"Not at seven o'clock, your lordship. My lord the Count always rose
promptly at six and unlocked the door before seven."
"He did lock it at night, then?"
"Yes, sir."
Lord Darcy looked thoughtful and made a note, but he said nothing more
on that subject. "When you left, you locked the door?"
"That is correct, your lordship."
"And it has remained locked ever since?"
Sir Pierce hesitated and glanced at Father Bright. The priest said:
"At 8:15, Sir Pierre and I went in. I wished to view the body. We
touched nothing. We left at 8:20."
* * * * *
Master Sean O Lochlainn looked agitated. "Er ... excuse me, Reverend
Sir. You didn't give him Holy Unction, I hope?"
"No," said Father Bright. "I thought it would be better to delay that
until after the authorities has seen the ... er ... scene of the
crime. I wouldn't want to make the gathering of evidence any more
difficult than necessary."
"Quite right," murmured Lord Darcy.
"No blessings, I trust, Reverend Sir?" Master Sean persisted. "No
exorcisms or--"
"Nothing," Father Bright interrupted somewhat testily. "I believe I
crossed myself when I saw the body, but nothing more."
"Crossed _yourself_, sir. Nothing else?"
"No."
"Well, that's all right, then. Sorry to be so persistent, Reverend
Sir, but any miasma of evil that may be left around is a very
important clue, and it shouldn't be dispersed until it's been checked,
you see."
"_Evil?_" My lady the Countess looked shocked.
"Sorry, my lady, but--" Master Sean began contritely.
But Father Bright interrupted by speaking to the Countess. "Don't
distress yourself, my daughter; these men are only doing their duty."
"Of course. I understand. It's just that it's so--" She shuddered
delicately.
Lord Darcy cast Master Sean a warning look, then asked politely, "Has
my lady seen the deceased?"
"No," she said. "I will, however, if you wish."
"We'll see," said Lord Darcy. "Perhaps it won't be necessary. May we
go up to the suite now?"
"Certainly," the Countess said. "Sir Pierre, if you will?"
"Yes, my lady."
As Sir Pierre unlocked the emblazoned door, Lord Darcy said: "Who else
sleeps on this floor?"
"No one else, your lordship," Sir Pierre said. "The entire floor is ...
was ... reserved for my lord the Count."
"Is there any way up besides that elevator?"
Sir Pierre turned and pointed toward the other end of the short
hallway. "That leads to the staircase," he said, pointing to a massive
oaken door, "but it's kept locked at all times. And, as you can see,
there is a heavy bar across it. Except for moving furniture in and out
or something like that, it's never used."
"No other way up or down, then?"
Sir Pierre hesitated. "Well, yes, your lordship, there is. I'll show
you."
"A secret stairway?"
"Yes, your lordship."
"Very well. We'll look at it after we've seen the body."
Lord Darcy, having spent an hour on the train down from Rouen, was
anxious to see the cause of the trouble at last.
He lay in the bedroom, just as Sir Pierre and Father Bright had left
him.
"If you please, Dr. Pateley," said his lordship.
He knelt on one side of the corpse and watched carefully while Pateley
knelt on the other side and looked at the face of the dead man. Then
he touched one of the hands and tried to move an arm. "Rigor has set
in--even to the fingers. Single bullet hole. Rather small caliber--I
should say a .28 or .34--hard to tell until I've probed out the
bullet. Looks like it went right through the heart, though. Hard to
tell about powder burns; the blood has soaked the clothing and dried.
Still, these specks ... hm-m-m. Yes. Hm-m-m."
Lord Darcy's eyes took in everything, but there was little enough to
see on the body itself. Then his eye was caught by something that gave
off a golden gleam. He stood up and walked over to the great canopied
four-poster bed, then he was on his knees again, peering under it. A
coin? No.
He picked it up carefully and looked at it. A button. Gold,
intricately engraved in an Arabesque pattern, and set in the center
with a single diamond. How long had it lain there? Where had it come
from? Not from the Count's clothing, for his buttons were smaller,
engraved with his arms, and had no gems. Had a man or a woman dropped
it? There was no way of knowing at this stage of the game.