Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett

Author:Sara Rosett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I left Inspector Longly and went along to the drawing room, which had a subdued atmosphere. Sebastian sat on the far side of the room conversing in low tones with Lady Pamela, who was draped across one end of a scroll-arm settee. Thea looked a bit pale but otherwise seemed to have recovered. She had buttonholed James, Sebastian’s secretary, who looked at me as a castaway would gaze at a distantly passing ship. Thea was describing the pickled paneling in her London flat, her voice carrying across the room. “. . . quite expensive. But as I always say, it never pays to be cheap, you know.” I gave them a wide berth and went to join Gwen, who stood at one of the open French doors that looked out over the terrace and the west gardens, a teacup and saucer in her hands.

“Oh, there you are,” she said as I came to stand beside her. The window was open and the scent of roses and honeysuckle drifted inside. “I heard you return, but by the time I got downstairs, you’d been swept off to the inspector. Was he terribly angry with you? Was it grim?”

“No, it wasn’t horrible at all.” In a low voice, I told her everything Violet and I had learned, and her tea grew cold as she listened without moving.

She kept her voice down as well, but anger vibrated through it. “So Alfred was a cad—blackmailing people and threatening maids.”

“Yes, you were right about him.”

“But I never suspected he was as bad as that.” Her teacup clattered against the saucer as she set it down on a table.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think Violet told the police about the notebook. Did you speak to her after we returned from London?”

“No, she went directly to her room. She said she had a headache and took a sleeping powder.” Gwen rubbed the bandage on her hand. “I think she doesn’t want to deal with it anymore, poor lamb. I’m sure the revelations of the last few hours are a lot for her to take in.”

“We’ll have to convince her to tell Inspector Longly about the notebook. He seems a competent sort.”

“If you say so.” Gwen’s cheeks turned pink.

“He seemed to be interested in getting to the truth. Didn’t you have the same impression?”

“He had quite a few pointed questions for me.”

“You have to admit he seems to be better than the local police inspector.”

“Possibly.”

It wasn’t like Gwen to come down so firmly against someone, but perhaps it was because she felt defensive for Violet.

Gwen glanced out the window, then surveyed the room before lowering her voice. “I can’t help but worry for Violet. I spoke to one of the maids whose brother is a police constable in the village, and he says that there’s no evidence against anyone other than Violet. What if they arrest her because there’s no one else?”

“Of course there are other suspects. Jane and Thea are washed out, but Lady Pamela was upstairs.”

The door opened and Muriel entered with Paul and Rose.

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