by Sara Rosett
“I’m sorry?”
“Never mind. She has lived in her own world, behaving as she pleased, with her family bailing her out of all her past scrapes. She probably thinks this will be no different.”
Hopkins showed more animation than I’d ever seen as he said firmly, “She’s wrong this time. This is murder.” He stood and escorted me to the door, subsiding back into his bland manner. “Interesting case, though.”
“Yes,” I said. “An accidental locked room mystery.”
“As I said, there’s always a simple solution.”
“This is going to be so cool,” Grace said. She stood beside me, one hand shading her eyes.
Grace and I, along with several of the guests stood on the balcony of the Versailles bedroom. Several of the staff were lingering in the courtyard and at windows. Amanda was busy with the flat webbed rope, which looked more like what I would have called a rope tie down, but Grace had informed me that it was the most popular brand of slackline rope.
“I don’t think she’s going to actually go across,” I said.
“I know,” Grace said, her voice tinged with disappointment. “But at least we’ll get to see how she did it.”
I looked down at her sharply. There was something in her tone that made me think she was filing all the details away for a future reenactment. I nudged Alex, who stood beside me and whispered, “Grace’s boarding school doesn’t have a courtyard like this, does it?”
“No,” Alex said, slowly. “But I think I’ll have a chat with the headmistress when I return with Grace after the break.”
Amanda had set the anchor around the back baluster on the Mahogany bedroom’s balcony. The color of the slackline was so similar to the stone that it was hard to distinguish it from the stone. “Okay, the guideline is in place.” She plucked a line so thin that it was barely visible.
“I can hardly see it,” Alex said.
“I know,” I agreed. “If I squint, I can just make it out. Of course, if I’d noticed it the other day, I would have just assumed it was supposed to be there—that it was something that had been put in place by Parkview’s staff.”
The guideline ran in a loop from Amanda’s balcony to the anchor set-up on the Mahogany balcony then back to Amanda. She attached the end of the guideline to the slackline and then pulled the guideline. The slackline inched across the courtyard. “Once it’s through the carabiner on the other side, then it’s just a matter of getting it back to this side.” Amanda kept pulling until the slackline had made the complete circuit.
Once it was within reach, she untied the guideline then slipped another carabiner onto the slackline. “This is a clove hitch knot to hold this carabiner in place,” she said. “Then it’s a matter of looping the slackline back and forth between this single carabiner and the two that I have at the anchor on this side,” she said with a nod of her head at the two carabiners, which were attached to an anchor line looped around the baluster on her balcony. She deftly worked the slackline back and forth between the metal clips. “Now, I just pull.” She grabbed the trailing slackline, giving it several firm tugs, pulling the saggy line taut. “Then it’s all about balance. I used a harness, of course,” she added. “I attached it to the slackline in case I had any slip-ups.”
Grace had watched the whole thing intently and now was looking at the pile of guideline that Amanda had discarded once the slackline was pulled across the courtyard. “How did you get this across?” Grace asked, fingering the thin line.
“I arrived early on Friday and attached it to my balcony then spent a lot of time in the courtyard.” She shook her head. “Everyone kept asking me if I needed anything, wanting to bring me tea. When I finally got a moment alone, I grabbed the line, which I’d let fall into the courtyard, raced across to stand under the Mahogany bedroom’s balcony, then tossed it up there. It took me three tries to get it on there. I was so glad no one came out. Anyway, after it was up there, I went up to the Mahogany bedroom and set up the anchor, looped the guideline through it, then dropped the guideline down into the courtyard again. None of the other guests had arrived at that point so the doors to the bedrooms were open because the staff was putting the last minute touches on them—flowers and that sort of thing. I was able to sneak in and out without anyone seeing me. Then I only had to wait around for another time when the courtyard was deserted and toss it back up on my balcony and tighten it so that it wasn’t trailing across the ground.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of work,” Grace said.
“Yes, but I was motivated,” Amanda said sadly. She shook her head at Grace. “Never put yourself in a position that you don’t want people to know what you’re doing. You make yourself vulnerable.”
“It’s amazing that it worked,” I said, eyeing the courtyard and the windows overlooking it. “How could someone not have noticed?”
Amanda ran a hand over her forehead. “I don’t know. I was incredibly lucky, but when I set up the other guests hadn’t arrived, and if the staff noticed me at all they probably thought I was doing some sort of strange workout,” she said with a small grin. “Anyway, it all went so well, I couldn’t believe it, actually. There were so many things that had to come together. Besides getting the guideline and the anchors in place, I had two sleeping pills that I’d ground up. I had to make sure that Monique and Toby wouldn’t wake up while I was prowling around their room. I managed to tip the powder into her tea when we were all handing the drinks around after dinner, but I couldn’t get close to Toby’s drink. When he said he’d take a sleeping pill later, I had to hope he would. But then Monique took her ‘sleeping pill.’ I didn’t want to overdose her, so I managed to bump into her and make her spill her tea. Finally, I had to make sure Beth and Torrie were out, too.” She looked at them and grimaced. “I’m sorry. I put sleeping pills in your hot chocolate.”
Beth stood inside the balcony doors in the Versailles bedroom her arms crossed, a sulky expression on her face, probably because all the attention was on Amanda, not her. She only shrugged, but Torrie, who was testing the tension of the slackline, said, “No worries. It was the best night’s sleep I’ve had since I ran that half-marathon.”
One thing still bothered me. “But how did you get the glass doors open? And how did you refasten the lock?”
“When I went into the Mahogany bedroom to set the anchor, I took this with me.” She pulled a hefty piece of metal out of her pocket. “It’s a magnet, a rather heavy-duty one. I ran it over the hook to magnetize it. It’s such a strong magnet that even when I held it on the other side of the closed door, I could move the hook with it.”
“Can I see it?” Grace asked.
“Sure. You can even try it on our doors. I tested it on them. If Beth will just close the door and latch them…”
Beth stepped back and looked rather happy to lock us all outside.
Amanda pointed to the area of the doorframe where the hook was attached on the inside of the door. “Put the magnet here and then lift it up and circle it around.”
Grace followed her instructions. In a second, the edge of the hook appeared in the pane of glass as it followed the magnet as Grace moved it in an arc. “And there you go.” Amanda pushed the door open and stepped inside. “Locking it back is trickier, but I got it done, even with my shaking hands. I didn’t want any detail to give away the fact that I’d been in the Mahogany bedroom.”
“But surely if the letter was gone, he’d suspect you,” I said.
“Yes, but there was the chance that he wouldn’t realize the letter was gone until later. But even if he noticed it right away, what could he do? If he told Lady Stone or Sir Harold something had been stolen from his room, they would ask what it was, and he wouldn’t want to tell them it was a blackmail letter.”
“Can I try the magnet trick again?” Grace asked.
“Certainly.” Amanda stepped outside. “Let’s see if you can get it back in the eye portion, the catch.”
Grace went to work, her forehead wrin
kled in concentration.
“How did you know that the doors would have this sort of hook and eye catch? What if they had proper locks?” Simon asked. He’s spent the last few minutes standing in the back corner of the balcony, his posture of crossed arms similar to Beth’s.
“I knew they had these locks. Parkview has photos of all their guest rooms on their website. Once I had the welcome packet with the guest list and room assignments, all I had to do was go online and download the images of the rooms. They were high-resolution images, thank goodness, so I could enlarge them and look at every detail, down to the catch on the window.”
“You were thorough, but you were lucky, too.” Simon shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to play cards with you.”
“Got it,” Grace said and tried the door. It was locked back in place. “Now I’ll unlock it.” She had it unlatched in seconds and opened the door just as Audrey approached.
Audrey leaned around the door. “Hello, everyone. Looks like I missed the demonstration, but I know Simon will tell me all about it.” It was the first time I’d seen her in modern clothing, and I almost didn’t recognize her in a plain black t-shirt, white capri pants, and loafers. Her gaze traveled around the balcony. “There you are, Simon. Mrs. King is waiting for us in the kitchen. She found a schematic of how the water was originally piped to the house from the river. If you want to take a look before we leave, we should go now.”
“Yes, I want to see that. It could give me some ideas for our set-up.” He crossed the balcony to her.
“If we don’t see you again before we leave, it was lovely to meet you all,” Audrey said then linked her hand through Simon’s arm.
As they crossed the room to the door, I heard her ask him, “How was the demonstration?”
“Interesting…of course, I thought she might be involved.”
She tapped his arm. “No, you did not. You had that other nice young lady, Kate, pegged as the murderer.”
“But Amanda was a close second in my book.”
“No, I was the one who said that there was more to that tea spilling than met the eye. Perhaps I should go with you on every case. You have been making noises about hiring an assistant…”
I exchanged a glance with Alex, and he said, “Probably the best business decision Simon could ever make.”
“In a few years, she’ll probably be the lead detective, and Simon can pursue his real passion—prepping.”
“Prepping for what?” Alex asked.
“It’s a long story. Let me say goodbye to Amanda, and I’ll tell you about it.”
I moved to the back of the balcony where Amanda was disassembling her slackline. “What does Hopkins say about your breaking and entering?”
Amanda blew out a long breath. “He certainly didn’t approve of it, but once he had the whole story, he said that in the big picture of what happened this weekend, it was a small thing. He’s not even going to take the letter into evidence. So I’m free,” she said with a big smile. “It’s been embarrassing and traumatic, but I can go on now.”
Torrie threw her arm around Amanda’s shoulders. “And no more mean, unavailable men, right?”
“No, I’m done with that.” Amanda shot a glance across the balcony to where Michael had been standing the whole time. A faint blush crept up her face when Michael smiled at her. “I think I’ll aim for a much less complicated relationship next time.”
“Ah—Amanda,” I paused and glanced uncertainly between her and Michael. It wasn’t my place to give away his secret, but…
Amanda put her hand on my arm. “Don’t worry. I already know. He told me last night after everything calmed down. He said he didn’t want to have any secrets from me.”
“So you’re okay with him sneaking around?”
“Well, he decided he’s done with corporate spying. He’s actually the catering manager at Cresthill Towers. Alistair Cartwright only picked him to come here this weekend because Michael is interested in butterflies. And Sir Harold isn’t upset. In fact, he and Michael have decided to collaborate on a book about famous vintage butterfly collections.”
“That’s great. I’m glad it all worked out.” I looked toward the Versailles bedroom where Beth was sitting by herself flipping through a bridal magazine. “What about Beth? She seems a little upset.”
“She’ll get over it,” Amanda said easily. “Once we’re back to talking about wedding dresses, she’ll be fine.”
Grace came over and held out the magnet to Amanda. “Thanks for letting me try it.”
“Why don’t you keep it?” Amanda said. “I don’t have any use for it now, thank goodness.”
Ten minutes later, I zipped my suitcase closed. Alex and Grace were waiting for me outside on Parkview’s front steps. Ella had offered to help me pack, but I’d told her I could do it myself, and it had only taken me a few minutes. I put my hands on my hips and took one last look around the room. It was still a beautiful room. I was glad I’d been able to stay in Parkview, but I was actually looking forward to returning to my cozy little cottage.
Ella was shifting through the gorgeous dresses, stacking them on the bed in piles so that they could be cleaned before the next house party. “Thank you for everything you’ve done Ella—I mean Tewkesbury.” Although all the guests were back in casual modern clothes, the staff was still maintaining the stiff formality of historical dress and accompanying reserve.
She bobbed a curtsy. “It was my pleasure, Kate—er, I mean Miss Sharp.” She rotated her shoulders. “I’m sorry, but I’ve had it. I can’t remember who to call what. I’m tired of scurrying around answering bells and curtsying.” She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked toward the open door, afraid someone might have overheard. Then she removed her hand and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I leaned toward her. “You know, I don’t blame you. You don’t have to curtsy to me anymore. Consider yourself off-duty around me. A servant’s life must have been awfully tiring, but wasn’t it just for you to practice staying in character?”
“Yes, but I didn’t like it much. It hasn’t been at all like I imagined. When I worked during the last house party I was in training and spent a lot of time following another maid around, watching her. I thought this time it would be like being in a play, but it was…well, so much work, actually. I barely had time to think about how Tewkesbury—that’s how I thought of my character, you know—how Tewkesbury the maid would feel, what her motivation would be, how she would react. Perhaps acting isn’t my thing at all.”
“It would be different if it were a play instead of working a job during a long weekend. Will you still try for the drama school?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure now. I’m not sure what I want to do. I love Louise, but I don’t want to work at the White Duck forever. If I have another go at this acting thing and still hate it, I’ll have to find something else.”
“Well, perhaps you could try for a local production, and if that doesn’t work out, I know that Beatrice is looking for a new publicity director. You could always apply for that.”
“Shall I take your bag down for you, Miss Sharp?” asked a masculine voice from beside me, and I jumped.
“Thomas, I didn’t hear you.”
“That’s my job, miss. Your bag?”
“Yes, please take it down,” I said, thinking that I’d enjoy one last luxury and let someone else carry my bag. “Good luck, Ella. Keep me updated.” I pressed a tip into her hand. I’d asked Beatrice and found out that it was appropriate to tip the staff when one left a house party.
“Okay,” she said and waved instead of curtsying.
I followed Thomas downstairs and gave a solemn nod to Waverly as he held the door open for me. “Goodbye, Waverly. Thank you for everything.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Sharp,” he said in his normal expressionless tone, but as I went out the door, I gave him one last smile as I handed him a tip. I was almost sure I saw a win
k.
Beatrice was talking with Alex and Grace at the base of one set of the curving staircases. Thomas, his back straight, his white wig glowing in the sunshine, marched to them.
“You can leave it here, Thomas,” I said and thanked him, slipping him a tip before he bowed and made his sedate return trip up the stairs.
I turned to Beatrice, “It has been quite a weekend.”
“Yes, I’m afraid this house party will become as infamous as some of the other house parties that have been given here, although nothing could match the seventh baronet’s celebration of the completion of the east wing.” Beatrice glanced toward Grace, who was dragging her toe through the gravel drive. “But that is a subject for another day.” Beatrice turned and ran her gaze over the front of the house. “It didn’t work out quite like we expected, did it?”
“No. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you more with the poison pen posts.”
“You did figure out who was behind them,” Beatrice said.
“But not in a discreet way.”
“No, but that couldn’t be helped. At least it’s all cleared up, and Hopkins has told me he will do his best to keep things as quiet as possible. Although, we’ve already had a few calls asking when the ‘murder room’ will be available.”
“Well, I think it was an absolutely smashing weekend,” Grace said. “That’s what my friend Stacy would say, absolutely smashing. It was better than an old game of Cluedo,” Grace said with a sidelong glance at Alex.
He tweaked a strand of her hair. “Probably a good idea to keep your sleuthing to mystery novels in the future.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Beatrice said to Grace, “and I hope you’ll come back to visit next time you’re in Nether Woodsmoor. I’ll show you the cellars. Nice and damp and creepy.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
We said goodbye to Beatrice, and I reached for my suitcase handle, but Alex picked it up first. “Allow me. After being cosseted and pampered, I’ll ease you back into real life.”
“Since the weekend included being accused of murder, I’m ready to get back to real life.”