The doctor took a deep breath. “By the time I saw him, he’d been brought here to my offices in the back of a carriage. The constable was with the body.”
“Go on,” Phillip prodded.
“I had the opportunity to examine him for the better part of two hours before Lord Vining arrived,” Dr. Landry continued.
Phillip frowned and glanced at Bell. “Lord Vining?”
“Yes.” Dr. Landry nodded. “He said he was sent to investigate.”
“Investigate what?” Bell asked, narrowing his eyes. “At that point, was there anything to investigate?”
“At first I didn’t think so,” Dr. Landry continued, “but by the time Lord Vining arrived, I’d changed my mind.”
“Why?” Phillip asked, setting down his cup and leaning forward in his chair.
The doctor nodded. “I told Lord Vining I found what I believed was a stab wound near your brother’s heart. Though it had been delivered to his back.”
Phillip sucked in his breath. “Stab wound?”
“Yes,” Dr. Landry continued. “Admittedly, it was small and quite difficult to locate. If I hadn’t looked so carefully and for so long, I might well have missed it. I suspect it was caused by a small dagger, but I have no proof.”
“But if there was a stab wound, there must have been blood,” Bell pointed out, frowning.
“That’s just it,” Dr. Landry replied, shifting his gaze from Bell to Phillip. “There wasn’t any blood. If the duke was stabbed, someone cleaned up the blood before his body was brought to me.”
Phillip leaned back into his chair and expelled his breath. “What?”
Dr. Landry nodded. “I also found that odd.”
“What did Lord Vining say when you told him your suspicions?” Bell asked.
“He said because of the duke’s title and what I’d found, they would need to get a special doctor to examine the body, one who worked with Parliament for important cases such as this. That’s when Dr. Brigham was consulted.”
“I see,” Bell replied, exchanging a glance with Phillip. “And did you ever speak to Dr. Brigham yourself?”
“No,” Dr. Landry replied. “But I wrote down all of my findings and I gave them to Lord Vining with instructions to make certain Dr. Brigham was given the information along with the body.”
“Did you ever hear anything else from Lord Vining?” Phillip asked.
Dr. Landry shook his head. “No, Your Grace. In fact, I never heard another word about it from anyone. The next thing I knew, the papers indicated the duke had died of a condition of the heart and your cousin was coming from the countryside to assume the title.”
“And that’s when you went to the Home Office?” Bell prompted.
Dr. Landry glanced back and forth between them both. “I must admit, I thought about it for some time. Several weeks, in fact. It was early in the morning when they brought me the body and I began to doubt whether I’d truly seen what I thought I’d seen. If they gave my note to Dr. Brigham and he didn’t agree, perhaps I’d been wrong.”
“Did you ever suspect they did not give him the note?” Phillip asked.
Dr. Landry shrugged. “I had to wonder. In the end, I decided the best thing to do would be to tell someone at the Home Office. If they investigated and found nothing, well, at least I’d done what I could.”
“We truly appreciate your coming forward,” Bell replied.
“Yes,” Phillip agreed. “If it’s determined that foul play was involved in my brother’s death, my family owes you a great debt of gratitude.”
Dr. Landry waved his hands in the air. “No need to thank me, Your Grace. I did what anyone in my position should have done. I’m only sorry I waited.”
“And I’m sorry you had to wait even longer for this visit,” Bell replied. “But Harlowe here has been unwell, and he insisted he be with me to investigate.”
Bell and Phillip stood.
