Page 60 of The Hollow of Fear
Keeler flushed. “We don’t disrobe.”
“Ah,” said Fowler.
“No, I meant, we don’t do anything of the sort. We just want to be alone and talk.”
“What do you talk about?”
“Shecan paint beautiful miniature portraits from people’s photographs. And I—” He flushed again. “I write poems. We talk about the day when we can have a small studio. The portraits would be the main draw, of course, but I can write a few lines of verse for each picture, something the clients won’t be able to get anywhere else. Those would make for one-of-a-kind engagement gifts.”
Treadles smiled. Most of the time, a revelation such as Keeling’s did not involve aspirations that were almost adorable in their wholesomeness. “I like that plan. Now go on, about the icehouse.”
Keeling relaxed a little. “Day before yesterday, we were supposed to meet there after tea.”
Not a bad time. Keeling’s own work would have finished by then. Assuming that his sweetheart was a housemaid, her work would be behind her, too. And the work in the kitchen would be in full swing, any foodstuffs needed from the icehouse fetched hours ago.
“I always go to the icehouse first, to make sure no one is around. If it’s safe, I tie a handkerchief on the branch of a nearby tree. But that day, when I tried to unlock the door, my key wouldn’t go in. It was a bit dark by then, so I tried a few more times before I knelt down to take a good look. And it wasn’t the same lock that had always been there.”
Treadles’s heartbeat quickened. “No?”
“No. My uncle was a locksmith—he died when I was fourteen and his widow had to sell the business. But even if I’d never been his apprentice, I’d have known that it was a different lock. Different shape, different weight, different everything.”
“Did you try to open it?”
“No. Once I realized it was different, I got scared that we’d been discovered and this was a warning. I ran down to the tree. She was just coming then. I told her that the lock had been changed—that maybe someone knew about us. We agreed that we shouldn’t meet for some time. She went back to the house and I went to my room above the mews.”
“And there to spend a restless night?”
“Well, no, I saw her at supper in the servants’ hall, but we didn’t speak. And then a restless night.”
“What did you think when you learned that Lady Ingram’s body had been found in the icehouse?”
“I was confused. Nobody mentioned a new lock. This morning I got up early, picked the lock of the cabinet where Mr. Dean keeps his keys, and checked the copy I’d made against his. He still had the same icehouse key as from before. And I’m sure he’d have been given a new key if the lock change had been official.”
Treadles glanced at Fowler, who did not seem remotely displeased by the news.
Any time his superior took pleasure in a development, it could only be bad news for Lord Ingram. And now that Treadles had tacitly yet indisputably sided with Lord Ingram, Fowler’s pleasure felt like a punch in the gut.
“Thank you, Mr. Keeling,” said Chief Inspector Fowler. “You have beenmosthelpful.”
13
Sherrinford Holmes marchedinto the library at Stern Hollow.
Despite the direness of his situation, Lord Ingram had to suppress an urge to smile.
By and large Charlotte Holmes was unhurried in her ways. Unless one knew, for example, the fiendish speed at which she read or that she needed only three seconds of observation to extract all pertinent life facts from a stranger, it was easy to mistake her for a creature of languor, or even indolence.
The character she had created in Sherrinford Holmes, however, spoke at a rapid clip and walked with a bounce in his step. And was a far more affable soul than she had ever been. In fact, if Lord Ingram didn’t know any better, he might not find the chap comical at all. A bit peculiar but obviously a man of intelligence, discretion, and unimpeachable loyalty.
“Already back?” said Lord Ingram, rising. “I expected you to be out for longer.”
“Come with me,” said Holmes.
Lord Ingram did not hesitate.
In the vestibule a footman waited with hats, overcoats, and gloves. Mr. Walsh, the house steward, was also there, alongside Sergeant Ellerby.
“Do you remember the two crates of expedition equipment you received a few days ago?” asked Holmes, shrugging into a caped coat.
