The mystery legatees certainly did. Three names. Three women. No one in the family had ever heard of any of them, and Chase had only tracked down one in the past week. In the fury that greeted the reading of the will, a variety of characterizations of these women had been cast down by family members, none of them flattering.

What were these women to Uncle Frederick? Minerva claimed she was not a mistress; perhaps the others weren’t either. They may have never met the duke, just as she said she had not. They could be dead, for all anyone knew. Some relatives rather counted on that.

Would Uncle Frederick be so eccentric, so perverse, as to give a sizeable portion of his personal estate to three women he had nothing to do with? Chase did not reject the notion out of hand, but if that had happened, how had his uncle come up with these particular women?

“If you say it all begs explanation, I am not going to disagree with you.”

“It is not I who says so. My inclination is to leave it all be. The king, however, says so. The prime minister agrees. Other ministers and several other dukes have called on me. My own father, heaven preserve us—I have been getting many earfuls all week. ‘No way in hell he fell.’ That sort of thing.”

They continued their slow stroll out onto the street.

“I assume you went up there and took a look at that walkway and parapet. What is your view of things?”

No way in hell he fell. “I have not investigated sufficiently to have a view. I assumed if anyone pursued the matter, it would be your office.”

“Ah, yes. Yet to do so would only feed the storm. It would be very public. Everyone would know that suspicions existed. It would be a scandal for your whole family, no matter what was learned. Hence the conundrum.”

“Surely you have someone who can be discreet.”

“It is sure to get out if we launch an official inquiry. Nor are the best agents at my disposal known for being delicate. The insult to your family will be sharp. The destruction of their privacy unthinkable.” Peel stopped walking and faced him. “You have experience in such things, I believe. From your time in the army, and now in society. You are a man to contact if one needs discreet inquiries, I’ve been told.”

“If you are suggesting that I conduct this investigation for you, let me point out that I am hardly disinterested.”

“I am counting on your being most interested. He was like a father to you. You were a favored nephew. I’m sure you want to know what happened. In fact, I assume you intended to conduct an inquiry of your own, no matter what we did.”