by Sonia Parin
As Sir Richard moved away, Evie murmured, “This has to be a lead. In fact, it’s probably the first one we have. Proof someone here is responsible for Isabel’s silence.”
Evie and Tom spent a few minutes observing the car rally group.
Intrigued, Evie asked, “Are they playing a game?”
“Yes, I believe it’s the word game, hangman. You know, for every wrong letter guessed, a body part is drawn hanging from the gallows.”
“Oh, yes. My brother loved that game.” Evie shivered. “They are obsessed with murder. Did you know, in the 1700s, criminals sentenced to death by hanging were occasionally given the opportunity to play the game? The executioner would pick a word. If the criminal guessed the letters in the word, his life would be spared. In a cruel twist of fate, many of the criminals of the time were illiterate.” Shaking her head, Evie added, “Here’s another tidbit. Some people were hung for receiving stolen goods.”
“Are you suggesting we line them all up and march them off to the gallows for inadvertently trafficking in cocaine?”
“I said no such thing.”
“But you entertained the thought.”
Evie shrugged. “I’m still cross with Phillipa. She’s not gullible.” Evie tapped her chin. “Maybe she’s trying to fit in and that’s why she didn’t question finding a parcel in her trunk with instructions to delivery it. Now that I think about it, they might all be trying to fit in.” Evie checked her watch. “I should go up. You could go out the other door and meet me at the bottom of the stairs. We were serious about needing a lookout.”
“You mean, a stooge.” Tom set his cup of coffee down. “What exactly are you hoping to find?”
“A clue. Some sort of physical evidence of wrongdoing or involvement.” Also, Evie hoped Caro would identify the skirt the woman who had approached Lorenzo had worn. “I’m surprised the detective hasn’t already checked everyone’s luggage.”
“He meant to but,” Tom said, “unlike you, he didn’t think of sneaking around. He needs a couple of constables at hand to keep an eye on everyone.”
“I don’t see any point in waiting for him.”
“So, you won’t take offence when he catches you meddling?” Tom asked.
“I’ll try to remain impervious. Besides, I’m sure he’ll forgive me once he learns of our progress. Someone here is responsible for scaring Isabel into silence.”
Tom chortled. “You haven’t seen the contents of the letter. Someone might have wanted to express their condolences and convey their best wishes for a swift recovery.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Evie met Caro at the top of the stairs. “We’ll have to be methodical and quick about it.”
“I assume we’re looking for a piece of clothing I can identify. What else?” Caro asked.
“Anything. Something to link someone to Lorenzo’s death.”
Tom appeared. “I thought you were meeting me at the bottom of the stairs.”
“Did I say bottom? I’m sure I meant the top of the stairs. Now that you’re here, let’s work on our signals. If you see someone coming… walk by the door and knock.”
“And what will you do?” Tom asked, his tone amused.
“We’ll figure something out.”
“They won’t come up,” Caro said.
“You sound confident.”
Caro sighed. “No one ever returns to their room after they have gone down in the morning. If they need anything, they send their maid or valet and if they don’t have one, they send a house maid. Everyone knows they need to allow the maids access to the rooms so the beds can be made and the rooms cleaned.”
“Oh.” Evie looked and sounded surprised.
Caro chortled. “Are you telling me you were not aware of the unspoken rule?”
“I don’t wish to contradict you, but last night I came to get my own wrap.”
Caro tilted her head. “And is that what you would normally do?”
Evie looked askance. Normally, she would have asked a footman to pass on a message to Caro. “My maid had been otherwise occupied playing the role of Lady Carolina.”
“Are we going to do this?” Tom asked.
Caro and Evie nodded.
Inside the first room, Evie said, “This must be Marjorie’s room. I remember seeing her with a golf club.” She pointed to one resting against the bed.
“Now that we are actually doing this, I feel awkward,” Caro admitted. “It’s an invasion of privacy.”
“Relax. I’ve done this before and we are well justified, Caro or is it Carolina? By the way, that is a pretty dress.”
“Yes, I’ve often admired it on you. Just as well I packed some extra clothes for you.” Caro held up a small leather-bound notebook. “It looks like a diary or some sort of itinerary. She has the name of villages listed along with numbers. I assume those are distances traveled.”
Evie searched the drawers for pen and paper. “Make a quick note of some of those dates and places. We’ll pass the information on to the detective and he can see if they make sense.” She looked over Caro’s shoulder. “Is there any mention of Lorenzo?”
“None that I can see at a glance,” Caro murmured. “Have a look while I search through the wardrobe.”
Evie flipped through the pages. “By the way, do you remember if you heard the person remark ‘It’s done’ before or after Isabel and Lorenzo left.”
“After.”
“You didn’t have to think about it. Are you sure?”
Caro nodded. “After I watched their departure from your bedroom window, I made my way along the gallery. That’s when I heard the remark. Everyone had been making their way back inside.” Caro grumbled under her breath. “Nothing here.”
They moved on to the next room.
Seeing a headband she recognized on the dresser, Evie said, “This is Unique’s room. I remember the headband.”
Caro picked up a couple of photographs. “It’s the car rally group.”
Studying one of the photographs, Evie said, “Am I imagining it, or is Lark Wainscot always with Edward Spencer?” They stood together and slightly apart from the group. Tapping her chin, Evie added, “There’s something else I wanted to ask you. Did Lark Wainscot tell you Lord Alexander Saunders had a title?”
“Yes. He will inherit a healthy estate but he still wishes to find an heiress.”
How odd, Evie thought. “Lark seems to have gone into great detail. Yet, I couldn’t find his name on Burke’s Peerage.”
“Is there such a thing as a new title?” Caro asked.
Evie gave it some thought. “Occasionally but rarely, new titles are formed but they are usually bestowed upon a member of the royal family.”
Caro set down the photographs. “Why would Lark lie about Alexander having a title?”
Why indeed…
“To think,” Caro continued, “I might have been duped into marrying him.”
“I’m sure his lack of title would have come up during the marriage contract.”
Caro giggled. “I suspect I might have taken the ruse that far. I really am having tremendous fun being Lady Carolina.”
The door to the room opened a nudge.
Evie and Caro froze. Then, exchanging a panicked look, Evie grabbed hold of Caro and pulled her down and toward the bed.
Down on all fours, they again exchanged a look of panic before scrambling to take cover under the bed.
Evie heard the light footsteps moving across the room. Then silence as the person walked over the rug. They would have to wait until the person left the room.
She hadn’t done something like this since she’d played hide and seek with her brother…
What if they didn’t leave the room?
Caro clutched Evie’s hand. They both held their breaths, their eyes widening as they saw a pair of feet approaching the bed.
“Hello?”
Caro grumbled. “It’s Phillipa.” She crawled out from under the bed, straightened and helped E
vie to her feet. “You startled us.”
Grinning, Phillipa said, “Tom warned me I might catch you in the act. Did you really think you could hide under the bed?”
“Where else would you have suggested?” Evie gave her a lifted eyebrow look. “What are you doing here?”
“I noticed you all left the drawing room. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m some sort of suspect.”
Looking at Evie, Caro said, “Perhaps Phillipa knows if Lord Alexander Saunders has a title or not.”
“It’s never really come up.” Phillipa shrugged. “No one ever really uses their title unless they need to in order to secure a roof over our heads.”
“Well, Alexander is not listed in Burke’s Peerage. Why would Lark Wainscot make it up?”
“She’s an actress. She’s always making things up.”
Evie laughed. “The same could be said about most of the people in the group. Especially those wishing to become writers.”
As she rummaged through Unique’s wardrobe, Caro said, “Nothing beige here. Unique favors bold colors with patterns.”
“Great.” Evie turned toward the door. “That’s another person off our list. Let’s find Lark’s room.” Just as Evie turned the doorknob, she heard voices. Tom’s and someone else’s.
Isabel’s.
Evie pressed her finger to her lips calling for silence and pressed her ear to the door.
After a moment, she turned to the others. “Isabel needs some fresh air.”
She eased the door open a fraction and checked to make sure Isabel had moved on.
When she turned to say they could proceed, something caught her eye.
A hat sat on a small trunk. Evie strode toward it and examined it.
“What are you looking at?” Phillipa asked.
“The hat pin. Would you say this could be used to pierce through a tire?”
“Yes, with some effort.”
Caro giggled. “Milady, I believe all the ladies in the car rally group have now become suspects. At this stage, you’re supposed to cross people off the list, not add names to it.”
“Thank you for pointing that out, Caro.” Evie set the hat down. Turning, she swept her gaze across the room and, as she did, she looked out of the window. “Is that Isabel?” She appeared to be walking at a brisk pace. Every few steps she took, she looked over her shoulder and then hurried her step.
“Would someone like to volunteer to go after Isabel and make sure she doesn’t come to any harm?”
Phillipa took a step back while Caro looked away and tried to avoid Evie’s gaze.
“I take it neither one of you wishes to be landed with the task.”
“She’s your friend,” Caro whispered.
“Fine. I’ll go after her and you two can search Lark’s room.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Evie tried to be as discreet as possible, leaving the house unnoticed. She strode at a sedate pace, looking up, shielding her eyes to catch sight of a bird sweeping across the sky. Yes, she thought, anyone seeing her would think she had gone out for a stroll and a breath of fresh air.
By the time she had stepped out of the house, she had lost sight of Isabel. Evie hoped she hadn’t gone far.
Ten minutes into her walk, she thought she spotted her. Evie hurried her step and called out her name.
Another few minutes and she finally saw Isabel sitting in the folly, leaning against a column, her legs tucked under her, a handbag on her lap.
Where had she planned on going?
She didn’t look too happy to see Evie. In fact, she didn’t even bother to lift the edge of her lip.
Did this have something to do with her loss? Had it all finally sunk in?
Evie considered apologizing for the intrusion. Instead, she sat beside Isabel and patted her hand. “Your folks should be here soon.”
“Yes, I daresay, they will be.” Slipping her hands inside the large pockets of her coat, Isabel tipped her head back and sighed. “They’ll expect me to return with them, but that is not going to happen.” Brightening, Isabel sat up and gave a firm nod. “There is too much to do and see here.”
“Of course, you’ve grown used to traveling and constantly moving around. But where will you go?”
“Lorenzo and I were recently in Monaco. I made a ton of connections there. He met up with friends who wish to set up a race. It’s going to be a big affair. Then, there’s Italy. We were there last year. Again, we met so many people, I won’t have any trouble getting around. Even if I returned to America I doubt I’d be able to sit still in New York or Rhode Island. Lorenzo and I traveled all year round, from one race to the other.”
“Did you plan on returning to America with him?”
“Not for a while. He wanted to stay in England. When he heard Brooklands had opened again, we headed here.”
“Had it been closed?”
Isabel nodded. “During the war and then for repairs.”
“Where were you before you ended up at Brooklands?”
“North of England. I loved it. We drove from one town to the other and all the villages in-between, up and down, across and then back again. It felt like a honeymoon. Just the two of us.”
Had Lorenzo been distributing his cocaine? Had he then found a new distribution route when he went to Brooklands? A route already covered by the car rally group? Although…
They had also been distributing in the north of England. That’s where Phillipa had been, while the rest of the car rally group had been driving around the south of England.
Isabel sat up and adjusted her hat.
Evie looked at her as she continued to think about the possible connection to trafficking. She focused on Isabel’s hat. It had an upturned brim, like a sailor’s hat…
Evie frowned. She’d seen a similar hat recently.
Had it been a hat?
Evie leaned back against the column. No, not a hat. A sailor’s top with a skirt that had actually been wide legged trousers. Cream colored. The sort of outfit one might wear on a sunny day out boating.
Huzzah!
Evie felt a rush of excitement even before the full picture took shape in her mind.
Surging to her feet, she said, “I suppose you came out here to have some peace and quiet. I’ll leave you to it.”
“Wait a minute. I know that look. You just had some sort of idea and… and… Did I say something? I’m sure I didn’t.”
“I’ll see you back at the house.” Evie took off at a trot. She knew she needed to wait until the detective returned, and she would but, in the meantime, she could tell the others.
“Stop,” Isabel called out.
Hearing the desperation in Isabel’s voice, Evie slowed down long enough for Isabel to catch up to her.
“Whatever you are going to do, don’t. You can’t.”
“What do you mean?” Evie asked, her voice full of innocence.
“You’ve figured something out. I know you’ve been trying to get some sort of information out of me just because… because I said something silly.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been asking me if I remember someone approaching Lorenzo. Now you’ve somehow figured out who it is. You can’t do anything about it. Let it go.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
Isabel grabbed hold of Evie and pulled her back. “She’s dangerous.”
“She killed your husband. Don’t you want justice?”
“She’ll kill me too. She said she would.”
“Did you know?”
Isabel tugged her back.
“Isabel. Did you know what Lorenzo was doing?”
“They threatened his life if he didn’t do it,” Isabel cried out.
“Who’s they?”
“I don’t know.”
It sounded as if the detective would have bigger fish to deal with. Evie shook her head. “She needs to be stopped.” Evie broke free and, in the struggle, she nearly lost he
r shoe.
Isabel grabbed her again and for a moment, Evie thought Isabel would wallop her with her handbag.
“You can’t,” Isabel growled.
The ground remained slightly soggy from the recent rain, so Evie used that as an advantage to gain some leverage. When she broke free again, she turned the tables on Isabel and, grabbing hold of her, pulled her along.
Despite the tug of war, they managed to get to the house just as a car sped past the porticoed entrance to Warwick Hall, presumably headed toward the gates.
“That’s her,” Evie bellowed.
A second later, Tom’s roadster sped by. Evie saw him hunched over the steering wheel in hot pursuit.
Seeing this, Isabel loosened her hold long enough for Evie to drag her back to the house just as Caro burst out through the front door.
“She nearly killed us,” Caro yelled.
“What?”
“She came up and, when she saw Tom standing outside her room, she pulled out a revolver. Phillipa and I had just searched her room and we were coming out to share our find with Tom.” Caro held up a small bottle. “We found this. Tom says it’s the sleeping powder used with the cocaine.”
“Where’s Phillipa?”
“She’s trying to contact the detective. Tom told her to try the local constabulary.”
Evie looked one way and then the other before she made the firm decision and headed toward the stables.
“Where are you going?” Isabel demanded.
“I’m going to follow them.”
“But you don’t know how to drive,” Caro called out.
Evie picked up her skirt and put more effort into reaching the stable yard. Seeing her chauffeur, she called out, “Edmonds, start the car.” Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Isabel and Caro catching up to her.
“I’m coming too.”
Isabel yelped. “So am I.”
They all jumped inside the Duesenbert.
“Step on it, Edmonds.”
“As you wish, milady.”
“When I said step on it, I actually meant, really step on it. Go as fast as you can.”
“Certainly, milady.” Edmonds cleared his throat. “Hold on to your hats, ladies.”