“Nobody apart from Mrs. Goldman and possibly Miss Kindell,” Stella said. “Most of them were visiting for the first time and Cy never liked his guests to sleep in the main house. He liked his privacy. That’s why he had the cottages built. So they’d have had no way of knowing where I was sleeping.”

“Interesting.” The sheriff sucked through his teeth. “Well, we’ve got to put you somewhere, Miss Brightwell. I can lock you in my truck for the night, but that’s a little chilly right now. Or I can lock you in a bathroom. . . .”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. This is absurd.” Stella had remained remarkably composed until now but I could tell she was coming to the end of her tether. “I believe some of the bedroom doors have old-fashioned locks and the keys must be somewhere. Ask Maria. She must know where they are kept. We’ve never thought of locking bedroom doors here.”

“Well, you wouldn’t, would you?” the sheriff replied with a smirk. “We’ve all heard what goes on in places like this.”

“Oh, really, this is pathetic,” she said. “Lock me up and put a guard on me if you like, but I actually want to go to sleep. I don’t know about you but I’m dead tired. And if you think I can fly away through the window then go and look out. On this side of the house there are rocks at the bottom of a large drop.”

“Very well,” the sheriff said. “One of you men go and get the keys from the housekeeper, and you can find an unused room for Miss Brightwell—one that’s already been searched, with no dangerous objects in it.”

“Come now, Sheriff,” Stella snapped. “Do you expect me to go on another rampage with a candlestick?”

The sheriff ignored her. “And Hansen, you remain outside the door.”

“It’s not as if I can escape, Sheriff,” Stella said. “There is only one way out of this property and that’s through the gate that can only be operated from inside the gatehouse. And anyone walking alone in these grounds at night must be mad. I’ve no idea exactly what animals Cy keeps here but they are certainly not all friendly.”

“I’m not taking any chances, Miss Brightwell,” the sheriff said. “Now if you’d like to go with my men . . .”

Stella turned back to look at us as she was led away. “This is bloody stupid,” she said—showing how upset she really was. A lady never swears in public. But then she wasn’t a lady, was she? She might be playing Princess Elizabeth in the movie but she had come from the lowliest of circumstances.