“That’s interesting.” Nate massaged his jaw. “Because I am certain that I saw Collins in the crowd today. Not in Groby’s slaughterhouse, but outside. There was a mob jeering at Groby while he was being led away by Magistrate Hunt.”
“Was Collins jeering at him?”
“I don’t quite remember.” Nate frowned. “No, I don’t think so. But he was in the crowd.”
“An observer, then.” Bridget said, “I don’t see anything wrongwith that. But there was something odd. I went into the kitchen at the Groby’s to make tea and when I returned to the parlor, I walked in on Mrs. Groby and Mr. Collins having a private conversation. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable. It felt as though they were a little too familiar with each other. That’s when I decided to leave.”
“Odd, indeed,” Nate said, with a thoughtful frown. “We shall have to look further into that.”
“I heard from the servants that you were busy explaining things to the guests. Are they very confused and upset?” Bridget asked.
“Some are. Others seem a bit excited.”
“By that, you mean Colonel Kendall, I presume,” Bridget said with a halfhearted smile.
“Yes, and I got a similar impression from Mr. Angert. Strange fellow.”
“What about the others?”
“Lady Armstrong hardly seemed to care, except for the effect it had on her companion. Miss Jennings was visibly upset, but I can’t say if it was because of Otis or because of Lady Armstrong’s bullying. She’s quite awful.”
“Poor Miss Jennings,” Bridget said. “She reminds me a bit of Jane when she first arrived at Villa De Lacey last year—the way Lady Darby constantly beat her down with her bullying. It’s just terrible.”
“I agree. And then, of course, there’s Lady Matheson.”
“Yes, all eyesmustbe on Lady Matheson.” Bridget giggled. “I expect she was quite dramatic.”
“She was, but I also learned something quite interesting. She was the last person to see George alive—aside from the killer, of course. They met for a moonlit walk, and he recited a poem to her. After their walk, he escorted her back to the villa. She swears that’s the last time she saw him.”
“It might not even be true,” Bridget said with a sigh. “Lady Matheson likes to be the center of attention. She might be making the wholething up.”
Nate gave a short laugh. Then he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and gazed at the horizon, and Bridget could not help but notice how handsome he looked. “There’s a lot to consider,” he said. “But there is nothing to suggest that Groby is not the killer. All the evidence still points to him. He had a motive, and he had the means to kill George.”
Bridget’s heart sank. In these past months, her world had been turned upside down. People close to her had betrayed her. Still, she could not dismiss her neighbor and a man she’d known all her life based on another’s actions.
“If he is guilty, then he should be punished. I just can’t believe he would do such a thing. And there’s something else…” Bridget frowned as she thought back to her conversation with Thomas.
“What?” Nate asked.
“I met Thomas in the garden. He was at The Black Horse last night, and he said Groby was highly intoxicated—more so than usual. I just have a bad feeling about it. Thomas said Rupert was goading Groby, calling him a cuckold. He even recited a humorous poem about it. Everyone was laughing at him and I think it embarrassed Groby. That, together with too much drink—or whatever else he’d consumed—made him say something out of character.”
“It may have also caused him to act out of character—to do something he’d never have ordinarily done. Even good men do terrible things sometimes, especially when blinded by jealousy. Shakespeare taught us that.”
“‘It is the green-eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on.’” Bridget recited Shakespeare’s famous line fromOthello.
“Well,someonewas a good student.” Nate grinned. “I’m impressed.”
“I had a lot of time to read before Papa…” She bit her lip, not wanting to finish her sentence.
Nate cleared his throat and looked down at the ground before saying, “I think you’re right. Mrs. Groby’s relationship with her husband, as well as Mr. Collins and George, warrants closer investigation. But you must be prepared for the fact that it may prove rather than disprove Groby’s guilt.”
“All I want is to catch and punish George’s killer. He didn’t deserve to die that way—no one deserves something like that…” The swelling in her throat stopped her speech as she thought of her papa.
It always came back to him. She would never find peace with how he was buried.
She swallowed her pain. “Perhaps I’ll pay Mrs. Groby another visit tomorrow. But I must say, it feels rather invasive, digging for information about a man’s relationship with his wife.”
“We have no choice,” Nate said solemnly. “The people are going to demand swift justice, and Magistrate Hunt is going to want to give it to them.”
