“No one.”
“Then who came up the stairs?”
Kent frowned. “How odd. No one would come up the main stairs, would they? The servants in the basement would come up the service stairs, but none of them were there, anyway.”
“Tell me precisely what you saw of this person, Mr Atherton.”
“It was while we were on the balcony above the great hall… just here.” He pointed to the map. “There is a clear view over the main stairs from there, and the skylight admitted a little light. Enough to see someone on the stairs, anyway. Naturally, I assumed it was someone responding to the screams, as we were, but now I wonder—”
“Yes?” Michael said gently. “What do you wonder, Mr Atherton?”
“Whether what I saw was someone goingdownthe stairs, not up. Someone runningawayfrom the screams, not towards them. Is it possible, Captain, that I saw the murderer leaving the scene?”
“It is possible,” Michael said gravely. “Was it a man or a woman?”
Kent exhaled slowly. “I cannot say! If only I had taken more notice at the time.”
Later, when he had gone, Sandy said, “At least ye can eliminate a few people from suspicion now, Captain. If the murderer was running down the main stairs, it couldnae have been anyone from the earl’s family — or Lady Alice.”
Michael thought about that. “Only if he is telling the truth.”
***
Captain Edgerton’s questioning proceeded slowly, working in strict rank order, having started with Lord Rennington himself, to end eventually with the kitchen boy and the youngest apprentice gardener. Sir Hubert and his brother were cordially invited to attend if they wished, but Sir Hubert declared himself happy to hand over responsibility for the investigation to the captain.
“I am not ashamed to admit that this is outside my experience,” he said cheerfully. “You seem to know what you are about, Edgerton.”
Winnie was a little downcast at this, for what could be more exciting than to help investigate a murder? She never minded working with her father on his correspondence or the accounts, and Uncle Alfred’s government work had its moments of interest, but most of it was dull labour indeed, whereasCaptain Edgerton was engaged in an enterprise of the utmost moment. And of course, being at the castle meant the chance of an occasional glimpse of Walter.
“I should still value your advice from time to time, Sir Hubert,” the captain said.
“Of course, of course. Why not come for dinner now and then? I am seldom from home, and my brother Alfred is here all summer now. He works at the Treasury in London, but we enjoy his company when Parliament is not in session. We may talk about your findings over the port, if you wish.”
“That would be most agreeable. But perhaps I might borrow Miss Strong for a while longer, if you and Lady Strong can spare her? I should like someone with an eye for detail to sort through the papers in the late Mr Nicholson’s room. Mrs Edgerton has already made a start, but there are drawers and boxes full of letters and bills going back decades. Miss Strong is ideally suited to assist with such a task.”
Winnie’s spirits lifted instantly. “I should love to help,” she said at once, before her father had a chance to object.
“Naturally, anything we can do to assist your endeavours, Edgerton,” her father said, but he frowned, all the same.
“You have concerns, Sir Hubert?” the captain said.
“What your wife does is her own affair… married lady, you see. But Winnie… well, I should not normally wish her to sort through a gentleman’s letters.”
“Even when the gentleman is a man of God? Unless you have any reason to think there might be anything amongst Nicholson’s letters that a gently brought up young lady should not see?”
Sir Hubert’s face cleared. “No, of course not. I never heard any rumours of that nature, and if there had been anything unbecoming of a clergyman, certainly it would have been noised abroad. There are no secrets in a household like this.”
Captain Edgerton nodded sagely, and Winnie was given the leave she sought. It was not that she expected to see Walter at all, for she would be hidden away in Mr Nicholson’s room, and Walter would be elsewhere, if he were even in the castle at all, but there was a comfort in being in his home, at least, and knowing that perhaps he was not very far away from her.
Mrs Edgerton was something of a surprise, being an elegant, willowy creature at least half a head taller than her husband.
“Thank goodness you are here, Miss Strong,” she said, her eyes smiling at Winnie as she opened the door to her. “I started this task with my companion’s aid, but Miss Peach has not the methodical nature necessary, and constantly became distracted by Mr Nicholson’s letters from his family. All the domestic trivia! Endlessly fascinating to a spinster of a certain age, no doubt, but not at all to the purpose. Come in, do, and see what we have to deal with.”
Winnie surveyed the room with a sinking heart. Mr Nicholson’s room, which was next door to Lady Alice’s suite, was not large, no doubt being designed originally as a dressing room, but there were no wardrobes or wash stands, nor the bed that often sat in a married man’s dressing room. Instead, there was a desk, a smaller writing table and two walls fitted out with bookcases, and cupboards beneath. The cupboards were filled with drawers, and the drawers were filled with papers.
“I have made a start on the desk drawers, where I felt the most important papers should be, but then I discovered all these.” Mrs Edgerton waved a hand towards the cupboards. “Frankly, I find it somewhat daunting. I do not think he ever threw anything away.”
“Goodness,” Winnie said, opening a drawer or two at random, and leafing through the papers. “Old bills, letters… this one is thirty years old. Are we looking for anything in particular?”
