“No, it sounded too urgent. It was almost dawn, so there was already a little light… not much in the passageway, but a little. I wore only my night shirt. Do you really need so much detail, Captain?”
“It helps me to visualise the situation, my lord,” he said smoothly. “So you left your room and came down the passageway in some haste, and then…?”
“I came into the room and—”
“The door… was it open or closed?”
He frowned, thinking. “Closed, I think. Yes, I am sure, for the screams grew louder as soon as I opened the door. I went in and saw Nicholson on the bed, and Aunt Alice standing beside it, the axe in her hand. There was… blood everywhere.”
Again he glanced at Winnie, and she nodded encouragingly.
“Was there a light burning? A candle or lamp? Was the fire lit?”
“Nothing of that nature, only a little light filtering past the curtains at the windows. It was dim, but I could see a little.”
“Any hint of candle smoke in the air?”
He frowned, considering. “I recall nothing of that nature.”
“Very good. What was it you noticed first, my lord?”
He paused to consider. “Aunt Alice. She wore only a nightgown, her hair plaited as if she had just risen from her bed. Then I noticed the bed… the torn blankets, the feathers from a shredded pillow, that sort of thing. It was clearly Nicholson. I could not see his head, but one of his arms dangled from beneath the covers — what was left of them. But it was Aunt Alice I noticed the most. Even in the dim light, I could see that there was blood all over her, and a great pool of it on the rug beside thebed, dripping from Uncle Arthur’s arm. Is this… the sort of detail you want, Captain?” His voice was low, uncomfortable.
“This is excellent detail, my lord. The feathers from the pillow… were they in the air or settled?”
He frowned, pondering. “Some in the air, I think. Most were settled… no, I am not sure. Is it important?”
“It is difficult to say at this stage what is important and what is not, my lord. Pray continue.”
“Aunt Alice stopped screaming when she heard me come in. She said,‘Who is there?’, or something of the sort and I told her who I was. She wanted to know what had happened, if Nicholson was dead and I could see that he was, so I told her that. Then the others arrived… the girls… Olivia and Tess, so I chased them out before they could see the dreadful scene, and stopped anyone else from entering the room. My father took charge after that, and we sent for Sir Hubert, the magistrate.”
“Ah, Mr Alexander,” Captain Edgerton said, as the Scotsman came into the room. “Have you brought it? Excellent. My lord, Mr Alexander is carrying the axe which was found on that fateful night. Could you tell me if you recognise it? Is it from the castle?”
Walter glanced at it, but shook his head almost immediately. “The great hall is full of old weapons like this, but I know nothing of them. Eustace would know… my brother. He has made a study of our collection, although there are no gaps on the walls where an axe such as this might have hung. We looked that first day. I should think the murderer brought it with him, do you not agree?”
“It is possible,” the captain said equably.
He then spent some time arranging Mr Alexander on the bed in the exact position in which Mr Nicholson had been discovered, according to Walter’s memory of events. So it was no surprise when he then turned to Winnie, and she understoodwhy he had asked her to wear a white dress, so similar to a nightgown.
“Perhaps, Miss Strong, I could trouble you to stand here on the rug, where the Lady Alice stood? Thank you… about there, Lord Birtwell?”
“A little closer… a step this way. Turn slightly to the right. There.”
“Excellent. Would you take the axe, Miss Strong?”
“No, other hand,” Walter said. “Aunt Alice held it in her left hand. Just dangling.”
“Is the Lady Alice left-handed or right-handed?”
“Oh, right-handed. She uses her fan in her right hand. She said she just trod on the axe handle and—”
“I will ask her ladyship about it when I interview her,” the captain said.
Winnie shifted the axe to her left hand. “It is surprisingly light,” she said. “It looks as if it would be heavy, but it is not very. See, I can lift it easily.”
She raised it above her head and swung it in a sharp chopping motion, whereupon the captain leapt forward and whisked it from her hand.
“Careful, careful! It is very sharp, Miss Strong. But it satisfies me on one point, that a lady could wield this axe without difficulty.”
