“Coming down really hard. And the wind was blowing too. We were soaked.” He nodded, indicating that I should go on. “We followed the path until we came to the glen. The stream was rushing past, out of its banks, and was splashing over something beside it. Mr. Smedley, the architect, said, ‘What’s that?’ and I went forward and saw that it was a person, with his jacket covering the top half of his body. I lifted it off and saw that it was the duke and that he was dead.”

“And how did you ascertain that he was dead, miss . . . my lady?”

“I’ve seen dead people before,” I said. “And he had a large knife sticking out of his back.”

He looked at me with new respect. “I’m surprised you can tell me all this so coolly. You say you lifted the coat off him. What was Mr. Smedley doing all this time?”

“Looking rather green, actually,” I said with a grin. “He kept urging me not to faint, but I thought he might faint himself. It was quite awful.”

“I’m sure it was.” He sucked on his lip thoughtfully. “So you came straight back to the house?”

“I replaced the coat over his upper body, as I had found it,” I said. “Then we returned to the house, informed Her Grace and the police were summoned.”

He glanced at his sergeant. “Got all that so far, Stubbins?”

“Yes, sir,” Stubbins replied.

“And you say you went to see your son’s body for yourself, Your Grace?” he asked, proving that he could get modes of address right if he wanted to. “Who accompanied you?”

“Lady Georgiana was kind enough to brave the storm for a second time to show me the body,” Edwina said. “It was exactly as she described, and I was most distressed to see the rain and creek water splashing all over it. I ordered a tarpaulin to be placed over my son’s body.”

The chief inspector rose to his feet. “Thank you. That will be all for now. I would like to have all members of the household assembled for questioning when I return from viewing the body.”

“Servants too, I presume?”

“Naturally.”

“I’m afraid my daughter, the Countess Streletzki, will not be able to join us downstairs,” Edwina said. “I don’t think she will be well enough to answer your questions.”

“Oh, no? Conveniently come down with a cold, has she?”

Edwina eyed him coldly. “She is recovering from what might have been an attempt to kill her last night with an overdose of sleeping powders.”

She clearly enjoyed Chief Inspector Fairbotham’s look of surprise.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“So were you grilled?” Darcy asked when I returned to the Long Gallery. “Did he give you the third degree?”