The Midnight Peacock Page 13

  While they waited, Mr Pendleton began explaining what he and Veronica had found out: ‘We did exactly what you said, didn’t we, Miss Whiteley?’

  Veronica nodded. ‘But I don’t see how either Vincent or Miss Selina could be the person you saw going into the folly. It certainly wasn’t Miss Selina, anyway. She was in the Drawing Room until about half past ten, and then she went to bed, saying she had a headache. I said that I was tired too, and I followed her up there – my bedroom is only down the passage from hers. I sent my maid off to bed so she wouldn’t know what I was up to – and then I just watched. There was a light under Miss Selina’s door for about half an hour – and then, just after eleven, it went out. I didn’t hear a peep after that. There’s simply no way she could have left the room before midnight without me seeing her go,’ she finished.

  ‘Not unless she clambered out of the window and shinned down the drainpipe and then went racing off down a secret passage,’ said Lil. ‘And I can’t imagine Miss Selina’s capable of that. Not unless she’s an awfully good actress and just pretending to be an invalid. But what about Vincent?’

  Mr Pendleton looked uncertain. ‘Well – I stuck to him like glue all evening. He looked pretty sick about it, I can tell you. He kept trying to shake me off – but I went on trotting after him. Eventually he gave it up and we played billiards until just after eleven. He won half a crown off me and that seemed to cheer him up, rather. Then he said he was turning in. But I never thought of following him up to bed. I’m afraid I’m not as smart as Miss Whiteley – so I suppose he could have slipped away after that.’

  Lil shook her head. ‘If he didn’t leave you until after eleven, then it can’t have been Vincent that we saw either,’ she said. ‘The person we saw went into the folly at about half past ten. What about everyone else? Did they all go to the Drawing Room after dinner?’

  Veronica nodded. ‘Yes. Lady Tremayne played the piano for a while. Lady Fitzgerald and Isabel and the Countess played a rubber of bridge – and you could see that they wanted Mr Sinclair to play with them, but Miss Selina made a fourth instead. Father and Lord Fitzgerald were having a terrifically boring conversation all about the House of Lords and the budget and the constitutional crisis or something like that – and Mr Sinclair was with them. After a bit, he started to talk to Lord Fitzgerald about some of the old books in the Library that he said he wanted to look at. Then, Miss Selina went up to bed, and Lady Tremayne said she was going up too – and so did I.’

  ‘So everyone was accounted for in the Drawing Room until half past ten?’ said Lil. ‘I say – perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps our ghost isn’t one of the house party at all.’

  She glanced up at the clock again: it was almost half past twelve. She frowned anxiously. ‘Wherever can Sophie be? And Leo and Tilly too?’

  Jack sat up, looking concerned. ‘Do you think Sophie might be in some kind of trouble?’ he asked. ‘She’s all alone. Ought we to go and look for her?’

  Lil hesitated. She knew that Sophie was far from helpless: she had a sudden, vivid memory of the last Sewing Society meeting, when Sophie had cleverly outwitted Dora and Bunty – the two biggest and strongest of the suffragettes. Yet there was something about what had happened tonight – the mysterious figure, the dark passageway, the hidden room, and most of all that strange map with its familiar dragon symbol – that had made her feel deeply uneasy. ‘We’ll give them five minutes,’ she said finally. ‘If they’re not back by then, let’s go and look.’

  Sophie stood trembling in the passageway. There had barely been time to blow out her candle and slip down the stairs into the shadows. Now, she stood with her back pressed against the wall, hardly daring to breathe.

  She knew that if the Baron saw her she was lost. She was all alone, and everything she had learned at Sewing Society seemed to have deserted her. All she could do was stand still, her heart pounding in her chest, while the Baron’s heavy footsteps clumped down the stairs towards her.

  But he did not even glance towards where she was standing, and instead began walking swiftly away, back along the tunnel. Without meaning to, she let out a little breath of relief.

  Almost at once, he paused. Sophie froze to the ground. Had he heard her? Was he about to turn and see her there, standing in the shadows? A wave of sickness washed over her – but then, without even turning around, he walked on, away from her down the passage, the sound of his echoing footsteps ringing loudly in her ears.

  It was a long time before she allowed herself to move. She did not dare go through the secret door and risk coming face to face with the Baron’s unknown companion: instead, she hurried as quietly as she could back along the tunnel. At the staircase she hesitated: what if the Baron was waiting for her out there, somewhere in the dark? It took all her courage to run up the stairs and back through the snowy grounds to Winter Hall.

  In the Nursery, Lil looked up in relief as she entered. ‘Sophie! Thank goodness – we were just about to come looking for you. Where have you been? And what’s wrong?’

  For a moment she felt dumb, and then the words began to spill out. The others listened in shocked silence – and then, all at once, the room was a babble of urgent conversation.

  ‘The Baron?’ repeated Veronica, her face white. ‘Here – in this house?’

  ‘The Baron is the one who’s been using the secret passage to get access to the house!’ exclaimed Lil. ‘He’s the ghost!’

  ‘Yes – it all fits. The heavy footsteps – the lights – the footprint we found in the dust. The Baron was creeping in using the secret passage. When Tilly came into the East Wing he frightened her away – rather than be discovered there.’

  ‘And he’s the one who has been hiding in the secret room!’ exclaimed Lil. In a very few words, she explained their discovery to Sophie. Jack took out his sketchbook, and for a moment, they all pored over the strange diagram in silence. Veronica was the first to speak:

  ‘But why is he here? Why is he doing this?’

  ‘It doesn’t seem the least bit like the Baron we know,’ said Lil. ‘Hiding – and skulking about at night!’

  Sophie looked up from the plan. ‘But he’s on the run from Scotland Yard, isn’t he? And I think it all went wrong, after we got back the dragon painting. The Fraternitas Draconum were already annoyed with him, remember? They thought he was being reckless, drawing too much attention to them in his quest to get the paintings back. Then we got the paintings – and Mr Lyle was arrested – and the Baron himself barely escaped the police. From what I heard him say, the society isn’t very happy with him at all. A year ago, he was the top man in the East End, with the Baron’s Boys at his beck and call. He was masquerading as Lord Beaucastle, with all of this wealth – and even planning marriage to an heiress,’ she said, nodding in Veronica’s direction. ‘There were layers and layers of people to protect him. Now all of that’s been taken away. The Baron’s Boys are gone, his Lord Beaucastle identity, his house and fortune – and now the society has gone too.’

  ‘He’s at rock bottom,’ said Lil slowly.

  Sophie nodded. ‘But it sounds like he’s got a plan to try and get it all back,’ she went on. ‘And from what I could hear it centres around New Year’s Eve – and his plan to assassinate the King at the New Year’s Eve Ball!’

  Mr Pendleton nearly dropped his mince pie. ‘I say!’ he announced in astonishment.

  ‘Assassinate the King?’ Jack repeated, alarmed and baffled.

  Sophie blew out a long slow breath of air, as she tried to sort out her thoughts. ‘When the Baron and his allies planted the bomb at Sinclair’s, he talked about using it to spark off a war in Europe,’ she began. ‘I think this is the same kind of thing. He plans to make it look as though Germany is responsible for the assassination. He said it would start a war – that there would be chaos on the streets – and that London would burn.’

  ‘But why would anyone want that?’ demanded Veronica.

  ‘To profit from it,’ said Sophie soberly.
‘That’s always what he’s wanted, he and the society. He’s doing this to impress them – to win back their respect. He talked about trying to get the paintings back too, and something about an Age of Dragons . . .’ Her voice tailed away. She felt exhausted and wrung-out. The day that had begun with the hope of finding a new friend had ended only in coming face to face with an old enemy.

  ‘So what do we do now?’ asked Mr Pendleton, looking alarmed. ‘Do we go to this secret room and confront the scoundrel?’

  ‘No – no – we can’t do that!’ said Lil. ‘The Baron is dangerous.’

  ‘Besides, he said that he was about to leave. He may have gone already,’ said Sophie. ‘No, I think there’s only one thing we can do. The advantage we have is that the Baron doesn’t know we’ve discovered him.’ She frowned for a moment. He must be laughing at her, she realised, turning up here in the same house for a cheerful Christmas party, without the first idea of how close he was: how easy it would have been for him to slip into her room at night with that long silver knife . . . She set her jaw. ‘We have to let Scotland Yard know that the Baron is planning to assassinate the King on New Year’s Eve – with the help of his accomplice,’ she said firmly.

  ‘Yes – his accomplice!’ exclaimed Lil excitedly. ‘So who was he was talking to?’

  Sophie shook her head. ‘I don’t know. All I know is he said they had disagreed in the past in some way. He talked about putting that aside and working on this together.’

  ‘But whoever this person is – the Baron’s accomplice – they must have been someone from inside the house,’ persisted Lil. ‘After all, we didn’t see anyone else going into that tunnel.’

  ‘What’s more, they had obviously met there before,’ said Sophie soberly. ‘He said “you didn’t come last night” as though it was a regular arrangement.’

  ‘So do you think that the Baron’s accomplice is someone from the house party, then?’ said Jack in amazement. ‘But who?’

  It was Tilly who answered, as she and Leo came creeping in to join them in the nursery. ‘We know that now – don’t we? We’ve just seen someone sneaking out of the East Wing.’

  ‘You’ll never believe it,’ said Leo, her face very grave. ‘But it was Mr Sinclair.’

  PART IV

  The Clue in the Secret Plans

  ‘We must obtain the blueprints,’ Baxter informed his loyal companion. ‘They – and only they – will provide us with the information we need to stop Number One’s terrible scheme.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The train journey to Winter Hall had been exciting, but their return to town felt different – full of tense anticipation. Sophie almost expected the little old lady with violets in her hat to turn up again as they waited on the Alwick station platform, but she did not appear, instead, they had their compartment all to themselves – which was just as well, as they talked about what had happened all the way back to London.

  Sophie had barely slept the previous night. Now she was very tired and her head was aching – but she remained quite clear in her mind about what they had to do:

  ‘We must go to Scotland Yard at once. It’s too important to delay for even a moment.’

  ‘If only Mr McDermott wasn’t away!’ exclaimed Lil. ‘He’d have come with us and explained everything. But at least we can go to Detective Inspector Worth. We know he’ll listen to us.’

  But as they rattled back towards London, Sophie did not feel so certain. After all, Mr McDermott had worked for Mr Sinclair for as long as they had known him, and she was not at all sure that either he or the businesslike Detective Inspector Worth would be able to credit the idea that London’s famous department store owner could possibly be working hand in glove with the Baron. She was still scarcely able to credit it herself.

  They had talked it over for hours the previous night.

  ‘Mr Sinclair?’ Lil had repeated incredulously. ‘The Baron’s accomplice?’

  ‘But Mr Pendleton and Miss Whiteley saw him in the Drawing Room!’ exclaimed Jack.

  ‘Yes but only until half past ten,’ Veronica reminded him. ‘We don’t know what happened after that. But he did say he wanted to look at those old books in the Library. Perhaps he took a wrong turn – and went into the East Wing by mistake?’

  Leo shook her head. ‘It didn’t look like a mistake. It looked like he was creeping about in secret.’

  What Tilly and Leo had seen had only been reinforced by the events of the following morning. They had all slept rather late after the night’s adventures, and when they had come down to the Breakfast Room, they had found Lady Fitzgerald, Lady Tremayne and the Countess already there, and had learned the surprising news that Mr Sinclair had left Winter Hall early that morning, without saying goodbye.

  ‘Mr Sinclair asked me to convey his sincere thanks, Your Ladyship, and to let you know that he regretted an urgent matter of business required him to return to Town at once,’ explained Mr Stokes the butler, gravely.

  ‘How provoking!’ exclaimed Lady Fitzgerald, looking piqued. ‘And really rather rude! Why – I would never have thought it of Mr Sinclair!’

  ‘Well these Americans don’t really understand proper manners, Lucy,’ observed the Countess, sipping tea. She glanced with disfavour at the young members of the party. ‘But then I find so many people don’t these days.’

  Sophie and Lil exchanged uneasy glances. Sophie knew that they were thinking of the same thing: the Baron’s words to his accomplice the previous night. I’m clearing out tomorrow . . . if you know what’s good for you, you’ll do the same.

  They too left as soon as they could after breakfast. Lady Fitzgerald might have been offended by Mr Sinclair’s sudden departure, but she raised no objection to Sophie, Lil and Jack going back to London. Besides, they were not the only ones saying goodbye. Mr Sinclair’s disappearance appeared to have brought about an abrupt end to the Christmas festivities and Lady Tremayne’s trunks were even now being loaded into her carriage and four by two of the under-footmen, whilst Mr Pendleton, the Countess and the Whiteleys were also beginning to talk of returning to town.

  As the motor began to move, Sophie had turned back to look over her shoulder at the stern, grey shape of Winter Hall. She could still see the outline of Vincent, slouching in the doorway, and before him, the small figure of Leo, waving her handkerchief after them. For a moment, Sophie felt guilty for leaving her behind – but Leo would be back in London soon enough. Besides, it was not as though she was alone. Mr Pendleton and Veronica would be there for at least another day or two, and there was Tilly too, of course. They had agreed that Leo and Tilly would search the secret passage and secret room for more clues whilst the others went at once to report to Scotland Yard.

  Back in London, amongst the smoke and noise of the railway station, Sophie and Lil said a quick farewell to Jack and hailed a cab to Victoria Embankment. Sophie had never been to the great headquarters of Scotland Yard before and was not sure what to expect, but when they drew up outside the big, red-brick building, they found it full of practical, everyday activity. At a large desk in the foyer they spoke to a clerk, explaining that they had urgent business with Detective Inspector Worth. After they had waited for a while on a hard wooden bench, feeling rather nervous, a young man appeared and called them into a small office.

  He introduced himself at once, shaking each of their hands: ‘My name is Detective Sergeant Thomas. I work with Detective Inspector Worth. I understand you wished to speak to him? I am afraid the Inspector is away for a few days, but I can assist you in his absence.’

  Sophie was taken aback. She had counted on speaking to Detective Worth, and now she felt uncertain. But really, they had no choice. They would have to tell this young police detective what they knew. ‘My name is Sophie Taylor. This is my colleague, Lilian Rose. We’re from Taylor & Rose – the private detective agency at Sinclair’s department store,’ she began. She felt rather silly saying it – surely a real policeman would laugh at the idea of two gi
rls being detectives?

  But the Sergeant was listening quite seriously: ‘Yes, I’ve heard about you both from the Inspector. That was some smart work you did over those stolen paintings. From what the Inspector tells me, you had a big part to play in exposing Lord Beaucastle too.’

  Sophie felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Thank goodness he was actually treating them as though they knew what they were talking about – and not like a couple of silly little girls!

  ‘We’ve just returned from Winter Hall, Lord and Lady Fitzgerald’s country house. While we were there we discovered a secret entrance to the house, hidden in an old folly in the grounds,’ Lil was explaining. ‘We learned that someone had been using the entrance to get inside, where they had been hiding in a secret room!’

  Sophie picked up the story. ‘At first we assumed it was something straightforward – a thief at work, perhaps. But we discovered that the person using the secret entrance was the Baron.’

  ‘The Baron?’ The young man sat up very straight.

  ‘I know your intelligence suggested that he had left the country – and perhaps he did,’ Sophie explained, thinking of the French matchbox. ‘But he’s back now. I saw him myself and I overheard a conversation he had with an accomplice about a plan he intends to carry out on New Year’s Eve at Sinclair’s.’

  ‘At Mr Sinclair’s ball?’

  Sophie nodded. ‘It sounded very much as though he was planning an attack on His Majesty the King.’ She hesitated for a moment and then blurted out: ‘He talked of an assassination.’