“And am I to believe you are better capable of achieving such a thing than the police?” she asked. I had no time to reply as the butler announced Inspector Gaudet, a towering man, tall and broad, with a beard and handlebar mustache that made his face resemble George, newly created Duke of York, younger son of the Prince of Wales. His size, however, would have dwarfed the duke.

“I assume,” he said, crossing to me, “that you are Madame Hargreaves, who found the body.”

“I am Madame Hargreaves,” Colin’s mother said, stepping forward. “I believe you want Lady Emily.”

“I’m afraid my own lack of a title puts me beneath my wife in rank,” Colin said, shaking the policeman’s hand. “Hence the confusion. But I must say, there’s no other lady I’d rather have precede me.”

“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Hargreaves said. “At any rate, Lady Emily is the one who found the murdered girl.”

“Investigation will determine the cause of death,” Inspector Gaudet said.

“There can’t be much of a question,” I said. “She was brutalized.” Before I could stop them, tears sprang from my eyes. I pressed a handkerchief to my face and tried to compose myself.

“I do not need you to describe for me what had been done to her. I’ve already summoned a doctor to analyze the state of her body. He can’t be more than ten minutes behind me. What I need is for you to show me the precise location of the scene. Do you feel able to do that? I understand how difficult all this is.” His voice was full of sincere worry.

“I appreciate your concern,” I said. “But I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary.”

Within a quarter of an hour the doctor and another policeman had arrived, and we were all mounted on horseback, Colin keeping close to my side. Mrs. Hargreaves had debated joining the party, but in the end was persuaded by her son to stay behind. We set off, and it quickly became apparent retracing my route was not quite so easy as I thought it would be. I had followed a path from the house beyond the road that led to the village, but then diverted through fields on whims in search of flowers, or to follow the sound of a particularly fetching birdsong, or hoping to find the peace that had eluded me since the day of my injuries in Constantinople.