A Mischief in the Snow - By Margaret Miles Page 0,67
sure he said nothing about the scheme earlier.”
“No one did! In fact, I supposed you knew, but wouldn't tell me.”
“While I suspected the same.” They continued to examine one another silently, until Captain Montagu began anew.
“What I wish to know, Mrs. Willett, is this. Do you suspect anyone else of having ties to this business? You've known these people far longer than your neighbor, after all.”
“I—” She stopped, unwilling to speculate further. Could she accuse John Dudley of anything with certainty? Or with safety? Lem and Ned might have discussed any number of other things while chatting beside a fire. And while it was true Jonah Bigelow knew something about metals, surely that was not enough to prove he'd been involved in any business as serious as counterfeiting?
“There's little I know for certain, Edmund,” she replied. “But I do suspect these shillings came from Boar Island.
And I'm not entirely sure our constable should be in charge of looking into the matter.”
“I wonder if he isn't the ringleader,” said Longfellow. “He lives there on the north road, not far from the island. I think we should look into who may have been ‘assisting’ the law, too, in the last several months.”
“John Dudley,” said Moses Reed, whom they turned to see standing just inside the room, “is someone whose word I'd prefer not to count on, even under oath. I agree that you'd be doing the village a service by helping him to accomplish his job.”
“Which reminds me,” said Longfellow, “there is another interesting thing that Mr. Reed told us last night, which neither of you has yet had a chance to consider.”
“Before you begin,” the attorney broke in, “may I ask, Mrs. Willett, how Magdalene Knowles does this morning?”
Charlotte then recalled that Reed, too, had heard the terrible accusation made by Catherine Knowles, of which Richard and Edmund might yet be unaware.
“Did she come with you this morning?” he asked further.
“No—I left her sleeping.”
“Alone?” asked Reed, his expression an uneasy one.
“Perhaps I should go back,” she replied, beginning to doubt the wisdom of her earlier decision.
“Is there an objection to my going to her myself? We might speak quietly there, and then I'll bring the lady back to this house for the rest of the morning. After her rest she may enjoy some companionship.”
“A fine idea,” said Longfellow. “We'll soon have breakfast. Please tell her she would be most welcome.”
“That I'll gladly do,” said Reed, bowing as he moved backwards through the door.
“But now, Carlotta, for the rest,” said Longfellow, his hazel eyes more intent than ever. “This time, I think you'll find what I have to tell you quite unexpected.”
Whether that would be a good thing or not Charlotte tried to imagine, as Richard Longfellow began.
Chapter 23
LAST NIGHT,” SAID Longfellow, “while you were with Magdalene Knowles, and Edmund was finding his way to us through the snow, Reed told us something about a will. He is, or was, Catherine Knowles's attorney.”
“Ah!” said Charlotte, while Captain Montagu maintained a watchful silence.
“Catherine made her first will, it seems, little more than a year ago. Recently, however, she sent him another.”
“Then—who is her heir?”
“Reed won't yet tell us. But I've heard Alex Godwin claimed he would receive more than wages, one day, for his care of the two women.”
“Yes, I've heard that myself. But then, you don't suppose whoever killed him could have been angry simply because he might have come into a fortune?”
“Men being the covetous creatures that they are, it's possible. But I'm curious to learn the name of the previous heir, if we assume Godwin was the latter.”
“When will we know that?”
“Soon, is all Reed will say. It seems he has some dainty concern for legal proprieties.”
“Then while we wait, you may be interested in something else that I've discovered.”
“What is that, Carlotta?”
“Two things, really. Mr. Reed told you no more last night of Catherine's death? Of her last words?”
“No. What were they?”
“She claimed she had no accident, but that she was pushed into the fire. She also instructed me to investigate something. Her exact phrase was, ‘Find out if the boy was—’”
“Pushed! Good God! A horrible thought! But… find out if the boy was what? And what boy?”
“I'm not sure. Later, Magdalene also told me she once had a lover. He wasn't allowed to stay with her on the island, but a seed was planted. And she bore a son.”
“So that was why she watched, as you told us, from her perch?”