Page 74 of Rogue of the Greenwood
“If those plans include marrying you, then I wouldn’t worry about him having much hope of succeeding.”
“It’s much more than that! I heard him with Mr. Dent, my uncle’s lawyer today. I believe they are plotting to kill him!”
“Your uncle?”
“Yes! They have some sort of scheme to deceive him about money, and then they laughed that by the time he figured it out, it would be too late and my cousin would inherit his things.”
He seemed less surprised by this than she would have expected.
“Ah, that explains the push to get your cousin married to the sheriff,” he said. “And why Gisborn is not worried about your uncle using the mortgage to take over Greenwood. They expect him to be gone, and his heir will be controlled by a husband who will play along with them. This is the puzzle piece I was missing.”
“But this is dreadful! What can we do?”
He was just about to make a suggestion, but then he stopped. She waited patiently, but instead ofspeaking he pushed her away. She was about to complain when she realized there were unusual sounds coming from the direction of the dining room.
Putting his finger to his lips to indicate they needed to stay silent, he glanced out into the corridor. Apparently, he determined it safe, so he led her out. Moving toward the dining room, he peered around the corner. They pressed up against the wall to remain unseen. He motioned for Marianne to stay behind him, carefully out of sight.
She heard chairs in the dining room grating over the floor and the sound of multiple feet. Doors were opening and closing. Mr. Gisborn’s voice rose above the din.
“What is this? Mr. Reeve, aren’t these your men?”
“We’re sorry sir, but we have urgent news for the magistrate and the sheriff,” a voice called out. “There’s been a murder! In Sherwood Forest.”
Marianne gasped. She clung to Robert’s arm and he squeezed her hand as they listened.
“Tell us what happened,” Mr. Gisborn demanded.
“We found a man murdered,” one of the newcomers explained. “Probably by the ruffian calling himself Robin Hood!”
“Who is the murdered man?” Mr. Gisborn asked as calmly as if he were asking after the weather.
One of the men cleared his throat and answered. “His name is Dent, sir. Mr. Charles Dent. A solicitor, I believe.”
Now Uncle Prinley’s voice called out. “Dent? Murdered?” His surprise and horror were most believable.
Mr. Gisborn’s response was not. “How shocking! Killed by Robin Hood, you say?”
“There can be little doubt.”
Uncle Prinley was still stammering. “But Dent was… I saw him only a few hours ago. Why, it’s no wonder he didn’t show up today with my payment. Gisborn, did you send the man to me as planned?”
“Of course, my friend, just as we agreed. I collected the amount and instructed him to take it directly to you. I never thought to ask if you had received it.”
“Well I didn’t! I say, this is outrageous. Mr. Dent… murdered!”
Mr. Gisborn hardly seemed affected by the news. He was more interested in placing blame. “It was just a matter of time, I suppose—Sherwood has become a haven for the criminal element. Robin Hood, of all things! As magistrate, St. John, you can’t let this continue. Send every man you have to find him out there and exterminate the vermin!”
Uncle Prinley wasn’t so quick to act. “But I… tell me, man, when you found Dent, how did he appear? Had he been beaten? Was he on the main road?”
“He was shot, sir, with a pistol, from rather close, it appears. He was off the road, too, so perhaps someone lured him into the wood.”
“A pistol? But this Robin Hood character uses a bow.”
Mr. Gisborn was not at all tripped up by this. “Criminals use whatever is convenient to them, sir. Dreadful; it really is.”
“Did he have any money on his person?” Uncle Prinley questioned.
“No sir, none at all. He carried a pouch—a rather large one in fact—but it was empty.”
