Page 10 of Chasing Shadows
The colonel studied him a moment with the hint of a knowing smile before he turned to pour a glass of claret. “Well, I saw Sir Fairchild not two hours past.”
Darcy’s head lifted. “What did the Magistrate say?”
“He spoke at some length of the matter. He is still greatly disturbed, and—let me be plain—he still believes the deaths connected to you. He does not think you wielded the knife or killed Mr. Hatch, but he is convinced it has everything to do with you. From the way he spoke, he might have ordered you out of the county altogether, had it not been for your standing in society.”
Darcy’s jaw tightened. “So I am tolerated for my name, and no more.”
His cousin exhaled, spreading a hand. “For the present, yes. However, he granted me access to the body. I was there with Colonel Forster at the mortician’s.”
Darcy leaned forward, all indolence gone. “And what did you find?”
“Nothing.” Fitzwilliam’s mouth tightened with frustration. “If he carried anything of value, it was taken. Whoever killed him was thorough. Still, we intend to search his house. Hopefully, we’d find something of use.”
The two men sat in silence for a while before Darcy broke the silence.
“Do we know where he was headed or what he was doing when his body was found?”
“He was headed somewhere. That’s all we know. Where? No one can actually tell.”
Darcy frowned, his gaze distant. “Why would the killer strike at him now?”
“I cannot say with certainty. Yet I have a suspicion. Do you recall the night of Wickham’s death? Remember, Mr. Hatch said he’d chased after the killer?”
Darcy nodded affirmatively to both questions.
“My guess is simple: he must have seen something—or at least the killer believed he had. Why else strike now? Why break his pattern? Until now, he killed only those who had quarrelled or spat with you. All the murders were contrived beneath the cover of night. This was different. He went after a man in broad daylight, risking exposure. No eye saw him—or at least, none has yet come forward. Yet, it suggests haste, as though he feared something might be revealed, and dared not delay.”
The silence that followed stretched, heavy with unspoken conclusions.
Darcy rose, restless, and moved to the mantel in the room. “If you are right, then Mr. Hatch must have died for what he knew.”
“Which means he may have left something behind. Some scrap, some word, some clue he thought to pursue. We must find it.”
Darcy gave a single, short nod. “Then we search. Whatever enmity this county bears me, I will not shrink from the truth. For Hatch’s sake—and for all the others—we must discover it.”
The colonel regarded him gravely. “Agreed. But we tread a dangerous path, cousin. Whoever did this is not finished.”
“Nor am I.” Darcy’s gaze met his, steady, unflinching. “It's time we caught him and ended this madness once and for all.”
Chapter Six
Three weeks passed in Meryton without tidings of the killer’s capture, nor of any fresh murder. At first, the town had been alive with speculation, the gossip running from house to house and filling every corner of the market. For days, no conversation could pass without some mention of the constable’s death. Yet, a week after the burial of Mr. Tobias Hatch, the talk began to subside. Had he been a married man, with a grieving widow or children to keep his memory before the parish, perhaps the matter might have lingered longer. But Mr. Hatch, of modest means and low estate, had lived alone in the small dwelling he inherited from his late father. There were no relations close at hand to keep his name in constant circulation.
So it was that some degree of normalcy appeared to return. True, a few cautious souls still spoke of the matter in lowered tones, while others whispered hopes that the killer would soon be apprehended, if only that the town might sleep in peace again.
On the Friday of the third week since his passing, the Bennets were assembled at breakfast when the errand boy arrived with a letter for Jane.
“It is from Miss Bingley,” Jane announced, breaking the seal.
At once Mrs. Bennet urged her daughter to read it aloud, that the whole family might hear.
Jane complied, her soft voice carrying across the table.
‘My dearest Miss Bennet,
The gentlemen of the house have gone out this morning to wait upon Colonel Forster concerning the unhappy disturbances that have so afflicted the neighbourhood. My sisters and I are left entirely alone and find ourselves both restless and dull, for we dare not yet venture far into the town. Might you favour us by coming to Netherfield to take tea and enliven our solitude? If yes, we await your arrival at Netherfield; if you cannot come, kindly send a note to that effect.
With regards,
