Page 22 of A Matter of Murder
That was disappointing news, but if there was one thing Darcy had learned from Lizzie, it was to keep pressing. “You’ve never heard of any local man going missing, or stories of someone disappearing under mysterious circumstances? Or perhaps a newcomer to the village who left abruptly?”
“No, none of that, I’m sorry to say. People do leave, of course. They strike out for better farms, sometimes they join the military or navy, occasionally head off for work in London. But there’s usually no mystery in that.”
“Can you give us names?”
The vicar looked at Bingley. “I suppose, but no one comes to mind as someone who might be your dead man. You’re very motivated to discover his identity?”
Darcy opened his mouth to say of course he was, a man had clearly been murdered and his body hidden away, but Bingley spoke first. “Well, it only seems right. And besides, there have been some rumors swirling about that I think Mrs. Bingley would prefer to be put to rest.”
“The curse?” Mr. Thomas asked sympathetically.
Darcy lifted his brows in surprise. “You know about the curse?”
Mr. Thomas chuckled. “You spend enough time in Meryton, and someone will mention it. My parishioners may shyaway from sharing their superstitious lore with me out of fear I’ll keep them an extra hour in the pews on Sundays, but I’m afraid rumors of the curse on Netherfield Park are well-known.”
“And what exactly does the curse say?” Darcy asked, leaning forward. He could imagine Lizzie doing the same thing. “We’ve heard bits here and there, but...”
“I don’t know the exact details, I’m afraid,” Mr. Thomas said, sounding truly regretful. “From what I gather, your great-aunt was at the center of it, Mr. Bingley. Something to do with why she hid herself away for so many decades. But I do know that in a small village where positions in service aren’t easy to come by, most families won’t send their youth to work for Netherfield Park if it means they must spend the night within the estate’s gates.”
“Oh, I gathered that much,” Bingley said. “I had to bring most of my staff up from London, and my butler informed me I’ve lost two servants since yesterday.”
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Thomas said, “but I’m afraid this discovery won’t help your home’s reputation.”
Darcy felt frustration well up inside him. There had to be a way to figure out who this man might be, short of questioning every single villager in Meryton. His gaze wandered the room, falling upon a very large Bible that sat open on a nearby table. The Darcy family Bible back at Pemberley was nearly as large, although certainly more ornate. It held the birth and death records of every Darcy going back to 1626...
Birth records. Death records.
“Don’t you keep records of all births and deaths?” Darcy asked.
“Of course,” Mr. Thomas said. “But... you think that the man you found will be in the parish records?”
“Not his death, obviously,” Darcy said. “But perhaps his birth, and if we cannot account for someone’s death, then maybe that will give us a lead we need.”
“But what if the man isn’t from Meryton?”
Then this investigation would be at a dead end. But Darcy wasn’t ready to think like that. He needed to have something to show Lizzie. With a new case at Netherfield to distract her, perhaps she would leave the issue of Lady Catherine well enough alone until Graves could make some headway. “We have to start somewhere. May I see them?”
“Well, I can show you what I have.” Mr. Thomas rose and led him over to a shelf of simply bound ledgers and began to draw them out. “This is the latest register, started by my predecessor. Between us, Dr. Fellowes had an atrocious hand.”
He handed the register to Darcy, who opened the book somewhere in the middle. The most recent entries were neat and orderly, recording names and dates, baptisms and burials. Darcy flipped back through the pages, watching as the years ticked back. Toward the front of the book, he encountered pages of uneven, hastily scrawled records. He squinted. “This is hardly legible!”
“It’s quite awful,” Mr. Thomas agreed. “Which is why I’m arranging for them to be reprinted at the Jeffries Print Shop. That’s where the rest of the registers are, at the shop. Miss Clara Jeffries has been working on this task for... oh, a couple of months, perhaps?”
Darcy handed the book back to Mr. Thomas. “We need to see those records.”
“Oh! Well... all right, I suppose. I think Clara is nearly done, but—”
“We can go there now and collect the registers,” Darcy said eagerly, glancing at his friend. Bingley nodded, although he looked slightly confused by Darcy’s rush.
“Well, I haven’t settled up with Clara...”
“I can pay,” Darcy offered. “For the printing of the registers. I’m happy to contribute to this endeavor if it means we might be able to inspect the records for any clue as to who the man might be.”
Mr. Thomas thought about it for a long moment. “That is... very generous. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you were to look through them.”
Darcy intended to do far more than just look. “Finding what we need might take a while. Can we take the registers with us back to Netherfield to study them?”
The vicar’s alarm was evident in his wide-eyed expression. “Take them back to Netherfield?”