Deadly Beloved by Alanna Knight Page A

necessity have to develop their faculties for hunting in the dark.
    "Oh yes, the master likes it cleaned every time he uses it, at least twice a week according to him, but being on notice, I forgot and I wasn't reminded by the mistress before she left." Her cold, he noticed was worse, and her voice fainter than ever. "I've had a lot to do, so it got left. The master complained the other day. Just like a man, never notice anything but what's wrong. Suddenly he was shouting about how dirty it was. I sent Ina out but she couldn't get it clean. The upholstery was badly marked."
    "Have you any idea what caused the marks?"
    She shrugged. "Couldn't really say, Inspector. I said to Ina when it wouldn't come out that it might be blood. She said she'd faint. But I said with his work, what can you expect? I told her salt's the thing that moves blood, works every time."
    So that piece of evidence which could have been damning might also have disappeared.
    "Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"
    "I would like to have another look at Mrs Kellar's bedroom."
    She nodded. "I'm sure that will be all right, Inspector. You know the way. I'll come up directly."
    He was glad of the chance to look around alone, but that quick inspection told him nothing. Everything was pristine, neat, as it had been the first time. He had a quick look in the wardrobe and the drawers opened without noise. He closed them almost hastily, with an apologetic feeling of guilt at the idea of examining all those elegant, lace-bedecked items of intimate feminine attire.
    If Mrs Kellar was unhappy then it wasn't from the lack of worldly possessions and he thought of his dear Lizzie with sudden compassion. In all their married life she never possessed more than 'one for best, two for everyday'. The sad thing was that she felt that three of everything was a matter for pride, not deprivation.
    Again he touched the silver brushes, toilette set and locked jewel case. Faro lifted it and it felt heavy. Perhaps that: was the reason she had left it behind.
    He stared at his own reflection in the mirror and saw Mrs Flynn watching him, her stout shape framed by the door.
    "Everything all right, sir?"
    "Seems to be." He felt the statement needed further qualification and added, "Always have to have a second look, you know."
    Waiting for him to leave, she closed the door and followed him downstairs. As Faro picked up his hat, she took from the hall table a newspaper, and opened it so as not to disturb the folds. "I often have a quick glance, before the master sees it. I wonder if you can tell me what this is all about?"
    She handed the folded paper to him and he read:
     
    Gruesome Discovery on Railway Line
     
    A railway worker Ian Brown of Longniddry today discovered a large parcel containing a woman's sable cloak of considerable value and a carving knife, lying by the side of the line at Longniddry Station. Both items which had lain under the snow for several days were heavily stained with blood and Edinburgh City Police have been called in to investigate this discovery.
     
    Faro returned it to her and she said anxiously, "The mistress was wearing her sable cloak, as you know, when she went to North Berwick. Has this anything to do with her disappearance?"
    "We're looking into it, Mrs Flynn, that is all I can tell you at the moment."
    "Ina will have told you that one of the carving knives has gone."
    "Yes, she did." Faro hoped his reply was unconcerned.
    "Oh, well, I suppose that's all right then."
    She sounded relieved and Faro smiled. "Carving knives aren't exactly unique, Mrs Flynn."
    He didn't want to scare the woman or Ina or let them get the impression that they were living in a house where the master had done in the mistress and, knowing his terrible temper, they might be next on the list.
    Making sure that he was unobserved, Faro made a detour to the coach-house. The door was unlocked and the brougham was sparkling clean, the air redolent with the smell of cleaning