Phillip knew she was telling him the truth because she was relaxed and at ease against him. The readiness of her reply and the certainty of her tone made it clear she was being truthful. ‘They used your name.’
‘Nobody in this area knows my name. When I spoke to the owners of the grocery store I used my mother’s maiden name,’ Carlotta told him.
‘Why would your father want you scared, Carlotta?’ Phillip asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Carlotta replied.
‘Are you sure?’
She sighed heavily and tried to find the right words to say only to be prevented from speaking by quiet tapping on the door.
‘Damn it,’ Phillip growled when Callum shoved his head into the room.
‘We have seen someone. Do you remember seeing one of the thugs with a grey shirt?’
Phillip shook his head. ‘The thugs I saw earlier were all wearing dark clothing.’ He turned to look at Carlotta only to find her staring thoughtfully into the fire. ‘Carlotta? What is it?’
Slowly, she sat up. ‘I think I know who the killer is,’ she hissed into the deadly silence of the parlour.
CHAPTER TEN
‘What?’ Phillip leaned forward.
Callum stepped into the room followed by Oliver, Jasper, Niall and Justin.
‘Who did you see?’ Oliver demanded.
‘I can remember seeing a man in the village wearing a dirty top. It was an old shirt that was so filthy it looked grey from a distance. I knew I had seen him somewhere before. He was the one we saw in the woods.’ Carlotta looked at Phillip. ‘It must be the same man. He was stocky and had dark hair.’
‘Who is it?’ Phillip tried to remember the figure he had seen in the fog, but he only had a fleeting glance and didn’t see the murderer’s face.
‘My father’s thugs were searching the main street the same day you arrived here. I went to the village for food and found them walking down the opposite side of the road. They passed me but must have recognised me because they began to follow me. To try to avoid them I went down to the harbour side. The man was there. On a fishing trawler. I told him that the thugs were in the village with guns and were looking for trouble. He looked startled and then incredibly angry. He intercepted them and had some sort of angry confrontation with them. He is the only man I can ever remember seeing in the village with a dirty shirt on. It isn’t grey, it is a dirty white and he has a boat in the harbour.’
Phillip shared a knowing look with Oliver. ‘It’s the Captain of the Starling.’
‘He must have left Bladley Weeks and moved his boat here while the gun battle raged,’ Oliver mused.
‘Is he local?’ Phillip asked her quietly.
‘I don’t know. The villagers would be able to tell you if he is,’ she replied.
‘Can you remember what the boat’s name was?’ Phillip asked.
They all knew that Carlotta had just inadvertently at least given them all the most valuable information that might lead to the Star Elite finally being able to catch the mysterious murderer of Claude Smidgley. What they didn’t know yet was what link he had to the thugs who had accosted them in such high numbers.
‘The Starling, or something like it,’ Carlotta replied. ‘I might be completely wrong, and he might not be anything to do with it. What I can tell you is that the man was surly and had no qualms challenging my father’s armed thugs.’
‘What has your father done, Carlotta?’ Oliver asked suddenly.
‘Pardon?’ she blinked at him and went still.
‘Well, if you haven’t done anything, and I don’t believe for one second that you have, your father h
as to have done something.’ Oliver slid a look at Phillip who remained quiet.
Carlotta clasped Phillip’s hand when he reached out to hold her fingers. She took the strength from it she needed and sucked in a deep breath. ‘It feels such a foolish thing to say.’
‘What does?’