“Up the lane, into that copse of trees. Past the houses. He was bearing west, and south. It’s the direction I’d have taken, in his shoes. It’s mostly pasturage, beyond the houses, and easy walking.”

“He never turned east, while you were following him?”

“No. Why should he? It would be going into a box.”

Rutledge nodded. He looked down at Peter Henderson’s shoes. They were old. Worn . . .

He said, “Walsh stole a mare from a farmer just east of Osterley. Why would he turn back on himself to do that?”

Henderson shrugged. “I’ve told you what I saw. I can’t tell you what he did after I broke off and walked back to Osterley.” He had an odd dignity, standing there in his creased and worn clothes. A man shunned by others because he happened to be very good at killing from ambush. It wasn’t deserved, the judgment local people had inflicted upon him. And yet this was his home, and villagers were often tied, emotionally if not financially, to their roots. The money in the tin box at the rectory would have been a treasure trove to him. He could have gone anywhere with ten or fifteen pounds in his pocket. Had it been tempting?

Hamish said, “I canna’ believe it. Nor do you. It was a rifle he used in the War. Distant killing, that.”

“Fair enough, then. Henderson—” Rutledge paused. “Were you at the rectory, the day Father James was killed? Waiting to see him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’d heard of work in Wells. I wanted to ask him to write a letter for me.”

“Had he written letters before?”

“Once. The Vicar has written them, too.”

“Where did you wait?”

“Mrs. Wainer was just leaving. It was growing dark by then. I stood by those overgrown bushes, so as not to frighten her. Someone else came looking for Father James. I left then, not wanting to push myself forward.”

He’d stood in the lilacs—“those overgrown bushes.” It wasn’t one of Walsh’s cronies acting as lookout, after all; it was a man wanting help to find a job. Rutledge said, “Who came?”

“Mrs. Barnett, from the hotel, but she only tapped at the door. When Mrs. Wainer didn’t answer, she stepped into the kitchen and called, then closed the door and left.”

“Mrs. Barnett never went beyond the kitchen?”

“Not as far as I could tell. She wasn’t there much above a minute.”

“Was there anyone else?”

Henderson said reluctantly, “Yes. Lord Sedgwick came to the front door and knocked.”

“You saw his car?”