Harp's Manor

INSTALLMENT XXVII

September 8, 1928

Because I did not say so in the previous installment, I shall make it clear now: I was not allowed to read the interview transcripts. Inspector Cromwell provided them for the public's benefit. If I had read them, it would have been an invasion of privacy in the most basic terms applicable, and such would be ironic after my fuss over Mrs. Maxwell reading Harp's Manor. No, I did not read the interviews!

I also had to make this clear at the manor, where Miss Hansen somehow discovered I had gotten my hands on them. We had all just sat down to dinner and were beginning to dine, when Miss Hansen rose to her feet, dramatically flung a hand at me, and cried, "Miss Thornton has been spying on us, and knows all our secrets!"

Of course, it didn't provoke the reaction she had been hoping for; these sort of phenomenal accusations are routine at dinner by this point, so nobody looked quite surprised; but it still was rather annoying that she would decide to do it now. "How could you accuse Rosetta of such a thing?" Harrison asked, rising to his feet also.

"Leave this to me," I whispered to him. Facing Miss Hansen, I raised my eyebrow. "What are you off about now, you old bat?"

Miss Hansen swelled with glutinous pride, her eyes glinting maliciously. "I know you convinced the inspector to give you the transcripts of our interviews. Every single one."

Suddenly everyone else looked very interested. Mr. Stenhouse's eyes flashed; Miss Pearce leaned over and whispered something to Miss Jacobs. Like a rotating gear, the eyes of the table had turned from Hansen to myself.

"I did ask for them," I said. "There wasn't much convincing to it. He gave them to me."

"What an interesting thing for you to do," Mrs. Maxwell said coldly. "Considering you went to great lengths to hide your own secrets. Why are you allowed to know ours?"

"I didn't read them," I said. "It was for the Saturday Gazette. I couldn't tell you one thing about your interview, Mrs. Maxwell, aside from knowing that Inspector Cromwell encouraged you to leave early."

She crimsoned. "Very rudely, I might add."

"So the transcripts are out to the public," Harrison said, a little dryly. I was a little hurt by how angry he sounded. I hadn't thought it would be considered exposing their secrets if they had nothing to hide, but now I was starting to think the whole thing had been a mistake.

"Why does it matter if they are?" Bridget chirped in unexpectedly. "I mean, I'm not the killer, I know that for a fact. Whatever I said during that interview probably wasn't all that important anyway, to be frank. If I'm not the assassin, I shouldn't worry about getting exposed! Really they're the only one who should be worrying here, right?"

"Right," Audrey agreed. "If you aren't the assassin, why are you so worked up?"

"Maybe some of us do have secrets we would prefer the public not knowing," Mr. Stephenson said sharply. "And they don't circle around Miss Walters."

"Oh, put a sock in it," Griffiths said, rolling his eyes. "Nobody cares abou' your secrets."

"This is a violation of my privacy and trust!" Mr. Weaver exclaimed, standing as well. "I suggest we remove Miss Thornton from the manor at once!"

"The inspector gave me the interviews!" I said fiercely. "If you're so upset, maybe you should have a word with him!"

"Maybe I will! This is unacceptable!"

"How about we all calm down," Mr. Lambert announced, standing. "There is no damage done in providing a few snippets of dialogue between you and a stranger to the general public. In fact, it was bound to get leaked one way or another. This way, anything you may have said that you regret will seem less suspicious."