The Mystery of Ruby's Sugar (Ruby Dove Mysteries Book 1)

by Rose Donovan

  Charles nodded and stared at Grayling. “Mind you, there are some people who were more or less indifferent to him, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a grudge I don’t know about. His family loved him, but didn’t particularly like him – if you know what I mean. I suppose Leslie was the only one who seemed to be fond of him.”

  “Perhaps before we get to reasons for his death, we should recount what happened, so we can eliminate some people from the list of possible suspects,” said Ruby. Though Ruby most definitely had her playful side, Fina knew that pressure brought out her need for orderly behaviour and contemplation.

  Ruby continued, “Fina and I were just diving into this subject when you arrived. Though I couldn’t find any trace of poison in the glassware in his room, Granville had to have ingested something – most likely before he went to bed. Unless he had some chocolates or some other late-night snack hidden in his room, the poison had to be in something he drank before going to bed.”

  “Yes, because he must have gone to bed after he had that argument with Edgar in the study,” said Fina.

  “What argument?” interjected Charles. “How do you know the two of them had an argument?” He spoke casually, but there was a hint of suspicion in his voice, Fina noted.

  Ruby rose from her seat and began to pace around the room. Nervous energy, thought Fina. Now I’ve gone and put my foot in it.

  “Ahem,” said Fina. “What I mean is, well, we thought… we just happened to…”

  “Happened to what?” said Charles, voice still even – but strangely flat, thought Fina.

  “What Fina means is that we were eavesdropping,” said Ruby.

  Charles grinned. “Rather cheeky of you. What were you doing up? I thought you’d gone to bed.”

  “We were rather famished, so we went downstairs to get a bite to eat,” said Ruby. “We heard this row in the study – before Mrs Lynn provided us with some provisions in the kitchen.”

  “I see,” said Charles. His voice had changed, so Fina thought he found the story to be plausible. Was it relief she could hear in his tone? He ploughed on. “What was the row about?”

  Fina said, “Granville told Edgar he wouldn’t fund the named professorship for Professor Lighton. He also said, ‘I know what you did’ – which must have something to do with the college?” she said, looking enquiringly at Ruby.

  “Perhaps,” said Ruby, noncommittally.

  Fina wondered about Ruby’s tepid response. Then she realized that ‘I know what you did’ could refer to the massacre at Bluegate – something they couldn’t reveal to Charles because it would disclose the true reason for their weekend at Pauncefort. If it did, that would mean Edgar had known about what happened in St Kitts. And he might not be minded to keep it secret, either. Fina’s mind flew back to what Gayatri had said in the library the previous night. She had been very vague about whether Edgar was the one who had asked her down for the weekend. Could he have been the one who arranged for the sisters to receive the Bluegate papers?

  Sitting down again in the chair near the fire, Ruby said, “Now we need to rely on Fina’s fabulous photographic memory. Do you remember if they still had their drinks when they came out of the study?”

  Fina wrenched her mind back to the here and now. “I don’t remember whether Edgar had a glass in his hand, but I do remember that Granville did. It looked to be the same as the one in the bedroom this morning, but that doesn’t mean anything in particular,” she said. Surely they’d heard the noise of Edgar’s glass being slammed down on the table, just before he’d left.

  Charles frowned. “So does that mean that the only person who could have poisoned Granville was his brother – since they were the last ones in the study?”

  “It’s true, he was acting rather cavalier this morning,” said Fina thoughtfully. “Wasn’t he, Ruby?”

  “Tucking into eggs and bacon, you mean?” Ruby said with a smile. “Hardly the mark of a murderer! Also, you’re forgetting that Edgar appeared to have the upper hand over Granville when they parted last night. He wouldn’t have resorted to such drastic measures if he was able to influence him another way.”

  “Selkies and kelpies,” sighed Fina, “this is getting complicated.”

  Charles broke in, “Selkies and kelpies? Aren’t they Scottish folklore?”

  “Hmph. Yes, they are. But my uncle was Scottish. It was an expression he used,” retorted Fina, feeling strangely defensive. “And besides, there are selkies in Irish folklore, too.”

  “Ah, I see. Sorry for derailing our train of thought,” said Charles, looking at Ruby, who had returned to pacing by the window.

  “In any case, we’re assuming the snifter held the poison. What about the teacup that held the cocoa?” asked Ruby. “That might open up some more possibilities.”

  Turning toward Charles, Fina asked, “Would you ask the cook about the cocoa? Perhaps she noticed something out of the ordinary with it. I wonder whether she actually saw Ian and Julia make their own cocoa. And maybe talk to other staff who might have seen something?”

  How lucky they were to have someone on the staff they could trust, she thought. Charles was so steadfast; you only had to look at him to see he was an honest man. Without him, they would have had to work so much harder to find out what had happened.

  “I’d be happy to talk to Mrs Lynn – we get on well,” said Charles smoothly. “I assume you two will talk to the guests and the family and see what you can find out. Let’s try to meet up again to chat. Perhaps this afternoon?”

  In a state of nervous anticipation, they floated aimlessly from the library. Grayling remained, curled up in front of the hearth. Fina wished she could curl up and forget this nightmare as well.

  17

  “It’s disappeared!” exclaimed Ruby, as she overturned her travelling bag and shook it as if her life depended on it. Perhaps it did, thought Fina.

  Perched on the edge of the bed – the only place in Ruby’s bedroom not covered in some item of clothing by now – Fina pawed at the air to calm down her friend. It was odd to see her in such a frenzied state. She had never seen anything so unnerve Ruby.

  “What does it look like? Don’t worry, we’ll find it,” said Fina.

  Ruby’s voice quivered, “It’s a small glass bottle – the size of a bottle for headache tablets or tooth powder. I could have sworn that I left it on the top of my dressing table after helping Gayatri with her dress. It is emerald green with a cut-glass stopper. A cross between a decanter and a perfume bottle, I suppose. It’s exquisite, really. Though I couldn’t care less right now if it were in a dirty tin box or not. We need to find it!”

  In her uncharacteristic fury, Ruby continued to throw clothes around the room as if she were throwing salt over one shoulder with superstitious abandon.

  “Ruby…” said Fina.

  Ruby straightened up, smoothed her hair and regained her composure. “You’re right, Feens. No way to go about it.”

  “Actually, I was going to suggest that the most likely explanation is that the murderer stole the bottle. You never lose anything. I’m the one who loses everything! Remember when I lost the first draft of your term paper?”

  Ruby scowled at the memory and then smiled. “Yes, you’re right. I still don’t forgive you for that,” she said, tossing a yellow scarf at Fina that fell lightly on her nose. “My mother always tried to be positive in these situations. I’m going to try to follow her sage advice, for once.” But the light mood didn’t last. “This, though, is much more serious. If we don’t stay calm and use our heads, things could look rather grim for us.”

  Fina had no answer. Her mind was ensnared in a web of painful memories. She heard once again the heavy-handed knock at the door, the denial and shock she had felt at her brother’s arrest.

  Clearing her throat, Ruby continued, “So let’s assume the murderer stole my stain remover. The upside to this news is that this confirms it must be the poison, correct?”

  Fina nodded. “Which mean
s we can fix the time Granville took it as fifteen to twenty minutes – maximum – before he climbed into bed.”

  “That means the poison can’t have been in the brandy snifter. Unless—” Ruby stopped short.

  “Yes?”

  “Unless someone dropped it in before Granville reached his room. We weren’t the only ones up and about last night, remember?”

  “So we weren’t,” said Fina thoughtfully. She recalled Edgar’s rage in the library, and the furtive way Cyril had scurried up the stairs. Hadn’t that been a brandy glass he was carrying?

  Ruby had already moved on. “Then there’s the cocoa. It would have been hot, so he would want to drink it as soon as possible, perhaps sitting up in bed. If the cocoa was poisoned, we can fix the approximate time of death close to whenever the cook brought it up. We’ll find that out from Charles soon,” she said, no longer distracted by the loss of the bottle and the clothing tempest of her room.

  Sitting down and apparently following her own train of thought, Ruby continued. “Let’s set the scene. Granville stumbles into his bedroom, drunk and possibly upset.”

  “Holding a brandy snifter that is not yet empty,” interjected Fina.

  “Yes, though it is possible that there was already a glass in his bedroom – from earlier in the day or evening – or even from the day before.”

  “I think that’s unlikely, since I didn’t see one in his room when I searched earlier,” said Fina.

  “I forgot about that! Yes. So, he enters the room with the brandy, pulls the bell for cocoa. Then he could have just sat there until the cocoa came, though the more likely scenario is that he prepared for bed.”

  Pushing aside a pile of clothes threatening to topple over on her, Fina said, “Let’s assume he’s in his pyjamas, waiting for the cocoa. The cocoa arrives, he takes it, gets into bed and then drinks it while reading. Perhaps he’s already finished off his brandy.”

  “Or maybe he puts it in his cocoa for a midnight treat,” said Ruby. “In any case, he could have finished the brandy after the cocoa or vice versa, so it doesn’t get us any closer to identifying what was the source of the poison,” she sighed.

  “But at least we’ve established more or less how it was done,” said Fina with growing enthusiasm. “Now we just need to work out why. No shortage of motives, unfortunately. I suppose we’ll know more after luncheon and our wardrobe interview with Julia.”

  Ruby glanced at the mantelpiece clock, covered in a stray stocking. She removed the stocking and lovingly folded it into a drawer. Looking back at the now-naked clock, she said, “Heavens, it’s 12:50! We’ll be late to Julia’s! I’ll tidy this later… and find that bloody poison.”

  As they entered the hallway, Fina grasped Ruby’s arm. “What happens if the police arrive?”

  “Well, as we’re apparently experiencing the blizzard of the century, I don’t think they’ll be making their appearance too readily,” said Ruby.

  “What I meant was, what do we do when they eventually arrive? They will, sooner or later. I’m trying to take this all one step at a time, but it is hard. This is my first mission. I had all sorts of images in my head of someone lurking behind a large chair and then leaping out and saying ‘gotcha’ or some such Americanism, or even worse, failing you and myself,” said Fina looking furtively up and down the hall.

  Ruby shoved her hands in her dress pockets and sighed. “I know, I know. I’ve been thinking the same, over and over. There are three points we should not lose sight of. First, we cannot let anyone know about our ‘mission’, as you say—”

  “Should we hide the Bluegate papers somewhere?” said Fina. “Sorry – I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “No, no, it’s all right. I’ve taken care of it.”

  Fina nodded. Perhaps Ruby had already handed the papers over to Gayatri or Sajida. She felt a bit miffed that she hadn’t spotted the secret sign, the one which signalled that the sisters were the point of contact. But discretion was the better part of valour, after all.

  “The second point,” Ruby continued, “is that we really must find out who murdered Granville, because when the police come, suspicion will definitely point in my direction when they find out it was my stain remover.”

  “Yes, but everyone knew you had the poison, so anyone could have taken it from you. Remember when you made the announcement about Gayatri’s dress during cocktails? Everyone was present and paying attention. Besides, you no longer have the poison,” said Fina, triumphantly.

  Ruby shook her head, ruefully. “If there’s one thing we both know from our personal experiences with the police – you for a very specific reason, and me because of an ironically general reason – we know they’ll see me as the culprit.”

  “I know you’re right, you’re right,” Fina said, balling up her fist. “What’s the third point?”

  “It’s related to the second. If we find out who did it – and we must – then we have two options. We tell the police – which I know we both completely disagree with given what we know about prison and hanging…”

  “Or?” asked Fina. “What’s the alternative?”

  “We have to concoct a way the murderer is held responsible but that also lets the case go cold – from the viewpoint of the police,” Ruby said, letting out a gush of air. “And I have no idea how we’re going to do that. But we must…”

  Slam. Footsteps approached around the corner. They involuntarily flattened themselves against the wall, as if they were schoolgirls loitering in the hall and the headmistress was approaching.

  Sajida rounded the corner, head down, lost in thought. Looking up, she grabbed her chest. She let out a tiny gasp. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there. I suppose we’re all on edge.”

  Peering closer at Sajida, Fina noticed circles around her eyes, as if she had taken a pencil to them. Her natural ebullience had subsided. Her shoulders hunched which had the effect of making her appear almost the same height as Fina.

  “Have you seen my sister? I can’t find her anywhere. She came down from the – ah – scene of the crime, I suppose, after breakfast. She said she had something to attend to but I haven’t seen her since,” Sajida said, clutching at her gorgeous cream-coloured skirt with a fist.

  Ruby reached out and gently stroked her upper arm, as if to both calm her and warm her up. “I’m sure she’s about. Pauncefort is a grand, spacious hall, after all. Have you checked with Grimston or Charles? Perhaps they know. I’m not sure where Grimston might be, but I believe Charles should be in the kitchen – or at least returning from the kitchen.”

  She pursed her lips. “I haven’t and I’ll try that.” She scuttled off down the dimly lit corridor.

  When they arrived at last at Julia’s bedroom – after a few unintentional detours – they found the door wide open. Jazz floated out softly. After knocking lightly and poking her head around the door frame, Fina saw Julia and Gayatri’s heads bent together in intense conversation. Fina could not make out whether it was a discussion or quarrel.

  “Lovely music, Julia,” said Ruby as she slipped in next to Fina. “Did you bring your own gramophone?”

  Bouncing up to greet them, Julia said, “I travel with it everywhere. Sometimes you have to be the life of the party yourself – and to have a party by oneself, for that matter. These weekends can become rather dreary,” she stopped herself mid-sentence as if her air source had been cut off. “I expect listening to music right now seems insensitive or gauche.”

  Fina sensed the statement was a challenge rather than an apology.

  Playing along, Ruby responded, “Absolutely not. I always say one has to keep a positive outlook, especially when the world looks bleak.” Satisfied that this was the close to the conversation, Julia sidled up to Ruby and demanded to know her opinion on the latest Paris designs of trousers.

  Gayatri smiled in the corner, but did not participate in the conversation. She sipped her tea in a casual manner. Fina thought there was something studied about her casualnes
s – as if she knew she were being watched.

  Fina approached her and smiled, not wanting to worry her. “Your sister is anxious – she didn’t know where you were. I sent her toward the kitchen to find you,” said Fina.

  “Oh, oh – thank you,” she said, nearly dropping her teacup in her haste to leave the room.

  “What was that all about?” asked Julia, barely looking up from Ruby’s sketchbook.

  “Gayatri went to find her sister – they’ve been missing each other all morning.” Why did Fina feel like she was making an excuse for them? Certainly the morning had been stressful for them all, but wasn’t this a bit of an overreaction to the murder? It’s not as if either sister had been terribly close to Granville. In fact they’d seemed to be at pains to stay out of his way.

  “Mmm…” said Julia, noncommittally. Ruby gave Fina encouragement with a slight upturn of her chin.

  Taking the cue, Fina swished her skirts casually and plopped down next to Julia on the settee. “What do you think, Julia? Have any theories about what happened?”

  Julia squinted for a split second, but then straightened her back and leaned her head against the wall. She stared vacantly at a rather insipid landscape of what might have been the local village hanging on the opposite wall. “Well, Leslie Dashwood is pretty ghastly – if you ask me. A perfect bore. He seemed to be one of the few people on this earth that genuinely appreciated Granville, though.”

  She took a long drag on her cigarette before continuing her dossier. “That Lighton character has shifty eyes, but I suspect it has something to do with his political beliefs,” she said, winking at Fina. “Gayatri and Sajida know – I mean knew – Granville, but I cannot see them having any obvious need to do him in. Then there’s the family. I had heard that Granville threatened to turn out his aunt and uncle once his father died – I understand Lord Malvern is not long for this vale of tears.”