Free Death by Silver by Melissa Scott Page A

man. There’s such a thing as the honor of the school. And I like to think I set you a good example.”
    “I’m sure you did,” Ned said, although he found it unexpectedly hard to say.
    “Well, then. I’d like to hire you to represent the family interests, and do whatever you can with metaphysics to find out the truth.”
    Ned hesitated for a moment. “I suppose you’re aware the two may not be entirely compatible?”
    “If there’s a murderer in the family, I think it’s in the family’s interests to find out about it,” Victor said. “I hate to be so frank about it, but there it is. You can’t just go around killing people, no matter how much you may want to.”
    “Did people want to?” Ned found himself asking. He hadn’t absolutely made up his mind to accept the offer, but it couldn’t hurt to ask the obvious question.
    “I wouldn’t have said so,” Victor said. “The old man wasn’t exactly on good terms with most of the family, but that’s not a reason to kill a man, is it?”
    “When you say he wasn’t on good terms with them…” Ned prompted.
    “He and my mother used to quarrel, but that’s life with a woman, isn’t it? And my little brother Freddie bedeviled him when he was up at Oxford. Wouldn’t apply himself, and fancies himself artistic. I understand he writes verses.”
    “I’ve heard of worse.”
    “He’s the youngest and spoiled, you know how that is. Should have been taught more manners as a pup.” Ned wondered if Victor actually recalled that Ned was the youngest of five himself. He expected not. “I suppose he’ll grow out of it.”
    “Most likely.”
    “And then you remember Reggie.”
    “Of course,” Ned said, although he had to admit that mostly what he remembered was a plump boy saying “yes” and “no” at the appropriate moments and rarely venturing any opinion of his own. Reggie hadn’t played cricket, and as a Senior Man Ned hadn’t paid much attention to anyone but the First Eleven and the boys who aspired to it, with Julian the perpetual exception.
    “Not much of a sportsman, but not a bad sort.” Victor hesitated for the first time. “But he didn’t get on with the old man. And before you ask, I don’t know why, only that Reggie’s barely set foot in the house all year. But it could be anything, really. The old man had a temper, let me tell you.”
    “And the servants?”
    “I don’t know much about them. The mater did all the hiring. I know the old man complained not long ago that the charity cases she let be foisted off on her couldn’t do the simplest things right, but that might just have been temper. It’s hard to know what’s important, when a thing like this has happened. But it’s got to be sorted out. It’s no good for the mater, and no good for my wife, and truth be told, it’s no good for me. There’s starting to be talk.” He said that last as though that were of more concern than the possible presence of a killer in the household, although Ned supposed from Victor’s point of view it might be.
    “I can’t make any promises,” Ned said. “But I can look into it.” He hesitated. If the client had been anyone else, he would have said immediately that Julian had to be brought into it, but he had the idea that Julian wasn’t going to like the idea of working with this particular client. For that matter, he wasn’t at all sure he liked it himself. There was some unexpected part of him that blindly rebelled at the thought.
    But murder was murder, and as much as he hated to put it that way, a client was a client. Ned didn’t have so many that he could afford to turn away a wealthy one who wanted to hire him to deal with what was likely to be a lengthy matter. He’d have taken it on whether Julian was interested or not, but best to lay the groundwork for involving Julian if he could persuade him to take it on.
    “I’ve a colleague I’d like to bring in on the case,” Ned said. “Another Old Toms’ man. Mr Julian