Hints & Solutions — In Memoriam

Chapter I — The Diary

Where is Kate going?

Hint 1

Treat the diary entry as a set of directions. Pay attention to the order of the landmarks, the journey times, and clues such as the shadows that can help establish direction.

Hint 2

Start by identifying the distinctive stone gateway mentioned in the diary. Once you know where that is, trace Kate’s grandmother’s journey onwards and look for the later villages and the isolated church she describes.

Reveal solution

Kate is going to All Saints’ Church, Brailsford.

The diary describes a westward journey from Derby, passing the old gatehouse at Mackworth and through Kirk Langley before turning off the main road near Brailsford. The isolated church beyond the fields matches All Saints’.

Chapter II — The Memorial

What had Kate realised?

Hint 1

Look at the places mentioned throughout the chapter on a map, and consider how they sit in relation to one another.

Hint 2

Focus on the account of Catherine’s drowning and the later discovery of her cloak. Do those two pieces of evidence fit comfortably together?

Hint 3

If Catherine fell into the river at Duffield Bridge, ask whether the current could have carried her cloak to Makeney. If not, what does that tell you about Judith Pike’s account?

Reveal solution

Catherine did not drown at Duffield Bridge. Judith Pike’s account of her death was false.

The Derwent flows south through Duffield, but Catherine’s cloak was recovered near Makeney, upstream of the bridge. It could not have travelled there from the supposed drowning site. Catherine must have continued north beyond Duffield, with Judith helping to make it appear that she had died.

Chapter III — Kedleston

What had really happened during the performance at Kedleston Hall?

Hint 1

Start by reconstructing where the various people were seen at different points during the evening. The order of events matters as much as the rooms themselves.

Hint 2

Use everyone’s statements together with the programme to establish where Catherine and Nathaniel were during the interval and afterwards, and where they weren’t.

Hint 3

Once you have reconstructed their movements, was it actually possible for Catherine to have stolen the brooch from Nathaniel’s apartments?

Reveal solution

Catherine did not steal the brooch from Nathaniel Curzon’s apartments. She met Nathaniel during the interval, argued with him, and then fled the house.

The accounts place Catherine and Nathaniel together beyond the Dining Room during the interval. Catherine left by the service door as the violins began. Nathaniel entered his private apartments only afterwards, alone. Catherine therefore could not have taken the brooch from those rooms as he claimed.

Chapter IV — The Letters

Under what name was Catherine Bell living in later life, and what was her address?

Hint 1

Don’t try to recognise the correct address immediately. Use Catherine’s letters to eliminate entries from Judith’s list first.

Hint 2

Catherine gives you several ways to narrow the list. Think about what she says about leaving Derbyshire behind, the sort of name she would like to take, and how loud the bells are.

Hint 3

Once you have narrowed the list to a few possibilities, use Street View to compare them and pinpoint which address matches Catherine’s description.

Reveal solution

Catherine Bell was living as Mrs Lydia Ward, at 5 Precentor’s Court, York.

Her letters rule out names resembling Catherine or Bell and place her in a city north of Derbyshire. They describe a white house in a narrow court, very close to loud bells, with a narrow passage beside a large building at the end. Those clues match 5 Precentor’s Court in York, listed in Judith’s address book under Lydia Ward.