Mr Waterford rushed towards the body, but Lord Riddlethorpe held him back. ‘It’s best not to touch anything.’
‘He’s right,’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘We should leave everything exactly as it is for the police.’
Morgan indicated the hefty wrench lying on the floor. ‘It looks like they used that to stove his head in, your lordship.’
‘We’d worked that out for ourselves,’ snapped Mr Waterford.
‘Steady on, Monty,’ said Lord Riddlethorpe. ‘We’re all a bit shocked, but there’s no need for that.’
Mr Waterford turned to Lady Hardcastle. ‘And if you were half the “detective” you make yourself out to be, Viktor wouldn’t be lying there now.’
‘That’s enough, Monty!’ said Lord Riddlethorpe. ‘Emily – Monty and I will go back to the house. I need to call Inspector Foister. Please stay here and see what you can see before he gets here. Morgan – don’t let anyone else inside.’
They both nodded their assent, and Lord Riddlethorpe led his friend away.
‘What do you think, my lady?’ I said as we looked at the scene.
‘I’m sure the police surgeon will have a clear idea, but obviously we know that he was killed after midnight and before about half an hour ago. We were all in the library together after dinner, and he left for bed at midnight. If he’d been attacked less than half an hour ago, we’d have seen his attacker. Many of the smaller bloodstains are dry, so I should say it was a good few hours ago.’
‘He was struck from the front,’ I said. ‘He saw his attacker.’
‘Which would seem to suggest he knew him.’
‘Or her,’ I said.
‘Or her,’ she agreed. ‘Again, the surgeon will have a better idea of the angle of the blow, so he’ll be able to give us a better idea of the height of the assailant. It looks like just the one blow to the forehead, though, not just from the wound, but from the spray of blood on the floor. Do you see? As the murderer swung the wrench downwards after striking him, it left that spray of blood behind it. But it’s neat. Just the one swing. And from this side of the room, I’d say.’
‘So Herr Kovacs came down to the coach house,’ I said. ‘Why? To meet someone? Or was he here to sabotage another motor car?’
‘Either is possible,’ she said.
‘He met someone. He was face-to-face with them when the blow fell. Were they talking? Arguing? Was someone trying to stop him? Did they suspect him of further sabotage and catch him in the act?’
‘There are no other signs of a struggle,’ she said. ‘Nothing knocked over, nothing else damaged. It makes a meeting more likely. If he were surprised in the act of sabotage, he would be more likely to have tried to flee.’
‘Or to brazen his way out,’ I said. ‘Stand up to his accuser and talk his way out of it.’
‘Hmm,’ she said. ‘He might. Morgan, is the back door locked?’
Morgan made his way to the back of the workshop, carefully avoiding anything he thought might have been evidence.
‘Locked,’ he said when he reached the door.
‘Interesting,’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘And the main doors were locked when you arrived?’
‘Yes, m’lady. You saw me unlockin’ ’em.’
‘So the attacker left and locked the door behind him. What’s the most likely chain of events now, then?’
‘It still doesn’t point to either,’ I said. ‘If Herr Kovacs came down here with a key and let himself in, he could have been followed. His murderer would have come in through the open back door, confronted him, killed him, taken the key, and left the way he came. On the other hand, if it was arranged, it would be the murderer who had the key, let himself in, waited for Herr Kovacs, and then locked up after himself.’
‘True. But the murderer had a heavy wrench in his hand. The tools are all stored on that back wall. If someone had followed Viktor down here to see what he was up to, they would both have come in through the back door. The murderer would have taken the wrench from the wall, and then come all the way round to the front of the coach house to approach Viktor from this side. Wouldn’t he have grabbed his weapon and confronted him there and then? Why walk all the way round? Why put Viktor between himself and his only exit?’
‘In that case, the murderer was here first,’ I said. ‘It was a prearranged meeting.’ I looked more closely at the body on the floor. ‘If Herr Kovacs had the key, he would have put it in his pocket, wouldn’t he? And to get at it, the murderer would have had to search him. But look, his jacket is exactly as it would be if he fell on it. He’s not been searched.’
‘Good thinking,’ she said. ‘We really ought to leave all this to the police, you know. But my curiosity is piqued, and as long as we don’t actually get in the way, we can’t do any harm. Morgan, will you be all right here on your own? I want to take a look round in the house.’
‘As you wish, m’lady,’ he said. ‘I’ll wait here for the inspector.’
‘Good man. Come along, Armstrong, we need to have a quick snoop before that awful Foister fellow gets here.’
Lord Riddlethorpe was pacing the hall when we entered the front door. He ignored us as we hurried towards the stairs, but Mr Waterford glared at Lady Hardcastle.
At the landing, we turned left towards Lady Hardcastle’s room, but we passed her room and continued down the passage to the next. Lady Hardcastle tried the door.
‘This was Viktor’s room. Let’s have a quick rummage before anyone else realizes they ought to do the same,’ she said.
‘I didn’t know this was his room,’ I said. ‘I think I heard him leaving.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes. I’ve no idea what time it was, but I heard a door shut in the middle of the night. It woke me.’
‘It would make sense. He certainly left his room in the middle of the night.’
‘Mind you,’ I said, ‘it’s hard to tell which door is which just by the sound.’
‘Oh, it’s quite easy with a bit of practice,’ she said. ‘They all have their own creaks and groans. One becomes quite adept at discerning who’s sneaking about in the night.’
‘I’m afraid I only heard the click as it shut. No distinctive creaks or groans for me. I thought I heard two more later, but I might have dreamed it.’
‘Viktor leaving, and someone else leaving and returning,’ she mused. ‘Well, well, well.’
As she spoke, she was hunting around the room. Everything seemed to be in its proper place, though, so there wasn’t very much to look at.
‘You’ve got to give Evan some credit,’ I said. ‘He’s clearly taking the role of valet very seriously. This place is immaculate. Look how neatly everything’s been put away.’
‘He’ll go far, certainly. And we really need to speak to him.’
The cluttered writing desk by the window was the only real place of interest.