Judith sighed in relief as the faintness evaporated. “Damn you,” she said softly. “You terrified me.”
“You have to see something odd.” Renie was still whispering as she helped Judith straighten up. “Come on. It’s the castle.”
The cousins crept out of the garden and back onto the path by the road. “Watch,” Renie said, pointing to the castle. “You have to wait until the mist rolls away.”
“Watch what?” Judith asked.
“You’ll see.”
Judith and Renie waited for three, maybe four minutes. “I can barely make out the castle’s outline,” Judith complained.
“Just wait.”
At last the mist floated to the east, revealing Grimloch’s bulk on top of the steep cliff.
“Do you see the light on your far right?” Renie inquired.
“Yes. So?”
“It’s in our room.”
Judith frowned. “Are you sure? Or did you leave it on?”
“This morning in broad daylight? You know I hate bright lights when I wake up. I’m a mole person. Think about the castle layout. That light’s coming from the second floor, near the stairway in the guest wing. Bill and I overlook the village and the beach. It’s got to be our room.”
“Maybe Mrs. Gibbs is cleaning it,” Judith suggested.
“At six o’clock on the Sabbath?” Renie shook her head.
Judith stared at the amber glow in the lighted window. Before she could say anything else, the light went out.
11
Mrs. Gibbs looked as if she’d aged ten years in eight hours. She was not only still pale, but her body seemed to have withered. Her hands shook and her lips trembled as she met the cousins at the castle door.
“How are you feeling?” Judith asked with concern.
Mrs. Gibbs didn’t answer immediately. She stepped aside, a hand clutching at the fabric of her gray dress. “How should I feel?” she finally responded. “Sad, helpless, angry. Who did this horrid thing?”
“The police will find out,” Judith asserted. “I’m sure they’re very capable. Have they contacted you today?”
Mrs. Gibbs shook her head. “The inquest is Tuesday. Moira called to tell us. Imagine, being too sick to come to Mass here in the chapel to pray for the poor laddie’s soul! She’s young, she should carry on, she’s not bowed down with age like some of us. Where’s her spunk?”
Judith didn’t dare look at Renie. Moira had seemed to have plenty of spunk when they’d seen her at Hollywood. “We heard she’d taken to her bed,” Judith remarked.
“Aye, Moira’s a great one for that when there’s trouble.” Mrs. Gibbs’s voice was uneven. “An excuse, that’s all.” She wiped her hands on her apron. “God help us, life must go on. Will ye want supper?”
Judith glanced at Renie. “I don’t know. We ate a late lunch.”
“So we’ll eat a late supper,” Renie said, adding hastily, “if it’s not too much trouble, Mrs. Gibbs.”
“In truth, work keeps my mind off my troubles,” Mrs. Gibbs replied. “Nine o’clock in the dining room?”
“We’ll come get it,” Judith volunteered. “We can eat in our rooms.”
“Say,” Renie put in, “was anyone in my room in the last hour?”
Mrs. Gibbs scowled at Renie. “No. Why do ye ask?”
“We thought we saw a light on in there just before we returned to the castle,” Renie explained.
“Oh.” Mrs. Gibbs hesitated. “’Twas probably a trick of the eyes. Oftentimes the lights from the village reflect on the castle windows. Excuse me, I must tend to The Master and his wife.”
“A quick question,” Judith put in. “Can we hire a car?”
Mrs. Gibbs shook her head. “Only if the garage has one to rent out. You might ring them tomorrow.”
“Your own car won’t be back by then?” Judith inquired.
Their hostess shrugged. “You must ask Gibbs. I canna drive.”
The cousins proceeded upstairs where Renie wanted Judith to help her inspect the Joneses’ room. “We don’t have anything worth stealing,” Renie said. “I suspect it might have been Chuckie wandering around. Unless his father grounded him after the debacle in the courtyard.”
There was no sign of anything missing or out of order, however. Judith sat on the bed, perusing a list of services and goods in the area.
“I’d forgotten what Barry told us,” she remarked. “The local garage is owned by Archibald Morton, Jocko’s brother.”
