that.
‘I don’t see how Elsie could have known that Ava would be in the conservatory,’ she said instead. ‘Unless they’d arranged to meet there. You didn’t find any note, did you?’ she asked, without much hope.
Bishop shook his head, dunking his bacon in egg yolk. ‘Nope. Only correspondence we found in her room was the odd letter to her father, and a letter from the Lady Beade Girls’ School, offering Ava Simmons the post of fine art tutor. So we know she was leaving. Or seriously thinking about it, anyway.’
Jenny felt a cold shiver pass over her arms. She couldn’t help but frown, and the inspector paused in his ravenous eating, watching her closely. Catching his eye, Jenny gave a slight shrug. ‘I find that very odd, Inspector. Ava had only been here a short time. Why would she seek a new job so soon?’
‘Perhaps she knew what was coming. She’d made an enemy of someone here at the castle and thought she’d better get away. Quick. But just didn’t make it in time.’
Jenny waved her hand. ‘That’s the first thing that occurred to me. But that’s not what I meant. I’ve heard of the LadyBeade School. It’s a top-notch affair. I can’t understand why they’d offer a provincial gallery-owner’s daughter the job of art tutor. I mean, they could have their pick. Now if it had been Malcolm Powell-Brooks they’d asked, I’d have understood it. He graduated from the Ruskin School of Fine Art in Oxford. But Ava Simmons?’
‘She was the governess, or tutor, or whatever, to a lord’s granddaughter,’ Bishop pointed out, lamely.
‘The Lady Beade has daughters of nobility coming out of their ears, Inspector,’ Jenny pointed out with a small smile. ‘No. It all strikes me as particularly odd. Do you think you could spare someone to go down to Lady Beade’s and learn a little more? When did she apply? Before or after coming here? Why was she chosen. That sort of thing?’
Bishop nodded his head. He told himself it was the least he could do for someone who’d given him such a good breakfast . And he’d be humouring her ladyship, and her orders to keep the cook ‘appraised’.
But in his heart, he suspected that Jenny Starling had
got
something. That she’d picked up on something that he had missed. Perhaps bringing the cook in on the investigation wouldn’t be such a bad idea, after all.
By nine o’clock the kitchen was full, and Bishop wisely absented himself. Jenny noted that most of her colleagues had regained their appetites. Only Meecham seemed uninterested in the feast, and nibbled desultorily on a piece of toast.
‘Well, I suppose I’d better go up and see their nibs,’ Malcolm said, a little nervously. ‘I mean, someone has to take over Roberta’s other lessons until a replacement has been found.’
‘I’m sure they’ll be relieved by your offer to stand in,Malcolm,’ Gayle reassured him kindly, and watched him go with fond eyes.
Jenny glanced at her thoughtfully, then at the disappearing back of the art tutor, his white canvas smock showing up in the gloomier recess of the kitchen as he made his way to the door. So that’s the way the wind blew, was it, Jenny mused? And worried. Would someone of Malcolm’s ilk look on a maid-cum-tour-guide as a possible partner? She rather doubted it.
She shook her head, and hoped for the best. Gayle was a sensible girl. Let’s just hope she was only being her usual, helpful self. Gayle as the peace-maker – not Gayle the smitten.
‘I hear the police have been in the village, questioning people,’ Janice said quietly, looking wan and dark-eyed. ‘I expect they’re learning all sorts of things by now.’ She fingered a small brooch on her dark blue blouse nervously.
Jenny had never seen her wearing it before. It was a silver ballerina, and looked totally out of place on her uniform. Janice, unaware that she was fingering the brooch so compulsively, was thinking about her Danny. He’d been in just a little bit of
‘I don’t see how Elsie could have known that Ava would be in the conservatory,’ she said instead. ‘Unless they’d arranged to meet there. You didn’t find any note, did you?’ she asked, without much hope.
Bishop shook his head, dunking his bacon in egg yolk. ‘Nope. Only correspondence we found in her room was the odd letter to her father, and a letter from the Lady Beade Girls’ School, offering Ava Simmons the post of fine art tutor. So we know she was leaving. Or seriously thinking about it, anyway.’
Jenny felt a cold shiver pass over her arms. She couldn’t help but frown, and the inspector paused in his ravenous eating, watching her closely. Catching his eye, Jenny gave a slight shrug. ‘I find that very odd, Inspector. Ava had only been here a short time. Why would she seek a new job so soon?’
‘Perhaps she knew what was coming. She’d made an enemy of someone here at the castle and thought she’d better get away. Quick. But just didn’t make it in time.’
Jenny waved her hand. ‘That’s the first thing that occurred to me. But that’s not what I meant. I’ve heard of the LadyBeade School. It’s a top-notch affair. I can’t understand why they’d offer a provincial gallery-owner’s daughter the job of art tutor. I mean, they could have their pick. Now if it had been Malcolm Powell-Brooks they’d asked, I’d have understood it. He graduated from the Ruskin School of Fine Art in Oxford. But Ava Simmons?’
‘She was the governess, or tutor, or whatever, to a lord’s granddaughter,’ Bishop pointed out, lamely.
‘The Lady Beade has daughters of nobility coming out of their ears, Inspector,’ Jenny pointed out with a small smile. ‘No. It all strikes me as particularly odd. Do you think you could spare someone to go down to Lady Beade’s and learn a little more? When did she apply? Before or after coming here? Why was she chosen. That sort of thing?’
Bishop nodded his head. He told himself it was the least he could do for someone who’d given him such a good breakfast . And he’d be humouring her ladyship, and her orders to keep the cook ‘appraised’.
But in his heart, he suspected that Jenny Starling had
got
something. That she’d picked up on something that he had missed. Perhaps bringing the cook in on the investigation wouldn’t be such a bad idea, after all.
By nine o’clock the kitchen was full, and Bishop wisely absented himself. Jenny noted that most of her colleagues had regained their appetites. Only Meecham seemed uninterested in the feast, and nibbled desultorily on a piece of toast.
‘Well, I suppose I’d better go up and see their nibs,’ Malcolm said, a little nervously. ‘I mean, someone has to take over Roberta’s other lessons until a replacement has been found.’
‘I’m sure they’ll be relieved by your offer to stand in,Malcolm,’ Gayle reassured him kindly, and watched him go with fond eyes.
Jenny glanced at her thoughtfully, then at the disappearing back of the art tutor, his white canvas smock showing up in the gloomier recess of the kitchen as he made his way to the door. So that’s the way the wind blew, was it, Jenny mused? And worried. Would someone of Malcolm’s ilk look on a maid-cum-tour-guide as a possible partner? She rather doubted it.
She shook her head, and hoped for the best. Gayle was a sensible girl. Let’s just hope she was only being her usual, helpful self. Gayle as the peace-maker – not Gayle the smitten.
‘I hear the police have been in the village, questioning people,’ Janice said quietly, looking wan and dark-eyed. ‘I expect they’re learning all sorts of things by now.’ She fingered a small brooch on her dark blue blouse nervously.
Jenny had never seen her wearing it before. It was a silver ballerina, and looked totally out of place on her uniform. Janice, unaware that she was fingering the brooch so compulsively, was thinking about her Danny. He’d been in just a little bit of
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