The Killing at Kaldaire House

by Kate Parker

  I smiled back reluctantly. I might not be resigned to my father remarrying, but I thought I’d like Sarah. She was a few years older than me, with brown hair and eyes. There was nothing flashy about her or her dress. “Grandmother, do you have a pan I could borrow?”

  “If it’ll stop this nonsense, gladly.”

  My father’s eyes widened. I hoped some of that was from fear and not for show.

  Sarah took my hand. “Will you introduce me to Matthew, Emily? I want him to meet Sam, and I don’t know how to talk to him.”

  “Written notes will probably work best in this case. We can use gestures for simple things, but this isn’t simple.”

  She nodded. “No, it is not.”

  I grinned at her. “Come on. And let me take this fellow.” I held out my arms and my grandmother reluctantly let go as Sam leaned toward me.

  We went out into the parlor where Matthew and some of his cousins were engrossed in a card game. I was glad to see there weren’t any coins in evidence. His cousins would have fleeced him.

  Matthew took one look at my tear-stained face and set his cards facedown on the table. I set Sam on Matthew’s lap and wrote on his paper, “This is your brother Sam.”

  His face lit up. He grabbed the pencil and wrote, “I have a brother!” while Sam tried to grab the pencil away with his chubby hand.

  I took the pencil and wrote, “This is Sam’s mother. Father’s new wife.” I gestured to her.

  Matthew, always a better person than I am, took the pencil and scratched out the word “new.” Then he grinned at Sarah.

  She took the pencil and wrote her name. Then she held out her hand.

  Matthew shook it and smiled at her before turning his attention back to his little brother, who was now trying to climb onto his head.

  I glanced back to see my father watching us, his eyes moist. “Why did you wait so long?” I asked in a quiet voice, my own eyes wet with unshed tears.

  “I don’t know. Cowardice?”

  * * *

  The next morning, Inspector Russell and his unfathomable smile showed up as soon as I opened the shop. I asked Jane to watch for any customers. She raised her eyebrows and smirked behind his back as I led the inspector to the back room.

  I glowered at her.

  As soon as we settled in the workshop, I told Russell about the misdirected note. He found the information fascinating. I also told him what Prince Maximilian had said about hearing multiple sets of footsteps on the ground floor of Kaldaire House without mentioning the prince’s name.

  “And you swear the person who was hiding in the dining room listening to people going to and from the front door wasn’t a member of your family?”

  “Yes. Why must you assume a person in a place he doesn’t belong must be related to me?”

  “Because they so often are.”

  I glared at him. “This person is a member of the highest levels of the aristocracy and the reason he was there involved a matter only peers would be interested in.” I refused to consider the legitimacy of a dead queen reason to murder anyone. We were no longer in medieval times.

  If Prince Maximilian wanted the letter for leverage over someone in the royal family, then that was a motive well understood by my family. However, I believed the prince when he said he didn’t murder the nonroyal Lord Kaldaire. “We both know some concerns of the aristocracy are unimportant, and certainly not worth killing for,” I told the detective.

  Russell leaned on the doorframe, watching me where I stood in the middle of the small space. “All right. I’ll believe you when you say the person hiding in the dining room had nothing to do with the murder. I’d also believe Denby was Lord Kaldaire’s killer if he’d been stabbed. He wasn’t.”

  I began to pace. “Lord Wyatt wouldn’t have needed to steal the note back. He could say that while it was addressed to him, he’d never seen it, and he would have put a stop to whatever it said if he’d known.” I felt certain Lord Wyatt was not the killer.

  “But having read the note, Lord Kaldaire would have contacted Lord Wyatt, not Denby, and demanded he end whatever was threatened. Wyatt might not have wanted to do that.” I stopped and studied Inspector Russell, confused by the various possibilities running through my mind. “Would he have told Denby and then Denby broke into Kaldaire House?”

  “Again, if Denby were going to kill Kaldaire, he’d have used a knife. I’ll make some inquiries and find out where they both were that night. In fact, I should soon learn where several people were that evening.” He smiled as if he couldn’t wait for his investigation to bear fruit. “Including the new Lord and Lady Kaldaire and the murdered lord’s Lady Kaldaire and all of their servants. They had as much to gain as anyone by the late lord’s murder.”

  I studied him, surprised at the route his thoughts were traveling. “You think it’s possible any of them killed Lord Kaldaire?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not his wife. I’m sure of that.”

  “She was in the house. And she didn’t like him,” the inspector said.

  “She didn’t mind him, and she’s trying to find his killer.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Not the first time someone’s used that ruse.”

  I shook my head and paced. “No, Lady Kaldaire didn’t love her husband, but she was used to him. He gave her status she wouldn’t have on her own. There was nothing in their lives that would make her angry enough to kill.”

  “She’s still one of many whose alibis must be verified.”

  I walked close to him and said, “Then we both have a lot to do and need to start our days.” I passed by and walked back into the shop as if I had no interest in him at all to hide my real feelings.

  He followed me out, tipped his hat, and left without a glance back. I watched the empty doorway for a moment before I shrugged off my disappointment. Walking off first only worked when the other party felt bereft. Russell made clear he didn’t feel saddened by my dismissal.

  He was the most maddening man I’d ever met.

  Lady Kaldaire arrived in the early afternoon and waited through two other customers. They were treated to her praise of my hats as she critiqued their choices and made comments about the angle I set their headgear on.

  In one case, I found she was right. The hat did look better tilted to the other side.

  Once the two women left looking both flattered and confused, she said, “I want another hat in black in my usual style. It seems to be worn more often than anything else in my wardrobe. Now, what progress have you made?”

  I told her about the message that was misdirected to her husband along with Denby’s deadly reputation. Then I added, “Everyone who knows him fails to believe he’d kill your husband by bashing him over the head. Denby is believed to always stab his victims.”

  “Do you think my husband was killed because of this note from Mr. Denby to Lord Wyatt?”

  “Well, he wasn’t killed for the Queen Victoria letter or because of his threats against Lady Taylor. How many more secrets could he have had?”

  Lady Kaldaire tapped her parasol on the floor. “And what was he doing with the money I gave him to pay the bills?”

  “The inspector said he’s going to find out where Lord Wyatt and Mr. Denby were on the night your husband was murdered. We’re going to have to wait on him now,” I said. I wouldn’t tell her she and her relatives were currently subject to police inquiries.

  I was tired of following clues and suspects. I needed to spend more time chasing after the money to send Matthew to school.

  She rose. “Marjorie, Lady Linchester, is arriving today for a visit to town and to see her son George. He drove up in that motor carriage of his. It must have been a dreadful trip. Thank goodness Marjorie is coming by train.”

  I smiled. I liked riding in an automobile, but not for the distance Lord George would be driving.

  “I believe it’s time for me to mend some fences with Cecily,” Lady Kaldaire continued. “I think Marjorie and I will c
all on her this afternoon. Maybe she knows more about what my husband was up to than I do.” She smiled at me. “It can’t hurt. And I would like to see the house again. I can’t believe I miss that tomb.”

  Apparently, she did more than see the house, because as I was closing for the night, I received a note.

  Dear Emily,

  I want you to bring the very stylish red

  and white hat with a wide brim and high crown

  to Kaldaire House tonight. It was the second

  one you showed the ladies this afternoon. It

  looked perfect for a garden party. It’s for

  Cecily, but send me the bill. You have her

  measurements from the blue hat with the birds’

  wings from last summer. Marjorie and I will

  arrive there for dinner at eight. You should

  arrive at nine. Then I want you to go into the

  study and open the window for later ingress.

  Roberta, Lady Kaldaire

  Obviously, we were going to search the study again. I hoped we’d have better luck than we did the night the new Lord Kaldaire came home early from the opera. This time, I was going to add some luck of my own.

  Chapter Thirty

  I responded to Lady Kaldaire’s note, told Noah that he, Matthew, and Annie would be on their own for the evening, and went to see my grandfather.

  Grandpapa was in the stables when I arrived. “What’s up, pet?” he asked as soon as he saw my face.

  “I need to have one of my cousins climb in a study window in Mayfair after I open it. He may have an opportunity to remove a small item in the course of the evening, but that’s not guaranteed.”

  He scowled, apparently concerned. “Come inside and tell me what’s going on.”

  I told him what I knew and what I suspected. If I was going to search the study that night, I wanted professional help, including getting in and out of the window. “But not Petey,” I added. “I need someone quick-witted.”

  “Do you think there’ll be danger?”

  “If Lord Kaldaire’s murderer is in the house, then yes.” I didn’t want to think about that. I only wanted to get in, find the evidence Lady Kaldaire believed was there, and get out in one piece. Apparently, she’d found a way to get everyone out of the house, or at least away from the study.

  Grandpapa assured me I’d have assistance, and I headed to the shop to pick up the red and white hat. When I arrived, I found Lady Kaldaire’s young footman, a boy of about sixteen, waiting with another note.

  She agreed calling in help was a good idea but said we wouldn’t need it. She felt sure she knew where the note from Mr. Denby was and we’d only need a few minutes in the study to locate it. I sent a return note saying I’d be there at nine with the new hat. I didn’t mention the reinforcements.

  I chose my dress with care. I didn’t want to ruin a good gown. I wanted freedom of motion in case I had to escape out of a window, but I needed to blend in at an aristocratic dinner party without actually looking like I thought I deserved a place at the table.

  I finally decided on a mauve and light blue dress with simple lines that I wore with a small, flexible corset, and which had a skirt with a practical hem that missed the floor by three inches. A velvet toque in a shimmering shade of blue that wouldn’t take up much space if I had to climb through a window completed the outfit. I had a bad feeling about our coming adventure. I hoped my costume would let me fade into the background.

  With the gift hat in a hatbox, I called a hansom cab and rode to Kaldaire House. When I arrived, I was surprised to see a motor carriage in front of the house. Lord George Whitaker must be at the dinner party. I went up the steps, where Rawlings opened the door to my ring.

  “Miss Gates. I’m here for Lady Kaldaire.”

  “That won’t be convenient, Miss Gates.”

  He must have thought his position gave him more power than he possessed, because I sailed into the front hall before he had a chance to finish speaking and shut the door in my face. He swung around to face me. “Really, Miss Gates, you must leave.”

  “Your former mistress asked me to bring the current Lady Kaldaire a present. I believe they are both here.”

  He looked around for help, but we were the only two in the oil painting lined foyer. “Um. Let me… I don’t know… You’ll have to wait here.”

  “Fine. Just let them know I’m here.” I gave him a contented smile.

  He went into the dining room, and I moved closer to the study door, where I waited, hatbox in hand. Almost immediately, Lord George came out. “Golly, Miss Gates. What a pleasant surprise.”

  “It’s good to see you, my lord. Tell me, is Roberta, Lady Kaldaire, here?”

  “Oh, my, yes. Mama is with her and they’ve called for a doctor.” He half-whispered his words.

  A terrible force squeezed my heart as I realized Lord Kaldaire’s and Gregson’s murderer might have struck again. “What—what happened?”

  “She collapsed during the second course. The footmen carried her out. Mama went with her while Lady Kaldaire was left to carry on with her dinner party. There’s royalty here tonight. Well, not our royalty.” I realized his quiet voice and glance around the hall was due to guilt. No doubt no one had given him permission to leave the table.

  “Prince Maximilian?”

  “How did you guess?” He sounded truly surprised that I knew.

  Everybody involved in this case seemed to be here. “Mr. Denby, too?”

  “That’s amazing. You must have seen the guest list.”

  I had a bigger worry than the guest list. “Is Lady Kaldaire still alive?”

  “Yes. I think so. Mama would say something if she dies before the doctor arrives.” He spoke solemnly.

  Rawlings was not in sight. Time for me to find the evidence before anyone else was hurt. “My lord, go back and enjoy your dinner. I’ll wait until things quiet down to speak to Lady Kaldaire. Give my best to your mama.”

  He kissed my hand in the continental manner and went back to the dining room. I waited a minute to make certain none of the maids or footmen arrived to watch me before I slipped into the study, turning on the one shaded light that had been on the first time I’d entered.

  Setting down the hatbox, I went straight to the large window and pulled on the sash. It slid wide open with little effort. The breezeless summer night didn’t ruffle the draperies.

  Sticking my head out, I saw there was only a small bush outside to trip up a hasty exit and only a five- or six-foot drop to the ground. My cousins thought nothing of climbing that distance to enter a house. Inside, it was only a two-foot drop to the floor.

  I was surprised none of my cousins popped in to join me in the curtained recess immediately, but I was sure they were following Grandpapa’s orders. After assuring myself the draperies would hide whoever climbed into the room, I walked toward the desk. I was nearly there when I looked at the wall in the recess beyond the desk and saw the Lady in Blue.

  I stood gazing at it, amazed that my plans to steal it had led to troubles I couldn’t have imagined.

  As the odor of pipe tobacco reached my nose, I nearly sneezed. A very distinct pipe tobacco that I’d only smelled once before. In this room. The night Lord Kaldaire was attacked.

  “You should have waited in the hall, Miss Gates.”

  I spun around, unable to hide the guilty look on my face. “My lord.”

  Laurence, the new Lord Kaldaire, worked on keeping his pipe lit as he remained between me and the door. He made a sizable barrier to any escape as he eyed me coldly. When he had the pipe smoldering to his satisfaction, he said, “You take liberties in my house that you shouldn’t.”

  I saw the draperies by the window move slightly in a way no breeze would have caused. My housebreaking cousins were stealthy when necessary. I hadn’t heard whichever one it was come in.

  And then I risked everything. “The night of the murder was the first time I smelled your pipe tobacco.”

>   Lord Kaldaire laughed, a nasty, depraved sound. “I thought you and Roberta were too close. Just like Gregson.”

  I tried to look innocent. “Too close to what?”

  “Oh, please, Miss Gates. You and my meddling sister-in-law have gone too far. Don’t expect her to rescue you. The drops in her sherry have rendered her unable to help anyone, including herself.”

  My eyes widened as I smothered a gasp. I held on to my fury, ready to spring vengeance on him as soon as I could to save Lady Kaldaire. She might be dictatorial and self-absorbed, but she had a kindness about her that the new Lord Kaldaire would never understand. “What have you done to her?”

  “Nothing yet. Just as I’ve done nothing to you. Yet. But you have a reputation as a housebreaker. With the police. With Prince Maximilian, who’s being entertained by my wife while I’m out of the dining room to check on my frail, demented sister-in-law. When another of my guests finds a burglar with my safe open and my wife’s jewelry in her hands, he will stop her from escaping.”

  I stepped back as he came farther into the room, followed by the large, rat-faced man who favored diamonds in his cufflinks. He was the man I’d met entering this house one day who’d looked at me as if I were naked.

  The knife in his hand didn’t need diamonds to shine. The blade was long and slender, not much wider than a hatpin, with a very sharp point.

  “I’m ready,” the man with the blade said, leering at me.

  I gulped. I wasn’t.

  “Not yet, Denby. It won’t do for me to be here when this happens. Let me get the safe open and the jewelry out first.” Kaldaire ignored me as he walked over to the safe, moved the painting away from it, and opened the heavy steel door.

  Events became clear. Clear enough that I knew I had to watch both men and not show fear, though they should have been able to hear my heart pound. My palms were soaked. My legs trembled.

  “You were the one who opened the safe the night the late Lord Kaldaire died. You were already in town. That’s why you ordered your luggage to be brought over from Claridge’s and said your wife would come the next day. You came in here that night after Prince Maximilian left and before I arrived. You smoked your pipe and opened the safe. Was it to retrieve Mr. Denby’s note to Lord Wyatt?”