Hob Hayward came to the cottage the next morning, explaining to Frodo that he'd already been to the Hall and Master Merry wasn't able to come; since Merimas's body had been brought in and there were funeral arrangements and family matters to attend to, Merry wanted Frodo to go on to the Hedge without him, and to come to the Hall afterwards.

Frodo agreed to this, and told Milli she could go home. Milli had heard of the murder the night before, as had everyone in Newbury and for miles around. Whether or not she'd heard how her estranged husband had found Merimas's body, Frodo didn't know. He didn't tell her that he'd met Jebro last night. And while Milli expressed the greatest sympathy for "poor Missus Celie," she was also very nervous at the idea of a murderer running about. She had braved the footpath to come and make Frodo his breakfast as usual, but she spoke so frequently of her little son Jem, left in the care of her mother, and looked so often out the kitchen window as if she were expecting Merimas's murderer to be lurking in the garden shrubbery that Frodo believed she would be happier watching over her child than looking after him today.

He and Hob walked with the maidservant as far as the end of the Crickhollow lane, then saw her off into town before they went to view the place where Merimas had been found beneath the Hedge.

The Hedge, or High Hay as it was also called, marked the eastern border of Buckland and the Shire, creating a barrier between the hobbits' civilized little land and the strange wilderness of the Old Forest just beyond. The trees in the Old Forest were said to have a malicious will of their own, and even odder inhabitants were said to walk beneath their branches; there was a tunnel beneath the Hedge that led into the forest, but only the bravest hobbits ventured in under the full light of day. No one liked to go near at night.

Frodo wondered what had brought Merimas here. They'd seen him fly off in a temper at dusk. Where had he been flying to? He might have been going into Bucklebury to the Buckle's Notch for a drink, or to spend the night at Brandy Hall, but if he had, he'd been going the long way around. It would be much quicker to go down to the other end of the Crickhollow lane and take the main road by the river, or cut across the meadows. If he'd been on his way into Newbury or on his way home, this was an even odder path to take. Had the murderer followed him here intending to strike him down over some personal grudge, or had Merimas died simply because he'd blundered into the wrong place?

The Hedge was a wall of close-planted yew, as old as Buckland itself, more than twenty feet tall. The lane ran within a few feet of its base. The grass grew tall on either side, and clusters of smaller shrubs and trees rose here and there. Hob led Frodo along this path quietly for some minutes, then stopped at a place where the grass had been crushed flat and said, "It was here, Mr. Frodo."

Frodo examined the area closely. There had been no rain in over a week, so the dirt of the lane was dry and showed no sign of fresh footprints. The crushed grass, however, showed the imprints of many feet, and there was a longer, flattened area where Merimas had fallen when he'd been struck, or been placed afterwards. His body had lain close enough to the path that either was possible.

"The Todbrushes said that they turned Merimas face up when they found him," Frodo recalled. "Is that how you first saw him, Hob?"

"That's right, Mr. Frodo. Mr. Merimas was flat on his back when they brought me to 'm." Hob held his arms out, hands up beside his head, as if to demonstrate Merimas's sprawled position. "They said as he was on his face when they found 'm, and his head just under those bushes by the Hay. You can see a bit o' blood there."

"Yes, thank you." Frodo crouched down to have a closer look at the dried stains on the grass. He saw no rocky outcroppings nearby, nothing that Merimas could have accidentally hit his head on. "Chief Muggeredge said that Merimas had most likely been struck in the head by a rock. Have you found it?"

"No, sir," Hob answered. "The Chief thought as you might want us to search hereabouts for it. He's told the other local shirriffs, but as Master Merry's put you in charge, we thought as we'd best wait for you to say so."

"Let's see if we can't find it ourselves first, Hob, before we set a lot of other people trampling over this spot." With Hob's assistance, Frodo spent the next hour crawling over the grass on either side of the path, peering at the root of the Hedge and into the underbrush beneath every nearby copse and bush, but found no rock, stick, or hobbit-made tools with traces of blood on them.

His back and knees aching, Frodo gave up and sent Hob into Newbury with a request that the search be continued with as many deputized sherriffs as Muggeredge could gather. Then he returned to Crickhollow for a quick wash-up, and to change into a clean shirt and somber waistcoat before he went to the Hall.

On the way down the lane, he stopped at Dinodas's cottage to tell his uncle that their afternoon golf practice must be suspended while he was investigating Merimas's murder. Dinodas was sorry to hear about Merimas's death--"a fine lad," the elderly hobbit said with a shake of his head, "if a noisy one, with all his shouting over this 'n' that"--but he seemed chiefly disappointed that Frodo wouldn't be able to play golf with him.

Everyone at Brandy Hall was occupied with funeral preparations. In spite of their grief at this unexpected death, there were certain things that must be done: in addition to laying out Merimas's body in the back parlor and preparing the family vault, the house must be ready to receive the visitors who would pay condolence calls, and the guest rooms swept and dusted and fresh sheets put on the beds for relatives from other parts of the Shire who would come to stay for the funeral. As Frodo went in through the northernmost of Brandy Hall's three front doors, the servants were rushing about at the direction of Lady Esmeralda. As befit the mournful occasion, the Mistress of the Hall gave her orders in hushed tones, and received "Yes, m'lady's" in whispers.

When she saw Frodo, she stopped to kiss his cheek in welcome. "I'm so glad you're here, dear. It's a great comfort to know that you're going to help."

"Is Merry in, Auntie? He asked me to come and see him."

"In his study, dear. Go right in--he's expecting you."

The other ladies, the aunties and his cousins' wives, were also busy, but they paused to smile and say hello to Frodo when he met them in the main tunnel on the lowest level of the Hall. He caught a glimpse of Celie as he went past the drawing room, seated as she'd been the day before, curled in a chair by the fire. Today, she wore a black dress and although she wasn't weeping at that moment, she clutched a crushed handkerchief in one hand and her face was red and puffy and streaked with the tracks of dried tears. Frodo did not disturb her, but he knew he would have to eventually. Instead, he went on to the Master's study near the middle front door to find Merry and Uncle Merimac searching the desk and bookshelves.

"It's the key to the vault," Merry explained. "It seems it's been misplaced since Father's funeral. There's also a speech, written down, that the Master is meant to give at every family funeral. Uncle Merry was kind enough to give it the last time, since I was away..." He shut the desk drawers. "Perhaps you can make finding them your next case. I've appointed Frodo Special Investigator, you know," Merry informed his uncle. "He's to be in charge of finding Merimas's murderer."

"I hope you'll be able to do so, Frodo," his uncle replied. "I never thought we'd have to go through another such tragedy again, not after poor Berry."

Uncle Merimac had heartily disapproved of his nephew's wild ways since Merry was a boy, and Frodo suspected that he disapproved still. Merimac had also disliked Frodo's close friendship with Merry; he'd hoped for his own son Berilac to be the confidante of the heir to the Hall, and perhaps gain a subtle influence over him, but Merry and Berilac had never got along. Whatever feeling Merimac might have about the two of them now, he concealed it and made an effort to aid the new Master as he'd always stood by his own brother Saradoc. Since both Saradoc and Berilac were dead, it was fruitless for him to carry on old quarrels which could only end in his leaving his comfortable situation and the home where he'd been born to seek a bungalow in Bucklebury. Merry often spoke with amazement at how helpful his uncle had become since he'd come home.

"Come in, Frodo, please," Merry invited him to take a seat. "Tell us what you've discovered so far. Did you go out with Hob this morning?"

"Yes, I did," Frodo answered as he sat in one of the comfortably overstuffed leather chairs. He felt rather odd reporting to Merry. If it weren't so serious a business as murder, he would find it difficult not to smile. But it was murder, and these were the roles they had assumed for the investigation. He addressed his cousin and lover as he had Thain Paladin and Aragorn when they'd set him this same task. "I've seen the place where Merimas was found, and I'm convinced that Chief Muggeredge was right: there's no possibility of an accident. I saw nothing Merimas might've struck his head upon if he fell, or was pushed, or was tumbling about in a struggle. The blow must have been struck deliberately. Hob and I looked all around and found no weapon, which suggests to me that the murderer tossed it away as far from the body as he could, or carried it off with him. I've asked the sherriffs to search further."

"You speak of a struggle," said Uncle Merimac. "Do you think they fought? Did poor Merimas meet this person there, or was he followed?"

"I don't know," Frodo admitted. "The grass is so crushed down, it's difficult to tell exactly what happened. The farmers who found him and the sherriffs have been all over. I've wondered what he was doing there in the first place."

"I think we all have," said Merry. "It's such a strange place for anyone to go at night."

Frodo agreed. "If he was killed just after we saw him go past Crickhollow's gate, where was he going to? Bucklebury? Newbury? Some farm or cottage along the Hedge-path? I'll have to make inquiries to find out. That's what I intend to do next." If he could find someone who had seen Merimas that same evening, it would tell them where he had gone, and perhaps provide a clue as to how he had come to be on the Hedge path. It would also help to fix the time of Merimas's death, whether he had been struck down just after dusk or at a later hour that night.

"If you need a shirriff to accompany you and lend an official air to your going around and asking people questions, let me know," Merry said and sounded more like his usual self; Frodo did smile. "Are you starting off right away, or will you stay to lunch?"

"Lunch, if you'll have me. Now, let's see if I can help you find that key."

By using his reasoning and by questioning Uncle Merry as to the circumstances when the vault key had last been used, Frodo found it folded within the Master's speech and tucked inside the front cover of last summer's estate journal, which had been on the desk in the days after Saradoc's death. Once this minor mystery was solved, they joined the rest of the family for lunch in the great, circular dining room at the heart of the Hall. This was the same party of Brandybucks who had gathered for tea yesterday, except for Celie, who was absent, but they were a much more somber group today.

Melisaunte ate little, but carried on bravely. "Merimas has been laid out quite presentably, if you'd like to view him," she told Frodo. "A cloth cap has been put over his head, so you can't see... anything. He looks as if he hadn't been hurt at all. Everyone's been so kind, so helpful, in this terrible time. There's been so much to do. So many letters must be written to family who wouldn't have heard yet--the Tooks, my Melly."

"I wrote to Fredegar and Flora myself," said Beryl, proud that she had made even this small contribution to the proceedings. "I expect they'll come as soon as they know what's happened. The house will be quite full."

Frodo had written to Sam--not the letter he'd planned yesterday about a visit to Bag End, but to tell his friend about his cousin's murder. He did not, however, expect Sam to attend the funeral.

"The funeral will be held the day after tomorrow," Esme said. "I know you prefer to live alone, Frodo, but you're welcome to come and stay at the Hall for the next few days. You may find it more convenient, and I know Merry would be so pleased to have you near."

"We're going to stay awhile, Isalda and I," said Dodi. "And Celie too, of course."

"She can't go on at the cottage," Estella murmured sympathetically. "Not by herself with her little boys. I couldn't bear it in her place." She reached for her own husband's hand under the table.

"My poor darling has been simply lost since that shirriff came to tell us the awful news," said Hilda. "It's always sad to lose a husband or wife--as we all know--" She specifically addressed the elder generation of hobbits with this aside; with the exception of Beryl, who had never married, the others were all widows or widower, "but it's especially tragic when it happens to one so young. She doesn't know what to do."

"Where is she?" asked Frodo.

"She wasn't hungry, as you can imagine, poor child, and didn't want to come to sit with us and try to make conversation," Hilda answered. "I think she's gone up to the nursery. It's best to leave her if she wants to be alone. When she wants our company, she'll come out and find us all waiting."

"We've tried to keep the worst of things from her," said Esmeralda.

"Worst?" Frodo echoed, not understanding what she was alluding to.

"The awful gossip. Merry's told us what the folk in Newbury were saying about Celie and Berry last night," Dodi told Frodo.

"What were they saying about my Berry?" Uncle Merimac looked up from his plate, alert at the mention of his dead son's name.

"Oh, you know what scandal people talk, Uncle, especially about us!" said Dodi.

"They were saying that since Celie used to go around with Berry, and Berry was struck over the head and killed, and now Celie's husband has been struck and killed in the same way, she must be behind both deaths somehow," Merry explained.

"People can be vile sometimes," said Isalda.

"But that little chit didn't have a thing to do with poor Berry," said Uncle Merimac. "It was-" He cast a glance at Melisaunte, who lifted her eyes to meet his with a deadly look of warning. "It wasn't Celie, at any rate."

Frodo and Merry and their cousin, Melisaunte's younger daughter Melilot, had never told the rest of the family the entire truth behind Berry's death and the subsequent suicide of Melly's sister Mentha. Melly had admitted to throwing a rock at Berry's head in self defense, which was enough to call his death an accident and free Merry from the gaol. Mentha was said to have thrown herself into the river out of grief for her dead betrothed. That was the official story. Some of the Brandybucks had guessed what had really happened. They were determined, however, never to talk about it.

"But you see why we've decided it's best that Celie not hear about it, when she has so much else to bear," said Hilda.