“Lady Adelaide, I’ll walk you back to the house.”
She nodded. Her wandering about the estate was over. In no time the place would be crawling with policemen, and after yesterday, she knew she was not their favorite. She noted their scowls and heard the muttering about “women” pronounced in a certain way, as though her sex invalidated her brains. Why, she probably investigated more deaths than any of them! The Cotswolds had way more missing sheep than murders.
“Did you know of this incident? The missing lieutenant?” Mr. Hunter asked.
“I’ve been trying to think. So many of our friends were killed, I stopped reading the papers. But no one I knew just up and disappeared when home on leave. Hugh will know, and his army friends Captain Clifford and Mr. Bradbury. They were all very close. Did their training together and were in the same unit.”
“Clifford is still serving?”
“Yes. He’s about to be posted to India. This week was supposed to be a fun farewell for him. In his honor.” Saturday evening’s dinner had been filled with toasts and ribaldry, most of which Addie had not understood.
But now she did. “The Four Musketeers! That’s what they called themselves, only it didn’t make sense to me, since there are only three of them in life and fiction. The lieutenant must have been the fourth friend.”
“Someone didn’t like him much,” observed Inspector Hunter, and Addie couldn’t argue.
Chapter Six
Shot through the head. There was no chance that the soldier fell asleep in a hole in the ground and was accidentally covered over with building detritus. Someone placed him there nine years ago and went about their life.
The lieutenant’s body—if that’s who it was—was a complication Dev did not need. He hadn’t even begun his interviews. One death at a time, he reminded himself, though they were probably connected. As he told the gardeners, he didn’t give credence to coincidences. Philosophically, Dev believed everything in life was interrelated—one false word could cause a civilization to topple half a world away.
Lady Adelaide was unusually quiet as they walked along the crushed stone paths that cut through the formal knot gardens. Everything was extremely orderly, and Dev realized he’d prefer a touch of wildness amongst the pruned roses and weedless beds. The late Lady Fernald had green fingers for certain, but the effect was an almost make-believe kingdom.
Artificial. Too perfect.
“You knew Pamela Fernald well?”
“I’ve known her since we were both eighteen. We were presented at court together in 1911.” She paused, plucking at a spill of yellow roses that climbed a trellis. “My, that seems like another lifetime. We bumped into each other at all the parties and were friendly but not friends. But then she and Hugh married at the start of the war, and I got to know her better. I’ve known him since we were children—Broughton Park is only a few miles from here.”
“How is Lady Broughton?” Dev was grateful the woman was not here; she made him unaccountably nervous. “And your sister?”
“Oh, they’re as ever. Driving each other mad. Cee needs to find an occupation.”
Dev thought it interesting that Lady Adelaide did not suggest marriage for her younger sister. It didn’t solve everyone’s problems. Once burned, twice shy, he supposed.
“Prior to coming here, you hadn’t heard any rumors about the Fernalds’ relationship?”
“No, I told you. Rupert and I only saw them a few times a year when they invited us to one of their dinner parties or Saturday-to-Mondays. They don’t—didn’t—generally go out, and what with me being in mourning and then away, we haven’t socialized for ages. Were you even listening before?”
He had tried not to, but ignoring her was proving to be impossible. And probably bad for the case to boot. “I know you want to help.”
She blushed. “Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I?”
“You have a childhood friend to protect. That might cloud your judgment.”
“You can’t possibly think—oh, you can! And do! I’d swear on my husband’s grave that Hugh is innocent.”
“I’m not jumping to any conclusions—I hope you know me better than that. But with an old friend of Sir Hugh’s probably buried on the estate and his wife poisoned, there is definitely something untoward going on.”
“If anyone can get to the bottom of it, it will be you. And I’m here if you need me.”
Just what he didn’t need, again. “Your belief in my abilities is admirable, but this is another dangerous situation. Please stay out of it.”
“All right.”
He didn’t believe her for a minute.
Dev made the necessary calls and spoke to Mrs. Lewis, the housekeeper. He returned to the library, a dark, cavernous room holding hundreds of leather-tooled books behind glass doors, finding members of the house party in various stages of restlessness. Well, he had information that would galvanize their attention.
“Thank you for your patience. I’m afraid I have more bad news. The gardeners have discovered a body on the property.”
Lady Adelaide had chosen to sit next to her friend Sir Hugh and touched his shoulder. There were gasps all around and a sea of ashen faces.
“Who is it?” Lord Lucas Waring asked. Dev was somewhat annoyed to find the viscount present but knew the man no longer had designs upon Lady Adelaide. He read the surprising engagement announcement in the Times. But if a woman had the prerogative to change her mind, so must a man. Oddly enough, Waring was now planning to marry a girl Dev had met during a case a few months ago. Even being a detective, he had no clue how that came about.
“We don’t know yet. Until we do, I’d appreciate it if you all would refrain from speculating.”
Clifford and Bradbury exchanged a glance. “You’re sure it’s human remains?” Clifford asked.
“Quite. And not a Roman.” Nearby Cirencester, then Corinium, had been the second-largest Roman city in Britain and was now a treasure trove of significant ancient artifacts and earthworks. Farmers were still turning up tile fragments and coins in their fields, expecting to strike it rich.
“Where is…it?” Lady Fernald asked.
“The area where a new folly is to be built. The men began digging this morning.”
“Hugh, now that Pamela is gone, perhaps we shouldn’t…” Simon Davies didn’t finish.
Fernald touched his temple and shut his eyes briefly. “I don’t know, Simon. I can’t think about the plans now. But if Pam wanted the changes, I think we should honor her wishes. It’s the least we can do in her memory.”