“It was jolly uncomfortable, actually,” I said. “I think he was attempting to be chummy and good-humored but the duchess took every remark as an insult, and kept putting him in his place. He just asked me questions and I answered them. In fact, he was impressed that I could describe a dead body without having a fit of the vapors.”

Darcy grinned. “I take it you didn’t mention other dead bodies you’d seen?”

“Unfortunately I did mention it. So I’m now probably his number one suspect. Especially since I already admitted that I was the one who found the body. Although I’m not sure I’d have had the strength to plunge a knife into his back with such force.”

Nick looked up, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. “So he was stabbed, was he? Kat and I were dying to know.”

“Don’t you think you should probably return to your schoolroom before you hear other things not meant for your ears?” I said.

“We can’t,” Kat said. “The inspector said we were all to be questioned.”

“Poor Mr. Carter will be wondering where you have got to,” I said. “And you’ll spoil your lunch if you eat any more.”

“I don’t expect Mr. Carter will be there,” Nick said. He glanced across at his sister. “We went up a few minutes ago and nobody was there, not even Nanny. That means the police are going to question everybody in the house, including servants. For all we know, Mr. Carter might have done it. He does have queer fits, you know, from the shell-shock in the war.”

“Yes, he put his hands over his ears once when a car backfired,” Kat chimed in. “And he shouted, ‘Make it stop.’ Afterward, he was really embarrassed.”

“I don’t think it’s right to talk about your tutor like that,” Princess Charlotte said. “If you were told to go to your schoolroom, you go to your schoolroom. In my day, children would not dare to answer back their elders.”

“Sissy can’t go back to the schoolroom unless somebody carries her,” Kat said. “And we wouldn’t want to leave Sissy all alone down here with the grown-ups, in case she gets grilled by the police and confesses to the crime.”

“Don’t be silly, Kat,” Sissy said. “I’m perfectly all right, and I’m really old enough to be downstairs anyway. You’re not.”