Her heart and mind were racing. Was it murder? An accident? Suicide? She looked up the side of the slope. If he had fallen, whatever the cause, the snow had covered any mark of his descent. There were no other footprints aside from theirs. Theresia was frozen beside her. Aunt Eleanor had a hand over her mouth in a state of shock. Maureen was pale as a sheet, staring at the blood in the snow.
Liza put her arm around her. “Shh. It’s going to be all right.”
“There’s so much blood,” Maureen cried.
Mira took off her coat, draping it over the body to hide it from view. “Liza, will you and your aunt take Miss Harris back to the house?”
“Of course. Come along, Maureen. We’ll get some tea madefor everyone.”
“But . . . the blood.”
“I know. You’ll be all right.”
Mira turned to Theresia. “Miss Risewell, did Dr. Turpin join the hunt this morning?”
“Y-yes. He did.”
“Do you think you—” she stopped mid-sentence. She was going to ask if Theresia would be up to fetching the doctor and Byron from the hunt, but the poor woman was shaking like a leaf. “Would you mind if I borrowed your horse?”
Theresia shook her head, pointing. “The stables are on the north side. T-there’s a path up ahead.”
“Good. Does Wynmar have a telephone?”
“In the study.”
“Go and call the police, then. Even if it is an accident, they will want to make sure.”
Theresia dragged her gaze away from Silas for the first time since they discovered the body and locked eyes with Mira. After a moment she took a sharp breath and turned, hurrying after the other women.
Mira hated to leave the body, but she needed to fetch Byron and the doctor. She turned in the opposite direction, running towards the path Theresia had pointed out.
As she rounded the bend she ran headlong into Admiral Hoddle. He stabilized them both with hands on her shoulders, sideburns thick with snowflakes, as if he had been outside for some time.
“Why, my dear girl, what’s happened?” he asked, voice lilting and warm. “You’ll catch a chill running in such a state!”
Mira caught her breath, heart rate skyrocketing. He had been one of the suspects for the thefts, and her mind rang with the word “murderer!” But she shouldn’t jump to conclusions. They didn’t know how Silas had died, yet. More likely to be anaccident than anything. But if it was murder, was it wise to leave the body with a possible suspect?
“I forgot my coat,” she said, trying to think up a lie. “And I thought a good sprint might warm me up a bit.”
“Yes, but what in the heavens are you doing out of doors in the first place?” He looked back the way he came. “I don’t suppose you are a guest at Wynmar, are you?”
“Actually, I am,” she said. “I’m Samira Blayse. I came with the Renaldis. You’re Admiral Hoddle, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am, who else would I be?” he said, eyes twinkling. “Are you one of Maureen’s friends? I do believe I saw you talking with her yesterday evening. Ah, to be a gleeful youth, smiling upon the old and decrepit generation. The stories I could tell you of times past. And here I am talking you to death, doing you no good, no good at all. You ought to come back to the house at once.” He linked his arm with hers and turned them back towards the path that led up to the house.
Mira blinked. She had not expected him to be so... exuberant. “Well, sir, I was actually looking for you because Miss Harris has had quite the shock.”
His wiry brow furrowed. “Oh that poor girl. What’s upset her this time? It wasn’t one of those lads who’s after Miss Risewell, is it? They are always saying things that upset her. Not in public, mind you, but I know it pains her, still grieving her aunt and her father not buried a year.”
“You’d better talk to her about it,” Mira said. She wasn’t sure if she should be worried or grateful that she’d picked up a penchant for deception. “She wasn’t exactly forthcoming.”
“Yes, she takes after her father in that regard. Always tight lipped he was. That’s what you get when you’ve got a friend working in the foreign office. How long did you say you’ve known Maureen?”
“Oh, we’ve run in the same circles since we were little,” Mirasaid. “Though we haven’t kept in contact as we ought to have.”
“Yes, it is tragic how friendships fizzle out like a wet matchstick when you don’t tend to them.”
When they came to the top of the ridge Mira extracted her arm from his and stepped away.
