‘We have no reason to tell anyone,’ Riley said, ‘always supposing your friends collaborate your story.’
‘They will.’
Albert reeled off the address of the premises where he had played cards, along with the names of the men whom he had sat down with him.
‘How well do you know Mrs Verity Randall?’ Riley asked.
Albert’s upper lip momentarily curled with disdain. ‘Don’t have nothing to do with her if I can help it. She puts on airs and graces that don’t fool none of us, has us running around after her then treats us like we don’t exist.’
‘Very well, that will be all. Ask James to join us. Oh, and Albert,’ Riley added, causing the young man to pause in the doorway. ‘Do not repeat any of the questions that we have just asked you below stairs.’ He fixed Albert with a stern look. ‘If you do, we shall know you have betrayed our trust and possibly permitted a murderer to go free. We shall not be so lenient next time, mark my words.’
‘You can depend upon my discretion, sir.’
‘I hope so. Anyway, send James in.’
‘We have a problem with what you’ve told us,’ Riley said, the moment James closed the door and stood before Riley with barely concealed resentment. ‘We have discovered that you were in the tavern that you said you frequented, but that no one saw you after ten o’clock. That leaves you with a couple of hours unexplained at precisely the time your rival for Lady Randall’s affections was being murdered.’
James’s face paled. ‘I was there, in the tavern,’ he said, his brow glistening with sweat. ‘I swear it on my mother’s life.’
‘Your mother alive and well, is she, son?’
James glowered at Salter. ‘The tavern got crowded later on. If no one saw me there, there’s nothing I can do about it.’ He lifted his chin. ‘But you won’t find any evidence to put me in Clapham murdering Ezra, much as I would like to take credit for ridding the world of ’im.’
‘You seem very confident about that,’ Riley said, studying the man closely. To his credit, James lifted his head and met Riley’s gaze without flinching.
‘I am, sir,’ he said simply.
‘But you know, or suspect, who might have committed the murder.’
‘I don’t actually know anything, not for sure. What I can tell you, and I think I did already tell you, is that Mr Gregg was furious when the mistress told him to find a position for Ezra. And Ezra rubbed Gregg’s nose in the fact that he could do more or less as he pleased, undermining Gregg’s authority. The atmosphere below stairs went all sour the moment Ezra joined us. Well, it did amongst us men. The girls all thought Ezra was some kind of gift from heaven.’ James raised his eyes in that direction.
‘Thank you for pointing out the damage Ezra caused to Gregg’s dignity,’ Riley said. ‘But it’s a stretch to imagine him resorting to murder because of it.’
‘He’s very loyal towards the master, but he don’t have a good word to say for the mistress. He kept insisting that her behaviour was in danger of turning Sir Philip into a laughing stock and he weren’t happy about it. The reputation of this family means a great deal to Mr Gregg.’
‘I see,’ Riley said pensively.
‘I’m not saying that Gregg had anything to do with the murder, but I am saying that his behaviour changed that evening. Ordinarily, you could set your clock by his routine. Ever since I’ve worked in this house, it hasn’t varied. He starts drinking steadily after the kitchen’s been closed up and until the master and mistress are home, if they’ve gone out. Then he locks the front door and retires. The kitchen door is left unlocked for any of us who have the evening off and the last one in has to lock up.’
‘Does Gregg wait up to ensure you come home?’
James made a scoffing sound. ‘He can take his drink, I’ll give him that, but it’s easy to sneak past him once he’s had a few. We always call out a goodnight to him as we pass his pantry but he probably don’t hear us on account of his snoring. And if he’s already retired to his room the snores are loud enough to wake the dead. We all joke about it behind his back.’ James paused and rubbed his nose. ‘But that particular night, when I came home, he weren’t in his pantry and he weren’t in his room neither. I had to pass it and I would have heard him. He wasn’t in the house, sir, I’ll stake my life on it.’
‘He could have been passed out drunk,’ Salter suggested.
James shook his head. ‘If he was, it would be the first time. Like I say, he’s got a hard head for drink. We all pretend not to know what he gets up to and he would be mortified if someone had to wake him from a drunken stupor of a morning.’
‘How do you get along with Mrs Verity Randall?’
‘Mrs Randall?’ James looked genuinely surprised by the question. ‘I don’t have much to do with her, sir. I doubt she even knows our names. She’s a bit above herself, that one.’
‘Very well, James. That will be all for now but if you have lied to us we will find out. You’ve had an opportunity to tell us the truth and there won’t be another.’
‘Upon my life, sir, I’ve told you everything I know.’
‘Very well, you may go,’ Riley said, adding the same stern warning as he had to Albert about keeping what they had spoken about to himself. ‘Please have Gregg ask Lady Randall to join us.’
‘Gregg and Verity.’ Salter scratched his head. ‘That’s what you’re thinking,
