‘No, nothing,’ she said. ‘But it was obviously most important to the spirit for him to have gone to this much trouble.’
‘Joe, light the lamps, please,’ I said. ‘Let’s have a good look round.’
He did as I asked and we quickly searched both bars, revealing nothing of any interest. The chairs and tables I had heard moving and falling were quickly righted, and the remains of the shattered water jug were swept up, but we could see nothing else to indicate what the cause might have been.
The clock behind the bar said it was already a quarter past five so I made my excuses and returned to my room to collect my bag. Madame Eugénie’s door was still open and I took the opportunity to have a quick look inside. The room was very similar to the one I had slept in, with the same assortment of mismatched furniture and I was about to step in and take a look in the wardrobe when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, I turned away from the door and towards the top of the stairs as though I had just stepped out of my own room. It was Joe.
‘Just checkin’ you’s all right, m’dear,’ he said. ‘Not too shook up?’
‘I’m fine, Joe, thank you. It’s just that it’ll be dawn soon and I want to report back to Lady Hardcastle as soon as I can. Are you all right?’
‘Right as rain, miss,’ he said with a toothless grin. ‘I’s just glad someone else was here to see it all. Thought I was going mad for a while.’
‘No, Joe, not mad at all. There’s something going on here, that’s for certain. I just wish I knew what.’
‘What we going to do about the new message?’ he asked.
‘I think we should let Sergeant Dobson know. He should be able to get in touch with the Gloucester police and see if they know anything about Long Lane Farm. In the meantime, I think Lady Hardcastle has a few things she wants to look into, so between us we should get to the bottom of all this very soon.’
‘Right you are, miss,’ he said, standing aside so I could get down the stairs.
The morning air was crisp and chill, but the skies were clear and I sensed a beautiful spring day in the offing.
Lady Hardcastle was still fast asleep when I let myself in, so I dropped my bag in the hall and set about getting breakfast going and making up a tray for her. As I busied myself in the kitchen I was struck with the sudden realization that I had been most foolish in my haste to get home: Joe had promised me a nice big country breakfast. Ah, well, it couldn’t be helped. He got his bacon, eggs, bread, tomatoes and mushrooms from the same places we did, after all, so it’s not as though he was going to be giving me any local delicacies that I wouldn’t have at home. And he wasn’t the world’s most gifted chef, either, so it was unlikely to be a great luxury. Except, of course, that the great luxury would be someone else doing all the cooking, no matter how inexpertly, and serving it to me on a huge platter while I sat at a table in the snug and sipped strongly-brewed tea from a great big mug. Harrumph.
With a cup of tea and a round of buttered toast on the tray I went upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door. There was no answer, so I opened it and went in. She stirred a little at the sound of the teacup rattling in its saucer as I negotiated the pile of discarded clothes on the floor.
‘Is that you, Flo?’ she said blearily.
‘Let’s hope so, eh?’ I said. ‘Although a burglar that made you tea and toast wouldn’t be entirely unwelcome.’
‘Not entirely, no. What are you doing here? I thought you’d still be at the pub, living it up on bacon and eggs and slabs of toast.’
‘That was the plan, my lady,’ I said. ‘But we were awakened early and by the time all was done, I thought I may as well come home. Good thing I did, by the look of it – you seem to have had some poltergeist activity of your own while I was away.’
‘What do you mean, pet?’ she said, sitting up.
‘There are clothes everywhere,’ I said.
‘Oh pish and fiddlesticks. Not everywhere. Just in that pile there. I didn’t think I should pick them up. I’ve been poorly; I have to take it easy.’
‘Take it easy, my lady? If you took it any easier you’d be in a coma.’
‘Oh, let’s not make a fuss about a few clothes on the floor, what got you up in the middle of the night? Ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties?’
‘And things that smash jugs in the night, yes.’
‘Tell all,’ she said.
I sat on the bed and gave her a brief outline of the morning’s events. She listened attentively while she munched on the toast and when I was done, she sat in quiet contemplation for a few moments.
‘Was Joe going to tell Sergeant Dobson about the new message?’ she said at length.
‘I didn’t ask him to specifically,’ I said. ‘But you know what those two are like. We can pop up to the police station later, but I’d lay five bob the sergeant already knows by the time we get there.’
‘A safe bet, I’d say, pet. But I’d still like to trot up there after lunch just to make certain.’
‘Of course, my lady,’ I said. I stood and picked up the tray from her lap. ‘If you can find your way out of the room through the trail of devastation you’ve left behind, breakfast proper will be in about fifteen minutes.’
‘Thank you, pet,’ she said. ‘Of course you could always pick it all up for me.’
‘And I shall, of course. But after breakfast,’ I said and returned to the kitchen to leave her to gather herself.
Breakfast was every bit as delicious as anything Joe could have prepared and we chatted more about the events of the previous evening.
‘To be perfectly truthful,’ I said, ‘I was a tiny bit disappointed.’
‘How so?’ she said, spearing another sausage with her fork.
‘Well, it was just more bumping and clattering and a fresh message in the skittle alley. I was expecting something fresh and thrilling, I suppose.’
‘It does sound a little anticlimactic,’ she said. ‘Although being locked in your room was a new twist.’
‘It certainly makes genuine ghostly activity seem far less likely.’
‘I’m so sorry, but it really does,’ she said, patting my arm.
I smiled. ‘I’m not so enthralled by spiritualism that I don’t know that there are charlatans–’
‘–and mountebanks–’
‘–indeed. One but swindler doesn’t make it all a lie. I’m beggared if I can work out how she’s doing it, though. Or why.’
‘I think I might have an idea or two there,’ she said. ‘I need to write a letter first, just to confirm a few things, but I’m also waiting for a reply from the solicitors so it will be a day or two before we can move.’
‘Move, my lady?’ I said.
‘Oh yes, pet. We’ll definitely be making our move.’
‘Will we have time? What if Madame Eugénie does a moonlight before we can confront her?’
‘If I’m right, she’ll be lurking about for a few days yet. We’ve plenty of time.’
‘Right you are, my lady,’ I said. ‘Another crumpet?’