“More than that, I’m fortunate that he understands how my late husband wished for things to be done. It’s a great comfort to me that everything will continue to work at optimum efficiency. It is what Elihu would have wanted.”
The earl was finding it hard to hide his impatience.
“However, that’s not why I asked Mr. Blodgett to speak with you now. He recounted some things this morning that, in light of what you just told me, may have relevance to Elihu’s murder.” She turned to the supervisor. “Please repeat to His Lordship what you said when I asked if you had observed any suspicious activity in recent weeks.”
“Aye, ma’am.” Blodgett cleared his throat. “The mill is a good place to work and pays excellent wages, so our workers have shown little interest in kicking up a dust. But that doesn’t stop radicals from hanging around and trying to stir up trouble.A group of them have moved into the area, on account of all the manufacturing we have there.”
He swallowed hard and shot a nervous glance at Mrs. Ashton.
“Go on, Mr. Blodgett,” she said gently. “You’ve naught to fear for telling the truth.”
The supervisor gathered himself and squared his shoulders. “The thing is, I spend a lot of time checking the different sections of the machinery and all the outer storage buildings where we keep our raw materials—it’s part of my job, you see. So I couldn’t help noticing several weeks ago that Mr. Hillhouse was starting to meet with some of the troublemakers—and in out-of-the-way places, as if he didn’t want to be seen.”
“Did Mr. Hillhouse’s duties include negotiating with your workers?” asked Wrexford.
“No, milord. He worked with Mr. Ashton in the laboratory and had no hand in the actual running of the mill. He’s very, very clever with mechanical things.” The superintendent hesitated. “I mean no disrespect, but in all honesty, I can’t say the same about his skill with people.”
“The workers don’t like him?” asked Wrexford.
“It would be unfair of me to say that, sir. It’s more that they find him aloof.” A pause. “All of us do.”
The earl thought for a moment about what he had heard, trying to remain objective. “Could there have been a reason Ashton asked Mr. Hillhouse to speak with the workers?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” replied Blodgett. “If there had been a mechanical problem with a component, it’s possible Mr. Ashton would have asked Mr. Hillhouse to speak with the men who ran the machinery. However, it’s hard to imagine I wouldn’t have known about it.”
That made sense, reflected Wrexford. Striving to remain fair-minded, he tried to think of any other question that might cast Ashton’s assistant in a brighter light. But nothing came to mind.
“Is there any other information I should know before I meet with Mr. Hillhouse?”
Blodgett dropped his gaze to the carpet, and then slowly raised it again. “Just . . . Just that he seemed on edge and even more withdrawn that usual over the last few months.” The supervisor swallowed hard. “But then again, he and I aren’t on the best of terms. I’ve always felt he looked down on me because I never attended university.”
“Anything else?” pressed Wrexford.
The supervisor shook his head.
“Thank you, Mr. Blodgett,” said Isobel after a long moment. “If you’ll wait for me in the side parlor, I’ll be along shortly so we can finish going over the production schedule and supply orders for the coming month.”
How fortunate that she seemed to have a keen interest in business, thought the earl. Most ladies would need a strong whiff of vinaigrette if asked to make sense of a bill of lading.
“I’ll ring for Mr. Hillhouse,” said Isobel after Blodgett had left the room. But before she reached for the bell, a discreet knock sounded on the door.
“Forgive me, madam.” The butler entered and inclined an apologetic bow. “I’ve just received word from Mr. Hillhouse that there’s been a problem with the toolmakers and he’s been unavoidably detained at the shop.”
“How unfortunate.” If the news annoyed her, she hid it well. “Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience, Lord Wrexford. It seems we will have to arrange another time for you to meet with him.”
He waited for the butler to withdraw and then shrugged. “Business must, of course, come first. Is he working on a piece of machinery? Perhaps an element of the new invention?”
“I couldn’t say.” A pause, which spoke louder than the three short words. “My husband gave Mr. Hillhouse free rein to experiment with the prototypes on which they were working.However, he hasn’t as yet seen fit to share the details of his tinkering with me.”
That, imagined the earl, was going to change, and quickly. Assuming the fellow wasn’t given the sack by suppertime.
“It is, however, unlikely that he will do so,” continued Isobel. “You see, my husband’s drawings appear to be missing. Whether Elihu had them on his person at the time of his murder, or whether he put them in a place of safekeeping is, as of yet, an unsolved mystery.”
Along with too many other unanswered conundrums, thought Wrexford.
He acknowledged her remark with a nod before shifting a step closer to the door. “I’ll take my leave. I’m sure you have much on your mind.” There was nothing more to gain by lingering, and she appeared anxious to return to her meeting with the mill supervisor.
Isobel looked grateful and led the way out to the corridor.
