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The major stood behind his desk and stared out of the window into the distance. “How did you find out about my daughter and Rigg-Lyon?”
“A sympathetic source told me,” I said. “I don’t think many know.”
He picked up the framed photograph of his family, the one in which his daughter was a young woman. “This was taken six months before she…” He drew in a shuddery breath. “She drowned. Fell out of a boat on a lake. She couldn’t swim.”
“We’re so sorry,” I said.
“The coroner’s report stated it was an accident, that it was no one’s fault. My wife agrees with the verdict. It’s better than the alternative, that she deliberately…” He cleared his throat. “The thing is, she took the dinghy out on her own. Her shoes were found in the boat, placed together beside her folded jacket with her hat on top.”
The coroner had been kind to record the verdict as accidental for Mrs. Leavey’s sake.
The major returned the photograph to the table. “I know what you’re thinking. That I killed Rigg-Lyon when I learned about his relationship with my daughter. But I didn’t. God knows I thought about it, but I’m no murderer.”
“Did you send him a threatening letter too?” Harry asked.
“No. I thought he might retaliate by spreading lies about her, so I refrained. After he died, I wished I had. That’s why, when I realized Hardwick must have known, I sent one to him.”
I believed him. Yet there was one thing still troubling me. “Why did you take the ribbon from Rigg-Lyon’s pocket?”
He didn’t try to deny it this time. “I suspected it belonged to a girl who gave it to him as a love token. It was such a distinctive color that I worried she’d be easily identified if the details were leaked to the press. I didn’t want her honor besmirched. The police investigation struck me as incompetent from day one, so I never regretted my hasty decision. Whoever she is, she didn’t deserve to pay the price for trusting Rigg-Lyon’s lies.”
Neither I nor Harry informed the major that the woman who gave the ribbon to Mr. Rigg-Lyon was his mistress, and she was aware of his fickle nature. We didn’t want to diminish the good deed he thought he’d done for her.
We thanked him and went in search of Bert to confirm Mr. Hardwick’s alibi. Outside, we waded through the darkly brooding air towards the stables and tack room. Lightning brightened the horizon and moments later, thunder rolled in, bringing with it a sense of inevitability.
We were on the cusp of solving the case. I could feel it as clearly as I could feel the sweat dampening my back.
We found Bert in the tack room, rubbing polish into a saddle. He was alone. His cheeks pinked before we’d even asked a question. I suppose having his secret exposed was embarrassing enough, but to have it exposed in such a public fashion was even worse. I suspected he also knew we were about to bring it up again.
I left the questioning to Harry this time. “Hardwick claims he was with you between three-fifty and four-ten on the day of the murder. Is that true?”
Bert’s eyes widened. “He told you? Am I going to prison?”
“Was he with you?” Harry pressed.
Bert nodded quickly. “We were in the woods, behind a tree.”
I frowned. “The entire twenty minutes? That seems longer than necessary.”
Bert choked and his face flamed. It was then that I realized what Harry had already guessed. That Mr. Hardwick hadn’t met with Bert to remind him what would happen if he told anyone about the doping. They’d met to be intimate.
“Did you see a brown-coated man there?” Harry asked.
“I saw Mr. Broadman’s cousin,” Bert said. “And a woman.”
Harry and I exchanged glances. Then my heart sank. There could only be one reason Mr. Liddicoat met with a woman in the woods.
“Was she tall?” I asked hopefully.
Bert shook his head.
My heart plunged further. Poor Miss Hessing.
Harry thanked him and we trudged to the gate, neither of us speaking. We were lost in our own thoughts. So much so that we’d forgotten about the impending storm until a streak of lightning and a thunderclap signaled its unleashing.
A few fat drops of rain fell as a warning then, as if the clouds could no longer carry the heavy load, it came down in a torrent. Even if we’d brought umbrellas, they wouldn’t have helped. We were soaked within seconds.
Harry grabbed my hand and we ran towards the gate where a taxi that had just deposited passengers was about to pull away from the curb. The driver saw our frantic signaling and stopped. Harry assisted me on board and sat beside me as the coach lurched forward.
