Tom hesitated, and Christopher turned to stone next to me.Across the table, Francis’s brows lowered.
“I’m not in charge of the case,” Tom said eventually, “so it doesn’t matter what I think.But I can tell you that Constable Daniels hasn’t sent anyone to Beckwith to bring them back here.Or hadn’t, as of this afternoon.”
“Has he spoken to them?”Christopher wanted to know.The tension in his body was evident in his voice too, now.
“He said he had done,” Tom confirmed.“Your parents said they hadn’t seen either of you after you left Sutherland Hall, and they didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary while they motored through the village.”
He didn’t add, “but of course that’s what they would say.”I heard it, nonetheless.And so must Christopher have done, because he asked again, “Do you suspect my parents of murder, Tom?”
“No, Kit,” Tom said.“Of course not.”
“You suspected my father enough that you stopped by Beckwith Place after Hughes was killed.”
“That was for their protection,” Tom said steadily.“Not because I thought either of them was guilty.”
“And he did have an alibi,” I said.“Didn’t he?You said that he did do.”
Tom nodded.“He had been with Lady Roslyn all day.And with Francis and Constance that night.”
“My parents aren’t murderers,” Francis said stiffly.
“I agree,” Christopher said, and I nodded.
“Aunt Roz and Uncle Herbert had no reason to want Doctor Meadows dead.They certainly had no reason to kill Alfie.Doctor Meadows was still alive when Aunt Roz and Uncle Herbert left Sutherland Hall.”
That might not have been the reason Alfie was killed, of course.The footman-cum-chauffeur might be dead now because he knew something about the night Morrison died.Such as who had been behind the wheel of that motorcar Christopher said he had heard leave, for instance.
But we had tried to make it sound like there was no connection between Morrison’s murder and what had happened here, and now we were stuck with it.
I got to my feet.“I think it’s time I turned in.It’s been a long day, and this might be the last night in a while I get to sleep in my own bed, if Constable Daniels decides to arrest me tomorrow.”
Laetitia’s eyes glinted in delight.Everyone else—save for Tom and Crispin—assured me that he wouldn’t do.I was fairly certain that Crispin didn’t join in because his fiancée wouldn’t like it, but the fact that Tom didn’t protest did, I must admit, fill me with a measure of worry.If Tom thought I might be arrested, there seemed a real chance that it might happen.
And Christopher seemed to have come to the same conclusion, because he pushed to his feet, too, protectively.“I’ll walk you up, Pippa.”
“He’s not going to haul me off between here and my room, Christopher,” I told him.
He directed a narrow look at Tom across the table.“Perhaps not.But I’d rather not give him the opportunity.”
Tom rolled his eyes.“I have no authority to arrest anyone, Kit.I’m here as a guest.”
“And if he wanted to arrest me,” I added, “neither your presence, nor the fact that I was in my room, would make any difference.”
Tom shook his head.“But I solemnly swear that I won’t break your door down overnight to take you off to prison.”
“I appreciate that.You’ll forgive me if I lock myself in in spite of your assurances.”
Unless I missed my guess, and it truly had been one of the villagers who had murdered Alfie and Doctor Meadows—and Morrison and Hughes, and perhaps Duke Henry and Grimsby—there was a murderer on the loose in Sutherland Hall, and I’d feel better with a locked door between myself and whoever it was.
“You do that,” Tom said.“In fact—” He glanced around the circle of faces, “—you should all do that.Lock your doors, don’t wander the halls overnight, and if it seems like a good idea, spend the night with someone else.”
Laetitia turned doe eyes on Crispin.He flushed.
I scoffed.“I’m certain a locked door will be sufficient.Along with, perhaps, a cricket bat.”
“I’m afraid I would have to visit the carriage house for that,” Crispin said, “and I assume that’s off limits, Gardiner?”
Tom nodded.“Just for the time being, you know.If you need a motorcar tomorrow, I’m sure that can be arranged.As long as you’d be allowed to leave, of course.”
