“Did you see where he was shot?” I asked.

“In the back and neck. I got there a little late but that’s what Padgett said.”

“I wonder if you can kill somebody with a grouse gun,” I said. “Surely those little pellets couldn’t kill a person, could they?”

“If one of them hit the right spot, it could. If it struck an artery in the neck, for example. There was a lot of blood around.”

“So could you tell if it was pellets or a single bullet hole?”

Darcy shook his head. “When we saw that he was already dead we left him where he was. Didn’t want to tamper with evidence until the police got here.”

“So we should know pretty soon whether it was one of the party with his grouse gun, or an outsider with a different type of weapon.”

“Are you thinking of joining the police force?” he asked, looking amused for a moment. “A nice, well-bred girl like you is not supposed to discuss weapons without feeling faint.”

“That’s rubbish and you know it,” I said. “Think of all the nice, well-bred girls who volunteered as nurses in the Great War and saw the most unimaginable horrors without fainting.”

“That’s true enough, I suppose,” he said, “but I’d be much happier if you didn’t stick your nose into this any further and you stayed safely at home. At least now there will be a police investigation, we hope. Something might come out that we hadn’t suspected: perhaps one of the beaters with a good motive?”

“If it was a beater then Hugo would have been shot in the chest, not the back,” I pointed out.

“You know what I’m getting at—someone who works his way into royal service with the goal of harming the family.”

“Sir Jeremy said they had done extensive background checks and come up empty. He said it had to be one of us.”

Darcy shook his head. “We were standing in little groups, but pretty much in a line. And we had a line of beaters out in front of us. And gillies behind us with the dogs. And when you think about it, who the deuce among us would want to kill? The only people I know nothing about are the American and the Austrian count.”

“Would you have noticed if anyone had dropped back?” Darcy shook his head. “Can’t say I would. When you’re intent on waiting for the next grouse to be flushed you don’t look around.”

We had reached the cars. Darcy took my hands in his. “You go on back to the house. I should stay with the shooting party until the police arrive. And Georgie, don’t go off on your own. Stay with the queen and the ladies, understand? The police will be coming now. This is in their hands.”