Mr. Barrow now stepped forwarad. “Aye, Lady Gregoria. I trust my men, but I always like to see things for myself.”
“Did you find anything of note?” she asked.
Mr. Barrow tapped his forehead. “It is all churning up here at the moment. No revelations to disclose yet.”
“Oh, I see.”
Julius took her hand and held it gently. “He would like to ask you a few questions. Can you manage it? Or would you rather we put it off?”
“No, it must be done now. I am at your service, Mr. Barrow.” She had grown to know the man from his work when assisting her friends, and liked him very much. He was intelligent and intuitive. Very little ever got past him.
“Gory, are you certain?” Julius gave her hand a light squeeze. “It is asking a lot of you.”
“No, I will be all right. But I have a few questions to ask Dr. Farthingale first. Doctor, please don’t leave yet. Can you tell me precisely how I was struck? I mean, the angle of the indentation. And the exact shape of my injury. Was it more of a side blow? Or was the blunt object brought down from above? Did you find shards of glass in my scalp? Wood splinters? Or porcelain? Perhaps a vase cracked over my head? Although it felt more like a candlestick or fire iron.”
Julius regarded her all the while she spoke. “What does it matter how you were struck?”
“The angle of the blow might give some indication of the height of the assailant and whether we are looking for someone who favors his left hand or right hand. The object used might indicate whether it was a planned assault on my uncle…and me when I interrupted whatever was going on. Or it might have been accidental and none of it planned.” She sighed. “I don’t know. Perhaps none of it matters at all. But every bit of evidence is vital right now.”
Mr. Barrow nodded. “Aye, I agree.”
Gory continued explaining her reasoning to Julius, partly because he appeared to be genuinely interested, but mostly because he was holding her hand and she liked this very much. “Each detail might give a hint of what happened. Glass or porcelain shards lodged in my hair might indicate the killer was surprised and grabbed whatever object was close at hand. It also indicates someone untrained in violence. Someone who might have panicked and never intended to hurt me or my uncle.”
“But things got out of control?” Julius mused, arching an eyebrow.
“Yes.” She barely nodded her head because each slight movement sent a jolt of pain through her. “The significance of a fire iron is that it would indicate a more purposeful intent. Someone more ruthless. The fire iron would have been in his hand already when I walked into the study. Perhaps he had already struck and killed my uncle…or was about to do so when I interrupted him or her.”
“Her?” Julius pursed his lips. “You think a woman was involved?”
“I don’t know. But we cannot rule anyone out yet. Is that not right, Mr. Barrow?”
“Quite right, Lady Gregoria. Although I think your uncle must have already been dead or at least unconscious by the time you entered the room. Otherwise, he would have been shouting and tugging on the bell pull to rouse the staff. Your staff was only beginning to stir when I arrived with the constables and my men. It did not appear as though any of them heard anything last night.”
She nodded. “Yes, that is an important point.”
“I would also rule out fire implements and lean toward your being struck with a candlestick,” Mr. Barrow remarked. “The room had been ransacked, so no weapon was immediately obvious.”
“Nor did I notice any traces of soot when cleaning your scalp,” Dr. Farthingale remarked as he closed his medical bag. “So I would also rule out the fire implements. No shards of glass or porcelain either.”
Julius groaned. “I helped Lady Gregoria clean the blood off herself. I might have wiped off an important clue. It never even crossed my mind. I was more worried about checking her for injuries.”
“I would not fret too much about it, Lord Thorne,” Mr. Barrow said. “My man Mick is the one inspecting the scene with the constables. He will report to me shortly. Likely, they will have recovered a bloodstained weapon and put that question to rest.”
He now turned to Gory as she lay in bed propped up by pillows and still wearing Julius’s black robe. The fancy silk bed coverlet was drawn up almost to her neck, so she hoped these gentlemen did not realize she was completely naked beneath the robe.
But that was a foolish supposition.
Dr. Farthingale had to realize she was undressed since Julius probably asked him to examine her and make certain he had overlooked no injuries. Mr. Barrow would also know she was undressed because Julius had probably shown him the bloodstained gown and undergarments.
And here she was, naked in Julius’s bed.
Dear heaven.
This looked bad.
The gossip rags would utterly destroy her if it became known she had run to Julius and was recuperating here. Never mind that she was running for her life, for that was an irrelevant detail to a lurid story that would sell their papers.
To the credit of Dr. Farthingale and Mr. Barrow, neither of them were anything but respectful and sincerely concerned for her.
