“Ah, Henry. I believe Maisie used the phrase ‘thick as day-old porridge’ the other day, which rather sums it up.” Kim gave a thin smile. “A nice boy, obliging, cheerfully obedient. Did what he was told. I didn’t, you see. I realised early on that I’d rather be disliked than subjugated, so I made life as unpleasant as possible for everyone. I spied on Chingford shamelessly and reported his goings-on, breaking windows or bothering the housemaid or what-have-you. Once or twice those discoveries obliged my father to punish him, for which they both bitterly resented me. Actually, I nearly got him expelled from Eton once.” He said that in a tone of fond reminiscence. “That was a high point. I stole, sneaked, and generally made a damned nuisance of myself because those were the weapons I had. Or possibly my natural inclination, who can say. Happy families.”

Will’s mother had been firm-handed, and not demonstrative in her affection, but if anyone had ever tried bullying him she’d have been out there with her sleeves rolled up and the copper stick in her hand. He couldn’t imagine growing up in the feverish, spiteful atmosphere Kim described. “That sounds bloody miserable.”

“Henry had it easier. In part because he was twelve years younger than Chingford, so he spent less time living with him and they weren’t at school together, but mostly because he didn’t protest. If you slammed his head in a door, he might muster an injured ‘I say!’ but he wouldn’t hold a grudge, still less do anything about it.”

“Slammed...?”

“One of Chingford’s little tricks. It hurt.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Will said. “And fuck your brother. Let him hang. Why are we going to do a bloody thing for him?”

“We aren’t. We are going to find out what exactly he was up to with Fairfax and use that to get this business untangled and you out of trouble. My father will take it extremely poorly, and the whole thing is going to be awful, but it’s all I’ve got.”

“You’ve got me out of being arrested and you’re hiding me in a stately home while you solve a murder, and that’s all you’ve got?” Will rolled his eyes. “Bit of a poor show, really.”

“Let’s see if any of it works,” Kim said, and they drove on into the gathering gloom.

Chapter Fifteen

They reached the house around ten that night. The drive had taken longer than expected, partly because they stopped for a leisurely dinner at a pub, taking advantage of Will’s as-yet unbreached anonymity, and partly because Kim hadn’t used the accelerator with his usual recklessness. Will didn’t fear for his life even once, which suggested Kim didn’t much want to get there.

When they did arrive, things started badly and got worse.