“It’s a reason for Lord Hedley to murder his wife. Of course, had it been Lady Hedley who had been found dead, perhaps he would be suspected right away. I think we should communicate your findings to Captain Cathcart.”
“Thought you didn’t like him.”
“Whether I like him or not is beside the point. He has the experience we need. Good night, Daisy. You did well.”
“I’m sorry I forgot my place, my lady.”
“You may behave as an equal when you are with me, but not in public. I have plans for us.”
“What plans?”
“I’ll tell you when I have worked it all out.”
♦
Harry was handed a note by Becket the following morning. It said:
Please meet us in the library at nine. We have news for you. Rose Summer.
Harry showed it to Becket. “We? I wonder who the other person is?”
“I should think it would turn out to be her lady’s maid, Daisy.”
“But one does not say we when talking about a servant. I mean, a lady’s maid is a fashionable shadow.”
“I think Lady Rose and Daisy are more in the way of being friends.”
“What an odd girl she is, to be sure. You’d better come along as well.”
When they entered the library, it was to find both Rose and Daisy waiting for them.
“I suggested we meet here,” began Rose, “because I doubt if anyone ever uses this room.”
“Let’s sit down and you can tell me about it,” said Harry.
He sat in one chair and Rose sat in the other. Daisy stood behind Rose and Becket behind Harry.
“I think we should all sit together,” said Rose. “The detective work is all Daisy’s.”
They all grouped around the library table.
Daisy told her story while Harry listened intently. “Well done,” exclaimed Harry when Daisy had finished, and Rose felt a pang of jealousy. Not that she was romantically interested in Harry, of course. Simply that she felt she should have been the one to find out about Margaret and about the marquess’s financial position. “Colette’s disappearance may have had nothing to do with Miss Gore-Desmond’s death. Miss Bryce-Cuddlestone may have decided her maid knew too much and dismissed her. And yet it was she who started the search for her. Anyway, I’ve found out some more things.
“I was talking to Maisie Chatterton. She babbles on about everything in that silly lisp of hers. She tells me that Mary Gore-Desmond said something one evening in the drawing-room to Sir Gerald Burke. Sir Gerald glared at Mary and then muttered something vicious to her, according to Maisie. Freddy Pomfret was flirting with Mary on one occasion but Maisie said that was because Mary had a large dowry. Neddie Freemantle was heard braying with laughter at everything Mary said. Maisie asked him afterwards what he had found so funny and he said Mary had mimicked the accents and behaviour of the guests brilliantly. I’ve forgotten the most important thing. Is Miss Gore-Desmond’s lady’s maid still in the castle?”
“No, sir,” said Daisy.
“But surely she was kept behind for questioning by the police?”
“She left the morning after Miss Gore-Desmond was found dead. She said she would travel to the parents’ home.”
“What was her name?”
“Quinn, sir.”
“Becket, we’d better get over to that inquest. The Gore-Desmonds will be there and with luck the lady’s maid. But the fact that Colette disappeared and not Quinn is most odd. Quinn would know her mistress’s secrets. What an amateur I am. I should have thought of the lady’s maid right away.”
“Perhaps it is because you are more used to covering things up than exposing them,” said Rose.
“That was a rather nasty thing to say.”
“It was not meant to be nasty. It was a statement of fact.”
“Well, here’s a statement of fact. You are the most unfemi-nine woman I have ever come across.”
Becket cleared his throat. “I will bring the car round, sir. The ladies will wish to accompany us.”
Becket left the room quickly before Harry could protest.
“Where is the inquest to be held?” asked Rose.
“At the coroner’s court in Creinton, a market town near here.”
“Very well,” said Rose. “We will meet you outside in the courtyard in half an hour.”
“Make it fifteen minutes,” said Harry.
♦
Mrs. Gore-Desmond’s anguished cry in court that her daughter had never touched arsenic did not sway the verdict of accidental death.
Outside the courtroom the marquess was in high good humour which he tried to hide. Daisy nudged Rose’s arm and whispered, “That’s Quinn, the lady’s maid, over there.”
Rose hurried towards a tall, severe-looking woman, the very opposite of Daisy.
“I am sorry for your loss,” began Rose.
Quinn curtsied and nodded. “I am surprised you did not wait to be interrogated by the police,” said Rose.
“Our local police called on me to take a statement. I told them that Miss Gore-Desmond had never used arsenic for cosmetic purposes. I left to be with Mr. and Mrs. Gore-Desmond. Mrs. Gore-Desmond’s lady’s maid had recently left and she was advertising for another. I knew I could get the job if I moved quickly.”
“Was Miss Gore-Desmond romantically interested in any of the gentlemen at the castle?”
Quinn stared at Rose from under the shadow of an enormous black hat. “I think she found them all rather silly, to tell the truth. But she was not the sort of lady to chatter to servants.” The stare hardened even more, implying that Rose was one of the ones that did. “Now, if you will excuse me, my lady.”
Harry went up to the marquess. “It turns out you did not need my services after all,” he said.
“Good of you to come, all the same,” said the marquess, clapping him on the shoulder. “Don’t rush off. As I said before, stay and enjoy the house party.”
“You are too kind.”
“There’s Lady Rose looking for you, you lucky dog.” The marquess grinned and strolled off towards his carriage.
Rose came up to Harry and told him about what Quinn had said. “At least we know she’s all right,” said Harry when Rose had finished. “But no wonder Kerridge gets so furious. What a shameful business. Quinn was not even called as a witness.”
“So your job is over. You don’t need to help to hide anything,” said Rose. “All the facts have been buried as deep as poor Miss Gore-Desmond is shortly going to be.”
“I have been asked to stay on as a guest and I am determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.”
“I will help you,” said Rose eagerly. “We are the only ones here, apart from Lord Hedley. I can start to talk about the inquest at luncheon and see what they all say during conversation.”
“If there is any conversation about this death, it will be all about how it is not really necessary to wear mourning.”
“If only the body could be exhumed.”
“But the beauty of arsenic,” said Harry, “is that it clears out of the organs very quickly.”
“It stays in the nails and hair,” said Rose.
It always irritated Harry when Rose proved again that she knew more about a subject than he did.
“You look very attractive in black,” he said, smiling down at her.
“I beg your pardon! Oh, you feel obliged to flirt like the other men in the party. You do not have to waste time on such frivolities with me.”
“Are you being deliberately infuriating, or are you just gauche?”
Rose bridled. “I think you should keep your mind on essentials. Miss Gore-Desmond may have been murdered.”