Cecilia nodded. “He did that even as a child.”
“How do you know that?” Mrs. Worcham said.
Cecilia bit her lip, realizing she had revealed more than she meant to. She took a deep breath in and blew it out.
“Mrs. Montgomery sent a letter to my husband asking that he and I come to London. She had just found out that her husband—whom she had supposed dead these past two years—had been killed, and that the Earl of Soothcoor had been arrested for his murder.”
“The murder of a dead man,” Mrs. Vance said. “How very confusing.”
“Yes. And it gets worse.”
“My husband told me they had arrested the man who murdered Mr. Montgomery. I didn’t know who it was. I didn’t think to ask,” Mrs. Worcham said.
“Well, he didn’t murder him. Would never murder him! You were one of the signatories to Mr. Montgomery’s will.”
“Yes.”
“The earl is the Mr. Sedgewick named in the will.”
“Mr. Montgomery spoke so fondly of him,” Mrs. Worcham said.
Mrs. Vance nodded.
“It is my understanding that the cause of death has been identified as drowning because he was found in the water,” Cecilia said.
“Yes, that is what I was told.”
“The canals here are steep sided. How does one hold a person under the water along here without getting wet themselves? And if one is in a fight, wouldn’t there be some evidence on their person of that activity?”
“What are you saying, Lady Branstoke?” Mrs. Worcham asked.
“Soothcoor came to visit Mr. Montgomery on two consecutive days. They were longtime friends and rivals for the hand of the woman who became Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery thought herself a widow. Now, she and the earl planned to marry. As proper, she notified Mr. Ratcliffe, who she knew as the executor of the estate, and overall guardian for her children.”
“Children!” Mrs. Worcham exclaimed.
Cecilia nodded. “Two girls and a boy. I’m surprised they weren’t mentioned in the will.”
“He did sayfamilyin the will, He never specified names,” Mrs. Vance said. “I suppose we should have questioned that,” she said to Mrs. Worcham. She turned to Cecilia. “He did name his wife and swore us to secrecy about her. Mr. Ramsay did say family could means more than just a wife in terms of the will. We didn’t think to question that.”
Mrs. Worcham put her hands to her head. “I wonder if my husband knows about the children?”
“He didn’t seem to know. He does now because we just talked to him about my son wanting to marry Mr. Montgomery’s oldest girl, Aileen,” Julia put in.
Mrs. Worcham’s face crumbled. “Oh Thaddeus,” she whispered. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
Cecilia reached out to gently touch her arm.
“It was Mr. Ratcliffe who wrote Mrs. Montgomery to tell her she could not marry Soothcoor because Mr. Montgomery was still alive,” she told her. “Soothcoor came to see Mr. Montgomery on her behalf—and his own, too, I’m sure.”
“But, to continue, Soothcoor left Mr. Montgomery standing outside as he returned to The New Bell Inn. When he returned, the rain deluge started just after he was inside the inn. It was so sudden it startled him, and he looked back at the closed door and the sound of the pounding rain outside. Those who saw him laughed that he was lucky not to get caught in that heavy rain. His clothing was dry and in excellent condition according to Mr. Price. No sign of a struggle.”
“My husband said Mr. Ratcliffe told him the murderer had history with Mr. Montgomery and that with the rumble of the approaching storm negating sounds of a fight, he killed him.
“Someone may have taken advantage of the approaching storm. How would Mr. Ratcliffe know that? When was Mr. Montgomery’s body found?”
“We hire a groundsman from the village to take care of the property. He comes at dawn. He saw something in the canal as he came down the canal path to the bridge and investigated. Woke Mr. Turnbull-Minchin, and he sent for the magistrate and Mr. Ratcliffe.”
“How long did it take the magistrate and Mr. Ratcliffe to arrive after the discovery?”
