by Kate Parker
“Can’t. I was raised by a clergyman. I wouldn’t be happy anywhere but on the side of law and order. I can guarantee I won’t ever be wealthy.” He grinned, looking as if wealth didn’t matter to him. Not as much as being happy.
I smiled at him. “I won’t ever be, either. Now tell me. Are you here in your official capacity or have you been hired by the duke?”
He glanced around to make sure no one could hear us over the music. Then he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “In my official capacity with the duke’s blessing. There have been thefts from these balls. Small objects of great value. We want to catch the thieves.”
“It’s not anyone I’m related to.”
“Are you certain?”
I looked him in the eye and knew I couldn’t lie. I shook my head. “I don’t think it is. Robbing a house while it is full of people during a ball sounds reckless. My relatives aren’t reckless.”
James looked around again. “It sounds more like something this crowd would do. The younger ones, at least. And they’re among the only ones present during all these thefts.”
I glanced around, wondering if I were dancing near this thief. Then I spotted Lady Kaldaire signaling to me with a demure wave of her fan. “Lady Kaldaire wants me to join her after this dance. It looks like I need to get to work talking to people with her.”
“Why?”
“Lady Kaldaire is determined to learn who killed Lord and Lady Theodore and if her good friend the Duchess of Wallingford is in danger of being murdered next.”
James was scowling now. “Why does she need you?”
“I’m more likely to catch someone in a lie. Lady Kaldaire can’t believe anyone would dare lie to her.”
I gave him a grin, which he returned before he turned somber. “Be careful.”
“I will,” I promised as the string quartet finished playing.
“You’re in a house full of people, but a killer who feels cornered can strike anywhere. I don’t want to lose you.” James escorted me over to Lady Kaldaire, bowed, and walked away.
“He cleans up well,” she told me.
“Can you recognize either of the women we want to talk to?”
“Of course. I just saw Lady Westkirk go into the card room. And if I’m not mistaken, that is Lady Ravenbrook heading toward the supper room.”
Lady Kaldaire followed Lady Ravenbrook and I trailed behind. When Lady Kaldaire and I reached the supper room, there were only two people there, a man and a woman, clustered around the punch bowl, laughing. Lady Kaldaire headed straight toward the woman while I stood blocking the doorway.
The man moved toward me saying, “Would you like some of the punch? It’s very good.” His voice was slimy and I shivered.
“Did you spike it?” I asked. I had heard of that before.
“Not the way you mean it, you little dove,” the man said. He leaned uncomfortably close to me so I could smell strong spirits on his breath.
“What did you add?” I asked, trying to sound interested instead of repulsed.
“Never mind,” the woman who was facing Lady Kaldaire said. “You,” she waved a hand toward the man, “go away.”
I jumped out of the way before he could rub his body against me. He passed me with a leer on his way out. I walked over to the two ladies.
“You have my attention. What do you want?” Lady Ravenbrook said, refilling her cup from the punchbowl.
“Who killed Lord and Lady Theodore Hughes?” Lady Kaldaire asked.
“I have no idea. I hope you find out. I might be next on their list.”
“You don’t believe that,” I said. She appeared too confident. Too indifferent.
Her answer was a shrug with a thin shoulder that nearly dropped the fabric holding up the gown on that side. I decided the ballgown was designed to appear that way. Having just made my own simply cut, ordinary gown, I was in awe of her designer, whoever that might be.
“Who do you think killed them?” I asked. “It’s not anyone involved in the Marlowe Club.”
Lady Ravenbrook focused her full attention on me. “What do you know about the Marlowe Club?”
“More than you do.” We stared at each other. When she looked away, I added, “Who killed them?”
“It’s obvious. Someone in that insane household.” She drained her glass. I could smell the liquor from the cup and didn’t think it was her first one that evening.
“Why would they?”
“To save them the shame of embarrassment. Theo was becoming more and more violent, to the point he was about to be thrown out of the Marlowe Club.” She laughed. It was a brittle, manic sound. “That’s really bad behavior, to be banned from there. Roxanne was ready to leave him and quit that house. She was afraid for her life.”
“Why didn’t she leave, either before or after Theo’s death?”
“The duchess wouldn’t allow it. The old hag said she’d cut her off without a penny, and where would Roxie be without money? She loved money, our Roxie did.” Lady Ravenbrook did a twirl with her arms outstretched and nearly landed on her bottom.
Lady Kaldaire gave a small snort.
A footman came in with some game pies. I took the tray from him. “Find the Ravenbrook coachman and have him bring their carriage around. Then find another footman to help you get Lady Ravenbrook to the door.”
“And Lord Ravenbrook?” the footman asked, puzzled.
“He’ll have to fend for himself.” I glanced at Lady Ravenbrook. She was now sprawled in a most unladylike fashion in one of the chairs lined up against the wall. “Hurry.”
As the footman left, Lady Kaldaire sniffed the punch bowl. “It doesn’t smell too strongly of spirits.”
“From what that man said when he left, he added something to the punch, but it wasn’t alcohol.” I walked over to Lady Ravenbrook and held her chin with one hand. “What’s in the punch?”
She looked at me and smiled, her eyes unfocused.
I heard the door open. When I turned, the Duke of Blackford and James walked in with the footman I’d ordered around earlier. James took one look at Lady Ravenbrook and sniffed the punch before dipping in a little finger and tasting.
“It’s not only whiskey. See that scum along the edge? Before it’s thrown out, I’ll need a sample to take to the forensic chemists for analysis,” James told the duke.
“I’ll leave that to you. The kitchen staff will help.” The duke then turned to his footman. “Send two men up to move her to the side entrance while you give the order to the Ravenbrook coachman.”
As James and the footman left with their tasks and the punchbowl, the duke came over to us. “Lady Kaldaire, Miss Gates, thank you for alerting us to this difficulty.”
“Had you received a warning that something would happen at tonight’s ball?” I asked him. When he gave me a thin-lipped stare, I added, “There had to be some reason to call in Scotland Yard.”
“Not a warning, but we acted after we considered the risk, since there have been thefts occurring at most of this season’s balls.” He lowered his voice even though there was no one to hear him but Lady Kaldaire and me.
“Instead, you might have had guests collapsing like Lady Ravenbrook. At her sister’s ball. That would certainly damage your reputation,” I told him.
He glared at a point far beyond that room. “My wife would have suffered the most from the gossip.”
When I looked puzzled, Lady Kaldaire said, “The duchess, Georgia, belonged to the middle class until she married the duke. There are people who still don’t like her good fortune.”
“After all this time?” That was foolish. The duchess was sensible, amiable, and, I suspected, powerful.
Before I could ask for the identity of the man by the punchbowl when we arrived, another liveried footman hurried in. “Your Grace, you’ve been robbed.”
Chapter Fourteen
“If you’ll excuse me, ladies.” The duke bowed and then strode off behind his footman.
Before I
could stop her, Lady Kaldaire hurried after him, leaving me alone with Lady Ravenbrook.
“My lady. My lady.” I shook her shoulder.
She smiled and muttered, but I couldn’t make any sense of what she said.
Her small white silk bag had fallen to the floor. I picked it up and sat next to her as I opened it. She didn’t object, so I began to rummage around. I found what I expected: some coins, a brush, a small mirror, and a tiny pot of rouge. It was the little gold case that contained a whitish powder that surprised me.
I slipped that into my bag to give to James.
What I didn’t find surprised me even more. There was no money in there to gamble with and no sign of anything stolen or picks to open locks.
Could she be what she appeared? A guest who came to enjoy the ball and mixed too many things simultaneously? Could this be what happened to both Lord and Lady Theodore Hughes, with fatal consequences?
No. Not, as I had come to think of her, Roxanne. Her throat had been slit and her clothes taken or changed with the aim of embarrassing her. But perhaps the moody and combative Lord Theo Hughes had succumbed to liquid or powdered refreshments. Perhaps his death was simply an accident as had been reported.
Lady Ravenbrook’s head tipped forward to her chest. I lifted it and said, “My lady. Who was that man?”
Her eyes opened slits. She put her finger to her lips. “Ssh. No names.” Then she went limp.
I was trying to think of what to do when two liveried footmen entered and heaved her up between them. I held the door as they took her out, her head lolling to one side.
At the same instant, a maid came in carrying the punchbowl. “Don’t worry,” she said with a grin. “We washed it good once that fellow put some in a bottle. He said it was poisoned.” She sounded like this made the party a success in her eyes.
“Thank you.” I went out the door that Lady Ravenbrook had been taken through. I hoped to find Lady Kaldaire or James or anyone who could answer questions so this night wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.
I found my way to the ballroom. Except for some clients, I didn’t see anyone I knew. And then I spotted the man who’d been in the room with Lady Ravenbrook and the punchbowl. I moved closer while trying to appear to move aimlessly through the crowd, hoping someone would call his name.
I’d nearly reached him when I heard a man’s voice say, “Armstrong.”
I looked around quickly, trying to see who would respond, when a voice in my ear said, “Are you following me?”
It was the man who’d been in the supper room, and he had a strong hold on my arm.
“I wanted to find out who you were,” I said. I wondered how much of the truth I’d have to tell to escape his grip.
“You know what curiosity did to the cat,” he murmured. “Who put you up to following me?”
“No one.”
His grip became painful.
Gasping, I said the only thing I could think of. “I wanted to tell you Lady Ravenbrook has been taken home.”
He swore under his whiskey breath. “In her carriage?”
“Yes.”
“She’s becoming unreliable.” He loosened his grip. “But that’s not your problem.” He let me go and strode away.
I looked around, but couldn’t figure out which man had called out Armstrong’s name. Perhaps I hadn’t been speaking to Lord Armstrong. Perhaps when I looked around, he spotted me. I was frustrated that I hadn’t been smart enough to get his name.
Lady Kaldaire strolled through the crowd to come up to me. “Where have you been, Emily?”
“I was with Lady Ravenbrook until they took her to her coach, and then I came down here. Who was the man in the supper room with her?”
“Lord Armstrong. I wasn’t paying attention to him because I wanted to speak to Lady Ravenbrook. And now it will have to wait until tomorrow. I wish you hadn’t danced off with that handsome young man.” She sounded annoyed with the one moment of the entire night that I’d enjoyed.
“I enjoyed dancing with Inspector Russell.” I glared at Lady Kaldaire and she looked away. “And I just ran into Lord Armstrong here in the ballroom. He seemed upset that Lady Ravenbrook was taken home. He said she was becoming unreliable.”
“Hardly a surprise,” she huffed out. “I don’t care what they say about cocaine giving you energy and keeping you awake like coffee, I don’t believe it. That’s what is making her unreliable. You mark my words. If they stopped selling the stuff to these young, rich idiots, everyone would be much better off.”
I’d heard those same claims concerning cocaine, but I’d never been offered any. Probably because anyone who did such a thing would have to deal with my father’s entire family, and no one wanted to face those odds.
“Emily, tomorrow afternoon we are going to call on Lady Ravenbrook.”
“I need to—”
“I don’t care what you need to do, Emily, this is important.” Her head swiveled around to watch a lady walk quickly past us. “Lady Westkirk. I was hoping to have a word with you.”
“I was just on my way out—,” the young woman said, speeding up her pace.
“This will only take a minute or two,” Lady Kaldaire said, keeping up with her.
I followed them, taking the path they had cut through the sparkling crowd. I reached them in time to hear Lady Westkirk say, “I’m in a bit of a hurry. Tomorrow, perhaps.”
“This will only take a minute,” Lady Kaldaire said.
Lady Westkirk had already turned away from her and was making her way toward the front door. “Could you summon the Westkirk carriage?” she asked a footman before entering the retiring room to retrieve her cloak from a maid.
Lady Kaldaire blocked the doorway to the retiring room. “I must speak to you.”
“Tomorrow. Come at three and bring your mousy friend.” She appeared to either trip on Lady Kaldaire’s foot or give her a sharp kick. “I’m terribly sorry. I hope you’re all right.”
As Lady Kaldaire gasped, Lady Westkirk gave me an overdone smile. She slipped past us and out the front door. From my position in the hall, I saw a carriage pull up just as she reached the street. A liveried footman jumped down and helped her inside with practiced moves. They were off in less than a minute.
“If she thinks she can get rid of me that easily, she doesn’t know me very well. Be at my house at two, Emily. We’ll go to see Lady Ravenbrook first.” Lady Kaldaire limped away from the doorframe to stand next to me in the hall. “I think Lady Westkirk will prove more informative, but you never can tell.”
“I need to be at work.” I sounded childish, constantly repeating the same refrain.
“I tried to avoid your working hours, Emily, but neither woman cooperated. Now we’ll have to visit them in their homes.” She gave me a smile. “Unless you want to return to the Marlowe Club.”
She knew that was the last thing I wanted. I asked the only thing I was curious about at that late hour. “Is Lady Westkirk younger than Lady Ravenbrook?”
“A little, perhaps. She’s probably younger than you, too. I think she was barely over twenty when she married that old rogue. I see he’s taught her a trick or two,” Lady Kaldaire added, putting a hand on my shoulder to use me as a crutch.
We collected her cloak and I asked a footman to call for her carriage. As the footman helped her down the stairs, I considered asking for a hansom cab.
A familiar voice behind me said, “Would you like me to escort you home?”
I turned my head to give James a smile. “I’d love it, but don’t you need to work?”
“I’ve already failed in my assignment. Besides, the damage has been done. They don’t need me anymore tonight.”
When I was handed my cloak, James spread it over my shoulders. I felt like a princess. When he whispered in my ear as our cab took off, “You are beautiful tonight,” I easily could have collapsed into his arms. Instead, I took his hand in mine and heard a thunk as I inadvertently hit his evening jacket pocket.
I jumped. “What was that?”
“The stoppered bottles with samples from the punchbowl and the unserved punch. After I drop you off, I’ll take these over to the laboratory at Scotland Yard for analysis.”
I scooted away from him on the worn leather seat in case the bottles spilled in the hopes they wouldn’t ruin my new gown.
He saw what I was doing and said, “It’s all right. They’re not leaking.”
I smiled and nodded, curious about his evening. “Something was stolen?”
“A couple pieces of the duchess’s jewelry from her room, containing emeralds and diamonds. Her maid was called to help a debutante who’d had a big rip in her hem when one of the dancers stepped on her gown. She was only gone a few minutes, less than five, during the entire evening and that was when the thief struck.”
“And no one was seen entering or leaving the duchess’s room?”
“No.”
“It would be hard to time anything that perfectly. Someone must have been watching.” I knew something about timing from visits to my grandfather when I was a girl. “Do you know who stepped on the girl’s gown and ripped it?”
“I don’t think anyone knows. The ball had turned into a crush. I’ve questioned the staff, and the time the maid was absent was a busy period for all of them. No one was upstairs to see anything.”
“Did you check with the duke to find out if everyone told you the truth about their assignments?” I asked. I have a naturally suspicious mind. I fear that was why Lady Kaldaire found me so helpful.
“Yes. Only the duchess’s maid was supposed to be near the family sleeping quarters except for the nursery staff, and they didn’t leave the nursery. They never even opened the door, so they could keep the nursery quieter.”
“That doesn’t sound very prudent, not to station more servants there, since you were called in because of thefts at other balls this season.” I’d met the Blackfords, and they didn’t seem foolish.
“I had a constable posted in the hallway standing guard, but when the young lady tore her gown at the same time Lady Ravenbrook collapsed in the supper room, ‘one of the toffs,’ as the constable put it, told him to report to me in the kitchens.”
