Death at Scarlet Leaf.

Chapter 4

"Who knows what Miss Winter could have found out? She could have the key to the murder, and you can't expect her to just sit around safely like a pet lamb, lieutenant! I'm sorry to offend you, but Miss Winter seems perfectly capable to look after herself, I'm sure!" he said curtly. Newham shook his head and sighed.

"Alright, let's move on now. This is a silly argument" he said reluctantly. "We'd better tell each other all that we know. I'll start. I know that, hard as it may be to believe, Harvey is hiding something. I don't know what, but he is. I've also worked out how he got into town the other day without being seen by Cooper on the landing, Miss Winter."

"How?" I asked eagerly. Newham laughed at my enthusiasm.

"It's rather simple, really. He climbed down the creepers on the wall of the house. That's why they were so bent out of place" he explained. I stared.

"He must really have not wanted people to know he was going!" Dr Scott remarked.

"Exactly! That made me sure he was hiding something" Newham agreed, before carrying on. "Also, Lord Morris had an argument with his secretary the day before his murder. Miss Winter would vouch for the fact that it was pretty heated, as she was there at the time with me when I overheard them. Could that have been a motive for murder?"

"I see" Dr Scott mused. "Did either of you feel like there was something wrong in the house in the days before the murder?" he asked. Both Newham and I shook our heads.

"Does Dr Scott know about Mrs. Ellis and the strange conversation?" I asked Newham, who nodded.

"We were discussing it last night, just the two of us. Dr Scott thinks that you should keep that quiet, for a little while at least" he advised. I nodded.

"So, let's hear what our charming Miss Winter has been up to, then, shall we?" the doctor jested. I smiled.

"Yes, I think you'd better" I said cheekily, before telling them all about my findings in the summerhouse. Newham, as I had suspected, still wasn't happy about my sneaking about on my own.

"People would think you were the murderer, sneaking around the scene of a crime like that!" he said sternly. "Please, Miss Winter, at least tell us what you're going to do before you do it, next time!"

"But still" Dr Scott cut in. "A man's cufflink, a torn corner of a photograph and a piece of white thread! What odd things to find! They don't make any sense to me" he added.

"Nor me" I agreed.

"Well, that makes the three of us, then" Newham sighed disappointedly. "We don't seem to be getting anywhere at all."

"Did anything come up last night while you were discussing the murder with the others?" I asked hopefully. Both men shook their heads.

"We are literally stuck." Dr Scott said, biting his lip.