It was all Simon could ask for and he hadn’t wasted any time. His investigations over the past two days since Ridgemoor’s murder had led him here-to the home of Mrs. Genevieve Ralston, the woman who, until a year ago, had been Ridgemoor’s mistress. Had Ridgemoor’s final words meant Mrs. Ralston was involved in the plot to kill him? Or had she perhaps shot him herself? It seemed a good possibility.
Information Simon had ferreted out indicated that Ridgemoor had abruptly ended his decade-old arrangement with Mrs. Ralston a year ago. Could she be a woman scorned who’d sought revenge? Or could her motives be of a more political bent? Was she perhaps an enemy of the Crown, one who’d helped get rid of Ridgemoor before he could become prime minister?
According to Simon’s sources Mrs. Ralston rarely left her property in the small country village of Little Longstone, and the earl had been murdered in London. But then, London was only a three-hour carriage ride away. What better ruse than to be a recluse and sneak away unseen to commit crimes?
Tonight, for instance, Mrs. Ralston had left her cottage five minutes ago. She had only one servant, a giant of a man named Baxter, who Simon had ascertained was currently sitting in a booth at the village pub, a tankard of ale in his hand. So long as Mrs. Ralston returned home before Baxter, no one would know she hadn’t spent the evening in her cottage.
No one except whoever she may have gone to see.
And Simon.
Standing in the deep shadows cast by the tall trees surrounding her home, Simon had watched her walk down the path which led to the hot springs on her property as well as to a pair of neighboring cottages.