“Where’s Robert?” Lisa breathed behind her worriedly, and Suzette shook her head and raised a hand to shush her as the kidnapper cried, “Stay back or I’ll cut her.”

Suzette hadn’t noticed the man holding a weapon in the brief glimpse she’d gotten earlier, but he must have one because Christiana suddenly squawked, “Ouch! That is my bottom.”

“Put her down,” Richard ordered.

“Go to hell!” the kidnapper snarled and whirled toward the door only to crash into Haversham.

From her position, Suzette saw the startled look on the man’s face and then saw him turn a bewildered expression to Haversham. Even so she didn’t realize what had happened until the kidnapper started to fall back and she caught a glimpse of the butcher knife protruding from his chest, blood blossoming around the wound. He’d skewered himself on the butler’s weapon.

“Oh dear,” Lisa said faintly behind her, and recalling her dislike of blood, Suzette turned quickly to see that the younger girl had gone terribly pale and was swaying on her feet.

“It is all right,” Suzette said, quickly catching her arm and urging her a step away from the open door. “Take deep breaths.”

Lisa inhaled several times and after a moment seemed to recover a bit, her color returning.

“All right?” Suzette asked with concern. Lisa had been known to faint at the sight of blood. But she appeared steady enough on her feet at the moment, perhaps because there hadn’t been all that much blood, just a slow blossoming on the cloth of his livery. Whatever the case, she was recovering nicely and Lisa nodded, even managing a smile.

Suzette smiled back and then glanced toward the door as her father ushered a somewhat shaky Christiana out.

“I need a word with your sister,” Lord Madison murmured as they approached.

Suzette nodded and watched them move toward the back of the garden and then turned back to Lisa. “We should go in now. Can you manage it?”

Lisa nodded. “I just won’t look at him this time.”

Suzette squeezed her arm, then led her to the door. Haversham was gone, but Robert had joined the other two men. All three of them were gathered around the body and pretty much blocking their entrance to the room, so Suzette and Lisa paused as Robert said, “Well, that is one problem taken care of anyway. The blackmail threat is over.”

“Now we just need to figure out who poisoned George and is still trying to kill Richard,” Daniel commented in dry tones.

“Well, I’m afraid Lisa and I didn’t find out anything of use today,” Robert said apologetically to Richard. “I think people were reluctant to gossip about you with Lisa there. She is your sister-in-law, after all. Perhaps Christiana and Suzette were more successful at discovering what servant may have administered the poison.”