A third was Mary Johnstone. Until New Year’s Eve she had never met Balfour before in her life. She had gone to the Hall in company with her sweetheart, James Macfarlane, the medical student.
The fourth was Kate Thomson, cousin to Rab Thomson. She was a woman about thirty years of age, strong and well knit, but was a good-tempered, genial sort of creature. She, too, was almost a stranger to Balfour, and was engaged to be married to a man named Robert Murchison, who was factor to a Mr. Rennie of Perth.
Brodie was absolutely certain, after studying them all, that not one of these four women had done the deed. Nor was there the slightest reason for harbouring a suspicion against the female servants.
He was, therefore, puzzled, but not disconcerted, and he stuck to his theory that a jealous woman had committed the crime.
That, of course, only made the mystery more mysterious, so to speak. For who was the woman? Where did she come from? How did she get into the house? Where did she go to?
These questions were inevitable if the theory was maintained. It did not seem easy then to answer them.
As Brodie revolved all these things in his mind, he remembered that, though he had subjected the house to a very careful search, he had done little more than look into Chunda’s room, the reason being that the native was ill in bed at the time.
The room adjoined Balfour’s, and at one time was connected by a communicating door, but for some reason or other the door had been nailed up and papered over. While less in size than Balfour’s, it was still a fairly large room, also wainscoted, and with a carved wooden ceiling. It was lighted by one window, which commanded a good view over Blackford Hill.
To this room Brodie went one evening when Chunda happened to be absent from it. It reeked with the faint, sickly odour of some Indian perfume.
On a sideboard stood a small gilt Indian idol, and various Indian knick-knacks were scattered about. As in Balfour’s room, there was a massive carved oak mantelpiece, with a very capacious fireplace; and on each side of the fireplace was a deep recess.