Chapter Twenty-Nine

Childers, the elder, noticed the two bags on the table. “I say, what have we here?” He went to grab at the bags, but Gabriel Varden scooped them up first. “Just some things that belong to me,” he said. He put both bags in an inside pocket of his coat.

“By Jove, those look like sacks that would contain a king’s ransom, from the time of Richard the Lion-hearted, don’t you know.” Harold Childers had once again adopted his public school style of speaking, which was set aside while he was chastising his son. “I say, I am most interested in historical things, you know. May I have a look at your sacks?”

Varden replied, “Some other time. At this moment, they contain some personal items I would prefer not to display.”

“Oh, well then, by Jove, we shall be shoving off, as they say in the Navy. Come along, Edward.”

Edward was so despondent he simply followed his father to the door without a word. Once they were gone, Clara again hugged Alice, and Barkis, himself, patted her back. Clara said, “We’re so happy you will be wed to a nice man. We know you still grieve for the loss of your brother, but having a lovely husband will help heal all wounds.” She glanced at Barkis, himself.

Blathers said, “This is all well and good, but we still have a mystery and two murders to solve. Let’s get down to business.”

It’s unlikely Blathers will ever fall in love again.

It had been an emotional meeting for Alice, so Clara took her to her room to rest. Barkis had a carting job. He went off to hitch up his team. That left Blathers, Gabriel Varden, and me. Varden suggested, “Let’s retire to your room upstairs. We can discuss the situation without interruption and find a safe place to hide these.” He produced the two bags from the inside of his coat.