Page 29 of Across Space and Time

“Oh, he sent him out… must have been shortly after five or so. Dinner was at six, her ladyship likes to retire early on account of her health. Robbie came back as dinner was finishing.”

“I see,” Hugh said slowly. “Do you know what the viscount did after he ate dinner?”

“Let’s see… He took his brandy and a cigar, like he usually does. Her ladyship went to bed, and he went up and changed clothes, said he was going to go out.”

“What did he change into?”

“Out of his dinner jacket, at least, sir. He had his top hat and his black cape on when he left.”

That was what both the creature and the charred corpse of the viscount had been wearing. Hugh nodded thoughtfully. “After he changed clothes, what happened?”

Mrs. Pitman rubbed her hands on her apron. “Before her ladyship went to bed, she did have one of the tarts Robbie had brought back. I know because Lord Jardin brought the plate to the dining room and handed it to me. I was finishing clearing the table. He said he was going out, and then he left.”

“Did he say where he was going or if he was meeting anyone?” Hugh asked.

Mrs. Pitman shook her head. “No, sir. I know he sometimes goes to one of those fancy gentlemen’s clubs, but I couldn’t say if that was where he went last night.”

Hugh made another note. “Do you know which clubs he frequented?”

“I couldn’t say, sir,” Mrs. Pitman said. “He did not take his horse or his carriage though, the groom would have mentioned it to me.”

Hugh frowned as he studied his notes. A possible visit to a gentlemen’s club, which was hardly unusual for upper class men to do, did not give him much to go on. “And he did not return home again?”

“No, sir.”

Hugh nodded, looking around the room as he tried to think if there was anything else, anything at all, that might help trace the viscount’s whereabouts. His eyes flicked to the little porcelain figurines and their gold-edged gilt wings. “Oh. Do you know, did he have anything wrapped in gold paper?”

Mrs. Pitman looked surprised, and she smoothed her apron with her liver-spotted hand. “As a matter of fact, yes. The basket with the tarts Robbie had fetched from the bakery was still on the sideboard. Before he left, he did take something out of it. Wrapped in gold paper, it was.”

“What was in it?” Hugh asked.

“He didn’t open it, sir, but it was like this.” She made a few motions with her hands to indicate the size. “He left with it.”

“Still wrapped in the gold paper?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you think it came from the bakery?”

“I figure it must’ave, sir. It was in the basket with her ladyship’s tarts.”

“There was apple and pastry found in the viscount’s stomach, along with the remains of dinner,” Hugh said. “Could it have been an apple pastry of some kind?”

“Oh, certainly, it was about that size,” Mrs. Pitman agreed.

“I am going to need the name and address of that bakery,” Hugh said.

“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Pitman said, rising to her feet. She moved over to the desk, writing something down before handing it to him. “Is there anything else I can help you with at this time, Constable?”

Hugh took the paper with a grateful smile. “One more question, ma’am. Lord and Lady Jardin, how was their relationship?”

Mrs. Pitman’s polite smile suddenly froze on her face, and Hugh knew he had touched on something with his question.

“I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, sir,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her.

“The dead cannot hurt us, ma’am. It is the living we should be concerned about,” Hugh said with what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

Mrs. Pitman slowly sat down on the edge of the chair, leaning closer to him and dropping her voice a bit. “Lord Jardin, he is- or rather, was a… complicated man. Never been one to show much affection, even towards his wife, delicate thing that she is. Sort of gruff and stubborn. A bit of bulldog in him, I’m convinced.”

---