Free Medium Dead: An Alexandra Gladstone Mystery by Paula Paul

words caught Alexandra by surprise, but she realized that was why the constable had shown up at Montmarsh. “Very well,” she said. “Nancy, you will have to take over. And do as the constable suggested. Send Rob or Artie for me if there is an emergency.”
    —
    When the carriage sent to convey her stopped in front of the building that housed the gaol and Snow’s office, Alexandra saw Nicholas entering through the front door. She walked into the office after him, but they barely had time to speak to each other before Snow stood up from his desk and addressed them.
    “One or both of you will tell me now why Lady Forsythe was seen in the graveyard last night. What was she doing at the scene of the murder?”

Chapter 5
    “You’re most certainly mistaken,” Nicholas said. “Lady Forsythe is ill. She’s been confined to her bed for several days. Dr. Gladstone will attest to that.”
    “Lord Dunsford is correct,” Alexandra said. “His mother has indeed been ill. It would be highly unlikely that she would leave Montmarsh.”
    “Unlikely, perhaps, but not impossible.” Constable Snow motioned that the two of them should be seated in the chairs in front of his desk, then took his seat behind it.
    Nicholas sat, but with some reluctance. “I should be interested in any evidence you have that Her Ladyship was anywhere outside of Montmarsh, and certainly anything that would lead you to believe something as preposterous as her being in a graveyard. Can you produce a witness?” Nicholas had assumed his barrister persona.
    “I can.” Snow’s long hands rested on his desk, fingers laced. His voice was calm.
    “Then I should like very much to speak with him. Or her.” Nicholas settled back in his chair with a confident air.
    “You are speaking with him.”
    Nicholas’s back straightened. “You?”
    Snow nodded.
    “You’re quite certain?”
    “I would not have called you here had I not been certain,” Snow said in his schoolmaster voice.
    “If that’s true, then I can’t imagine that she would be alone,” Alexandra said.
    Snow locked his gaze on her in the same way he had done when he felt compelled to scold her as his student. “It is true, Dr. Gladstone, that she was not alone. She was accompanied by a carriage driver. And before you ask me for the identity of the driver, my lord,” he added, turning to Nicholas, “I cannot identify the person. I can only say that it appeared to be a man.”
    “Will you describe him, please?” Nicholas once again sounded like the barrister he was.
    “A rather well-built fellow, I should think,” Snow said. “As to his height, I can’t say with any confidence, since he remained seated in the carriage.”
    “I see,” Nicholas said.
    “Does that fit the description of your mother’s driver?” Alexandra asked.
    “Perhaps,” Nicholas said. “But not precisely. There are certainly many men who would fit that description.” He turned to the constable. “I would suggest that whomever you saw could very well have been guilty of nothing more than enjoying an evening drive, since neither of them got out of the carriage.”
    “I did not say, my lord, that neither of the two got out of the carriage. The driver remained seated in the carriage, but Her Ladyship was at the gravesite where Alvina Elwold’s body was found. And I should think you would agree that a graveyard is an odd place for an enjoyable evening drive.” The constable’s cool demeanor was unnerving to Alexandra.
    “Then what do you suppose was her purpose for being there?” she asked, before Nicholas could speak.
    “I can’t answer that,” Snow said. “I was not allowed to enter Montmarsh to interview Lady Forsythe. I could have used the full measure of the law to get myself inside, of course, but it is my duty to keep the peace, so I thought a better solution would be to call the two of you here to give me what information you have.”
    “I have no information at all about this matter.”