Naturally enough, the violent death of a member of a prominent local family had aroused great interest. Yet the proceedings themselves held no surprises. After a few desultory questions put to the witnesses, Tim and myself, the pathologist, and a police representative, the verdict was murder by person or persons unknown. In that stuffy, overcrowded little courtroom, I sat beside Tim and watched the faces around me. Sir Robert Medway, looking desperately ill ... and Lady Medway. Though seated next to her husband, she seemed distant from him in spirit. Was it because the quarrel had been so bitter they’d still not made it up? Or were they both frozen in mutual fear of something that threatened them equally? Did the clue lie in Sebastian, sitting on the other side of his adoptive father, looking thoroughly frightened? Were Sir Robert and Lady Medway aware that the police had been questioning Sebastian and had reservations about his alibi? Could it be that they knew for certain something that the police were only guessing at?
