“Come on,” she said, taking May-Jewel by the hand.
“Where are we going?”
“Out to the barn. If Garth, Molly and David aren’t here, we’re left with Alex, whom I trust less now than before. Maybe Brice can be of some help after all.”
May-Jewel grabbed a muffin on the way out of the kitchen.
A half sobered Brice stumbled from the shadows as the women approached. He leaned heavily against the wide door and eyed them suspiciously.
“What is it ye want?”
Katherine caught the sickening odor of liquor, so didn’t stand too close to him when she inquired after everyone.
“Do I look like me brother’s keeper? How would the likes of me know anything?”
“Master Craig rode away a while ago,” Katherine informed him.
“Aye, and Mist’r Alex saddled up and rood away too,” the stableman said gruffly, standing not too steady on his feet.
“Have you seen Vicar Hawes?” Katherine asked anxiously.
“Nay, not since he first coom to the manor.”
“Well, sober up and keep watch until Master Craig returns.”
“Aye,” he said, a sneer twisting around his lips, “I’ll guard Wistmere as if t’were me very own. An’ I’ll be watching ye like ye were my own sisters.”
Katherine didn’t like his reply. It sounded more like a threat than a servant’s compliance. She shrugged off the feeling, however, as she and May-Jewel returned to the manor.
“I can’t understand where David made off to. He said he’d stay with us.” Katherine frowned, deeply upset with this breach of promise. She then became concerned for him. What if something happened to him too?
“Well, maybe he hurried back to the manse for some reason and will return presently,” May-Jewel reasoned.
“No… no, he promised me he’d stay here.” Her fears for him mounted.
“Well, if you don’t think he’d leave, let’s go find him. And now is the time, with Alex gone, there’s not much to fear.”
“There’s still Selina.” Katherine reminded her.
“Well, if we concentrate on her, we’ll never get anywhere. So let’s go look for the vicar, and while Alex isn’t here, at least go get that letter from his room.”
Katherine didn’t argue with her plans.
They moved cautiously as they searched each of the lower rooms. Then they searched all the remaining rooms upstairs, but David wasn’t to be found anywhere. At last they came upon Alex’s room. Now knowing where he had hid the letter, they retrieved it from the valise hidden behind the curtain. They scanned the letter’s last page for the signature of the writer. Neal Jameson’s signature was scrawled in large bold script. The letter was dated May 21st.
Katherine turned to the first page of the letter and smiled. “This part proves that Garth is who he says he is.”
“Yes, but listen to this,” May-Jewel pointed to the text and read, “‘… of course we will have to make legal restitution to the Mistresses St. Pierre and Belwood. Also, Garth’s appearance changes your status in the shipping lines. Robert’s will stated that you were to receive half ownership as he had no son to leave it to. In light of Garth’s return, that directive is now null and void. But I shall be there soon and will explain further.’”
“No wonder Alex was livid. His livelihood and future are threatened by Garth’s return,” Katherine stated.
Just then a door slammed at the end of the corridor. The women looked at each other in fear and hastily replaced the document in the valise and behind the curtain again.
Looking out into the hallway, Katherine called, “David, is that you?”
But there wasn’t any response.
“Let’s get out of here,” May-Jewel suggested. “It might be Alex coming back.”
They hastened from there and back into Katherine’s room.
Once the door was closed behind them, May-Jewel admitted, “In the beginning Alex was so charming, almost lovable. And in spite of everything, I still find it difficult to think of him as a murderer.”
“In light of what we’ve just read, I find it less difficult to believe,” Katherine’s voice was cold and hard. “I wouldn’t hesitate to consider that he had planned to do away with both of us from the very beginning. The promised wealth of the shipping line and the prospect of the emeralds would satisfy anyone, even a greedy man like Alex. I just wonder how he came by the poison that killed Charles.”
“Poor Charles to die like that. What kind of person would poison such an old man? Who would plan such actions just for gain? I don’t want to think it might be Alex, but…” She toyed absentmindedly with her necklace. Suddenly a tightness formed in May-Jewel’s throat. Her face blanched, and she sank onto the bed.
“What is it? What did you just think of?” Katherine sat down next to her.
“You remember when we were in the garden, the time we told Alex that I lost my broach? He remarked that my mother was a ‘charming woman’ or something like that?” She started to shake as the pieces seemed to fall into place. “Then the night that he tried to have me join his scheme to take Wistmere away from you, he touched with my necklace and said, ‘It looks better on you than on the old woman.’”
“You think he knew your mother? But how could that be?”
“This necklace was a gift from Aunt Constance to my mother, and it was passed onto me when Mother died. A portrait of my Aunt wearing that very necklace hung on the wall of her house, the house where mother died. Alex couldn’t have known what it looked like on her unless he had been to my aunt’s house and seen that picture!” It was suddenly so clear to May-Jewel. The friend Mother had gone to
