Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries)

searched everywhere, including the bathroom? Perhaps Amanda took it off in an absent-minded moment?’
    Jennifer explained. ‘She hardly had it on in the first place. We looked everywhere. Although some of those present weren’t at their sharpest.’
    ‘Ah! I assume drink had been taken?’
    ‘It was New Year’s Eve, Daddy.’
    ‘It sounds ghastly,’ said Iris. ‘But I am sure it will sort itself out. Besides, it’s time to carve the joint, Alec. After we have eaten I thought that you both might like to help me with the Christmas thank-you letters. Some of your father’s patients have been exceedingly generous of spirit.’
    Jennifer made her way to the table. ‘Well, I wish some of that generosity of spirit had been in evidence last night.’
    Her mother served out the roast beef while her husband poured from a bottle of claret. ‘By the way, Sidney, I found the last clue in the crossword – “Boar’s head and all man? Yes.” It’s Hogmanay.’
    ‘Very good; hog, man, aye.’
    ‘Are you going to say grace?’
    ‘I will,’ Sidney replied. It was important to keep the family up to his standards even though his father had been positively agnostic of late.
    ‘ Mensae caelestis participes faciat nos Rex gloriae aeternae .’
    After the ‘Amen’ his father turned to Jennifer. ‘When are we going to meet this chap of yours?’
    ‘I’m not sure he’ll want to see me again after last night. It was so embarrassing.’
    ‘Is Nigel Thompson’s wife all right these days?’ Iris asked her daughter.
    ‘Juliette? I’m not at all sure. We all think she was the last to be seen with the ring in her hand but it can’t have been her. She was the hostess, for goodness sake.’
    ‘She has always had a nervy disposition.’
    ‘Now be careful, Iris,’ Alec cautioned. ‘We must not jump to conclusions.’
    ‘I’m sorry, darling, but poor dear Juliette is often her own worst enemy in life. I seem to remember . . . .’
    Alec Chambers doled out the claret. ‘I hope no one cast any aspersions . . . .’
    ‘Have the Thompsons called the police?’ Sidney asked.
    Jennifer rested her knife and fork on her plate and gave her brother one of her steady sisterly stares. ‘They don’t want this to become public knowledge. Nigel’s not been an MP for long and he doesn’t want anything to damage his prospects. You know how ambitious he is.’
    ‘Our future Prime Minister,’ Alec smiled.’ I expect Churchill’s got something to say about that.’
    ‘He can’t go on for ever, Daddy.’
    ‘You know that Gladstone formed his last administration at the age of eighty-three?’
    ‘But that was not a success.’
    Sidney felt they were straying from the point. ‘So they plan to sort out this ring business amongst themselves?’
    ‘That’s the idea.’
    ‘And how are they going to do that, Jenny?’
    ‘I told them that you would come back and help.’
    ‘Me?’
    ‘Yes, my dearest brother, you.’
    ‘I am not sure how I can be of any assistance.’
    Jennifer looked at her brother as if he was slow to understand. She had, since she was ten, spoken to him about serious matters in emphatic italics, never quite believing that he was giving her his full attention. She employed this tactic now. ‘You can help look for the ring and then, if it is still missing, you can find out what went wrong , without causing a scene .’
    ‘A scene has already been made, I recall.’
    ‘Nigel was going to telephone you . . .’
    ‘You suggested it?’
    ‘I told him that I would talk to you in person first . Juliette’s taken to her bed, and Amanda is apparently alternating between rage and tears. Nigel is one of your oldest friends . I promised I’d pop you round this afternoon. You were there at the time and you are the only one everyone trusts .’
    ‘But I have to get back to Grantchester . . .’
    ‘There are no services tonight or tomorrow, are there?’
    ‘No, Jennifer, but that is not the only thing I do. I lead quite a full life and need to be back tomorrow evening. I am never really off duty.’
    ‘And that’s precisely why you can be on duty now.’
    ‘It’s not even my parish. It’s St John’s Wood, for goodness sake. Haven’t they got a vicar of their own?’
    ‘Of course they have.’
    ‘Then why can’t they ask him?’
    ‘Because he wasn’t present at the time and their vicar is not a detective.’
    ‘Neither am I.’
    ‘You are going to have to become one. I have brought my