Nearly A Murder: A Violet Carlyle Historical Mystery (The Violet Carlyle Mysteries Book 22)

by Beth Byers

  “Your husbands are demanding to see you.”

  Margaret flinched but Ruth rolled her eyes. Vi met Ruth’s gaze and Ruth seemed to be trying to lift her brow.

  Vi laughed and said, “All right. The truth is, the obsessive Liam is demanding to see Margaret. However, Oskar demanded to see his mistress.”

  Ruth didn’t even react. She just stared blankly at Vi and then nodded.

  “He’s a beast!” Margaret told her twin. “He never deserved you.”

  “He l-l-l-lied for F-f-f-father’s m-m-money.” Her emotions were heightened and it was more difficult for her to speak.

  Violet held back a sigh. She had hoped that Ruth would reveal some reason why her husband might have tried to kill them both. Only, she was just confirming the same conclusion the rest of them had come to.

  Violet glanced at Jack and he nodded to the first mate who left and returned with Oskar Nielsen.

  “Ruth, darling,” Oskar said, his gaze moving over his wife, “thank God you’re fine.”

  “You wouldn’t have minded if she died,” Margaret shot out.

  “Oh, the silent one speaks,” Oskar snapped. He glanced at his audience and said, “I’m sorry, Margaret, it’s been a difficult few days. They’re keeping me in the brig and I’m on edge. I’m glad both of you survived.”

  Violet watched them like a hawk. You could almost see the old hatreds in the air. This wasn’t a family who supported and loved each other, but Vi hadn’t expected that fairy tale. Oskar spoke with them for a while and then Ruth said, “Father is coming to Norway to take Margaret and me home.”

  “What?” Oskar demanded. “No.”

  “Yes,” Ruth stammered.

  Margaret reached out for her sister’s hand and spoke for both of them. “Someone tried to kill us.”

  “We have vows!” Oskar snapped.

  “Which you’ve broken,” Margaret shot back. She was trembling, but she spoke up for her sister. “We’re leaving, and you can’t stand in our way.”

  “I can! She’s my wife.”

  “You won’t win. Not when Father steps in.”

  Oskar leaned back and Violet had a sudden idea that the true ruler in this situation was the distant father of the twins.

  “Perhaps the best thing you can do,” Violet inserted to see what he would say, “is to negotiate with your wife before her father arrives, so she can speak on your behalf.”

  “Negotiate?” Oskar growled. “She’s my wife.”

  “And,” Violet told him flatly, “that’s her father, and her father’s money. You have freedom to offer, and she has the potential ability to persuade her father not to abandon you entirely.”

  Oskar did not like that, but Violet told him, “She wants freedom, a generous allowance, and for you to leave her alone.”

  “An allowance!”

  “Or,” Violet told him flatly, “she’ll tell her father everything.”

  Vi had no idea what that meant, but she guessed that Oskar was up to more than just having a lover. It was a wild accusation based upon instinct, but the thing with generalities is that Oskar knew what he had been doing. He knew the worst of it, and it was that horror that was careening around his head.

  Oskar’s fury was high and Violet told him, “They don’t have anything to lose, Mr. Nielsen. It’s their very lives at risk. You’re past pleading and negotiations. This failed murder makes any situation where they’re able to live a better one.”

  He met Vi’s gaze and she lifted a brow, forcing him to see his wife’s point of view.

  “She’s right,” Jack told Oskar. “You should consider it. If they go home to their father, get the divorce that is almost inevitable, given that we all know you have been unfaithful and there is a clear argument to be made that you could have been the poisoner, the divorce would be granted.”

  Oskar slammed back and said, “I did not try to kill my wife or her whining sister.”

  “That is what any murderer would say,” Violet inserted.

  “I might let Ruth go,” Oskar said, and he grinned meanly, “but Liam will never let Margaret go.”

  Vi lifted a brow and told him, “Why don’t you leave that to us.” She had no idea how they were going to make that happen, but Oskar didn’t need to know that.

  He snorted meanly and Vi glanced at Jack.

  “The investigation is not complete. You are the most likely suspect.”

  “You can’t keep me locked up. I have rights.”

  “You have the rights the captain allows you while at sea,” Jack told him. “For now, the captain prefers to keep you locked up.”

  Chapter 16

  Liam Hanson swaggered into the sick bay like a man who had come to take his place in the world. The moment he entered, Margaret folded in on herself and Ruth sat forward, almost blocking her sister from her husband.

  “Maggie!” He rushed forward and Maggie flinched. A look of rage crossed his face and Violet found herself flinching along with his wife.

  “That’s far enough,” Jack told Hanson. “You didn’t want shackles, but you’ll get them.”

  The rage intensified, but Liam held himself back.

  “Maggie, what has happened to you?”

  “You poisoned her,” Ruth said. She didn’t stutter that time and Violet thought that it was a twin’s fierce love that gave her the strength to speak.

  “I didn’t! I would never.”

  “You have been one wild punch from killing her for years,” Ruth said. She struggled to speak that time. “You’re a monster.”

  Liam Hanson stared at his sister-in-law with such clear hatred Violet thought suddenly that this man could have murdered his wife and his sister-in-law. His expression adjusted when it landed on Margaret. There was something mad in that gaze, something that was horrible, but Vi—she just wasn’t sure that Liam had decided to kill his wife. Did he know about her lover?

  Violet frowned and then did something she wasn’t very proud of. “Perhaps he did try to kill Margaret.”

  “Not my Maggie,” Liam said fiercely. “Not my soft little angel.”

  “I’m only surprised that you went for her and her twin, but not the lover. Perhaps you tried for Wagner and failed?”

  The monstrous change in Liam’s expression and Margaret’s low wail told Violet that he hadn’t known. He lunged for his wife, but the steward who was just behind him wrestled Hanson to the ground. He was bestial in his fight, but Jack must have chosen the steward for his abilities. With a trip, a hard jab to the kidneys, and an arm around Hanson’s neck, he was debilitated.

  “Wagner? Ruth’s milksop?” His voice was hoarse due to the elbow at his throat.

  Violet didn’t answer. Her gaze was fixed on Margaret who curled into her twin, too scared to cry. Ruth’s expression had shifted to fierce. Each twin seemed better able to fight for the other than themselves.

  “I’ll kill you,” Liam shouted. “You and Wagner.”

  Vi shot a look to Jack who helped haul Hanson to his feet and drag him from the sick bay.

  “I doubt a stiff drink is good for you right now,” Violet told the sisters, “but I could go for one. Your husband is terrifying.”

  Margaret didn’t look up from her sister’s shoulder and Vi shook her head. She rubbed her brow and dropped down next to the twins. They had wrapped each other up in tight hugs and Violet didn’t doubt for a moment how much they needed the other. There was something about the person you had known from your very first moments. A shared womb, a shared life, a relationship that started with your first breath and was forever wound together.

  Vi, of course, couldn’t help but think of her own twin. Violet rose, ignoring the first mate and the doctor who watched her as though she was the enemy. She straightened the sick bay absently while she thought. In between lining up bottles, and folding the extra blanket at the end of the bed, Violet fiddled with her wedding ring and paced.

  “You two,” Violet said, frustrated. “It’s like we have two killer
s, but what are the chances?”

  Ruth started and Margaret gasped low. Suddenly Violet was very sure that those women knew exactly who had poisoned them. She glanced at the first mate and the doctor who had blindly noticed nothing and then to Kate who had caught the same reaction that Violet had.

  Why? Violet looked at the first mate and said charmingly, “We need a hero.”

  He rolled his eyes, but Violet didn’t think he’d avoid answering her call. Her mind raced. She said it before she’d thought of an errand. Her gaze moved to Kate with wide eyes and her sister-in-law understood immediately.

  “It’s more for me,” Kate admitted. The man didn’t even notice that neither of the women had a chance to confer. “I need my husband.”

  Kate made her voice quaver and put one hand on her stomach where the baby was growing and the first mate’s gaze widened in horror. He nodded and rushed from the room and Violet glanced back to the twins.

  To the doctor, Vi said, “There’s quite a large bottle of bourbon in my cabin.” She listed the cabin number and tossed the man her key.

  When he was gone, Kate said, “He’s going to steal your jewels.”

  “Jack locked them up.” Violet turned her attention to the twins and examined them. Neither would meet her gaze. “You gave yourselves away.”

  Margaret moaned low and Ruth’s jaw firmed. They didn’t speak.

  “You know who poisoned you.”

  The twin sisters looked at each other and then back to Violet.

  “Nanny, have they spoken to each other about the crime?”

  She shook her head. “I agree with you, however. They’ve talked about how the other feels and surviving and going home, but not about who tried to kill them.”

  “You know what’s interesting?” Violet said idly as though they were discussing the fine weather outside. “I am a twin myself.”

  “So?”

  “So, I know about that half-speak. That language that only the other can understand. I know about how you can convey a thousand things with a look. How a hand squeeze translates to an entire essay with any other person. You didn’t talk about it, but you did.”

  Margaret shook her head, but Ruth met Vi's gaze. “That isn’t something you can prove.”

  Why? Violet asked herself, staring at them, would they protect the poisoner? What could they possibly gain from such an action? She saw them turn and look at each other. She saw that something she had done herself a thousand times before. She’d never seen it from the outside, never seen another set of twins speak without speaking and leave her out. She felt suddenly sorry for the many times she’d done it to her friends.

  Why would anyone kill both of them? Why were they protecting the murderer? As far as Vi could see they only cared about the other. The husbands were both useless and horrible. Milly Kristiansen was no friend of theirs. Maybe, maybe, they cared about Wenzel Wagner, but they wouldn’t protect him. Ruth would stand up and protect Margaret even from Wenzel. Vi had seen Ruth do what she could for her sister already.

  Margaret, the weaker one, still tried to protect Ruth when her philandering husband had come in careless and pretending.

  Vi’s jaw almost dropped as another idea occurred to her. “Do they know how you were poisoned?”

  Margaret paused and then said, “All I had that day was the coffee you had ordered for me. I didn’t answer the steward’s knock when it arrived since I don’t care for coffee normally, but I was light headed, so I poured a cup and sipped at it. Turkish coffee is quite awful isn’t it?”

  No, Vi thought, it was the nectar of the gods, but she didn’t say anything and Margaret nervously filled the silence.

  “I drank some that day and the coffee must have hid the taste of the poison.”

  Oh, Vi thought, oh it added up. She turned to Ruth and asked, “And you?”

  “I hadn’t eaten, but Mr. Hamilton said that I might have been poisoned through my tooth powder.”

  “Your tooth powder?”

  Ruth nodded, taking her sister’s hand and squeezing comfortingly.

  Vi frowned and then asked, “How odd. I suppose it was a new tooth powder?”

  Ruth paused and then asked carefully, “However did you know?”

  Vi glanced at Kate and at Nanny Jane and then answered, “Well how else would such a mistake be made?”

  Ruth frowned and said, “You don’t think my poisoning was purposeful?”

  “I don’t think you were the intended victim.”

  Ruth laughed nervously and the idea was cementing itself into certainty in Vi’s head. She bit down on her bottom lip and said, “You must have been quite horrified when your husband’s sister took her life.”

  “Of course I was,” Ruth said. “How could I not be?”

  “Did you discuss it often with your sister? Missing the cues of your sister-in-law’s imminent demise?”

  “Well, of course we did,” Margaret said. “What does it matter?”

  “You don’t like sugar in your coffee, do you?”

  “I don’t like sweet in general,” Margaret replied. “Liam—” She shook her head.

  “You are not fat.” Vi snapped, guessing that Margaret’s carefulness in what she ate had more to do with her husband’s insults.

  “Regardless, I rarely indulge,” Margaret told them.

  “But the Turkish coffee was so strong, especially since you don’t normally like coffee. You must have put quite a bit of sugar in when you normally didn’t.”

  Margaret nodded. There was a dawning fear in her eyes as she met Violet’s gaze. There was a silent plea there. Stop, it said, please stop.

  Vi considered. It would be so easy to just stop. To not say what she’d realized. What was the sentence for attempted murder in Norway? Especially when you got the wrong victim? When you accidentally got a sister who never indulged in sugar rather than the husband who probably always did? What was the sentence when you tried to kill your sister’s husband and she tried to kill yours? When a united horror of a poisoning and a united life led each sister to the same escape for their beloved.

  Why had they been unable to find the person who would kill them both? Because there wasn’t one. There were two killers in the group and they’d both failed rather horribly. Why had these sisters not discussed who had poisoned them? Because they had figured it out in moments. Because they might have even discussed it here and there. Because they had separately decided to act on the behalf of the other.

  Vi didn’t even blame them. She watched them and knew, and they watched her and knew exactly what she was thinking. Vi looked at Kate, who had guessed that something was afoot. Had she put the pieces together as well?

  Before Violet could ask or say anything, she turned and found Jack. He had entered the room and he, too, knew that Violet had figured out what had happened. She and her husband were not on the level of silent communication of herself and Victor, but the problem with Jack is that he knew her so well, and he was just so damn perceptive.

  Violet was an unrepentant meddler. She was also one who didn’t always speak up when she knew what had happened. She had even told a woman what to say to get out of a murder. It was that, she thought, that gave her away and then gave the twins away. Who would Violet protect? Only them.

  Jack turned his considering gaze to the two women and said, “It always was a problem. Two poisons, two victims, no one with overlapping motives.”

  Margaret let out a low moan. Ruth asked, “S-s-s-so? W-what d-d-does that have to do with us?”

  Ignorance was the perfect defense. A crime committed at sea. No deaths. Violet realized that unless they confessed the sisters would never be caught. They might even get what they wanted in the end—a safer, happier twin.

  Chapter 17

  When Violet finished explaining her theory, her audience stared in shock. Jack was the only who hadn’t been caught by surprise.

  “Bloody hell,” Denny said. “Why did I have to miss it?”

  “Sick bay
s equal bedpans, my lad,” Lila told her husband.

  “How do we get them to confess?” Ham asked.

  His wife answered, “We don’t.”

  Ham looked at Rita and then at the rest of the group. They all had varying degrees of support and repulsion. Victor was the one who summed it up. “I don’t think I care to spend my time further with this matter.”

  “I would murder someone who was beating you,” Violet told him. “As your twin, it’s my responsibility to save you from those who hurt you.”

  Vi didn’t blame the sisters. That is what it came down to. She just didn’t care to help further.

  “I don’t endorse poisoning,” Rita told her husband. She paused and then her head tilted as she slowly added, “Or murder.”

  “Or attempted murder,” Vi agreed. She was somewhat sick about the whole affair. It was too easy to see why the women had acted as they had. It was too easy to sympathize with would-be killers and that made her feel quite disgusted with herself. “I hate this.”

  “But I think we’re out of it.”

  “I don’t know,” Denny said, “I was looking forward to dinner.”

  Violet laughed and said, “I can just see you in your evening clothes.”

  “They’ve probably come up with a plan of action.”

  “Which is something that we need to do,” Ham said, looking at the others. “Are we really going to just…do nothing?”

  “They’re not stupid,” Jack told Ham. “I don’t like this either. I should like to see them somehow pay. A convent even. But—we can’t make them confess, and to be honest, we can’t even call in the Yard and to hunt down who bought the poison.”

  “They’re not stupid,” Vi repeated. “I would sincerely doubt that Ruth Nielsen purchased poison. Especially something like arsenic which isn’t all that hard to find if you want to.”

  “Hemlock is,” Ham said.

  “It also grows naturally if you know what to look for,” Violet added. “It’s not like we can interview the squirrels. I did ask and I guess that Liam Hanson allows his wife rambles for the exercise.”