by Laura Durham
“You’d pay?” Mr. Hamilton stood up. “With my money, you mean.”
His wife stood up as well. “Yes, with your dirty money.”
My mind raced with the new information. I remembered Aunt Connie’s thinly veiled contempt for her sister’s husband, as well as Sherry telling me about the mother’s payouts to her. The house for the grandmother must have been another payoff if Connie told her mother. I wondered how much money had been spent to keep Mr. Hamilton’s sordid secret and if this information was why Sherry had been silenced. Connie must have known she was chatty and also must have known she would have seen the family financials and either figured it out or been told by Mrs. Hamilton. And since Connie was a nurse, she could knock Sherry out and keep her sedated while pretending to take care of her.
“Mrs. Hamilton,” I said, hearing the flutter of panic in my voice. “Where is your sister?”
The woman looked startled to see I was still in the room. “Connie. I don’t know. Why?” She studied my face for a moment. “You don’t think she . . .” Her hand flew to her mouth. “She wouldn’t. She loves Veronica.”
Even as she said it, I could tell she didn’t believe her own words. The realization that her sister had enough pent-up anger and resentment to hurt the daughter who had been acknowledged and loved while hers hadn’t seemed to hit Mrs. Hamilton all at once. Her knees gave way, and she collapsed to the floor.
Her husband rushed around the desk and knelt down beside her. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Connie. I’ll fix this. I’m sure she won’t hurt Veronica. She just wants to punish us.”
I turned to slip out of the room but was met with two men in dark suits. These guys weren’t cops, I thought, as I sized them up.
They looked past me into the room. “We’re looking for Stephen Hamilton.”
Mr. Hamilton raised his eyes from his sobbing wife. “Who are you?”
One of the men stepped forward. “Sir, we’re with the Department of Homeland Security.”
As they moved past me into the room, I scooted out into the hallway. I needed to find Reese and Daniel right away and tell them everything. I headed back through the foyer, stopping short when I saw the grandmother holding open the front door for a stream of official looking men. She locked eyes with me—her expression steely—until she broke into a smile that made her look even more sinister. Not only did this woman seem unconcerned about her missing granddaughter, she appeared to be reveling in her son-in-law’s and daughter’s life unraveling. I felt a rush of gratitude that this wasn’t my family as I continued walking quickly toward the garage where I knew Reese should be.
Leatrice caught up to me when I was only a few steps into the opposite hallway. She no longer wore her hat, but the bells on her costume still jingled enough to announce her presence behind me.
“There you are, dear,” she said. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
“I’m on my way to find Reese,” I said, not slowing down. “I think I know who took Kate and the bride.”
“That’s wonderful.” Leatrice jogged beside me to keep up. “Are you still looking for the entertainment fellow?”
I slowed my pace. Even if I had a lead on Kate, Sidney Allen was still missing and, despite how much he annoyed me, I was worried no one had heard from him. “I haven’t found him if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I know that, dear,” Leatrice said with a giggle. “Because I did. Find him, that is. At least I assume it’s him. Would you say he’s small enough to fit inside a dumbwaiter?”
Chapter 28
I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. “This house has a dumbwaiter?”
Leatrice bobbed her head up and down. “In that little hallway off the formal dining room. It seems to connect to the basement, but I personally haven’t ridden it.”
I wasn’t completely surprised I hadn’t noticed the dumbwaiter in the butler’s walk-through pantry. I’d only passed through the space once or twice, and the mansion did have over thirty rooms.
“And you’re saying a person is inside this dumbwaiter?” I asked.
“Yes, and the only way I noticed was the edge of his blazer wedged in the dumbwaiter door. Otherwise I never would have noticed there was a dumbwaiter in the first place. It’s built seamlessly into the cabinets.”
I sighed. Finding Reese and sharing my new theory with him would have to wait. As much as Sidney Allen annoyed me, I owed it to him not to leave him wedged inside a dumbwaiter. I did an about-face and headed toward the formal dining room with Leatrice by my side.
The lights were off in the long room, but the tall windows at one end let in enough remaining sunlight to illuminate the rectangular dining table surrounded by beige tufted chairs. Off to one side of the room was the butler’s pantry leading into the casual dining room and kitchen. I pulled open the sliding door and flipped on the overhead pendant lights. The door at the other end of the walk-through space was closed, which was just as well. If Buster and Mack were still guarding Tina in the kitchen, I did not want to alert them to the possibility of a new homicide until I was certain.
Leatrice extended a finger. “Down there.”
I glanced down the row of white cabinetry that ran from floor to ceiling and was broken up by an alabaster marble counter matching the one in the kitchen. The room held the distinct odor of lemon furniture polish and Windex, reminding me the Hamiltons’ housekeepers had given the entire house a thorough cleaning the day before. At the end of the counter, I noticed a door hanging open and a flap of blue fabric hanging out. I steeled myself for the sight of Sidney Allen’s dead body as I approached.
It was indeed Sidney Allen with his knees tucked up to his chest and his head resting on his hands. The space inside the dumbwaiter was larger than I’d expected, and even though the man was small in stature, I felt like I could have squeezed into the space if I’d tried hard enough.
“Sidney?” I reached out tentatively and felt his neck for a pulse, snatching my hand back when I realized he was actually alive. “Leatrice, he isn’t dead. Let’s get him out of here.”
“I never said he was dead, dear,” Leatrice said, as I wiggled Sidney’s feet out. “Just that I’d found him.”
I knew it wouldn’t do any good to scold Leatrice for making me think the man had been killed. It was my fault for jumping to conclusions, although with my track record of finding dead bodies, who could blame me?
Leatrice helped me lower Sidney gently to the ground where I stretched him out and began gently patting his cheeks to rouse him. Sidney made a few noises as he came to, his eyes fluttering open and locking onto me.
“Is she gone?” he asked.
“Is who gone?” I exchanged a look with Leatrice, wondering if Sidney Allen had been hit on the head before being stuffed into the dumbwaiter.
“I was trying to get away from her, and I ran in here.” He pushed himself up onto his elbows. “I noticed the door hadn’t been closed all the way and figured I could hide inside until I was sure she’d gone.”
“You weren’t forced inside?” I asked. “You got in there voluntarily?”
He bobbed his head. “The only problem is there’s no way to open the door from the inside, and I started to get light-headed.” He touched his fingers to his forehead. “I must have passed out.”
“You’re lucky Leatrice happened by when she did and saw your blazer sticking out of the door, or you might have suffocated,” I told him.
Sidney Allen focused his eyes on Leatrice and beamed. “You saved me.”
“It was nothing.” Leatrice blushed. “If you think about it, it’s a design flaw not to have air holes inside.”
“I doubt they expected someone to try to ride it,” I muttered.
Sidney Allen looked more carefully at Leatrice. “You’re wearing one of my costumes.”
Leatrice’s cheeks reddened even more under her coral blush. “I’m afraid I had to borrow it to blend in. I’m actually Annabelle’s neighbor, but I’m here
in a strictly undercover capacity.”
Sidney Allen gave a wave of his hand. “You look wonderful. I insist you keep it.”
Leatrice brushed her hand over the shiny rainbow-colored fabric. “I couldn’t. This is much too fancy. It must have cost you a pretty penny.”
Sidney Allen took her hand in his. “A trifle, my dear. It would make me happy to think of you wearing it.”
Good lord, was he flirting with her? And was I mistaken, or was Leatrice simpering like a schoolgirl?
“Annabelle,” Leatrice nudged me in the ribs as she giggled, “you didn’t tell me how charming your friend is.”
“Trust me, this is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you,” I said, turning my attention back to Sidney Allen. “You said you were trying to get away from someone.”
Sidney tore his eyes away from Leatrice. “As you well know, I was searching for my missing costumes.” His eyes darted back to Leatrice. “Not yours. A pair of ornate doge costumes I had specially made.”
“Dog costumes?” Leatrice said. “We were looking for those earlier for Hermes.”
“Not dog,” I said. “Doge. Rhymes with rose. They were early rulers of Venice and wore elaborate outfits.”
Sidney looked momentarily confused, then continued. “These were white embroidered satin with feather detailing, and were one of a kind. I remembered seeing some of my performers riding in a golf cart earlier, but I’d been distracted and forgotten about it. I thought the people I saw were in white, though I couldn’t be certain since I saw them so briefly. I did suspect there could be a connection. Plus, I’d searched everywhere else.”
“Do these people have their own golf course?” Leatrice asked.
“No,” I said, a little bell beginning to sound in the back of my mind. “But they have a lot of land and horses, so they have a couple of golf carts they drive around when they need to visit the barn.”
I’d never personally ridden the golf carts, but I’d been at the house when Mrs. Hamilton and her daughters had been returning from time with their horses.
“I tracked down the golf carts, and sure enough, my hand-embroidered costumes were stuffed in the back storage compartment in one of them.”
His face darkened. “Can you believe it? Someone has the nerve to wear my costumes on a joy ride and then ruins them by jamming them into a dirty storage space.”
Leatrice shook her head. “How awful for you. Are the costumes salvageable?”
“I’m not sure,” Sidney said. “As I was pulling them out, I happened to glance up into the cart’s rearview mirror and see someone about to hit me with a pipe. I ducked out of the way and took off running before she could try again. I ran around the house to the front door and dashed inside and found the dumbwaiter.”
“Where you almost killed yourself,” I finished for him. “Did you recognize the woman who tried to knock you over the head?”
Sidney bit his lower lip. “I only saw her for a second and only reflected in the mirror, so I didn’t get a good look. All I know is she has brown hair.”
That narrowed it down to most of the women in the Hamilton family and half the bridesmaids. The only people it cleared were the surly grandmother, Sherry, and Tina Pink.
Leatrice put a hand under Sidney Allen’s arm. “Would you like me to help you rescue your costumes?”
Sidney Allen’s face lit up. “You’d do that for me?”
I hoped this was not what Reese and I sounded like. If it was, I owed everyone around me an apology.
“It’s the least I can do after you gave me this outfit.” Leatrice batted her eyelashes and one side stuck together.
“Costume,” I corrected. I did not want her thinking this was a jumpsuit she could wear out in public.
“We’ll have to go back to the golf cart to get them,” Sidney Allen said, his voice hushed as if he was suggesting crossing the Gobi desert.
I tuned the pair out, hoping I was imagining the burgeoning romance taking place in front of me. I didn’t know if I could handle Sidney Allen dating Leatrice and showing up at my apartment building. It was hard enough handling Leatrice on her own.
I stood up, leaving the two on the floor exchanging compliments. I needed to find Reese and tell him what I’d learned from the Hamiltons. From what information I’d gathered, it seemed like Aunt Connie could have been the one who orchestrated the kidnapping, attacked Sherry, and tried to attack Sidney Allen.
I put my hand in my pocket and ran my fingers over the gummy bear and bit of white fluff, pulling out both and looking down at them. I sucked in my breath so suddenly both Leatrice and Sidney stopped flattering each other and looked up at me.
“I think I know where Kate and the bride are being held.”
Chapter 29
I left Leatrice and Sidney still openmouthed on the floor of the butler’s pantry. I had to find Reese and tell him what I knew or at least thought I knew. I hadn’t heard back from my text which meant either he had his phone muted, or he was busy coping with Richard’s drama. I slid open the door connecting the butler’s pantry to the casual dining room. Buster and Mack looked up at me from across the room where they stood guarding Tina Pink, their expressions telling me they’d never noticed the door I’d emerged from.
Alexandra stood by her cake, adjusting the sugar flowers around the base, and straightened when she saw me. “Where did you come from?”
I scanned the room and determined Reese and Daniel were not in it. I indicated the room behind me with a jerk of my head. “We found Sidney Allen.”
“Was he missing?” Mack asked. “I thought we were doing an excellent job of avoiding him.”
“He was hiding,” I said. “It’s a long story and I have to find Reese first, but if I’m right, Tina definitely didn’t have anything to do with the kidnapping.”
“Like I’ve been telling you,” Tina grumbled through her bloody dish towel, giving Buster and Mack a sinister look. “Didn’t you say the police were on their way?”
“They should be here soon,” I said. “Don’t tell me you’re eager to be hauled off to jail.”
Tina lifted the towel off her nose. “Anything is better than having these two pray over me.”
“You should be so lucky,” I told her. “If it were up to me, they’d be doing an exorcism on you.”
Mack’s eyes brightened. “We could always try one. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Buster pulled out his phone. “Let me Google how to make holy water.”
Tina made a small squeaking noise and slid further down in her chair.
Alexandra crossed the room to me and held out her open palm. “You look like you need these.”
The scent of the sugar petals reached me before I even looked down to see the collection of loose gum paste rose petals in her hand. I took one thin, pale-pink petal and popped it in my mouth, letting the sweetness dissolve on my tongue. I’d spent many a wedding day munching on Alexandra’s extra petals for the much-needed sugar rush. “Thanks. I needed that.”
Alexandra looked past me into the butler’s pantry. “Is it me or is your neighbor cozying up to Sidney Allen?”
I put up a hand. “I can only deal with one catastrophe at a time. Let me focus on getting Kate back first.”
I opened one of the French doors leading outside. It would be quicker to run around the back of the house to reach the garage, and there would be less chance of running into family members or Homeland Security. I wondered if the men in dark suits had taken Mr. Hamilton in or if they were questioning him here. Between the police Reese had called and the Homeland Security team, we were about to be overrun with law enforcement.
My stomach tightened. We needed to locate Kate before the police arrived and added to the confusion.
I hurried along the side of the pool, crossed through the middle of the dinner tent—taking care to scoot around the dance floor instead of across it with my shoes—and broke into a jog as I turned the corner of the house closest to the g
arage. I stopped abruptly as I nearly crashed headfirst into Fern. He screamed and two bottles of champagne bobbled in his arms.
“You nearly scared the life out of me,” he said.
I eyed the bottles with their yellow labels. “Didn’t we talk about cutting back when you’re working?”
“These aren’t for me.” Fern gave me a look that told me he was insulted by the suggestion or was trying to be. “Mrs. Hamilton has locked herself in her room and is insisting I bring her bubbly.”
I guessed the appearance of Homeland Security hadn’t gone over well with her. “I don’t blame her for wanting to drink after everything I’ve learned.”
“Sounds intriguing.” Fern shifted the bottles, and I could tell his urgency to get to the mother of the bride had been forgotten. “Tell me everything, sweetie.”
“I don’t have time to go into it now, but I can fill you in on my theory on the way to rescue Kate.”
“We’re going to rescue her now?” The champagne bottles nearly slipped out of his grasp. “You know where she is?”
“I think so,” I said. “At least I have a pretty good theory I’d like to test out.”
He set the bottles on the ground. “Lead the way.” He started following me, then ran back and picked up one bottle, shrugging at me when I gave him a look. “You know we’ll want to celebrate when we find her.”
We dashed around to the open three-car garage that had been converted into Richard’s catering kitchen for the day. Bare rectangular tables were lined up in rows and interspersed with tall metal warming boxes and shiny chrome ovens. Usually the kitchen would be bustling with activity from the pantry cooks to the waiters, but the waiters stood clustered in a corner, and the cooks in their white jackets were outside the kitchen. I didn’t see any food out on the tables, but the air still held the aroma of freshly baked bread, sweet butter, and grilled meat.
I spotted Richard in the middle of the room with his head chef, recognizable by his chef’s hat and black chef’s jacket. The two men were hunched over a table, and I heard the unmistakable sound of curse words strung together in an impressive and creative combination. Knowing Richard and his equally temperamental chef, it could be coming from either of them or both. I didn’t see Reese, and I wondered if he’d been here already and decided Richard was too much to handle.