‘Look.’
He crossed the room and crouched beside her.
Ash coated the base of the grate, and half-buried within it something charred but still intact caught his eye. Using the poker, he carefully dislodged the blackened remains of what had once been a bundle of letters.
‘She was trying to destroy the evidence.’
‘Here,’ he blew away the ash. ‘There is still something left.’ He reached down and retrieved a scorched fragment.
Upon it remained the unmistakable seal of the Odd Fellows.
He turned the fragment over carefully between his fingers.
‘This appears to be correspondence with Hawk. That must be Hamilton.’
Charlotte spotted another charred corner of a parchment in the grate.
‘Do you think this could be part of the cipher? Look—that symbol corresponds to the letter E.’
‘And this one appears to be A,’ Lord Stanley said, squinting at the faded markings.
Charlotte stared at the vivid colour in alarm.
‘It is bright red... it is not blood, is it?’
He examined it carefully.
‘No. Some sort of unusual ink, I think.’
‘How strange.’
She turned the burnt parchment thoughtfully between her fingers, though the two symbols were all that remained legible.
‘Should we search for hidden passageways into this room?’
‘This is the guest wing, so I doubt we shall find any,’ he replied. ‘The rooms have already been checked—but there is no harm in looking again.’
After a further search, they were satisfied there were none.
Lady Susan was brought into the study shortly afterwards.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ she demanded haughtily.
‘Mrs Wilberforce tells us you retired to your chamber after leaving the morning room. Is that correct?’ Lord Stanley asked.
‘Yes. I felt tired and wished to rest.’
‘And then?’
‘I locked my door—as you yourself informed us there are murderers in this house—and lay down. I fell asleep almost immediately.’
Lord Stanley indicated the burnt letters upon the desk.
‘Have you seen these before?’
‘I have never seen them in my life.’
She maintained an air of cool indifference throughout.
