Page 17 of Murder of a Dead Man

The man bobbed his head at Mr. Stackpoole. “I knows him from other times. We can accommodate him on the floor above yours. Small room, though.”

“That’s fine,” Mr. Stackpoole said hurriedly.

“This way then,” the man said. At the top of the stairs, he pointed to a room on the right. “This be yer parlor, and right down here a pace be your bedroom.” He ushered them into a room at the back of the inn away from the sounds of the comings and goings of the travelers in the courtyard.

“Dinner in one hour in the parlor?” he asked.

“That should be fine,” James said.

The innkeeper nodded. He turned to Mr. Stackpoole. “I’ll show you to your room now.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll see you at supper then,” James told Mr. Stackpoole.

“What do you think?”Cecilia murmured to James as Mr. Price led them to their room.

He shrugged, nodding toward their host who led the way before them.

Sarah, Cecilia’s lady’s maid, and William, James’s valet, met them in the hall before their room. William wore his austere mien, Sarah stood with her eyes downcast, her hands folded before her.

Cecilia and James exchanged glances.

“Is everything all right?” Mr. Price asked William.

William nodded curtly. “All is in readiness,” he said, his gaze flicking over to James and Lady Cecilia.

“An hour, then, in the parlor,” James said to the innkeeper.

“Yes, everything will be to your liking, I assure you,” Mr. Price said as he bowed and turned away to return the way they came.

There was silence in the group gathered before the door to the room as they watched the man leave.

Cecilia raised a brow in mute inquiry to her maid. Sarah nodded and opened the door to their chamber to lead them inside.

“What is it?” Cecilia asked, once they were all in the bedchamber and the door closed after them. Though the roomwas large by inn standards, with the four of them standing beside the bed, it seemed tight.

“Strange doings with the sanatorium,” Williams said heavily.

“What do you mean?” James asked.

“It has always been a good neighbor in the area, for years and years, the staff here says.”

“By the way you say that, I gather that is no longer the situation,” James said as he removed his hat and pulled off his gloves.

Williams hurried to take them from him and assist him out of his greatcoat. Sarah assisted Cecilia, hanging her cloak on a hook near the door.

“Rumors differ. Some say it changed after the new superintendent was hired. Others think the changed happened after a woman, a resident of the sanatorium, was found drowned in the canal that runs around the property. The events were near to each other. I couldn’t get a clear answer as to which came first. I was loath to press too hard.”

“Understood,” James said, nodding approval at his man.

“A woman drowned?” Cecilia asked? “A patient of the sanatorium? Not a maid or matron?”

William turned toward her. “Yes, my lady,” he said differentially. “Now, they claim her ghost walks along the edge of the canal at night.”

Sarah appeared to shiver at the thought while Cecilia giggled, then broke into a full laugh. “I’m sure they do! It’s a perfect story for a drowning—and a sanatorium.”

Sarah smiled thinly. “I suppose it would be at that,” she said.