“Where is his bag, if he didn’t come to the house?” Daniel asked. “Surely he would have traveled with luggage?”
“As to that, I expect the servants would have brought it,” Joseph said. “And they traveled separately from us.”
“Ah, yes, the servants. Maybe one of them can enlighten us as to why Mr. Hannan arrived at his house but didn’t come in,” Daniel suggested.
“What about that strange man Mrs. Sullivan encountered at the gate?” Joseph said. “If we are to suspect that my brother met his end unnaturally, then this fellow is someone we need to talk to. A stranger, hanging around the property after dark, wanting to know if Brian had arrived. You need to find him, Prescott. Find out if he stayed in a boardinghouse in town overnight and if he was seen at the station.”
“I believe I know my job, sir,” Prescott said primly.
“Let’s hope it does turn out to be him,” Terrence said, “because if not, everyone else on the property was a family member.”
“What a ridiculous thing to say.” Archie Van Horn rose to his feet. “Are you suggesting it was one of us?”
“Some day you’ll go too far, boy,” Joseph said. “It’s about time you learned that your idea of amusing talk might be taken seriously. It was an accident, I tell you.”
“And if it wasn’t?” Terrence challenged his father. “What then?”
“Anybody could get into the property if they were serious about it,” Joseph said. “It would be simplest matter in the world to come in during the day when the gates are not locked and hide out in the shrubbery. I told Brian we should have the grounds patrolled by watchdogs, but he didn’t like the idea.”
“Wouldn’t the gardeners have noticed someone trying to enter?” Eliza said. “They always seem to be around when I’m outside.”
“Not necessarily,” Archie gave her a withering look. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a big property and when we’re not here who knows how much work they do.”
“They were much in evidence yesterday,” Daniel said. “It would be worth questioning them with the rest of the servants.”
“I’ll decide whether anybody needs to be questioned,” Prescott said. “So far we have a body lying on rocks below a cliff. Nothing to suggest that anyone else was involved or even witnessed what happened.”
I had been sitting quietly, like a dutiful wife, but a thought had been growing in my head and I thought it was about time I spoke up. “If someone did try to kill him,” I began, making all faces turn toward me again, as if they’d only just remembered that I was in the room, “they were taking an awful risk. I’ve been at the bottom of that cliff. It’s not that high, as cliffs go. And the tide was coming in when I was on the beach so it would have almost covered the rocks last night. Surely there was a chance that Brian Hannan would not have died at all. He might have been injured, but live to point the finger at his accuser?”
They all stared at me as if I was a creature from another world. Irene put her hand to her breast as if she might swoon.
“You must forgive my wife,” Daniel said hastily. “Having associated herself with me and my police work, she doesn’t have the normal feminine sensibilities. But what she says is correct. It is not at all a given fact that a man would die from such a fall. Especially if the tide was up on the rocks. A well-timed wave would have broken his fall and he would have lived. If someone wanted to dispatch him and he was wandering alone in his grounds in the darkness why not shoot him or stab him?”
The Hannan family members shifted uncomfortably.
“I think we’re getting into the realm of fantasy here,” Chief Prescott said. “Until I hear differently, I’m treating this as an accidental death. Let’s hear what the coroner has to say, shall we, before we start making any wild speculations? And even then, we may never know.”
“I agree,” Joseph said. “I find it highly unlikely that an enemy followed him all the way out here with the intention of killing him. It was a tragic accident, that’s all. Brian arrived and decided to do the rounds of his property. He was very proud of this place, you know. Perhaps he was enjoying the solitude and the sound of the ocean after a busy week in the city. He lost his way in the dark and made a fatal mistake.”
At that moment the door opened and Mrs. McCreedy stepped in cautiously. “Begging your pardon, sirs, but will you be wanting your breakfast as normal?”
She had clearly been crying and was fighting to maintain her composure.
“We’re just coming, thank you, Mrs. McCreedy,” Patrick Hannan said gently. “It will do the servants good to have something to keep them busy.”
“Then I’ll tell the chef, sir.”
“So Mr. Hannan’s chef did arrive last night?” I asked.
She shot me a suspicious glance. “Yes, he came with the rest of the servants, just like I told you he would.”