Jeeves and Leilah looked at each other, and then at the carpet. In the end, they had to get down on their hands and knees and study the carpet close up, before they finally nodded agreement. They got back on to their feet again, helping each other considerately, and then looked at me.
‘You have really good eyes,’ said Jeeves.
‘You’re weird,’ said Leilah.
‘At the very least,’ I said. ‘Comes with the territory. No marks of spiked heels, to indicate a woman; just flat imprints. Basic slippers. From the size, it could be male or female.’
‘So, not really helpful after all,’ said Leilah.
Jeeves hushed her. ‘Is there anything else we’ve missed, Ishmael?’
‘Yes …’ I said. ‘I can smell something else in this room, something out of place. Apart from the obvious. Under the burnt meat, and the brandy, I can smell blood.’
‘You can smell blood?’ said Leilah. ‘What the hell are you; part bloodhound?’
‘He smelled blood before,’ said Penny. ‘Just before we found James’ body, hidden inside the snowman.’
‘What kind of training does the Organization give you people?’ said Jeeves.
Leilah looked at Jeeves. ‘You believe him?’
‘He’s been right about everything else, so far,’ said Jeeves.
‘I think you should take the others downstairs,’ I said. ‘This floor doesn’t feel safe. Take them down, fill them in on the situation, or at least as much as you think wise, while Penny and I finish looking the scene over. I would suggest you hole up in the drawing room. Just the one door, easily defended, and there’s food and drink. Should be safe enough for the time being.’
‘I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe again,’ said Penny. She glanced at the body. ‘Or hungry again. Ever.’
Leilah looked at me bullishly. ‘We don’t take orders from you! We only answer to the client. Why should we be the ones who have to guard the sheep?’
‘Because you’ve got guns,’ I said.
‘And because that’s our job, Leilah,’ said Jeeves. ‘We don’t solve murders; we protect the client. Right?’
‘Still say he’s weird,’ muttered Leilah.
They left the room, and I heard them speak politely and persuasively to the people in the corridor. And then they all went downstairs, Jeeves and Leilah in the lead, followed by Khan and Sylvia, and finally Walter and Melanie. I turned back to the body. Penny was staring into the ruined face.
‘I wanted to be free of him,’ she said. ‘But not like this. He wasn’t a bad sort, you know. Not really. He just fell in love with the wrong woman. He should have found someone who might have been … kinder to him.’
She turned abruptly and walked out of the room. She stood outside, breathing deeply of the somewhat fresher air. I went out to join her, and then hesitated in the doorway, looking back. I couldn’t help feeling I was missing something. Some important detail …
I went to shut and lock the door and found the key was still in the lock, on the inside of the door. So the killer … left it there? And left the door open, so the body could be discovered? Why would the killer do that, after going to such pains to hide the Colonel’s body? Or, could it be that the killer was in such a hurry that they didn’t have time to lock the door? Suggesting … what? That the killer murdered Roger almost immediately after being admitted into his room? Why the rush? And how would the killer have overpowered Roger so quickly? Roger wasn’t what I would have called a fighter, but surely he would have put up some kind of struggle … Unless he was caught completely by surprise … Or drugged.
I reined in my thoughts. Far too many questions, and hardly any answers.
I locked the door and slipped the key into my pocket. I didn’t want anyone else having access to the body until I’d had time to think some more. I moved over to join Penny. She was still breathing deeply, but a healthier colour had come back into her face. She looked at me squarely.
‘You don’t think I killed Roger, do you, Ishmael?’
‘I can’t see any reason why you would,’ I said.
‘That’s not what I asked,’ said Penny.
‘I don’t believe you are capable of such an act,’ I said.
Penny smiled. ‘Thank you.’
She hugged me suddenly. I let her.
‘Of course,’ I said, ‘I have been known to be wrong about people.’
‘It was a lovely moment,’ Penny said into my shoulder. ‘Don’t spoil it.’
‘Sorry,’ I said.
After a while she let go of me and stood back. She smiled brightly. ‘Since you and I are the only people in this house we can trust, I think we should work together to solve the mystery and identify the killer. We both have good reason to bring this bastard down. I want to avenge Roger, and you want to avenge James. Your Colonel.’
‘Why do you trust me?’ I said. ‘You barely know me.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Penny. ‘I just do. Sometimes you only have to look at someone and you know.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I know.’
And then I looked around the corridor sharply. ‘Hold it! Hold everything! I knew I’d missed something … Where’s Diana? She wasn’t here before, with all the others.’
‘You’re right!’ said Penny. ‘She wasn’t here, and I never noticed … Why didn’t I notice? And why didn’t she show up with the others? Oh, wait a minute. Sylvia could have given Diana something, to help her sleep.’
‘Then why did Sylvia go downstairs with the others, leaving Diana on her own up here, dead to the world in her room, and not say anything?’
‘Shock?’ said Penny. ‘Finding Roger like that must have-’
‘Why didn’t we notice Diana wasn’t with the others?’ I said. ‘Something’s very wrong here. Which is Diana’s room?’
‘Daddy put her in the Primrose Room,’ said Penny. ‘Diana always insists on the same room, every year.’
She led the way. The door to Diana’s room was closed, and when I tried the handle it was locked. Penny rapped loudly on the door and called Diana’s name. There was no response. I sniffed at the air.
‘Blood,’ I said. ‘I can smell blood.’
‘Through a closed door?’ said Penny.
I smashed in the door, with one hard shove of my hand. The lock exploded, and the door was blasted right off its hinges. It fell forward into the room, measuring its length on the carpeted floor.
Penny looked at me. ‘OK, I am now seriously impressed.’
‘All part of the training,’ I said.
‘Really?’
‘No.’
The room was in darkness. I found the light switch and turned it on. Penny wanted to rush in, but I gestured for her to hold back. I stepped cautiously inside, and then stopped. The bed was empty, all the bedclothes perfectly in place. Nothing to show anyone had slept in it. The room was still and quiet. I could smell Diana’s perfume, half hidden under half a dozen other smells. She was here, somewhere. I moved forward, following the scent across the room, with Penny sticking close at my side. I ended up standing before the fireplace. It was a lot bigger than the one in my room. Someone had piled the fire high with coal, and it was burning fiercely, throwing off a lot of heat. I dropped down on one knee, thrust both my hands into the fire and pulled it apart, hauling out the burning coals and scattering them across the grate. It only took me a few moments.
Penny watched all this from a safe distance, only moving occasionally to kick a burning coal back into the grate, if it rolled too far and tried to set light to the carpet. With the fire gone, I forced myself into the grate and looked up the wide chimney. The smell of Diana’s perfume was suddenly stronger.
Penny made a sudden shocked sound. ‘Ishmael; no! She can’t be …’
I forced my shoulders into the chimney gap, reached up into the dark, and found a single dangling hand. I took a firm hold and pulled Diana’s body down out of the chimney and into the grate. She’d been pushed a fair way up and packed in tight, which spoke of a great deal of strength from the killer. But I was stronger and more determined.