“He likes to be known as such, but his proper name is Alexander Saxby, cousin to Lord Saxby of Maeswood Hall, in Shropshire. My wife will arrive soon. She is cousin to the Earl of Morpeth.”
“Ah, yes, Morpeth… I have met him. And you are an army man, Captain?”
“East India Company Army, my lord.”
“Well, you would have seen action enough out there. And now you investigate murders. Thank goodness you are here, and so speedily, too. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude. Poor Arthur! He was my brother-in-law, you know. My poor sister’s husband. Not that he and I were terribly close, but… well, he was part of the family. Thirty years he has been here. Arrived fresh from his ordination to play chaplain for a while, until a proper living came up, but then he married Alice and never left. This is a desperate business, and no knowing whether the fellow responsible might come back and murder us all in our beds. Until he is under lock and key, we are none of us safe, and hardly able to get a wink of sleep. And who can it be, that is what has us all at sea — we have not the least idea. Even the magistrate, Sir Hubert Strong, can make nothing of it. Do sit down. Will you take a glass of something, gentlemen? Madeira? Claret?”
“Thank you, but no. If you permit, my lord, I should like to see the deceased.”
“Ah, well now, that would be difficult, since we buried him yesterday. This hot weather, you know… but Ashbridge took very detailed notes. The coroner, that is.”
“I look forward to seeing them. May I see the place where the incident took place?”
“Well… it is the Lady Alice’s bedchamber, and she is still in residence, so to speak.”
“The poor lady is blind,” Sandy put in, “so it’s awkward for her to move to new quarters.”
“Of course,” Michael murmured, but he thought the lady must have nerves of steel to return immediately to the scene of her husband’s slaughter.
“Ashbridge and Sir Hubert permitted us to… erm, tidy up, so she was able to return that same night. My sister could not see the… erm, the deceased, so she has no image in her mind. Those of us who saw him… well, I need not describe it to you, Captain. A soldier like yourself… you must have seen plenty of gruesome sights, but it turned my stomach, I can tell you.”
“I am sure,” Michael said neutrally. “No matter, I can see the room another day. But may I ask… it was the gentleman’s wife who discovered the body, I understand?”
“My sister, Alice, yes. Nicholson’s wife.”
“And was covered in his blood and holding the axe which was presumed to have killed him?”
“Now, just what are you suggesting, Edgerton? Thatmy sisterslaughtered her own husband? Utter nonsense! She merely stepped on the axe handle and picked it up, and then, not hearing any sound from her husband, touched the body. She is blind, so—”
“Yes, yes, I understand, my lord, but I have to ask. How did she happen to discover the murder at that point? Did she hear it happen? Was she perhaps asleep in the room, heard something, rose to investigate? Or in an adjoining room, perhaps?”
“How should I know their personal arrangements?” the earl said testily.
“Of course. The Lady Alice’s screams woke the household, I understand. Who was the first to arrive?”
“My eldest son, Viscount Birtwell. I arrived just behind him with my youngest son, Kent.”
“My lord, is it possible that the murderer was still in the room? If, say, the Lady Alice heard it happen, cameto investigate, and the murderer hid — behind the curtains, perhaps?”
The earl paled. “You mean… the villain might have been there… when we arrived?”
“Is it possible? Was there an opportunity for him to slip away? Was the room left unattended at any point?”
“Slip away… unattended… well now, let me think. We were all concerned with Alice, of course, so… but no, Birtwell had footmen stationed outside the door. To keep the girls out, mainly, but no one could have slipped out undetected.”
“Excellent,” Michael said. “My lord, what are your instructions for us? Do we have a free hand to enquire within the castle and surrounding villages? Or even further afield, if information leads us in a different direction?”
“Surely there is no need to upend the entire North Riding, Captain? The solution to this problem must be within the castle, one supposes? I cannot see the necessity to look beyond it.”
Michael bowed. “Then you have some idea already who might have done this dreadful deed? Someone within the castle?”
The earl blinked at him. “Not the least idea, Captain. Nicholson had not an enemy in the world.”
“No enemies? But perhaps someone would benefit by his death?”
“Benefit? His daughter, I suppose. He has left his fortune to her, but Tess is only a girl… not yet one and twenty. You can hardly suppose… no, it must have been a passing intruder.”
“Then how am I to discover his identity if I can ask no questions beyond the castle?”
