"You have made yourself remarkably comfortable here for a woman whose family disgraced this estate," he said. "Go back inside, Miss Hale, before you lose the little favor his lordship has shown you." Eleanor crossed to the pile and lifted the girth. "I won't let this vanish," she replied. "If it was a harmless repair, there is no reason to burn it. If it was something worse, the truth does not become harmless because you destroy the leather."
Vane took a step toward her, then stopped when another lantern illuminated the entrance. Alexander had followed Thomas from the house, accompanied by Mr. Bell, who had been working late over the accounts. The steward recovered his formal tone at once. "My lord, I was simply clearing damaged equipment before the stable becomes disorderly." Alexander looked at the unlit firewood, the rain, and the strap in Eleanor's hands. "At midnight?" he asked. "While the veterinary surgeon's report remains unfinished? I think the saddlery is better closed until morning."
Mr. Bell took charge of the leather and recorded who had been present. No one was arrested that night, and Eleanor was grateful for the restraint, but Vane was removed from supervision of the horses and forbidden to alter the books. Thomas received a written assurance that he would not lose his wages for giving an honest account. As they walked back toward the house, Alexander slowed beside Eleanor. "I should have protected the evidence from the start," he said. "You did," she answered. "You listened when the person with less authority said something was wrong. That is rarer than it ought to be."
The clearest new evidence arrived by post from Bath. Mr. Bell had written to the saddler whose stamp appeared on the altered girth, sending a drawing and a description rather than the leather itself. The saddler replied that he remembered an unusual order made on behalf of an estate steward, requesting a modification that had puzzled him. He had refused to carry out the harmful change, but had supplied ordinary leather pieces, after which the customer took the work elsewhere. The bill named Mr. Vane and gave the date as only four days before Blackthorn's first violent reaction.
Alexander read the letter in the library with Eleanor and the solicitor. "That proves he ordered the leather," he said. Mr. Bell nodded cautiously. "It is strong evidence of involvement, but not the whole chain. Fortunately, we have more." A reply had also come from the Cheltenham horse dealer. Faced with copies of the contradictory entries, the dealer admitted that the sums in Edward Hale's notebook were accurate and that Vane's cousin had instructed him to divide the payments. The dealer enclosed receipts and a statement of the dates on which the money had changed hands.