Page 65 of The Unfortunate Debutante
“But it worked,” Jonathon said, pointing the decanter lid at him. “Inside Constable Pearson’s bedchamber, we started searching the stones around the hearth and discovered a loose one. We pulled it out and found… contracts.”
“Contracts?” Simeon repeated. “What kind of contracts?”
“Four bill of sale contracts for cottages near Emma’s land, and all of them listed Lockhart as the solicitor,” Jonathon answered, pouring himself a drink.
“We also found this,” Benedict said, removing a gold locket from his jacket pocket. He walked over and extended it towards Downshire. “We assumed it belonged to Emma’s mother.”
Downshire accepted the necklace. “This is an expensive piece of jewelry.”
“Exactly,” Benedict agreed. “It’s not quite befitting a constable’s wife.”
“I will ensure that Emma is given the necklace.” Placing the necklace into the top desk drawer, Downshire said, “Now, back to the matter at hand. What did you uncover about the contracts?”
Jonathon took a sip of his drink while Benedict answered for him. “We went into the village and started asking around. We learned that the men on the bill of sale contracts had all gone missing at different times over the past few years.”
Simeon moved to the edge of his seat. “Are you implying that Lockhart had a hand in their disappearances?”
“It sounds like a grand coincidence, does it not?” Jonathon remarked.
Benedict leaned his shoulder against the wall. “We went to speak to the new constable, and we discovered that Lockhart was known to engage in unscrupulous business practices.”
“That’s not a surprise to us,” Downshire said. “My investigation turned up the same thing.”
“Yes, but Jonathon and I are of the same mindset that Constable Pearson’s death was a little too convenient.”
Simeon lifted his brows in surprise. “You think he was murdered?”
Jonathon shrugged. “We confirmed that he was investigating Lockhart for those men’s disappearances, and then he suddenly takes ill shortly thereafter. It sounds mighty suspicious to me.”
“We encouraged Constable Brown to open up an investigation into Constable Pearson’s death; discreetly, of course,” Benedict stated.
With a curious glance, Simeon asked, “How did you convince the constable to open up an investigation into a death that happened over two years ago?”
“We just asked… nicely,” Jonathon replied, bringing the snifter up to his lips.
“Jonathon and I decided to visit these cottages, which coincidentally neighbored Emma’s land, and discovered an extensive channel of chalk quarries instead,” Benedict shared.
“Chalk quarries?” Simeon repeated.
Benedict nodded. “Apparently, Emma’s land is rich in chalk, including a desirable hard chalk stone, known as Totternhoe stone.
“I’ve heard of that stone,” Downshire remarked. “It’s strong enough to be used as a building stone and has been used to construct buildings such as St. Albans Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.”
“At least we discovered why Lockhart was so keen on Emma selling her land,” Simeon pointed out.
“Besides Lockhart potentially murdering five people and learning that Emma’s land is rich in resources, did you discover anything else in Totternhoe?” Downshire asked.
“Yes, we are closer to discovering the identity of the initials ‘A.B.’. Again, we asked the man at the bank very nicely for that information,” Benedict replied, smiling smugly. “A man named Daniel Booth has been depositing money into Lockhart’s account for the past five years.”
Downshire groaned. “Who in blazes is Daniel Booth?”
“We’re looking into it,” Benedict replied.
“I may not be an agent, but even I can recognize that Daniel Booth does not have the initials ‘A.B.’,” Simeon joked.
Jonathon placed his empty snifter down on the drink cart. “True, but Daniel Booth must be depositing the money into the account for someone with the initials ‘A.B.’. We have asked Uncle Charles to look into it.”
“Poor Emma,” Simeon muttered. “Do we tell her that we suspect Lockhart murdered her father?”
