evening would you like me to start?”
“How about when you last saw Sir William?”
“I last saw Sir William at around seven o’clock, when he was entertaining the guests in the main drawing room. I poured the Champagne, then stepped into the dining room to check on the table arrangements. I heard Sir William leave the drawing room to go collect the final wines from the cellar, accompanied by Mr Paloni. I remained in the drawing room, where I was joined by Mr Wordington-Smythe and Mr Manchot. It was here that Mrs Bates found us and informed us that Sir William was apparently locked in the cellar and not responding. We then proceeded at once to the cellar entrance to lend assistance.”
PC Lucy nodded as she scribbled in her notebook. “So the other guests were still in the drawing room?”
“No. Only Lady Margaret, who I believe was resting by the fire. The other guests had retired upstairs at that point.”
“And then?”
“On finding the door to the cellar locked, as per Mrs Bates’ description, and not being able to rouse a response from Sir William, I came here to the study to procure the spare key from the safe.” He gestured towards the wall by the desk, where a small iron safe was embedded at chest height.
“May I see inside?”
“Of course.” Gilles walked over to the safe and twiddled the dial. The little door swung open.
The safe was mostly empty, save for a bottle of forty-year-old single malt whisky—“Worth a pretty penny!” whispered Arthur—and a small pile of papers.
“As you can see,” said Gilles, “Sir William was not in the habit of making much use of the safe.”
“But he kept the spare cellar key in here? Sealed in wax?”
“Yes, it was a practice he inherited from his father, I’m told, to ensure he knew exactly who had access to the cellar at any one time.”
“So the only cellar key that could have been used to lock him in was the one that Sir William carried himself?”
“So it appears.”
“Interesting. Carry on. So you went to fetch the spare key?”
“Yes. I then proceeded to unlock the cellar door, and descended first, followed by the guests, which in hindsight I am most regretful of. For the ladies and gentlemen to have to witness such a sight . . . ” Gilles shook his head.
“Was it normal for Sir William to lock the cellar door when he was down there?”
“No, I’d say not. On rare occasions when he did not wish to be disturbed, perhaps.”
“I understand that there had been some form of disagreement between him and Mr Paloni, just beforehand. Is it possible he locked the door after Mr Paloni had left him, to ensure he wouldn’t be disturbed further?”
“Possible, yes.”
“And what about the cellar itself? Is anything missing?”
“I would need to consult the cellar book and carry out a full audit to ascertain this. But the most valuable bottles in the collection are kept in a glass cabinet with a key code lock. I observed at the time that these bottles were undisturbed.”
PC Lucy scribbled this down in her notebook. “And then what happened after?”
“To ensure the safety of the guests, I conducted a preliminary search of the building, and soon after discovered a broken window in the storeroom beside the kitchen. We concluded that this was where the intruder had entered and exited the premises.”
“So this was before you called the police?”
“Yes. As our phone line has been non-functional since the afternoon, Mr Lafoute and I then walked to the main road to make the call.”
Chef Maurice leaned over to Arthur. “The phone line, I find this most suspicious,” he murmured. Arthur nodded his agreement.
“Have you worked for Sir William very long?”
“Fifteen years.”
“And to your knowledge, has Sir William ever received any threats? Notes, phone calls, that kind of thing?”
Gilles smiled faintly. “The local pro-fox-hunting lobby have been known to send the occasional sternly worded letter, but no, nothing
“How about when you last saw Sir William?”
“I last saw Sir William at around seven o’clock, when he was entertaining the guests in the main drawing room. I poured the Champagne, then stepped into the dining room to check on the table arrangements. I heard Sir William leave the drawing room to go collect the final wines from the cellar, accompanied by Mr Paloni. I remained in the drawing room, where I was joined by Mr Wordington-Smythe and Mr Manchot. It was here that Mrs Bates found us and informed us that Sir William was apparently locked in the cellar and not responding. We then proceeded at once to the cellar entrance to lend assistance.”
PC Lucy nodded as she scribbled in her notebook. “So the other guests were still in the drawing room?”
“No. Only Lady Margaret, who I believe was resting by the fire. The other guests had retired upstairs at that point.”
“And then?”
“On finding the door to the cellar locked, as per Mrs Bates’ description, and not being able to rouse a response from Sir William, I came here to the study to procure the spare key from the safe.” He gestured towards the wall by the desk, where a small iron safe was embedded at chest height.
“May I see inside?”
“Of course.” Gilles walked over to the safe and twiddled the dial. The little door swung open.
The safe was mostly empty, save for a bottle of forty-year-old single malt whisky—“Worth a pretty penny!” whispered Arthur—and a small pile of papers.
“As you can see,” said Gilles, “Sir William was not in the habit of making much use of the safe.”
“But he kept the spare cellar key in here? Sealed in wax?”
“Yes, it was a practice he inherited from his father, I’m told, to ensure he knew exactly who had access to the cellar at any one time.”
“So the only cellar key that could have been used to lock him in was the one that Sir William carried himself?”
“So it appears.”
“Interesting. Carry on. So you went to fetch the spare key?”
“Yes. I then proceeded to unlock the cellar door, and descended first, followed by the guests, which in hindsight I am most regretful of. For the ladies and gentlemen to have to witness such a sight . . . ” Gilles shook his head.
“Was it normal for Sir William to lock the cellar door when he was down there?”
“No, I’d say not. On rare occasions when he did not wish to be disturbed, perhaps.”
“I understand that there had been some form of disagreement between him and Mr Paloni, just beforehand. Is it possible he locked the door after Mr Paloni had left him, to ensure he wouldn’t be disturbed further?”
“Possible, yes.”
“And what about the cellar itself? Is anything missing?”
“I would need to consult the cellar book and carry out a full audit to ascertain this. But the most valuable bottles in the collection are kept in a glass cabinet with a key code lock. I observed at the time that these bottles were undisturbed.”
PC Lucy scribbled this down in her notebook. “And then what happened after?”
“To ensure the safety of the guests, I conducted a preliminary search of the building, and soon after discovered a broken window in the storeroom beside the kitchen. We concluded that this was where the intruder had entered and exited the premises.”
“So this was before you called the police?”
“Yes. As our phone line has been non-functional since the afternoon, Mr Lafoute and I then walked to the main road to make the call.”
Chef Maurice leaned over to Arthur. “The phone line, I find this most suspicious,” he murmured. Arthur nodded his agreement.
“Have you worked for Sir William very long?”
“Fifteen years.”
“And to your knowledge, has Sir William ever received any threats? Notes, phone calls, that kind of thing?”
Gilles smiled faintly. “The local pro-fox-hunting lobby have been known to send the occasional sternly worded letter, but no, nothing
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