Page 29 of Solving Sophronia

She lifted her chin, appearing completely unconcerned by his threat. “Sir, I made no accusation. Simply an observation.” She scribbled something in her notebook, pulling it against her chest when Mr. Smudgely leaned to see what she’d written.

Jonathan considered her action a particularly nice touch.

“Mr. Smudgely, this is a murder investigation.” Miss Bremerton fixed him with a flat stare. “I do apologize if it is uncomfortable. I can, however, say without a doubt, your discomfort is much less than that endured by Mr. Lewis.”

“Well, I never.” He straightened his coat lapels and spun. “Further questions can be directed to my secretary.” The assembly hall manager stomped from the room.

Jonathan could hardly keep back a grin. “Well, miss, your interrogation was certainly aggressive.”

She folded her arms, glaring toward the doorway. “That man is intoler-

able.”

“I concur,” Jonathan said. “Do you think he is our murderer?”

“No.” She sighed. “I don’t see how it is possible. He would have been tending to guests and arrangements during the event. But I should still like to see him chastened somehow, if only to teach him a lesson in manners.”

“We don’t incarcerate people for being arrogant prigs,” Jonathan said, holding in a laugh.

“A pity,” she muttered.

The constables joined them, and Jonathan reassumed his professional demeanor.

He instructed them for a moment, and then the men left to search the property and question the few employees present. Jonathan ordered Merryweather to specifically search the stables and speak to the stablemaster. Nick Sloan was their top suspect, and if anything was to be learned, Jonathan trusted Merryweather was the man to do it.

The constables departed, leaving Jonathan alone with Miss Bremerton.

“What task do you have for me, Detective?” she asked.

He smiled at her eagerness to assist. “I wonder if you might contact the hunting club for their guest list from Monday evening’s event.” He imagined, out of all of them, Miss Bremerton would have the most luck getting that information.

“Of course.” She wrote in her notebook, and a side of her mouth pulled into a partial smile. “They’ll probably assume I’m writing a story about the lecture.”

Jonathan nodded. Even better. “And if you have the opportunity, you might also speak to your father. He may have seen something last evening, even without realizing at the time that it was significant.”

“I will talk to him.” She wrote that down as well. “Anything else?”

“Now for the detective work.” He gave a solemn nod and spread an arm toward the doorway. “Come along, Miss Bremerton. Let us see what we can discover.”

Chapter 8

Sophie accompanied Detective Graham backinto the entry hall, glad Mr. Smudgely was gone and they could at last get to the business of solving the case. She was already considering how to organize her story; she thought showing the police investigation rather than sensationalizing the details of the murder would be an interesting angle.

The detective set his brown hat on a side table of the entry hall, then opened the door to a coat closet and stepped inside.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Sophie asked from the closet’s doorway.

He pushed aside a few coats, which had apparently been forgotten by partygoers, and took a pair of gloves from a shelf, turning them over and then returning them. “Anything that appears suspicious. Evidence, hopefully. A murder weapon would be nice.”

“But surely you don’t believe the murders were committed here. The entire place was filled with people Monday evening.”

He furrowed his brows, sliding a top hat to the side and peering behind it. “You were the one who suggested the idea.”

Sophie shrugged. “I was just hoping to make Mr. Smudgley uncomfort-

able.”

“I see.” The detective left the coat closet, his lips twitching as he brushed past her and leaned on the doorframe.

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