The Charm Inn was everything Lucy remembered and less. Less clean, less fragrant and overall less welcoming. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for her former self, who’d had to stay for days on end in such a grotty place. There was no one behind the tatty wooden shelf that passed as a reception desk, so she picked up the rusty handbell that stood on the shelf and rang it. There was the flip-flapping of slippers, which heralded the arrival of Mrs Charm from the back room. Perhaps it was a hangover from her circus days, but Mrs Charm was very fond of a feather boa or two. Or even three, which was the number she was wearing today, all in eye-wateringly bright shades of green, red and yellow.
“Lucy Goodly! As I live and breathe! How lovely to see you again!” Mrs Charm smiled broadly, which made Lucy feel a tiny bit queasy. Mrs Charm’s own teeth had departed her gums a long time ago, and she wore a false wooden set in their place.
“It’s nice to see you too.”
Mrs Charm peered over Lucy’s shoulder. “But where are your dear parents?”
“Oh, they’re not with me. They’re abroad.”
“They’ve left you all alone?” Mrs Charm’s teeth slipped slightly in horror at this display of parental neglect.
“Not exactly. It’s a bit complicated. Can I book a room, though? Just for tonight?”
“Of course!” Mrs Charm opened a dog-eared ledger and studied it. “Room four is free. The one your dear parents always reserve!”
“Lovely,” Lucy said, remembering the toadstools that grew enthusiastically in the corners of room four. Nevertheless, she took the key Mrs Charm handed her.
“When you’re settled in, come down and we’ll have a nice cup of tea and a chat.”
Mrs Charm smiled again and Lucy winced.
“That would be lovely. I wanted to ask your advice about something,” she replied. Having tea with Mrs Charm offered the perfect opportunity to ask a few discreet questions.
When Lucy came back downstairs, Beguildy was at the reception shelf, booking his room. Mrs Charm wasn’t behind the shelf this time. Instead there was a girl with hair almost as silvery blonde as Beguildy’s own.
Lucy took great pleasure in pretending not to know who Beguildy was. When the girl had handed Beguildy his room key, Lucy made a mental note of his room number before asking where she could find Mrs Charm. The girl directed her to the hotelier’s private sitting room.
“Sit down, sit down!” Mrs Charm urged when Lucy arrived. Her sitting room was as dilapidated as the rest of the Charm Inn. The dusty velvet curtains hung half off their pole and there was no carpet on the floorboards. But Mrs Charm had made an effort and put a cloth over the table, although it was horribly sticky in places. At least the teapot and cups looked as though they had been washed as recently as a week ago. Lucy sniffed. There was a distinct smell of unwashed dog. She realised that there was a grubby-looking poodle curled up next to the fire.
“So, tell me about your dear parents – where are they?” Mrs Charm said, when she had poured them both a cup of tea.
“They’re abroad. Venice.”
“Still gambling?”
“Yes. They’re on a winning streak.”
“Oh, that surprises me. It really does. Now that you’ve stopped playing with that magical card.”
Lucy almost dropped her cup in shock.
Mrs Charm smiled woodenly. “Oh yes, I know all about it.” She brought out a paper drinking straw, stuck it in her tea and took a long suck. When she’d finished, she wiped her mouth on the tablecloth. “Too much tea can rot my teeth, dear, so I take it through a straw to keep them nice.”
“I can’t believe you knew,” Lucy said.
“Oh, of course. I’ve known you and your parents for years. I remember when you were desperately poor, too poor to even pay for a room in my own humble inn. But then everything changed. You started playing poker instead of your parents. Win after win. I was very curious. I kept saying to myself Dolores, I’m sure there’s magic involved here. So I went to see you play one night. Saw it all. And then Lord Grave turned up, sticking his nose in. Always wants to tell the rest of us how to live, that one.”
“Thank you so much for not giving me away.”
Mrs Charm placed her grimy hand on top of Lucy’s. “We all have to make our way in the world. Ooh. It’s chilly in here, let me stir up the fire.”
Mrs Charm took the precaution of removing her three feather boas before she went over to the fireplace. This seemed sensible given that one stray spark would have probably set the whole lot alight, She then picked up the poker and began rattling it among the coals, much to the annoyance of the grubby poodle, who growled. As Mrs Charm leaned over the fire, something dangled out from under the bodice of her dress. It was a green jewel, hanging round her neck on a gold chain. Lucy only managed to snatch a brief glimpse of it before Mrs Charm straightened up and tucked the necklace back into place.
But in that short time, Lucy knew exactly what she’d seen. Mrs Charm was wearing the stolen Emerald Eye.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE POODLE THAT BARKED IN THE NIGHT
Lucy strove to keep her expression blank as Mrs Charm made her way back to the table. Her mind raced. Could this kind but slightly feather-brained woman be a thief and a murderer who was secretly building a golem for some no-doubt dastardly purpose? It seemed a ludicrous idea, but if there was one thing Lucy had learned in recent weeks, it was that people were often not what they appeared to be. Her teacup rattled gently in her shaking hands. She breathed in deeply to calm herself.
“Now then, what is it you wanted to talk about?”
“Well, you see, I … I …”
Mrs Charm tilted her head. “Come along, dear, spit it out.” She took another suck of her tea.
“I-I came here to talk to you about being magical. You see … you see … I’m the first one in my family to be magical and I heard that you were too.”
“Goodness. Who told you that?”
Of course Diamond O’Brien had told her, but she didn’t want to mention that because it might alert Mrs Charm to the fact that MAAM were investigating Mortimer Thorne. “I can’t remember. But you see I’m finding it quite hard to adjust, so I thought you could give me some advice. Share experiences?”
Twenty minutes later, Mrs Charm had got completely side-tracked and was describing in detail the buffet tea served at her ninth birthday party (potted shrimp sandwiches and spotted dick).
Lucy attempted to get Mrs Charm back on track. “That sounds delicious. But what about the circus? How did you end up there?”
“How did you know I used to work for the circus?”
Lucy could have kicked herself for being so careless. “Oh, I think my mum mentioned it?”
“Really? Well, I met Mr O’Brien one day when I was about twenty. I was feeling very down. You see, dear, if I’m honest, I’m not much of a magician. I tried to practise, I really did, but it always went wrong somehow. I even managed to knock all my own teeth out practising a spell. But at the same time I felt out of place in the non-magical world too. So I felt I belonged nowhere, really. Mr O’Brien, lovely man that he was, gave me a job helping with one of the sideshows.”
“Fascinating!”
“I was there for ten years. But then …”
“Yes?”
Mrs Charm began picking at a dried-up blob of jam that was stuck to the tablecloth. “Something terrible happened. The man I was working for went too far in his magical endeavours. So I left the circus and set up my little business here. I’m very happy.”
“Did you keep in touch with any of the circus folk?”
Mrs Charm stopped picking at the jam. Her hand strayed to the neck of her bodice, where the Emerald Eye nestled out of sight. “I couldn’t bear to go back there. Diamond O’Brien visits me sometimes. She started running the circus after her father died, you know. That dreadful business broke his heart, all the life went out of him and he passed away soon afterwards.”
“What was it that h
appened exactly?”
But Mrs Charm couldn’t be persuaded to talk about Mortimer Thorne and his murderous golem. “Dear, you must excuse me. I have to get on now. Lots to do!”
“Maybe we could have another chat later?”
“Perhaps,” said Mrs Charm vaguely.
Although Lucy hadn’t managed to wheedle much information out of Mrs Charm, she was very pleased to leave the dog-scented sitting room, She hurried off to Beguildy’s room to tell him about the Emerald Eye. But he wasn’t in. She went down to the reception shelf and asked the blonde girl if she knew where Beguildy he had gone.
“Oh, he said he was desperate for a cup of coffee. I think he went over the road. He invited me to go for supper with him later, but I’m on duty until midnight. He’s a very good-looking gentleman. Do you happen to know if he’s married?” The girl patted her white-blonde ringlets.
“Yes, he is. They’re devoted to each other. Quite sickeningly so,” Lucy said as she left the inn, smiling to think that she might have thwarted Beguildy’s romantic pursuits. She had quite forgotten she was supposed to be pretending she didn’t know him.
Out in the street, Lucy tried to act casually. For all she knew, Mrs Charm’s harmless demeanour could all be an act to disguise the fact that she was a ruthless murderer. She could even suspect that Lucy suspected her and be watching from a window or something. So Lucy calmly crossed the road and went into the coffee shop where she found Beguildy relaxing over a cup of coffee and a large plate of fancy biscuits with green icing.
“You know they don’t allow women in here, even if they dress like a boy?” he said by way of a greeting.
“Don’t start! We have to go back to the hotel right now.”
Beguildy rolled his eyes. “What’s the hurry?”
“I’ve been with Mrs Charm,” Lucy said in a low voice. “She’s wearing the Emerald Eye!”
Much to the amusement of Lucy and the rest of the coffee shop, Beguildy dropped his cup of coffee all over his smart white breeches.
Back at the Wistman’s, Lord Grave held a crisis meeting.
“If only Lucy hadn’t totally failed to wring information out of this Charm woman,” Beguildy said, dabbing at his breeches with a damp cloth.
Lord Grave was striding around the room. “Lucy has done very well, Beguildy. Better than Lady Sibyl and I. Mortimer Thorne refused to even see us. If Lucy had pressed too hard, our suspect could have got the wind up and decamped. We have to move carefully.”
“It’s a bit odd, though,” Bertie said. “If I’d just stolen a valuable jewel I don’t think I’d wear it. I’d hide it away somewhere. Especially if I’d murdered someone into the bargain. Lucy, you sure it was the Emerald Eye?”
“As certain as I can be. It was just like the catalogue sketch Roland Mole showed us.”
Lord Grave frowned thoughtfully. “I’m going to ask Mole to come up from Brighton immediately. When he arrives, we question the woman and he can examine the jewel so that we can be certain it is the Emerald Eye. In the meantime, we don’t want to arouse suspicions. Beguildy, Lucy, go back to the inn and stay the night as we planned. Arrive separately. Act normally.”
Beguildy set off for the Charm Inn first. Lucy waited for half an hour, then followed him. Just as she was leaving the hotel, she bumped into Rivers again.
“Miss Goodly, how are you?”
“Not bad.”
Rivers looked surreptitiously around. “I saw Mr Beguildy earlier. He says he thinks he’s cracked the case,” he said in a low voice.
“He’s cracked it!” Lucy said, outraged Beguildy was taking the credit.
“Ssh!”
“Sorry. It’s just so annoying. I do all the work, spot that Mrs Charm has the Emerald Eye, and he tries to take all the glory.”
Rivers patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Lord Grave is a fair man; he’ll make sure you get the credit you deserve.”
“Thanks,” Lucy said, calming down. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m staying at the Charm Inn tonight.”
“Rather you than me. Now I must get off. I have to clean Lady Sibyl’s carriage yet again. It’s getting annoying to be frank. She keeps flying off in it on her own. Comes back with the wheels covered in filth. I’ve even wondered…” Rivers stopped, looking troubled.
“Wondered what?” Lucy prompted.
“Oh, I don’t know, Miss Goodly! Perhaps she has a secret beau. I just wish they would meet somewhere less muddy! Now I’d best be off. Take care now.”
Lucy made her way outside, feeling slightly perturbed. Rivers had been on the verge of telling her something, she was sure. She had the fleeting thought that perhaps he had suspicions about Lady Sibyl somehow being involved in the crimes. But it was a ridiculous notion. Lady Sibyl was devoted to MAAM and would never get involved in any sort of magical felony.
When Lucy reached the Charm Inn, she was not at all pleased to see Beguildy lurking in reception, attempting to woo the ringlet girl. However, he was getting short shrift.
“I would never get involved with a married man. I’m a good girl,” Ringlets was saying. “I teach Bible classes on Sunday. I know Revelation off by heart.”
“I swear to you, Iris, I’m not married! Who told you such a thing?”
“She did.” Iris pointed at Lucy.
Beguildy glared at her. “We don’t even know each other,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry, I was getting him mixed up with someone better-looking,” Lucy said with a smile. “Could I have my room key please?”
As Lucy made her way up stairs, she heard Beguildy renewing his charm offensive. “Oh, do tell me more about your Bible study. It sounds fascinating.”
Lucy spent an extremely uncomfortable night at the Charm Inn. As an accompaniment to the toadstools in the corners, her room boasted a damp bed and windows that rattled every time so much as a mouse scurried along the street below. At around half past four in the morning she gave up trying to sleep and decided to do some investigating instead.
She quickly dressed, lit the stub of candle that was in the crusted candlestick that belonged to the room and crept downstairs, heading for Mrs Charm’s sitting room. She paused outside the door and listened carefully. When she was certain the room was empty, she went inside. Her candle guttered out, but luckily a dim light from the streetlamp outside filtered through the dirty window. Lucy had just begun leafing through a few papers that were piled up next to the fireside chair when she heard a noise in the corridor. An odd skittering.
Mrs Charm’s grubby poodle nosed the sitting-room door open. It ran over to Lucy and began barking and jumping up at her as though it was on springs. It made an impressive amount of noise for such a small scruffy canine.
“Ssh!” Lucy hissed.
But the dog didn’t.
Abandoning her search, Lucy vacated the sitting room as fast as she could. Her new best friend followed her, barking more and more shrilly. It was going to wake the entire household if she didn’t shut it up! Lucy bent down and patted the dog’s head. “There’s a good boy. Be quiet now.”
To her relief the dog seemed to decide it was indeed a good boy and should be quiet. It stood panting while Lucy scratched it behind the ear.
“I have to go now,” she told it after a few moments.
The dog yelped indignantly.
“All right, all right.” Lucy gave the poodle a few more pats and added some stroking for good measure. She soon regretted this when her hand encountered a wet, sticky patch of fur.
“Urgh!” Lucy snatched her hand away. The corridor was poorly lit by a few almost burned-out candles, which hung in lopsided holders placed haphazardly along the wall. She moved nearer to one of them, dreading to see what kind of unsavoury stickiness she’d got on her herself. It wasn’t until one of the candles gave a sudden last-gasp flicker of light that Lucy realised her hand was smeared with blood.
The poodle began barking again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LUCY CRACKS THE CASE
Lucy and the others finally arrived back at Grave Hall that afternoon after dealing with the aftermath of Mrs Charm’s murder. Because the crime had taken place on non-magical premises, Lord Grave had little chance of keeping things hushed up. Lucy had already been questioned by detectives from Scotland Yard who had been very suspicious of her.
“Is everyone all right?” Prudence rushed forward as the returning travellers wearily trudged into the drawing room. She looked most anxious. “I’m so relieved you’re safe and well. That awful man from the Penny has been to the house, banging on the door asking endless questions. Vonk tried to get rid of him, but in the end I told him to go away myself. I was rather too rude perhaps?”
“If you mean that dratted man Slimeous Osburn, you couldn’t possibly have been too rude, Prue. It is a confounded nuisance that we couldn’t keep this mess out of the papers,” Lord Grave said.
“So what do we do now, Father?” Bertie asked.
“We redouble our efforts to identify the culprit before anyone else is killed. But first of all I want to take the precaution of fully securing Grave Hall from intruders, magical or non-magical. Will you help me, Percy? Prudence and Sibyl too. We’ll divide the house up between us and meet back here in say an hour? Lucy, Bertie, while we’re gone, I’d like you to put your thinking caps on. Go through everything that we know so far, everything that’s happened. You might spot something that we’ve missed.”
“I’ve kept meticulous notes,” Bertie told Lucy when everyone had gone with Lord Grave to secure the house. “They’re in my room. I’ll just go and fetch them.”
Lucy sank into a chair next to the fire, which had been lit because the September afternoon was chilly. Despair and fear were swishing around inside her. Despair because they seemed no nearer to solving the case. Fear because there was a murderer on the loose who had a fondness for plunging daggers into people’s hearts. And even worse than that, the murderer might have a golem very soon. The thought of coming face to face with such a creature made her feel weak with dread. Lucy was a brave girl, but even she could only take so much!
Goodly and Grave in a Deadly Case of Murder Page 8