He followed me like an obedient dog to the door, and we set off down the hall. No sooner were we heading in the direction of the library then we heard the clatter of running feet behind us and Nicholas and Katherine came sprinting past.

“Grandmama says the inspector wants to speak to us, one by one in the library,” Nick shouted as he ran past. “He’s going to grill us all and perhaps someone will break down and confess. Isn’t it thrilling?”

“We thought we’d go along and see if we can be first,” Kat added. “Get it over with, you know.”

Mr. Smedley had gone rather green around the gills again. “In which case I think I had better retreat to the morning room until the police have dealt with the family,” he said. “It would be most inappropriate if I intruded on such a difficult and embarrassing business.” He attempted to turn and flee.

“If you want to escape from here in a hurry, then I suggest you get in first,” I said, and marshaled him down the hall after the running twins.

He gets rattled rather easily, I thought, but then it crossed my mind that we really knew nothing about Mr. Smedley. He had shown up on the doorstep and introduced himself as the architect come to meet with the duke. What if he wasn’t what he seemed? Who could say how long he had been out on the grounds before he came to the front door, or what he might have got up to there?

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

As we approached the library, the twins went bursting in ahead of us.

“Hello,” I heard the chief inspector’s voice say. “And what do you two want?”

“We heard that you wanted to grill the whole family so we thought we’d be first,” Nick said.

“I don’t usually grill kiddies,” he answered in good-natured fashion. “Unless you’ve come to confess to the murder—which I very much doubt.”

“Oh, but we might have vital information for you,” Kat said. “You never know what we might have seen. Children are very observant, you know.”

“All right. So where were you when the murder took place?” the inspector asked.

“We don’t know what time it took place,” Nick said, “so we can’t answer that.”

“Early this morning. Between seven and eight. Where were you between those times?”

“We were where we always are—stuck in the nursery, getting up and having breakfast with Nanny, I suppose.”

“And did you happen to look out of the window and see anything that might be important?”

“I don’t think so,” Nick said sadly. “Only that it was starting to rain and we thought it was beastly because we’d be stuck in the schoolroom all day.”