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Harry stood and glared daggers in the direction Bert had ridden. “When I catch him…”
I brushed off the back of his jacket. “We’ll have words.”
He seemed too angry to think clearly, so it was left to me to question Robbie. “Do you know why he fled?”
Robbie picked up Harry’s hat from where it had fallen and dusted it off. “No. Took me by surprise. He’s a nice bloke, quiet, never causes trouble.”
“Did you know Mr. Rigg-Lyon threatened him?”
“No.”
“Do you know what he wanted Bert to do for him? Or the secret he threatened to expose?”
He shook his head and handed the hat to Harry. “Are you going to report this incident to the major?”
“Do you think we should?” I asked.
“The major’ll dismiss him on the spot.” He scratched his head again. “Bert’s a hard worker. He’s good with horses, but not with people. I don’t think he meant to hurt you, miss. He just didn’t want to answer your questions.”
“That’s no excuse,” Harry snarled.
Robbie edged away, then scuttled sideways into the stables, keeping a wary eye on Harry until he was inside.
“We won’t report Bert,” I said. “If the major dismisses him, we’ll lose access to one of our suspects.”
“Our prime suspect,” Harry said, striding off.
I picked up my skirts and hurried after him. “We need to keep a level head about this, Harry. Just because he fled, doesn’t mean he’s guilty of murder. Although I do think he has something to hide.”
He stopped and rounded on me. “You could have been killed, Cleo!”
“Yes, but probably not on purpose. I think Bert simply couldn’t control the horse. It seemed frightened when he jumped into the saddle. I happened to be standing in their path, that’s all.”
He sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. Some of his anger seemed to release along with it. “I’m still going to throttle him when I see him.”
“I know you mean that figuratively.”
“Do I?” He went to walk off, but I caught his hand.
“Thank you, Harry. You saved my life.” I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek.
When I released his hand, he crossed his arms high over his chest and looked everywhere except at me. “Yes. Well. Try not to make a habit of almost dying.”
Cobbit drove to the mews,not the front of the hotel. My uncle stood in the middle of the cobbled lane, hands on hips. For one panicky moment I thought he was there to scold me, but his glare wasn’t directed at me.
“Where have you been?” he shouted at Cobbit as we pulled to a stop.
“Miss Fox had errands to run,” Cobbit shouted back. “Sir.”
I sighed. It seemed I was going to be caught in their dispute after all. I turned to Harry. “It’s probably best if you stay in here until he leaves.” I opened the door and climbed out. “Good morning, Uncle. Cobbit drove me to the Elms Polo Club and back. He had no other duties this morning—”
“He did! He was supposed to drive me to a meeting.” His gaze moved past me to Harry as he alighted from the carriage.
I should have known hiding wasn’t Harry’s style.
My uncle lowered his arms to his sides and grunted, as if he expected Harry to be involved in Cobbit’s disobedience.
“Cobbit?” I said. “You told us you had nothing else to do this morning.”
