“Oh, him! He is here, then.”
“He was at Corland, but I believe he left this morning. He has been very helpful,” Mr Strong said. “He went straight to my brother to inform him, as magistrate, of the new information, and he has also talked to these people who say Shapman was with them on the night of the murder.”
“Gowland’s Farm,” she said in disgust.
“That is the place. A good ten miles from here, and Shapman did not leave there until about six and then walked home. He could not have reached Birchall before eight at the earliest.”
“It was a little after that,” Tess said. “I remember now, I had gone to see him very early, well before breakfast, to tell him that Papa was dead, but Tom was not in his workshop. He came inwith a bag a little while later and would not say where he had been. It must have been half past eight, at least.”
“There you are, then,” Mr Strong said, triumphantly. “You have verified the truth of it yourself.”
“Tess, whatever were you about, going to see this man in his home?” Lady Alice said sharply. “I thought you had given up all thought of that foolish business. An earl’s niece cannot marry a common labourer.”
“He is a woodworker, Mama,” Tess said indignantly, “not a common labourer — a cabinet maker with his own business. You need not worry about me marrying him, for he is betrothed to a poultry maid at Gowland’s Farm, but he is still my friend. He is the onlytruefriend I have in the world, for he was prepared to hang to protect me, and there is not one gentleman who would even have thought of it. Tom is a hero.”
“I would not call making a false confession of murder especially heroic,” Lady Alice said. “Time has been lost that could have been employed in pursuing the real murderer.”
“His family must have been distressed by it, too,” Mr Strong said. “Imagine the feelings of his mother and father! How grievously they must have suffered.”
“That is hardly likely,” Tess said. “They must have known, as I did, that he could not have done such a thing.”
“Yet he was still in York Gaol awaiting a judge to condemn him to be hanged,” Mr Strong said sharply. “Indeed, there remains a possibility that my brother may not be able to get him off. A confession is a powerful matter, Miss Nicholson, not lightly to be set aside. A man says one thing and then he says another, and who is to say which is the true version of events?”
“But he was not even there! Mr Gowland and his family will vouch for him.”
“If he is betrothed to the poultry maid at the farm, they are hardly impartial witnesses.”
“But I saw him return that morning.”
“From somewhere, and carrying a bag, but you cannot know where he had been and you are by no means impartial yourself,” Mr Strong said.
Tess felt as if she stood on a sandbar in the midst of a fast-rushing stream, with the water rising all around her. She had been so happy that Tom was to be freed! Angry and hurt that he preferred a poultry maid to her, but still, he would be released and his life would return to normal.
Yet now there was no certainty at all! His retraction might not be believed, the testimony of the Gowlands might be set aside, and everyone might say,‘He confessed, so let him hang.’And it would save the bother of trying to find the elusive real murderer.
But Mr Strong, seeing her distress, reached forward and patted her hand. “Not to worry, Miss Nicholson. Happily for Shapman, the parson was also at Gowland’s Farm that evening until close to midnight, and his word must carry weight. Since no one imagines that anyone could walk over those hills at night, your friend must be released from suspicion.”
He smiled at her and she thanked him for the thought, but she had a vague memory that the moon was close to full that night. Surely by moonlight the track would be clear to see? And if Tom could walk the distance in two and a half hours, he had time to walk to Corland, kill her father and then walk back to Gowland’s Farm afterwards.
“Tell me a little about this Ulric Frith that you propose to marry,” Lady Alice said.
For once, Tess was happy to talk about Ulric. Anything to turn the conversation away from Tom and the murder and the nagging fear that he might have murdered her father after all.
***
Captain Edgerton did not look forward to explaining Shapman’s retraction of his confession to the earl. At least, he had to attempt an explanation. Lord Rennington had been cross that Michael had failed to identify Shapman as the murderer and it had only been known when he confessed. He was even more cross that the confession might not even be true.
“How can this happen? How could you not know?” he spluttered. “You accepted his word without a second thought?”
“Not at all, my lord,” Michael said. “I made him explain every detail of it at great length, but his story was perfectly consistent with the facts.”
“Yet he just made it all up? Every word?”
“So he says, my lord. He claims to have an alibi, which needs to be verified.”
“Yes, yes, so Tarvin said, and Strong has been looking into it, but why wereyounot doing so?”
“You dispensed with my services, if you recall, my lord,” Michael said mildly. “If you would like to re-engage me, then—”
