Page 41 of Nature of the Crime
They set out for Snargate Street, which was, Audrey noted, not the finest part of town. From the number of pubs, she imagined it catered to the soldiers coming down from the barracks for a night off duty.
Greer peered up the center of the shaft much the same as Cassie had—with trepidation.
“I won’t fib,” Audrey said. “My legs still ached this morning from yesterday’s climb. It’s partially why I considered sending my regrets to Mrs. Edmunds.”
However, it would have been rude, and so soon after her husband had granted Audrey permission to leave town too.
“I’m accustomed to climbing stairs,” Greer replied, “but this is something entirely different.”
Audrey laughed, her voice echoing, as they started up. Other than her laughter, floating up and dissipating, it was silent, without any soldiers coming or going. They stopped to catch their breaths a few times, and as they neared the top, Audrey couldn’t ignore a niggling reservation.
“It’s strange. When I was in Lieutenant Edmunds’s private quarters yesterday, there wasn’t a feminine touch anywhere.”
Greer, her cheeks flushed from exertion, panted, “Perhaps she isn’t allowed such extravagance.”
Audrey supposed that could be true. They finally emerged into the brisk open air, and she exhaled with a laugh, recalling Cassie and Thornton’s race. As she walked a little further, her thighs and calves loose with a pleasant burn, she wondered how Genie was faring. By now, she’d surely had her new little one. Audrey could only pray Michael and Cassie were back in London with them, and that everyone was healthy and well.
When a young woman approached them from a behind a small hillock along the path to the fortress, it took several protracted moments for Audrey’s mind to clear and focus.
“Becky?” she asked as the chambermaid came forward with tentative steps. “What are you doing here?”
Becky clasped her shawl tightly around her neck. “I’m so sorry, Your Grace. I meant no harm, but…the note. It wasn’t real. You haven’t been invited for tea.”
Chapter
Sixteen
With Lieutenant Edmunds at the reins, this inquest proceeded in a much more orderly fashion. Hugh felt slightly remorseful for thinking as much, considering the man who’d bungled up Vaillancourt’s inquest was now laid out on a plinth in the keep for viewing.
Almost the same jury of men were gathered this time around, with the addition of Thornton and a few men who had been the first to find the baron on the beach. Mr. Fulton from the packet office wasn’t present, and neither was Sir. Although Hugh had considered having Sir nick the hair comb, he had correctly anticipated Edmunds keeping a hawk-like watch on the proceedings. Besides, from what Hugh was hearing, he may very well be able to request a return of the comb afterward.
Smoothly and succinctly, Edmunds had directed the testimony from pertinent individuals, including the two guards, Levens and Hart. They’d confirmed that the dowager duchess and Lady Cassandra had been under guard all morning and afternoon and could not have seen the baron after he leftVaillancourt’s inquest. They also confirmed that Audrey had been gone from her room earlier that morning. The innkeeper, Mrs. Plimpton also admitted that it would not be wholly impossible for someone to have entered the inn, unseen. A special consideration had been made to include the widow at the inquest. While she was present, the baron’s body had been completely covered.
“I would have expected Becky to keep a better eye on the front door,” she said, distraught over her guest’s possessions being rifled through. “The girl can hear the hinges from all the way at the back of the house, mind you.”
“It is my understanding that Becky was away from the inn for a short while that morning,” Hugh had interjected. “But that you had remained.”
The innkeeper flared her nostrils in resentment. “All I meant to say was thatifBecky were there, she should’ve heard the hinges.”
“You would not have heard them?” Hugh asked.
She flushed. “I’m a busy woman, my lord, and I hum when I’m cooking.”
The rest of the jury had chuckled, and Edmunds had thanked and dismissed her from the rest of the inquest. He then moved on with his questions. Though the coroner, Dr. Heard, was officially in charge, he seemed more than happy to defer to the lieutenant.
“Mr. Roberts,” Edmunds said, addressing the publican of the Barrelhouse Tavern, “I will ask you to share your testimony at this time.”
Hugh straightened and inspected the man who stepped forward. He had a scruffy beard, a worn suit, and ruddy skin. He certainly looked like every other publican Hugh had ever met, trained to have a hard, unyielding stare so that no patron ever felt they had the upper hand.
“Aye, sir. I’m ashamed to say my curiosity got the better of me, and some of the blokes from the pub and m’self went to take a gander at the other man’s body, the one from the packet ship.”
Edmunds gestured for him to continue when he paused, as if awaiting censure. Hugh imagined they were not the only ones who’d sneaked into the church to take a look at the corpse.
“Well, turns out, I knew his face. He’d been at the Barrelhouse before.”
“When?” Hugh asked, apologizing to Edmunds with a quick glance for again taking over.
“Last September, abouts.”
