“Yes, m’m.”

Gertie seemed in no hurry to move, and Cecily was startled to see her chief housemaid’s lower lip trembling. “Is something the matter?”

Gertie glanced at Madeline, then back at Cecily. “I don’t like to be the one to tell you this, m’m, but… there’s been an accident.”

Cecily felt as if her stomach had dropped all the way to her shoes. “What kind of accident?”

Gertie swallowed, then blurted out, “It’s Charlie, m’m. He got hit in the head. He’s… I’m afraid he’s dead, m’m.”

Cecily sat down heavily on the chaise lounge, while Madeline uttered a soft cry of distress.

Gertie looked as if she wanted to run from the room. “I’m sorry, m’m. It were Clive what found him this morning. Said Charlie was lying behind the rose bushes. Good job and all, ’cos no one else could see him. Clive went in to dig up the flower beds and saw him lying there in a pool of blood.”

Cecily closed her eyes while Madeline muttered something under her breath.

Gertie struggled on, her words becoming more and more strangled. “Clive says Charlie got hit on the head by a gargoyle from off the roof. It must have been left up there by the workmen last night and got blown off by the wind. It were lying next to Charlie all broken in pieces.”

Cecily took a deep breath. “Where is the body now?”

“Still in the rose bushes, m’m. Clive said it was best to leave it there until the doctor could take a look at him.” She glanced at Madeline. “Mrs. Chubb has sent for Dr. Prestwick, m’m.”

Madeline nodded, and Cecily rose to her feet. “Thank you, Gertie. Please, do let me know the minute Dr. Prestwick arrives.”

“Yes, m’m. Oh, and Mrs. Chubb wants to know if we should send for P.C. Northcott.”

Madeline groaned. “That’s all you need.”

Cecily heartily agreed. Police Constable Sam Northcott was more often than not a hindrance rather than a help. Though the sole constable in Badgers End, he usually had little to do, except occasionally arrest one of the customers from the Fox and Hounds for disturbing the peace.