This elderly fellow was thin as a grass stem and about as strong. He wavered, a troubled look in his eyes. With small, nervous movements, he picked at his clothes as if he could remove individual dust particles. He didn’t speak, so the magistrate introduced him.

“This is Landsem, a night watchman for the town. He found the body.”

The watchman shuddered and shook his head, as if he could dispel the memory. Dark smudges hovered under his bloodshot eyes. It was now mid-afternoon. Had he been awake all night and half the day?

“Sir, what did you find?” Daniel asked.

“Better see for yourself.” Mr. Tollar jerked his head toward the warehouse entrance and led the way into the smoke-blackened hallway to Mr. Montgomery’s office, but he didn’t turn in there. He continued into the office of the mill manager, Mr. Coombe.

There, in the center of the floor, sprawled a man on his side, the back of his head a mess of blood. Nearby lay a length of pipe, also blood smeared.

A breeze from the shattered window stirred the air in the room, causing papers to flutter. The explosion had toppled books and files, and the wind had rearranged them several times. Frowning, Daniel toed one of the pages. These shouldn’t be here. He’d told Owen to gather the paperwork from the mill. He frowned at the boy, pointing to the mess, then raising his brows. Owen looked away.

Daniel squatted beside the body. A layer of dust, whether dirty flour or just plain dirt, he didn’t know, covered the man’s clothes, which were of rough cloth. He wore heavy boots and had big, sinewy hands with the large knuckles of a laborer.

“Any idea who he is?”

The magistrate shook his head, remaining by the door. “Never seen him before.”

“When was he found?”

Mr. Tollar turned to the hallway and dragged the watchman into the room. “Tell what you know.”

Landsem’s Adam’s apple lurched. “I was making my rounds. The engineer fellow who’s been crawling about the place every day asked us to take a look around inside a few times a night because some men had been breaking in and looting. That’s why he had us put up that fence.” The man’s voice, being deep and robust, was at odds with his appearance. “I came through at midnight, and again at half three, but there was no one here. Just as the sun was coming up, I made one more pass through the building, and there he was.”

“Did you touch him?”

Landsem looked aghast. “No. It was clear he was dead. Nothing to be done for him.”

“Did you disturb anything else in the room?”

“No. I shut the door and got out of here.”

“Was the door open when you found him?”

“Yes.”

“Did you look through the mill to see if anyone else was lurking?”