The miller jerked as if he were the one shot. “Of course not. I told you, I challenged him. Why would I murder him in his office when I was prepared to fire at him honorably the following morning? Anyway, there were men everywhere in the mill. If you have a witness who heard us arguing, would he not have heard a gunshot?”

Daniel spread his hands. “He heard the shouts as he passed the door, and he did not linger in the passageway. We visited your own mill on the way here, and when it is in full production, you well know one can barely hear a cannon’s report from the next room. It’s possible you decided you may not survive a duel and decided to finish Montgomery then and there. You certainly had motive enough. Having your wife’s affections purloined by the man who sought your professional and personal ruin.” He removed his truncheon and tapped it in his palm as if deep in thought.

Owen, in a savvy move, stood and came into Daniel’s view, twisting a pair of darbies in his hands as if ready to clap them on Carlyle and drag him away.

“No. That wasn’t the way of it at all. If you don’t believe me, ask Freddie Marsh. He’ll tell you. I left Montgomery’s and went straight to his place of business. He agreed to be my second at the duel, and we went to talk to the barber. The barber would act as the medical. Why would I go to that trouble if I knew Montgomery was dead? I was with Marsh and the barber when the mill exploded. I didn’t know Montgomery had been shot until the next day. I thought he died in the blast.”

Or you could have been establishing an alibi.

“When you heard the mill had exploded, what was your first thought?”

Carlyle studied his hands in his lap. “My thoughts do me no credit, but I was glad. I didn’t know Montgomery had died, not right away, but I was glad his business was damaged. I hoped it was beyond repair and that he would now leave me and my wife alone.”

“Did you have any suspicions as to how the mill exploded?”

Carlyle shrugged. “My first thought was that it was his workers, angry about the changes and destroying the mill to punish Montgomery. Which is bold, since Luddite laws are harsh. You can be executed for malicious damage to industrial machinery. Then I thought anarchists might be behind it. There have been rumbles, workers striking around the country, roused by anarchists who come into town and get men stirred up. Or it could have been an accident. Mill accidents are not unheard of.”