Frodo returned to the Three Badgers Inn late for dinner. His friends were all still in the Inn's common-room: Merry was in the private settle at the far end of the room with Ilbie; the two were talking together, and Frodo thought that the younger Brandybuck must have had the same idea as Aunt Asphodel about asking Merry to talk to his father. Pippin and Sam were at another table near the door, each with a mug of ale, and with a third hobbit who sat with his back to Frodo.
When Sam saw him, he was immediately on his feet. "Where've you been, Frodo?" he demanded. "We've been looking all over for you."
"I went to the post office, and to Aunt Del's," Frodo answered. "I'm sorry to be so late. Didn't Ilbie tell you he saw me there?"
"We didn't think to ask him," said Pippin. "He's got troubles of his own. But never mind that--look who we found!" He indicated the third hobbit at the table, who now turned to face Frodo. It was Rolo Bindbole.
"We chased him through the stableyard and caught him in the loft," Sam reported with satisfaction. "He almost got past us too. For all the talk of this Rolo, I never set eyes on him before. It was Mr. Pippin who recognized him."
"I wasn't trying to run away," said Rolo. "I came here 'specially to find you, Mr. Baggins. I was at your house in Hobbiton this morning asking after you, but your housekeeper said you'd gone on to here."
"Now why'd you come all this way after Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked.
"I told you--I wanted to talk to him about Cammie!" Rolo turned to Frodo to explain. "Once I heard tell from Mr. Took here and the other lad that she was missing, I had to come see you. You can find her, Mr. Baggins. You're the detective."
"You don't know where she is?" Frodo asked. "If you've hidden her away somewhere, I pray you tell us so now."
"I haven't!" Rolo insisted. "I swear I don't know where she is. I only know she's gone, and she hasn't come to me!"
Frodo sat down in the chair Sam had left, facing Rolo, and put his elbows on the table to lean closer and speak in a lowered voice. "You must understand that if we doubt what you say, Mr. Bindbole, it's because we have good reason. You've lied to us several times already." Rolo's mouth popped open to deny this, and Frodo went on before he could protest, "You told my cousins that you hadn't seen Mrs. Stillwaters since she married, but that isn't true. You have seen her, and spoken with her. You told them you'd never been to Budgeford, but I know for a fact that you've been here before. You've been to Stillwater Hall. You worked there earlier this summer as an assistant to the old gardener."
Rolo gaped at him. "However d'you know that?"
"Well, I am the detective," said Frodo. Sam snorted with amusement, and Pippin laughed out loud. After they had quieted, Frodo pursued the question. "How long were you at the Hall, Mr. Bindbole? The truth now."
Rolo fluttered nervously and looked about the room, but Sam stood between him and the door with folded arms and a fierce scowl; he was effectively trapped. "I went there in April," he answered at last, "as soon as I wasn't needed at home. 'Tisn't so far a journey if you come by the north road. I only meant to hang about the Stillwater place, you might say, but I was taken on to give a hand to old Mr. Rakeweed."
Sam looked skeptical. "What do you know about gardening?"
"Nothing much," Rolo admitted, "but I was only asked to dig up a few flower beds and plant some bulbs."
"Who hired you?" asked Frodo. "Was it Mr. Rakeweed?"
The corner of Rolo's mouth turned down. "Mr. Valerian Stillwaters, it was. Cammie's husband. He didn't know who I was--I never give him my right name. I called myself Rhabdo Wood. Rhabdo's my brother's name, and Wood- Well, you can see where I took that from."
Frodo nodded. "Why did you go there? To see Mrs. Stillwaters, presumably. Did you intend to resume your friendship with her?"
"No. I wanted to have a look around, and see if I could catch a glimpse of Cammie. I'll tell you--I didn't like the look of that husband of hers. Maybe it's my jealousy, pure and simple, but it seemed to me that that fellow Cammie married was no good. He plays about, you know. I seen it myself. If Cammie wasn't happy with him, I wanted to help her. I didn't speak to her, Mr. Baggins. I was careful to keep out of her sight, kept my head low, hid behind trees and bushes and such-like. She never knew I was about." Rolo looked even more distressed as he thought of Camellia. "I ought've kept a better eye on her. I could've helped her."
"When did you leave Stillwater Hall?" asked Frodo. "And why? Was it because of Betula?"
"Betula?" Rolo was confused. "Cammie's maid?"
"I'd like to know the truth of how you and she are involved with each other," Frodo answered. "Are you in this together? Did you ask her to steal the letters you and Camellia had written?"
"No! Why would I do that? I never had nothing to do with taking them. I got 'em back for Cammie, when that maid carried them off--you know I did. I brought them to you, Mr. Baggins, to give her."
"Yes, you did. And I find that very odd. If you had no part in the theft, Mr. Bindbole, then how did you know Betula took those letters? How did you know to find her in Frogmorton and buy them from the stable-boy?"
"I followed her," Rolo admitted. "I didn't see much of her, but I knew she was Cammie's maid. I saw when she left that she was carrying off things that didn't belong to her."
"You saw her take them?" asked Frodo.
Rolo opened his mouth, then faltered as his eyes darted from Frodo to Sam then Pippin. He shut his mouth again. After a moment's consideration, he said, "I saw she had 'em, and so I went after her. She was hard to trace--she went first to her aunt in Whitfurrows, then to her grand-dad, then they both went to work at that inn in Frogmorton where I found her, just as your friend here did. I struck up a chat with the stable-lad when I saw how he and Betula were friendly. I found out he had Cammie's letters and he'd take money for 'em, so I gave him all I had and I brought 'em to you to see they got back to her. And that's all I have to say about it."
"Do you know where she is now?"
"Cammie? No, I told you-"
"Not Camellia," said Frodo. "Betula. It seems she's gone now too."
Rolo stared him. The color drained out of his ruddy face. "What's happening here, Mr. Baggins," he asked in a hoarse whisper. "Where did they go?"
"I was hoping that you would tell us that," Frodo replied. "You see, I don't believe you. I know that you're still telling lies. You went back to the Hall. You were there two weeks ago, and you spoke to Camellia Stillwaters."
"I haven't been near the place since I left it," Rolo protested; he looked to Pippin. "I told Mr. Took so. I've been home since then, since I gave you her letters. My family will say as much for me."
"Yes, they would," said Frodo, "but they'd do the same whether you were there or not. You were seen, Rolo--with Camellia, in the Hall orchard, just before she disappeared."
"'Twasn't me!" Rolo cried. The other patrons in the room turned to look at him, and Merry and Ilbie came over to see what was going on. "I wasn't there."
"You asked Betula Root to take those letters, then returned them through me to regain Camellia's favor," Frodo pressed on. "The whole thing was a trick to get her to see you, to bring her back to you, wasn't it?"
"No!"
"Did she come with you, Rolo? Have you got her shut up someplace in a cottage or shed where no one would think to look for her? If you have, you'd best say so now. Or did she refuse to fly with you? What happened when she did?"
Rolo didn't answer this, but began to weep. He sank down with his head on the table, and they could get nothing more out of him.
Frodo obtained a room for the hysterical Rolo--a small room at the very back of the inn--and they put him in it and locked the door; Frodo gave Merry the key and told him, "See that he stays in until morning."
"I'm glad I'm not involved in this investigation, Frodo," said Ilbie. "I don't think I could stand it if you suspected me and went asking questions like that." But he also agreed to listen in case Rolo tried to leave his room.
"You were awful hard on him," said Sam after they'd left Frodo's cousins at their rooms and went down the corridor toward their own. The others had been shocked by Frodo's questioning of Rolo--they had never seen him like that before--but Sam had. "The last time you spoke that way was when you were asking old Mr. Archambault Took about the people that was hired to beat Mr. Clover."
"I felt very much the same today. If Rolo's done anything to harm that lady, then he deserved to be asked such questions," said Frodo. "It's a cruel trick, Sam, to take revenge against someone who once loved and trusted you."
"Then you think he's done- What? Put her in the river?"
"Perhaps," said Frodo, although another possibility had only just occurred to him. "He obviously lied about seeing Camellia that day. We know better. As for the rest of it-?" He shook his head and, as they reached the door to their room, stood with one hand on the brass knob at the center while he thought things over. "I believe he's telling the truth about why he first went to Stillwater Hall: he wanted to see her, to see whether or not she was happy. Beyond that, I can't say. Maybe he saw that she wasn't happy with her husband, and went looking for those old letters as proof that she still had feelings for him. He would have brought Betula into it, since a lady's maid can go into her mistress's room and handle her things more freely than a gardener. Gardeners don't have that sort of privilege... under usual circumstances." He glanced up at Sam. "The only thing I'm certain of is that he doesn't have them now, nor does Betula."
"Who does, then?" asked Sam.
"According to the courier who takes the mail up to Stillwater Hall, Mrs. Stillwaters received them--Verbena, not Camellia. I intend to find out if she still has them when I go to tea there with Aunt Del tomorrow." They went into their room. Once the door was shut, Frodo turned to put both hands on Sam's chest and once Sam's arms went around his waist to hold on to him tightly, leaned closer to rest in the embrace. It had been a long day and, faced with another difficult day tomorrow, Frodo was grateful for this simple, familiar comfort. After they'd kissed, he said, "I'll give you a choice, Sam: you can come with me and Auntie to the Hall, or you can stay here and keep Rolo company."
"I'd rather stay here, if you don't mind," Sam answered. "Somebody's got to watch over that lad and see he doesn't get up to any mischief."
"I don't think he'll try to escape. He daren't move, not with five of us here around him--Ilbie's room is right across the hall, and Merry and Pip are next door."
Merry and Pippin were in to room next to them now, and as Frodo and Sam undressed and got into bed, they could hear the other pair--not shouting, as they'd been before, but making up.
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