“I wish to speak with Inspector Sugg’s superior officer immediately,” I said. “It is vitally important.”

“I’ll see what I can do, your ladyship,” the sergeant said.

I sat and waited in a grim hallway. After what seemed like hours I heard the brisk tap of shoes on the floor and a man came toward me. He was wearing a well-tailored suit, crisp white shirt, and a striped tie. I couldn’t immediately identify the school but I wasn’t going to hold that against him at this point.

“Lady Georgiana?” he said. He sounded as if he’d been to the right sort of school.

I got to my feet. “That’s right.”

“I’m Chief Inspector Burnall.” He held out his hand to me. “Sorry to keep you waiting. If you’d like to come this way?” He led me up a flight of stairs and into a spartan office.

“Please do take a seat.”

“Chief Inspector,” I said, “I understand that my brother has been arrested. This is absolutely ridiculous. I do hope you can instruct your junior officers to let him go immediately.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, my lady.”

“Why not?”

“Because we have enough evidence in our possession to believe that your brother was the most likely person to have murdered Mr. de Mauxville.”

“I have one word for you, Chief Inspector. Balderdash. All you have is a note purporting to come from my brother, which is an obvious forgery. There must be fingerprints on it. You can analyze the handwriting.”

“We have done so. There are no fingerprints but de Mauxville’s, and it is not at all clear that the handwriting is forged. I agree there are some vital differences from the way your brother forms some of his letters, but that could have been done to make the note appear like a forgery.”

“And my brother has already told you that he would never write to anyone on writing paper that did not bear the family crest, unless he was at his club at the time, in which case it would bear the club crest.”

“Again he could have deliberately substituted substandard notepaper, to make this very argument.”

With the use of the word “notepaper,” my opinion of him went down. Not the right sort of school then. “I have to tell you, Chief Inspector, that my brother has never been known for his quick wit or his brainpower. He would never have thought through such complicated details. Besides, what possible motive could he have had for killing a man he hardly knew? Without a motive, surely you have no case.”

He looked at me long and hard. He had the most piercing blue eyes and I found it hard to hold his gaze. “We happen to think he had the strongest of motives, my lady. He was fighting to preserve his home.”

He must have noticed my face fall.