Witch Charm

by Sonia Parin

  “I suppose everyone is in deep shock over Ms Lillian,” Lexie remarked.

  “She will be missed.”

  Exactly what the elocution tutor had said. “Was she popular with the pupils?”

  Claudette shrugged. “She had a happy disposition.”

  Lexie frowned.

  She had identified Lillian by matching the practical looking square-toed lace up brogues with those worn by the headmistress, the theory being that the assistant to the headmistress would want to emulate and perhaps impress her employer...

  Yet...

  Eloise didn’t strike her as having a happy disposition.

  Lexie knew her own light-hearted outlook clashed with Mirabelle’s more serious attitude to... everything.

  Could Lillian’s happy character have caused friction? And would that be reason enough to commit murder?

  Chapter Six

  Lexie slumped back on her bed and watched Luna prancing around the bedchamber.

  “I had forgotten how delightful it is to spend an afternoon promenading and mingling with my fellow Lauristonians.”

  “Did you pick up anything of interest or where you too busy soaking up the sunshine? You were all over the place, flitting about like a veritable social butterfly.”

  “If you had used your parasol the way you were meant to, I would not have had to take shelter under other people’s shade.” Luna stopped to lick her paw. “I couldn’t get anything out of Sasha. She spent most of the time curled up by Miss Claudette’s feet sleeping. I did, however, hear talk about a commotion last night from the others.”

  Lexie sat up. “And you waited this long to tell me?”

  “Miss Elizabeth Blackmore’s feline companion, Charlotte, said she woke up with her hair standing on end. Moments later, she heard the hallway clock chime midnight.”

  “But what woke her up?”

  “A back door slamming shut. At least, that was the general consensus this morning. Every other feline companion heard it too, but not a single one was able to definitely say it had been the sound of a door slamming.”

  “So it all remains conjecture. I’ll have to tell Jake O’Rourke—”

  “You’ll have to postpone that until tomorrow. Right now you need to start preparing for dinner and Miss Meredith Langton’s operatic recital. I believe Octavia has sent an appropriate dress for you to wear.”

  “Only a dress? What? No parasol?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Luna dove inside her suitcase and emerged seconds later with...

  “No.”

  “Yes. They are essential. Long gloves must be worn after five.”

  A light knock at the door had Lexie rolling out of bed. “Please let it be the killer.” It wasn’t. “Claudette. Come in.”

  “It’s happened again.”

  “What has?” Lexie asked as Claudette’s cat, Sasha, hiccupped.

  “My long gloves are missing.”

  “Here, have mine.”

  No. You cannot afford to be the odd one out.

  “When did you notice them missing?” Lexie asked.

  “Just now.”

  “Okay. We’ve just come back from our promenade and all the pupils were there. When was the last time you saw your gloves?”

  “Last night. I wore them for Miss Georgiana’s piano recital.”

  Despite having come to tell her about her missing gloves, Claudette didn’t seem to be at all concerned about them. She strode around the bedchamber leisurely inspecting the items on the dresser.

  “Are you saying there’s a recital every night?”

  “Yes, we all get our turn to shine. Yours will come too.”

  Not if she had anything to do with it. “So this is like a talent show.” If push came to shove and she didn’t find a way out of it, she supposed she could use Luna to put together a ventriloquist act...

  Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Mirabelle’s orb appearing. It hovered in the corner. Lexie tried to distract Claudette into walking in the opposite direction. She grabbed the long gloves and pressed them against her. “You must have my gloves.”

  “I couldn’t possibly.”

  “I insist. Give me a minute to change and we’ll go downstairs together.”

  “A minute? Is that all it will take for you to change?” Claudette asked.

  Lexie nodded. “You can time me.” She glanced at the clock on the mantle. Seeing the time, Lexie dove for her pillow and pressed it against her face.

  “Are you... Are you quite all right?”

  Lexie managed to give a vigorous nod without breaking the muffled recitation of her hourly tongue twister.

  When she finished, she scooped in a breath. “How long does this recital last?”

  “One hour and thirty minutes. It’s followed by light refreshments.”

  Okay, this could be tricky. Any suggestions? I’m bound to blurt out a tongue twister right in the middle of an aria.

  Don’t take it personally, but I might choose to sit apart from you.

  Lexie grabbed her clothes and disappeared into the bathroom to change. Mirabelle appeared just as she was pulling on her evening dress.

  “I must say, Octavia has impeccable taste,” Mirabelle remarked.

  “Couldn’t you knock before barging in? Claudette nearly saw you.”

  “Were you able to garner any useful information from her? I noticed you spent a considerable amount of time together.”

  “Have you been spying on me?”

  “I have dropped in every now and then to see if I could assist in surveying the house. I had no idea it could be so much fun.”

  Lexie frowned. “Something’s up. Spit it out.”

  “As a matter of fact, Ms Penelope Stewart has expressed concerns about you.”

  “You’re kidding. After I identified the victim by the shoes she wore? I deserve a medal for that.”

  “Yes, but you have not identified the killer and that is all she is concerned about.”

  Lexie ran a hairbrush through her hair. “Why is she the one voicing concerns? I’d expect the headmistress to be the one calling the shots around here. What’s up with that?”

  “Ms Penelope is a senior advisor and it was her idea to call us in.”

  “Are you saying Eloise Hamilton was against us investigating?”

  Mirabelle hummed. “She was not exactly in favor of it.”

  “Why? Does she have something to hide?”

  “As much as it pains me to say this, I realize I must adopt an unbiased stance. You might have to look into her activities. The sooner she is cleared of any wrong doing, the better I will feel.”

  “I’ll wait and see what Jake comes up with. Hopefully, he’ll contact me tomorrow. He said he was looking into the history of the place. By the way, the thief has struck again. I don’t suppose you saw anyone acting suspiciously while you were hovering around?”

  “No.”

  Lexie turned to leave.

  “How can you possibly step out without inspecting your appearance?”

  “I’m trying to spare myself the horror. I’m sure I’m fine.”

  “Fine does not cut it. You must be splendid. Now come back and check your reflection.”

  “I swear, if you’ve done something to me—” Argh! “A tiara?”

  “A polite thank you will suffice.”

  “If you breathe a word of this to Jonathan, I swear I’ll hunt you down.”

  “Oh, I nearly forgot.” Mirabelle’s orb swirled around Lexie.

  Lexie tittered on her heels. “Hey. Stop that.”

  “There. Much better. You could not possibly have attended tonight’s recital without long gloves.”

  Argh! White gloves. Mirabelle had even gone to the trouble of supplying a pair with Lexie’s initials on them...

  * * *

  “Tell me about the servers,” Lexie whispered as they strode into the ballroom. The spacious room had a stage area at the end and over a dozen settees arranged in a semi circle i
n front of the stage. A long table had been set up at one end with pots of tea and several platters of tidbits, supposedly to satisfy everyone’s taste buds. The crockery had been arranged in a visually pleasing display. No paper cups for this lot...

  Claudette shrugged. “What’s there to say?”

  “Any new faces?”

  “Not that I’ve noticed.” She nudged Lexie. “You may remove your gloves and put one in the bowl.”

  “Huh? Why?”

  “It’s for the door prize. Come on. Let’s grab some tea and petit fours.”

  They settled down on one of the front row settees. Lexie sipped her lukewarm tea and nibbled on a tiny morsel as she watched all the pupils take their seats. The small stage area was curtained off with thick burgundy red curtains. Twice now, Lexie had noticed someone peering out through the gap in the curtains. The singer, Miss Meredith Langston, she presumed.

  Lexie also noticed there were no tutors present. “What’s up with that?” she asked Claudette.

  “Standard policy. It was introduced several months back when one of the tutors collapsed from the horror of listening to a reading of Pride and Prejudice. Like all the tutors, she is a stickler for precision and the poor student had a speech impediment she couldn’t shake off. The pupils found the tutor’s reaction so discouraging, they refused to perform. The solution was to exclude all tutors from future performances.”

  “Wouldn’t it have been easier to cancel this gig?”

  Claudette gave a small shake of her head. “It would have left a gap in our evening program.”

  “So the solution was to exclude the tutors and continue to suffer through the performances?”

  “Correct. It actually makes sense, if you think about it. This is practically the only time the pupils have to themselves.”

  Perfect time for the tutors to plot...

  They were joined by Miss Millicent Rogers, a petite brunette with a perpetual look of surprise on her face.

  “You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you. The cooks have been taken away for questioning. I saw the most scrumptious looking man leading them away.”

  Jake O’Rourke!

  “Do the cooks live at Lauriston House?” Lexie asked.

  Millicent nodded. “They have their separate cottage at the far end of the grounds.”

  Could one of them or both of them have snuck inside the house at the stroke of midnight to either kill or to dispose of Ms Lillian Somers?

  She had to contact Jake.

  Lexie tried to rise to her feet, but Claudette tugged her back down.

  “What are you doing? The performance is about to begin. It would be rude to leave now.”

  “I can’t figure you out. One minute you’re full of contractions and the next, you’re... you’re a stickler for rules.”

  The stage curtains parted.

  “May I have your attention, please. There has been a slight change to tonight’s performance. Miss Meredith has come down with a mild case of laryngitis. However, she has elected to soldier on and, while she will not be able to perform her aria as planned, she will, instead, perform a homage to the great French mime, Marcel Marceau.”

  Lexie couldn’t help joining in the round of light applause offered by the pupils.

  Meredith appeared on stage wearing white make-up, a black and white striped long sleeved t-shirt and black trousers. She began her performance with an interpretation of Walking Against the Wind, her body tilting forward slightly as she presumably struggled against a gale force wind.

  After a few minutes, Lexie noticed everyone shifting slightly in their seats. She leaned forward to see what was happening. Looking across the row, she saw one girl whisper in her neighbor’s ear.

  When Claudette leaned in and whispered in her ear, Lexie braced herself.

  “Today’s brioche sucked. Pass it on.”

  Okay. This was probably as bad as the Lauriston girls got.

  The next message had Lexie thinking this would be a long night.

  “We want more chocolate cake.”

  Lexie considered changing the message to “We want more soup,” but decided against it as Millicent had already munched her way through several Hershey bars. Mention of soup would definitely blow her cover. So Lexie kept the messages moving along, figuring it could have been worse. She could have been sitting through an operatic performance.

  Luna and her fellow feline companions were held enthralled by the mime, their attention fixed on the stage, their tails looking as if they were performing a Mexican wave. Even the alcoholic Sasha had joined in, although the cat beside her kept having to nudge her upright.

  Claudette leaned in to whisper the next message, “The plan is in motion.”

  Huh?

  Lexie passed the message along and noticed Millicent didn’t appear to be disturbed by it.

  “What plan?” Lexie asked, but Claudette shushed her. Lexie sat back and waited for the next message to be imparted.

  “The time has been agreed upon.”

  She passed the message along and tried to see who was at the head of the message delivery, but a group who’d huddled together obstructed her view.

  The next message raised alarm bells. “Ms Eloise’s light goes out at midnight.”

  Okay. She was now treading on dangerous ground. If she kept going, she’d be party to... to what? What exactly were they planning?

  “Lauren Bright’s pearls.”

  What about them?

  Claudette nudged her to pass the message on.

  Lexie had to whisper the message twice before she got it right, which defeated the purpose of the game, but she had a fair idea of the stakes. If she dropped the ball, everyone would become suspicious of her.

  Meredith Langton persevered with her Marcel Marceau homage and the feline companions continued to be a captive audience. Although, a couple of times, Lexie had caught Luna looking over her shoulder at her.

  “That cat of yours doesn’t let up. I see what you mean about her keeping her eye on you,” Claudette murmured. Reaching inside her reticule, she pulled out a small flask. “Would you like to try this out on her?”

  Oh, she was so tempted.

  “No, thanks. I think she understood what you said earlier today and now she refuses to eat any food from my hand.”

  “You could just add a few drops to her milk.”

  Lexie shook her head. “I’ve caught her sniffing her food. I mean, really sniffing it. And when she finally takes a bite of something, she waits a few minutes to see if it’s had an adverse effect on her.” That was all her devious mind could come up with, but she was sure she’d convinced Claudette Luna had extraordinary comprehension skills and had become highly suspicious of Lexie.

  “Here comes another message.”

  Lexie braced herself.

  “Lexie’s tiara.”

  They were welcome to it. Although, Mirabelle would disagree.

  “Ms Chantal Carson.”

  The dancing tutor...

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Someone will take the tiara and place it in Ms Chantal’s bedchamber.”

  “And?”

  “I’ve already given you too much information.”

  “Hang on.” If the thefts had been contrived by the pupils... then... “Did you actually know they were going to cut your hair?”

  Claudette grinned. “I’ve always wanted short hair but my mom wouldn’t let me get it cut.”

  “Yeah, but... who does the deed?” Someone had to be chosen to remove the items and plant them in the bedchambers...

  “That’s the door prize.”

  “The what—”

  The hallway clock struck the hour.

  Chapter Seven

  Lexie stared up at the canopy and tried to figure out why the Lauristonian ladies were stealing each other’s items and incriminating the tutors in the thefts. Mostly, she wanted to know why they went to so much trouble to plot out their misdeeds.

  Boredom? Mischief? Or
something else? Something darker, perhaps...

  Since the case of the missing items had taken on a perverted twist, she now had two mysteries to contend with.

  Lexie swung her legs off the bed and strode over to the dresser.

  Luna leaped off the bed and followed her. “What are you doing?”

  “What’s it look like.”

  “I will not be party to this.”

  “You have no choice,” Lexie said and dangled her long glove. “My glove was picked out of the bowl so I have to do the deed and I can’t do it alone. You have to keep watch as I sneak into Lauren’s bedchamber and steal her pearls.” Lexie strode back to the bed and collapsed onto it.

  “We do have a choice. We can both say no.” Luna leaped up onto the bed and stared down at Lexie. “It’s petty theft and... and a display of atrocious behavior. This sort of shenanigans never happened in my time. Wait until Mirabelle hears about this.”

  “Well, you know what it’ll do to her. If you want to be the one to finally push her over the edge, by all means, go right ahead and do it.”

  With a huff, Luna leaped off the bed and paced around the bedchamber, her purrs close to sounding like growls. “What if we get caught? I’ll be disgraced, struck off the honor roll and labeled a renegade feline thief. My family will shun me. All my contemporaries will avoid me. I’ll never be invited anywhere. I’ll become a social pariah. An outcast of the worst type. And all for what? A prank?”

  “Calm down before you start coughing up fur balls. You think you’ve got problems. I’m the one who has to sneak into someone’s bedchamber, steal their possessions and plant them in a tutor’s bedchamber, all while wearing this ridiculous white dress with puffy sleeves. I look as if I’m about to take off. I should have asked if I could borrow Meredith’s Marcel Marceau outfit.”

  Luna flicked her tail. “At least I enjoyed an hour of fun entertainment so I’ll have something to talk about when I’m visited in prison.”

  “No one’s going to prison.” Lexie checked the time. She’d already had her outburst of tongue twisters, so she needed to take advantage of this window of opportunity.

  “What are you doing?” Luna bellowed.