Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Book

Reggie goes in search of Ben. Disoriented, she ends up in a scullery pantry and finds Nanny’s body. She is terrified when the door shuts behind her and the lights go out. She thinks of how her mother must have felt when her hair caught in a swimming pool drain and she drowned. Reggie is relieved when Cosmo opens the door, explaining that the lights are on a timer and that the door sometimes sticks. She returns to the entertainment.

Lady Milton falls asleep in the Red Room during the performance. She wakes up to see a man with a head wound and a shotgun. Initially terrified, she composes herself and challenges the intruder to shoot her. She throws a large antique dish at the man’s head when the first shot misses. The dish hits its target, and Lady Milton is elated as the man flees, bleeding from a fresh head injury.

Jackson disappears, leaving Reggie to watch the performance. As the theatre group’s prop gun is missing, one of the actors improvises, pointing his fingers in a threatening manner. 

Meanwhile, Simon enters Burton Makepeace House, leaving the painting in the kitchen and the gun in the hall.