Page 22 of Murder at Hambledon Hall
“The women always liked him. They thought he was handsome. He knew it, too. That was partly why he was so unbearable, if you ask me.”
“Was Lord Kershaw jealous of Shepherd when they were younger?”
Uncle Ronald made a throaty scoffing sound that made his jowls wobble. “Of course not. Shepherd is—was—older, but Kershaw didn’t look up to the fellow. He was just the gamekeeper’s son.”
“Could Cicely Browning have lost her heart to Esmond Shepherd before she married Mr. Browning?”
He snorted. “Don’t be absurd.” But even as he said it, I could see him trying to recall. “She may have found him handsome, but that’s all. She wouldn’t… They never…” He cleared his throat. “Hambledon Hall was burgled recently. A number of items were stolen. Did you know that, Cleopatra?”
“I was aware of silver candlesticks missing from the dining room mantelpiece.”
“A number of other items were taken, not just candlesticks.”
“All silver?”
“I believe so. Shepherd may have taken them.”
“Wouldn’t it be more likely that a member of the indoor staff stole them, not the gamekeeper?”
Uncle Ronald settled back in his chair and clasped his hands over his stomach. “Shepherd could come and go from the house. He may have entered while no one was looking and squirreled the candlesticks and other things away.”
I recalled seeing Esmond Shepherd in Lord Kershaw’s office, reading a book. None of the staff had told him he couldn’t be there, so I assumed he had full access, as Uncle Ronald said. “I’ll see if I can link Shepherd to the thefts.”
He looked pleased with my answer. “My theory is that he and his partner in crime had a disagreement, which would be the argument you saw in the woods. Then the partner killed Shepherd in anger and disappeared with the stolen goods.”
“It sounds plausible.”
“Good. Good.” He twiddled his thumbs.
“Is there something else, Uncle? Do you have other suspicions?”
“It’s probably nothing.”
I waited.
He finally gave in. “You may have noticed we didn’t go into the village during our stay.”
I had, but I didn’t know that was unusual. “Were Lord and Lady Kershaw deliberately avoiding it?”
“I believe so. The villagers have been somewhat restless lately, and our hosts wouldn’t want their guests to witness that. The villagers aren’t happy with Kershaw, you see. Apparently it has something to do with blocking a path they’ve always used. It’s on his land, so he has every right, but it’s been available for the public’s use for centuries.”
“Why did Kershaw block it now?”
“I don’t know. The thing is, it was the gamekeeper’s job to keep trespassers off the land. That’s interesting, don’t you agree?”
What I found interesting was the timing. The path that was open for centuries closes recently, items that have been in the house for years were stolen recently, and the gamekeeper who worked there for decades was murdered recently. Perhaps I didn’t need to dig into the gamekeeper’s past for answers.
Uncle Ronald checked the time on his pocket watch. “I’ll let you get on with it, Cleopatra.” He opened a leather-bound ledger and ran his finger down one of the columns. “If you need to visit the village, take Floyd with you, or Miss Cotton. Not Florence, and your aunt isn’t up to it. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to be discreet.”
“I’ll be as subtle as possible.” I stood, only to sit again. “Uncle, are you aware of the rule Mrs. Short initiated during our absence?”
“She mentioned she has forbidden the staff from fraternizing after catching one of the maids in the male dormitory,” he said without looking up from the ledger. “I’m in full agreement. We can’t have girls like that working here.”
I bit down on my rising temper and bit back the first retort that sprang to mind. Uncle Ronald required delicate managing, or he was likely to close his mind to other possibilities altogether. “I quite agree. We want respectable women and men representing the hotel. But the maid in question was in arelationshipwith one of the male staff members.”
“That’s irrelevant. If her beau had been caught in the female quarters, then he would have been dismissed instead. Don’t accuse me of treating the women differently to the men, Cleopatra.”
“I wasn’t. My point is that Mrs. Short may have gone too far. She has forbidden more than fraternizing. She has put a stop to relationships between staff members altogether, whether they reside in the residence hall or not. There are a number of couples who are romantically involved. One couple is even married.”
