Tulip gasped.“You think one of them might have killed your predecessors?”
“Their deaths were ruled accidental, and there is nothing to contradict those findings.”
“Nothing but your unfailing instincts,” she said.“You do believe those deaths were intentional, don’t you?That’s why you wanted us to visit my aunt and uncle, and why you were asking all those questions.You choked on your tea at the mention of Mrs.Granger’s mother and aunt.What have they to do with anything?Or Mr.Carver for that matter.I shall never believe Mr.Carver is capable of murder.”
“Nor do I believe it, frankly.But his daughter died of a mysterious illness shortly after my grandfather’s death.She might have seen something and the killer was afraid the truth would come out.”
“What truth?And need I point out that she did not die instantly?She had weeks to tell someone about what she saw, assuming she had discovered anything.”
“Carver’s daughter might not have realized the significance of what she had noticed.My grandfather was on his deathbed and none of the successor dukes had passed away yet.But the killer knew he or she had been caught doing something suspicious.They had to dispose of Martha before she could put it all together and report her finding to Mr.Carver or the authorities.”
“Well, Mr.Carver would never hurt his own daughter.That rules him out.”
Alex rubbed a hand across the nape of his neck.“Maybe.”
“Alex, he wouldneverharm his own daughter.He adored her.She was the light of his life.”
“Fine,” he said, knowing Tulip was probably right.“Then that leaves Mrs.Granger.”
“Why her?”
He quickly told her of what he had read about Elspeth in his grandfather’s journal.“Together with what your aunt told us this afternoon, how can we not believe something sinister happened?I doubt Elspeth eloped.She was murdered…well, possibly an accidental death that was covered up.Then her parents were bribed to keep their mouths shut and go along with the rumor that Elspeth had run off with a naval officer.”
“You think Mrs.Granger learned the truth and is now here to seek vengeance on every Davenport duke?”
“Why would she come back here unless it was to avenge her aunt’s disappearance?Who knows what her own mother told her about the goings on at Thornwycke?What if Elspeth had been held captive in the tower room?Who would know?Who would ever hear her cries for help while locked away in there?What if she were held there bound and gagged?”
“You are giving me the shivers.”
“Sorry, love.But my grandfather could have got away with just about anything with the cooperation of a few loyal household retainers.His old housekeeper for one.”
“Mrs.Dodge?How is it possible?Surely, word would have gotten around, even in a big house like Thornwycke.A butler or footman would have seen Elspeth go in but not come out.”
“Was Ernfield in service as a butler at the time?He merely needed to be the one duty when Elspeth went missing.Does he seem like a chatty fellow to you?”
“Being quiet does not mean he would keep silent about an innocent girl’s abduction.And there had to be maids going in and out of the upstairs bedchambers.They would have heard scuffling sounds above their heads, or cries for help, or wondered at the extra food brought up to the duke.You found nothing in the tower room when you searched it yesterday.”
“Doesn’t mean there was nothing in there back in my grandfather’s time.The furniture and a body could have been moved at any time.”
“And where would they have carried a young woman’s body?Or buried it?”
Alex thought of the salt marshes and how barren they were.It would be easy enough to bury a body in the mud, or not bury it at all and let it wash out to sea with the tide.
He could not reveal this thought to Tulip, for it would upset her even further.
Tulip frowned.“Someone would talk, especially if it was Elspeth’s body being moved.”
“Not necessarily.Dukes are powerful.Sometimes, it is easier to pretend to see nothing.”
“But she was known in Burnham, had friends who would worry about her.Do you really think she was murdered by your grandfather?Did he have it in him to commit that depraved act?”
“I have no idea, Tulip.Truly, I know nothing about him other than he was someone my mother risked everything to avoid.”Perhaps his mother had been there when Elspeth suddenly went missing and knew more than she had ever let on.
Is this what had prompted her to leave Thornwycke Hall with him and never return?
Had his grandfather and father allowed her to live apart from them in return for her silence?Perhaps the money he had inherited upon her death was not from her or her own family but from his father and grandfather, bribes to buy her silence.
He raked a hand through his hair.
