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And these people are?
Miss Jordan and her companion Miss Robinson, Lady Mary, yourself. If Mr. Stewart had expected
Dougherty to bridle against his name being on the list he ended up disappointed.
I think you re forgetting a few people there, you know. What about Billy Mustard? He s suddenly
appeared came up to see me, wanted all the gen on what had been going on here and who I thought had
murdered her ladyship. And of course there s you. You knew the family well enough, shouldn t you be
classed with the suspects?
Mr. Stewart hadn t anticipated having the wind taken out of his sails quite so abruptly. Me? Why
should I want to kill Laurence? What good would it do me?
What good would it do any of us? Except the satisfaction of ridding the earth of a particularly odious
specimen and perhaps avenging his father in the process. You and old Sir Laurence were very close,
weren t you?
Mr. Stewart had the sensation that his mouth was opening and shutting with not even a squeak coming
out. Avenge his father? I have to say I really don t follow your way of thinking. He took another swig of
beer, in the hope it would oil his brain cells.
I ve always wondered whether young Laurence rather played up the father s by-blow side of things
once matters started to go downhill with his mother. Maybe hinted he knew that he was the actual,
bloodline son of the man who was supposed to have adopted him. Oh yes, I know the story, all the staff
did.
Mr. Stewart recalled the story his wife had got out of Mrs. Vickery the cook right back millennia it
seemed now when the investigation had begun. The cad. If that s true, it s monstrous.
Dougherty shrugged. It s just a theory. I suggested it to your friend Mr. Mustard but he didn t seem
to buy it. You might have done, though, enough to give young Laurence his comeuppance.
Let me assure you, Mr. Dougherty, I would never do such a thing. I m a stickler for the Ten
Commandments and I d never ignore that one of them is a specific injunction not to murder. Mr. Stewart
finished his beer and took his leave, along with great umbrage.
A good thirty minutes later he realised he d quite possibly been had good and proper. He d been put
so much onto the back foot he d completely forgotten to ask the golf professional what he had been doing
on the Monday night, whose name he had given to Billy Mustard in connection with Lady Jennifer s death,
and whether he felt like avenging old Sir Laurence.
www.samhainpublishing.com 115
Charlie Cochrane
So cross with himself that he used a variety of words far worse than any Jonty usually employed, Mr.
Stewart stomped off for a bath, wondering how on earth he was going to explain this abject failure to his
son. The little note under the door was the last straw.
Look what you ve done.
&ð
The parlour at Shingles was warm and welcoming. The soup, cheese and homemade bread tasted like
a feast and they had the whole afternoon to spend together, meaning plenty of time to discuss the case and
do anything else they wished.
Jonty smeared his bread thickly with butter and waved his knife around mid-spread to illustrate his
point. Miss Jordan wasn t quite what I expected, you know. I d pictured a rather birdlike little creature,
lacking in spirit. In my admittedly limited experience that s what these companions tend to be like, all the
life crushed out of them from having to bend to the whims of their benefactresses. That could hardly be
applied here she s a fine-looking woman who ll find her own way in the world.
She certainly doesn t seem to live up to the cliché. I ve been most impressed with her, she seems
honest and hardworking and not at all sorry for herself. Orlando cut his bread neatly, hardly a crumb
daring to escape; perhaps he d threatened them with one hundred lines if they fell on the floor. I know
she s been left well provided for, but it must have been hard to lose someone so close. I m glad her friend s
turned up to keep her company now things have become even more entangled. Although why women feel
the need to bicker so much beats me.
It seems to be in their nature. What was it about? Anything to help our cause? Jonty licked the last
smear of jam from his fingers.
Trying to keep his thoughts above waist level, Orlando marshalled his pieces of bread. I doubt it.
Miss Robinson seems to have a bit of a thing for Billy Mustard, that s all.
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