I ran my hand over the coverlet. The bed hadn’t been slept in for a week, but it still seemed to hold the memory of its master. Had Perrin any premonitions when he’d left it last Saturdaythat he’d never again dent its feather mattress? Would I know when it was to be my last day? Succumbing to a long illness didn’t appeal as a manner of death, but there was something comforting about the idea of being aware the end was near. I didn’t know if I hoped death would take me by surprise, or if I would have time to plan for it, to accept it.
It mattered little what I would hope for. Life, and death, didn’t often give us a choice.
There was nothing but a mildly bawdy novel in the drawer of his bedside table. There was nothing anywhere in the room besides the odds and ends of ordinary life.
I leaned on my walking stick and surveyed the room, my chest hollow. This had been my brother-in-law’s inner sanctum, a representation of his internal life. Shouldn’t there be something more? Something that showed his desires and dreams, his personality?
“Someone’s coming.” Jane shut the door, with much too much force for stealth.
I prepared to beguile my way out of the situation.
The door swung inward, knocking into Jane’s shoulder. Marie poked her head inside. “What are you two doing in ’ere?”
“I was looking for clothes to bury Perrin in.” I was rather proud of that lie and the speed with which I’d devised it.
The effect of it was rather ruined by Jane’s snort.
“Riiight.” Marie slipped inside and shut the door behind her. Quietly.
I glared at Jane. “If you must know, I’m looking for anything that might indicate who killed Perrin. A threatening note would have been nice.”
“I don’t think Lord Perrin got anything like that.” Marie rubbed her nose. “We would’ve ’eard about it.”
Yes, the servants most likely would have. “Marie, do you know if any of the knives were missing before yesterday?” Before one had been plunged into Taylor’s chest.
“The constable asked us all that, too.” She grinned. “That man is an eyeful, ’e is.”
“The knives?” I tried to bring her back to the matter at hand.
Jane hobbled to the desk and sank onto the chair. “She’s right, though. He is handsome.”
“And that is irrelevant.” Goodness, Jane had her chance for decades to ogle good-looking young men. She didn’t need to start in the middle of my investigation.
Marie shifted. “We didn’t keep count. Usually we do, after every meal, but with the master being dead and everyone being trapped ’ere, well, we’ve let a bit slide.”
“Plus, we started using the cutlery as markers in our games,” Jane added. “Who knows what might have gone missing then.”
“You gambled with Perrin’s silverware?” I arched an eyebrow.
“No need to take that tone.” Jane patted her lace cap. “The silverware just represented what we owed. A knife was a shilling, a fork, sixpence. We were running a bit short on coin.”
“So the murderer could have obtained the weapon at any time.” Not helpful. “Marie, have you already cleaned Lord and Lady Havenstone’s room today?”
“Yes.”
I huffed out a breath. “Well, can you clean it again? He became quite upset when reading a letter he’d received the other day. Made a disparaging comment I presume was directed at Perrin. I want to know what was in that letter.”
“You want me to snoop.” The girl planted her hands on her hips.
“It isn’t as though you don’t have practice at it.” And I was becoming more concerned by the hour that the killer might not stop with two deaths.
“Yes, but I felt bad about it, each time,” Marie said. “Specially now that the guests found out we were doing it.”
“It’s important,” I said quietly.
Marie dropped her arms. “All right, but if I get caught, I’m telling them you sent me.”
“Then don’t get caught.” I jabbed my walking stick into the floor for emphasis.
