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Creighton turned to the duke. “All the servants are present as requested, Your Grace.”
“Thank you, Creighton.”
As soon as the duke began speaking, the silence in the room was absolute. People even stopped shuffling. All eyes were trained on the duke. Sarah stood beside him, her face impassive, but her clenched hands were an indication of her distress.
“Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for your years of faithful and excellent service to us. Many of you have been in our family’s employ for decades. And those who are relatively new have come to us with exemplary references. On the back of that, what I have to say now pains me deeply.” He paused. Deo, scanning faces, saw smiles and frowns and worried glances, but nothing that he would characterize as guilt per se.
“You would all be aware of the enterprise that has been going forward over the last week or so, led by the Earl of Pendrell and his wife.” All eyes turned to Deo and Em. “The excavation has been a successful one, providing much valuable information and, as you would also be aware, valuable items. It never occurred to me or the duchess that those items might be at risk in this house, such strong faith did I have in the honor and integrity of my household.” The duke’s voice deepened. “I am devastated to discover that my faith has been misplaced.”
A gasp of horror went round the room and Deo scanned rapidly, looking for anyone turning pale, frightened, or likely to bolt. There were shocked expressions aplenty. He couldn’t see every face in the room, but of the ones he could see, either they were very good actors, or they were not guilty.
“The responsible party will be found,” the duke continued. “They will be arrested and charged. The likely consequences are transportation or hanging for a theft of this magnitude.”
The servants began to shuffle and murmur.
“I am, however, as you know, a compassionate man. I will give you a moment of amnesty. If the guilty party will step forward now and offer up the location of the stolen items, I will show leniency. You have five minutes.” He took out his watch. “Starting now.”
The next five minutes were agonizing, as they all waited. No one stepped forward or spoke. At the end of the five minutes, the duke put his watch back into his pocket and said, “You leave me with no choice. Until the miscreant is found, you will all remain here while a search is conducted of the house and grounds.”
The murmurs rose at this, and the duke waited until they died down. “Before we commence that task, I will ask you all one last question.”
He paused and waited again for the noise to subside.
“Does anyone have any information that might assist us in our search? Has anyone seen or heard anything suspicious or untoward?”
There was a pause and then Creighton spoke. “Your Grace, if I might say something?”
“Of course, Creighton.”
He bowed. “Thank you, Your Grace. I am truly shocked by this occurrence, and I hope that you know you have my unswerving loyalty. I will do whatever I can to assist you in the recovery of the items in question.”
“Thank you, Creighton.”
Creighton bowed again, then he turned and addressed the crowd behind him. “You all know the duke and duchess are generous and kind employers. We are privileged to work for them and the envy of our peers. Do not squander that good fortune. If anyone in this room knows anything at all, speak now, for you know the consequences if you do not.” His tone of voice sent a visible shiver through a number of their ranks.
The next twenty minutes were chaos as Creighton’s word let loose a torrent of protestations of innocence and avowals of loyalty from the servants, none of whom seemed to know anything to the purpose, but who were all keen to establish their own innocence of any wrongdoing. If there was a thief among them, they were playing a deep game and were far more hardened than Deo would have thought possible for an opportunistic criminal. This argued for someone with the ability to cooly plan such a theft and the sangfroid to remain calm in the face of discovery and deflect suspicion from themselves. Were any of these people capable of that?
He was about to ask the duke who their newest servant was, when the duke managed to restore order by requesting in a carrying voice, “Silence, please.”
The noise stopped abruptly. “The servants’ quarters in the attics will be searched by the Ashfords. Mrs. Williams, you will accompany them as you have the keys to all the rooms. Creighton, you will accompany myself and the duchess and search the cellars and servants’ rooms in the basement. Hastings and Smiggens, you will go with the Pendrells and search the outdoor servants’ rooms. The rest of you will remain here until the searches are complete. I regret the necessity to do this, but I have no other choice. If you are not guilty, you have nothing to fear.”
Murmurs greeted this, and they all dispersed to their appointed places of search, with the instruction to report back to the ballroom when done, or if anything was found.
Deo and Em followed Hastings and Smiggens out of the house. “We will search the stables first, I think,” said Deo.
“Certainly, my lord,” said Hastings, leading the way. “The grooms sleep above the stables, your lordship. But I and my wife, who is the cook in the house, have a two-room cottage attached to the back. You’ll wish to check those quarters?”
“Yes, Hastings, thank you for your cooperation,” said Deo.
“Shocking business, my lord,” replied Hastings. “You’re welcome to look all you like. The missus and I have nothing to hide, and if any of my men are responsible, I’ll tan their hides this side of Sunday for betraying the duke. Served this family all my life, I have. Never heard of such a thing!”
Deo nodded, feeling acutely uncomfortable.
“Aye, it’s a shocking thing,” corroborated Smiggens. “There has never been anything like this before. My father was born on this estate, my lord. The Laynes are the kindest and most generous family in all of England. I would die for them.” He shook his head, stumping along beside them.
A thorough search of the stables and grooms’ accommodations showed up nothing, and they moved onto Smiggens’s shed and the cottage attached that housed himself and his grandsons.
The shed was padlocked, but Smiggens hurried to unlock it for Deo to enter and search. Again, there was nothing that you wouldn’t expect to see in a garden shed. Smiggens then led them to his cottage.
