Page 84 of Marigold and the Marquess
“Nor were mine,” he admitted. “You turned up a button and a scrap of fabric. It is more than I found. Those bits could turn out to be crucial in helping place someone at the scene if he was missing a button or had a torn jacket.”
“You are thinking of your cousin, Cummings?”
“Why not?” They had been seated across from each other, but Marigold now scooted over to sit beside him. She nestled her sweet body against his. “Leo, do you think Syd and Gory found out anything worthwhile?
CHAPTER 14
TO LEO’S SURPRISE,Sterling had cakes, sandwiches, jams and creams enough for a party of ten set out for them in the parlor upon their return. It was all part of an elaborate afternoon tea, even though it was barely noon. Marigold’s friends arrived close on their heels and Marigold bustled them all in to partake of the light repast. “You are just in time. I am sure you must be hungry.”
Leo stayed back a moment as she led the others to the parlor. “That was most thoughtful of you, Sterling.”
“Not at all, my lord. Lady Muir requested it before you and she left this morning.”
“She did?”
“Yes, my lord. She knows how to be a good hostess.”
Leo shook his head and grinned. “Stop giving me that I-told-you-so look, Sterling. I know I have married a treasure.”
Of course, he should be telling this to Marigold and not his butler.
“She tries very hard to please you,” his butler said with an air of fatherly protectiveness that seemed unwarranted to Leo since it should have been obvious to everyone how deeply in love he was with Marigold.
Leo was also quite aware of her affection for him. How could one overlook being greeted every morning with a kiss and an ‘I love you, Leo’ the moment one opened one’s eyes?
Had he not told her these would be thirty days of bliss? Of course, he had also warned her that he would ruin their chance of a happy union because he meant to get his revenge on those who had put him through all those years of agony.
He dismissed Sterling, and then followed Marigold and her friends into the parlor in time to hear Syd say, “Gory is a marvel when it comes to dead bodies.”
Julius groaned. “Dear heaven.”
Octavian laughed.
Gory ignored everyone’s comments and turned to Leo. “There was a considerable amount of blood spilled, but his body showed no signs of a struggle. Nothing beneath his nails. No bruising at his wrists or throat or on his arms. I gather you did not find so much as a bloody footprint or any palm prints other than Denby’s either in his study or immediately outside of it when you searched again by the light of day.”
Leo nodded. “Nowhere in the house, nor in the garden or along his street. This killer could have been a phantom, for all the clues he’s left us.”
“Well, that ought to be a clue in itself,” Gory murmured. “He must have been trained in the art of murder. Obviously, we can rule out a crime committed in the heat of passion. This was planned down to the last detail. I would not be surprised if the servants were drugged to keep them from waking if Denby cried out. By the way, I believe Denby was drugged as well. You might want to have the contents of his wine bottle analyzed. I suspect laudanum was used on Denby and possibly on the entire staff to make certain no one interfered. This is why he did not show up for Lady Gaston’s party. He must have been drinking in his study and already drugged by the time he ought to have left for her party.”
“But that doesn’t explain the Bow Street runner, Gibson, who Mr. Barrow had planted in the house,” Julius said. “It did not sound as though Gibson was drugged.”
“That is easy, he wasn’t.” Leo took an offered teacup from Marigold who was now serving him and her friends. “They had no idea Denby’s butler was a Bow Street runner working an investigation. I’m sure Homer Barrow trained his men well. There would be no tippling while on duty. This is why Gibson was awake and found Denby immediately after the murder took place. He was downstairs, heard a thud, and ran up to look in on Denby.”
“Just a thud? Did Denby never cry out?” Syd asked.
Leo shook his head. “Gibson claims he heard nothing. So, Gory’s assessment is likely accurate. Denby was assuredly drugged. So was his staff. This was no doubt planned in order to give the killer time to search Denby’s house and remove anything incriminating.”
“But Gibson foiled that plan and so the killer had to make a hasty retreat,” Octavian remarked.
“Gibson assured Ian he had locked every door and window downstairs, so we are fairly certain the intruder must have climbed up the trellis below Denby’s study window. That window was open when Gibson rushed in. There was no sign of breakage, so it had likely been open when he climbed in. We searched the immediate area thoroughly and found nothing at all helpful. This man, whoever he was, moved with the stealth of a cat.”
“I found that dark blue scrap of cloth near the garden wall,” Marigold reminded him, and then turned to her friends. “I’m not sure if it is related to the crime. Anyway, it is so small a scrap, I don’t know that it is possible to tell where it came from. Ian will hand it over to one of his investigators to see if he can match it to a particular item of clothing. And there was a button, too.”
She shook her head and continued. “Denby lived his life in such a clandestine fashion, no one knew the first thing about him. Who would live like this?”
“Someone who exists in a lie and deals with people who are into bad things and do not want to be recognized,” Octavian replied. “Were you able to speak to everyone on his staff?”
“There are only three in service,” Leo said. “Two of them, the cook and housekeeper, were of no help. As Gory pointed out, they were drunk or possibly drugged. The third is the butler, a man by the name of Greeves. But Gibson took his place for the week, so he wasn’t around to be questioned. Ian’s men are tracking him down as we speak. He’s the one most likely to have noticed something helpful. Recognized a face. Learned a name. Just one name is all we need to topple the entire organization.”
