"On the Beak?" questioned Pamela uncertainly.
"Yes. Just the place where you hauled up little Ensor. I 'reconstructed the crime', as the French Police do; result of reconstruction, can't think how you managed to do it! I couldn't. Found it took all the running I could do to keep in the same place, so to speak. Stiffish climb with no encumbrances. Just in a tuft of grass I found this thing stuck; it looked as though someone had dropped it and then trodden on it, squeezing it down fairly firm, but not burying it."
"How funny!" commented Pamela weakly. She felt it was weak, and that made her turn pink. Then, knowing she had turned pink, nervousness seized her and she became very white.
Christobel was looking at her, wondering, surprise visible in her honest eyes.
"I want Mum to keep it," said Adrian, "why shouldn't she? It's a mystery how it got there. It may have been stuck in that tuft for years. The person who owned it may be dead."
"Oh no, we must hand it over to the Police," said Mrs. Romilly. There was a general cry of "oh Mother!" as she took the brooch back again into her hand, and examined h even more critically. In that moment a thought struck her, and she looked up at her eager family.
"Crow dear--why shouldn't it be Auntie A's? Why, of course, my dear children--why not? Consider the letters, 'A' and 'A' entwined--it no doubt stands for Adelaide Ashington. After all, it is rather rare to have two 'A's' for your initials."
"But, Mummy, the crown----" suggested Crow.
"Coronet? Why not? Miss Ashington and Lady Shard are daughters of Lord Stilborough. They might have a coronet in a jewel, I daresay--just for ornament. Crow, isn't Lady Shard's name 'Amelia'?"
Christobel said it was, also suggested that Mollie's name was Amelia Mary.