Chapter Ten #2
What about Felicity? By the time Daisy glanced her way, she was looking singularly inscrutable. Daisy could see no reason why she should want to hide surprise, which suggested that she had not been surprised. Which in turn begged the question, what was she trying to hide?
Godfrey broke the silence. “I suppose,” he said heavily, “those upstarts the other side of the river consider themselves the earl’s heirs.”
Daisy thought she saw a flash of dismay, almost alarm, in Felicity’s eyes, as Alec demanded, “Upstarts?”
“Not exactly ‘upstarts,’” said Miles. “The Mr. Norville at Helstone is Lord Westmoor’s second cousin, Mr. Fletcher. I believe he’s acknowledged as the heir.”
“We’re the earl’s first cousins!” cried Godfrey. “Miles, you knew George Norville was killed in the War? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wouldn’t have changed our position, sir, or only to worsen the chagrin. And then, when Uncle Victor brought Calloway along, I didn’t want to queer his pitch with a complicating factor. The balance was delicate enough already.”
“Quite right, my boy,” the captain approved.
“Goodness knows what the Reverend would have thought of our chasing worldly honours. Well, that’s all done with and no skin off my nose.
What do I know about lording it? The sea’s good enough for me, and I’ve got my little bit put away for later on.
Let’s have another cup of tea, Dora, and I wouldn’t say no to another piece of cake.
There’s no victuals like this at sea! Another cup, Mother? Another cup, Lady Dalrymple?”
Amid the one-man bustle he created, Daisy made for Felicity, the only one whose reaction had aroused questions in her mind. Alec apparently had the same idea, though he stopped for a word with Miles on the way.
Felicity took the offensive. “Mr. Fletcher, I have something to tell you. Shall we go to the dining-room?”
“Yes, that will do very well. Do you mind if Daisy comes to take notes? She has no official standing, of course, but it would be a great help to me, until my constable arrives.”
“Notes? I haven’t that much to tell.”
“Perhaps not,” said Alec, “but I have several people to interview, and I have to keep their stories straight.”
“Oh, right-oh. Daisy already knows most of it anyway.”
“I haven’t got my note-book,” said Daisy, as they left the library. “I’ll have to go upstairs and fetch it.”
“Where is Ernie Piper with his ever-sharp pencils when I need him?” Alec teased.
“There’s a drawer in the hall table which should have writing paper among the gloves and odd keys,” said Felicity. “Yes, will this do?”
Mr. Tremayne had followed them out to the hall. “Felicity, you mustn’t make a statement to the police without a solicitor present. I must assume I’m under suspicion, Chief Inspector. Does that preclude my acting for the rest?”
“I’m not at all sure of the legal niceties, sir. But I’m not taking formal statements at present, so if you want to sit in…”
“There’s no need, Grandfather, honestly. I didn’t murder Mr. Calloway, and I haven’t anything earth-shaking to tell Mr. Fletcher. Nothing about the family. Just now I think Mother’s hand probably needs holding more than mine does.”
The old man shook his head. “These modern young ladies … Well, as you wish, my dear. Ah, here’s Miles. Perhaps you’ll let him ‘hold your hand.’ Miles, my dear boy, I believe you have enough law to stop your sister incriminating herself.”
“But I haven’t done anything!” Felicity insisted. With an irritable gesture, she opened the glass-paned door to the corridor. “Oh, all right, Miles can come if Mr. Fletcher doesn’t mind.”
“Miles may come,” said Alec, at which Mr. Tremayne returned to the library, closing the door behind him. “I have a few questions for him on the same subject.”
Miles nodded. They followed Felicity to the dining room and all sat down at the long table.
“You first, Miss Norville, and let’s start with what you have to tell me, before we go on to what I want to ask you.”
Felicity’s sulky face made her look very like Jemima. “It’s just that I’ve been meeting someone, a man, at the chapel. But we hadn’t arranged to meet on Christmas Eve. He had something else on, with his family, that he couldn’t get out of.”
Alec hadn’t expected anything like this revelation. It opened up all sorts of possibilities. “His name, please.”
“I can’t see what that has to do with anything. I told you, he couldn’t come last night.”
“If he wasn’t here, he has nothing to fear. Who is he?”
“Oh lord, Flick, it wasn’t…” Miles shut his mouth abruptly as Alec gave him one of the icy looks which made subordinates jump to attention and chilled the souls of malefactors. He turned it on Felicity.
“Well, if you must know, I suppose you’ll find out somehow. He had to land at Brockdene Quay, and someone’s bound to have seen him. It was Cedric Norville,” she said defiantly.
“One of the Helstone Norvilles?”
“The eldest son,” Miles confirmed, clearly shocked.
“Second in line to inherit the earldom,” said Alec. “As long as Calloway didn’t spill the beans.”
“He didn’t know about Calloway; I didn’t tell him.” She was lying, Alec thought. “Anyway, he had no way of knowing Calloway was going to the chapel in the woods. We didn’t know ourselves till a couple of hours before.”
Though true enough, that was irrelevant.
If Cedric Norville had come to meet Felicity, or come in hopes of meeting Felicity, found Calloway in the chapel and discovered who he was …
But what about the knife? How could Cedric have obtained the seaman’s knife Belinda and Derek had found in the secret passage?
“So you see,” Felicity went on, “Cedric had nothing to do with it. What was it you wanted to ask me?”
“It was obvious from your expression, when your father and brother mentioned the Helstone Norvilles, that you knew something about them,” Alec said dryly. “I didn’t guess you were so intimately acquainted, but as they are obvious suspects, I wanted to find out what you knew.”
“Now you know,” said Felicity, rising with languid grace.
“Not so fast. I have a few more questions. First, you knew the earl’s son was killed in the War. Cedric Norville told you, I assume? Why didn’t you tell your family?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” she drawled. “They’d have wanted to know how I found out.”
“All right. Now, taking your word for the moment that you didn’t meet Cedric Norville yesterday, I don’t suppose you saw anyone, or anyone saw you, between say half past eleven last night and five this morning?”
“Jemima might have,” Felicity said indifferently, “though she was fast asleep when I went up. She’s sharing my room while ‘his lordship’s guests’ are with us. No one else, unless they crept into my room and gazed entranced upon my sleeping form.”
“Unlikely, I agree. Did you happen to hear any unusual sounds in the night—doors closing, floorboards creaking, and such?”
“Not a thing. I slept like a log. But if I had heard anything out of the way, I’d have assumed it was Jemima making her ghostly rounds. I doubt I’d have opened my eyes to check whether she was gone. I don’t care.”
“I dare say,” Alec said, his dry tone bringing a slight flush to Felicity’s cheeks.
“In any case, I didn’t wake till morning. One way or another, I’ve missed quite a bit of sleep. I had some catching up to do.”
Alec changed tack. “Are you aware of what Belinda and Derek found in the secret passage?”
“The seaman’s knife? Yes, I was there when they showed it to my father. I’m afraid he wasn’t very enthusiastic. But why … Oh gosh, is that what…?”
“Mr. Norville wasn’t very enthusiastic? Why was that?”
“He said it wasn’t at all rare.”
“I see. And come to think of it, Captain Norville said the carving of dolphins and sea serpents on the hilt was typical of a seaman’s knife.
So the weapon which killed Calloway may simply be similar to that one.
I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that under your hat, by the way.
I wouldn’t want the children to find out. ”
“No, of course not.”
“Have you seen it since then?”
“Not consciously,” said Felicity, frowning.
“Daddy told Derek to leave it on the hall table. I doubt I’d notice whether it was still there.
There’s usually quite a bit of clutter; but as we don’t have the post or newspapers delivered, we don’t have the usual reasons for checking the table.
I suppose the children might have taken the knife to play with and dropped it in the grounds.
Anyone could have picked it up, one of the gardeners, or a tramp. ”
Or Cedric Norville, Alec thought. “Are you meeting Cedric tonight?”
“No! Not till … till New Year’s Eve.”
“Thank you, Miss Norville, that will be all. For now.”
“That’s all?” Felicity seemed more confused than pleased. “Right-oh, then. You’re putting Miles through the ‘third degree’ next?”
“Yes, it’s his turn to be grilled,” Alec said, with a grin. Let her think he believed her. Of one thing he was tolerably certain: she expected Cedric Norville to meet her at the chapel tonight.