“An’ Harkness was the one who had it in ferthe new butler long before he arrived, eh?”
“Good thinking. Is it not possible, then,that Harkness and Bragg were in on this together? They both hadpowerful motives.”
“When could they’ve met to plan a murder?Chilton only came here eight days ago.”
“We need to know when Bragg could haverendezvoused with Harkness, in town or perhaps secretly here on theestate.”
“How c’n we do all that this afternoon?”
Marc thought for a minute, then said, “”I’dlike you to take Macaulay’s best horse and cutter and drive intotown right away.”
“To Mrs. Sturdy’s poorhouse,” Cobb saidexcitedly. “If Harkness is there, I’ll in-tear-o-grate himhard, and if he ain’t, I’ll get Mrs. Sturdy to tell me all abouthis comin’s an’ goin’s. She’ll know everythin’.”
“Excellent! Meanwhile, I’ll head out to thestables to talk to Abel Struthers. He’s been here for years, andwill know a lot about both Harkness and Bragg. Do you think you canbe back here by four-thirty?”
“Can a duck waddle?” Cobb said.
Arrangements were quickly made for Cobb to takeMacaulay’s single-seater into the city proper. Young Cal Struthersharnessed the horse and supplied Cobb with a buffalo-robe and a furhat, as a sharp northwest wind had arisen and the temperature hadplummeted. Marc and Abel Struthers watched Cobb glide away, thenwalked slowly back to the Struthers’ cottage.
Seated before a brisk fire, Marc andStruthers lit their pipes, and Marc began the interview.
“I’ll be candid, sir. Austin Bragg is asuspect in the poisoning of Graves Chilton. I need to know a fewthings about him, and I’d like you to be frank with me in responseto my queries.”
Struthers’ heavy brows rose in mild surprise.He was a large man with craggy features, wind-burnt cheeks and anopen, kindly demeanour. “Hard to believe that, sir. Austin c’n be abit bull-headed an’ full of himself at times, but he’s always beena reliable worker. Never been in trouble that I know of.”
“And I do hope we’re wrong about him,” Marcsaid, though he wasn’t sure he wished it so. “You may be able tohelp us eliminate him as a suspect.”
“Me? Well now, that don’t seempossible, does it? Cal an’ me spend most of our time out here, faraway from the house an’ the other staff. But I’ll do my best.”
“First of all, were Bragg and Giles Harknessfriends?”
Struthers relaxed a bit and said, “Well,that’s easy enough. Yes, they were good chums. Giles always wantedto be a house-servant like his older brother, Alfred, the butlerthat died. Giles was the one who took wood into the back-shed an’did any heavy liftin’ about the kitchen. Sometimes, I know, he’dfollow Bragg about upstairs to get the hang of how things worked upthere.”
“Did his brother encourage him?”
“Not at all. Alfred was very strict aboutwhere our proper place was. Giles was a wonder with horses. Alfredthought he should stay out here where he belonged.”
“Did Bragg and Giles ever go to towntogether?”
“Only to church on Sundays. But they did gohuntin’ together. An’ sometimes I’d let them use this cottage whenthey had a Saturday afternoon off.”
“To do what?”
Struthers hesitated, then leaned forward andwhispered, “They had a fondness fer drink an’ dicin’ — nothin’serious, mind you, just a way to pass the afternoon and unwind abit. Mr. Macaulay didn’t allow the servants to drink on thepremises, except fer a glass of wine or beer at supper.” He leanedfarther forward and added, “I never seen either of ‘em reallydrunk.”
“Any particular kind of drink?”
“Oh, yeah. It was always sherry.”
Marc tried not to reveal the excitement hefelt. “I trust they were not taking it from Mr. Macaulay’scellar?”
“Oh no, never. Alfred kept strict track ofthat.”
“Where would they get it, then?”
“Giles got it from someplace in town. Henever said where.”
“I see. And as far as you know, Braggwouldn’t have taken sherry to his own room in the house?”
“Never saw him do so.”
“Did Bragg go to church last Sunday?”
“He went along with the rest of us.”
“Could he have had time to do some visitingwhile in town?”
“Could have. I took the Janes girls an’Prissy fer some coffee afterwards. Austin said he felt more like astroll. We all come back together about an hour later.”
“Was Bragg carrying anything with him?”
Struthers smiled. “If he did have a bottle onhim, it would’ve been well hidden in his big coat, so I couldn’tsay one way or another.”
“Could Bragg have left Elmgrove anytime onMonday or Tuesday?” (Chilton, Marc knew, had arrived on theprevious Thursday, so if any plot to murder him had been hatchedafter that, the window of opportunity had been small.)
“No way. I know when my horses’ve been used,an’ Austin was kept far too busy to have had time to walk to town.He’s been here at Elmgrove since Sunday at two o’clock. An’ we’vebeen so busy gettin’ ready fer this gatherin’ I doubt he could’vebeen off the property in the last two weeks, except ferchurch.”
Marc decided to change tack, grateful thatStruthers seemed incurious about the purpose or direction of hisquestions. “Yesterday afternoon Mr. Chilton asked Mr. Macaulay ifhe might be excused for half an hour or so while he came out hereto check on some discrepancy or other in regard to yoursupplies.”
Struthers frowned slightly but did not seemthreatened by the remark. “Oh, that. Big mix-up. I found themissin’ bags of feed under some straw that Cal tossed over ‘em bymistake.”
“I see. So you and Chilton agreed on thetotal?”
“Not really. Cal told me about the problemlast night after supper, an’ I went an’ double-checked.”
Marc could not hide his surprise. “You’resaying that Chilton did not come here yesterday afternoon?”
“That’s right. And if he did, we didn’t seehim. I was in the barn all that time.”
Puzzling, Marc thought, as it had been Braggwho had served them coffee around two-thirty in the library, notChilton. Where had the butler been?
Marc thanked Struthers and began to walk backto the house. It looked now as if Bragg had had access not only tolaudanum but to Amontillado as well. If Bragg and Giles Harknessdid plot the death of the butler, they knew that only an expensivebrand of sherry could be used as a gift, a “peace offering” and adeadly bait. The exchange must have been made after church onSunday. And there were lots of places besides his room where a wilyservant could stash such a bit of contraband. Now, if Cobb couldjust pinpoint Harkness’s movements on Sunday last, they could beginclosing the net over Bragg.
As he left the shelter of the cedar windbreaktwenty paces past the stables, Marc felt the icy nor’wester on hisface and pulled the collar of his greatcoat up over his ears. Hewas glad it was Cobb who was braving the elements.
***
Mrs. Sturdy sat across from Cobb in an overstuffedeasy-chair and offered him what she took to be a lascivious smile.Its effect, however, was somewhat dimmed by the smoking cherootthat hung perilously at the edge of one thick lip and by thetarpaulin-sized dress she had arranged to flatter her numerouscurves — its crimson and yellow tulips rippling and winking in amost distracting manner. Her right hand lay plump upon the greasydoily of the chair-arm, grasping and regrasping a glass of gin sopotent Cobb thought he could hear it sizzle. He had accepted aglass of it from his enthusiastic hostess, but had not yet raisedit above waist level.
“I don’t often get company on a Fridayafternoon,” she was saying, “especially a handsome gentleman of thelaw.”
“I’ve come on official police business,” Cobbsaid with one eye on the precarious perch of the live cigar. “I amlooking for information on a boarder of yours, Giles Harkness.”