Heirs and Graces (A Royal Spyness Mystery) (23 page)

Chapter 26

Chief Inspector Fairbotham listened carefully to Sissy and then to me.

“You don’t say,” he said, then sucked through his teeth. “I suppose this is all true, not made up to shift our focus from the young Australian gentleman?”

“It’s true,” Sissy said. “I did see him, but unfortunately it was too early to have encountered the duke if he really left the house around eight.”

“Unless this man then cut across the estate lower down and waited for the duke to come through the glen,” I pointed out.

The inspector nodded. “And he does have a compelling motive as you say—first the duke sacks him and then wants to throw his folks out of their cottage. Any idea of his name?”

“William, I believe,” I said. “The servants here will know. Also where he might be found. At least you can go to his parents’ house. They’ll know.”

“I’m going to wait until we’ve found out whose prints are on that knife,” he said. “And do what the young chap says and take a good look at footprints in the glen. Thank you. You’ve been most helpful. And if you see anything else interesting from your window, young lady . . .”

“I’ll tell you straight away,” Sissy said. Her cheeks were very pink, but she looked more excited than embarrassed.

We wheeled her in to luncheon. Edwina and the others were already at the table. Jack was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, there you are,” Edwina said. “We wondered where you had got to. And Elisabeth, dear. How nice to see you for a change. Do join us. Frederick, move away one of the chairs to make room for Miss Elisabeth.”

We pushed Sissy into place, and took seats lower down the table.

“I must apologize for the schoolroom nature of the meal,” Edwina said. “Poor Cook was quite flustered about not having enough time, so I reassured her that we’d make do.”

“Making do” apparently consisted of a large meat pie, cauliflower, cheese and mashed potatoes. Compared with my usual fare it was a feast, and I helped myself generously.

“You didn’t encounter John—I mean, Jack—in your travels, did you?” Edwina asked. “I’m concerned about him. I hope he won’t do anything foolish like try to run away. He wasn’t brought up to duty and honor as we were.”

“I’m afraid we haven’t seen him,” I said.

Edwina summoned Frederick to her side. “Go and ask Mr. Huxstep to look for His Grace and cordially invite him to join us at luncheon,” she said.

We ate in near silence then Huxstep himself came into the dining room. “Your Grace, I’m afraid the young duke is nowhere to be found. And his overcoat is missing.”

“Oh, no.” Edwina put her hand to her throat. “What shall we do?”

“Georgiana and I will go in search of him, if you wish,” Darcy said. “I have a motor. If he’s trying to catch a train, we may be in time to intercept him.”

“I’d be most grateful, Mr. O’Mara. He may listen to you.”

Darcy nodded to me, and we got up from the table. Darcy’s sports car was housed in one of the stables. As soon as we drove it out, I saw why Belinda had complained. Spatters of rain came in through the leaky rag top.

“Not the most pleasant ride, I’m afraid,” Darcy said. “God, I hope we catch him before Fairbotham realizes he’s missing. Doesn’t Jack realize how bad this will look for him?”

“We have to consider that he may have done it, however much we want him to be innocent,” I said.

We drove down the driveway, peering to left and right through the rain-spattered windscreen. When we reached the road, Darcy turned away from the village. “Railway station first,” he said, and followed the railway line until we came to a station. Both platforms were deserted, and we were told that there hadn’t been a train for a half hour.

“He probably couldn’t have got to the station in time for that train,” I said. “I wonder if buses go from the village.”

“Knowing Jack, he might have thumbed for a lift,” Darcy said. He turned the motorcar around and drove into the village. The streets also had a deserted air to them, and we realized it was early closing day with the shops all shut for the afternoon. We drove for a mile or so out toward Farningham and then up toward Crockenhill, but passed nobody along the way. Reluctantly, we retraced our steps for Kingsdowne.

As we pulled up in the forecourt and got out of the car, we saw a figure coming up from the lake toward us, and recognized Jack himself.

“Where have you been?” Darcy called. “We’ve been looking for you. The dowager duchess was worried you’d done a bunk.”

Jack grinned. “I couldn’t take it any longer. I nipped down to the pub in the village for a couple of schooners.”

“Schooners?” I asked.

“Australian glass of beer,” Darcy said. “They don’t call them pints.”

“Too right,” Jack said. “I needed to be somewhere normal, y’know. Nice little pub they’ve got down there. The barman asked me if I was the new hired hand at Drake’s farm. Funny, eh? I didn’t like to say I was a ruddy duke.”

“It’s not funny, Jack,” I said. “You would have been in big trouble if the inspector had discovered you’d gone. He’d think that was proving your guilt.”

Jack nodded. “Oh, struth. I suppose you’re right. Didn’t think about that. Just knew I had to get away or go ’round the bend. It’s all too much for me to handle.”

Darcy put a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Come on, my lad. Let’s get you inside before anyone notices. And don’t worry. This is England—finest police force in the world. It will soon be sorted out, I promise.”

As Jack went up the steps to the house ahead of us, Darcy looked at me and made a face. His expression said clearly “I wish I could believe that.”

We were about to go inside when I took Darcy’s hand. “Come on, this is a good time for me to show you the crime scene,” I said. “I don’t see any policemen around.”

“I don’t know what you expect to show me,” Darcy said, but he allowed himself to be towed along like a liner being pulled by a tugboat. “They will have taken the body away, and their boots will have messed up any evidence.”

As we came close to the lake, a patch of blue sky appeared overhead. A few minutes later, the sun came out and the lake turned from iron gray to blue, with white swans reflected in its now-calm surface. Then whole scene turned from dreary to sparkling. Darcy’s hand was warm and reassuring in mine, and it suddenly felt as if all would be right with the world after all. It’s amazing how little I actually needed to make me happy.

We left the lake and followed the muddy footpath down the hill. Numerous footprints of big boots indicated that policemen had been and gone again. At last we came into the glen, which looked quite charming in the new sunlight. The stream had receded again, and flowed merrily over its rocks. It was hardly possible to make out where the body had lain.

“You see, I told you there was no point in our coming here,” Darcy said. “Nothing worth seeing, is there?”

I studied the ground. It had been churned up by numerous feet but other than that one would never have known that a body had lain there an hour or so previously. Frankly I didn’t know what I was looking for.

“Strange,” Darcy said. “You’d have thought there would still be a bloodstain or two. Or perhaps the rain was hard enough to have washed them all away.”

“That was it!” I exclaimed, turning to face him. “That’s one of the things I thought was strange. He was stabbed with that enormous knife but there was almost no blood. He was wearing a white shirt too. When I’ve seen someone stabbed before, the blood completely soaked his shirts.”

“Who have you seen stabbed?” Darcy asked suspiciously.

“That poor chap called Sydney when I had that visiting princess with me.”

Darcy shook his head. “I wonder how many other men have future wives who mention casually the number of people they have seen stabbed. You won’t be bringing that up as a topic of conversation at our future dinner parties, will you?”

“I can’t help it if I’ve happened to come across a few dead bodies in my life. It’s not as if I enjoy it, or go looking for bodies,” I said. “They just seem to find me.”

“We should probably warn our guests when they come to stay at our future house. I can see it now: please do come and stay, if you don’t mind that people seem to die in horrible ways when they are around Georgiana.”

I had to laugh and so did he. It seemed so amazing and wonderful that we could be talking about our future home together. He looked down at me tenderly, brushed a strand of hair from my face then took me into his arms and kissed me. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” he said. “At last we’re alone with nobody watching us.”

“You never know around here,” I said. “Remember, Sissy can see all sorts of things from her room.”

“Let’s hope she hasn’t seen anything else that might put her in danger,” Darcy said. “Murderers can be ruthless if they feel threatened.”

“Oh, gosh, I didn’t think about that,” I said. “Should we suggest a guard on her to the police?”

“She has her brother and sister and their nurse up in the nursery with her, doesn’t she? I presume the nurse is there at all times.”

“Yes, but . . . I just wish they’d hurry up and solve this,” I said. “It’s horrid looking at people and wondering which of them might be a murderer. Perhaps it was that footman William, and we can all get on with our lives again.”

“Perhaps,” Darcy repeated thoughtfully.

“And you never answered me,” I said. “Why do you think there was so little blood from that stab wound?”

“Maybe the knife being left in the wound prevented too much blood from leaking out,” he said. “Or maybe he was wearing a thick, wool vest underneath that soaked up the blood.”

“Don’t,” I said, shivering. “It’s too depressing, isn’t it? One day someone is alive, and the next he isn’t. I don’t like the thought of life being so fragile and cheap.”

As I was saying this, the sun went behind a cloud again, plunging the world into gloom. I shivered. “Let’s get away from here. I can still picture him lying covered with his coat, with the stream washing over him.”

“Covered with his coat?” Darcy asked.

“That was another strange thing. He had taken his jacket off, and his top half was covered in it. Why?”

“He certainly wouldn’t have taken it off because he was too warm,” Darcy said.

“And why did his killer bother to cover him?”

“Maybe it wasn’t his killer. Maybe someone else saw him and was so disturbed that they covered him?”

I shook my head. “If they were so disturbed, why didn’t they call for help?”

Darcy shrugged. “I can’t answer. As you say, let’s get away from here. What’s that building up among the rocks?”

“It’s a folly,” I said.

“Let’s go and explore.” He took my hand.

“You’re not leading me there to have your wicked way with me?” I asked.

He laughed. “Too cold and damp, I suspect. I prefer my wicked ways in soft, feather beds.” His grip on my hand tightened as he helped me up the rocky path to the folly.

“As I said, cold and damp,” he exclaimed, looking around. It was built like a Greek temple with one circular room, surrounded by columns and with a back wall of white marble. Ivy clung to some of the columns and draped across the back wall. The view must have been enchanting on a bright, sunny day but the clouds were now gathering again, and they held the promise of rain. The place smelled of rotting leaves, mildew and decay.

“I was going to make the most of the opportunity and kiss you at leisure,” Darcy said, “but now that we’re here, I’m not keen to stay. Depressing sort of place, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “We’ll be missed anyway.” I looked around, noticing the tall silhouette of the house looming above us. “We should probably get back.”

“Good view from here on a nice day,” Darcy said. “You can see right across the valley.”

“Also the footpath down to the lane,” I commented, as I toyed with this idea. “And through the glen. In fact, if someone wanted to lie in wait and watch, this would be a good spot.”

“Who knew that Cedric was going to post a letter?” Darcy asked. “Surely that would have been a spur-of-the-moment decision. He went to his study, wrote the letter and then decided to post it himself. Who would have known about that? None of the family was even awake at that time.”

“Except Jack,” I said.

Darcy nodded. “Except Jack,” he repeated. “It really doesn’t look good for him, does it?”

“And also Sissy,” I added. “She was already dressed at seven thirty.”

“But she’s hardly mobile enough to follow her uncle to the glen and stab him, having first recovered Jack’s knife.”

“True,” I said. “Irene was drugged, and the old ladies are surely too frail to follow and stab anybody. That only leaves the Starlings.”

“And they’d hardly want to stab Cedric, would they?”

“Which brings us back to the ex-footman William. He does seem the most likely suspect now, doesn’t he? He could easily have made his way here through the wooded part of the estate then watched for Cedric to come into the glen.”

Darcy was leaning against the wall as we spoke. Suddenly he spun around to face the wall. “Listen,” he said, and knocked on the marble. “It’s hollow.” He examined the wall, pulled back the ivy and turned to me. “This has been pulled away recently. See how it’s come off the wall here?”