Page 22 of In the Midnight Hour

Amos exhaled loudly. His relief was palpable as he returned to his seat in the first row. Harry called for Mr. Usher to come forward.

The valet did not stand. North looked over and saw that Maberly had to jostle the man awake. Finally, Usher stood. Maberly gestured for him to walk to the table.

Harry rose and helped Usher to sit, then administered the oath, which Usher recited with surprising capability. The questioning started with a review of Sir Radnor’s nighttime routine and whether Usher had assisted him as usual on Friday.

“I did,” Usher replied.

“How was Sir Radnor?” Harry asked. “Did you find him to be inebriated?”

“No more than usual.” Usher shrugged.

Harry cocked his head. “Had he fallen before?”

“I found him on the floor one morning a fortnight ago or thereabouts. I don’t know that he fell. He may have used the chamber pot and decided to go to sleep on the floor rather than return to the bed.” Usher made this statement as if it were perfectly normal for someone to do so.

“Had that happened before?” Harry asked the valet.

“I think so?” Usher didn’t sound certain.

“What would lead you to believe he would sleep on the floor instead of returning to bed?” Harry asked with perhaps a shade of disbelief.

Usher shrugged. “It would be easier if he were particularly foxed.”

Several people in the room sniggered.

Harry pressed his lips together as he glanced at the observers before returning his attention to the valet. “You didn’t hear him fall?”

“I heard him banging about.”

Harry blinked at him. “‘Banging about?’ You didn’t offer assistance? Isn’t it your job to help Sir Radnor?”

“Not at night,” Usher said with a single shake of his head. “He doesn’t like anyone coming into his chamber at night—never has. Besides, he knows I need my sleep, especially at my age.”

“How thoughtful of him,” Harry said. “Thank you, Mr. Usher.”

The valet went back to his seat, and Harry interviewed Drummond next. They reviewed Drummond’s report and his conclusion that Sir Radnor had died from an unfortunate accident. “Is that still your contention?” Harry asked.

“I think it’s the likeliest explanation, but an inquest must be thorough,” Drummond spoke loudly, his Scottish brogue filling the room. “I’ll wait to make my final conclusion until after everyone has given testimony.”

Harry excused the officer, then summoned Mr. Wadham. After taking his oath, Wadham sat down and folded his hands in his lap. Harry asked the man’s occupation and relationship to Sir Radnor.

“I’m a solicitor, and I was hired by Sir Radnor a couple of months ago to draft his will,” Wadham replied crisply.

“Since he was a man of seventy years, he presumably had an existing will,” Harry said. “Were you aware of its contents?”

“I was not. Indeed, when I asked Sir Radnor if he had already made a will, he said that didn’t signify. It is my customary practice, as with many solicitors, to indicate that the will I’m drafting supersedes any other will that may have been created prior to that date.”

The woman at the end of the row gasped. The man beside her patted her arm. Actually, swatted might have been a better description.

“Who did Sir Radnor name as the heir to his fortune?” Harry asked. The entire room went eerily silent.

This was what everyone wanted to know. It was perhaps why everyone was here. Whether Sir Radnor was murdered or not, he’d cut his relatives from his will—and rather recently too. For whom?

Mr. Wadham turned in his chair. North froze with dread as he realized who the man was looking at.

“Lady Cartwright.”

Chapter 6