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Victoria pursed her lips.
“The latter sounded improbable, but I can see what you mean. It’s more than likely someone on the hunt.”
“Who would you put down as a suspect? If you’re seeing this as an outsider.” Mayfield tilted his head. “Take your relation to the victim out and look at this as I would. Who would you see as a suspect, and why?”
Victoria wasn’t sure if she could, but she tried. She sat on the window seat and thought about it.
“Well, the servants would have no personal issue with Richard. If they ended up killing him, it would be on the orders of someone they worked for. Or a member of thetonthey couldn’t turn down.”
“Who was there and wasn’t a servant?”
“Lord Blackmore, of course, Sebastien, Rafe, and Gregory.” Victoria went over each man in her head. “Rafe and Richard had just fought about a woman they were both seeing, and they had laid hands on each other. I suppose, if you go with that line of thought, Sebastien and Lord Blackmore might have been embarrassed by what happened and killed Richard for humiliating Rafe. It would explain why they defended him so strongly.”
Mayfield shook his head.
“It is a little flimsy, but I can see what you’re saying. People have been murdered for less. But can you see either of them doing that?”
“Honestly, I can’t. Lord Blackmore, for all of his faults, was a kind and gentle man. And Sebastien was really sweet. The stories I heard about him were always positive. I don’t think anyone said a bad thing about him.”
Victoria remembered them when she had tried to find something bad about Sebastien so she could get out of marrying him. It was hard to dislike him when he was that nice.
“So, the one with the strongest motive is Rafe,” Mayfield commented. “Unless you count your cousin.”
“Gregory?”
“Your father only has one son, doesn’t he? The Viscountcy doesn’t get passed down to the daughter.” Mayfield paused. “If your father dies, who gets the Viscountcy?”
“As the next male heir, it would be Gregory.”
Then Victoria understood what he was saying. Her mouth fell open, unable to comprehend what he was saying.
“Are you…are you saying Gregory would kill Richard so he could be next in line?”
“Like I said, people have been murdered for less, and I’m sure killing the heir to take their place isn’t something new.”
“I can’t see that happening. Gregory and Richard weren’t close, but they were friendly enough.”
“What is his financial status like?”
Victoria blinked.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Is he financially stable? Or can he be comfortable without the title of Viscount?”
Victoria hadn’t thought about it like that. Gregory had always talked about the things he would buy for her, where he would take her if he were allowed. Because his father had been a prosperous man who was good with money, Victoria hadn’t thought to check that Gregory was the same.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“If he isn’t, becoming a Viscount would help a lot.” Mayfield grimaced. “I don’t want to speak ill of your cousin, but we have to think about it. If he was looking for a way to get rid of the heir, seeing your brother and Rafe fighting would be a perfect cover. Kill Richard and put the blame on someone else.”
“What?” Victoria shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t do that.”
“How good is he with a gun?”
“Even better than Richard. My uncle had taken him out shooting since he was seven. Gregory was the best marksman out of the five….”
Victoria felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She recalled Sebastien mentioning hunting before and that while he could hold his own, he was not as good as Rafe and Richard, who both had steady hands. But he had said Gregory outshot all of them. It was just in passing, and as a person who didn’t like guns, Victoria hadn’t really paid much attention.
