T Kinsey - A Quiet Life in the Country (A Lady Hardcastle Mystery Book 1)

‘I say, Flo,’ she said. ‘What with your efforts at the party and your general charm and easygoing nature, do you think your stock is reasonably high below stairs at The Grange at the moment?’

‘How do you mean, my lady?’

‘Well, if you were to pop up there right now, slip in through the servants’ entrance and say you’d been sent on ahead to meet the inspector and me, would they smile and greet you, or would they turn you away?’

‘Oh, I see,’ I said. ‘I imagine I’d get a warmish welcome. Possibly even the offer of a cup of tea and a bun. There’s a camaraderie among the serving classes that the likes of you shall never know.’

‘It is very much my loss, I feel. If you declined their kind offer and said you’d been asked to wait in the dining room, would they think it odd or out of place?’

‘I shouldn’t think so, my lady, no.’

‘I hoped as much.’

‘Is that what you’d like me to do, my lady?’

‘No, silly, I’d like you to go snooping. Inspector Sunderland is so stuffy about it – I don’t know why he doesn’t just turn the place over. But they’re used to seeing you about the place and you’d have an excuse to be wandering about above stairs if you were challenged, so I’d like you to have a good old explore. See what you can see. Find what you can find.’

‘Oh, what fun,’ I said, suddenly rather taken with the idea of some proper detecting. ‘May I take your deerstalker and Meerschaum? Perhaps the large magnifying glass?’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘Just be as nosy as possible. Look under rugs and into plant pots. Open a few cupboards.’

‘What shall I be looking for, my lady?’

‘The trumpet case, of course.’

‘Righto, then, my lady. I shall discreetly snoop, then meet you and the inspector in the dining room at ten o’clock as though nothing has happened.’

‘That’s the spirit. Good girl.’

And with that, I hurried off to get my hat and gloves and set off at a brisk pace up the hill to The Grange.

Despite the overcast day, it was nevertheless still a delightful walk. The hedgerows were alive with twittering birds that I was still unable to identify but I was on firmer ground with the mammals. I spotted three rabbits and a squirrel before The Grange hove into view.

I found the gates already open and made my way as quietly as possible round to the servants’ entrance at the side of the house. From inside I heard the first signs of life. Mrs Brown was already berating poor Rose and I could just make out the sound of Mr Jenkins’s voice as he tried to calm things down.

I poked my head round the kitchen door.

‘Morning, all,’ I said breezily. ‘The door was open, do you mind if I come in?’

Mr Jenkins looked mightily relieved. ‘Of course, Miss Armstrong, do come in. To what do we owe the pleasure? Can we offer you some tea?’

Mrs Brown looked as though having to make me a cup of tea would be just about the last straw, so it was fortunate that I had other things to be getting on with.

‘Thank you, no, Mr Jenkins, I’m under orders,’ I said. ‘But perhaps a little later? My mistress is due to arrive in a while to continue the investigation with Inspector Sunderland, but she sent me on ahead to make a few things ready in the dining room. Do you mind awfully? I shall try not to get in the way.’

‘Of course, Miss Armstrong. It’s never an inconvenience to have you about the place,’ he said with a smile. ‘The mistress is delighted with your efforts, you know. She’s been singing your praises non-stop since you left yesterday. Is there anything we can do to help? The room has been swept and dusted, but I gave strict instructions that the blackboard should not be touched. I trust that was the right thing.’

‘Absolutely perfect, Mr Jenkins, thank you. I think I shall be fine, but I shall come and find someone if I require anything further.’

‘Please just ring, Miss Armstrong,’ he said with a smile. ‘There’s no need for you to come all the way down here.’

Mrs Brown glared at us both. My mind was working overtime trying to think of ways of irritating her further, but I had other fish to fry. There would be time later for me to think of a way to take the bullying Mrs Brown down a peg or two.

‘Thank you, Mr Jenkins, you’re most kind,’ I said.

‘Think nothing of it, my dear,’ he said. ‘You know your way by now, I’m sure. Please feel free to do whatever you need to do.’

Once above stairs, though, I didn’t go directly to the dining room – if we wanted to search that, we’d have all day. Instead, I walked down the corridor to the entrance hall, and then down the opposite corridor to the library. The library was where it had all started and I was certain that it was the place for me to start, too.

There were two doors into the library, one at each end of the room. Most of the traffic in and out so far had been through the door nearest the hall, but the musicians’ cases were at the other end. It seemed to me that anyone leaving in a hurry after a struggle would come out of the far door. Being further from the entrance hall and wandering guests, it was by far the more sensible choice.

I decided to try to put myself into the mind of the killer, to see what he saw, to retrace his steps and perhaps find what he might have tried to conceal. I went into the library through the nearer door and took a look around.

The cases were still where we had found them yesterday, but now covered in a thin dusting of fingerprint powder. I stood among them, imagining myself in the role of the unknown killer. Was I looking for something? Or was I looking for somewhere to hide something? In the present, the real me had no idea.

Then what might have happened? Perhaps I had picked up the trumpet case. The door behind me opened. I had turned. It was the trumpet player himself. He challenged me. He thought I was looting the cases. I tried to explain myself. We struggled and I hit him . . . with the trumpet case.

He fell. He was out cold. I could hear the door handle again, so I fled out through the nearest door and into the corridor just as someone came into the room behind me. Had they seen me? I had to get rid of the trumpet case. Perhaps I’d had time to conceal something in it, or perhaps what I was looking for was still in it.

Either way, I had to put it somewhere I could find it again so I could search it properly and retrieve the mystery item. Somewhere it wouldn’t be seen. Somewhere easy to reach. I had to hurry.

Back in the present I stood in the corridor. I was not, as I had imagined I might be, simply further along the passageway that led from the entrance hall. This was a completely different corridor, the one where I had found Haddock talking to Sir Hector the day before. The door closed behind me and I turned to see that it was a concealed door, designed to blend in with the panelling. No wonder I hadn’t realized that it opened into a different passageway. Unless you were looking for it, you might not even notice that there was a door here at all.

I looked at the ornate Chinese cabinet opposite the door, the one Haddock had misidentified as a reproduction. I’d seen that cabinet several times before and it had never struck me as particularly interesting until Sir Hector had told me a little of its history. But now, in my imaginary panic, it stood out as my potential salvation.

A vase of dried flowers stood on top of the cabinet, next to the revolting clock that Haddock had been so excited about. There was a tantalizing gap between the clawed feet beneath, but it was the brass handle on the intricately inlaid doors that caught my attention. I reached out and opened one of the doors. There, inside, was the missing trumpet case.