Page 67 of The Trick of the Treasure
“You left your bags below for these men to bring up on deck, while you and your son and the captain were up there, waving to your family, even entertaining them, I believe.”
“You think the chests were swapped during that time? I don’t see how, but I suppose you must be right. How does Clarke come into it, then?”
“Were there not people called Clarke among the tenants of your estate?”
“Possibly,” he said, mystified. “Never had much to do with the estates. Got a steward in who knows the land. Not my forte.”
“Your sister was the one who knew the tenants?”
Lloyd sighed. “Charity, always charity with Audrey. She did a great deal of it here in London, too. My fear is, Grey, that some charity case has turned against her, robbed her, hurt her in some way…”
“It seems unlikely,” Solomon said dryly. “She took most of her things with her, did she not? What else did she have to run away from?”
Lloyd drew himself up. “Nothing in this house.”
Solomon switched tack. “When did you last see your sister?”
“At dinner. She’s always at dinner.”
“You did not see her after that? Did you not join the ladies in the drawing room?”
“Yes…” He frowned. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure Audrey was there then. We must ask the other ladies.”
“And the servants, if you don’t mind. And your son and your younger daughter, too.”
Lloyd shifted restlessly. “I suppose we need her to be found.”
Which was an odd way of putting it. But then, Lloyd regarded everything from the angle of how it affected him. He did seem genuinely put out about his sister’s disappearance, and he had certainly sent Sydney to fetch him as soon as he knew.
“How did you learn that Miss Lloyd was missing and not just gone out about her charitable missions?” Solomon asked.
“Jemimah told me. She’d gone up to see her aunt—with Rachel, I think—and thought the room seemed too tidy. The bed was not slept in and the maids had not yet made it up.”
“Does Miss Lloyd have a personal maid?” Solomon asked.
“Oh no. She has access to my wife’s woman, of course, whenever she needs her.”
“Then I’ll begin with Garrick,” Solomon said, rising to his feet.
“What would the butler know about it?” Lloyd demanded, clearly frustrated that Solomon was not out tearing London apart in a frenzy to find his sister.
“Oh, butlers know most things,” Solomon said, and went out.
Chapter Fourteen
Garrick, oddly enough,seemed almost human when Solomon encountered him in the hall. He made no effort to walk away or even to look down his nose. He even walked to meet Solomon, saying bluntly, “Can you find her, sir?”
“I hope so,” Solomon returned. He glanced around at the housemaid bustling by and added, “Come in here a moment, will you?” He walked into the small reception room close to the front door, and Garrick followed without objection, even closing the door at Solomon’s silent command.
“When did she leave the house, Garrick?”
“I don’t know,” the butler said with what seemed to be genuine misery. “I didn’t see her go.”
“Were any of the doors unlocked when you came down this morning?”
“Oh dear, you don’t think she went off in the middle of the night, do you?” Alarm stood out in his face. “Poor lady’s got no idea about the nasty world out there—anything could have happened to her!”
Solomon regarded him more closely. “Why do you say that?”
