Digby’s jaw sagged in astonishment. “I knew him. Chilvers was a Tory hopeful, about five years ahead of me in experience and age. When the local member of Parliament came down with pneumonia that winter, it was a disappointment for me. Too soon, you see. Chilvers would have gotten the nomination and been a fixture for the foreseeable . . . But the MP recovered anyway.”

“What a waste of talent. Tick?”

“Then there’s Fanshawe. I’ve entered him on my father’s account. And last, Hardy himself. I’m writing my name in that slot. There—I’ve initialled numbers two to five for Pa and signed for the last one myself. I hereby confess to killing Abel Hardy.” He looked up from his scrawlings, puzzled and asked: “Look here, Redfyre—is this regular procedure?”

“Lord, no. It’s very irregular. I’m taking no official notice at all.” He smiled blandly. “Just helping you to clarify the events for yourself. You’ll know it’s regular when we put the handcuffs on you and get the Bible out. Now, just to dot the is, will you tell me how the pair of you managed the disposal of the body of Hardy?”

“I went down to the refectory, showed my face, forced down a bite of rice pudding and came away as soon as I could. Told everyone I’d be dashing in and out with an attack of the squitters. And Captain Dunne helped me dispose of the body.”

“Mm. I worked out that it was a two-man job to get him down all those stairs, and one of them at least would have had to have a good knowledge of the building to find his way down through the master’s lodge and into the graveyard.”

“I knew the way down and where the key to the door was kept. I unlocked it, locked up afterward and threw the key away into the grass so that no one would venture into the graveyard for a while. Dunne knew the position of the tombstones on the other side. He’d often slept there himself in the summertime. He thought the body wouldn’t be found for days,” he finished accusingly. “We spent some time putting him into Dunne’s greatcoat, fastening that ridiculous tie round his neck, emptying his pockets. At the last moment we noticed the shoes. Hardy had on a very nice pair, scarcely worn. They had to be swapped.”