere. However, those that knew the couple well said such tales were nonsense, the two of them were always happy together. I can only concur with this, to my mind the grief was real, 20 years after his disappearance she still spoke of him in the present tense.

I looked up the case, it had made the front pages of every paper at the time, the Aspeths being an influential family. It was an Aspeth who had discovered the duck-billed platypus. It was also an Aspeth who had invented feng shui, in fact a whole range of discoveries and inventions could be attributed to the Aspeths. 

According to her statement, her husband, Sir Bertram Aspeth, had simply said that he was going for a walk, donned a pair of his casual walking shoes and his favourite stick, and set off. He had never returned. She had taken ten days to report him missing, which aroused a great deal of suspicion. "He often wanders off," she told the press, and the court. "He always came back when he got hungry."

Discreet searches were made of the premises and grounds. Servants were questioned, gun cupboards checked for signs of usage, the garden inspected for signs of recent digging, but nothing remotely suspicious was found. Nor could the police find a motive, all witnesses confirmed that they were a happy couple who never argued. There were no financial irregularities, there was no evidence of a lover and no bloodstains on the carpet.

This was all 21 years ago. The 9th June at approximately 3:30 pm. Ancient history now, of course, long forgotten - to everyone but Mrs Aspeth. I caught her once talking to him, as if he was there with her. "Of course Bertram," I heard her say. "I hate to make decisions without consulting you but you weren't around."

She was standing by the mirror. Alone in the room, unaware that I was there. I quietly left and went upstairs to clean the toilet.