We eventually arrived near the base of those steps that led up to the suite of rooms Sir Collingwood had occupied during that ‘gentlemen’s weekend.’
“Who among yer staff would tend these gardens?” Brodie asked.
“Most usually that would be Ben McMasters and young Tim, one of the lads he’s brought on. If they were needed elsewhere, then it would be meself and one of the other men. It’s a sizable task, maintaining the gardens for Their Royal Highnesses.”
Then, something that Brodie was also very accomplished at, his probing for information, his experience with other cases, as he pointed to the boot print in the mud at the base of the steps which had survived intact due to the warmth of the day and no additional rain through the night.
“It seems one of yer people might have recently attended this part of the gardens.”
Mr. Roberts studied the print. “No, sir. Not since the rain set in. I’ve only just today been able to get the lads out and abouttheir responsibilities here. With His Highness back in London for these few days, we will have the opportunity to clean and set the gardens aright before he returns. And ye can see, sir, the print is not of the sort of boot worn by me or the lads.”
He gave it a closer inspection.
“This does have the look more of a gentleman’s boot.” He was thoughtful. “I suppose it’s possible that one of them might have stepped out for a bit of fresh air or a smoke.”
Might that ‘bit of fresh air’ or ‘a smoke’ have included the lady who had obviously also been present that weekend?
Brodie thanked him. “Ye’ve been most helpful.”
“If there’s nothing else, sir, I need to get on with my work while the sun is with us.”
“Of course,” Brodie replied. “We’ll find our way back.”
“And he will no doubt report our conversation to Mr. Compton,” I added when he had gone.
“Aye,” he replied as he studied the prints once more.
“We need to see where these prints lead. It might tell us something about what Sir Collingwood was about that night.”
We set off and followed those prints through the gardens and then beyond to the edge of the forest. The tree cover and gorse were quite thick, which raised the obvious question—what would have taken Sir Collingwood into the forest that late night?
“It might be useful to split up,” I suggested. There was somewhat of a path that led off in one direction.
Brodie nodded. “I’ll continue in this other direction. Keep sight of the manor so not to get lost.”
I headed off one way, Brodie in the other.
The forest was denser there as I followed the path that at times disappeared, then reappeared. However, the forest floor was covered with leaves and pine needles that made it impossible to know if there were any prints there.
As I continued, I was forced to push aside low hanging branches that had broken off—including juniper. Was it possible Sir Collingwood had come this way?
That question was answered as I found a boot print on the path where the undergrowth and forest debris thinned and exposed soft earth. Then another.
What was Sir Collingwood doing in the forest that last night? Was he merely out for a walk? Or had he come here to meet someone?
I pushed aside a thick branch of low-growing elder with those long, toothed leaves and that faint sweet smell that reminded me of the forest at Old Lodge, then suddenly stopped at the sight of the body before me or what was left of it, a leg that protruded from the undergrowth. And I was not alone.
There was much grunting and snorting, and that leg thrown about.
I had heard those sounds before a long time ago, the memory suddenly surfacing, and my stomach tightened as a dark shape suddenly appeared. The boar raised that massive head with bloodied tusks. Beady eyes stared back at me.
It seemed that I had found Sir Collingwood, or what was left of him.
I forced myself to think.
The knife that Munro had given me when I made my first travel along with the revolver that Brodie insisted I carry were both in my carpet bag. However, in order to retrieve either one would have immediately brought the beast down on me.
“Dinnae move,” Brodie said in a quiet voice, somewhere very near.
