Those facts had been his answer whenever questions arose about how his mother treated the household staff.

After learning that the pendant had been sent for appraisal, he asked Rosa, his estate manager, to meet him in the study.

Rosa had worked for the family for seventeen years and knew which carpets hid worn floorboards, which doors stuck in damp weather, and which employees had learned to avoid Margaret’s sitting room.

“What did I fail to notice?” Adam asked.

Rosa regarded him carefully.