“Really? Good for you.” He leaned closer to me and for a moment I thought he was going to pat my hand. “You can rest assured that my forensics team will give the place a good going over, little lady,” he said. “And we’re the professionals, so don’t you worry your little head with the case.”

This was now war, I decided. Nobody calls me “little lady.”

Chapter 23

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, AND THEN SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19

TREWOMA, CORNWALL

This is absolutely horrid. It’s like my nightmare, only worse. I wish I knew what to do.

Detective Inspector Watt looked up as someone came into the room. It was Mrs. Mannering, come to tell him that Mrs. Summers had had a little supper and now felt strong enough to answer his questions. We were told to confirm all of our details with the sergeant who had apparently come with him from London. He took down our addresses.

“And where might your husband be, Mrs. O’Mara?” he asked.

“Off on business somewhere,” I said.

“And how would we contact him?”

“I don’t think you would, at the moment. He’s abroad.”

“What line of work is he in?”

“He works for the government, Sergeant,” I replied although I was never quite sure this was true. This seemed to satisfy him.

Rose did not put in an appearance that evening and eventually we were told that we would not be wanted again and could go to bed. I poured us both a large brandy. I felt we needed it to help us sleep.

Mrs. Mannering offered Belinda another room to sleep in, but Belinda said she’d rather stay with me. She did not want to be alone. I could understand how she felt. If someone had tried to pin a murder on her, then she might not be safe alone. But I couldn’t fathom who that person could be. Apart from servants there were only Rose and Mrs. Mannering in the house. And neither had any reason to dislike Belinda. Perhaps Rose’s husband had been a little flirty with her, but that wouldn’t drive someone to kill. And we’d already decided the kitchen was just too far away for Rose to have done the deed.

I got undressed and crawled into bed beside Belinda.

“I’m glad you are here, Georgie,” she whispered. “You’re clever at these things, aren’t you? You’ve solved murders before. You’ll find out who did it, won’t you?”