Tears wet on his face, Drummond gently lowered Madelyn Holden’s body to the floor again, stumbled to his feet, and went to Rutledge.

The pulse in his throat was no more than a thread now, the breath so shallow, it seemed not to exist.

“You shall not die!” Drummond thundered in unconscious echo of Hamish’s voice. “Not here! Not till I’ve finished with you—!”

He curled his arms under Rutledge’s shoulders and then his knees, grunting as he lifted the unresisting weight.

Muscles straining, Drummond made his way to the door, stepping uncaring over Holden.

Tommy Braddock stood just outside, a large black umbrella over his head. The rain had subsided, but a cold wind blew, whipping the skirts of the coat he’d thrown on over his nightclothes.

“What the hell—” he exclaimed as Drummond stepped out into the drizzle, a man’s body gripped in his arms.

“Keep the rain off him!” Drummond ordered. “My house. Then the doctor. Bring him back as soon’s you can!”

Braddock slammed the inn door shut behind them and tilted the umbrella over the burden Drummond carried, recognizing the man from London and swearing in surprise under his breath. But one look at Drummond’s face and he said nothing, keeping pace as best he could.

Drummond paid no heed, concentrating on walking back the way he’d come barely ten minutes before. “You’ll live. Do you hear me?” he said once to Rutledge.

Ahead they could see the house door wide open and Drummond’s sister leaning out into the wet night, a lamp in her hand. The flame danced and shifted, then burned stark and straight.

He saw it, a beacon, his grief so heavy that the flame seemed to flicker through his tears.

If Holden had killed Madelyn, Drummond promised himself that he would come back to The Reivers this same night and cut out the bastard’s heart.

“You shall not die!” Drummond silently repeated the words in cadence with each step, a malediction—and a benison.

He moved strongly, steadily, toward the light.

THE MURDER STONE

If you enjoyed this Inspector
Ian Rutledge mystery from Charles Todd,
Legacy of the Dead, you won’t want to miss
any of the tantalizing, atmospheric mysteries
in this bestselling series. Look for them at
your favorite bookseller.

And an exciting preview
of Charles Todd’s first stand-alone
suspense novel . . .

THE MURDER STONE

Available now in hardcover
from Bantam books.

1

Devon, 1916

IT ALWAYS STOOD IN THE BACK GARDEN—WHAT my cousins called The Murder Stone.

They teased me about it often enough.

“Put you head here, and you brains will be bashed out.”

“Lie down here, and the headsman will come and chop your neck!”

Nasty little beasts, I thought them then. But they’re all dead now. Lost at Mons and Ypres, Paschendael and the Somme. Their laughter stilled, their teasing no more than a childhood memory. Their voices a distant recollection that comes sometimes in my dreams.