“By the pharaohs, whatever makes you think that I took them…?” Sandy began to laugh.
Ignoring his reply, I asked, “How did you get a key to Hazel’s room?”
Sandy put his manicured finger to his lips and squinted for a moment. “You are, after all, the sleuth, Mrs. X. What would you guess?”
Sandy was very handsome and quite charming, I replied, “Hazel is not the only person who can make a gift of French chocolates to the maid staff.”
Both Lucy and Sandy began to laugh, and I smiled at my own wit.
An announcement was made over the loudspeaker. Sandy leapt up from the chair beside me and said, “Righto! Well, that is your flight, ladies.”
“Thank you, Sandy; thank you for all of your help,” I told the man.
Almost bashfully, he replied, “I should have told you the truth straightaway. But Onslow just wanted to let you stir the sand until I had the opportunity to figure out what became of those paintings. Had I an inkling that the real things were back in Hazel’s possession, well … all the same, it made for a good game. ”
“You played it ever so well,” I assured him.
“What an adventure!” said Lucy, taking Sandy’s hand. “Thank you.”
A familiar shiny, smiling face appeared before us. “Mrs. Stayton, Ms. Wallace, so good to see you again.”
“Peter!” exclaimed Lucy.
After one more goodbye to Sandy, we were led by the friendly cabin boy through the terminal. Lucy placed her hand on my forearm and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded my chin. “Oh, yes; I must face my fears.”
I would have gladly flown around the world had Xavier been at my side. Instead, he was in my heart … thus, I could do it.
In a blur, we exited the terminal, crossed the tarmac, and quickly boarded the craft. I inhaled the wicker and the polished wood, and again, I thought of Great Aunt Dottie’s porch.
Lucy sat me down, and Peter quickly put a rug over my knees as several men took the other seats. Just before the engines came roaring to life, I placed a clove on my tongue and rubbed the top of the silver snuff box that had belonged to my beloved husband.
In an effort to distract me, Lucy asked, “Once we are home, I’ll have to make sense of my notes. Won’t all of this make for a thrilling whodunit?”
“I do hope so, although now it all seems so simple and obvious,” I remarked.
Lucy’s high sense of morality came through as she suggested, “I think that in the book, Hazel Keeley should go to the gallows.”
Before a reply that might soothe my dear friend came to me, I was silenced by a deafening roar as the three twirling propellers whizzed to life.
The engines were so loud, the airplane was so cramped, and everything seemed to be happening very quickly. The craft gave a jerk and started rolling. Gaining speed, we soared onward.
My stomach turned as I felt us lifting from God’s earth. I swallowed hard and told myself, I can do this.
Higher and higher we climbed. Lucy smiled kindly at me, and I forced a nervous smile back. As the air grew cooler and the craft leveled out, Peter stood from his seat, facing mine on the other side of the aisle, he came close to me, and leaning forward, he asked, “How are you doing, Mrs. Stayton; can I get you anything?”
I nodded my chin and spoke loudly over the deafening sound, “Yes, on the previous flight, you mentioned … a parachute.”
Author’s notes:
On behalf of Mrs. Stayton, I must thank Tammy McNaughton, Melissa Gray, RJ Deel and Maggie Ryan.
Special thanks to Dana Fulton, who has the joy of Mrs. Stayton’s company, quite unedited.
And, thank you, for reading this tale to the end…or if you have turned to the last page to find out whodunit, you have gone a page too far!
When a publisher calls Mrs. Stayton to his office, it can mean only one thing…
Or so our heroine thinks! With the help of her dear friend, Lucy, Mrs. X is once more the case.
Before she can get her manuscript published, the author has to keep her publisher alive!
MURDER MOST DESIGNING
A Mrs. Stayton Mystery
Murder Most Egyptological (A Mrs. Xavier Stayton Mystery Book 3) Page 15