*
Cuff locked his front door and he and Holmes made their way to the village green. ‘Andrew Barrett was a retired judge. He lived in that imposing Georgian house on the outskirts of the village, Botham Lodge. You’ll have seen the large stone gateposts to the long drive as you came into the village. He lived there with his daughter Emilia. Apparently she has formed a romantic attachment to Albert Dawson, a newcomer to the village. Quite the whirlwind affair.’
‘Can you think of any circumstances in which there might have been foul play?’
‘I’m an old policeman, Master Sherlock, of course I can think of several but they’d all be fancy without some hint of tangible evidence or some clue.’
‘Well, perhaps Doctor Randle can provide it.’
*
If Sherlock Holmes had been a theatrical producer and
