Page 44 of In the Midnight Hour

“Now is fine,” Maberly said. “Though, I’m not sure what else I can add to what I said at the inquest yesterday.”

“We’d like to try to understand Sir Radnor’s motivations for changing his will,” North explained. “It’s odd that he would name Lady Cartwright as the beneficiary when he hadn’t even proposed marriage to her, wouldn’t you agree?”

“It is surprising, my lord.”

“And why leave out his kin?” North asked, though they’d already learned from Jacob Claverton that Sir Radnor hadn’t been kind to them.

Maberly hesitated, then grimaced faintly. “I suppose I can tell you—it’s not as if Sir Radnor can get upset with me for sharing this. He did comment that he didn’t have much in common with his great-nephew and great-niece. He disliked their visits, as he found having to entertain them to be a chore. He said they took after his brother-in-law and his son—that would be the Clavertons’ father—whom he called dullards.” He lifted his hand briefly, pointing his finger. “Now that I think of it, Mr. and Miss Claverton visited more frequently the past few months.”

“I wonder why,” North mused. “Do you think they knew or may have suspected Sir Radnor had drafted a will without them in it?”

“It’s possible,” Maberly said with a shrug. “When Mr. Wadham came last Saturday upon hearing of Sir Radnor’s death, he told me that no one was aware Sir Radnor had recently made his will.” Maberly frowned slightly, his brow creasing. “I noticed the solicitor didn’t say it was a ‘new’ will. I would have expected Sir Radnor to have had one drafted years ago, but perhaps he didn’t. Either way, this one would supersede anything that came before. At least, that’s my understanding.”

“What else did Mr. Wadham tell you last Saturday?” Hypatia asked.

“That there was a single heir named who would inherit the bulk of Sir Radnor’s fortune. Since he said ‘single,’ I commented that it wouldn’t be his great-nephew and great-niece. I found that surprising because they made a point of visiting Sir Radnor often and maintaining a relationship with him. The only other person I could think of was the third cousin who would inherit the baronetcy. However, Mr. Wadham told me, in confidence, that it wasn’t him either.”

“In confidence,” North repeated. “Just the two of you had this discussion?”

Maberly nodded. “In Sir Radnor’s study.” His eyes rounded briefly. “Mr. and Miss Claverton arrived whilst I was meeting with Mr. Wadham—he was instructing me on how I was to continue managing the household. Samuel showed them to the drawing room, so it’s possible they could have overheard our conversation.”

“Meaning the Clavertons could have learned on Saturday afternoon that they’d been disinherited.” Hypatia exchanged a disconcerted look with North. She had to be thinking what he was—if they’d discovered this on Saturday, why would they have schemed to steal from Sir Radnor on Friday night?

North refused to give up on her theory, not when he knew she was innocent. “Maberly, we understand the walking stick and other items were discovered missing when Mr. Wadham completed the inventory. Lady Cartwright saw the manuscripts in the library on Friday night. Do you recall the last time the other items were seen? We’re trying to determine if they went missing at the same time as Sir Radnor’s demise.”

“I see.” Maberly nodded slowly, his features contracting as he contemplated North’s query. “You’ll have to ask Usher. I believe those other items are all kept in Sir Radnor’s dressing room.”

“And what time did Mr. Wadham arrive to conduct the inventory?” Hypatia asked.

“At half after eleven. I’d say he started the inventory around noon.”

“That’s about a twelve-hour period during which the items went missing,” North noted. “Do Mr. and Miss Claverton have keys to the house?”

The butler shook his head. “I don’t believe so. If they did, I wasn’t aware. I can’t imagine Sir Radnor would have given them access to the house, given how he felt about them.”

“Do you know if Mr. and Miss Claverton went directly to the drawing room and stayed there?” Hypatia asked. “Wasn’t the purpose of their visit to pay their respects to Sir Radnor?”

“I believe so. You should speak with Samuel since he greeted and saw to them.” Maberly regarded them expectantly. “Shall I fetch him for you?”

Hypatia smiled at the butler. “That would be most helpful, thank you.”

Maberly directed them to wait in the library, which was located at the back of the house next to the morning room. “Pardon the odor. We’ve replenished the flowers and herbs often, but it’s difficult to mask the smell after this much time.”

North noted the closed door and presumed that to be the morning room. As they neared the doorway to the library, the smell became quite awful.

“Perhaps we should go up to the drawing room.” Hypatia withdrew a handkerchief from her reticule and held it to her nose.

“I want to see where Sir Radnor kept the illuminated manuscripts,” North said, moving into the library. “Then we can go upstairs. I have no quarrel with that whatsoever.” He coughed and worked to breathe through his mouth.

Hypatia crossed to the glass-fronted bookcase to the left of the hearth. “They were in here.” She gestured to the lower two shelves—one at eye height and one lower. They held nothing but empty stands.

North saw the lock on the door to the bookcase but tried to open it anyway. It was secured. “Did Sir Radnor always keep this locked?”

“To my knowledge, yes,” Hypatia replied. “Though he keeps the key in the top drawer there.” She pointed to a mahogany secretary in the corner before going to look. Opening the drawer, she easily found the key and held it up. “This is it.” She grimaced. “Now I appear especially guilty. I’m the last person to see the manuscripts here, and I know where the key is kept.”

“You surely aren’t the only person who knows that, and we don’t yet know for sure if you’re the last to have seen them.” North sought to soothe her. “We’ll query everyone in the household,” he vowed.

“Thank you.”