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

car.’
    Sidney looked to his father for support but found none. ‘You don’t appear to have much of a choice, old boy.’
     
    It was hard for Sidney to retain his cheerfulness. Here he was, surrounded by the possibility of deceit, theft and betrayal, and now bullied into taking an unwilling part in an investigation into events at a party he had never been that enthusiastic in attending. He felt ethically compromised. He always liked to give people the benefit of the doubt and yet now, here he was, on the verge of questioning the lives and morals of his friends and acquaintances.
    He saw already that if a crime had been committed he would have to look dispassionately at every member present, even his own sister, who could, he supposed, if he thought objectively, have stolen the ring out of some misguided jealousy. And yet it made him sick to be so suspicious.
    Nigel answered the doorbell. He was wearing a tweed jacket and a crumpled open-necked Viyella shirt that looked as if it had been pulled straight back out of the laundry basket.
    ‘Thank goodness you’ve come,’ he said. ‘Everyone is in pieces.’
    Sidney took a step back. ‘I’m not sure I can be of much assistance.’
    ‘Your calming presence will be a good start.’
    Juliette came down the stairs in the same peignoir that she had worn the previous evening. She did not appear to have slept. ‘It’s Edna’s day off,’ she began. ‘But can I get you a cup of tea?’ It was a question, Sidney thought, which was more commonly asked of vicars than any other profession.
    ‘Say yes,’ her husband whispered. ‘We have to keep her mind on other things.’
    ‘That would be most kind.’
    The two men walked to what Sidney supposed he must refer to as the scene of the crime. ‘How would you like to begin?’ Nigel Thompson asked. ‘We went through the room as thoroughly as we could and then put it back to normal. Juliette found it too upsetting to leave it in a mess. There were still bits of broken glass everywhere. I don’t know how we missed them.’
    The dining table was without its tablecloth and was set with two silver candlesticks and a lazy Susan at the centre but was, Sidney noticed, smaller than the previous night. ‘There are only six places,’ he observed. ‘And yet the dinner party was for ten.’
    ‘It extends,’ Juliette explained as she came into the room with a pot of tea. ‘You can pull it out at either end. We can even seat twelve at a push . . .’
    ‘Late Georgian walnut,’ her husband continued, ‘with a rather unpredictable mechanism underneath. It’s a bit of a palaver to go under the table and do it and then put it back together in the morning but it’s a family heirloom. However, you’re not here to discuss the furniture.’
    ‘Indeed.’
    Amanda entered the room. She was wearing a black jersey-knit twin-set and looked on edge. Sidney wondered what the outcome of the evening had been and whether she was engaged to Guy Hopkins or not. He would have to find the right moment to ask.
    Juliette turned to her husband and began to cry. ‘I know that everyone thinks I did it.’
    ‘No they don’t, my darling.’
    ‘I was the last person that people can remember seeing with the ring but I know I never took it. It would never occur to me to betray one of my closest friends.’
    Amanda put an arm around her while looking firmly at her husband. ‘Believe me, Juliette, none of us would ever suspect you of such a thing.’
    ‘Would other people?’ Sidney asked.
    ‘I am afraid so,’ said Nigel. ‘Juliette, perhaps you would like a little lie down, my darling? You know how these conversations upset you.’
    ‘But I don’t want to lie down.’
    ‘I will take you upstairs,’ Amanda offered. ‘Let’s leave the men to talk for a bit.’
    Juliette looked frightened. ‘You will come and see me in a little while, Nigel? You know how I hate to be on my own.’
    ‘Of course, my darling. I think Sidney and I need a word in private. Amanda will be with you.’
    The two men watched as the women left the room. Then Nigel Thompson closed the door. ‘Can I get you something stronger now we’ve had the tea?’
    ‘No, thank you. I’m sorry Juliette is so upset.’
    ‘The theft is a disaster. It’s clear everyone thinks she stole the ring because she has had her moments in the past.’
    ‘I remember you telling me. It was a sad time.’
    ‘I’m not sure that I confessed in full, Sidney. After we lost our first child