As Rutledge walked into the office and dropped the key on the desk, Blevins said, “What’s that in aid of?” He inclined his head toward the savage pounding. “I don’t see you’ve gained much of anything!”

Rutledge sat down in the chair across the cluttered desk from Blevins. “I don’t know who killed Iris Kenneth,” he said. “But I’d give you heavy odds that it wasn’t Walsh.” He could feel the weariness building up in him, the strain across his shoulders that came from depression and stress. “Not that it matters. We’re far from proving she was on the scene, the night of the priest’s murder.”

“He had the opportunity, surely? We didn’t pick him up until after the woman went into the river, from what you’ve told me of the timing. He had a reason to want her silenced. He could have taken a train to London, finished her off, and taken the next one back to Norfolk!”

“And left his cart and his equipment with the scissors sharpener?”

“That’s possible! We should look into the trains. A man the size of Walsh would stand out. Other passengers might remember seeing him.”

“It’s best to be thorough,” Rutledge agreed. Then he added, choosing his words, “Something was said earlier about having to release Walsh, if you didn’t have incontrovertible proof. Perhaps—as a precaution—we might be well advised to look at other suspects.”

Warily, Blevins asked, “Starting where?”

“I was about to ask you that.”

“I’ve told you, no one in Osterley had a reason to murder Father James!”

“We won’t know that with any certainty until Walsh is found guilty.”

Disconcerted, Blevins studied the Londoner. “Do you really believe I’m wrong about Walsh?”

Rutledge answered indirectly. “If you’re forced to let Walsh walk out of here, will you still be convinced he was guilty?”

Blevins looked away, a long sigh expressing his frustration and uncertainty. His fingers toyed with the edge of the blotter, worrying a small tear in the corner. He was reluctant to give up any part of his authority—and equally reluctant to exercise it. This was his village, his people. To be seen rigorously investigating the private lives of those he lived with on a daily basis would bring their wrath down on his head. To let Rutledge usurp his position was an admission that he was not prepared to do it himself. For whatever reasons.

Finally he told Rutledge, “I don’t want to know what you’re doing. Not at first. But when you think you’ve got something I should hear, then I want to hear it. However unpleasant it might be. Do you understand me?”