‘Patrick Randall,’ he said. ‘What’s all this about murdered footmen?’ He threw himself into a chair, merely nodding at Salter when Riley made the introduction. ‘Is there going to be the most frightful scandal?’
‘Is that your only concern?’ Riley asked mildly.
‘Family name and all that,’ he replied languidly. ‘Big brother won’t like it.’ He chuckled, as if the thought had only just occurred to him and he enjoyed the possibility. ‘Political ambitions don’t survive scandal.’
Riley assessed the young man, not especially impressed by what he saw. ‘You are aware of your mother’s friendship with the dead man?’
He nodded. ‘Which is why there’s such a potential for scandal.’
‘You didn’t approve?’
‘Of her playing happy families with the hired help? Hardly, but Mother is law unto herself. Always has been, and nothing I said was going to stop her embarrassing us all.’
‘Your father don’t seem embarrassed,’ Salter growled, his tone implying that his opinion of the languid young man matched Riley’s own.
‘He puts a brave face on it.’ Patrick raised one shoulder. ‘What else can he do?’
‘Did you have anything to do with Ezra?’
‘I’m away at university just now. I’ve not been here that much.’
‘But when you are? I gather he was a keen sportsman and we both know that sporting events see men from all walks of life rubbing shoulders in a common cause.’
‘I went to a fight he told me about a few months back.’ He raised a brow in challenging amusement. ‘I hope you aren’t going to arrest me. I shall deny it if you do.’
‘We aren’t interested in unlicensed fights. We have a murderer to apprehend,’ Riley said, hardening his voice.
‘Ezra mentioned that the event was taking place in a disused barn near Clapham. I was down from university so I thought it might be amusing to take a party of friends along, which I did.’
‘And that is the extent of your interaction with the man?’ Salter asked.
‘Answer the question,’ Riley said, firming his voice when Patrick hesitated.
‘I might have taken the opportunity to advise him to leave Mother be,’ Patrick said negligently, crossing one foot over his opposite knee. ‘I pointed out to him that they weren’t being as discreet as they seemed to think, and that the family’s reputation was suffering as a consequence.’
‘How did he respond?’
‘He laughed in my face and told me that decision was up to Mother. Damned impudent of him, I thought. He implied that she had instigated the affair and that it was up to her to decide when it came to an end.’
‘That must have angered you,’ Salter said.
‘It was a while ago,’ Patrick replied, waving a hand in airy dismissal of Salter’s implication. Gold cufflinks winked at Riley as Patrick’s sleeve rolled back with the gesture. ‘I wasn’t best pleased with his response—I mean what son would enjoy seeing his own mother behaving like a harlot? But if I was going to kill him, I would have done it then, not waited all these months.’
‘Did you know that your mother had offered to finance a sporting club that Ezra planned to open in Clapham?’
Finally, Riley had said something to rouse the indolent young man from his faux lethargy. He sat bolt upright and his feet both hit the floor with a resounding thud. ‘No, I did not know that. How much had he wheedled out of her?’
Riley told him, eliciting a low whistle. Patrick’s pale cheeks turned red and Riley could tell that he was struggling to contain his anger. ‘Is the cash committed?’ he asked.
‘That’s something you will have to ask your mother about,’ Riley said. ‘In the meantime, please tell me where you were last night.’
‘Me? Damned liberty!’
‘I really must insist,’ Riley replied mildly, intransigent in the face of Patrick’s posturing.
‘Come along now, sir, or we’ll be thinking that you have something to hide,’ Salter added.
‘I dined with friends, then went on to visit a lady. I stayed the night with her and left this morning.’
‘The lady will be able to vouch for you, in that case,’ Riley said, only mildly surprised that both brothers had occupied their time in a similar manner. But at least Patrick didn’t have a wife whom he was cheating on. Salter would be partially reassured.
‘She can, but I shall require your discretion, Lord Riley. The lady is married and will not thank me for bringing scandal to her door.’
‘It’s all right for you to carry on and risk creating a scandal, but not for your mother,’ Salter growled.
‘Keep a civil tongue in your head, Sergeant!’
Salter responded with a level stare, and it was Patrick who broke eye contact first.
‘The names of your friends and of the lady,’ Riley reminded him.
Salter made a point of writing everything down laboriously, requesting confirmation of spellings and addresses, simply to annoy Patrick. Riley could have warned the young man that it was never a good idea to put his sergeant’s back up.
‘Thank you,’ Riley said with exaggerated politeness, once they had extracted all the necessary information from the recalcitrant young man. ‘That will be all for now. You may go.’
‘What a little scallywag!’ Salter growled as the door closed behind Patrick. ‘I cannot abide hypocrisy.’
‘Don’t let it get to you,’ Riley replied with a tired smile. ‘You’ve seen enough to know better.’
‘Yeah, but even so, these over-privileged young Johnnies get to me sometimes.’
‘And me, Jack, and me. No wonder Ida turned away from her family and looked elsewhere for diversions.’
Salter scowled. ‘You sound like you approve of her behaviour.’
‘I care little either way. None of us know what
