Murder at the Marlowe Club

by Kate Parker

  “I know. That’s why I’m turning it in.”

  He dropped it back in my bag. “You’d better. Taking cocaine is a terrible habit. And one that’s hard to break. Don’t try it, Pet.”

  I looked at Lucky Marlowe. “Who’s selling cocaine in your club?”

  “No one.” He looked around him at all the angry stares. “No one. They bring it in to the club, sure, but it’s not illegal.”

  I shook my head. “Someone is selling it in your club, but no one has told me who. Yet.”

  “Murder. Selling cocaine. Do you have any idea what’s going on in your club, Jeb?” Uncle Thomas asked.

  * * *

  We were busy all the next morning in my shop. When things finally settled down, I sent Jane off for her lunch and waited on our only customer present, Marjorie Whitaker, the Dowager Marchioness of Linchester.

  “Since I’m in town at the moment,” she said, settling in to one of the chairs, “I’ve decided to visit you for a new hat or two.”

  Lady Kaldaire and I had been guests at her country estate for a few days while hiding out from Lord Kaldaire’s murderer. The current marchioness had been very kind to me, and the dowager’s younger son—well, that was another story. I hoped Lord George Whitaker had found another young lady to be enamored with.

  “Are you remaining in mourning for this season?” I asked, bringing up the first non-Lord George subject that popped into my head.

  The dowager was dressed in black from head to toe, and while I knew Lady Kaldaire was counting the days until she could shed her mourning wear, Lady Linchester was a more conservative soul.

  “Of course.”

  “Let me show you something I’ve designed for Lady Kaldaire and you let me know if you might be interested in something similar.”

  I went into the storeroom and came back with it a moment later. I felt confident Lady Kaldaire would come by the shop that day and I looked forward to showing her the new hat.

  “It’s lovely, but how far down does the veil go?” Lady Linchester asked.

  I set the hat down on the center table. “It doesn’t. The netting is only there to give the impression of a veil. However, for you I would attach a light veil that would reach to your shoulders. Also, I would use a wide-brimmed, rounded, shallow-crowned hat for you since that seems to be the style you favor. With perhaps a few black roses at the side of the crown, like this?”

  “I think I would prefer a blackbird.”

  I winced. I hated the habit of killing birds to put on ladies’ hats. This was going to take some fancy talking, to convince a marchioness she didn’t want something she wanted.

  “That’s so unlucky,” I said, trying to think of something to divert her with. “Flowers are much luckier. And ribbons are so much more stylish. With just perhaps a few feathers for an extra bit of style.”

  We both turned when we heard the bell over the shop door ring. Lady Kaldaire strolled in and brightened as soon as she spotted her old friend. “Marjorie, when did you come back into town? It’s so wonderful to see you again.”

  “Roberta, I’m thrilled to see you. And your new hat is wonderful. I’m so glad you recommended Emily’s shop to me.” Lady Linchester took both of Lady Kaldaire’s hands in her own.

  Lady Kaldaire shot me a look. “Where is my new hat?”

  “Sit down in the other chair and I’ll fit it on you in just a moment,” I told her.

  “Go ahead,” Lady Linchester told me. “I’d like to see it on Roberta.”

  I gave her a nod and began to work on setting Lady Kaldaire’s hat. Of course, she had to be wearing a different hair-style that day, so I had my work cut out for me, adjusting the hat to her reshaped head. “Have you heard who the dancer was who stepped on the hem of a ballgown at the Blackfords’ ball?” I asked.

  “No. Why do you keep asking about this ripped hem?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “It’s possible the ripped hem was used as a signal for the jewel theft,” I told her.

  “Emily is so clever. I never would have thought of that,” Lady Linchester said.

  “People get hems ripped all the time at balls. There’s never enough room for all the dancers,” Lady Kaldaire grumbled.

  I was nearly done and had so far avoided sighing over what should have been a simple task when Lady Kaldaire said, “We found the secret entrance.”

  “What? Where?” asked the marchioness in an eager tone.

  “Wallingford House,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  “Of course. Didn’t you know? The old duke, the one before the current one, had a tunnel put in to visit his paramour without the duchess knowing. She had all the doors watched, but she never learned about the secret exit,” the marchioness told her.

  “It had to have taken a great deal of effort to put in the tunnel and the hidden staircases,” Lady Kaldaire said in a dry tone. “I don’t see how she never found out.”

  “Pay servants well enough, and they can keep any secret,” the marchioness said.

  I was working on a particularly difficult angle in the brim and asked, “Even murder?” without thinking.

  I could have heard a feather fall in the silence. Then Lady Linchester said, “Roberta? What is going on?”

  “You must have heard Lady Theodore Hughes was murdered most scandalously, and Lord Theo may have been murdered as well,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  “I heard she would have faced the hangman if she hadn’t been murdered,” the marchioness whispered.

  “I’ve heard she was innocent and another was guilty of the crimes she’s been blamed for,” I told the old woman in a sharp tone.

  “Emily, what have you heard?” Lady Kaldaire demanded.

  If I told her, I’d have to tell her who told me, and she would never believe anything good from Lucky Marlowe. “I can’t tell you yet because it hasn’t been verified, but I heard something that makes me think we’re looking at this all wrong.”

  “Then who is the killer?”

  “I don’t know. Yet.” I felt sorry for Roxanne and Lucky Marlowe, if his story was true. And if true, I was more determined than ever to find Roxanne’s killer. She deserved a better life than she’d had.

  “But where did the secret tunnel lead?” I was still wondering about this hidden exit.

  “To the carriage house. There was a matching staircase at that end. The tunnel was bricked so Roxanne could have passed through there in a ballgown to leave Wallingford House,” Lady Kaldaire said. “Of course, she’d have to be careful since dampness leaked in throughout the length.”

  “And this long-ago duchess didn’t notice all this activity?” That I could not believe.

  “Not so long ago. Just one generation back. Supposedly it was done while she was in the country giving birth to a sibling of the current duke,” the marchioness said. “And no one told her about it when she returned.”

  “What a scoundrel,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  Neither of us disagreed with her.

  “Why did Lord Theo marry Roxanne Starley?” I asked. “It couldn’t have been an arranged marriage, because Roxanne wasn’t from an aristocratic family.”

  “The family was desperate for Lord Theo to marry. They thought it would settle him down,” the marchioness told me. “The duchess had a very pliable young lady from a baronet’s family lined up. When she told Theo, he raced out of the house, found Roxanne, whom he knew quite well,” at that she raised her eyebrows, “and proposed. Roxanne, not knowing any of this, thought he was sincere.”

  “What did the duchess do when she learned of this engagement?” I asked.

  “She took to her bed for a week,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  “She does that quite a lot.” I remembered the first time I’d met her. “And I imagine she took out her displeasure on Roxanne even before the wedding.”

  Lady Kaldaire nodded, her head lowered.

  I was developing a great deal of sympathy for Roxanne. “Can we find anyone who will tell us the entire truth about this wretche
d business?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “The Duchess of Blackford became good friends with Lady Theo. She might know more than she’s told us,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  “Can you arrange an opportunity for us to speak with her again?” I asked. I couldn’t believe how eager I was to abandon my shop in the hunt for the truth. Someone had slashed Roxanne’s neck and stolen her clothes and her dignity. Someone needed to pay.

  And I wanted help to rescue James’s position and reputation. The Blackfords could aid me with that.

  “Yes. Now, would you please finish fiddling with my hat?” Lady Kaldaire sounded as eager as I was to find out what was going on.

  It took me only moments to finish her hat. Both ladies were pleased with the result. Lady Kaldaire paid me, and with a promise to contact me later and to see Lady Linchester for tea, she was off carrying a new Duquesne’s Millinery eight-sided hatbox.

  Jane returned before I finished designing the dowager marchioness’s hat with an exclamation of “There’s a horseless carriage out front.” Our customers were traditional. They arrived in carriages, or were dropped off at our door and picked up later.

  “That’s my son’s,” the marchioness said. “He’s very proud of it.”

  “Lord George Whitaker is here?” My voice went up in a screech.

  “He’s visiting a tailor down the way, but then he said he’ll come by and collect me. He’s looking forward to seeing you again.”

  I had met Lord George, as I thought of him, when Lady Kaldaire and I hid away from London at the Linchester country home, and later when Lord George had driven his mother up to London. George had a charming crush on me, which I was glad wouldn’t go anywhere since I was in trade. He was a dim overgrown puppy. I took a deep breath and let it out before I lied. “It will be nice to see him, too.”

  Jane looked from one of us to the other, shook her head, and checked on supplies in the storeroom. She was back out in the shop when Lord George entered.

  Her eyebrows went up a notch as she looked at me. George was looking a little plumper than before and just as vague. He walked straight toward me with a big, goofy grin on his face. “Miss Gates. I am so pleased to see you again. Is this your shop?”

  Jane rolled her eyes and walked over to adjust a display.

  “Yes, it is. Your mother seems pleased with the hat I’m designing for her. Did you have good luck with your tailor?”

  “Yes. Would you like to see my motor? It’s new since you visited us.”

  “I’d like very much to see it. Let me finish with your mother’s order and I’ll walk out with her.” I was glad to hear George was spending his money on motor carriages and not in places like the Marlowe Club. He’d definitely get fleeced in a gaming club.

  As I finished the drawing and received Lady Linchester’s approval, she said, “George, you knew Theo Hughes. What can you tell Miss Gates about him?”

  “I hadn’t seen him since his wedding, and I’m glad.” He sounded petulant.

  “You didn’t like him?” I asked in a gentle voice. I suspected George responded better to calm when he was forced to think.

  “No. We were at Eton together. He was always taking my things and making fun of me.” His lower lip went out and I thought I heard a sniff. Poor Lord George. He must have had painful memories of Eton.

  “What a terrible beast.” That would be like bullying a child.

  “He wasn’t much fun to be around.” He seemed to be warming up to a litany of complaints, which wouldn’t help. I was about to redirect our conversation when he said, “And he liked doing cruel things to animals. And small children, although he complained they were harder to get.”

  Lady Linchester gasped. “Oh, George, I can’t believe that.”

  The two of them began to discuss George’s truthfulness, but I was thinking about what Dorothy had said concerning Theo keeping her from her crying child.

  On the night Theo died.

  Could Dorothy, in a panic, have accidentally killed Theo who was preventing her from reaching her injured child? This was something else I needed to talk to the Duchess of Blackford about.

  It was then I remembered I hadn’t yet spoken to the Wallingford nursery maid. I needed to get her details from Lady Kaldaire as soon as possible and visit the nurse.

  “Miss Gates? Did I offend you?” George called me back from my thoughts.

  “Not at all. I was just thinking how shocking Lord Theo Hughes was. How long have you had your new motor?”

  It was the right thing to say. I didn’t need to speak as I ushered the Whitakers out of my shop and into the motor carriage. Lord George promised he’d give me a ride in his motor whenever I liked. I thanked mother and son and sent them on their way.

  Then I gave a big sigh.

  When I reentered the shop, Jane gave me a big smile. “That’s the lord who was courting you not so long ago?”

  “He wasn’t exactly courting me.” I made a face while I tried to think of a way to describe what Lord George had been doing. “Bumbling” would have been a good adjective.

  Now that I saw another way to investigate Lady Theo’s murder, I wanted to get moving. However, that was not to be. The rest of the day sped by as we served a steady stream of customers. Wives of peers and wealthy commoners needed hats to go with their new spring wardrobes. Once I closed the shop with a sigh of relief and Jane left, I told Noah I’d have to go out for a short time and would be back to dish up dinner.

  He gave me a skeptical look and went back to reading his newspaper. Annie looked up from her doll long enough to give me a smile.

  I put on a wide-brim, summer straw hat done in white with blue ribbon trim, pulled on my gloves, and headed outside. I hadn’t taken two steps when I ran headlong into James Russell.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, falling into step with me.

  “Lady Kaldaire’s.” I began a quick pace, wanting to reach her before she set up a meeting with the Duchess of Blackford.

  “If it’s important enough for you to be running down the street, I’m going along,” James said, matching me stride for stride.

  When I didn’t say anything for the next block, James said, “What’s going on?”

  It couldn’t hurt to have James use the capabilities of Scotland Yard to find the children’s nurse if the address Lady Kaldaire had been given wasn’t useful. “I heard a comment by Lord George Whitaker, you remember him from Rolling Badger—”

  “Oh. Yes. Still courting you, is he?”

  I glared at him. “Inspector Russell.”

  “Sorry. Go on.” He gave me a grin.

  “Lord George said that Lord Theo Hughes liked to tease and mistreat animals and small children. The night he died, his nephew ended up on the floor of the nursery and the nurse was beaten. The nurse was let go immediately and no one has ever asked for her version of events. I’d like to talk to her.”

  James studied the pavement, scowling as he walked. Finally, he said, “What does her ladyship have to do with this?”

  “The day she and I went over to Wallingford House, she got the nurse’s details. We’ve never followed up.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad I bumped into you. Once we have the woman’s name, I’ll see what we can find out about her location.”

  “I want to talk to her first.”

  “She might have information concerning a crime.”

  “Which she hasn’t reported yet. I believe I’ll have more luck than you will. I’m a woman. I have no official standing. I hope to be able to get her to talk.” I smiled at him then. “And I have a weapon you don’t have.”

  He looked at me, puzzled for an instant, before he shut his eyes. He opened them and said, “Lady Kaldaire.”

  Still, he continued with me to her house. Lyle opened the door to our ring and looked at James in surprise. “Her ladyship hoped you’d stop by. She has news for you, miss.”

  “And I have news for her. Is she here?”

  “If you�
�ll wait in the morning room.” He gestured us in, still looking at James in confusion.

  As soon as he saw us in, Lyle disappeared. Whatever he said sent Lady Kaldaire to us much faster than usual. “Emily. Oh. Inspector Russell. What brings you here?”

  “I learned something from Lord George Whitaker after you left,” I told her. “Now I think it’s imperative I speak to the children’s nurse that the duke fired the night Lord Theo died.”

  “But we know how the killer entered the house now, and the duke is having the passageway closed.” Lady Kaldaire gracefully sat and indicated with a wave that we should sit, too.

  “I want to know who killed Lady Theodore Hughes. The more I hear, the more I think she was the victim of a great deal of misunderstanding.”

  “You’re wearing your stubborn expression, Emily.”

  “You don’t need to come with me, or write her, or anything. I’ll take care of it. All I want is the name and address you obtained from the Wallingford butler.” I gave Lady Kaldaire a smile.

  “No. There’s no need to stir that up again.”

  “It wasn’t stirred up the first time. When the child and the nurse were both injured,” I said.

  “I want to speak to her. Officially.” James had put on his formal police inspector tone and expression. “Either you give me the information or I’ll have to bother the duchess for the nurse’s name and address. Since you don’t want your friend disturbed, you may decide this would be a better way for me to learn her contact information.”

  Lady Kaldaire matched him in attitude. “You don’t need to talk to her. She was long gone before Lady Theo died.”

  “I get to decide who I interview. Now, you can make this easy for your friend, or I will make it difficult.” He stared at her until she threw up her hands and marched to the secretary in the corner. She reached into one of the pigeonholes and came back with a piece of paper that she handed to James.

  He glanced at it before he put it in his pocket. “Thank you.”

  “Lyle said you wanted to speak to me, my lady,” I said.

  “The Duchess of Blackford said she will see us at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”