by Shéa MacLeod
Onward. Both Toni’s and Mary’s rooms revealed nothing, although that wasn’t much of a surprise. Both were overly fond of cosmetics, although Toni was also clearly obsessed with face creams. Perhaps because she was older. I understood her concern. Both had wardrobes crammed full of expensive fashions. Both had surprisingly lurid romances on their bedside tables. And neither had stolen valuables hidden anywhere. Although I noticed that Mary’s held a round Lanvin perfume bottle. The same kind of perfume that had been stolen during the first robbery. It was odd, but probably a coincidence.
Alex’s room was next, though I’d little hope of uncovering anything. After all, Jack had confirmed his alibi. He could neither be the killer, nor the thief. I supposed, however, he could be an accomplice.
The room was tidy and smelled of bay rum. Rather pleasant, I thought. A search of his wardrobe and drawers revealed that while he had excellent taste, he wasn’t our thief, although there was a nice wad of cash tucked away in a sock. Toni had said he hadn’t much money, at least until his uncle died. Was she wrong? Lying? I hoped not. I was about to leave the room when I noticed a pair of his shoes tucked under the edge of the bed.
I couldn’t have said what drew me to them—they were absolutely ordinary polished black shoes— but before I knew it, I was kneeling on the floor. One shoe was heavier than the other, so I tilted it and a bundle fell out. It was a man’s handkerchief and inside was an opal ring and a familiar diamond brooch.
IT FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY before Lord Chasterly and Simon returned from what proved to be a fishing expedition, during which I placed a few phone calls, paced the floor, and tossed back a swallow of whiskey for courage. I’d have loved to join Toni on the patio for a Blue Moon, but I was too keyed up.
At last they stomped into the house, chatting jovially. They’d caught several large specimens which were sent to the kitchen for our dinner.
I waited until Freddy had a chance to clean up, then waylaid him in the hall. “May I speak to you, my lord?”
He gave me a meaningful look. “Is it about the thing?”
I nodded.
“Best talk in my study. This way.”
I followed him through the dim hall to the back of the house. His study was a masculine thing, wood-paneled and filled with leather furniture. It smelled not unpleasantly of pipe tobacco.
“Now what’s this all about?” he asked.
I placed the bundle on his desk and undid the knots, laying the kerchief flat. In the sunlight streaming from the window, Mary’s ring glowed softly. Freddy picked up the brooch which glittered temptingly.
“Ah, what’s this? Antique. Excellent quality diamonds. It must be worth several hundred quid. Where did it come from?” He placed it gently on the desk.
“It’s mine, actually. I wore it the first two nights after I arrived, and I haven’t seen it since. I’m relieved to have found it. And I’m sure Mary will be glad to get her ring back,” I said.
“Yes, indeed. Where did you find them?”
I glanced over at him, but his gaze was on the ring still lying on the kerchief.
“Mr. Malburn’s room.”
He started. “Alex? I’d have never guessed! But surely he can’t have murdered Frain.”
“No, of course not,” I said, reaching out to smooth down a corner of the handkerchief. “The thief had a partner, and it was this partner who killed Frain.”
“But I though Frain was the thief.”
“Not at all. He was totally innocent.”
“But why kill him then?”
“To throw us off the scent, of course. And also because he’d seen something. Something that might lead to the thieves getting caught.” I was totally guessing on that one, but it made sense.
“So, they got rid of the only witness and pinned it on him at the same time. How clever,” he marveled.
“Yes,” I agreed. “It was.”
“I suppose we must call the police at once. We may not know who his partner is, but I’m sure Alex will crack easily enough under interrogation. You can be sure I’ll give you a glowing recommendation to Woodward.”
“That’s very thoughtful,” I murmured. “Except Alex is neither a thief nor a killer.”
Freddy blinked. “But you found the stolen goods in his room. He must be involved.”
“Must he?” I said. “I don’t think so. It was clever, hiding the items in his room. Likely another event would have happened. Another theft discovered. Possibly during the upcoming party on Saturday. The police would be called, and they would find these in Alex’s room. He’d be arrested, and the partners would go about their business as before, free as birds.”
“If it’s as you say, then that’s ghastly! But who could the real culprits be?”
“Why you, of course, Lord Chasterly.”
He stared at me a moment, then burst into a braying guffaw. “Woodward never told me you had such a sense of humor.”
“That’s because I’m not joking. You see, you had a great idea, framing Raymond and Alex, but there were two problems.”
“This should be good. What were these supposed problems?” He crossed his arms.
“The first was telling me Raymond was broke. I found the proof that he actually had plenty of money, which removed his motivation entirely.”
He shifted uneasily. “Proof? I’d like to see this proof.”
“I bet you would. But I’m not about to let you destroy evidence. Which leads me to your second mistake. You wrapped the goods in your own handkerchief.” I removed the ring and held up the square of cloth. “The other day when I returned from the village, it had been raining and I was completely wet. Penny gave me one of your handkerchiefs to dry my face. She assured me I shouldn’t worry. You had a whole stack of them, all identical. All just like this. Very unique. She said a woman in the village did the embroidery for you.” I fingered the edges with their neat little stitches.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” he snarled, his face going an ugly red.
“Actually, I think the police will disagree with you. Especially when they search the house and find other stolen items.”
His expression told me I was right.
“Don’t worry. Simon will get what’s coming to him, too.”
He hesitated. “You’ve no proof Simon was involved.”
“Simon has no alibi. In fact, instead of being in London during that first robbery, he was a mere twenty minutes away. In fact—”
“In fact, if you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll blow your ugly American head off,” Mary said from behind me.
I whirled to find her pointing a little pearl handled dueling pistol right at my chest. I froze. It might be small, but I’d no doubt it would do the job. Especially at so close a range.
“I should have known it was you,” I said, feeling suddenly quite stupid.
She sneered. “And how’s that?”
“It was the Lanvin perfume. Everything else was stolen so it could eventually be sold off for cash, but the perfume you took simply because you liked it. It’s sitting right up there on your dresser.”
“It was rather stupid of you to take it, dear girl,” Freddy said.
“Shut it, Fred,” she sniped.
“Simon was protecting you, wasn’t he?” I said. “That first night, he knew what you planned to do, and he was worried, so he drove out there to make sure you were all right.”
“Stupid git. I told him I didn’t need his help.” She grimaced. “Everything was all planned out.”
“Did he write the threat on Lil’s wall?” I asked.
“No, that was Freddy. Just like it was his idea to bring in a private dick to throw everyone off the scent. How stupid could you be?”
“You know I only agreed to it because old Jamie promised to send a woman. I figured she’d be a nincompoop.” He defended himself in the most chauvinistic way possible.
Mary shot him a glare. “I swear... it was going swimmingly until these idiots started having big ide
as.” She cocked the gun. “Too bad you’ll have to die. I was getting used to you, even if you are American.”
“You won’t get away with this,” I told her, ignoring the insult.
She laughed. “The police already think Frain was the thief. We’ll just tell them when we discovered you were his partner, you tried to shoot us. Freddy fought with you and the gun went off.” She shrugged. “Oops.”
“The police will never believe you had to kill two people in self-defense,” I pointed out.
“Why not?” Freddy asked. “After all, you’re both criminals. And one of you a foreigner. Meanwhile, we’re respectable peers of the realm. No one will ever believe we’re involved.”
“Why are you involved?” I asked, stalling. Maybe if I kept them talking long enough, I’d be able to figure a way out of this. “As you said, you’re both respectable people with titles and money. Why would you steal?”
“Because the war devastated the economy and my own holdings,” Freddy said. “I was on the verge of losing everything. Meanwhile all these imbeciles were wandering around, dripping in diamonds like nothing had ever happened.”
“You figured you’d liberate a few. Save your family home,” I mused.
“Sure. Why not?” Mary said, stepping around me to tuck her arm through his. “He doesn’t deserve to lose this beautiful place.”
“Ah.” A light went off. “And you helped him because you’re in love with him.” Or she wanted to be Lady Chasterly, more likely.
She gave me a sly smile. “We figured stealing our own stuff now and then would throw everyone off.”
“And since you were at every party, it made things easy. No one would suspect you. The parties Freddy didn’t attend, he could help from the outside, taking away your haul so you wouldn’t get caught.”
She tittered. “We had everything covered.”
“’Til that idiot Frain saw you sneaking into Lil’s room,” Freddy snarled, shooting her a glare.
In that moment, I realized that while Mary might have hopes of becoming Lady Chasterly, Freddy had no plans to make her so. He was, however, happy to use her to his own ends. I could almost feel sorry for Mary. Almost.
“Yes, he really had to go. Fortunately, I was able to take care of things. Like I always do,” Mary said, completely ignorant of Freddy’s true feelings or my realization. She scowled at me, raised the gun, and pointed it straight at my heart. “I’m afraid, Miss Nosey Parker, you have to go too.”
And there I was, standing in the crosshairs of a dueling pistol. I really do know how to get myself into the worst possible situations.
Freddy let out a yelp, and we all glanced down to find Tippy’s jaw clamped around his ankle. Mary’s aim wavered, her attention on Tippy who was now growling. Something exploded. Mary dropped to the floor. Porcelain shards rained down. And there standing behind Freddy—who was still trying to shake Tippy off—was Toni, arms upraised.
Freddy lunged for her, but I dove to the floor and scooped up Mary’s gun. “Stop!” I fired.
Chapter 13
“Sugar!” Jack raced into the room followed by two uniformed policemen, only to stop short, staring at the scene with his mouth open. “What the devil?”
“Apparently, I’m a terrible shot.” I gave him a wan smile as he gently took the gun from me.
My aim had been off, and the bullet had plowed into the doorframe instead of Freddy. Despite his being a very bad man, I was relieved. I really didn’t want someone’s death on my conscience.
“Would you get this damned dog off me?” Freddy snarled.
“Language!” Jack barked. “There are ladies present.”
Which was hilarious, if you ask me. The man had just confessed to being involved in theft and murder. I doubted he cared about his language.
“Tippy.” I snapped my fingers. “Tippy, let go.”
Tippy growled around a mouthful of ankle. His blue/gray glare fixed on me as if to say, “See what I’ve done for you?”
“Yes, yes. It was very good of you to save me,” I said as if talking to a dog was perfectly normal. “I owe you a juicy bone. Now will you please let go of him so the nice policeman can arrest him?”
Tippy let go, albeit with great reluctance.
“That thing should be put down,” Freddy snarled as one of the policemen cuffed him.
Tippy snarled back, in no mood for his nonsense. For once he and I were in perfect agreement.
Mary was just coming to, moaning and whimpering. The second policeman hoisted her to her feet and cuffed her as well.
“Hey! What’s the idea?” she snapped. “Do you know who I am? I’m innocent. Innocent, I tell you!”
Jack sneered. “Tell that to the judge.”
Good grief, it was like I was in a Hollywood detective flick. I turned to Toni. “How did you know I was in trouble?”
She sank down into one of the leather club chairs, looking a little pale and shaken. “I was coming in to fetch another Blue Moon when I saw Mary crossing the hall with a gun in her hand. I knew she couldn’t be up to any good, so I followed her. When I saw her waving that thing at you... well, there was a very large vase in the hall.”
“You hit her over the head?” Jack said, horrified. “What if she’d shot Sugar?”
“Well, that wasn’t going to happen, was it?” she snapped back. “I waited until Tippy distracted her.”
“Speaking of. How did this little guy know I was in trouble?” And why would he bother to save me? Wasn’t like he cared much for me. Or anyone else that I could tell.
I knelt down to give him a pat on the head. He took it with good grace.
“I have no idea,” Toni admitted, “but as I was looking for a weapon, he came rushing out of nowhere straight for the study. It was like he knew.” She eyed him closely. “You don’t think he’s psychic, do you?”
Jack’s laugh turned into a cough. I barely managed to keep a straight face. Tippy just looked haughty and majestic.
“Thanks, Jack, for running to the rescue.”
He winked. “Any time, Sugar.”
I ignored the blush that threatened to rise. “What will happen to Mary and Freddy now?”
“They’ll be arrested and locked up. There’ll be a hearing. And eventually... well, justice will be served.” Jack shook his head. “Uncle is going to be horrified when he hears it was Lord Chasterly behind this the whole time. I don’t understand why he’d hire my uncle in the first place.”
“He never expected him, or rather me, to be able to solve anything.” I said. I did not mention that Freddy had called me a nincompoop.
“Probably another red herring,” Toni said, getting up and rummaging through the cabinet against the back wall. The rich wood matched the desk.
“Toni, why did you tell me Alex doesn’t have money?” I asked.
“He doesn’t.” Her head was so far into the cupboard, her voice came out muffled.
“But I found a big wad of cash in his room.”
She pulled her head out of the cupboard and shot me a grin. “Oh, that. He probably won.”
I frowned. “Won?”
“Oh, yes.” She turned back to her rummaging. “He’s an inveterate gambler. Quite good at it, too. When he bothers. Or when he cheats.” She shot me a wink. “How do you think he affords those fancy togs?”
I guess that explained it. I felt relief Toni hadn’t lied.
“Aha! Anyone?” She held up a crystal decanter filled with amber liquid.
“I could use it,” Jack said.
“I suppose,” I said, not particularly enthusiastic. I didn’t care for straight up liquor, but I was feeling oddly shaken.
As if he sensed it, Jack steered me toward the second club chair. “Here, have a seat. You’ve been through a shock.”
“Tippy! There you are, you naughty pooch.” Penny popped through the doorway. “Sorry Miss, but he got away from me. I’ve been looking everywhere. I hope he hasn’t disturbed you.”
“Not
at all. He just saved my life.”
IT TOOK SOME TIME TO get accustomed to my new life at Aunt Euphegenia’s cottage. Fortunately, Mr. Woodward said I could donate whatever of her personal things I didn’t want to a local charity, which I promptly did.
With my own clothes in the closet, I felt a little more at home. I even discovered that my aunt had been a collector of detective novels which gave me plenty to read in the evening. I was starting to think Aunt Euphegenia was a woman after my own heart.
I did mention to Mr. Woodward, strongly, that I didn’t appreciate being manipulated. I mean, of course, his claim of the cottage having a sea view. Surprisingly, he apologized and assured me he would never do that again. A week later a nice seascape watercolor arrived. It went perfectly above the grate in lieu of the heavy oil painting of daisies that had hung there.
Walks with Tippy down by the sea had become the highlight of my day, and we went rain or shine. Mama wrote me at least once a week—she still wasn’t thrilled I was staying in England—giving me an excuse to venture out to the post office for a chat with Mrs. Johnson. Tippy and I had settled into a routine that more or less satisfied both of us.
Mr. Woodward had been thrilled with my investigations and had sent me a bonus with my paycheck. Jack had visited twice. “Just to make sure you’re okay,” he said. I had a feeling it was more than that but didn’t want to rush anything.
I also discovered I was now stuck between my feuding neighbors, Mrs. Druthers and Mr. Carbuncle. No one seemed to recall how the feud had started, but whatever it was, it must have been a doozy. Their verbal sparring was monumental. One afternoon they annoyed me so much, a pail of cold water “accidentally” made its way onto Mr. Carbuncle’s pajama-clad form.