Page 41 of Secrets of Capell Manor
“I, too, have considered this. And you are correct. But she only inherits what the king allows. And she knows this. She also knows the king can marry her off to whomever he chooses, and the estates pass to the husband. So, nothing is guaranteed for her. Her place as lady of the manor is not ironclad,” Devlin argued back.
“And you are correct in this, Sir Devlin,” he admitted. “But with all she loves and cares about here, I can only think she would want to keep herself and the children safe, at whatever cost. She has much to lose. So, I think it is beneficial to speak with Roland Kirkeby. He might provide more valuable information.”
Devlin knew that Kelley would want to speak with Kirkeby, but he had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
“Now tell me where you found the body of Lord Capell, and did you gain any insight from what was left of the man. Was there evidence left on or near the body?”
Devlin explained how the bog mud found on Edmond’s horse led them to the location of Edmond’s body.
“Was the horse stripped of the saddle?”
“No, not at all. In fact, all assumed there had been an accident at first because the saddle, bridle, and saddlebag were not stolen. The tenant farmer who found the horse searched for Capell. When his son returned the animal to the manor, Lady Rosalind, Benton, and Ridley went searching as well. They found nothing.”
“Danby and I did our own search, too, on the day after our arrival and found nothing. And so that led us back to the bog. Lady Rosalind said the road leading through the bog was a shorter route to Wisbech, but it wasn’t often traveled, especially during the wet season. The actual bog was the only place we hadn’t searched. It had been frozen solid, but the weather had warmed enough, so I waded out in the mire. About six feet in, I found Edmond’s body. Alden and I drug him out.”
“And did you find anything unusual?”
“That I did,” Devlin stated without emotion. “His coin was not stolen.”
“Well, there you have it. It had to be an accident, then! Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Now I can leave this drafty pile of rocks,” Kelley proclaimed, and he stood to leave the room.
“That’s not all,” Devlin continued.
Kelley let out an exasperated sigh and sat back in his chair.
“His pockets and cloak were filled with heavy rocks. He was weighed down. Someone didn’t want him found.”
The little man shook his head and muttered something that Devlin supposed was cursing. He’d begun to believe that Kelley wanted this mystery solved as much as he did.
He looked up at Devlin, “Anything else?”
“Yes, there is. When we informed Lady Rosalind and the rest of the household that we’d found Edmond, we questioned everyone again and this time we asked if anyone had seen or heard anything unusual in the weeks leading up to his disappearance. Ridley reported something odd.”
“Go on.”
“A few weeks before Edmond disappeared, Ridley entered his chamber before dawn to stoke the fire as he usually does. He reported that his desk was in disarray, and papers were strewn everywhere. Edmond was calling out in his sleep as well. He kept saying ‘Freedom whispers’ over and over.” He paused and the king’s man pondered this new information in his mind. “Does that phrase mean anything to you?”
“No. I’ve never heard that before,” he replied, concerned. “Anything else?”
“And before Benton could tend to Capell that same morning, he’d cleaned up the papers and the room was back as it should have been.”
“Did you search for more evidence?”
“We most certainly did, Mr. Kelley. Alden had a sense that we’d missed something, so we searched the desk again and this time we found a hidden compartment.”
Kelley was now on the edge of his seat, “Tell me you found something that sheds some light here. I am growing impatient.”
“In the hidden space was another journal.”
Edward Kelley rolled his eyes, but Devlin kept talking.
“This one was much like the others, a list of initials along with amounts. But all the entries were payments made to LordEdmond. And, there was one major difference. There was a date and a location written in the back of the journal.”
“Go on, man. What was the time and place you saw noted?”
“The note read, “Wisbech, The Boar’s Head, today’s date, and the time was recorded as ‘dusk.’ I want to point out that Wisbech is a town not far from here, and the quickest route when traveling there is through the bog. The same bog where Edmond’s body was found. Danby and I will travel there today and find what, if anything, can be discovered that could clear up this bloody mess.”
“Good. And in the meantime, I will pay a visit to Roland Kirkeby.”
