IN SPITE OF LORD HECTOR’S occasional exclamations and one rather long conversation with the steering bar where he tried to convince it to go where he wanted it to with bribery, flattery, and threats, Lord Hector seemed to take his driving quite seriously, or his role as chauffeur seriously. With him it was hard to tell. In any case, he didn’t say much to us as we drove, which was nice as it meant we didn’t have to come up with something to say to him. But as he was sitting just in front of us and not a chauffeur I would trust to be discreet enough not to eavesdrop, it did limit what we could say to each other. It was Miss Hayworth who found a safe topic of conversation.
“The memorial is tomorrow, if you still wanted to go with us.”
“If you don’t mind having me come along. I’d like to see who the players are in this.”
“Finding the body does give you a stake in it,” Miss Dyer said. “I’d be dying to know what happened to him. I suppose I am, as we did find him ourselves earlier in the day.”
Miss Hayworth ignored that. “It starts at noon to allow anyone who’s working to come on their midday break. It won’t be as formal as that sort of thing would be in London either, so you needn’t worry about having something appropriate to wear. Although I’m sure we have a spare black coat if you’d like to borrow it. That should be enough mourning, as you’re not any sort of family.”
As I hadn’t brought anything black with me, I thanked her for the offer and wondered if I ought to start packing a black dress on all my trips since they seemed to involve bodies on a surprisingly regular basis.
Miss Dyer interrupted my thoughts by saying, “Should we come to Oakwood Cottage, or do you want to come to Mulberry Cottage?”
“Mulberry Cottage is closer to Eybry, and you do have the coat there. It’s probably easiest if I come to you.”
Miss Hayworth nodded. “Then if we meet around half-past eleven, that should give us time to get ready and walk over.”
With that settled, there wasn’t much else to discuss with Lord Hector within hearing distance. Miss Dyer started to point out places she was considering painting, which was interesting enough to make the time pass at least.
When we got to the end of the fields and approached inhabited places, I was a bit disappointed to see that we had come to Mulberry Cottage first. I’d rather hoped Oakwood Cottage would be the first stop and save me the awkwardness of having to tell Lord Hector I was walking home myself, or the equally awkward ride there alone with him.
Miss Hayworth came to my rescue. “We still have to discuss what to wear tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Lord Hector asked as he left the landau parked in the middle of the road and hopped down to offer his assistance as we got out. All three of us ignored his offered hand.
“Mr. Hoyt’s memorial,” Miss Hayworth said as she hopped down. “We’ve invited Miss Pengear to go with us.”
“And I am not included in this invitation?” Lord Hector asked, dropping his terrible accent.
“Were you going to Mr. Hoyt’s memorial?” Miss Hayworth asked, sounding surprised by the idea.
“Hadn’t planned on it. Didn’t want to cause a stir. Still, nice to be asked.”
“Well, if you’re certain you’re not attending, then consider yourself asked.”
“Most kind of you, but I’m afraid I must decline. I don’t think I’m quite welcome in the village.”
We all paused and I think all wondered if we ought to protest that comment somehow, hard as it was most likely true, but Lord Hector had already wandered away and was holding the gate open for us, which meant the moment to say something had already passed. It also seemed to mean he was inviting himself inside. I wondered if that meant he intended to stay for tea if asked, or even if not asked.
As I had been invited in, I walked up the path alongside Miss Dyer and Miss Hayworth. When they got to the door, Miss Hayworth hunted around in her handbag for the key and let us in, while Miss Dyer ignored Lord Hector and I followed her lead. Lord Hector ignored us in turn and followed us inside as soon as Miss Hayworth had the door unlocked.
“Would you like some tea, Miss Pengear?” Miss Dyer asked, “And then we can discuss your wardrobe options in a civilized manner.” Clearly, she meant to exclude Lord Hector. Equally clearly, Lord Hector didn’t particularly care. When it was clear no one was going to ask him if he wanted tea, he moved across the room until he was standing in front of all three of us and started speaking as if we’d been begging him to begin.
“Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I invited myself in.”
Miss Hayworth finally looked over in his direction. “So you do know you’ve done that? I was wondering.”
“I’m not quite so far gone that I don’t know the proper means of calling upon a pair of ladies and their friend, even if I choose to ignore them. But to return to my point, I’d like to do you a good turn. Don’t look at me like that; I do sometimes pay my debts, when they don’t involve money at least. And I’ve come up with just the thing. I have an aunt in Birmingham, likes to think she’s very artistic. I’ll get her to buy one of your paintings.”
Miss Dyer glared at him. “I do show at a gallery, you know.”
“The Fielding’s on Piccadilly, right?”
I could tell from Miss Hayworth’s raised eyebrow and Miss Dyer’s sudden increased attention that they were both as surprised as I was that he had taken that much interest in Miss Dyer’s work.
“Nothing as fancy as that, of course. And something you wouldn’t put there. I’ll tell her it’s a great opportunity, something you wouldn’t have sold only I convinced you to, and she’s getting a deal on it. She loves to get a deal on something. How about that, there? She’d like something like that, a nice little watercolor.”
I was a bit surprised to see him point to the very picture Miss Hayworth had said Miss Dyer was going to pack away in the shed. So it seemed he did have some artistic sense.
“I wasn’t planning on selling that. It’s a study for a larger work.”
“The picture of the sheep pasture that Mr. Quinn has in his shop window? So you’ve finished with it, then? It’s outlived its usefulness?”
“Really, it’s a draft. It’s not up to my standard.”
“It’s not as good as, say, that.” He pointed to the landscape with stormy sky that was set up on the easel waiting for the next layers of paint. “But really, there’s nothing wrong with it. I’ll tell her it’s one of your lesser works, but still an original. And money is money. And really, what does it matter so long as she likes having it on her wall?”
“I don’t know...”
“We’ll come up with a fair price, less than you’d sell it for in the gallery or Mr. Quinn’s shop, but enough to make it worth your while. And no commission from me, so you’ll stand to make a nice bit of change.”
Miss Dyer stared at the picture in question, clearly considering the offer. “I suppose, if you told her it was something I wouldn’t normally sell...”
“Right, let’s talk money, then. What would you expect your gallery to give you for it?”
Miss Hayworth wandered towards the staircase, glancing at me as she passed. I took the hint and followed her upstairs to give the pair of them some privacy to discuss money.
Upstairs, Miss Hayworth led me to the larger bedroom and closed the door before she said anything. “I think he was actually trying to be helpful.”
“It seems so.”
She shook her head. “Well, as he says, money is money, and it is a nice piece. It’s not as if having it on display somewhere will hurt her reputation. But anyway, while they’re talking, I thought I’d see what we have that might do for the memorial tomorrow. I know Helen has a spare black dress for gallery shows when she wants to be dramatic which might fit, but I have a black coat that might do just as well. Give me a minute to find it.”
I suspected the minute Miss Hayworth needed to find the coat was really to provide a distraction from the discussion downstairs, but as I didn’t think Miss Dyer’s financial arrangements had anything to do with the murder, I didn’t protest.
The coat, when she found it, was quite serviceable, being black wool with jet buttons. A bit warm for the current weather, but quite respectable for a memorial service. Miss Hayworth insisted I try it on in case Miss Dyer’s black dress would be needed after all, but aside from being a bit long, it fit well enough. And the length was something of an advantage, making it long enough to cover enough of my skirt that it didn’t matter what I wore under it.
With my clothing sorted out, we began discussing when I would meet them, but as that had been mostly decided on the way from Stow-on-the-Wold, there wasn’t much to discuss. I had the feeling Miss Hayworth was running out of excuses for us to stay upstairs when we heard Miss Dyer call up to us, “I’m going to put the kettle on.”
Lord Hector called up just after, “And it’s safe for you to return. We’ve finished discussing all the pesky monetary issues.”
Miss Hayworth rolled her eyes. “He’s incorrigible, but occasionally he seems as if he might almost manage to be tolerable, if he didn’t insist on being impossible.”
I laughed at that. “I think most of that is on purpose.”
“I’m sure it is. He’s used to annoying his father. I just wish he didn’t feel he had to annoy the rest of us.” Miss Hayworth folded up the coat and led the way out of the bedroom.
When we got downstairs, Miss Dyer and Lord Hector were both still in the sitting room.
“Did you find something for Miss Pengear, Nora?”
“My spare black coat. It fits fine, and I won’t be wearing it.”
“That sounds perfect.”
Lord Hector leaned in conspiratorially. “I hope you weren’t looking forward to the tea. I have a feeling it won’t be offered.”
As I had assumed Miss Dyer had simply been trying to tell us that they had finished talking, I wasn’t at all surprised.
Miss Dyer looked ready to say something to him, but she was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. “Now who’s inviting themselves over,” she muttered only half in jest.
“If it’s old Freddie, I’ll steer him home,” Lord Hector promised.
Miss Dyer shuddered as if she hadn’t even considered that possibility.
The reality was only marginally better. Inspector Wainwright was standing on the front step. He looked surprised to see Lord Hector inside, and resigned when he noticed me.
Lord Hector leaned over and whispered, “Now I’m rather glad there isn’t any tea.”
As he’d just gotten out of being arrested, I could understand why anything that might force him to stay in Inspector Wainwright’s presence might not have been welcome.
If he’d heard, Inspector Wainwright didn’t show any sign of it. He also didn’t bother with greetings. “Didn’t Sergeant Harris ask you to sign your statements?”
“He did not,” Miss Dyer said, not at all put out by the lack of greeting. “And Nora asked him twice if that wasn’t the proper procedure.”
Inspector Wainwright sighed. “Well, they need to be signed after you’ve read them over to be sure of their correctness.”
“So we have to go all the way back to Stow-on-the-Wold?” Miss Hayworth asked. “We’ve only just gotten home.”
“As I was returning to Eybry, I brought them along.” He held out a small stack of papers. “If you would kindly read them and sign if they are accurate.”
Miss Dyer took the papers from him and, glancing at the first pages, handed one set to Miss Hayworth then leaned against the banister to read the other set. Lord Hector kept glancing towards the door as if he were looking for a quick escape route should Inspector Wainwright decide to arrest him again. I stayed where I was and wondered what the real reason for Inspector Wainwright’s visit was. He wouldn’t have come simply to fix Sergeant Harris’s mistake, and I knew he wasn’t interested in re-arresting Lord Hector. I would have thought there was something in Mulberry Cottage he wanted to have a look at, but he didn’t seem to be looking at anything, unless the banister was somehow involved in the murder.
I still hadn’t figured it out when I heard the decisive scratch of Miss Hayworth’s pen and her footsteps as she crossed the room. “Mine is accurate.”
Inspector Wainwright took the pages from her, glanced at the last page to see her signature, and nodded.
“So is mine.” Miss Dyer took the pen Miss Hayworth offered her and scribbled her name quickly on the last page. “Was there anything else, Inspector?”
He took the papers from her, glanced at the signature, then put them both in a folder. “Not at the moment.”
Lord Hector seemed to think Inspector Wainwright was in a good mood. At least, he asked, “You weren’t going back towards Stow-on-the-Wold, were you?”
“No,” Inspector Wainwright said so flatly that I was sure he knew there was some ulterior motive to the question even if he didn’t know the specifics.
“Then I suppose Freddie and I will go over there later.”
So Mr. Briggs would most likely be paying for the steam landau. I didn’t feel the least bit sorry for him.
Inspector Wainwright turned to me. “And I suppose you’ll be needing a ride back to your cottage.”
I had been planning to walk, as riding back with Lord Hector and no one else did not seem the wisest move, but Inspector Wainwright was marginally better. At least I knew he would spend the short trip staring straight ahead and glaring at anything in his path. “If you’re going that way.”
“I was going to offer to take her there in the landau,” Lord Hector said, “but as you’ve so kindly offered, I’ll bid the lot of you adieu. I’ll let you know when I hear from my aunt.”
“Don’t forget to take your landau with you,” Miss Dyer called after him. “I could see him leaving it here and Mr. Morales expecting us to pay for it.” She went to the front window to watch him leave.
Miss Hayworth followed her, and I followed the pair of them so I wouldn’t have to stand in the middle of the sitting room staring at Inspector Wainwright.
Lord Hector seemed to have forgotten how he’d originally gotten the landau to work, or the first time had been pure luck, which was entirely possible. He tried several combinations of levers and dials until the vehicle lurched forward with a burst of steam then settled into a slow forward motion. Lord Hector waved in triumph as he got underway, a mistake as it caused the landau to swerve sharply to one side and almost collide with the Brooks’ front gate. Lord Hector managed to right his course and made it all the way to Trillwell Lodge without crashing or overturning.
“At least he made it,” Miss Hayworth said as she stepped back from the window. “I had my doubts.”
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it,” Miss Dyer agreed.
Inspector Wainwright did not seem interested in Lord Hector’s fate. “Were you leaving, Miss Pengear?”
I considered saying I would walk home on my own, but I still hadn’t figured out what Inspector Wainwright wanted, so I said, “Yes, I was ready if you were.”
“Take the coat with you,” Miss Hayworth said as they walked with me to the door. “Then you can see what you’ve brought that goes with it.”
I thanked her again and accepted the garment, then followed Inspector Wainwright out of the cottage.
~ * ~ * ~
Inspector Wainwright had rented a smaller vehicle than Lord Hector’s, more of a steam-powered gig, and had left it near the edge of the ford, off of the main part of the lane. Inspector Wainwright went directly around to the driver’s seat without stopping to see if I needed assistance, which I certainly didn’t but it would have been polite, so I climbed in without waiting to be asked.
I settled in as quickly as I could so we would have no excuse not to leave at once, but Inspector Wainwright did not seem to be in a hurry to leave. In fact, he pulled out a folder from the compartment under the seat and began to put the statements Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer had signed inside neatly and correctly.
I considered waiting quietly to see if he would tell me why exactly he had come to Mulberry Cottage, but as he had his case notes out, it seemed a good time to at least try to get some information from him. “Did you ever find out why Mr. Reynolds was in the churchyard?”
Inspector Wainwright ignored me.
“I did bring you two good witnesses to get Lord Hector out of prison before you had a marquess charging down on you. A murder charge could very well have been a bit much even for a disowning father, especially if it came to a trial.”
“I was told in confidence to protect a lady’s reputation.” He very deliberately turned a few pages in his file.
I leaned forward, and as I am capable of reading upside down, a fact I assumed Inspector Wainwright was well aware of, I was able to see Mrs. Hoyt’s name written on Mr. Reynolds’s witness sheet. “And I thought wicked old London was supposed to be the center of all scandal. Is anyone here not involved with someone unsuitable?”
“Everywhere has scandal. It’s mainly a question of who can hide it best.”
Inspector Wainwright had very precise handwriting, unlike Inspector Burrows, so it was quite easy for me to continue reading. Mr. Reynolds had driven Mrs. Hoyt to Stow-on-the-Wold from Eybry around nine-thirty. They were together in Eybry at an undisclosed location (that was underlined several times by Inspector Wainwright, making me think he was trying to find out where it was) until quarter past eleven, when Mrs. Hoyt stayed to do some shopping and Mr. Reynolds returned to continue his rounds in Eybry. Considering the time it would take for him to get from Stow-on-the-Wold to Eybry, he must have just arrived when we saw him arguing with Mr. Burton. “And she confirmed she was with him?”
“Yes, she confirmed they were together until just past eleven, once I explained that it wouldn’t go any further if it wasn’t related to the murder. It is also why he lied about having been in Chipping Campden. He was hoping we wouldn’t find out about them.”
“So he would have had to go right from her to Mr. Burton’s, and therefore he’s still not a suspect. Pity.”
“Hmm.”
I considered telling him about the odd tour of the town I’d received from Mr. Reynolds and Lord Hector, more to fill space than anything, but Inspector Wainwright had already snapped his folder closed and stowed it beneath his seat, so the conversation seemed to be over. I tucked Miss Hayworth’s coat alongside me so it wouldn’t get dusty from the road and stayed silent.
Inspector Wainwright pushed a few levers, and we were off with far less steam and confusion than Lord Hector had required. Inspector Wainwright had probably read some sort of manual before taking the gig out. I considered commenting on that as well, but I decided against it. If I stayed silent long enough, I might find out why he had gone out of his way to go to Mulberry Cottage.
“Do you always travel with funeral clothes?”
I had become so used to the silence, it took me a moment to realize what he was asking. “Well, I do seem to end up in situations where mourning clothes would be useful, but I haven’t begun packing them yet. Miss Hayworth is loaning me this for tomorrow. We’re going to Mr. Hoyt’s memorial service.” I wondered if that might have been what he was interested in, if I would be attending. If that was it, I might as well make it worth his trip. “They offered, and I thought it would be a good chance to see all of the players in the drama, so to speak.”
“You think the pertinent ones will be there?”
I was surprised to get a response from him, and even more so because that suggested this was indeed why he had come to Mulberry Cottage. I suppose it hadn’t been too hard to realize that I would go there after leaving the station with Miss Dyer and Miss Hayworth. “I would assume his former female companions would come. And I haven’t met Mrs. Hoyt yet. It seems the best place to get an introduction to her. And before you ask, no, I won’t let her know you told me about Mr. Reynolds’s alibi. Or tell Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer.” I could feel the shift in Inspector Wainwright’s attention from what I was saying back to the lane in front of us. So that was what he had been hoping to know, although I couldn’t figure out why. I leaned back in my seat and decided to give him another opening to speak if he wanted to. “I wonder if I should have asked them if Mrs. Albright could go with us as well. She is Mrs. Foster’s friend, which means some of the people there might talk to her when they won’t talk to the rest of us.”
Unsurprisingly, Inspector Wainwright did not offer any assistance with that dilemma.