‘No, I didn’t,’ Rachel said, and Josephine believed her. ‘As far as I was concerned, the reason we’re here is in our wardrobe, all packed up in Gerry’s suitcase and ready for a swift departure.’

‘Rachel! For God’s sake!’

‘Tell me what you mean.’

‘My husband’s a thief, Mr Penrose, no matter who his grandparents were – a conman and a petty thief, and I’m the one who should be ashamed. If she looks carefully around the castle, I’m afraid that Miss St Aubyn will find some of her most precious belongings missing.’

Josephine saw the relief pass across Archie’s face. Gerald Lancaster seemed to have no alibi for Richard Hartley’s murder, but the only evidence to that was his wife’s word 202against his; if the accusations of theft proved to be true, at least there would be something to charge him with and an excuse to keep him away from Rachel for the time being. Archie rang the service bell, and the butler appeared so quickly from the staircase down to the kitchens that Josephine could have believed he was waiting there to be called. ‘Lee, I’d like you to come with me and Mr Lancaster while I search his room. Get one of your staff to join us, will you?’

‘Certainly, sir.’

He did as Archie asked and the four men left the room together. ‘Bloody hell,’ Fielding said, as their footsteps drifted away. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.’

Marta got up and went to sit by Rachel Lancaster. ‘That was very brave,’ she said quietly. ‘Are you all right?’

‘I have absolutely no idea. I’m just glad that he’s gone – for now, at least.’

She started to cry, and although Josephine felt every sympathy for her, she couldn’t help but recall how well Rachel seemed to know Angela Hartley; it was overly suspicious, perhaps, but the thought crossed her mind that if Lancaster genuinely didn’t have an alibi for the early hours of Christmas morning, then neither did his wife.

203

4

Violet slept later than she had planned, soothed subconsciously by the rhythm of the sea outside the window. When she finally came to, it took her a moment to make sense of the unfamiliar ceiling and oddly matched furniture, then she remembered the storm and the hotel, and the expression on Johnny’s face when he had learned that they would have to share a room. She turned over, enjoying the simple luxury of being warm on a cold winter’s day, and looked at her fiancé in the next bed. Johnny was every bit as dead to the world as she had been, and it was nice to have him at her mercy for once, unselfconscious and without the distraction of trying to please her. He looked so young in his sleep, with a lock of fair hair fallen forward over his eyes and his arm outstretched on the pillow, but it was a strong face as well as a handsome one, she thought – definitely a view she could get used to, and not a bad start to Christmas Day.