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“Did Miss Rivera know that?”
“Again, you’d have to ask her.” After a brief pause, he added, “A woman like Rosa must have known.”
“A woman like her?” I echoed.
He separated his hands before clasping them again. “Vernon wasn’t her first lover. She was…experienced with how these things worked. Only a naive fool would expect him to leave his wife for a mistress, and I can assure you, Rosa is neither naive nor a fool.”
“There is also a rumor that Mr. Rigg-Lyon ruined the reputations of young ladies.”
“Certainly not! That’s an outrageous lie.” As if he suddenly realized how loud his voice had risen, he leaned forward and lowered it. “Vernon may have had a reputation with women, but he paddled in the entertainment pool only. Singers, dancers, that sort. Not ladies of good breeding.” He sat back again. “Did Broadman say otherwise? You shouldn’t listen to him, or his cousin, Liddicoat.”
“You know him, too?” Harry asked.
“Not well, but he’s naturally going to take Broadman’s side, isn’t he? I mean, ask yourselves, why did Liddicoat lie about seeing a man with a brown coat if not to make the police look elsewhere instead of at the culprit standing over the body holding the murder weapon dripping with blood?”
“It wasn’t dripping,” I pointed out. “The blood had dried. Also, he wasn’t discovered standing over the body. He was outside the stables, calling for help. If he were guilty, he’d have left the scene quietly.”
“Or he’s cleverer than the police think because he predicted that’s what they’d assume. Don’t let him fool you, Miss Fox. He may not be the brightest star in the sky, but his cousin is intelligent. Liddicoat knew that seeing a brown-coated man would distract the police away from Broadman.”
“What makes you think it’s a lie?”
Mr. Hardwick made a scoffing noise. “No one else saw the fellow in the brown coat. You were second on the scene so must have been in the vicinity. Didyousee him?”
It was a good point, one that unsettled me. Was I biased in favor of Mr. Liddicoat because I wanted him to be telling the truth for Miss Hessing’s sake?
Mr. Hardwick expelled a deep breath, as if expelling his anger, too. “Is that all? I have work to do.” He put up his finger to indicate to the woman hovering in the doorway with another armful of papers that he wouldn’t be long.
“We’re nearly finished.” Harry indicated me. “Miss Fox noticed your surprise when Mr. Rigg-Lyon announced he’d changed his mind and no longer planned to retire.”
“It’s true. I was surprised, even a little annoyed, that he hadn’t informed me. We planned on announcing it that day together, win or lose.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell you something like that? You’re good friends.”
“I suppose it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. The thrill of winning the cup would have got his blood up. Being on the podium, accepting the accolades…it’s a heady feeling, one that can overrule all other thoughts and emotions.”
“Why did you both decide to retire?” I asked. “You’re not old.”
“I’m thirty-five, Vernon was thirty-six. Our bodies need to be in peak physical condition to play at the elite level, and we’re not as young as we used to be. Besides, we both had other interests to pursue.” He indicated the photograph of the horse.
“One more question,” Harry said. “Where were you between three-fifty and four-ten on Saturday afternoon?”
Mr. Hardwick started to laugh then stopped abruptly. “You can’t seriously think I killed him?”
We stayed silent.
He shifted his weight in the chair. “I was in the privy, if you must know.”
“Did anyone see you leave?”
“No. There was no one about. It wasn’t until I went outside that one of the staff told me Vernon was dead.”
The woman strode up to the desk and pointedly cleared her throat. It was our signal to leave.
Mr. Hardwick rose, too, and shook our hands. “Find my friend’s murderer, Armitage. Vernon didn’t deserve that ending. He was a giant among men.” He swallowed heavily. “There’ll never be the likes of him again.”
He turned away, but not before I saw his eyes fill with tears.
The woman placed the documents on Mr. Hardwick’s desk then escorted us through the warren of corridors and staircases to the ground level where the public queued to see one of the bank tellers stationed behind the long counter.
