Page 27 of Dead Beside the Thames
Barnaby looked around the faces, then said, “On a positive note, we’ve found witnesses enough to definitively strike Charlie from the suspects’ list.”
Charlie grinned and audibly exhaled in mock-relief.
Barnaby noted that Claudia also appeared quietly relieved. Smiling, he continued, “In addition, we now know that after leaving White’s, Sedbury walked to Pall Mall and caught a hackney that he directed eastward. Whether he went directly to the docks or somewhere else, we’ve yet to learn, but my lads are presently searching for the hackney driver. Tomorrow, I’ll send a group to ask at pawnshops, looking for any sign of Sedbury’s whip. If it was left on the riverbank or anywhere else by his murderer, it’s almost certainly no longer there. Someone will have picked it up and sold it on, and if we can locate it and, through that, contact who first found it, we might be able to deduce something useful from where it was discarded.”
“Well,” Stokes said, shutting his notebook, “it seems we have our work cut out for us.”
Charlie glanced at Claudia, then looked at Penelope and rather carefully suggested, “If you like, we—Claudia and I—could question her brothers’ and aunt’s staff and see if we can establish alibis for Jonathon, Bryan, and Fosdyke.”
“Please do,” Penelope promptly replied. “I’ll have my hands full with the rest of my list.”
Stokes nodded his agreement. “Just make sure that you make it abundantly clear that you’re only interested in hearing the truth. It won’t help if the staff make up some story exonerating someone because they think that’s what you want them to say.”
Penelope studied Claudia and Charlie. “Do you think you can do that?”
Charlie and Claudia exchanged a glance, then Claudia looked at Penelope. “I’ll make sure they understand we only want the truth.”
“Onward, then.” Stokes got to his feet.
Everyone else rose as well, and the company went into the front hall, where coats and hats were donned and farewells exchanged.
Penelope directed, “We’ll meet back here and share what we’ve learned late tomorrow afternoon.”
No one argued.
Charlie and Claudia were the first to leave, and Mostyn closed the door against the chilly breeze.
Settling his coat, Stokes caught Penelope’s eye. “Do you think we’ll be able to trust what Charlie and Claudia report?”
“I think so,” Penelope replied. “Claudia may be protective of her brothers, but Charlie has good instincts about people, and he won’t allow her to gloss over or invent anything, no matter how tempting.” She smiled. “Besides, in case it’s escaped your notice, Claudia is determined to prove her brothers innocent of the crime, and it’s better that she employs her talents in a way that’s useful to us rather than going off on her own and trying to discover, for instance, just where on the docks Sedbury died.”
Stokes looked suitably horrified. “Heaven preserve us.”
Barnaby laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, then he and Penelope saw their friend out.
With the front door closed, they turned and walked deeper into the house.
Barnaby glanced at Penelope’s face and smiled at her focused expression. “You’ll have a full day ahead of you, crammed with investigating.”
She grinned and met his eyes. “I’ve decided that the only way to approach tomorrow’s task is to view it as a challenge to see how fast and how far I can trim that list.” She gestured as if giving the order to charge. “As Stokes said, onward!”
CHAPTER 6
As Barnaby had predicted, for all those investigating Viscount Sedbury’s murder, Wednesday proved to be a day crammed with activity. By the time he stepped out of the house, Penelope was already closeted with her young assistants-cum-protégées, organizing their campaign to investigate the alibis of the potential ton suspects.
After drawing the front door closed behind him, Barnaby settled his hat on his head and left them to their endeavors. He had multiple lads to meet.
At that moment, Penelope was in the garden parlor, seated on one of the sofas with the two maids—Chrissie and Polly—perched on the sofa opposite.
Although faintly daunted by the task of investigating so many members of the ton all at once, Penelope believed she’d devised an approach that would at least give them enough information to eliminate some of their candidates. She’d just finished explaining her idea to her protégées and was pleased but notsurprised to find them brimming with enthusiasm; she’d chosen them to train in investigative techniques for a reason. Both possessed an abundance of native curiosity as well as excellent memories, and neither was overly intimidated by the barriers of class.
“So,” Polly said, eyes alight with eagerness, “in speaking with the staff, we focus on getting them to tell us where their people were on Saturday night and early Sunday morning—if they attended some ball or dinner or whatnot and when they got home.”
Penelope nodded. “That’s your first task. Coachmen and grooms will likely be the most useful sources, but butlers also will know when their master or mistress returned home and retired for the night. Or if they went out again later. As I’ve taught you, the best approach is to get your targets talking about whatever they want to talk about, then subtly lead them in the direction of the information you wish to know.”
“But regardless of whatever answer we get on that point,” Chrissie, equally eager, put in, “we should try to learn if their people had contact with anyone who might be a hired killer.”
Penelope elaborated, “Either by having such a person call or by going out to meet someone unknown at an odd hour or specifically using an unmarked carriage. If they’ve had any mysterious meetings either under their roof or somewhere else in the past two weeks.” She regarded the girls. “While the first part of your task should be easily enough accomplished simply by encouraging the usual household gossip, you’ll need to be more tactful and careful probing for answers on our second point.”
