English Trifle

by Josi S. Kilpack

  “Lean over again,” she said when she returned to the dish room and found Breanna sitting up. Sadie moved Breanna’s hair out of the way and laid the cloth over her neck. “Deep breaths,” she said, while smoothing out Breanna’s hair. Within a few seconds, Breanna’s shoulders softened and her response helped relax Sadie as well. She took a deep breath while a thousand questions swirled through her mind. Who was the woman she’d just let go? What was her relationship to John Henry? Why didn’t Mrs. Land want the assistant cook to follow her? Why did Mrs. Land insist on leaving in the first place? What if she was the murderer and Sadie had let her go?

  “I texted Liam,” Breanna said. Her voice sounded better. “He hasn’t texted back.”

  “I thought all he had to do was say good-bye to his dad before we left,” Sadie said. “He’s been up there all day, hasn’t he?” She hadn’t minded waiting for him while they were enjoying their tea, but now his absence was unnerving. Why hadn’t Mrs. Land returned yet?

  Breanna nodded and looked up at her mom, worried. “He wanted as much time with his dad as possible—he’s been on the phone most of the day. Do you think he’s okay?”

  “I’m sure he’s fine,” Sadie said—but mostly because she was a mother and that’s the kind of thing mothers told their daughters when their daughters turned to them for help.

  “I’d feel a lot better if he were here. Should we go find him?”

  “I’m hoping Mrs. Land found him for us,” Sadie said, looking at the double doors separating them from the main part of the house with a curious kind of longing. What was going on up there? She hated being left out of the rising action she had no doubt was taking place up there in the sitting room.

  Breanna sat up and leaned her head back, placing the rag on her forehead as she closed her eyes again. “Maybe that’s why he hasn’t responded; maybe he’s calling the police.”

  “Maybe so,” Sadie said, looking at her watch. They were supposed to leave by 4:30. It was 4:26. “How are you feeling?” Sadie asked, placing the back of her fingers against Breanna’s cheek. It didn’t feel too hot or too cold; she hoped the shock had passed.

  “Better,” Breanna said, opening her eyes and looking around the dish room. “I’ve never seen a dead body before,” she said, removing the rag as she straightened up. “At least not a human one.”

  Sadie, however, had seen several in her lifetime. Perhaps that made it a bit less traumatic for her, or maybe she was just being strong for her daughter. Either way, she wasn’t nearly as unnerved as she imagined most people would be. Her curiosity, however, was fit to be tied, but she was determined to keep it together. “I think we should return to the foyer. I’m sure Scotland Yard will be here soon.”

  “Was it John Henry?” Breanna asked carefully as she looked up at her mother once again.

  Sadie nodded. “I think so.”

  Breanna stood slowly, testing her balance before taking a step. Sadie stayed by her elbow in case she was needed, but Breanna seemed to have recovered and she walked back through the double doors on her own. “I didn’t imagine one of the things I’d do in England was make an official statement to the police about the dead body of the earl’s nurse,” Breanna muttered as they headed up the concrete steps. She held tightly to the handrail, moving slowly and carefully.

  “Do you think we’ll make the news?” Sadie asked. She didn’t mean to sound excited about the prospect of being on television, but if the story made the international circuit her friends might see her. Did the Associated Press pick up international stories? What would people back home think about Sadie being involved in another murder investigation?

  When they exited the second doorway and stepped onto the main floor, Sadie expected to encounter pandemonium. Mrs. Land crying or shouting, Grant trying to comfort her while Liam directed the police on where to go and who was who. She imagined more servants would be milling about, wringing their aprons and holding back tears. Instead, they rounded the Christmas tree and found the foyer empty—as silent and unoccupied as it had been when she and Breanna left it eight or nine minutes earlier.

  They both stopped in the empty hall and looked around. For a brief moment Sadie wondered if they’d come out the wrong way, into a different foyer that looked exactly like the last one. The one thing she hadn’t expected to find was this—empty silence. She looked toward the sitting room door; it was closed. A shiver raced up her spine.

  “Hello?” Sadie called out, not wanting to move. “Mrs. Land?”

  No one answered and the mixture of fear, anxiety, and downright annoyance began bubbling. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Sadie marched into the center of the room so she could see up onto the balcony and down the hallways that led toward the library on the right and the formal dining area on the left. Not a single person was in sight. She took a deep breath and yelled at the top of her lungs: “Isn’t there anyone here but us?”

  Her words echoed back to her but that was the only answer she received. After a few more seconds, she looked back at the sitting room door. Maybe Mrs. Land and Liam were in there? Could the stone walls keep them from being able to hear her? Her eyes drifted to the front doors that would lead them to the car that was supposed to take them to London.

  Breanna had pulled her phone from her pocket again and dialed a number. After a few seconds, she pulled the phone away from her ear and scowled. “Voice mail,” she said, looking at her mother and pushing the phone back into her pocket. “Where is everyone?” She looked at the door to the sitting room. “Maybe they’re in there.”

  Sadie nodded, turning away from the idea that making their flight was even a possibility. Together they went to the door and Sadie pulled it open slowly, listening for the discussion between Liam and Mrs. Land that she expected to hear. When she didn’t hear any voices, Sadie poked her head around the door frame. The room was empty.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Breanna said, glancing behind them as they entered the room. They both stood just inside the doorway for a few seconds, trying to accept what they had found—or not found. In the two days they’d been at Southgate, the staff was constantly around. The feeling that they were never alone was now contrasted with the fact that they seemed to be the only people here. The butler, footmen, and maids that seemed to be hovering everywhere had now disappeared completely.

  In tandem their eyes traveled toward the back of the room, but the glass-fronted china cabinet that had hidden John Henry from them during their tea still obscured their view. Sadie reached for Breanna’s hand and carefully headed for the back of the room if for no other reason than to verify what they had seen. When the curtain finally came into view, they stopped in their tracks.

  “No shoes,” she muttered as Breanna sucked in a breath. Sadie dropped Breanna’s hand and, in eight quick steps, she reached the curtain that now hung in pleats against the wall like all the other curtain panels in the room. Sadie took a breath and pulled back the fabric—just as she had the first time—but this time all that greeted them was the textured wallpaper. No body, no blood.

  A missing chunk of plaster was the only indication that John Henry had been there at all.

  Chapter 4

  ~

  Silence.

  Sadie couldn’t believe it and blinked several times to make sure the scene in front of her didn’t change. It was as shocking to not see the body this time as it had been to see the body the first time she’d pulled back the curtains.

  “Mom?” Breanna said with a question in her voice, reminding Sadie she wasn’t alone. She turned to look at her daughter, whose eyes were wide as she too stared at the hole in the plaster. “Where did he go?”

  A battle waged itself in Sadie’s mind as she looked from her daughter to the missing plaster. Her first thought had been to start searching for the body, Mrs. Land, Liam, and Grant, but seeing Breanna’s pale face made her next thoughts much more practical. There was little chance that John Henry had accidentally skewered himself with a fireplace poker b
ehind a curtain panel in the sitting room or that he had simply walked away on his own. Therefore, Sadie could conclude that there had definitely been a murder, which meant there was definitely a murderer—and now a body snatcher as well.

  “Let’s go,” she said, taking Breanna’s hand and heading out of the sitting room, frantically trying to beat her curiosity into submission by flogging it with the reality of the situation and her abilities to accomplish anything by staying. This is dangerous—it’s not safe—I’m not a real detective—we’ll miss our flight—Breanna doesn’t need this—anyone willing to move a body is seriously disturbed and not someone with whom we should stay in the same house.

  “Go?” Breanna repeated from behind her as she took hurried steps.

  “Grant said the car was ready,” Sadie said. “They already packed our bags and we’ve got a flight to catch.” She was the mother here, the older and wiser individual, and she needed to make a sensible decision for the two of them.

  They were nearly to the front doors when Breanna stopped and pulled her hand from Sadie’s grip. “Mom,” she said, already shaking her head. “We can’t leave.”

  “But we certainly can’t stay,” Sadie said, turning to look at her. “It’s not safe.”

  “We can’t leave without Liam,” Breanna said.

  “Liam can catch another flight.”

  “Someone has to call the police.”

  “Couldn’t we just leave a note?” Sadie offered. “Or call the police on our way to London?”

  Breanna gave her a look that said a note wasn’t going to cut it. “Mom,” she reprimanded, “you know we can’t do that.”

  Sadie raised one hand to her forehead and put the other one on her hip as she let out a breath. “Well, I don’t know!” she said in frustration. “We most certainly did not put this on our list of things to do while in England and I’m afraid I have no idea what we do now.”

  “Okay,” Breanna said, taking the role of reasonable adult for the moment since Sadie had so efficiently relinquished her right to play the part by throwing a tantrum and admitting she didn’t know what to do. “What would we do if we were at home?”

  “And found a dead man in the sitting room who then disappeared along with the rest of the staff and your boyfriend?” Those kinds of things didn’t happen at home. Well, actually her neighbor had been found dead in her backyard a few months ago, but it still felt very different from this, and by the time Sadie showed up on that scene the police were already investigating. Her eyes met Breanna’s. “I guess I would call the police,” Sadie said.

  Breanna patted her mother’s arm. “Good answer. I’d do the same thing, so, since we agree, that’s where we should start. We did see a body and someone has to report it.” She fished her phone out of her pocket and stared at the numbers. “Does 911 work in England?”

  “No, it’s 999 in the UK,” Sadie said, looking toward the door of the sitting room, wondering if she dared leave the room. When she looked back, Breanna was staring at her.

  “How do you know that?” Breanna asked, her thumbs poised above the numbers of her phone.

  “Everyone knows that 999 was the first emergency phone number system and that it was started in London back in 1937,” she paused, squinting one eye as she tried to recall the information. “Or was it 1938? I can’t remember.”

  Breanna continued to stare at her.

  “What?” Sadie asked, then looked at the phone. “Aren’t you going to call?”

  “Oh, right,” Breanna said, shaking herself slightly. She punched in the numbers and put the phone to her ear. “I can’t believe you know all that.”

  “Don’t you ever watch the Discovery Channel other than for Shark Week?” Sadie asked.

  Breanna opened her mouth to answer, then put up a finger and looked away from her mother. “Yes,” she said. “My name is Breanna Hoffmiller. I’m visiting at Southgate estate and we found a dead body. . . . His name is John Henry. . . . It was in the sitting room, but it’s gone now. . . . Well, I agree it’s strange.” She looked up at her mother and rolled her eyes. “No, we don’t know who moved it

  . . . . I’m with my mother. . . . Southgate estate—I don’t know the address—it belongs to the Earl of Garnett. . . . Um, about twenty miles out of Exeter. Can you just send someone . . . What?” She paused for several seconds. “I swear to you this is not a prank call. My mother and I found the body almost ten minutes ago. . . . We didn’t call before because we thought the cook was going to take care of it but now we can’t find her either. Look, can you just send someone?” She started tapping her foot and Sadie slowly crossed to the back of the room, looking at the now empty portion of wall that had once held John Henry. Her eyes were drawn to the thick rug set in the middle of the hardwood floor. Breanna continued to argue with the dispatcher while Sadie took a step back, toward the edge of the room. There were drag marks on the carpet, which meant—

  “Unbelievable,” Breanna huffed. Sadie looked over her shoulder to see that Breanna had hung up the phone. “They think I’m some college kid from America on holiday making a prank call.”

  “Well, other than the prank call, they’re right—you are a college kid from America on holiday.” She didn’t wait for Breanna to answer before putting her hand up in a stopping motion. “Don’t come any closer.” Sadie pointed at the carpet. “Drag marks,” she said. “We already messed them up a little bit.”

  Breanna had followed her finger and was now inspecting the carpet. “Are you sure they’re drag marks?” she asked, squinting toward them and leaning forward.

  “Carpet never lies.” Sadie motioned Breanna to come toward her using the very edges of the room. Once Breanna reached her, they both squatted down to get a better angle.

  “I think you’re right,” Breanna breathed as she looked at the two parallel curving lines heading for the door—heel marks. She immediately lifted her phone.

  Sadie was about to ask her what she was doing when she realized Breanna was taking a picture. She leaned toward her daughter, her quads burning from the squatting position she was in, and waited until the picture showed up on the screen of Breanna’s phone. “It’s hard to see them in the picture,” Sadie said, looking between the carpet and the phone.

  “I’ll take a few more,” Breanna said, turning the phone and holding it closer to the carpet. “They’re sending an inspector out,” she continued in an annoyed tone while snapping another photo. She looked at it, then held it toward Sadie. “This one’s better, don’t you think?”

  Sadie nodded—the drag lines were a lot more distinct. “Did they say how long until the inspector arrives?”

  Breanna shook her head and finally stood. She made it look so easy. Sadie nearly groaned out loud as she righted herself. Phew. She wasn’t used to being so close to the ground and had become so busy with Christmas stuff that she’d missed a few of her weekly yoga classes. She made a note not to miss any more in the future—she could definitely feel the difference.

  “We need to find Liam,” Breanna said as they made their way toward the door. But she came to a stop when they reached the sitting area set up across from the fireplace. Sadie followed her eyes, and they both stared at the wrought-iron fireplace stand. Even from this distance Sadie could see that the handles of the hearth tools didn’t match the handle of the poker they’d seen protruding from John Henry’s heart—these were a filigree design, black. She took a couple steps forward to confirm that the poker for the set was still there. “Whoever killed John Henry came into this room armed.”

  Breanna nodded. “We need to find Liam—now.”

  They held each other’s eyes and Sadie understood Breanna’s urgency—they hadn’t seen anyone but Mrs. Land and the runaway cook since their initial discovery of the body. What if there was something even bigger going on? What if the reason they hadn’t heard from Liam was because he was unable to communicate?

  Thoughts of terrorists, chain saw murderers, and bank robbers filled Sadie’s mind
and her heart rate increased accordingly. “You’re right,” she said, heading for the door. When they reached the doorway, they shared a nervous glance. Sadie felt safer here—well, now that the body was gone. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the doorknob and began turning it, just as someone did the same thing on the other side of the door.

  With a sharp intake of breath, she let go, startling Breanna as the door whooshed open, nearly knocking Sadie over in the process.

  Chapter 5

  ~

  Liam!” Breanna said in surprise as Sadie stumbled backward. Liam stood rooted in place, as if not expecting to see them there.

  “Bre,” he said, looking at Breanna. “Sadie,” he continued, taking her in as well. His already longish, sandy blond hair was a little more wild than usual as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “Are you okay?”

  Sadie and Breanna shared a look as if waiting for the other person to start, then they both took a breath and began talking at once.

  “John Henry—”

  “A fireplace poker—”

  “Told Mrs. Land—”

  “The body is gone—”

  “I texted you four times!”

  “What?” Liam said, interrupting them and looking sufficiently confused.

  Breanna hurried to tell him a very abbreviated version of how the events had played out. Liam listened, his expression becoming more and more troubled the further into the story she went. When she finished, Liam blinked at them.