“Yes,” Sara said. “I used to spend months researching my historicals.”
“Think these people will tell us anything?”
“For sure, one of them will w
ant to know what we’ve found out,” Sara said.
Kate drew in her breath. “We may have awakened a killer.”
“It won’t be the first time,” Jack said.
Sara looked thoughtful. “Did someone kill Sean and hide the body? Or were there two people involved?”
They were silent until Jack spoke up. “I hope Byon wasn’t the murderer. I really like his plays.”
Sara said, “Although...prison is possibly a writer’s paradise. I’ve often wondered about that.”
“Because you thought about murdering someone and the possible consequences?” Jack asked.
“Oh yes. Many times.” Sara looked at them. “We need to make some decisions here. This weekend the place is going to be filled with people, one or more of whom could possibly be a killer.” She paused. “Or we could go home. We could just pack up and leave. As you said, we could call the police from the US. We could say we found the body when we were exploring. That would leave Puck out of it. She’d probably be safe.”
“Probably,” Kate whispered. “In this context, that’s a frightening word.”
“And we’d be leaving it to the police to find out who committed a long-ago murder,” Sara said.
Jack raised his hand. “I vote with Kate. We search until Monday at 4:00 p.m.”
“I agree,” Sara said, then they looked at Puck. No one had to say that it was her neck on the line. “Maybe you’d like to visit Florida. I’ll buy you a plane ticket to there or to anywhere in the world. You could—”
“No!” Puck said. “Sean was my friend. Besides, I’ve had a lifetime of watching. As the people here love to tell, I can be invisible. I could be useful to you.”
Sara smiled. “I think you would be a valuable asset.” She held her right hand straight out.
Jack put his hand over hers, then Kate, with Puck’s hand on top.
It was a pact.
When they broke apart, Sara said, “I want to know as much as possible about these people before they arrive.”
“Clive is tall,” Puck said. “He is cold and always angry. He—”
“No, no,” Sara said. “I want to know them. Like in a really good novel where they tell all about the characters. Show, don’t tell.”
Puck looked blank.
“Tell us something that happened,” Kate said. “I think these people came here often, so tell us about one of their get-togethers. Take us through one of their weekends.”
“I want to know about you with them,” Sara said.
“During the week the house was quiet,” Puck said. “Bertie lived here but he was gone most of the time. He liked to talk to people about his beautiful horses.” There was fondness in her voice. “Too bad none of the animals he bought could run very fast. Sean said—” Puck waved her hand. “Anyway, Clive was here too but he stayed in his office.” Her voice hardened. “Everyone kept away from him because he was so bad-tempered.”
“And Sean was in the stables,” Sara said.
“He had so much work to do,” Puck said. “He had to look after six horses by himself. Diana helped on weekends, but she was at university during the week. She—”
“Wait!” Kate said. “Wasn’t Clive about the same age as the others? Why wasn’t he in school?”
“He was for a while, but Bertie pulled him out after two years,” Puck said. “Clive was an orphan. His grandmother was related to Bertie’s. Clive’s whole family had died by the time he was fifteen or so, and Bertie took him in.”