Isaac raked him with a dismissive look. “Well, seeing as hunting for a killer is beyond your professional capability, you can earn your living doing something else. You can go back out there and find the gunman who has been running around my estate shooting at me.”
“Pardon?” Mark scowled.
“It is strange that you always turn up after the crime has been committed, isn’t it?” Isaac sneered. “Tell me, do you intend to capture any real criminals, or do you just have a habit of arresting people you don’t like just so you look efficient?” Before Mark could defend himself, Isaac pointed to the door behind him. “Get out, and don’t come back until you have caught the real murderer and the gunman, Bosville. Our friendship does not allow travesties of justice to be carried out under my roof, nor does it allow you permission to enter my house at will.”
“Where is she? You cannot refuse to hand her over,” Mark argued, refusing to be dismissed.
“Hand her over? She hasn’t done anything!” Isaac shouted. “I am not handing anybody over to you if they haven’t done anything wrong. Nor should you come in here with the intention of arresting anybody in my household without a suitable warrant, or proof of their guilt. Do you have it?”
“Well, no.” Mark truly hadn’t thought that Isaac would be this protective of her, or stubbornly resistant to trying to keep her safe. “There has been another murder in the village.”
“Oh, and so Tuppence is automatically responsible because she found Mr Lewis, is she? She hasn’t found this new victim, though, has she?”
“Well, no, but-”
“You don’t have any proof that she was in the area.” Isaac knew he didn’t.
“Well, no, but-”
“God, you are despicable,” Isaac snorted contemptuously before Mark could offer him any excuses.
“I don’t want to arrest her, but there really is no choice,” Mark insisted.
“Why, because you want to keep your job and look incompetent now that there have been two villagers murdered?” Isaac was disgusted, and angry that Mark thought he would go along with this. “You are not arresting Tuppence again. I suggest you go out there and find the killer, and don’t come back here until you do.”
“On what grounds do you intend to arrest my client this time? I warn you now that unless you have some proof that Tuppence was involved in either murder, you have no cause to arrest her even to protect her. Not even Great Tipton Police can arrest someone they think has committed a crime without proof of the person’s guilt.” Sir Reginald hooked his thumbs into his waistcoat and rocked on the balls of his feet while glaring at the now uncomfortable lawman.
“Well? Out with it,” Isaac snapped when Mark didn’t immediately answer.
“The latest victim is Angus Richmond. Tuppence was the last person to see him alive. Richmond told his wife that he was going to see Tuppence the night she said he had called to see her. Nobody has seen Richmond alive since,” Mark explained.
“How long has he been dead?” Sir Reginald demanded, stepping closer.
“He was killed sometime in the last day or so. We are awaiting the Coroner’s report to know for sure, but it is sometime between when Tuppence last saw him and this morning.”
“Tuppence was in jail and then here yesterday,” Isaac protested. “She cannot have killed Richmond too.”
“And you have seen her every second that she has been here, have you?” Mark’s tone hardened.
Isaac opened his mouth to answer only for Reginald to place a restraining hand on his arm, silently urging him to stop talking. “My nephew doesn’t have to answer any of your questions, Bosville. I am the one who signed the paperwork taking responsibility for Tuppence. I can assure you that she hasn’t left this house since she arrived. Of course, if you wish to challenge my honesty, you are more than welcome to do so, in court of course.” He squinted maliciously at Bosville, almost relishing being able to humiliate the man in front of a judge.
Isaac mentally winced because he knew that would happen if Sir Reginald took it in mind to do it. “Tuppence has been to the farm to fetch her personal belongings and the contents of her safe. I was with her the whole time, and we were gone for about an hour. If you wish to doubt my word, I too shall see you in court.”
The uncomfortable silence that stretched out between them made everyone tense and on edge.
Mark sighed. “I am not doubting you even though you were both told that she wasn’t to leave the house.”
“She was with me, Bosville,” Isaac snapped. “I take responsibility for that, not her because I suggested the trip. Tuppence is the only one who knows where the safe is and what the combination is. She had to go to the farm. I think you should know that someone has broken into Tuppence’s barn while she has been here too. Maybe you should find out who the trespasser up there is, eh, and if it is likely to be the real killer?”
“The terms of the agreement were that she was to stay here until the case can be resolved,” Mark pressed, concerned that Isaac had put himself in trouble with the law now.
“I am afraid you will find that the terms of the agreement are that she has to remain under the protection of Isaac Chester, and she has. My nephew did what he felt was best and was armed when he escort
ed her to her house to fetch her belongings. There is nothing in the agreement that prohibits such a journey,” Sir Reginald interrupted. “I am a little alarmed at how eagerly you race here the first time you find a body just because it is easier to arrest Tuppence than it is to look for the real killer.”
The only outward sign of Mark’s fury was the muscle that twitched in his jaw. It was a few moments before he could speak at a civil volume.
Isaac shook his head in disgust and announced: “To think that I really believed you were a good investigator. How wrong can one man be? You are nothing but a fraudster who is pretending to know what you are doing when you are too lazy to be bothered to get your facts straight. Well, Tuppence couldn’t have murdered Richmond because she was here, with me, and there are plenty of witnesses in this house to attest to that.”