“Sorry,” he said. “I thought you were one of the coppers again. My nerves are shot. I’m not used to being treated like a common criminal.”
I nodded. I wanted to say that I hoped he’d kept his temper better in check with the cops, but I could understand if he hadn’t, under the circumstances. And Giles’s brief, uncharacteristic flare of temper only made him seem more vulnerable when it passed.
“I’ve been trying to find out what really happened,” I said.
He nodded. I felt momentarily annoyed—didn’t he realize that I’d spent most of the afternoon trying to help him? But then, perhaps he didn’t. Even if he did, I could hardly expect him to share Dad’s inflated confidence in my sleuthing abilities.
“How has it been going here?” I asked.
“Apart from the fact that they’re about to arrest me, you mean?” he asked.
“They’re not!” I exclaimed. I was hoping Chief Burke would have found some evidence to suspect someone other than Giles. After all, I’d been trying to steer him to every other possible suspect I could think of.
“I was in the barn, and they have my fingerprints on the murder weapon, and probably the blood-stained book, too.”
I opened my mouth to mention that the book hadn’t been bloodstained after all, but then remembered, in time, that I had heard that while eavesdropping. And I didn’t think it would be a bad thing if Giles made the same wrong assumption in front of the chief.
“And I admitted quarreling with the man,” Giles went on. “Not to mention throwing the bookend at him.”
“Everyone quarreled with Gordon,” I said. “Including two people with a much better motive for killing the jerk—his ex-partner and his estranged wife.”
Giles nodded.
“Just what happened in the barn?” I asked.
Giles frowned, and for a moment, I thought he was angry at me for questioning him. Then his face fell and he sighed. Probably just sick to death of answering that question.
“You went into the barn to talk to Gordon?” I prompted him.
“Yes. Twice,” he said. “Once when Gordon was still alive, and once, I suppose, after he was already dead, since I didn’t see him. If only I’d known it would make me a suspect.”
“You’re not the only one,” I said. “Tons of people were traipsing in and out of the barn all morning. So who did you see there?”
“Gordon, of course,” Giles said. “The first time, anyway. The second time, there was no one there at all.”
“Did you notice anyone going in or out?”
Giles thought briefly.
“The second time, someone was leaving as I came in,” he said.
“Who?”
“No one I know,” Giles said.
“Describe him, then,” I said.
“Her,” Giles corrected.
“What did she look like?”
He shook his head.
“Giles—” I began. And then I stopped myself. No sense taking out my frustration on poor Giles. It wasn’t really his fault that the stress of being a suspect sent him retreating behind the rather stiff, chilly exterior of his English reserve.
Though I shuddered to imagine how an American jury would react to his demeanor. I hoped things wouldn’t get that far. And come to think of it, maybe it would reduce the chance that they would if someone had a word with Giles about softening his prickly manner when dealing with the police.
Probably a better job for Michael.
“Look, I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m just trying to help. Isn’t there anything you can tell me about the woman?”
“All I remember was the hat.”
“What kind of hat?”
“It had all these bobbling flowers all over it,” he said. “Frightful object, really; I remember wondering why anyone would put such a thing on her head. I’m sorry; that’s not much help, is it?”
“No, it’s a great help,” I said. “I think I know who it is. The Hummel lady.”
“Hummel lady?”
But just then, Chief Burke strode in. He frowned at me before turning to Giles.
“Giles Rathbone,” he said. “You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent … .”
While the chief read Giles his Miranda rights, I slipped back out into the hall. I went up to a short section of wall we were planning to demolish anyway and gave it several swift kicks.
“Idiot!” I snarled, and then added a few choice words. Only a few, and fortunately I didn’t specify who I was talking about. I heard smothered titters from overhead and glanced up to see Eric and Frankie peering down at me.
“Don’t either of you dare tell your grandparents what I just said,” I warned them.