Page 75 of Winterset

“No wonder you don’t remember being hit,” Reed commented. “You were drugged.”

“Drugged!” Kit raised his brows. “No, surely…”

“You just said you had only a couple of whiskies. That is what Dr. Felton said, too. So you weren’t so inebriated you couldn’t stay awake.”

“No.”

“Yet you said that you were unusually sleepy. So sleepy you could barely keep your eyes open. Perhaps you don’t remember the blow because you simply lost consciousness and fell from your horse.”

“Of course!” Anna agreed. “The killer wouldn’t have had to worry about Kit’s recognizing him—or about his fighting back. He would simply have waited until Kit passed out, then moved in. Either Kit hit his head when he fell, or the killer hit him just to make sure he wouldn’t wake up.”

Kit stared at them in astonishment. “You’re serious. You really think the killer is after me?”

“I told you. I saw someone bending over you!” Anna exclaimed. “If Cooper and I had not come up, I don’t know what would have happened to you. Don’t you believe me?”

“Yes, yes, of course I do. It’s just—I can’t quite take it in. I kept thinking that somehow you must have been mistaken. This is—it’s just so bizarre.”

“I know it must seem so,” Reed told him. “But you have to believe it. You have to take precautions—not only for your own sake, but for Anna’s, as well.”

“Anna! My God, do you think he will try to hurt her, too?” Kit looked at his sister, clearly horrified. “Why would anyone be doing this?”

“We don’t know, but we cannot afford to be lax or complacent,” Reed said firmly. “I told Anna that I want the two of you to come to Winterset.”

“Oh, no. We could not do that,” Kit told him.

“She said the same thing—and pointed out that Holcomb Manor is smaller and more easily defensible. So I think you should set up a nightwatch. Have two or three of your best servants take it in turns.”

Kit nodded, and Anna agreed. “We will. It’s the sensible thing to do.”

“I want to send a couple of my servants over here, as well,” Reed went on. “To keep watch on the outside of the house.”

“See here, Moreland,” Kit said, looking offended. “I am able to take care of my sister myself.”

“I am sure you are,” Reed countered. “But it would set my mind at ease to know that you have extra help. And there is no harm in their being here. I would tell them, of course, to answer to you while they were here.”

Unexpectedly, it was Anna who said, “Yes, of course. This is scarcely a time to stand on pride, Kit. You have already been attacked once. I say we should guard the house as fully as possible.”

“Yes, you’re right, of course,” Kit agreed. “Thank you.” He inclined his head toward Reed.

Reed turned toward Anna. “This makes it seem more likely that the doctor is the killer.”

“What!” Kit exclaimed. “Are you saying that you suspect Martin? But that’s absurd!”

“I know. I find it very hard to believe,” Anna told him. “I am sure that in the end it will turn out that he is not, but we have to consider all the evidence.”

Reed explained their reasoning regarding the doctor’s knowledge of the first killings, then added, “It seemed unlikely, however, that he could have followed you that closely or gotten there ahead of you the other night. But this puts a whole new light on the matter.”

“He is a doctor, so he would have something readily at hand to put in your drink to make you sleepy,” Anna reasoned. “Then, knowing that you would lose consciousness on the ride home, he would not need to hurry. He needed only to follow you a few minutes later and find you lying in the road.”

“No,” Kit said firmly. “I cannot believe that it is Dr. Felton.”

“I think it is safe to assume that if Sir Christopher was indeed given something to render him unconscious, it was most likely done at the card game,” Reed said. “We can all agree on that, can’t we?”

Anna nodded, and Kit, after a moment’s thought, said, “Yes. Although I cannot imagine that it was any of the others, either. Mr. Norton was there, along with the squire and his son. And last night Mr. Barbush joined us.”

“Who?” Reed asked.

“He’s an older gentleman,” Anna told him. “A confirmed bachelor. He has a small competence, and he retired here, oh, six or seven years ago. I believe he was at Lady Kyria’s party.”