Murder in the Dark - A Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery (Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery Series) by Lesley Cookman Page A

able to set it up.’
    But she did. And on Monday morning, Libby, Fran, Edward Hall and Patti herself met at the lychgate of St Mary’s, Steeple Cross to inspect the memorial tablet of Sir Godfrey Wyghtham.

Chapter Eleven
     
    ‘A tablet?’ exclaimed Libby.
    ‘Yes.’ The Reverend Toby Morley looked surprised. Patti grinned.
    ‘Sorry, Mr Morley,’ she said. ‘Mrs Sarjeant was expecting something more spectacular, I think.’
    The Reverend took off his glasses and smiled at Patti. ‘Please call me Toby. And there is the Parish Register, even though the date was problematic.’ He looked round at the puzzled circle of faces. ‘Civil War, you see. All the upheaval within the church – there were gaps between 1642 and 1660.’
    ‘How did you know who we were looking for?’ asked Fran. ‘We didn’t.’
    ‘Patti, here – may I call you Patti? – told me why you were looking, and I remembered the young lady immediately. Very striking.’
    ‘Ramani?’ Libby looked questioningly at Patti.
    ‘It would appear so. She came asking for information about previous owners of Dark House,’ said the Reverend Toby. ‘Of course it wasn’t Dark House then, but Wyghtham Hall. That was how I knew what I was looking for. And of course she had a date – 1648.’
    ‘May we see?’ Edward Hall spoke for the first time. ‘I’m the historian of the party, Edward Hall.’ He held out a hand, which the Reverend Toby shook warmly.
    ‘I’ll show you the tablet first,’ he said, leading the way down the central aisle, and to a dark corner beside the door to the vestry. ‘There.’
    It was a stone tablet, with very little decoration, unlike several they had passed on the way. A coat of arms, very worn, headed the inscription.
    “In Memorie of Godfrey Wyghtham, late of Wyghtham Hall in this parish, who departed this life April 3 rd 1664 and Rebecca, wife of above died September 15th 1665”.
    ‘But that’s 1664,’ said Libby, ‘not 1648.’
    Reverend Toby smiled again. ‘But that meant he must have been living at the Hall in 1648, or at least to have had a connection to it, even if his father was still alive and living there, do you see?’
    ‘He survived the war, then,’ murmured Edward, ‘and so did she. But there’s no reference to hidden treasure. What was Ramani thinking of?’
    ‘Come and see the parish register. Not that it mentions treasure, either. But there’s a gift to the parish.’
    The relevant book was already laid out for them in the vestry.
    ‘This is very unusual, but there is a note under the entry for Rebecca’s death that “her portion” is given to the parish.’ The Reverend Toby pointed and Edward bent to peer at it.
    ‘If found,’ Edward said suddenly, looking up in triumph. ‘That’s it!’
    ‘If found?’ they all repeated. The Reverend Toby bent closer, then stood up with a puzzled expression on his face. ‘You know I’d never noticed that! I suppose you’re better at deciphering these things than I am.’
    ‘So what does it mean?’ asked Fran.
    ‘I guess it means that there is money somewhere that, if found, will go to the church. I wonder if she had a will?’
    ‘Oh, don’t,’ said Libby. ‘We’ve done wills. And they were all lodged somewhere – Canterbury, was it? – before you could properly check them all.’
    ‘We could check,’ said Fran. ‘What date did old Bartholomew die?’
    ‘Who?’ said Edward and Toby together.
    ‘A man we looked into last summer,’ said Libby. ‘And he was seventeen hundreds, anyway. The wills of these people wouldn’t be recorded, would they?’
    ‘Not if they were made before 1660,’ said Edward, ‘and they probably were. So we’re unlikely to be able to look it up. I just wondered if there’s any other record in the church?’
    ‘Not that I know of.’ Toby shook his head. ‘I wonder what it means?’
    ‘Well,’ said Libby slowly, ‘we know that Ramani was told there was a treasure in the house. She came