A Stroke of Malice (Lady Darby Mystery #8) - Anna Lee Huber Page 0,56

to?” Lord John asked as the brewmaster’s footsteps receded down the corridor toward the outer door.

Gage shook his head. “The body was dressed in the clothing of a gentleman, and I doubt Colum Brunton had access to such apparel, let alone any reason to wear it.”

“From the manner in which Mr. Henderson spoke of him, Mr. Brunton is also much too young,” I explained. “Not a man close to two score in years, as the corpse is.”

Lord John frowned as he considered this and then nodded. “Then the information is useless.”

“Not necessarily,” Lord Henry ruminated. “Perhaps the lad disappeared for a different reason. Maybe he saw something. Something that made him fear for his life.”

It was my and Gage’s turn to nod, both having thought of the same thing.

Gage pulled his dark woolen greatcoat with three capes tighter around him, buttoning it down the middle. “We need to track him down, whatever his reasons for hiding.”

I heard in his voice the same misgivings I harbored. For if Colum Brunton had disappeared out of fear for his life, what was to say the reason for that fear hadn’t already caught up with him? I could only hope for his sake, and ours, it hadn’t.

“Have we enough lanterns?” he added, pulling me closer to his side. This time I would be venturing into the tunnel not in a nun’s habit, but one of my warmest winter gowns and my forest green fur-lined cloak.

Lord Edward passed each man a lantern while Lord Henry disappeared through the door to the kitchens and returned with a lit spill of wood. After lighting each wick, he blew it out and returned it to where he’d found it, before bringing up the rear of our motley band of explorers as we descended the circular staircase into the doom.

I caught a glimpse of two maids spying on us from a doorway further along the corridor, their eyes wide with curiosity. It would be interesting to know what they were thinking, and who else they might have seen going down these stairs. I could only hope Bree would be able to coax it out of them. She was capable enough. I certainly didn’t doubt her abilities. But Anderley often played her foil, cajoling those maids susceptible to his charms and good looks when her sympathetic ear wasn’t enough, or snubbing them so they would welcome Bree’s overtures of friendship. I knew neither of them enjoyed such calculating maneuvers, but with our inquiries, time was often of the essence, and if a little manipulation helped us catch a murderer faster, then they would do what needed to be done.

Gage lifted his lantern higher as the darkness closed in around us while keeping his other arm tightly linked with mine, lest I stumble on the steps worn smooth and concave with time. The must of earth and stone permeated the chill, stagnant air. We paused at the base as Gage turned to gaze down the passage that Lord Edward had told us during his tour led to the dungeons. The brothers waited for him to speak.

“Did you mean it when you said no one ventures down there?” Gage asked Lord Edward. “Not even you and your brothers?”

He nodded solemnly.

Gage narrowed his eyes as if trying to ascertain his truthfulness.

“I’m not saying we never explored there. What curious lad wouldn’t? But we, none of us, liked it.” He glanced at his brother next to him. “And after the time we left John there alone—a stupid, childish act of retribution for his wrecking our fort—and received the thrashing of our lives, we never set foot there again.” He nodded toward his youngest brother beyond my shoulder. “Hal’s never even seen the dungeons.”

Lord Henry neither confirmed nor denied this, but Lord John crossed his arms over his chest, either in remembered outrage or fright.

“We can search them if you wish, but I don’t know the layout, and we’ll want to do so in pairs.”

Gage turned to me, clearly torn about what we should do. It seemed unlikely that anything would be found in that part of the doom, but then the people assuring us so were also three of our suspects. I had no great desire to venture into the old dungeons either, but it seemed faulty not to at least give it a precursory exploration.

So I posited a compromise. “Why don’t we search through just a few of the chambers in each direction and then regroup? If no one sees anything of interest,