Mrs. Trotter bristled a little, as he’d intended. “Indeed it is not. Mr. Marks worked on some very serious matters. Miscarriages of justice, even.” She gave Aaron a significant look, which stung a touch. He hoped she had not recognised him from that dratted case in the papers; he still felt painfully self-conscious about the accusation.

“Really?” Challice chimed in. “Gosh, good for him. Was that recently?”

“No, it was not, or he wouldn’t have talked about it,” Mrs. Trotter said severely. “It was the case of poor Sammy Beech. If you know his name.”

It rang a bell, but Aaron couldn’t immediately place it. He had a feeling that admitting ignorance would be taken as an affront. “What was Mr. Marks’ involvement?”

“The family asked him to look into it, afterwards. They never believed what that man said of poor Sammy. Lot of lies,” she said with clear challenge.

Aaron wasn’t getting drawn into that. “I’d like to take a look at his room, if we may?”

Mrs. Trotter allowed it with a little reluctance. Marks had not lived with any more luxury than he’d died with; his room was sparse and worn, though clean, probably thanks to Mrs. Trotter. They didn’t find money, or jewellery, or fine clothes to make sense of that gold watch. They also didn’t find notebooks, papers, or anything relating to his work.

“So what do you think?” Challice asked as they made their way back to the station house.

“Right now, I don’t think anything. I want to know what the coroner has to say. I want to know who used his keys last night, and where he got the money before he died. And I want to find his notebooks. I think Mr. Marks has a great deal more to tell us yet.”

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SIX

TEN DAYS LATER, MR. Marks hadn’t revealed any of his secrets. Aaron had plunged into the investigation like—well, like a corpse into a canal, but the uniformed officers hadn’t turned up any witnesses to the death; no notebooks had been found; there was no indication where his flush of wealth had come from. The coroner’s report was disappointingly non-committal too. Marks’ injury had unquestionably killed him, but whether he had received it from a paving stone or a blunt instrument wielded by human hand could not be discerned. The coroner also reported that he was a heavy drinker who had consumed a fair amount of alcohol shortly before his death.

It was all rather frustrating, and Aaron was relieved for the change when he got the message from Hollis saying, I’ve found a case for you.

***