Page 48 of A Most Inconvenient Murder

She let the silence fill the circle.

Mrs. Jenkinson’s gaze met Elizabeth’s, steady and unblinking.

Elizabeth took a long, steadying breath before looking around the group.

“We now know how Mrs. Blackstone died,” Elizabeth said. “But I believe it is just as important to understand how the poison came to be in her possession, and who had the opportunity to place it there.”

She turned slightly toward the coroner.

“With your permission—and that of the company—I should like to ask a few questions about the management of the Rosings household. I believe they bear directly upon the matter before us.”

The coroner grunted. “Proceed, Miss Bennet.”

Elizabeth inclined her head. “Lady Catherine, you are renowned for your standards in domestic economy. It is my understanding, and confirmed by your own staff, that you permit no commercial cosmetics within these walls. All such items, be they for the complexion or for the hair, are compounded on the premises, in the Rosings stillroom, under the strictest supervision.”

Lady Catherine’s lips compressed to a single line.

Elizabeth continued, “The inventory of every jar, every tin, every scent, every colorant and oil, is entered in the household books. Mr. Darcy and the housekeeper have thoroughly examined the books. The handwriting is always the same.”

Mr. Darcy stepped forward. “The inventory is entirely in Mrs. Jenkinson’s hand,” he said. “She alone keeps the key to the stillroom, and my aunt permits no one to enter without her knowledge.”

A faint sound escaped Miss de Bourgh—whether surprise or disbelief, Elizabeth could not tell—but she remained silent.

The coroner asked, “Mrs. Jenkinson. Is there anything you wish to say in response?”

The companion’s hands tightened on the handle of her reticule, the white of her gloves a stark contrast to the gray of her dress.

She shook her head, just once, and lowered her eyes to the ground.

Mr. Darcy exhaled, the sound audible above the hush of the maze.

Elizabeth closed her eyes.

The scratch of the clerk’s quill echoed off the yew walls.

Lady Catherine’s chin was set in terrible, silent outrage. Miss de Bourgh’s hands were now knotted so tightly around her shawl that the bones of her exposed wrists stood out beneath the skin. Mr. Haldridge seemed to shrink into himself, all his easy confidence stripped away. And of course, Mrs. Jenkinson, whose posture had become so rigid and still that Elizabeth could not be certain she was breathing.

Elizabeth waited only a moment before continuing. “Which brings us to the note.”

Her gaze moved briefly around the assembled company.

“You will all remember the fragment found in Mrs. Blackstone’s hand. It was written on blue paper of a particular weight and finish.”

Mr. Darcy handed her the torn fragment and the larger sheet. Taking care to disturb them as little as possible, she fitted the torn edges together.

The join was almost imperceptible.

She handed them to the coroner first. After examining them in silence, he passed them to his clerk, who made a hurried note before placing both pieces carefully into his case.

“This stock is purchased exclusively for Rosings Park, except what Lady Catherine gifts to others,” she continued. “It is used for Lady Catherine’s correspondence, for household memoranda, and for no other purpose. Colonel Fitzwilliam inquired with the London stationer; he has never sold this paper to another estate, nor to the shops in Town. It is not available for commercial purchase, and the watermark bears the crest of the de Bourgh family, except in the case of gifts, which carry no watermark.”

She turned the page toward the light, her finger following the faint impressions left in the paper.

“There is something else I should like you to notice.”

Holding the page at an angle, she said, “With the light falling across it, the impressions become much easier to see. A candle held low would reveal them more plainly still.”

She pointed to one area with her fingertip, where Mr. Darcy had scratched the pencil across it, revealing the indentations in the sheet.