“Not so. She might have answered all our questions, but she is still the main suspect. She had reason, place, and time. No one saw her enter the library to note how long she was there before she screamed. Her shoes were wet, and one of your staff mentioned she had blood on her hands when he arrived at the scene.”
“We have established she went to the garden to seek Mr. St. Vincent, so her shoes would be wet. She fell on the body, so her hands would have blood on them. The cook has already stated the murder weapon did not belong to this household.” Mr. Nelson-Graves drew himself up. “I demand you continue your search for the actual murderer.”
“I suggest you conduct your legal representation and we will continue with our investigation. Do not be concerned, my good man. We shall carry on with a thorough search.” He turned toward Amy and pointed his finger at her. “Once again, I remind you not to leave Bath.”
Amy bristled under their command and stood to walk to the window as Persephone raced from the fireplace, her nap apparently finished, and jumped into her arms. She snuggled with the beloved dog as Detective Marsh looked toward Papa. “In all fairness, I must advise you that one of our men obtained a list of your staff members and conducted a search in our files.”
Papa’s brows rose, and he nodded at the detective. “Yes?”
“It seems your gardener, Mr. Albright, served time in prison for murder.”
“Has he been arrested?” Papa sputtered. Papa never sputtered.
Marsh shrugged. “No. He has not been located. However, he is your employee. Did you not know his background before he was hired?”
Everyone in the room swung their attention to Amy.
CHAPTER 6
“Who hired the gardener?” Papa glared at Amy, his face flushed bright red as the two detectives left the room. “I don’t remember engaging anyone for this house.”
Amy raised her chin, ready to do combat. Papa was correct. Since he was rarely, if ever, present in their Bath townhouse, she and Aunt Margaret had done all the hiring. “I hired him.”
“Did you check references?”
Botheration. She probably hadn’t. In fact, if memory served, Aunt Margaret was in London having new wardrobe items made when the necessity to hire a gardener had arisen, and Amy had asked one of the staff members—who no longer worked for them—to recommend someone. She’d been in the middle of a book that was giving her a great deal of trouble, and all her concentration had been taken up with that.
“Of course. What sort of an employer do you think I am?”
“The kind who finds out one of their employees is a murderer. Right after a murder is committed on the premises.” Papa stomped over to the sidebar and picked up the bottle of brandy to pour himself another drink. He looked over
at Mr. Nelson-Graves, who was shoving papers into his satchel. “Are you headed back to London?”
“Yes. I squeezed this visit in by putting off another appointment. I must hurry to make the new time arranged.”
“Wait and I will take the rail to London with you.”
Papa downed the drink just as Aunt Margaret entered the room. She sailed across the room and took the brandy bottle out of Papa’s hand. “Much too early, brother. Is the interview over?”
He looked longingly at the bottle. “Yes. It is. Were you aware of the fact that your gardener, Mr. Albright, spent time in prison for murder?”
Aunt Margaret sucked in a deep breath and covered her chest with her hand. She turned to Amy. “Murder?” For once her placid demeanor escaped her.
Amy nodded. “Apparently.”
“Did you check his references?” Papa asked that question of Aunt Margaret.
“Of course,” Aunt Margaret said quickly. She probably didn’t even remember that she had been out of town when Amy hired Mr. Albright. Since the man had his own rooms miles away, it hadn’t seemed like such a poor decision at the time to trust him with a few flowers and shrubs. He wasn’t likely to make off with the family silver. Or flowerpots.
No. Maybe just murder a guest.
Papa turned to William. “I have a number of matters in London that need my immediate attention. I did not expect to have to travel here to assist in a murder.”
Well, botheration. Perhaps the next time someone was contemplating murder in their library, he would ask the victim to wait until it was a convenient time for Papa.
“Will you assist my daughter in locating this gardener and see that he is fired—if he is not arrested first for murder?” Papa continued.
Annoyed that her father felt it was necessary to ask William to “assist,” which in his mind meant take over, she swallowed the words she wished to say. But then again, if she and Aunt Margaret had someone working for them with a murder in his background, Papa probably felt they did need the guidance of a man.