by Sonia Parin
“I wanted to have a word with you before we went back inside.”
“Should I take my mask off? I feel I should. In fact, you might want to remove it too. I can’t help feeling we are two masked crime fighting heroes meeting in the dead of night.” Abby frowned. “That would probably make me Robin to your Batman. Or…” She lifted a finger. “I could be Cat-woman.”
Looking down at his shoes, he laughed.
“Okay. Out with it.”
“You know Marigold Winthrop is dead.”
Abby cringed. “Yes. I saw the paramedics taking her away.”
“I was at the hospital when they brought her in. I’d been checking on a car crash victim. Then Sebastian Cavendish called me.”
“Really? Why would he do that? Does he suspect foul play?”
“Since his grandfather’s unfortunate death, he’s become more cautious.” Joshua brushed his hand along the back of his neck. “He wanted to play it safe and make sure this had been a natural death. So, he told me everything he remembered seeing. He said Marigold complained of shortness of breath. The rest happened very quickly. When she collapsed, her lips turned blue. By the time the paramedics arrived, he’d already begun giving her CPR.”
Abby had missed all that because she’d already been out in the foyer. “Faith suggested she might have been asthmatic,” Abby murmured.
Joshua nodded. “Yes, I had the same thought. After I spoke with Sebastian, I made discreet inquiries with a doctor at the hospital. He could only tell me they didn’t have any records for Marigold Winthrop. If she had any pre-existing conditions, she might have been receiving treatment in the city. From what I understand, she spent most of the year there and rarely traveled out this way. So, it didn’t surprise me to find there were no medical records here.” Joshua blew out a hard breath and looked up at the night sky.
“And?”
“I’ll have to wait until morning to have a chat with Harry Winthrop. We have a competent medical examiner here, but the family might want to have the autopsy performed in the city.”
“Are you saying Sebastian suspects foul play?” she asked again.
“As I said, he wants to play it safe. After he gave me a brief rundown of the events, I tend to agree. There should be a thorough autopsy to eliminate all doubt. Sebastian’s description of what happened matches the doctors outline of a severe asthma attack.”
Thinking out loud, Abby said, “But… There could have been another contributing factor.”
“Maybe.”
“Meanwhile…” Abby curved her eyebrows and then remembered she wore a mask so Joshua wouldn’t be able to pick up on the prompt. “Are you planning on making discreet observations here? Tonight?”
“Yes. She died here so this is as good a place as any to start.” He looked over his shoulder. “There are so many guests. What was Charles thinking?”
“He’s an eccentric aristocrat.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Abby smiled. “He can do as he likes and not have to justify himself. Personally, I agree with you. However, if he wanted to invite that many people, he should have waited until we had milder weather and made it an outdoor day event. The grounds are certainly expansive enough to accommodate the entire town. I should suggest it to him.”
“He holds the annual archery competition,” Joshua said. “It’s not exactly a major drawcard but enough people come to require extra police on the roads.”
“So, what’s the plan? I noticed there are several off-duty officers in there.”
He nodded. “I’ve already had a word with them. They were too far away to see anything. They only went in to assist when they heard Sebastian calling for an ambulance. They didn’t see anything suspicious.”
And they probably hadn’t even been looking for anything suspicious, Abby thought.
“Since we don’t really have anything to go on with other than Sebastian’s need for assurances, I thought I’d make the rounds and see if I can pick up any vibes,” Joshua added.
This didn’t make sense. The police only stepped in when a crime had been committed. Just because Sebastian had concerns… She supposed he carried a lot of weight. “How exactly are you going to do that?” Abby asked.
He tugged his sleeve. “Well, I’m dressed for it, so I thought I’d mingle.”
“Yes, about that. Did you just happen to have a tuxedo handy?”
He chuckled. “No, this is courtesy of Charles. Just as well we have the same build.”
“What sort of discreet inquiries will you make?”
He shrugged. “I’d like some background information on Marigold Winthrop. You never know what might come up in conversation.” He looked down at his feet and then back up. “Would you be prepared to put on your reporter’s hat and send out your feelers?”
Abby chortled. “This just got weird. You’re asking me to assist?”
“I’m only suggesting you keep your ears to the ground. Someone might let something slip.”
Abby couldn’t help smiling.
“What?”
“I’m going to have to start charging you.” She patted her non-existent pockets. “If I’d known there would be trouble, I would have brought my cell phone with me or my camera. It would be good to take some photos of the guests.”
“Good idea. I’ll get my officers to do that. No one should suspect. I noticed a few people using their phones to take photos.”
“You’re really serious about this?”
He held out his arm. “Abby.”
“Yes?”
“I know I can trust you to be discreet.”
“Sure. Besides, as far as we know, a crime hasn’t actually been committed.” She hoped that remained the case.
Chapter Eight
Back inside the ballroom, Abby stood near a group of guests eavesdropping on their conversation. While no one had mentioned Marigold by name, everything Abby heard could only have been about her.
Some thought she had been presumptuous, always telling anyone who would listen about her plans to marry well.
Only one person gave Marigold credit for knowing what she wanted, seeing nothing wrong with Marigold going after it.
As for Marigold’s supposed fainting spell at the ball… Someone thought she might have been trying to gain sympathy from people who might otherwise criticize her for having an affair.
“If you ask me,” one woman said, “she’s trying to gain the moral high ground and point the finger of blame at Harry Winthrop. Apparently, he’s the one who’s been having the affair and she only pretended to be doing the same in order to get back at him.”
With dinner over, everyone had moved back to the ballroom. Only a few guests had stepped outside to enjoy a stroll in the park or a ride on one of the gondolas. Abby guessed everyone wanted to be inside, in case news came in.
Abby moved on to the next group. Not surprisingly, they were talking about Marigold. The group had been her contemporaries at school. Marigold had been at the top of the pecking order, holding court over the privileged few allowed to orbit near her. The women in that group had been more interested in outdoing each other by claiming a closer relationship with Marigold than in gossiping about her.
So far, few people had mentioned Harry Winthrop.
As Abby continued to make the rounds, she exchanged a few polite smiles; the simple gesture delivering a compact message. Lovely evening. Having fun? We should do this more often. Where did all these people come from? My feet are killing me…
The Faydon brothers were making sure everyone had a turn on the dance floor, leaving no one out. When Mitch Faydon made a beeline for her, his hand outstretched, Abby ducked for cover only to run straight into Joshua.
“Here you are. I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
Before she could stop him, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.
“This isn’t a good idea, Joshua.”
“Are you about to tell me you can’t dance?”
“Of course, I can dance. I mean… sort of. I have dyslexic feet. I issue the command to go right, and the words get all scrambled up. Also, I’m not sure how Doyle feels about dancing.”
“I suppose there’s no point in suggesting you set him down.”
“No, there isn’t.” She pressed Doyle’s cheek against hers. “I wouldn’t want him to feel left out.”
“Well, if he doesn’t mind, then I don’t mind.” Joshua chortled. “There’s nothing to it. You just shuffle around. Put your weight on one foot and then the other. Besides, we need to update each other.”
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. We’ll give it our best shot but I only have one arm free.”
“That’s all you need.” He took hold of her hand and slid his other hand around her waist.
Doyle’s chocolate brown eyes jumped between Joshua and Abby. She waited for him to squirm but, instead, he settled against her. Abby imagined Doyle wanting to see how this would turn out.
Fine, she thought. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Joshua laughed. “I’m not asking you to bungee jump.”
“Oh, you might as well be.”
“If you can walk and talk, then you can shuffle your feet and talk.”
“Okay.”
“On the count of three,” he said.
Joshua led her toward his right and Abby instinctively moved in the opposite direction. He stopped and looked at her, his eyes wide and holding a look of disbelief she’d seen once too often.
Abby grinned. “I warned you.”
“Let’s keep it simple and shuffle on the spot.” His eyebrows curved up. “Do you think you can manage that?”
“Sure. Um… Am I shuffling toward you?”
“Well, we’ve tried moving sideways and that didn’t go too well. So, yes… Shuffle toward me and then shuffle away. One. Two. Three.”
Just as she began to move, the music ended. “Oh. What a shame. So, what did you want to tell me?”
“So far, I haven’t heard anything that could even be taken seriously. Of course, everyone is talking about Marigold. Have you been actively asking questions?”
Abby shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t know where to start without giving something away.”
“Here’s another tune.” Joshua groaned lightly. “The Cha-cha-cha. Okay. I’m game.”
Abby bit the edge of her lip. “Oh, I recognize the tune. It raises the degree of difficulty somewhat but I’m up for the challenge.”
“Are you sure?”
Abby gave him a confident nod. “It has a basic pattern of three steps and I know I can count to three.” She tried to remember what else she knew about the dance. “You’re going to take a step forward… with your left foot while retaining some weight on the right foot. The knee of the right leg will stay bent and close to the back of your left knee, the left leg will straighten just prior to receiving part of the weight. You’ll take that step on the second beat of the bar. Full weight will then return to the right leg on the second step, which will be beat three.” She closed her eyes and dug around for the rest of the information she had stored in her mind. “Oh, yes. Finally, those three steps constitute the cha-cha chasse.”
Joshua nodded. “Okay. I have my instructions. What will you do?”
“I’ll wiggle my hips. That should distract anyone watching me make a complete and utter fool of myself.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s execute it while there’s still music to dance to.”
Abby winced. “Execute might not be the best choice of words.”
He began moving and, to Abby’s surprise, she moved too. “In case you’re wondering, I interviewed a ballroom dancer once and she explained the steps. It must have lodged in my mind.”
“Thank goodness for your elephant memory.”
“You’re… You’re surprisingly good,” she remarked. He didn’t miss a step, not even when Abby lost her rhythm. “Where did you learn to dance?”
He gave her a smug smile. “Natural born talent.” After a few more steps, he added, “My mom owns a dance studio. She had dreams of me becoming a national champion.”
“And?”
“I set conditions. I promised to continue attending her classes as a standby for anyone without a partner but only so long as she didn’t push me into all that glitter and make-up.” He looked over her shoulder. “Mitch and Markus took lessons with her.”
“She must be an excellent teacher.”
Joshua nodded. “She’s won a few trophies.”
“Just so you know, I haven’t memorized any other steps,” Abby warned. “Okay, so what have you got? Did you hear anything at all of interest?” If Marigold had died of something other than natural causes, the pressure would be on him to find evidence which would lead them to the culprit. Abby looked around. If Marigold had been killed, could the killer still be among them?
Joshua looked down at Doyle. “I’ve been hearing a few tales about Doyle barking at Marigold.”
“All true, I’m afraid. I don’t know what came over him. Faith thinks he might have sensed Marigold’s attack.” Abby gulped. “I hope she didn’t have some sort of dog allergy.”
“Did she come into direct contact with him?”
Abby shook her head and told him Doyle had begun whimpering when Marigold had drawn closer to them.
“If only he could talk,” Joshua mused.
“I just don’t understand it. He’s never misbehaved. He spent some time sniffing her train and then he actually growled and barked at her,” Abby admitted. “Are people pointing the finger of blame at Doyle?”
“No. They’re just trying to figure out what happened.”
“What’s the general consensus?” she asked.
“Most are saying she didn’t want to attend tonight but Harry forced her. He still holds the purse strings and she didn’t have a say in the matter.” Joshua shrugged. “Someone mentioned divorce proceedings. He might have wanted to keep up appearances. If she’d been under pressure, that might have brought on an asthma attack or maybe she put on an act so she could leave early.”
Abby counted the three steps before saying, “So, they think she faked a fainting spell to get out of staying at the ball?” What would they say when the truth came out? she wondered. “The town is going to be in an uproar when they discover she…” Abby looked around her and whispered, “has expired.”
“That’s the best euphemism you could find?”
“Counting to three is using up all my mental acuity. One. Two. Three.”
“You’re doing extremely well,” he encouraged.
“Only because I’m going backward and forward. Please don’t test me by suggesting we go sideways.”
“Dip.”
“What? Oh… No!” Somehow, Abby managed to hold onto Doyle and bend back a little. Doyle rewarded her with a lick on the chin.
Joshua laughed. “I think Doyle enjoyed that.”
He had! “He’s surprised me today. Usually, he doesn’t like wearing his little coats and, while at first, he seemed a little dubious about his tuxedo, he’s been strutting about showing his outfit off. I really don’t get why he barked at Marigold. He’s so well-behaved, I’ve never had to worry about him.”
The music ended and the band took a break.
“I enjoyed that.” It hadn’t been nearly as painful as she’d expected it to be. “And, look. Doyle is wagging his tail.”
Joshua’s cell phone rang. He excused himself and strode out of the ballroom to take the call.
Seeing Mitch Faydon approaching her, Abby tried to make her getaway again.
“Hey,” he called out.
Abby stopped. “Please don’t ask me to dance. I don’t want to push my luck. Joshua got through the dance without me stepping on his toes. I’m not sure the next dance partner will be as lucky.”
“Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Oh, sure…” Abby frowned. “Hang on. So, you weren’t going to a
sk me to dance?”
Mitch grinned. “I would have, if I’d seen no one else had asked you.”
“Your mother taught you well.”
Mitch grinned.
“So, what did you want to ask me?”
“Why is Joshua here? I saw him last week and he said he wouldn’t be attending the ball because he had to work.”
“Joshua? Is he here?”
“You danced with him a moment ago.”
Abby gave him an innocent look. “I danced with a masked man.”
“Who happened to be Detective Joshua Ryan. In fact, only a minute ago you admitted as much.” Mitch folded his arms. “What are you hiding? Did something happen to Marigold?”
Abby leaned in and hushed him.
Mitch slid his arm around her waist and swung her toward the dance floor just as a waltz started.
“Oh, no. Slow down.”
Mitch grinned. “Tell me or I’ll swirl you around again.”
“Fine. Yes. I’ll tell you. Just, slow down. I’m getting dizzy.”
Mitch slowed down to a gentle swaying from side to side. “Out with it.”
“She… She took a turn for the worst. They took her to hospital.” Abby stuck to the truth but omitted to mention the sheet covering her face.
“Hang on. So why did Joshua show up? I saw him earlier in the dining room dressed in a suit and now he’s wearing a tux.”
“He got off work early and… and he didn’t want to miss out on the fun. Did you notice how he danced? I had no idea his mom owned a dance studio.”
Mitch swirled her around again. “You’re trying to change the subject and you’re not being entirely truthful.” He grinned and swirled her again.
Doyle’s tongue lolled out and his little ears flopped around.
“All right. I’ll tell you.” Abby leaned in and whispered, “She kicked the bucket.”
Mitch stopped and gaped at her. “No. Really?”
“You have to promise to keep it under wraps. We don’t want to ruin the night for Charles. Remember, this is all for a good cause.”
The music ended. Mitch made a zipping gesture against his lips and took a bow. As he turned away, someone tapped her on the shoulder.