The
luncheon with Prince Albert had gone smoothly, if not quickly. Mr. Punch and Robert Halifax were pleased to
have that chore behind them and were happy to be on their way back to their
son, their staff and their luxurious townhouse at No. 65 Belgrave Square. That is, until their carriage pulled up to
the house and they saw the beaten corpse of Robert’s old “friend,” William Stover.
Hutchinson,
the driver, went for the beadle. The
Constable was relatively understanding, but seemed suspicious of Robert who
lied to the copper about the time of death.
You see, Mr. Stover had been killed hours before and moved to the front
of the house. Robert fudged the details
a little. After the body had been
removed, Punch and Robert tried to explain what had happened to the staff. Luckily for them, Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert kept the press silent. Everything
seemed to be settling down until a scream from downstairs sent the whole
household into a panic.
\
It
seems that Roger Barrett, brother of the Duke’s governess, Ellen, had gotten
into the house and was hiding in the scullery where Ethel found him. Worse still, he was covered in blood and bits
of hair. Robert concluded that Roger had
killed Mr. Stover, but Ellen protested.
Punch managed to calm the mentally-disturbed man down and soon saw that
Roger was badly injured—hence the blood.
Who had hurt Roger?
Perhaps
it was the same person who killed William Stover. And/or, perhaps it was the same person who
attacked Gerard who was found in the area with a gash to his head. While Robert patched up Gerard, Mr. Punch and
Mrs. Pepper bonded and Charles and Ellen went to investigate the suite of rooms
where Roger usually stayed.
Charles
and Ellen returned with little to report except that Roger’s caretaker appeared
to have left without any trouble, leaving Roger to escape. And, what of Gerry? Gerard had no idea what had happened to cause
him to be uninjured This, of course, wouldn’t
have surprised Charles who was the only one who knew that Gerard had been
sneaking medicine from the doctor. The
fact that Robert gave Gerard another bottle of the stuff isn’t going to help
matters.
With
the household mostly quiet, Punch and Robert went to bed. The two argued about the fate of Roger. Punch contended that Roger was innocent, but
Robert insisted that they pin the Sotver murder on Ellen’s brother. Robert’s fear was that, otherwise, he would
be blamed for it and would run the risk of being separated from Punch and Collin. As Punch convinced Robert to protect Mr.
Barrett, visitors arrived downstairs. Hortence, Eudora Stover and Tom arrived to
find out what the Duke and the Doctor intended to do about the death of William.
This
coming week promises to be explosive.
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