The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (children's books read aloud .TXT) 📗

Davidson?” Amy nodded in the direction of two men who seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument.

“Yes. And that’s his friend, Mr. Rawlings.”

“They don’t look too friendly now, do they?”

While keeping up with the music, they continued to watch the men, whose quarrel began to draw attention. Mr. Rawlings threw his hands up in the air and stormed off. After a minute or two, Mr. Davidson followed him out.

“Well, that was certainly interesting,” William said.

“Oh, I also forgot to tell you about my visit with Miss Gertrude. Aunt Margaret and I made a call there. We were the only visitors, and while I wouldn’t say the ladies were rude in any way, I didn’t get the feeling that we were very welcomed. They made it a point to mention that they were not holding morning calls that day.”

“Did you learn anything?”

“One thing I thought noteworthy was that Miss Gertrude had scratches on her face. It made me think of the person who attempted to steal the ledger and then ran through the woods and stumbled.”

“You think it was Miss Gertrude?” He seemed to think for a minute. “That’s fascinating. I never considered that our shooter could have been a woman.”

“I’m not saying it was, only that the scratches on her face brought that to my attention.”

“Did you ask her about them?”

“Yes. She mentioned a cat that wanders her neighborhood that they feed on occasion. She said the animal scratched her.”

The music came to an end, and William walked her to where Aunt Margaret stood with Lord Pembroke, Lady Wethington, and Mr. Colbert.

“Must he stay by her side all night?” William groused.

Amy grinned. “You are by my side most nights.” She stumbled and sucked in a breath, heat rising to her face at the image her statement produced. “I mean most nights at the Assembly.”

He had the nerve to grin at her discomfort. “That’s different.”

They had already made it to the group, so Amy did not pursue the conversation and hoped the redness of her face would diminish before anyone noticed.

“Wethington, I just invited your mother to attend the theater with me Friday next,” Mr. Colbert said. “Would you and Lady Amy care to join us?”

“As a chaperone?” William muttered under his breath. Amy nudged him in the middle with her elbow.

“I love the theater,” Amy said, turning to William.

He sighed, obviously feeling trapped. “Yes. Of course we would love to attend.” He looked about as happy as he did each time she brought Persephone with her on one of their jaunts.

“Lady Margaret, would you care to join us as well?” It appeared Mr. Colbert was going to make it a group outing.

Lord Pembroke spoke up. “I’m afraid Lady Margaret and I already have plans for next Friday.”

All heads turned toward her aunt, who looked back at them as if daring them to ask questions.

How very odd.

William stiffened as he glanced across the room. “If you will excuse me, there is someone I must speak with.” Before Amy could ask a question, he was gone.

She studied him until she saw him stop and begin a conversation with a man she did not recognize.

Not having seen Mr. Montrose at the Assembly since he and Amy had started their investigation, William was quite surprised when he glanced across the room to see the man leaning against a wall, speaking with another gentleman.

Not wanting to appear as though he was conducting an interrogation, William slowed his walk and sauntered up to the two men. “Good evening, Montrose. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Montrose stuck out his hand, and they shook. “Good to see you too, Wethington.”

The man whom Montrose had been speaking with stepped back. “If you will excuse me, I see someone headed for the door that I need to speak with.” He made a quick turn and strode toward the exit.

“Did you hear about James Harding’s death?” William watched Montrose carefully.

The man’s lips tightened, and his face flushed. “The man was a crook, a cheat, and a snake. Drowning was too good for him.”

William was a bit taken aback. Harding had truly been a hated man, and what troubled William the most was that he’d worked with the man for a few years and somehow missed all this. He did not consider himself neglectful or stupid, yet his man of business had stolen from so many. “He was my man of business too.”

“You would be wise to check your financial records,” Montrose said. “He stole quite a bit from me, and it was my fault for not double-checking everything he did.” The man shook his head.

“Yes. Well, I have a bit of a problem myself.”

“What is that?”

“Harding was stealing from me as well and also forging my name to contracts that have done a bit of damage to my business reputation.”

Montrose shook his head and blew out a soft whistle. “He was truly a devil. I am in the process of having my barrister solicit the courts to get back my records, which the police currently have in hand.”

William leaned his shoulder against the wall. “How successful have you been?”

“Not very. Since I was out of the country when the man died, I was a couple of weeks behind in the news.”

William’s ears picked up. “You were out of the country?”

“Yes. Spent a few weeks with my parents in Scotland. Near Aberdeen.”

Another suspect to be crossed off their list. It wouldn’t take much to have Montrose’s parents confirm he’d been visiting them when Harding took his final swim in the river.

“I hope all is well with them?”

“Yes. They are getting on in years, and you know how it goes. I should really make an effort to get out there more often.”

Mr. Colbert strode up to the two of them, nodding in Montrose’s direction and then turning his attention to William. “I will be escorting your mother home this evening.”

“What?”

“Yes. She has agreed, and we will be leaving soon. She said she has a bit of a headache.”

Remembering how