AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Because Rigg-Lyon’s the sort that has to win at everything,” Mr. Broadman growled. “He hated to lose. He was like a child, always needing the adulation, the accolades, and prizes. The women.” He snorted. “If there was a contest for the longest dive off a cliff, he’d plummet to his death just to win.”
It was in poor taste, considering, but Mr. Broadman seemed beyond caring. I’d never seen him so riled up. He was always so polished in company, so polite and charming. It was as if his mask had been ripped off, revealing the ugliness underneath.
Harry sometimes wore a mask to get what he wanted, but when his mask slipped, it didn’t reveal a lesser man. There was honesty and goodness under his mask. I wasn’t so sure Mr. Broadman could claim the same.
“You can’t come here and tar all the grooms with the same brush without evidence,” Harry said.
Mr. Broadman scoffed. “I was trying to get evidence out of Bert, but he ran off. I told you that.”
“Which direction did he go?” I asked.
Mr. Broadman looked to Robbie.
Robbie pointed at the large double doors that stood open. “Bert spotted Mr. Broadman coming here and knew he was done for. So he legged it in the other direction. Left his kit behind and all, he was that scared.” He indicated a battered and stained burlap sack hanging from a hook near the door.
I took it down and opened the drawstring closure. Inside were a few meager belongings—a wooden comb missing some teeth, a spoon, tin bowl and cup, and a dirty waistcoat that smelled like horse and sweat.
“Do you think Bert was complicit?” Harry asked Robbie. “Do you think he injected all the horses, not just Panther?”
He shrugged. “He loved horses. He wouldn’t hurt them willingly.”
There was something in the waistcoat pocket. A letter, going by the shape of it. I fished it out.
“What aboutunwillingly?” Harry pressed.
“I s’pose, if he thought he had no choice.”
“We know Rigg-Lyon threatened to reveal Bert’s secret if he didn’t do as he ordered. We can now safely assume he was attempting to blackmail Bert into doping Panther, and possibly Leopard and the rest of the team’s mounts, but what secret did Bert have that would be bad enough to force him to go against his horse-loving nature?”
It wasn’t a letter in the pocket, it was a series of photographs. Three of them, to be precise, and they were all of the same person, taken from different angles. I took a moment to study them thoroughly.
“I don’t know,” Robbie answered Harry. “Bert’s secretive. Keeps to himself. The rest of the lads think he’s strange, but I reckon he just doesn’t like people. He was mostly a good worker, although…”
“Although?” Harry prompted.
“Sometimes he couldn’t be found immediately after a match. It’s when he’s needed most, so it was noticeable.”
“Where did he go?”
“He wouldn’t say, but I saw him coming from the direction of the courtyard.”
“The other outbuildings?”
If Robbie nodded, I didn’t see. I was too focused on the photographs to look up.
“Cleo?” Harry asked as he approached. “What have you found?”
I handed the photographs to him. “I know Bert’s secret.”
Chapter12
Harry returned the photographs to the waistcoat pocket. He cleared his throat and wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Well, those are…”
“Educational?” They were for me, at least. I’d seen photographs of a naked man before, as part of another investigation, but these were more explicit. They were probably meant to arouse the viewer, but I couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of me.
Harry arched his brows but said nothing. Even so, I detected a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes.
I bit the inside of my cheek in an attempt to regain composure and focus on the task at hand. The photographs. I didn’t know the identity of the man in them. He was probably a model, paid by the photographer for his time. My guess was that he was a laborer, used to physical work. His muscles bulged as much as his—
