Page 50 of Ambition (The Chaplain’s Legacy #6)

He was not given to nerves, as a rule, and had dealt with lords from the rank of duke downwards, but there was something intimidating about so many peers of the realm gathered in one room.

Apart from Lord Rennington, there was another earl, Lord Kiltarlity, who was courting Lady Olivia.

The two viscounts were Lord Woodridge, husband of the eldest daughter, Josie, and Lord Farramont, married to middle daughter, Izzy.

The lowest ranking, a mere baron, was Lord Tarvin, husband to Tess, the mercurial daughter of the murdered chaplain and Lady Alice.

Only Lord Rennington’s three sons, Walter, Eustace and Kent, were commoners, but despite their illegitimacy, they were still the sons of an earl and not to be treated lightly.

“My lords, gentlemen,” Michael said, with his most respectful bow. “Thank you for allowing me to speak to you.”

“Still here, Edgerton?” Eustace said languidly, twirling his port glass as he lounged in his chair. “Thought you would have left by now.”

“I shall be gone soon, sir, I assure you, but there is one more test I should like to attempt before I give up entirely on this case. It occurs to me that we have everyone at Corland just now who was also here in June, when the murder of Mr Arthur Nicholson took place. With your permission, my lord, I should like to stage a recreation of the event.”

“Recreate it? How?” Lord Rennington said.

“Someone would play the r?le of the murderer, creeping into the castle and up the stairs, collecting the axe from the urn on the way, then pretending to murder Mr Nicholson before creeping away again. Everyone else would behave precisely as they did at the time.”

“What would that accomplish?” Lord Rennington said.

“It would enable me to see how events unfolded,” Michael said. “I might be able to spot discrepancies in the various accounts I have received, and there is always the possibility that one of the participants might recall something previously forgotten.”

“We are a house in mourning, Edgerton,” the earl said sharply. “It would be disrespectful to my mother, so recently deceased, to be putting on a performance of this nature.”

Before Michael could respond, Kent said eagerly, “We are also celebrating, Father, are we not? You and Mother are reunited, and despite all the upheavals of this year, every one of your children is now settled in life, and either married or about to be so. Even my wild Cousin Tess has found a man willing to be tormented by her for life.” They all laughed, even Lord Tarvin.

“Grandmother had a long and happy life, and she would not want us to mope about on her account. She was so full of life, she would be happy to see us all so contented.”

“She was fond of amateur theatricals herself,” Walter said. “Remember her in Coriolanus? She was magnificent. She would doubtless have joined in Captain Edgerton’s scheme with enthusiasm.”

“I cannot see that such a performance would achieve anything,” Eustace said, “except to dredge up unhappy memories. It was a night we would all wish to forget, I am sure.”

“It was rather terrifying at the time,” Walter said, “but after so many months, and as long as Aunt Alice is not upset by it, why not?”

“Far be it from me to influence what is purely a family matter,” Lord Farramont said, “but it seems to me that it would be an excellent scheme. There is nothing like seeing a thing for understanding it fully. Captain Edgerton has done everything in his power to find the murderer, and although he has not yet achieved that objective, he managed to recover a great deal of your fortune along the way, Rennington. I believe the captain is owed one last throw of the dice to solve the mystery, and there will never be a better opportunity than now, when we are all gathered together. I should be delighted to offer myself as an impartial observer, if the captain will tell me what to look for.”

After that, all resistance crumbled and the earl reluctantly gave his permission.

***

M ichael gathered everyone in the library after dinner to plan the recreation of the murder.

“The time of year is quite wrong,” he said with a frown, “but if we hold the enactment at dusk, that would be close enough to the situation of near-dawn in June.”

“I hope you do not expect me to reprise my r?le in the events of that night, Captain,” Lady Alice said.

“No, indeed, my lady! Under no circumstances! If you wish, you may choose to be elsewhere — not in the castle at all. Or, you may stay with those who were not present that night. I suggest that those not participating may wait in the great hall, since we know that the murderer must have passed that way twice. I shall invite Sir Hubert Strong to be a witness, also, as magistrate, and if the lady’s husband approves, I propose to invite Mrs Walter Atherton to play your part, Lady Alice — to find the body and raise the alarm. ”

“Winnie!” Walter said. “Why Winnie in particular?”

“Because she is exceptionally calm and sensible, sir. She was a great help to me in the early days of the investigation, and she has already acted as Lady Alice once before, when I was testing whether a lady would be strong enough to wield the axe.”

“I should be happy to help in any way I can,” Winnie said, “but I draw the line at screaming.”

There was a ripple of amusement around the room.

“No screaming needed,” Michael said. “There is a loud hand-bell in the old school room. That will serve the purpose very well. Everyone apart from Lady Alice who was here that night should be in the room he or she occupied then, and should react precisely as they reacted at the time. The servants, too. I shall explain what is expected of them. What I hope is that someone will remember something… some trivial thing that may have been forgotten or overlooked at the time. Or notice something, perhaps. Mr Kent recalled seeing someone going down the main stairs, so we will find out if our fleeing murderer is indeed visible on the stairs. The timing will be an important consideration, so Mr Willerton-Forbes and I will be noting how long everything takes. Is everyone clear on what is to be done?”

“I believe you have forgotten one point,” Kent said.

“Have I?” He smiled widely.

“The murderer. Who is to play the leading r?le in this little play? You?”

“Not I, no. I need to watch what happens. Who would like to be the murderer?”

There was general laughter.

“It sounds amusing,” Izzy said, “but I imagine you will want a male murderer.”

“Hardly amusing, Izzy,” the earl said. “We are talking about the recreation of a real murder , not some foolish Drury Lane farce.”

“I do think the murderer was male, yes,” Michael said hastily. “Long skirts are a great hindrance to speedy movement, I imagine, and the murderer must have moved fast.”

“Must he?” Lord Farramont said. “Might he not have crept about through the castle for some time before blundering into Mr Nicholson’s room?”

“That is certainly a possibility,” Michael said evenly.

“Might he already have been inside the castle?” Lord Farramont said. “One of the inhabitants, perhaps.”

There was an intake of breath around the room at this suggestion.

“One of us?” Olivia cried. “What a horrid idea!”

“And a most unlikely one, my lady,” Michael said quickly.

“Someone living in the castle would hardly have needed to resort to an axe to murder anyone. A drop of rat poison in the brandy decanter or the morning chocolate would do the job most effectively. No, this was someone — a man, certainly — who entered the castle from outside.”

She nodded, still looking rather anxious. Lord Kiltarlity, who sat beside her, squeezed her hand reassuringly, and was rewarded by a tremulous smile.

“We cannot know how long the villain was here before the murder was committed,” Michael went on, “but for the purposes of recreating the crime, I wish to know what is the shortest time it would have taken him. Therefore, I propose that he enters by the garden door where the bolt was broken, proceeds up the service stairs to the great hall, collects the axe, and then goes directly to Mr Nicholson’s room.

Given that Mr Kent Atherton saw a fleeing figure, I further propose that Mrs Walter Atherton, in her r?le as Lady Alice, should hear something and enter Mr Nicholson’s room immediately. ”

“So this is all guesswork?” Eustace said. “You have no idea how it happened, have you?”

“No one can know precisely what happened leading up to the murder,” Michael said carefully.

“Except the murderer,” Kent said, to more laughter.

“True. If anyone would like to reveal his identity, we can ask him,” Michael said.

“Until then, I propose to work with the most likely situation, which to my mind is that the murderer wished to get in and out as quickly as possible, before he was spotted by a servant up early. So… does anyone apart from Lady Farramont wish to be the murderer?”

Lord Woodridge shook his head decisively. “I do not think I have the temperament even to pretend to be a murderer.”

“Nor the eyesight,” Josie said. “You would undoubtedly have to stop to polish your spectacles on the way up the stairs.”

“I suppose it has to be someone who was not here that night,” Lord Farramont said slowly.

“That would be you or me or Tarvin,” said Lord Kiltarlity.

“Or me,” Eustace said. “I was not here that night either.”

“Indeed,” Michael said, “and you have the inestimable advantage over the other gentlemen that you know the castle intimately. Besides, it does not seem right to ask a peer of the realm to portray a murderer. Would you be willing to undertake the r?le, sir?”

“If it will help, of course,” Eustace said, languidly.

“I agree with Izzy, in fact — I think it will be a lark, and the tale of it will keep me in ale at the White Horse for years. But you need not worry, Captain. I shall take it very seriously. I know how important it is that this fellow is caught, once and for all, and I am happy to offer whatever assistance is in my power.”

Michael made him a sweeping bow. “You are very good, sir. Shall we say tomorrow afternoon, then? If we gather at two, say, there will be time to settle everyone in their initial positions, and arrange a bolster in the bed to represent Mr Nicholson.”

“You want me to murder a bolster?” Eustace said.

“I am depending on it,” Michael said, with a grin.