“An’ now they’re missin’.”
“Indeed. We’ve got to consider thepossibility that Chilton was killed for something he had written onthose missing pages, something the killer did not want anyone toknow about.”
“So he ripped ‘em out an’ took them withhim?”
“If he did — and that seems a reasonableconclusion — then he must have waited until Chilton was too drunkor dazed to notice. Or care.”
“Takin’ an awful chance, wouldn’t you say,sittin’ in here feedin’ a bottle of poison to Macaulay’s butleruntil the poor bugger was too pissed to blink?”
“True, except that with this door closed theentire south section of Elmgrove would be in utter darkness. Evenvoices would not carry down the hall to the rotunda, and certainlynot into the sleeping quarters beyond it. If one were planning astealthy poisoning, this would be the ideal spot to carry itout.”
“Likewise, anybody sleepin’ back there couldsneak out an’ cross the round room an’ paddle down here withoutbein’ heard or seen.”
“Yes, and I’m certain he or she did. Thereare no fresh footprints outside the front door, and the Frenchdoors in the parlour are permanently locked during the wintermonths, I was told yesterday.”
“There’s a back door,” Cobb said. “We come inthat way. Brought us inta the round hall near the pink stairway.An’ there’s a rear door to the servants’ wing.”
“True, but don’t bother checking forbootprints back there. The servants will have been up and about atthe rear of the place since daybreak.”
“It’d been pretty much tramped about when wegot here after eight.”
“Still, I’d like you and Struthers to walkthe periphery of the grounds later, and look for signs of externalentry overnight. It’s not likely, but we must be thorough. By theway, who discovered the body?”
“Prissy Finch, the maid. She usually checkswith the butler before her tidyin’ duties on this floor. Chiltonwasn’t in his room when she knocked, an’ when he didn’t show up ferbreakfast, she figured he was workin’ here an’ lost track of thetime. The door was wide open, she says, so she seen the corpseright off. She says she didn’t touch anythin’, just screamed ferMr. Macaulay. All this was about seven o’clock. She got the squireoutta bed an’ give him the bad news. An’ he sent young Struthersskedadellin’ inta town fer the police. I guess he reckoned it was asuicide an’ the law oughta be brought along just in case. Turns outhe was almost right.”
“You’ve talked with Priscilla?”
“Yup. Her an’ Macaulay. I figured I’d waituntil I got the details from Doc Withers before takin’ things anyfarther. When he suggested murder, I sent fer you.”
“It is not inconceivable that this was asuicide,” Marc said slowly.
“Except there’s no sign of a bottle oflaudanum anywhere in here,” Cobb pointed out. “The desk drawer’sempty, an’ you can see fer yerself that there’s nothin’ much onthat shelf. I asked Macaulay to have a gander in the butler’s roomsup the hall there. He come back an’ said he didn’t see no medicinebottle.”
“You and I will have to do a thorough searchourselves. Either Chilton or his visitor doctored the sherry, andthat amount of laudanum had to come from a pretty conspicuous vialor bottle. And from what I’ve observed myself, Cobb, Chilton seemedto be settling into his job in a normal way. He did not appeardepressed. In fact, I’m pretty sure he was initiating an affairwith Priscilla Finch. None of this suggests a man ready to killhimself. It’s no wonder that Garnet suspected foul play immediatelyand sent for the police.”
“An’ you’d think if the butler was about todo himself in, he wouldn’t’ve poured his visitor a glass of thepolluted potion first.”
“True. And why leave two candles blazingthrough an open door, which might attract unwanted attention?”
“An’ that’s pretty fancy wine fer a butlerwho’s just started his job an’ ain’t had a penny in wages yet.”
“We’ll need to trace the source of thesherry. It may be that Chilton stole it from the cellars here. Hewould have keys. Also, we’ll need to find out who had a supply oflaudanum in this house.”
Cobb sighed. “We already got a pretty goodidea on that. As soon as the doc sniffed out laudanum, Macaulayturned white as the snow out there an’ raced off to his bigbathroom. When he come back, he was even whiter. He told us hiswife’s medicine, almost a full bottle of loud-an’-numb, wasmissin’ off the shelf.”
It was Marc’s turn to pale. “Oh, dear. That’stoo much of a coincidence. And everyone in the house knew it wasthere — including our illustrious guests.”
“The four gents from Quebec, ya mean?”
“And Hincks and Baldwin also. Where are thesepeople now?”
“I put our people in the parlour behind usan’ the French gents in the dining-room. Prissy went back to theservants quarters, but I told her only to tell the others therethat Chilton was dead an’ the police was investigatin’.”
“Well, so far, we’ve got the means and lotsof opportunity for someone in this house to have killed GravesChilton, but what on earth would the motive be? I don’t relishquestioning anyone here without some idea of why Chilton would be atarget for murder.”
“An’ he has to be the target, eh? It’s hisoffice an’ the killer sat across from him.”
“Yes. And I’m now wondering what could havebeen written in pencil on those three missing pages that would giverise to homicide?”
“It has to’ve been one of the servants, Ifigure. Macaulay tells me this Chilton just come from England lastweek to take over bein’ their boss. Old Alfred’s been dead over twomonths, so it’s possible one of the regulars had some kind offiddle goin’ on an’ the new broom was onto it.”
“Good point. I overheard Chilton tellingMacaulay that he wanted to leave his post for half an houryesterday afternoon to check on some discrepancy or other insupplies for the horses. He gave every indication of being a realstickler for detail and correct behaviour. Also, on Wednesday Iheard him dressing down Austin Bragg rather publicly — embarrassinghim needlessly, I thought.”
“An’ you say this Chilton had an eye on someforbidden part of young Prissy?”
“I’m sure of it. If Bragg was soft onPriscilla himself, there could be plenty of reason for dislikingthe new man. Still, murder is an extreme solution.” Marc paused,then said, “There was another of the staff here who might have itin for the butler — Giles Harkness, Alfred’s younger brother.Macaulay told me he left in a huff a week or so before Chiltonarrived here, because he fancied himself a replacement for Alfred.He hasn’t been seen since, but he would know his way around theestate and would likely be able to get in through one of those reardoors even if they were locked. Though I can’t imagine Chiltonoffering him a drink or a toast.”
Cobb grinned. “I run inta the fella a day ortwo after he left.”
“You did?”
“Yup. Drunk as a skunk, he was, in The Cockand Bull. I dragged him to his lodgings. He was holed up in Mrs.McCurdy’s hovel fer down-an’-outs.” The wart on the end of Cobb’snose twitched as he added, “An’ the bugger made threats against hisemployer.”
“Excellent. You can check out his whereaboutslast night when you get back into town. It’s possible he conspiredwith one or more of his cronies here to do Chilton or Macaulay someharm. You’ll need to quiz the servants — tactfully — aboutthat.”
“Well, that certainly gives me a few hooks tobait when I go downstairs to start my in-terror-gatin’. An’servants have a nasty habit of seein’ more’n they’re supposed to.They may’ve seen or heard somethin’ that’ll be of use to us.” Cobbfollowed Marc back out into the hall. “Now, what about the bigwigs?We can’t just ignore ‘em, can we?”
“No, we can’t. I’d stake my life that neitherFrancis nor Robert was involved. But I’ll need to question them onwhat they might have seen or heard, especially in connection withthe laudanum container and the source of the sherry.”