Maintained, but not pretentious. {Praise be!} There were some servants, but certainly not as many as the Robinsons
had.
Mr. Anderworth strode over to greet them as they walked up the stone path that led to the front steps.
"Inspector, nice to see you again. Is there anything else
that you require, or have you caught the blackguards? You'll
let me know when you catch up to them, won't you? I'd like to
give them a piece of my mind when you do. Yes, there are one or two things that I would like them to know."
"No, I'm afraid that the miscreants are still at liberty, but we
have hopes. This is Mr. Sherlock Holmes. He is working with me to clear this heinous matter up. Would you tell him what you told me yesterday?"
"Why, yes, of course. It is a wise man who knows when to ask for someone to work with him."
Turning to Holmes, he said "I've heard of you and read of your exploits in the Strand. If there is any possibility or helping to solve this dastardly deed, we will answer any questions that you may have."
"Thank you. Your cooperation is most refreshing. It is also most welcome."
Mr Anderworth launched into his narrative. "It's like this, sir. My Uncle Theodore died recently. After his funeral, I picked up the post as usual. There was a letter that stood out a bit, because it was written in block print, and it did not have a stamp upon it. I opened it up, and......Well, here it is, see for yourself."
He handed Holmes an envelope. After examining the envelope, Holmes opened it, and began to read.
"If you want the body of Mr. Theodore Barker back, leave
the sum of twenty-five thousand pounds on the sundial by the old Rossburn Mausoleum. Do so at midnight tonight, or you may not like what you find tomorrow. Choose wisely, for you will not get a second chance."
"Well, I did just as the note said. I left the money on the sundial, and found instructions on where to find Uncle. He was in the Rossburn Mausoleum. There were flowers and candles. Uncle even had a sympathy card in his hand. Oh, and his favourite incense was burning. We brought him home and reburied him the next day. And there has been no more contact from whoever it was who wrote the note."
Again, there was nothing left to do except to talk to the staff. There was a butler and a maid,so it was a shorter job this time. The staff seemed to be more eager to help us, but they didn't see or hear anything unusual before or after the letter arrived.
We got back into the growler. Lestrade again gave the driver an address, and we were off.
"Where to now, Lestrade? We've talked to all three families. "
"Well, I thought you might be interested in seeing the sundial by the mausoleum, as well as the mausoleum itself. I've already spoken with the Rossburn family, and they don't have any objection at all if we look around in both places. Ah, we seem to have arrived."
As they got out, a matronly woman came out to meet them. She had been planting flowers at some of the family graves. She was wiping her hands as she approached us.
"Inspector, it is a bit muddy down here at the bottom of the little hill, so watch your footing."
"Miss Rossburn, may I introduce you to Mr. Sherlock Holmes? He is looking into this matter with me."
Holmes had already examined the sundial,and was just putting his lens back into his pocket. " I think that I've seen everything here. May we proceed to the mausoleum?"
"Why, yes." she said, leading the way. About five feet from the doorway, he bade us stop.
"There are footprints here, but whose they are I cannot tell. Two families, presumably with servants have been through here. So have the miscreants. Have your men been through here yet?"
"No, I could not get approval from the Yard to bring them here until later today. A matter or jurisdiction had to be cleared up first."
"Besides the fact that there were three of the reprobates, these tracks tell me nothing much. My word! Look at the shape of this beauty. Its owner must have quite a is a very pronounced club foot."
Looking at the expression on his face, I resolved never to get on his bad side. One sure way to do this was to mess with Watson. HIS Watson.
Bringing my mind back to the task at hand, I suggested that it would be a good idea to get inside.
We all followed Miss Rossburn into the mausoleum.