The Murder of Viscount Montcrief: Heathcliff Lennox Investigates: A Cotswolds Country House murder mystery by Karen Baugh MENUHIN

Author:Karen Baugh MENUHIN [MENUHIN, Karen Baugh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Dog Publishing Ltd
Published: 2025-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

We bid the ladies farewell at the entrance hall. Greggs had decided to go with them and hurried in their wake, clutching his satchel of notes and whatnots as though it contained state secrets. Fogg sat and watched them go, his ears pricked in confusion.

‘Lennox, are you coming?’ Swift was itching to show Cyril our latest grim discovery.

‘No, I’ll…’ I tried to think of some excuse. ‘I’ll call Dr Stonehouse, ask if he knows anything about the days before the, um…’ I paused, eyeing Cyril, who still hadn’t been let in on the revelation. ‘The new Viscount.’

‘Right,’ Swift agreed. ‘You’re not going to disappear are you Lennox, because you do have a habit–’

‘No, no,’ I assured him. ‘I’ll be here when you come down and then we can go home.’ I cleared off before he could object.

I strode to the study, and picked up the telephone. ‘Dr Stonehouse, Major Lennox here,’ I began. ‘Is the old doctor still around? The one whose practice you took over?’ Foggy settled at my feet, resting his head on his paws as I listened to the doctor’s response.

‘No, he passed away some years back, I’m afraid,’ he replied in his pleasant voice. ‘I assume you’re still digging for information.’

‘Yes,’ I replied without further explanation.

‘There is someone who might be able to help,’ Stonehouse said thoughtfully. ‘Old Wilson, he was groom and carriage driver to the sixth Viscount. Been with the family since he was a boy. The old Viscount gave him the gatekeeper’s cottage just before he died. He’s frail now, and nearly blind, but his mind is still sharp. Lives alone except for an ancient collie that’s probably as old as he is in dog years.’ The doctor gave me directions to the cottage, which lay beyond the carriage house at the far end of the estate grounds. ‘Tell him you know me,’ Stonehouse added then rang off.

With a clap of my hands I set off into the early evening sunshine, my dog at my side. I’d decided against telling the good doctor about the impostor, it would only complicate things, and hold me up.

The old gatehouse lay some half mile beyond the carriage house. The track wound through a tract of overgrown woodland that had clearly escaped Robin Woods’ renovations. Foggy trotted happily beside me, occasionally darting off to investigate interesting smells and animal burrows dug under mounds of fallen branches.

The building seemed to have grown naturally from the surrounding landscape, its walls covered with climbing roses and ivy. It was backlit by long rays of sunlight glimmering between the trees. A thin wisp of smoke drifted from the chimney, and as I approached an elderly black and white collie raised its head from the front step, regarding me with cloudy eyes before offering a single, croaky woof.

Fogg approached cautiously, respecting the older dog’s territory. The door opened to reveal a white-haired man so stooped and weathered he seemed carved from the same stone as his dwelling. ‘Who’s there?’ he called in a gruff voice which was surprisingly strong for his frail appearance.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.