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

lot.’
    ‘I think I can trust my sister.’
    ‘What does she think?’
    ‘The wife has stolen before.’
    ‘Then that too needs to be taken into account.’
    ‘I don’t think she did it, Geordie. We searched the room and then her husband went through all her possessions so that they could specifically eliminate her from their enquiries.’
    ‘But none of you could be objective. Some of you had drunk too much, others were tired and, once the crime had been revealed everyone probably wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. That’s not an ideal scenario for a search.’
    ‘Which means?’
    ‘You need to conduct a further investigation.’
    ‘Surely it’s too late for that?’
    ‘The ring might still be there. Even if it isn’t, a search will give you ideas. I presume you looked thoroughly under the table and between the floorboards?’
    ‘We didn’t take the floor up . . .’
    ‘You need to picture the scene all over again.’
    ‘And then?’
    ‘You need to call everyone back into the very same room. You need to do a re-enactment and watch everyone very closely.’
    ‘I am not sure they will agree to that. And how will I know that some of them will not alter their behaviour?’
    ‘Sidney, you know that this is really a matter for the police?’
    ‘I think they are all expecting my sister to have a word with Johnny Johnson, that he will then return the ring, and the whole thing can be over and done with. The only problem is . . .’
    ‘That he had nothing to do with it.’
    ‘In my opinion. And that of my sister.’
    ‘Well, you need to be careful, Sidney. You know how desperate the rich can be.’
    ‘Do I?’
    Inspector Keating finished his pint. ‘Well, if you don’t know now then you will soon enough.’
     
    On Thursday 7 January, the day after the Feast of the Epiphany, Sidney found himself boarding another train to London, clambering on to yet another bus to Lord’s (it was so depressing to stop there in winter, when there was no cricket), and walking up to Cavendish Avenue. He was going to search the Thompsons’ dining room. By committing himself ruthlessly and concentrating hard at the scene of the crime he hoped an idea would eventually come to him.
    When he arrived in the early afternoon Sidney was not altogether surprised to see that Juliette Thompson was dressed in a white nightgown but he became alarmed when she appeared to have forgotten who he was, an incident so worrying that Sidney wondered what type of medication her doctor was giving her.
    Nigel himself was clearly irritated by the visit. Sidney had not been invited to lunch and his host was briskly polite. ‘We did search the room quite thoroughly at the time,’ he said. ‘We looked all over the floor and down the backs of the chairs, as you will recall.’
    ‘Can you extend the table to its full range, and bring in everything that was used on the night in question?’
    ‘I will ask Edna to help you.’
    ‘Do you have a torch and a stepladder?’
    ‘I can’t see the stepladder being of any use, Sidney. Nobody could have hidden the ring in the cornice.’
    ‘I think I need to look at the room from every angle, if you don’t mind,’ Sidney replied. ‘Is Juliette all right?’
    ‘I fear we may need professional help. I do not think we can solve this particular problem on our own. It only makes me hate the thief even more, not for the actual incident or for the hurt caused to Amanda – she seems to have recovered forcefully – but for sending Juliette into such a sharp decline. I sometimes think that the person who did it knew that she would react like this.’
    ‘Which would rule out Johnny Johnson. He had never met her before.’
    ‘Indeed. And so it must be one of our greatest friends, but I just can’t believe such a thing, Sidney. It would be such a betrayal of our trust. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to involve the police but I just can’t risk it. When Churchill retires and Eden takes over, I’ll be in line for a junior Cabinet post. I can’t allow anything to endanger that, especially something so trivial as another person’s engagement ring. The whole affair is taking up far too much time and trouble as it is.’
    ‘I will do all that I can to help you.’
    ‘I know that, Sidney, and I appreciate it, but do you really think this search of yours is going to do any good? The ring will be long gone by now.’
    ‘That is probably so. But I want to spend enough time in this