‘Her mistress was murdered.’
‘Sarah?’ Involuntarily, Maggie grasped the baby tighter and it began to cry. Tenderly, without even thinking, she rubbed the back of its head until the child settled.
‘We’re looking for Anne. We don’t know what’s happened to her.’
‘She hasn’t been here.’
‘I know.’ Sedgwick smiled kindly. ‘Do you know anywhere she might go if she was afraid?’
The woman thought and then shook her head. The little girl had wandered away inside the house. She hoisted the baby, stroking it softly and whispering at it.
‘If Annie was in trouble she’d come here,’ she said finally. ‘This is where her kin is, and her friends. We’d look after her.’
‘If she does come back, we need to talk to her. It’s important.’
‘Who killed Sarah? Do you know?’ she asked in wonder. ‘Why would anyone do that to her?’
‘We don’t know,’ he said. ‘That’s why we need Anne. We’re hoping she can help us.’
‘What did her mam say?’
‘I think she’s scared,’ Sedgwick confided. ‘She’s terrified Anne’s dead.’
‘I’ll get these two settled and go over.’ She paused. ‘What do you think?’ she asked, gazing directly at him and daring him to lie. ‘Honest now, is she dead?’
‘I really don’t know,’ he told her, ‘and that’s the truth. Did she ever tell you that Sarah used to go off one day a week?’
‘No. She doesn’t talk much about what she does. Never has. But I don’t think she likes it over there. When it was just her and Sarah, that was good. But all those other servants, she feels out of place, like they resent her.’
‘Has she told you that?’
‘Not in so many words. But little things, you know.’
‘What about her mistress? Was she happy there?’
‘I don’t think so, not really. I remember back at the start of spring, she came over for a few days up at that grand house they have now. I’d been out to find some wood for the fire. I could hear them having a real shouting match, her and her parents. They were telling her she had to go back and she was crying and screaming that she wouldn’t.’
‘But she went back in the end?’
‘Aye.’ She sighed and started to rock the baby gently, without thinking, letting the motion send it off into sleep. ‘I asked Anne about it the next time I saw her. She just said it was nowt.’ Maggie raised her head defiantly and stared at the deputy. ‘You’ve come here and brought trouble. Annie’s all they have left. There were three lads but they all died when they were little.’
‘I’m just trying to find some answers, love, that’s all.’
‘I know.’ She sighed. ‘It’s not your fault. I’d better go over to Catherine. She’ll be needing someone.’
He started to walk away.
‘If you find Annie, come and tell me, please. Whether it’s good or bad.’
‘I will. I promise.’
Eight
‘Right, let’s take stock of what we really know and the things we just think.’
The Constable had been next door to the White Swan and bought a fresh jug of ale. For once, Michael the landlord was happy. In this weather people were drinking more and his profits were up. In a rare, grand gesture he’d waved away payment. Now Nottingham and the deputy were seated in the jail in the shank of the afternoon, slaking their thirst and assessing the facts.
Sedgwick poured a mug.
‘We don’t know much at all.’
‘We know Sarah Godlove was murdered and that Anne Taylor has disappeared,’ Nottingham began. ‘We know they left Horsforth on Thursday and that Sarah’s body was found on Saturday.’ He paused to take a drink. ‘We know Sarah and Anne used to vanish one day a week, but not where. We know she’d been married to Godlove for about a year.’
‘And that’s all we know for certain.’
‘True,’ the Constable agreed, brushing the fringe off his face. ‘But if you add in some of the other things we get a better picture. You heard that Sarah didn’t want to go back to her husband, and we know she went to see her parents regularly. Also that she might have been pregnant. What do you think that means?’
Sedgwick considered. ‘Could be lots of things.’
‘Such as?’ Nottingham prompted him.
‘Maybe she just didn’t like being around Godlove any more than she had to be.’
‘That would make sense if she really had been sold to him. He seemed to love her but that doesn’t mean it was returned.’
‘I suppose the visits could be to a man. That would be reason enough to keep them quiet.’
The Constable pursed his lips. There was sense in that too. ‘Which gives us someone else to find, and a possible suspect.’
‘What about the husband, boss? Do you think he could be guilty?’
‘No,’ Nottingham answered firmly. He recalled the way Godlove had been at the jail. ‘No, he was shocked when I told him.’ He tilted his head, silently asking for Sedgwick’s opinion.
‘I agree. And the servants all seemed to think he doted on her.’
‘Anne?’
‘I suppose it’s possible,’ the deputy conceded, ‘but why? She’d been Sarah’s maid for ten years. Why would she do something now? What does she get from it?’
‘My guess is that she’s lying dead somewhere.’
‘Probably,’ Sedgwick agreed with a sigh. Inside he’d always believed so but hadn’t been able to bring himself to say it to the two women and dash all their hopes.
‘So what do we look at next?’
The conversation was interrupted as the door opened and a young man walked in. They stared at him expectantly.
‘I’m looking for Mr Nottingham,’ he said.
The Constable stood up and smiled. ‘I’m Richard Nottingham.’
‘I’m Robert Lister. My father said I should come and see you.’
‘Of course.’ The son of the Mercury publisher. He was quite tall and well built, much like his father must have been before he ran to fat, with bushy hair falling past his collar and tied back with a blue ribbon. His gaze was clear and steady, and there was just the faintest trace of old spots on his cheeks. He’d dragged out his good suit for this, the Constable suspected, and given it a thorough brushing.
‘I’ll be off,’ Sedgwick said.
‘Go home,’ Nottingham told him. ‘You’ve walked enough today.’
‘Still better than that bloody cart,’ the deputy replied with a broad grin as he closed the door.
‘Sit down, Mr Lister.’
The lad sat, glancing around before giving his attention to Nottingham.
‘So you want to become a Constable’s man?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lister replied candidly. ‘My father came home for his dinner and said you’d been talking.’
‘Did he say what about?’
‘No, he didn’t.’
The Constable smiled. ‘So why did you decide to come and see me?’
‘I’m looking for work.’
‘Your father knows people,’ Nottingham suggested. ‘There must be plenty willing to take you on.’
‘He’d like me to work for him, but I don’t want to.’ The lad looked up sharply at the Constable, his eyes bright and thoughtful. ‘He told you that, didn’t he?’
‘He did. But it doesn’t explain why you’re here.’
Lister breathed deep and gathered his thoughts.
‘I want work I’ll enjoy. Have you seen all the clerks and the shopkeepers? They look old before their time. I don’t want to be that way.’
Nottingham smiled. ‘A young man’s thoughts.’
‘Maybe,’ Lister conceded, then grinned impishly. ‘But that’s how it should be, isn’t it? I’m still a young man.’
Nottingham laughed. He’d immediately warmed to Robert Lister. The lad seemed straightforward, not full of himself. Whether he’d do well in this job was a different matter, though.
‘I’ll warn you right now, it’s hard work. The hours are long and the pay is low. It’s dirty, and it can be dangerous.’ He paused, waiting for a reaction. Lister nodded slowly. ‘How are you in a fight?’
‘A fight?’ His face sharpened in surprise. ‘I don’t know,’ he answered after thinking. ‘I had a few at school, I suppose, but nothing since then.’