But Adelia sounded the same note of caution that Theodore had mentioned. “Many households have arsenic somewhere,” she said. “Search this place and you’ll find some, I’m sure. This example sounds no different; there was nothing beyond a usual amount and I am honestly not sure quite what you’ve achieved with this except for running the risk of being caught. I suspect,” she added, shooting Theodore a particularly dark look, “that risk was part of the appeal. Wasn’t it?” He had just wanted an adventure, she thought.
He shook his head but she knew that it was a feint. He said, “I’ve learned some lessons from our last experience, actually. Don’t you recall how precise Inspector Prendergast was? He paid a great deal of attention to detail about everything right from the start. We might have found that infuriating at the time but it ensured that when the case went to court, there were no little loopholes that could be exploited. Nothing had been overlooked. So the fact that arsenic is present in William Wiseman’s house is not conclusive, I agree. But it could add up if we find yet more evidence. He has a motive, too, as they are well-known rivals. And he has the means, as they were dining together. The arsenic alone means nothing. However, consider the bigger picture.” He grinned suddenly. “Ah, a pun!”
“What?”
“Picture? Art dealers?”
“Papa!” said Charlotte with a groan. “Oh, mama, how do you put up with it?”
“It is why I drink more wine as I get older,” said Adelia. “You will soon understand. Very well, Theodore, I agree that we must look to this William Wiseman as the most obvious suspect. He took a risk, don’t you think, in poisoning himself just enough to look innocent?”
“Perhaps that was accidental. After all, consider how the arsenic might have been got into the food.”
“Yes, how?” asked Robert.
“Well, it does not dissolve well in cold liquid so cannot have been in the wine. I understand that murderers generally put it into drinks like tea, or hot foods like porridge or soup. The food or drunk must be consumed while hot. As the liquid cools, the arsenic precipitates out and you can often see a residue left, which raises suspicion in the victim of course. Ah, I wish I had been able to examine everything properly!”
“Then it wasn’t in the meat, but in the gravy,” said Adelia. “But again, what a risk!”
“For that to work, Wiseman had to have known that there would have been gravy, and that Nettles would take a great deal of it.” Theodore shook his head. “It seems unlikely. But not impossible. My money is on the soup.”
“No,” said Adelia. “You both have to eat the whole bowl of soup for politeness’ sake but gravy is a personal preference so Wiseman could have controlled how much of it he ate. If the soup were poisoned, both would be dead.”
“Perhaps.”
She could see that he wasn’t convinced but she let it drop. He had had some drink, and he was full of his own successes and didn’t want to concede anything to her. It was annoying but she’d learned to pick her battles, after all.
Charlotte said, “Surely we need to speak to William Wiseman?”
“Yes,” said Theodore. “As soon as he is well enough, we certainly shall.”
CHARLOTTE WAS OFFICIALLY At Home the following day, and she invited Adelia to sit with her in the reception room while a succession of well-dressed ladies of the town called in to eat fancy food and share the latest gossip. Adelia had no idea where Theodore had gone to, but no doubt he was in hiding from the social whirl along with Robert.
As there were only a few days left before Christmas Day, most people were very busy with visiting their own families, shopping, or exhausted from parties and gatherings the previous night and there were fewer callers to Charlotte’s house than normal. Adelia marvelled at how things had changed even in her own lifetime and she spent some time in telling Charlotte about her childhood Christmases – far less hassle, much less noise, and certainly no trees inside the house unless one counted a Yule log and some wreathes of holly and mistletoe.
She was halfway through a speech which was dangerously close to becoming a rant about the silly fashion for sending cards to one another when the Earl of Mareham and his wife were announced. Adelia wondered how the Earl would behave with her now he knew all about her exploits, but as they were in public, so to speak, he assumed the most courteous air as he bowed to the other visitors and smiled warmly at Adelia.
The other ladies, after some pleasantries, bid farewell and moved on to their next visit. This left the four of them alone at least for a while.
Charlotte began to talk to Constance about her plans for the table decorations for Christmas Day, and they drew off to one side to discuss the merits of pinecones in great detail. Patrick waited until they were thoroughly engaged and then he came close to Adelia. She realised that it had been planned; Constance was here to keep Charlotte occupied.
That meant that either Patrick wanted to speak to Adelia about Charlotte, or he wished to resume his interrogation of her detective work. She got the feeling that this time, however, he was concerned about his daughter-in-law. He angled himself so that Charlotte could not see his face as he talked.
Her guess was swiftly proved to be correct.
He immediately dispensed with any further small talk and came right out with the issue that was bothering him on this particular day.
“My dear Lady Calaway, Robert and Charlotte are driving me to distraction. I meant to address it on our previous visit but I was ... surprised
