boysâthey were young men by that timeâleft to join the Army. I donât know if Justin Fowler survived or not. I drove him in Mrs. Russellâs motorcar to meet the train to London, and that was the last time I saw him. A quiet boy, kept to himself. I didnât know him well. But he was afraid of something. I never knew what it was.â
âThen who is the man in this photograph?â
Morrison frowned as he considered the face again. âIâm sorry. I donât believe Iâve ever seen him before. But you said heâd come to call on you at the Yard? The man in this photograph? How did you come to believe he was Major Russell?â
âIt was the name he gave me,â Rutledge said trenchantly.
âHow very odd! And you tell me he was wearing the locket with Miss Farradayâs likeness in it when his body was pulled from the river?â
âAccording to those who found him.â
âThen I should think you ought to find her and ask her if she knows this man.â
âBefore I do, what else can you tell me about the Russell household? Are there any of the staff still living in the vicinity? Perhaps in Furnham.â
âThere was only a small staff. A housekeeper, of course, and several maids. A cook. An elderly groom. And I believe there was a man who acted as butler when there were guests, but generally drove Mrs. Russell when she went out. The household didnât get on well with the local people and kept to themselves more often than not. The groom died soon after Mrs. Russell disappeared. And the cook went to live with a member of her family, when the house was closed. Mrs. Broadley. I remember how apt her name was. An excellent cook! I donât know what became of the housekeeper, Mrs. Dunner. I was told she found employment in the Midlands. Haroldâthe chauffeurâstayed on as caretaker in the first few weeks of the war, then was called up. There was no one at Riverâs Edge after that.â
âThe maids?â
âIâd nearly forgot. Nancy married a farmerâs son on the other side of Furnham. Samuel Brothers. The others went their ways.â
âTell me how to find this farm?â
âYou must drive through Furnham, and when the road curves to the left, just continue along it. The second farm you come to belongs to Brothers.â
Rutledge thanked him and took his leave. Morrison walked with him up the single aisle of the church and to the door, like a good host seeing a guest on his way.
He said as they reached the door, âI hope you can identify that poor man in the photograph. I shall pray for him.â
âThank you, Rector.â
And then the door was closed behind him, and the rectorâs footsteps seemed to echo in the emptiness of the sanctuary as he walked back down the aisle.
âHe was in love with the lass. In yon locket,â Hamish said as Rutledge crossed the narrow strip of lawn to his motorcar.
âMorrison?â
âAye, the priest.â
Rutledge remembered the sadness in the rectorâs eyes as he said that Russell would have married Cynthia Farraday. Russell was more her equal than a country parson. It could explain why Morrison had found it difficult to discuss her.
He paused as he reached for the crank, and in the silence he could hear the whispers in the grass. It was easy to imagine people hidden among the reeds, some of them taller than a man. For that matter, it would be hard to find someone even twenty feet away from where one stood. It explained the difficulty in searching for Mrs. Russell.
He left the church, turning toward Furnham.
Who the hell was the man who had come into his office, claiming to be Wyatt Russell and swearing heâd murdered Justin Fowler? More to the point, who had killed that man not a fortnight later? And were the two events related? Or was there something else in the victimâs past that had led to his death?
Hamish said, âThe
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