Lord Easterfield drew himself up. 'On my estate I'll have decent moral behavior.'
'It isn't actually immoral to take a girl joy riding.'
'It is when it's my car.'
'That, of course, is worse than immorality! It practically amounts to blasphemy. But you can't cut out the sex stuff altogether, Gordon. The moon is at the full and it's actually Midsummer Eve.'
'Is it, by Jove?' said Luke.
Bridget threw him a glance. 'That seems to interest you?'
'It does.'
Bridget turned back to Lord Easterfield.
'Three extraordinary people have arrived at the Bells and Motley. Item one, a man with shorts, spectacles and a lovely plum-colored silk shirt! Item two, a female with no eyebrows, dressed in a peplum, a pound of assorted sham Egyptian beads, and sandals. Item three, a fat man in a lavender suit and co-respondent shoes. I suspect them of being friends of our Mr. Ellsworthy. Says the gossip writer: 'Someone has whispered that there will be gay doings in the Witches' Meadow tonight.''
Lord Easterfield turned purple and said, 'I won't have it!'
'You can't help it, darling. The Witches' Meadow is public property.'
'I won't have this irreligious mumbo jumbo going on down here! I'll expose it in Scandals.' He paused, then said, 'Remind me to make a note about that and get Siddely on to it. I must go up to town tomorrow.'
'Lord Easterfield's campaign against witchcraft,' said Bridget flippantly. 'Medieval superstitions still rife in quiet country village.'
Lord Easterfield stared at her with a puzzled frown, then he turned and went into the house.
Luke said pleasantly, 'You must do your stuff better than that, Bridget.'
'What do you mean?'
'It would be a pity if you lost your job. That hundred thousand isn't yours yet. Nor are the diamonds and pearls. I should wait until after the marriage ceremony to exercise your sarcastic gifts, if I were you.'
Her glance met his coolly. 'You are so thoughtful, dear Luke. It's kind of you to take my future so much to heart.'
'Kindness and consideration have always been my strong points.'
'I hadn't noticed it.'
'No? You surprise me.'
Bridget twitched the leaf off a creeper. She said, 'What have you been doing today?'
'The usual spot of sleuthing.'
'Any results?'
'Yes and no, as the politicians say. By the way, have you got any tools in the house?'
'I expect so. What kind of tools?'
'Oh, any handy little gadgets. Perhaps I could inspect same.' Ten minutes later Luke had made his selection from a cupboard shelf.
'That little lot will do nicely,' he said, slapping the pocket in which he had stowed them away.
'Are you thinking of doing a spot of forcing and entering?'
'Maybe.'
'You're very uncommunicative on the subject.'
'Well, after all, the situation bristles with difficulties. I'm in the hell of a position. After our little dust-up on Saturday, I suppose I ought to clear out of here.'
'To behave as a perfect gentleman, you should.'
'But since I'm convinced that I am pretty hot on the trail of a homicidal maniac, I'm more or less forced to remain. If you could think of any convincing reason for me to leave here and take up my quarters at the Bells and Motley, for goodness' sake trot it out.'
Bridget shook her head. 'That's not feasible — you being a cousin and all that. Besides, the inn is full of Mr. Ellsworthy's friends. They only run to three guest rooms.'
'So I am forced to remain, painful as it must be for you.'
Bridget smiled sweetly at him. 'Not at all. I can always do with a few scalps to dangle.'
'That,' said Luke appreciatively, 'was a particularly dirty crack. What I admire about you, Bridget, is that you have practically no instincts of kindliness. Well, well. The rejected lover will now go and change for dinner.'
The evening passed uneventfully. Luke won Lord Easterfield's approval even more deeply than before by the apparent absorbed interest with which he listened to the other's nightly discourse. When they came into the drawing room, Bridget said, 'You men have been a long time.'
Luke replied, 'Lord Easterfield was being so interesting that the time passed like a flash. He was telling me how he founded his first newspaper.'
Mrs. Anstruther said, 'These new little fruiting trees in pots are perfectly marvelous, I believe. You ought to try them along the terrace, Gordon.' The conversation then proceeded on normal lines.
Luke retired early. He did not, however, go to bed. He had other plans. It was just striking twelve when he descended the stairs noiselessly in tennis shoes, passed through the library and let himself out by a window.
The wind was still blowing in violent gusts interspersed with brief lulls. Clouds scudded across the sky, obliterating the moon, so that darkness alternated with bright moonlight.
Luke made his way by a circuitous route to Mr. Ellsworthy's establishment. He saw his way clear to doing a little investigation. He was fairly certain that Mr. Ellsworthy and his friends would be out together on this particular date. Midsummer Eve, Luke thought, was sure to be marked by some ceremony or other. Whilst this was in progress, it would be a good opportunity to search Mr. Ellsworthy's house.
He climbed a couple of walls, got round to the back of the house, took the assorted tools from his pocket and selected a likely implement.
He found a scullery window amenable to his efforts. A few minutes later he had slipped back the catch, raised the sash and hoisted himself over. He had a torch in his pocket. He used it sparingly — a brief flash just to show him his way and to avoid running into things.
In a quarter of an hour he had satisfied himself that the house was empty. The owner was out and abroad on his own affairs. Luke smiled with satisfaction and settled down to his task. He made a minute and thorough search of every available nook and corner. In a locked drawer, below two or three innocuous watercolor sketches, he came upon some artistic efforts which caused him to lift his eyebrows and whistle. Mr. Ellsworthy's correspondence was unilluminating, but some of his books — those tucked away at the back of a cupboard — repaid attention. Besides these, Luke accumulated three meager but suggestive scraps of information. The first was a pencil scrawl in a little notebook: 'Settle with Tommy Pierce' — the date being a couple of days before the boy's death. The second was a crayon sketch of Amy Gibbs with a furious red cross right across the face. The third was a bottle of cough mixture. None of these things was in any way conclusive, but taken together they might be considered as encouraging.
Luke was just restoring some final order, replacing things in their place, when he suddenly stiffened and switched off his torch. He had heard the key inserted in the lock of a side door. He stepped across to the door of the room he was in and applied an eye to a crack. He hoped Ellsworthy — if it was he — would go straight upstairs.
The side door opened and Ellsworthy stepped in, switching on a hall light as he did so. As he passed along the hall, Luke saw his face and caught his breath. It was unrecognizable. The eyes were alight with a strange mad exultation, but what caused Luke to catch his breath was the sight of Ellsworthy's hands. They were stained a deep brownish red, the color of dried blood. He disappeared up the stairs. A moment later the light in the hall was extinguished.
Luke waited a little longer, then very cautiously he crept out into the hall, made his way to the scullery and left by the window. He looked up at the house, but it was dark and silent. He drew a deep breath. 'The fellow's mad all right!' he said. 'I wonder what he's been up to? I'll swear that was blood on his hands!'
He made a detour round the village and returned to Ashe Manor by a roundabout route. It was as he was turning into the side lane that a sudden rustle of leaves wrapped in a dark cloak came out from the shadow of a tree. It looked so eerie that Luke felt his heart miss a beat. Then he recognized the long pale face under the hood. 'Bridget? How you startled me!'
She said sharply, 'Where have you been? I saw you go out.'
