The soft lapping of the tide reminded Tenney of the answer to his unspoken question. Whatever remained of the dog's trail had been washed away by the tide. Tenney stood for a while, watching the small waves roll in. A dog had been wounded, certainly–but where was it now? And if it wasn't Major, why had she claimed it to be? Tenney felt his mind growing heavy. It was far too late to be puzzling over these things at the moment. Surely whatever clues he could discover about the break-in and the whereabouts of the stolen items would still be in place by morning.
Back at the Dalton residence, the servants were all busy cleaning up what mess they could. The police had been over every inch of the kitchen, noting everything they could, and had finally allowed that the scene could be set to rights—as much as possible, that is.
Pearl had finished the dishes and Charlie was mopping the floors when Mollie burst in. She had departed straight to her tiny room after the interrogation, to compose herself. She stood warily at the threshold, watching her companions slowly erasing evidence of the injustice done against her.
"It will be safe again..." she murmured to herself. "I expect th' inspector'll be back, t' say I were tellin' the truth."
Mason shook his head, though he wore a sympathetic expression. "Not too likely, I'm afraid. I heard a bobby saying they'd gotten all they needed from here."
Mollie couldn't restrain a shudder as she watched Pearl dry the roasting pan. "But what about the men? Wouldn't anybody care what they looked like? There could be more of 'em!"
Mason opened his mouth to dash her hopes a second time, but Charlie inserted himself between them.
"Of course they'll want descriptions of the men," he assured her. "Just not at the time. They'll be back later, don't worry."
Mollie frowned. "What makes you so bloody sure?" She asked as Mason returned to his task.
Charlie gave a knowing grin. "Happens all the time in the Lord Peter novels. You'll see; the coppers go about trying to find the missing items, and they'll find some but not all, so then they start looking for the blokes, and they go about getting clues as to what thief rings are in the area and somebody—" he winked at her, "turns up with a description, and they happen to find the place where the thieves are hiding, they nab them and everything is put to rights!"
This didn't seem to satisfy her. "Put to rights?" She shrieked. "Those tossers should be hanged for what they did to me! This ain't a book, Charlie!" She stumped out of the room.
Mason gave the young footman a wry look and snorted. "Well done, Charlie! You know how she gets."
"Sod off! It's better than what you did!" Charlie grunted, and vacated the premises.
Chapter 4
The morning dawned cool and grey over Afton-By-The-Sea. Ash Grove sat up in bed and stretched slowly, savoring the time he could spend doing so. He stood up then, and slouched his way downstairs, where he set about searching the pre stocked pantry in the kitchen for some breakfast.
The tea kettle whistled and the porridge simmered when Madi came down, dressed in her play clothes and rubbing her eyes. She glanced out the front window, flanked by red gingham curtains, at the low grey clouds. She gave a little sigh as she crossed the front room and entered the kitchen.
Dr. Grove leaned back and welcomed a hug from his daughter.
"Sleep well?" He asked her.
"Mostly," she answered. "The room's a bit darker than at home, and the noises and smells are different." She glanced at the window. "Will we go to the beach today?"
Ash examined the sky with a critical eye. "Let's see if it clears up a bit, first. It won't do us any good to visit the seaside if it rains."
Madi released another sigh over her porridge, heavier this time.
"Listen, Mads," her father cajoled her, "it's the first day; we have a whole week. I am sure the weather will be better another day."
Madi cast baleful eyes on him. "Promise?"
"I swear it," he affirmed.
Madi engaged in her meal with a little more energy.
After breakfast, father and daughter explored the cottage a bit more. The narrow space had few rooms, just a wide sitting room in front, beside the entryway, with a worn sofa and a musty rag rug covering the wood floor in front of the fireplace that whistled when the wind blew. A small bathroom tucked in the back corner held a toilet, sink, and a shower.
Upstairs, there were two bedrooms, one with a large four-poster and the other with a short metal-framed bed. In the middle was a door leading to a dark storage area, very drafty in the gaps between the shingles covering the rafters, but useful for storing the empty trunks from their travels. Madi even found a small "tuck-away" next to a round window tucked in the gable, where she could sit cozily against her father's big steamer and watch the wind blow through the long grasses and reeds.
Ash took a short walk to the post office at the edge of the village and caught wind of the local gossip: there had been a robbery just the night before, at the Dalton house—Dr. Grove recalled the genteel young lady they had met the day before—and the police had been called in to investigate. There was some speculation about a large black dog last seen heading for the beach, but nobody had found it since.
He returned just as the sun was finally daring to break through the gloom, and sure enough, Madi awaited him on the front porch, her shiny tin pail by her side and a wide grin on her face. She leaped up as her father approached.
"Can we go now, Dad?" She asked eagerly.
"Hang on!" He said with a laugh. "Let me get a few things and then we'll be ready."
They packed a
