Four Red Diamonds (A Lady Marmalade Mystery Short Story Collection Book 1)

by Jason Blacker

  “We have dinner served at eight-thirty,” he said, “in the first class dining carriage. It’s the next one up from here. It will be a wonderful opportunity to mingle with others.”

  “Thank you, Joseph,” said Lady Marmalade. “I might do that.”

  He bowed and left, closing her door behind him. Lady Marmalade picked up her magazine which was at her side and continued to flip through it. Her mind was distracted. She had recently been reminded of the loss of her husband Eric. Heading up to York to tidy up some of her husband’s estate was painful now, compared to how their first trip to York had gone. She had hoped to do some paperwork on the trip up. But perhaps the casual distraction of company might better suit her mood at this time.

  She took a few minutes to freshen up in the attached lavatory before she headed out into the hallway. It was practically empty. As she made her way up, the door to a compartment just ahead opened up. She heard some voices.

  “We really should have gotten two compartments, Father,” said a woman’s voice.

  “Not likely, not for such a short haul,” said a man’s voice.

  “You’re so bloody cheap,” said the same female voice.

  Lady Marmalade made her way past the door and as she peered in, she was met with a terse smile from Ethel Carpenter. Major Moss and Ethel were just leaving their compartment as Lady Marmalade passed them on her way up the hallway. Frances smiled warmly back at them. Major Moss had his back towards her and Lady Marmalade only saw Ethel’s face with its terse smile as she passed.

  The dining carriage was not large, but could easily fit a dozen or more guests from first class. However, the train was not busy on this particular evening and there was only one table set. It was a rectangular table with three chairs to each side.

  “Good evening, ma’am,” said the waiter. “I’m Evan Cross and I’ll be your waiter and maître d’ for the evening.”

  He showed her to a seat at the end of the table. There were only two others already seated when Lady Marmalade arrived. An older man in his late fifties or early sixties was seated directly across from her. Next to him, in the middle of that row, was a young woman, likely in her thirties with a horse’s mouth.

  “How do you do?” said Lady Marmalade to her table guests. “I’m Frances Marmalade.”

  The older man who stood as Lady Marmalade was seated, sat back down.

  “I’m Lewis Bryan,” he said cheerily.

  Lady Marmalade smiled at him.

  “And I’m Winnie Smith,” said the woman with a horse’s mouth.

  Lady Marmalade smiled and nodded at her. Winnie smiled back, bearing a full set of chompers that looked like they had been put overtop of her real teeth.

  Major Jasper Moss and Ethel Carpenter made it into the dining carriage and were seated by Evan Cross. He seated Major Moss in the middle next to Lady Marmalade and he was about to seat Ethel next to her father but she protested, requesting the seat next to Winnie Smith, which she took.

  “Very well,” said Major Moss. “This is the last time I take you on a trip with me.”

  He was talking to Ethel, who ignored him. She had taken her napkin and was folding it over her lap. Lady Marmalade took this moment to introduce herself again.

  “Major Jasper Moss,” said the Major. “I’m a highly decorated veteran of both wars.”

  He was pushed back further from the table than the rest of them due to his rotund belly. His face was still ruddy and when he spoke his wispy mustache quivered above his upper lip like a scared worm.

  “Fascinating,” said Lady Marmalade.

  “I’m Ethel Carpenter,” said Ethel.

  And that’s all she said.

  “Are you two related?” asked Lady Marmalade, looking at both Ethel and Major Moss.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” said Ethel sighing, “he’s my father.”

  “Don’t mind her,” said Major Moss, “she’s been a spoilt child all her life.”

  Ethel rolled her eyes at him but didn’t add anything else to the conversation. Winnie Smith and Lewis Bryan introduced themselves.

  “Though you know me of course, don’t you?” said Lewis to Major Moss.

  “Now’s not the time Lewis,” said Major Moss.

  Lewis bit his lip and was about to say something when Captain Isaac Houghton came in. He was seated, by the waiter, to Major Moss’ right.

  Introductions were again made amongst those who didn’t know each other.

  “Major,” said Captain Houghton, “it’s been some time, hasn’t it.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Major Moss, “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “Oh, yes,” said Captain Houghton, “we’ve met, all right. You sent six of my best men to their deaths in this last war.”

  It was hard to tell if Major Moss was embarrassed by that comment or not. His face being red to begin with, blushing might not give it a stronger hue. He looked down at his lap and then back up at Captain Houghton.

  “Ah, yes,” he said. “I remember, now. War is a dirty business Captain, and unfortunately lives are lost. I did not however, send those men to their deaths. You were in charge of them. Perhaps you ought to do some soul searching instead of blaming?”

  Captain Houghton was about to respond when Evan came by with their menus.

  “Would you like any drinks?” asked Evan.

  “Scotch, straight,” said Major Moss, not waiting for Lady Marmalade or the other ladies to order first.

  Evan looked over at Lady Marmalade.

  “For you, ma’am?” he asked.

  “Just a pot of tea, if you don’t mind,” she said.

  Evan nodded, then he looked at Winnie Smith.

  “Oh, I don’t know, how about a glass of Chardonnay,” she said.

  Evan nodded again and looked at Ethel.

  “Same as her,” she said.

  “I’ll have a Scotch over ice,” said Lewis.

  Evan nodded and wrote it down on his paper. He was wearing a white uniform with white gloves and a white cap. Lastly, he looked at Captain Houghton.

  “Gin and tonic,” he said.

  Evan bowed slightly and left the table to get their drinks ready.

  “You bloody well knew you were sending us on a suicide mission,” said Captain Houghton, resuming his previous conversation.

  “Now, look here, Isaac, I made the call. You were in charge. We don’t have the ability of hindsight when we’re in the heat of battle. You ended up taking that hill, didn’t you? And because of that, countless men’s lives were saved. Sadly, sometimes some men are sacrificed.”

  Major Moss slammed his fist down on the table.

  “You should have, and could have, waited for an airstrike. If you had done that, like I had asked at the time, we might not have sacrificed any men and we would have still been able to take the hill. You’ve always been an arrogant and conceited man,” said Captain Houghton.

  “Get over yourself,” said Major Moss, picking up his knife in an intimidating fashion.

  “Gentleman,” said Lewis, “there are ladies at our table. Perhaps we can mind our manners.”

  “That would be nice,” said Lady Marmalade.

  “Agreed,” said Winnie Smith.

  And then Evan came back carrying a tray with their drinks on it. He handed the drinks around and then asked if everyone had decided on what they’d like to eat. They hadn’t, so he said he’d give them all a few minutes. It was twenty minutes to nine, and they were now outside of London, the train clacking and clicking along the track with a slight rhythmical swaying that hardly anyone noticed.

  It was quiet for a few minutes at the table as everyone pointed their noses at their menus, trying to decide what to eat. There were only three choices. But three good choices for those who would be hungry enough to eat on a short two and a half hour train trip.

  Nobody spoke to each other or even asked what the others thought of the menu and the choices. The choices were red meat, poultry and fish. Most often Evan had noti
ced that fish or poultry was a safe bet for the women and nine times out of ten, the men would choose red meat.

  Evan watched them from the bar at the far end of the carriage. He was leaning on the countertop watching the six of them twist their mouths into odd shapes and patterns as they tried to decide what to order. Usually, there would be a bartender here, but that was only on longer trips. A short trip like this and he was both maître d’, bartender and waiter all in one. He hadn’t been working for the London and North Eastern Railway for all that long. In fact, he could count on his one hand the number of trips he had made as an employee of LNER.

  Lady Marmalade looked up to catch Evan’s attention. But Evan was deep in thought, his eyes cast downward. Major Moss looked up towards Evan and seeing him deep in thought he clicked his fingers together abrasively and rapidly.

  Evan looked up. He wanted to bite the pompous man’s head off. Instead he smiled and walked over to the table. “It would be a long night,” he thought.

  “Are we ready to order?” he asked.

  “Bloody right, we are,” said Major Moss. “A person could starve to death waiting on the service here.”

  “Unlikely to be you,” thought Evan, looking at Major Moss’ pregnant belly.

  “I’ll take the steak, rare,” said Major Moss, “and you can hold the carrots and the green beans and just leave the baked potato.”

  “And I’ll take the ladies’ orders first, if you don’t mind, Major,” said Evan smiling beatifically at him.

  “Well I… yes, very well,” said Major Moss, looking more flustered than usual.

  He bought his fingers up to his mustache and flattened it out against his lip, trying for something to do.

  “My Lady,” said Evan to Lady Marmalade.

  “Grand choice,” Evan said.

  “And you,” he said to Ethel.

  “I’ll take the steak, rare if you please, and I’ll keep the veggies too,” she said.

  “Excellent,” said Evan, though finding her choice of the steak to be quite unsettling coming from a woman, and especially it being rare.

  He looked at Winnie.

  “I’ll have the chicken, please,” she said.

  “Another fine choice,” said Evan, scribbling on his waiter’s pad. “And I have yours Major.”

  Evan tried his best to offer a sincere smile that come out more like a wince.

  “And if it’s not rare, young man,” said Major Moss, “I’ll be sending it right back.”

  Evan didn’t say anything to that. He looked over at Lewis Bryan.

  “The chicken, if you could be so kind,” Lewis said.

  Evan nodded at him and wrote it down. And lastly he looked at Captain Houghton.

  “The fish sounds good,” said Captain Houghton.

  “It is,” said Evan.

  He was both surprised and intrigued by their orders. He was counting on three steaks from the men and a mix of poultry and fish from the women. He got two steaks but one of those was from Ethel. The chicken for Lewis he could understand, some men were cautious that way. But the fish for the Captain was astonishing. He hardly understood such a choice by a man, especially a man who had served in the infantry.

  What Evan didn’t know, was that Captain Houghton’s nervous condition not only made him agitated but also left him with an upset stomach which found it hard to keep heavy foods down. And he was long finished trying to explain himself to every Tom, Dick and waiter who looked at him funny.

  Captain Houghton stood up from the table.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” he said, “I’m off to the smoker for a quick break before dinner. If anyone care’s to join?”

  He looked around the table at blank faces. Ethel pushed her chair out and tossed her napkin on the table a little more forcefully than she needed.

  “I could use the distraction,” she said.

  “Super,” said Captain Houghton and the two of them left the dining carriage for the smoker which was the second one away, just behind the berth carriage.

  Major Moss looked after them before turning round to look at Lady Marmalade. She smiled at him benignly.

  “So what brings you to York, then?” he asked.

  “I need to clear up some estate matters of my late husband,” said Lady Marmalade.

  “Oh, dear,” said Winnie, “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  Lady Marmalade smiled at Winnie and her gray eyes creased and twinkled on her old but kind face.

  “It’s okay, dear,” said Lady Marmalade, “he’s been gone over a year now. It’ll be a year ago this September.”

  “How awful,” said Winnie.

  Lady Marmalade smiled again.

  “And what brings you here on this trip to York?” she asked Winnie.

  “Well, I’ve come to meet the man who is my father,” Winnie Smith said, looking down uncomfortably at her lap.

  “Does he know you’re coming?” asked Lady Marmalade.

  Winnie shook her head.

  “No,” she said, “I wanted to surprise him.”

  “You might want to be careful with that,” offered Major Moss. “Most men I know don’t like surprises you know.”

  “I know,” Winnie said, “that’s why I’ve come to see you in person.”

  For a moment Major Moss didn’t say anything. The remark had drifted over his balding pate. Then slowly, like rain falling from high clouds onto parched soil, the knowledge nudged into the recesses of his mind.

  “I beg your pardon,” he said.

  “I’ve come to see you,” said Winnie again. “I want to know the man who is supposed to be my father. And that’s you.”

  The last bit she blurted out with an exclamation. She then cast her eyes downward again where her hands were knitting themselves together into knots of hopeful anticipation.

  “Good heavens,” said Major Moss, “I thought you were some sort of crackpot. So you’re the one who has been sending me all those nonsensical letters signed by a Winifred?”

  Winnie looked up at him and her eyes were wet but she hadn’t started to cry.

  “Yes,” she said softly, “and I’m not a crackpot,” she added even more softly.

  “Come now, girl,” said Major Moss. “How can I possibly be your father? Are you just after my money?” and turning to Lady Marmalade he said, “Many young girls are just after a man’s money nowadays you know.”

  Lady Marmalade didn’t say anything to that and she didn’t offer him a smile either. He was a difficult man to like and she had just barely met him.

  “You were stationed in Germany in 1915 and that’s when you met my mother. She worked at a tavern in Frankfurt. She was only nineteen and you took advantage of her,” said Winnie.

  Winnie was gaining confidence. She knew that the truth was on her side.

  “Preposterous,” said Major Moss. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

  He looked away having taken the last sip of his Scotch. He could use another one right about now. He raised his hand to click his fingers again, but Evan was not there. He had disappeared earlier into the kitchen carriage. Major Moss grumbled under his breath.

  “Her name was Yvonne Koehler,” said Winnie carrying on with her truth. “She told me all about you. And what she had to say was not very flattering. I want to know why you abandoned both of us.”

  “Listen, miss,” said Major Moss, not enjoying this conversation. “That was a long time ago and we were at war. It was a fling, I can’t help it that your mother got pregnant. And anyway, she never told me about you.”

  Major Moss looked away. He could really use another drink.

  “Oh, yes she did,” said Winnie. “She told me she wrote you over a dozen letters and you actually answered one of them. It was a Dear John letter, and you couldn’t bother even sending her a pound every so often. What kind of a man does that?”

  Major Moss shook his head and curled the corners of his mouth downward into a frown. He was as ruddy faced as he ever was.

&nb
sp; “Why do you care now; over thirty years later?” he asked.

  “Well, at first I thought we could get to know each other better. I thought maybe there was a chance that my mother had got it all wrong. That you were actually a nice man, perhaps misunderstood, but a nice man nonetheless. Now I can see how very wrong I have been.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek.

  “I thought she was lying. Do you have any idea how many women have tried to shake me down because I’ve had a little bit of money? How was I to know that your mother was actually pregnant or that you were actually my daughter?” asked Major Moss.

  Winnie fought back tears. Lady Marmalade found the whole conversation quite upsetting. She had been hoping for a quiet trip up to York. She had a lot on her mind, sad memories amongst them, and the last thing she wanted was to listen to other people’s arguments. She was thinking of leaving the table. However, she had ordered her food and she didn’t want to waste it. She’d leave as soon as she was done with her meal.

  “Well,” said Winnie, “any decent man worth his salt would have made sure that his daughter was provided for. You could have easily determined that I was yours just by verifying my birthdate which would have been nine months after you had been with my mother.”

  Winnie was exasperated and crying freely now.

  “I already hate you and I don’t even know you,” she said. “I wish I had never bothered.”

  She got up almost knocking her chair backwards. Her napkin fell to the floor and she didn’t notice. She dug her hands into her purse and pulled out a tissue to wipe her eyes as she stormed out of the carriage.

  Lewis brought his hands together and clapped. There were only the three of them together now. Lewis Bryan, Major Jasper Moss and poor Lady Frances Marmalade who wished she had stayed in her cabin. Lewis’ mouth snarled into a smirk.

  “Bravo,” Lewis said, still clapping slowly, sarcastically, “seems your pomposity knows no bounds. Is there anyone here who even likes you?”

  He looked at Lady Marmalade who had her hands folded in her lap. She looked down at the table where her pot of tea was. She busied herself with freshening her tea.

  “Oh, don’t you start,” said Major Moss to Lewis.