Page 37 of Word of the Wicked (Murder in Moonlight #5)

She took the quiet path toward the manor woods and walked more briskly in an effort to shake off her mood of self-pity.

She appreciated the beauty of the countryside and the wonder of God’s creation.

A clump of bright-yellow daffodils made her smile, as did the chirping of the birds and the feel of the wind against her cheek…

She had almost reached the wood before she became aware of the steps behind her.

She thought at first it was children—they followed her up the street, sometimes, making fun of her behind her back because to them she was just a funny old woman whom their parents and grandparents didn’t speak to.

Even Alice didn’t know how much the scorn of the children hurt her.

She turned to face them. That usually sent them scampering off, because they were not bad children, but her jaw dropped in shock. No children. Just the very large figure of Matt Nolan.

They had not spoken in nearly thirty years. It had been strangely easy in the community this size to ignore each other, even at church. She was not used to looking at him, to taking in his ageing face, his beard, his scowl. Poor Matt, he was still not at peace.

She dropped her eyes and stood aside, waiting for him to pass her.

Instead, he halted. “Mavis.”

Her gaze flew back to his. “Matt,” she whispered.

He swallowed, and it came to her with astonishment that he was nervous. More than that, had he followed her out of the village just to speak to her?

“Have I done something wrong?” she asked.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “No. I doubt you ever did. A proud and hurt young man is too free with his judgments.”

She felt her eyes widen. He had been listening to the vicar. Words choked in her throat. I was too timid when I should have been strong. I should have died rather than hurt you, hurt us… “It was all a long time ago,” she managed.

“Too long.” He swallowed again. “May I walk with you, Mavis?”

Mavis blinked. There was no one around. No one was making fun of her. Matt was not.

She couldn’t speak, but she nodded once, and they moved on together.

*

Solomon had known the moment Constance solved the case. In church, her hand had gripped his to the point of pain, and she had gazed unseeingly ahead while she tested it in her mind. He had watched the excitement and the sadness grow and knew she had found the all-important truth.

Not Mavis or Alice .

Well, their motive had never seemed quite enough , although their guilt was certainly possible. It just wasn’t true.

Maddeningly, there had been no opportunity to learn Constance’s thoughts because they were surrounded by people.

Even at the vicarage, Mrs. Raeburn hadn’t left them alone for a moment, and Constance herself had turned uncharacteristically quiet.

So Solomon felt his way to the truth through her questions and the vicar’s answers.

Ogden .

Solomon’s stomach twisted in protest, for he rather liked the eccentric teacher and had instinctively trusted him. He thought himself a good judge of character, and yet he knew Constance was right. He too could see it all now.

“You guessed the sender,” Constance said to Raeburn.

“But you like him, admire him, even. You helped to choose him and probably feel responsible for him in some way. Moreover, you know that on the whole he is good for the village, especially the children. So you kept your own letter away from us—perhaps it gave more away than the others—and you sent us deliberately on the wrong track with tales of a previous and no-doubt-mythical case involving a powerless spinster with grudges.”

“Actually, that was all true,” Raeburn said with dignity. “I knew none of our spinsters were guilty, so you would never find anything that could lead to an accusation.”

Solomon said, “Did you forget that Alice came to fetch you from the manor house on the day Miss Mortimer received her letter?”

“Alice?” Raeburn blanched. “Dear God… In fact, I did not know about Miss Mortimer’s letter until you mentioned it today. She never confided in me. Well, there’s a lesson in humility. I am very glad you refrained from accusing poor Alice. Or her mother.”

“It was a near-run thing,” Constance said ruefully.

“I was too eager to finish this case for personal reasons. But your sermon today was for us , too, wasn’t it?

Perhaps partly to discourage anyone else from sending similar letters, but mainly to convince us there would be no more, that you had it all in hand and we might as well leave. ”

“You could not stay forever,” Raeburn said apologetically.

And possibly, Solomon thought, the vicar was eager to have him removed from Mrs. Raeburn’s vicinity. In truth, Solomon was not averse to that either.

Raeburn drew a deep breath. “Look, my friends, I will gladly admit that I should have been more open with you from the outset, and perhaps I should have acted sooner to stop the letters. In truth, I thought Ogden had seen the error of his ways already, for he is not a stupid man, and I have never known him to repeat a mistake. Only then there was Mrs. Chadwick’s letter.

But I truly believe there will be no more.

I shall speak to him, of course, to be sure he understands…

“There is no malice in Quintin Ogden, you know,” he added.

“He is a good and caring man, as well as being the cleverest teacher we are ever likely to attract to Sutton May. He just reasons differently from you or me. By nature, he is honest, disastrously so on occasions, and he has learned by hard experience that such honesty can offend and work against him and against whatever he is trying to achieve.”

Raeburn spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “As far as the letters are concerned, he merely thought he had solved every problem of offense and danger to get his point across, without realizing the havoc he would cause.”

Constance nodded as though she understood. “To him, it made sense.”

“He had to speak to defend the children,” Solomon said, “but he could not risk his position, his livelihood, by offending those who had appointed him, namely you and Miss Mortimer. Nor could he defend the children at all if he was dismissed from his post. So the letters seemed a perfect solution at first. Especially, I suspect, when you toned down your sermon in response. He decided his method was successful and tried it on Nolan and the Keatons.”

Solomon shook his head because he still could not quite grasp Ogden’s reasoning.

“Yet from what you say, he is clever enough to have realized that those letters to Nolan and the Keatons had no effect at all. So why then trouble Mrs. Chadwick with one? Was that not unnecessarily cruel when she was already punishing herself? She is a kind woman who has no hold over him. Couldn’t he have spoken to her instead? ”

“Not when he wants to marry Sophie,” Constance said. “He couldn’t risk alienating her parents further.”

“ Does he want to marry her, though?” Solomon asked.

“Oh yes,” Constance said, “though he might not be fully aware of it just yet. The question we have to answer is, what do we do about our knowledge?”

Raeburn met her gaze. “Are you not all for second chances, Mrs. Silver?”

Solomon tensed. Was that a jab at Constance’s past? He would not have her insulted by anyone.

But she smiled. “I gather Miss Fernie has been talking to you.”

The vicar grimaced. “Miss Fernie is one of those I was addressing on the subject of self-righteous judgments. I make no charges against you, Mrs. Silver. Nor would I. I merely point out that we all deserve a second chance. At least in matters that do not break the law of the land.”

“Will Dr. Chadwick agree?” Constance asked. “Especially if Ogden and Sophie want to marry in the teeth of parental disapproval. And the doctor is clearly upset about the letter on his wife’s behalf.”

Raeburn steepled his fingers under his chin. “I understand you have an obligation.”

“And we also believe in second chances,” Solomon said.

“But we have to lay the truth before Chadwick and see how he wishes to proceed. This is not a matter of the law; it is a matter of village respect. And I suspect few would understand or forgive Ogden. But Chadwick is not a vindictive man, and I believe Ogden could put matters right with an apology.”

“To everyone concerned?” Raeburn asked doubtfully.

Solomon met his gaze. “Does everyone concerned care? Nolan doesn’t.

Nor do the Keatons, or not beyond gossip rights, in my opinion.

Providing Ogden understands his error, I don’t see why a doctor and a vicar—those most given to confidentiality—cannot make things right with Miss Mortimer and let the matter of the letters sink into the annals of village folklore. ”

“ Mr. Mortimer must not be told,” Constance said at once. “He hates Mr. Ogden and would cause trouble if he could.”

“Then we shan’t let him.” Raeburn rose from his chair. “Are you going to the Chadwicks’ now? Perhaps I should accompany you.”

*

Dr. Chadwick looked forward to a rare Sunday meal with his family. Barring emergencies, he thought he might just have the day to himself.

For once, they all gathered by the fire in the parlor after church, with warming drinks to hand—why were churches always such wretchedly cold places?

—and he thought again how lucky he was. Emmeline was smiling faintly, her trouble over Jenny Gimlet’s death and the letter eased, at least for the moment.

Edgar was laughing over some banter with his sister. Sophie…

Sophie was looking particularly happy. She was quick to smile these days, and today her eyes positively sparkled. His daughter was a beautiful girl, but one with her feet on the ground and kindness in her heart. Like her mother.