Weston ignored Evangeline’s shocked reaction. “Funny thing about that report. It kept getting lost in the mail. Kept getting sent back to the lab marked ‘Return to Sender. Address Unknown.’ Makes a body have some second thoughts about the United States Post Office, I can tell you.”
Evangeline caught the gleam in the sheriff’s eye and answered it with a smile of her own. “Why, sheriff, you amaze me!”
“Ma’am?” Weston asked innocently. “Afraid I don’t know what you mean. Just doing my job. Like I told you before, a body doesn’t live as long as I’ve done without learning something about human nature along the way. Though I will say I was starting to sweat bullets right around the end of the week. Wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold Miss Serafina here without doing some serious explaining to the mayor. Lucky for me you sent that telegram telling me what you found out.”
“And lucky for all of us Mr. Allworthy so obligingly pushed Mr. Bayne off that catwalk.”
“Well, I have to say, that was the icing on the cake, in a manner of speaking.”
“Since there’s no release paperwork to fill out for a prisoner who was never charged with anything in the first place, I suppose Serafina’s free to go. Is that right, sheriff?”
Weston nodded in agreement.
Evangeline turned to Freddie. “Will you please escort Serafina back to my house? I’ll be along in a minute.”
“But, Engie,” Freddie whispered, “Delphine will be there.”
“And?” his friend asked dispassionately.
“What if she won’t let me in?”
“Freddie, don’t be ridiculous. Serafina will be with you. Delphine would never assault you in front of a witness. Besides, you can tell her that I’m on my way. She’ll have to let you in then.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” The young man’s tone was grim as he went off to help the medium collect her things and carry them out the door.
When the two had left, Evangeline leaned back against the door jamb, arms crossed and regarded the sheriff silently for several moments.
“Ma’am? Is there something else I can help you with?”
Evangeline tapped her chin. “Sheriff, I was just thinking. Your methods of performing your duties might be considered somewhat irregular by the sort of people who like to go by the book. Not that I’m complaining, you understand. Far from it. I’m very grateful. But, by taking it upon yourself to slow the wheels of due process, some people in this town might accuse you of... of... How should I put this? I suppose the vulgar might call it dispensing vigilante justice.”
Sheriff Weston sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. He looked at his visitor for a moment, gathering his thoughts before speaking. “Well, ma’am, I suppose there’s some truth in that. There’s folks in this town that might make that accusation if the facts of this case ever came to their notice. But I don’t think anybody who was here today would be likely to tell them, do you?”
“No, sheriff, I don’t.” Evangeline stood with her hand on the doorknob, ready to depart.
“And another thing, Miss Evangeline.” The sheriff smiled broadly. “If there’s such a thing as vigilante justice going on in this town, and I don’t say there is, mind you, but if there was, I can think of at least one other person who might be dishing it out right alongside me. Don’t it seem that way to you, ma’am?”
Evangeline opened the door to let herself out. Affecting a slight drawl, she said over her shoulder, “Yes, sheriff, I reckon so.”
***
When Evangeline got back home, she found Serafina seated in the front parlor with Delphine hovering over her, a cup of tea in hand. Freddie was still standing in the foyer doing a slow burn.
“She won’t let me go in there.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “She said I might upset the young lady. Engie, one of these days, I swear...”
Evangeline patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t fret. I’ll protect you.”
The lady of the house walked over to the open door of the parlor. “Delphine, you must let Monsieur Freddie in here. He is my guest.”
The housekeeper looked up from her ministrations in disgust. “What stories has le jeune monsieur been telling you? He may go where he likes. Ça ne me fait rien! As you can see, I have other concerns.”
Evangeline shot a significant look in Freddie’s direction and gestured him toward the parlor. “It’s safe now. You may enter.”
Freddie sniffed once in irritation and proceeded to throw himself on the loveseat, glaring wordlessly at Delphine while she fussed over Serafina.
Evangeline was about to follow him into the room when an orange ball of fur came hurtling down the stairs and did its best to attach itself to Evangeline’s ankle. “Ah, Monsieur Beauvoir! Mon petit cher!” she cried, scooping up the cat. “How I have missed you!”
Her tone of voice when addressing the cat never failed to disgust Freddie. “I’ve never seen you fuss over a human the way you do over that beast! I can be gone for two months and the only greeting I’ll get from you on my return is ‘Oh, there you are Freddie.’”
“It’s because he doesn’t have a talent for making irritating observations, as you so often do.” She seated herself in an armchair, the cat purring contentedly in her lap.
Delphine turned to regard the tabby a moment. “Voila, now he comes to life. When you are gone, cherie, all he will do is sleep.”
“Mais, il mange aussi, n’est-ce pas?” Evangeline sounded alarmed.
“Oui, il mange bien. That he does also. Eat and sleep. Sleep and eat. That is all. I tell him to run and go catch the fat little mice in the basement. He looks at me. C’est tout! He goes back to sleep.”
Addressing the cat, Evangeline was all seriousness. “I won’t be gone much longer. Just be patient. I’ll be coming home very soon now.” The cat meowed a soft acknowledgement, then transferred his attention to Serafina.
“Ah, he remembers me.” The medium laughed as the cat walked over to stand by her chair, inviting her to stroke his head.
“But of course,” Evangeline assented. “They never forget.”
“Just like elephants,” Freddie observed.
Evangeline gave him a pained look and turned back to Serafina. “My dear, you really do need to get some rest. I’d like to stay and see you comfortably settled, but I’m afraid I have to go back to the city. There are still matters I need to wrap up there.”
Serafina continued to stroke the cat’s fur. “I would also like to go back to the city.”
“You would?” Freddie sounded shocked. “After what you’ve been through?”
“It is better if I do not stay in Shore Cliff.” She took a small sip of tea. “There are too many bad things here to remember. And my guides, they will not return until I am far from here.”
“Of course, my dear, of course.” Evangeline hastened to reassure her. “Whatever you wish. My carriage is at your disposal. Where would you like us to take you?”
“I think perhaps I will go to the Templar House.”
“You’d really rather stay at a hotel at a time like this?” Freddie asked in surprise.
“Si, it is better for me. I can be alone to think and to rest.”
“I quite agree with her, Freddie.” Evangeline turned to face her friend. “Sometimes the anonymity of a hotel is just the thing. All that hustle and bustle but none of it having to do with you. It’s really the best place to be alone.” She transferred her attention back to Serafina. “Would you like to stay the night here or collect your things and move on?”
The medium hesitated for a moment. “If it does not cause a great difficulty for you, today would be better.”
“Certainly. Just as you wish.” Evangeline began to organize the expedition. She turned to Delphine, who was still in the room. “Is Serafina’s maid still here?”
“Fannie? Oui, she has been helping chez nous. She is upstairs, I think.”
“Please tell her to pack Miss Serafina’s clothes at once.”
“Bien sur, cherie.” Delphine departed, choosing to step over Freddie’s outstretched leg as if he didn’t exist.
Thinking aloud, Evangeline continued making plans. “Oh, and I suppose Fannie will have to go round to the Allworthy villa and collect whatever was left there. We’ll need the carriage for that. Freddie?”
“What!” the young man snapped peevishly, still glaring at Delphine’s departing back.
“Could you please go find the gardener and arrange for him to hitch up the horses. You’ll have to do the honors of driving, I’m afraid, since Jack is in town today. He can bring the barouche back here tomorrow.”
Shaking himself out of his dark mood now that he had some employment, Freddie nodded and went to arrange transportation for the small party.
Evangeline and Serafina were alone in the parlor, with the exception of Beau, who decided to stay as long as he had two doting subjects who were willing to lavish attention on him.
“Well, it’s over at last,” Evangeline observed.
“Yes,” Serafina said quietly. “Almost.”
“It’s as good as over. Martin is long gone by now.”
The medium contradicted her in a soft voice. “No, he is not.”
“You know where he is?” Evangeline sat forward excitedly.
Serafina shook her head. “No, I still cannot see many things clearly as I used to. All I feel is that he is near. Somewhere very close. And he is afraid.”
“He ought to be! He’s being hunted by the police.”
Serafina knit her brows in concentration as a new thought struck her. “Not only that. I feel something else. It is like he is grieving for something.”
“For the inheritance he’s going to lose, I suppose.”
“No, it is not a feeling like that. It is more like...” She paused, trying to focus on the emotion. “Like... I think the word is regret. For something he should have done that he did not do.”
“I suppose he regrets that he got caught red-handed when he shouldn’t have been.”
The medium’s eyes were serious. “There is a heaviness in his heart for another person.”
“Euphemia?” Evangeline was incredulous.
“I cannot be sure, but I do not think so. I feel it is another person for whom he is sad.”
“It’s hard to imagine he feels any regret for murdering Nora, but I suppose only time will tell. You’re really convinced he’s still somewhere in the area?”
“Of that much, I am sure. As I am also sure he feels two things very strongly—fear and regret.” Serafina finished her cup of tea and bent down to stroke the cat who had curled up at her feet.
At that moment Freddie poked his head into the parlor. “Ladies, your chariot awaits.”
Chapter 29—Dearest Nemesis
Evangeline sighed as she sank into her favorite chair by the window. “It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it.”
“Certainly has.” Freddie yawned in agreement, settling himself on the drawing room couch.
The two had just returned to Evangeline’s brownstone in Chicago after depositing Serafina comfortably in a room at the Templar House Hotel.
“Well, we did it. She’s been freed at last,” the young man observed. “Though I still think it’s odd that she didn’t want to stay at your house in Shore Cliff for a few days to rest.”
Evangeline smiled regretfully. “If I were her, I wouldn’t have wanted to stay there either. Too many unpleasant associations with death. No, on the whole, I think she made a wise decision to check into a hotel. What she needs now is peace and quiet to restore her spirit without too many people bothering her. As she would say, to bring her guides back. I’ll send a message to Theophilus asking him to look in on her to make sure she’s all right. I also intend to drop by to see her over the course of the next few days.”
“It was a lucky break for us that Martin couldn’t tell his poisons apart. If the packet had contained potassium cyanide instead of the other kind, we’d have had a rough go trying to get Serafina released, even with Allworthy being hunted for another crime.”
Evangeline sounded contemplative. “Yes, I’ve been pondering that little mix-up for a while. I don’t think Martin was responsible for the mistake.”
“Then who was?”
“Bayne.”
Freddie nodded in agreement. “I suppose that would make sense.”
Evangeline rubbed her head wearily as she thought through the probable chain of events. “We could verify this with Mr. Sparrow, but I suspect that Bayne went back to Hyperion the night after Euphemia died. He was acting on Martin’s instructions. It was most likely he who took the poison out of the supply room and planted it in Serafina’s chamber. It would have been far too risky for Martin to attempt that since he knew he was already a suspect in his wife’s murder. Luckily, Bayne must have taken such a lackadaisical interest in the workings of the factory that he wouldn’t have known what was kept in the storeroom and consequently got the packages confused. It’s unlikely that Martin would have made that same mistake.”
Freddie laughed derisively. “So Bayne ended up getting even with Martin for murdering him after all. His error made it easier to discredit Martin’s accusation. Too bad he never lived to see his revenge.”
“If he hadn’t been killed, Serafina would still be the principal suspect in Euphemia’s murder.”
The young man’s smile broadened. “That’s two good turns he did us without even realizing his contribution. And, with Serafina free, that’s one problem solved and one to go.” He lightly made a show of dusting off his hands.
Evangeline frowned. “The knottier problem, to be sure.”
“Have the police come up with anything about Martin yet?”
“Not so far. I checked with Sergeant O’Rourke yesterday when I dropped off the miniature portrait of Nora for him to keep as evidence. They haven’t been able to turn up any trace of Allworthy since Bayne was killed.”
“Not too surprising, considering the situation.”
At that moment, Jack quietly opened the drawing room doors. “Will you or Mr. Freddie be wanting anything to eat, Miss Engie?”
Evangeline looked questioningly toward her companion. He shook his head in the negative. “Just a cup of tea for me, Jack. That’s all.”
The caretaker nodded and went off to the kitchen to tell the cook.
Evangeline resumed the conversation. “Well, at least the Chicago police seem fairly convinced that Martin is responsible for the deaths of Nora, Euphemia and Bayne. It didn’t require much argument on my part to bring them around to that conclusion.”
“What do you suppose the family will do about Euphemia’s funeral now?” Freddie rested his head against the back of the sofa.
“Martin’s disappearance has made things rather awkward. The wake was supposed to be held over the weekend, but no one’s stepped forward to take charge of the situation.”
“That raises another interesting question. Who gets everything now that Martin is unlikely to surface to claim his inheritance?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s very likely to be Bessie.”
“Cousin Bessie?” Freddie cried in disbelief. “The one with the ugly—”
Evangeline interrupted irritably. “Oh, Freddie, don’t say it! May I point out that since Cousin Bessie is a widow, her less-than-lovely offspring is very likely to inherit a great fortune, making her instantly attractive to any number of men whose object in matrimony is the acquisition of a mint instead of a mate.”
“Maybe so,” the young man grumbled, ”but it’s hard to believe that anybody could be that hard up for cash!”
“Frederick Simpson! You are a beast!” Evangeline would have continued to upbraid her friend, but she was interrupted by the return of one of the maids bearing a tea tray.
The girl set it down on the table by her mistress.
“Thank you, Daisy. Would you call Jack in to start a fire? It’s gotten surprisingly chilly in here for midsummer
.”
The maid was about to go in search of the caretaker when Freddie, as a gesture of repentance for his callousness, interposed. “I’ll take care of it.” He stood up and walked over to the grate.
“Thank you, Daisy. That’s all. You may go.” Evangeline dismissed the maid who let herself silently out of the drawing room.
As he began the task of stacking logs in the cold fireplace, Freddie spoke over his shoulder. “Well, somebody’s going to have to make a decision soon about when to bury Euphemia. I hate to be blunt, but it’s not the sort of thing that can be put off much longer, especially at this time of year.”
“I agree.” Evangeline lifted her teacup to her lips. “I’ll telephone Bessie in the morning to find out if a date has been set.” She frowned as a new thought struck her. “This is extremely unsatisfying.”
“What is, old girl?” Freddie sat back on his heels to study the fitful flames beginning to rise. “Your tea?”
“No, not my tea, Freddie. The fact that three people are dead and the murderer still has his liberty.”
The young man stood up, dusted off his jacket and returned to the sofa. “The police might catch him yet.”
“If they don’t, I’ll have to pick up the trail myself, I suppose.”
“And do what? Race cross-country to ferret him out?”
“If necessary.” The lady took another sip of tea.
At that moment, Jack re-entered the room.
“It’s all right, Jack. We don’t need you to build the fire...” The puzzled look on the caretaker’s face stopped Evangeline in mid-sentence.
He stepped into the center of the room and handed her an envelope. “There was a boy just now at the door, Miss Engie. He said a man paid him a dollar to deliver this letter to you.”
Evangeline sat up in her chair, all vestiges of drowsiness gone.
Freddie walked over to see the note. “What is it?” He leaned over her chair in curiosity as she opened the envelope. Checking the signature first, she gasped, and then began to read aloud.
Shrouded In Thought (Gilded Age Mysteries Book 2) Page 28