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“I didn’t realise you were there. I am sorry.” Clementine stood on tiptoe only to be blinded by the sunshine. Hurrying over to the gate, she passed through it and paused to close it before she narrowed the distance to the still waiting Captain.
Rather than engage her in conversation, the Captain paused and turned to look at the back of the houses a little further down the street. “Who was that?”
“Where?” Clementine paused but the Captain was looking at all the gardens at the rear of the houses they were walking beside.
“At Sally’s house. I thought I saw someone going in there,” the Captain replied absently.
“Into the house?” Clementine asked. She studied the windows of Sally’s house. When she tried to take a step toward it, the Captain held her back.
“Well, I am not so sure they were actually going into the house, but I definitely saw someone at the house,” the Captain murmured. “Is her sister here, do you know?”
“No, I don’t think so. I doubt Dotty would travel all this way. She is quite infirm. From what I understand, a distant cousin of Sally’s has taken over the property anyway.” Clementine still couldn’t see anything untoward.
“Maybe it is him in there then?” The Captain offered her a smile, but it was less than convincing. His concern was evident in the frown on his face and the way he continued to study the property as they walked past the end of the garden.
“There. Do you see it?” he asked suddenly, yanking her to a stop again beside a tree.
Clementine sighed when he shoved her somewhat roughly until she stood behind a large oak tree. Together, they stood hidden beneath the overhang and watched the house.
“There. See? Look at the kitchen window,” the Captain hissed.
Clementine squinted as she dutifully studied the kitchen window. Her gasp was loud when almost immediately, the shadows moved.
“Who is it?” she whispered.
“He is dressed in black. It looks like he is wearing a dark hat of some sort,” the Captain whispered. “He is looking for something.”
“What?”
The Captain sighed and threw her a dour look. “Shall I go and ask?”
Clementine grinned at him. “I can go and knock on the door, if you like?”
“Maybe it is the cousin?” the Captain suggested.
Clementine shook her head. “He isn’t going to be actually moving in until the end of the month. I don’t think anybody should be there. Do you want me to go and knock on the door?”
“No. I do not,” the Captain responded, his reply punctuated by the ferocity of his response.
They both waited for several minutes, but nobody emerged.
“What do we do?”
The Captain threw her a dark look. “Well, we are not going to knock on the door to see if anybody is at home, I can tell you that much. We must inform the magistrate. He needs to come and check on the property.”
The Captain began to look around the meadow as if he had lost something.
“What?”
“Have you seen Moss?”
Clementine’s heart skipped a beat. “Is he here?”
“He arrived today. He is investigating the deaths,” the Captain whispered.
Clementine felt weak. A part of her was jubilant that he had taken her seriously after all, but then she looked at the Captain and suspected it was because of his involvement rather than her own. Moss had, after all, told the Captain and not her that he was prepared to investigate the recent deaths.
“Have you seen him?”
