“I have more news to impart,” she said. “News that is almost too horrible to express out loud. I am afraid to tell you that my son Cedric, Duke of Eynsford, is dead.”

There was a little yelp of horror from one of the Starlings.

“Not Ceddy!” one of them exclaimed.

“Poor Cedric,” Princess Charlotte said. “I told you the Ouija board spelled out ‘death,’ didn’t I? The spirits never lie.”

“Damn your spirits, Charlotte,” Edwina snapped. “My son was murdered.”

There was a stunned silence during which all one could hear was the crackle of the fire, the drumming of the rain on the window and the constant drip, drip, drip from a nearby drainpipe.

“Where did this happen?” Virginia asked at last.

“In the glen, on the estate. Lady Georgiana found him when she took the architect to meet Cedric.”

“And he was definitely murdered?” Charlotte asked.

“Very definitely,” Edwina said. “There can be no doubt that somebody killed him in cold blood.”

“On the estate.” Virginia looked around nervously. “One doesn’t expect the criminal classes to have infiltrated our safe and secure little world. I wonder what it was—had he fallen foul of criminal types, perhaps? Did he have gambling debts? Or did he just surprise a burglar making off with some of our silver?”

“We must wait for the police to find out the truth,” Edwina said. “An inspector is on his way now.”

“How was he killed, Grandmama?” Kat asked.

“Such matters are not suitable for children, Katherine,” Edwina said.

“I only wanted to know whether you took one look at him and could see he had been murdered,” Kat insisted. “We like reading detective novels, you know, so we’re interested. I don’t need to know the details if they are not suitable for my ears.”

“If you wish this morbid curiosity satisfied, then I can tell you that your uncle was killed with some violence.”

I saw Katherine give her brother a satisfied grin, and I wondered whether they might have had some kind of bet on this.

Edwina cleared her throat again and went on. “The important point at this moment is that there is a new duke of Eynsford. John, you have now taken your uncle’s place. This is now your house, your estate.”

“Stone the flaming crows,” Jack said. He gave me a look that was half panic, half amusement.

“The duke’s suite of rooms will be prepared for you as soon as the police have finished their investigation and your uncle’s belongings can be removed. As of now they will be untouched, in case the police find any kind of clue in there.”

“But I thought you said he was killed in the glen?” Virginia asked. “Are you trying to say that he was not murdered by an outsider?”