have been anyone what killed him. It doesn’t have to be Dan.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“I just can’t help wondering why he didn’t tell me about the fight.”
“Most likely he didn’t want to upset you.”
Gertie was silent for a moment, then muttered, “Yeah, that was probably it.”
Cecily folded her hands on the desk. “How did Gloria know that Dan and Ian had been fighting?”
Gertie looked startled. “What?”
“Or that Ian had a black eye? Gloria told me that when Ian left her at the cottage to go to the George and Dragon, she went to bed. She said that was the last time she saw him. So I’m wondering how she knew he’d been fighting with Dan and received a black eye.”
“I don’t know.” Gertie pondered the question. “She must have been lying about going to bed. Perhaps she went down the pub to look for him and someone down there told her.”
“That’s possible. But then why would she lie about it?” Cecily glanced at the clock. “While we’re on the subject, is there a reason why you didn’t tell me earlier that Ian came back again later that evening?”
Gertie looked surprised. “I didn’t?” She thought about it. “Oh, well, I was going to, but Gloria walked in while we was talking and I never got a chance to tell you the rest.”
She was right, Cecily realized. Gloria had interrupted their conversation. “Well, why don’t you tell me the rest of the story now.”
Gertie heaved a sigh. “All right. I might as well. Nothing is a bloody secret around here, anyway. Sorry, m’m.”
Cecily smiled. “Go on.” She settled back, eager to hear Gertie’s side of the story. Perhaps now she’d get some of the answers that kept eluding her and they’d help clear up some of her suspicions.
“Well, it was like this,” Gertie said. “As I told you before, Ian came to the back door demanding to see the twins. I told him he couldn’t see them. He got nasty and that’s when I picked up the knife. I was hoping to scare him off. Then Clive turned up and took him away.” Gertie shuddered. “I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t got there right then.”
“Then it’s just as well that he did. So what happened after that?”
“Well, like I said, Dan came over and we talked a bit. I told him what happened and he was pretty cross.” Gertie shook her head. “He must have gone down the pub after that and had it out with Ian.”
“Well, then-” Cecily broke off as something popped into her mind. Her conversation with Mrs. Chubb.
Gertie looked worried. “Yes, m’m?”
“I was just thinking about something.” Cecily paused, then said abruptly, “I understand Mrs. Chubb sent you down to the wine cellar that night.”
Gertie’s frown deepened. “Yes, m’m. She wanted me to bring up a case of wine.”
“Did you happen to see Clive down there while you were there?”
Gertie looked surprised. “No, m’m. I didn’t.” She fidgeted her feet, staring down at them as if she’d never seen them before.
So Clive had lied about where he was that evening. Cecily was getting a very bad feeling about the maintenance man. So far she had resisted the possibility of him being involved, but there were just too many lies and evasions about that night for her to rule him out.
Much as she hated to admit it, the circumstances seemed to point rather strongly in his direction.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Gertie sounded worried, and Cecily forced her mind back to the subject at hand. “It’s nothing important. Now, where were we? You said that Ian came back here later that night, after you went to the wine cellar?”
“Yes. It was just before nine o’clock. I went out to fill the coal scuttle ’cos I knew Michel was coming back to take his puddings out the oven at nine and he’d raise merry hell if he saw the scuttle was empty.”
“Yes, Michel told me he came back here to take out the puddings.”
Gertie raised a hand to sweep the stray hair from her eyes. “Yes, well, I was opening the coal shed door when Ian came up behind me. I could smell his breath from where I stood. I knew he’d had a bellyful of beer. I could see the black eye and I thought he’d been in a fight, and I could tell he was really angry and upset.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“He grabbed my arm.” Gertie rubbed a spot above her elbow. “I got a bruise there now.”
“So what happened next?”
“Well, he was snarling at me, threatening me with all kinds of terrible things if I didn’t let him see the twins. I could see he was in a rage and he scared me. I tried to tell him they was asleep and he’d frighten them if he woke them up, but he wouldn’t listen.”
Gertie shuddered, and Cecily waited while she struggled to compose herself. “Anyway,” she went on, “I got angry, too, and I shoved him. Hard. Being drunk and all he staggered a bit and tripped over the step. He fell backwards into the coal shed and I locked him in. I thought I’d leave him there until he cooled down a bit.”
Cecily raised her eyebrows. “You locked Ian in the coal shed?”
“Yes, m’m.” Gertie looked anxious. “Only for a few minutes. I went back to the kitchen and I was going to ask Michel to let him out when he got here, but then Clive came to the door. He’d heard the shouting from across the yard and wanted to know if I was all right.”
Cecily took a moment to digest Gertie’s tumbling words. Clive had not mentioned one word of this to her. She had to wonder why.
“So I asked him to let Ian out,” Gertie went on, with just a slight tremor in her voice. “I gave him the key, but when he came back he said Ian had climbed out the window and was gone.” She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. “He always comes to my rescue, Clive does. He’s a good man.”
Cecily felt a cold chill run down her back as she met Gertie’s gaze. She knew what she was thinking. What they were both thinking. It wouldn’t have taken too much time for Clive to go into the foyer and take the candlestick. Perhaps thinking to protect himself.
He could have opened the shed door, and when Ian charged at him, hit him over the head. Then dragged him to the pond and left him there before bringing back the key.
Cecily cleared her throat. “How much time do you think passed after giving Clive the key, until he brought it back?”
Gertie dropped her gaze. “I don’t know. I took the clean serviettes up to the dining room after I gave Clive the key. I wanted to save time in the morning. By the time I got back to the kitchen, Clive had put the key on the table and left.”
She frowned. “I was gone quite a while. I went by the library and saw a strange flickering light under the door.” She flicked a nervous glance at Cecily. “It was Mabel. She’d lit every candle on the Christmas tree.”
Cecily felt the shiver all over her body. “Oh, good heavens.”
“I know. She wanted to see how it looked. I helped her blow them all out, and then… I… went…”
Cecily looked at her in surprise as her words gradually trailed off. Her face seemed to be set in stone and there was such horror in her eyes Cecily felt a jolt of fear herself. “Gertie?”
The housemaid swallowed, and seemed to make an effort to focus on her face. “Dan,” she whispered. “He came back here. I never saw him, but he must have come back here. He told me he saw the candles in the window. That must have been about the time Ian was-” She gulped, unable to finish.
Cecily clenched her fingers. “All right, Gertie. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
Gertie’s frightened eyes pleaded with her. “Why would he come back here that late? Why didn’t he come to see me? Why didn’t he tell me he came back? Why didn’t he tell me about the fight?”
“I wish I had the answers.” Cecily got up and walked around the desk. “I do know one thing. It doesn’t help to try and guess what happened. We just have to have faith in the people we know and trust, and eventually the truth will come out.”
Gertie shook her head. “I don’t know who to trust anymore, m’m. Honest I don’t.”
Cecily patted her shoulder. “Try not to worry about it all now, Gertie. You have two little ones who are really excited about Christmas, and we don’t want to spoil things for them with all our questions and suspicions, do we. I promise you I will look into everything and try to get some answers, but in the meantime, you go and enjoy what little time you have with the twins, and try to put all this out of your mind.”
