Tuppence (The Tipton Hollow 3)

“I don’t,” Sir Reginald replied crisply. “My reward is being able to get an innocent person’s innocence proven.”

“How? I mean, the killer will target you, won’t he?”

“What makes you think it is a man, my dear?” Sir Reginald suddenly pierced her with a direct look that reminded her so much like Mr Davies that Tuppence felt pinned to her seat.

“Because of the threat I recently had from Angus Richmond,” she replied without realising that her lips were moving, and words were coming out of her mouth.

Sir Reginald nodded slowly. “It doesn’t hurt that in your mind you know that the killer is a man. It is likely to be a man, you know. But that is why I have asked for you to reside at Aldridge Manor, and why the Chief Inspector felt you needed to stay somewhere you were safe.”

“But that puts Isaac in danger, and his mother, and even you,” Tuppence protested. She wasn’t sure what she would do if any of them got hurt because of her.

“It would be a very brave and foolish killer who tried to murder a Barrister, don’t you think? I am friends with the Lord Chief Justice and have many more friends and acquaintances who would turn this country upside down until they found who killed me,” Sir Reginald announced with no small measure of satisfaction.

“But that is no good if you are dead, and the killer won’t know that if he doesn’t know who you are,” Tuppence reported. To her surprise, Sir Reginald’s smile widened, and he nodded sagely at her as he murmured: “You are a wise young woman with a good heart and an honest manner. Your logic is credible and warns me that you have too much of a sensible head on your shoulders to be foolish enough to kill an unarmed man in a field where any of the villagers could find you.”

“Why do you think the killer would do such a thing? I mean, Mr Lewis never hurt anybody.”

“But he hurt you, my dear,” Sir Reginald murmured silkily, leaning forward to pierce her with another direct stare. “Didn’t he? Mr Lewis kept letting his cattle stray into your meadow. They kept knocking the fence down and annoyed you so much that you drove his cattle across the fields back to his land with your sheep dog. You then warned him that the next time his cattle ruined your property you would confiscate them and make him pay for the damage to your property, didn’t you?”

Tuppence stared at him in shock but didn’t deny it. “How do you know all this?” It was astonishing that he had repeated what she had said almost word-for-word. To her consternation, Sir Reginald merely tapped the side of his nose.

Mr Lewis had told Isaac what Tuppence had said once Tuppence had returned home the day that she had found Mr Lewis’s cattle in her meadow. There were a lot of facts that Sir Reginald was already mulling over having spent a couple of hours with Isaac, forcing him to recount every detail of the last few occasions that he had met with Tuppence, the most telling of which were in the days leading up to Mr Lewis’s murder. Sir Reginald didn’t see the need to tell Tuppence any of this and so wisely kept the pertinent facts to himself – for now.

“Now, we have half an hour before we reach the house,” Sir Reginald began. “Once we get there, you are to understand that this agreement we have reached with Chief Inspector Davies is a formal legal agreement. If you break it you could end up behind bars, as could Isaac, so it is wise of you to enjoy your time Aldridge Manor. See it as taking a little holiday, eh? For now, there is no court hearing for you to attend because the police are still investigating the murder and don’t have a credible suspect. Unfortunately, whoever murdered Mr Lewis will hear of your release and know that the police are still hunting for him. It might prompt him to come after you, especially if the murderer mistook Mr Lewis for you.”

Tuppence felt sick. “Do you really think that he is going to try to kill me next, or Isaac? How much danger do you think we are in?”

“Time will reveal all, my dear. We will investigate Mr Lewis’s involvement with Angus Richmond first, and whether Richmond offered to buy Lewis’s farm. Further, we need to investigate Richmond’s background. Nobody seems to know much about his business dealings or who he really is. All of this takes time. What I do know is that the killer won’t be comfortable knowing that an investigation is ongoing. He, or she, may try to stop you talking to the police about what you know. The benefit to you from being arrested is that the killer will already know that any information you had on the murder suspect will have already been handed over to the police. There is little purpose killing you now to stop you reporting anything. The only reason someone still wants you dead is if they want your property.”

“Which makes Angus Richmond guilty if someone tries to kill me,” Tuppence mused.

“Has anybody else offered to purchase your property lately?” Sir Reginald asked.

“Just Mr Lewis, but I told him that it wasn’t for sale as well,” Tuppence replied.

Sir Reginald suddenly leaned toward her and growled: “Mr Lewis offered to purchase your farm.” He tipped his head as if listening closely to the tone of her voice.

“Yes, the day before Mr Richmond offered to purchase it. Mark Bosville was there when Mr Lewis called by. He listened to the conversation,” Tuppence replied.

“Did he really?” Sir Reginald murmured thoughtfully. He tucked that aside to contemplate later and studied Tuppence carefully. “Why do you think both men suddenly want your land? Have you had a lot of offers for the farm before now?”

Tuppence frowned. “Well, no. In fact, we never had any offers for the farm.”

“Why do you think Richmond and Lewis want it so badly now?”

Tuppence sighed. “It might be because they think they can buy it at considerably less than the market value now that it belongs to me. My brother died a few months back. The locals are of the opinion that I cannot run the farm by myself. I think those who can afford it are of the opinion that I will gladly sell the farm to them just to get it off my hands.”

Sir Reginald sat back in his seat and stared blankly out of the window. “Ah, so neither man offered you what the farm is worth.”

“Mr Lewis offered more, but I refused. I didn’t realise that he could afford my farm. It is a lot of money for any farmer to find,” Tuppence replied honestly. “He certainly didn’t seem able to find the money to fix the meadow fencing and make it strong enough to stop his cattle invading my land.”

“Would you say Mr Lewis is an impoverished farmer?”

“Well, he was comfortable, but I wouldn’t call him a ‘gentleman farmer’.”

“Like Isaac.” Sir Reginald smiled to soften his criticism of his nephew.

“Isaac knows a lot about farming. He isn’t really a ‘gentleman farmer’. I think he knows about as much about farming as I do,” Tuppence replied firmly.