Following the housekeeper down the hallway, Meredith leaned closer to Essie. “At the first opportunity, slip away and try to find Smithers. You know what to ask him.”
Essie nodded as Mrs. Parker paused in front of a pair of large doors. Throwing them open, she announced, “This is the drawing room. It was recently renovated, as you can see by the embossed wallpaper and satin curtains. The carpet is an Oriental, sent over from China, and is largely silk.”
Apparently Lady Clara favored flamboyance in her furnishings, Meredith thought, as she gazed upon the dazzling colors of the red, green, and yellow carpet. She had to admit, it was rather striking. Not to her taste, however. She preferred something a little more subdued.
Mrs. Parker had walked over to the windows and was tugging at the curtains to open them. Meredith glanced over at Essie and nodded. The young teacher nodded back, then quietly slipped out into the hallway and disappeared.
Having won her battle with the curtains, Mrs. Parker turned. “As you can see—” She broke off, staring around the room. “Your niece! Where is she?”
Meredith looked around as if noticing Essie’s absence for the first time. “She isn’t here? Oh, she is probably looking around on her own. She’s rather independent, I’m afraid.”
The housekeeper passed a worried hand over her hair. “Oh, dear, oh, dear, Mr. Smithers won’t like that at all. He’s very strict about who’s allowed in the house.”
“I’m sure she will cause no harm.” Meredith looked at Felicity. “So what do you think of this room? Do you think it would suit us?”
Felicity creased her brow in a thoughtful expression. “It’s very grand, to be sure. I’d need to see more of the house, however, before passing on my opinion.”
“I’ll be happy to show you the library.” Mrs. Parker crossed the garish carpet to the door. “Though Mrs. Lewellyn has already seen it.”
“I would like my sister to see it, too,” Meredith said, giving Felicity a meaningful look.
“Oh, is that the room where the late Lord Stalham was shot? Felicity followed the housekeeper out into the hallway. “My sister told me all about it. What a terrible tragedy. It must have caused a tremendous upheaval in the house.”
“Oh, it did, indeed.” Mrs. Parker opened the door to the library and led them inside. “As I told your sister, it upset everyone.”
“A terrible shock,” Meredith said, addressing Felicity. “Mrs. Parker told me everyone in the house was asleep when it happened.”
“That we were.” The housekeeper shook her head. “The minute I heard the dogs barking that night, I knew something was wrong. They were barking at the constables, of course. That’s what woke me up.”
Meredith stood in the middle of the room, while Felicity wandered about, finally coming to a halt in front of the gun cabinet. “Which one of these is the gun that killed Lord Stalham?”
Meredith held her breath at her friend’s audacity, but the housekeeper seemed ready to answer as she hurried over there.
“That one,” she said, pointing at it. “They say it used to belong to Jesse James, the American bank robber, though I don’t know how true that is.”
“Really.” Felicity leaned closer to get a better look. “It certainly must have put quite a hole in him. It looks really heavy.”
This time Mrs. Parker seemed at a loss for words, and Meredith hurriedly intervened. “We heard the dogs when we walked up the steps earlier,” she said, sending Felicity a warning scowl.
“Oh, they bark at everyone, coming and going.” Abandoning Felicity, the housekeeper drew closer to Meredith. “That’s how I knew someone else was in the house that night. I heard them barking earlier in the evening. Twice. So someone must have came and went before I went to bed.”
“Before the constables arrived, you mean?”
Mrs. Parker nodded. “Oh, yes. Quite a while before that. I was in my room reading at the time. Then I got ready for bed, and I’d been asleep for a while after that when the dogs woke me up again.” She shook her head. “Making such a racket, they were. Like I said, I knew at once something was wrong. I fell out of bed, threw on my dressing gown, and rushed right down the stairs.”
“Did you see him?” Felicity came forward, her face alight with interest. “The dead body, I mean.”
“Oh, no.” Mrs. Parker shuddered. “Mr. Smithers met me at the bottom of the stairs. Told me the master had been shot and to go back to my room. I was that upset I did exactly what he said.”
“Did anyone else come down with you?” Meredith asked, as Felicity wandered over to the fireplace.
“Winnie was in the hallway when I came down. Her room is next to mine at the front of the house. The other maids all sleep in the back.”
“Do you have any idea who the dogs might have been barking at earlier?”
The housekeeper hesitated, obviously burning to tell Meredith something yet wary of saying too much. Finally, her gossiping nature got the better of her. “Well, I don’t know for sure, of course, and even if I did, it’s not my place to say, but . . .” Her voice trailed off as she waited for reassurance from Meredith.
“I swear we won’t repeat anything you tell us,” Meredith promised. “I’m just curious, that’s all. If I’m to buy this estate I’d really like to know what happened here that night. It’s the not knowing that’s so worrisome. One tends to imagine all sorts of things.”
“Of course.” Seemingly satisfied, the housekeeper looked around as if she expected someone else to be in the room. “Well, like I said, I can’t be sure of anything. But Jimmy, the new stable lad, told me he heard horse’s hooves that night. He lives over the stables, you see, so he’d be able to hear if one came into the courtyard. Only no one summoned him to take care of it, so he didn’t bother going down.”
“Did he see who it was?”
Meredith held her breath as the housekeeper hesitated once more. Finally she lowered her voice to a whisper. “He said he peeked out the window and only saw her face for an instant, but he thinks it was a friend of Lord Howard’s, Miss Pauline Suchier.”
Across the room Felicity uttered a quiet gasp. The housekeeper looked at her in surprise and Felicity quickly picked up a figurine from the mantelpiece. “Exquisite,” she murmured. “Simply exquisite.”
Mrs. Parker’s eyes narrowed. “You are acquainted with Miss Suchier?”
“Oh, not at all,” Meredith said quickly. “We have never heard of the lady.”
Mrs. Parker sniffed. “I don’t know so much about her being a lady. She was the reason Lord Howard came down here on the weekends. Without his wife, if you get my meaning.” She sent Meredith a sly look. “Though I did hear as how the master was planning on getting rid of her. Miss Suchier, I mean. Mr. Smithers happened to hear a conversation between Lord Howard and James, and Smithers said we wouldn’t be seeing much of her in the future. I—” The door opened just then, cutting off whatever she was going to say next.
Essie sailed into the room, her smile letting Meredith know that she’d managed to learn something from the dour butler.
Dying to know what he had to say, Meredith said quickly, “Well, thank you, Mrs. Parker. I think we’ve seen enough for now. Though we might be back again for another look around in a day or two.”
The housekeeper nodded. “By all means, Mrs. Llewellyn. There’s not a lot to do nowadays, except keep the place clean and tidy and feed the staff. What’s left of them. We haven’t had anyone else even look at the place besides you. Makes a nice change to get out of the kitchen. I must say, I’ll be really pleased once it’s sold and I can go back to London.”
Felicity looked surprised. “You don’t like living in this grand house?”
“No, I don’t. Too quiet for me.” The housekeeper rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “This place gives me the willies now. I keep thinking I can see James walking around. He loved to play tricks, especially on poor Winnie. Used to creep up behind her and shout in her ear. It’s a wonder she hasn’t dropped dead of a heart attack before now. Sometimes I think I can still see him creeping along the hallways.”
Felicity exchanged a look with Meredith, while Essie clutched her upper arms and sent a frightened glance around the room.
“Well, we won’t take up any more of your time.” Meredith followed the scrawny woman to the door. “Thank you so much for showing us around. We’ll see ourselves out.”
The housekeeper appeared relieved. “Oh, would you? I know Mr. Smithers will be looking for me by now.” She hurried off, leaving the teachers alone.
“Certainly.” Out in the hallway, Meredith caught sight of Winnie hurrying down the stairs. “Both of you go on without me,” she said quickly, her voice hushed. “I’d like a quick word with the maid. I’ll catch up with you on the steps.”
Essie looked as if she was happy to get out of the mansion, though Felicity seemed reluctant to leave. Nevertheless, she followed Essie to the front door, while Meredith waited at the foot of the stairs.
Winnie’s footsteps slowed as she approached Meredith, until she finally halted on the bottom stair. Dropping a slight curtsey, she mumbled, “Is there something I can do for you, Mrs. Llewellyn?”
“I just wanted a word with you.” Meredith smiled in an attempt to put the girl at ease. “Mrs. Parker believes someone else was in the house the night of the shooting, despite what Smithers said on the stand. I was just wondering if you happened to see anyone here that night.”
Winnie looked as if she wanted to flee down the hallway. “I didn’t see nothing.”
Meredith looked into the frightened girl’s eyes. “Winnie, I think there’s a strong possibility that James Stalham might not be the person who shot Lord Howard. If that’s so, I think it’s only right that the real killer is found and punished, don’t you? If there’s anything at all that you can tell me that might help find this person, I’d very much like to hear it.”
Winnie’s bottom lip trembled, and tears formed in her eyes. “I did see someone,” she whispered. “Right before the constables arrived. At least, I think I did. I’m not exactly sure, which is why I didn’t say nothing before, but I think I saw her running down the back steps to the kitchen.”
Meredith felt a surge of triumph. “Who was it, Winnie? You can tell me. I promise you won’t get into trouble for it.”
Winnie gulped, then whispered again. “Well, I don’t know what she was doing on the kitchen stairs, I swear I don’t, but I thought I recognized her cloak and hat. I think I saw Lady Clara, m’m.”
Meredith stared at her for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you, Winnie.”
The maid looked about to say something else, then apparently thought better of it. Instead, she ducked her head, then ran down the hallway and out of sight.
Hurrying out of the front doors, Meredith found Felicity and Essie waiting for her at the top of the steps. Amid a barrage of furious barking from the dogs, she raised her voice. “Well, Essie, did Smithers tell you anything?”
Essie danced down the steps, forcing Meredith to hurry after her in order to hear what she had to say. “He didn’t tell me much,” she said, when they reached the bottom. “He’s not very good at holding a conversation.”
Above them, Felicity let out a short burst of laughter. “I doubt if he knows how. I knew if anyone could get him to talk, though, it would be you. You’re a positive genius when it comes to worming information out of someone.”
Essie blushed. “I just ask questions, and hope I’ll get some answers, that’s all.”
“Ah, but it’s in the way you ask them.” Felicity marched down the steps. “You are a born coquette, Essie dear, and your charm is in the fact that you have absolutely no idea of the disarming effect you have on the male population.”
Essie pouted. “You make me sound like a harlot.”
“Do I? I certainly don’t mean to offend.”
Having run out of patience, Meredith grasped Essie’s arm. “I refuse to let you go another step until you’ve told me what Smithers told you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Essie gave her an apologetic smile. “Well, he told me he heard the shot and rushed to the library, where he found Lord Stalham lying on the carpet and James standing over him, holding the gun. He’s absolutely certain James killed his father. Smithers said anyone else would not have had time to leave before he got there. In any case, he said, the dogs would have barked if anyone had come close to the house, and the only time he heard the dogs barking was when the constables arrived, and again when they left with James.”
Meredith wrinkled her brow. “That’s not what Mrs. Parker told us. She said she heard them barking before the constables arrived.”
“Twice,” Felicity said, nodding her head.
Essie looked surprised. “Why would Smithers lie about that?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Meredith murmured. “He also lied about Miss Suchier’s relationship with Lord Stalham. I believe he might have been protecting someone.”
She started walking away from the mansion’s steps with Felicity hot on her heels. “Protecting who? That Suchier woman? Was that why he lied about her?”
“No, not Pauline Suchier.” Meredith paused again. “Winnie told me she thought she saw Lady Clara that night, running down the back stairs to the kitchen. I think both lies were to protect her.”
Felicity’s eyes widened. “Oh, my. That complicates things, doesn’t it.”
“What complicates things?” Essie asked, catching up with them.
Meredith told her about Winnie’s revelation. “You know,” she added, as they all began walking again, “Mrs. Parker could be lying, of course. Also to protect Lady Clara. She took care to let us know the stable boy saw Pauline Suchier that night.”
“Or thought he did,” Felicity put in. “He could have been mistaken. After all, didn’t he say he only saw her face for an instant?”
“I need to have a word with him.” Meredith nodded her head at the side of the building. “I believe Reggie took the carriage around to the stables to wait for us. While you and Essie are getting into the carriage, I’ll see if I can spot the stable boy and ask him a question or two. Perhaps we’ll learn something useful from him.”