“Well, dang me.” He shook his head. “Now there must have been only a very brief time frame between the guests’ leaving the library and Mr. Goldman being killed. You must have been in the best position to see or hear the killer. So think carefully—did you see or hear anything that could help us?”

Bella frowned. Then she shook her head. “I don’t think I saw or heard anything, or I wouldn’t have tried to get into the room. As I said, I went upstairs while you were all at dinner. I waited in Stella’s room because it was right above the library. I heard the men saying they were going to have cigars and brandy in the library, so I waited until the lights finally went out, then I climbed down the wall and let myself in through the window. The curtains were closed across the alcove. I stepped out and the first thing I did was to kick something. I picked it up and it was one of the candlesticks. I knew something was wrong then. I turned on my torch and I saw I’d got blood on my glove. That really spooked me. And then I saw him, of course—lying just on the other side of the curtain with his head smashed in.”

“You’re sure you were alone in the room then?”

Bella shrugged. “I’ve no idea. It was dark apart from my little torch. Anyone could have been hidden in one of the other alcoves or even in the shadows at the far end of the room.” She shuddered and hugged her arms to herself. “Well, I just wanted to get out of there then. I knew I could take the candlesticks, but I also knew how bad it would look for me if I was caught with them. So I put back the bloody candlestick exactly where I had found it and then I decided I’d leave the other one in Stella’s room, just to throw people off the scent. Give myself time to get away.”

“And where did you go after that?” the sheriff asked. “Did you climb out of the window again?”

“I heard an almighty crash,” she said, “then lots of running and shouting, so I decided I’d better make myself scarce. After I put the candlestick in her bed, I went across to the other side of the house where I could climb down onto the roof of the garage, then I stayed close enough to listen to what was going on. I realized there was no way I could escape from the estate that night, so I disappeared into the woods until I found an unoccupied cottage and I spent the night there.”