Murder Under a Full Moon

by Abigail Keam

  18

  “How bad is it?” Violet asked, tearfully, the next morning.

  Mona scrutinized Violet’s face. “It’s not too bad. A little makeup should cover those bruises. Violet, I want you to know I lodged a complaint with Sir Lindsay.”

  “When?”

  “Last night after you went to bed. Samuel, Jamison, and I paid the Ambassador a visit. If the men who attacked you were British, Lindsay will investigate it. We’ll find out who did this.”

  “I was so frightened. Those men came out of nowhere.”

  “It wouldn’t have happened if you had followed my instructions, Violet. You sneaked out without informing the Pinkertons. Those hoodlums were following you, and when they saw you didn’t have a guard detail with you, decided to close in.”

  “Samuel left the Willard without a detail,” Violet said, sullenly.

  “He doesn’t do that anymore. I think everyone realizes that the men who want our copper play for keeps.”

  “If only you would tell us everything. I know you’re holding back.”

  “You are on a need-to-know basis. I am not at liberty to discuss certain things with you. If you insist on staying a nosey little girl, then I’m sending you home—today!”

  Violet’s eyes widened. “Please don’t do that, Miss Mona. If my mother sees my face bruised up like this, she will never let me leave Moon Manor again. I’ll be stuck on that farm until I’m thirty.”

  Mona wanted to chuckle, but didn’t. This was a grave matter. Violet and Hilda could have been seriously injured or worse. She shuddered to think what those men might have done if bystanders hadn’t heard the girls screaming and come to their aid.

  A knock sounded on the door and Hilda poked her face in. “I’m going now, Miss Moon. Thank you for letting me stay the night in your suite. My folks would make me quit if they knew about last night. I told them I was working an extra shift and staying the night in the servant’s quarters.”

  Noticing that Hilda had her maid uniform on, Mona said, “I don’t think you are ready to go back to work yet.”

  Hilda nervously put her hands in her pockets. “I’m jeopardizing my position here. If Mrs. Ruttle knows that I went out with a guest and then spent the night in a suite, she would give me the heave-ho. I need this job, Miss Moon. I need to help my family. My father lost his job over a year ago, and he’s now helping my mother take in laundry.”

  “I understand, Hilda, but I have planned a much better day for you and Violet. You both need to shake the cobwebs off.”

  “You’re not going to send me away?” Violet asked, crossing her fingers.

  “At least, not before I replace your dress.”

  “Oh.” Violet understood that she was still on thin ice with Mona.

  “You two are to shop for new dresses with new hats, gloves, and stockings to match. In fact, get several pairs of stockings. Here is a list of things I need as well.”

  Mona noticed Hilda’s fallen face.

  “I can’t afford a new dress, let alone a new hat and gloves.”

  “This is on me, Hilda. After last night, it’s the least I can do.”

  “How will I explain a new outfit to my folks?”

  Mona handed Hilda her card. “Give this to your parents and tell them to call me if they have any questions.”

  “I don’t want them to know about last night. They’d blame me.”

  “Tell them it is a treat from me, an eccentric rich woman from Kentucky, for your help during my stay in Washington. If they call, that’s what I’ll tell them.”

  “But my job? I’m supposed to report in ten minutes.”

  “I’ll call Mrs. Ruttle and ask her if it is all right for you to help Violet run errands for me. She’ll be fine with it.”

  Violet and Hilda shot gleeful peeks at each other before they returned their attention to Mona. “Now if any of the Pinkertons tell me that either one of you disobeys his orders, then I’ll take back the outfits. Do we have a deal?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they chorused.

  “Good. I’ve already set up an appointment at a store in town. One of their clerks will assist you and send me the bill. Jamison will drive you.”

  Mona turned and picked up the morning paper, thinking the dressing down was over. She wanted to eat the breakfast Samuel had prepared for her in peace.

  When Violet and Hilda still stood looking expectantly at her, Mona said, “You are both excused. Hilda, borrow a dress from Violet.”

  “Yes, miss,” Hilda answered, before excitedly running after Violet, who was already making a beeline for her room.

  Mona watched the girls eagerly rush off and couldn’t help but smile. She remembered when Dexter Deatherage had her stop off in Cincinnati for a shopping spree before heading to Lexington after she had inherited the Moon millions. It was the first time Mona had unlimited money to shop for nice clothes. Before she had haunted bazaars and thrift shops for the outfits on her back. She recalled how excited she had been to pick out evening gowns with matching shoes and day dresses made of material that was soft to her skin. A new frock to a woman was like strolling in heaven.

  At least, that’s what Mona thought.

  19

  Rupert Hunt was giving Mona a rundown of the daily adventures of Nasha Martin when Samuel announced the arrival of Alice Longworth and Lady Lindsay. “I had them wait in the foyer.”

  “I wonder what they want,” Mona said.

  “I’ll just hide in Violet’s room. By the way, where is she?”

  “She went to the drugstore to purchase some makeup to go with her new outfit. She went on a shopping spree this morning. Now she wants to cover the marks on her face.” Mona saw Rupert’s anxious expression. “Don’t worry. She has a Pinkerton with her.”

  Rupert looked relieved. “Good. I’ll keep the door propped open a bit, so I can eavesdrop.”

  “Always the snoop.”

  Rupert grinned before heading to the bedroom. “That’s my job.”

  Noting that Rupert was now out of sight, Mona nodded to Samuel to bring them into the sitting room.

  Alice burst into the room with such energy that papers flew off the table. “So sorry to arrive unannounced, but Lady Lindsay has something to say to you.” She turned to Lady Lindsay, who crept into the room slowly and sheepishly looked about. “Don’t you, Elizabeth?”

  Lady Lindsay nodded. “May we sit?”

  Mona said, “Of course. Please.”

  Alice and Lady Lindsay sat on a settee together.

  Mona, Alice, and Lady Lindsay sat quietly, glancing at one another until Mona spoke, “To what do I owe this honor?”

  Alice elbowed Lady Lindsay. “Get on with it.”

  Lady Lindsay cleared her throat. “I understand that you visited my husband several nights ago and accused him of having your suite ransacked and your companion attacked.”

  “Her maid,” Alice insisted.

  Mona shot Alice a harsh look. “Are you here to intercede for Ambassador Lindsay? I am thinking of making a formal complaint against him with the British government and nothing you say will change my mind. You should see my companion’s face and the face of the girl who was with her. Barbaric, I tell you.”

  Lady Lindsay lowered her head and reached into her purse for a handkerchief. Dabbing her eyes, she said, “Ronald is a good man. A worthy man. He does not deserve your condemnation. I was the one who gave the order for your suite to be ransacked, but I did not order the destruction of your property.”

  “Those men took all our silk stockings, my garter belt, and other female apparel, not to mention sedating my bodyguard team. Most unseemly, Lady Lindsay. Not the cowboy way.”

  “I will replace all items they took. I’m so sorry. They just got carried away.”

  “Who were they?”

  “Two gentlemen who work for the British government. That’s all I will say on the matter.”

  “And you swear on the Bible that Ambassador Lindsay had no knowledge of this
action?”

  “I swear he did not.”

  “Does he now?”

  Lady Lindsay shook her head.

  “What were you searching for?”

  “You know what. I never should have given you that report on Dardel. The very next day, Lindsay’s secretary was turning the embassy upside down searching for it. I must have it back.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask me for it?”

  Lady Lindsay’s eyes widened. “You would have given it back?”

  “Sure. I already had a photostat made of it.”

  “Oh dear,” Lady Lindsay said, her brow gathering.

  Alice nudged Lady Lindsay again. “Elizabeth, make peace, not war.”

  “May I have the original file?”

  “First you need to tell me why you had my companion and her friend attacked?”

  Lady Lindsay cast a shocked looked at Alice, who looked dumbfounded as well. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about. I never had your staff attacked.”

  Alice butted in. “This is the first we’ve heard of this. Someone attacked Bucktooth Becky? How is she?”

  “Bruised up a bit. They punched her in the face.”

  “What did they say? What did they want?”

  Mona replied, “She doesn’t really know. It happened so fast, and she couldn’t understand what they were saying because their English accents were so thick.”

  Alice asked, “Violet said they had English accents?”

  Lady Lindsay shook her head. “This can not be laid at my doorstep, nor Ronald’s. He would never order an attack on any woman.”

  Frustrated, Alice asked again, “What type of accents? Upper class English accents, Cockney, Irish, Welch, Scottish, Yorkshire.”

  “She doesn’t know, Alice.”

  “Perhaps it was a mugging,” Lady Lindsay suggested.

  Mona replied, “I don’t think so. They didn’t grab their purses. They just roughed them up. I hate to think of what would have happened if some passersby hadn’t heard those girls scream for help.”

  “I know everything that goes on at the embassy. It wasn’t one of our people,” Lady Lindsay said.

  Mona didn’t reply as she really didn’t believe Lady Lindsay. “Are we finished?”

  “I must have that report back. I can not have my husband know that I gave you a confidential report, Miss Mona. It would seriously jeopardize my marriage and his trust in me.”

  “Come on, Mona. You got what you needed from that report. Give it back,” Alice coerced.

  Mona sighed. “Very well. Follow me.” Mona took them to the end of the hallway and into the small kitchen that accompanied the suites on that floor. Next to the window were several crates of Coca-Cola. Mona pulled up all the bottles from the first crate and reached in for the file. She handed it to Lady Lindsay.

  Alice whistled and said, “Clever girl. How did you know that no one would look there?”

  “I didn’t. I just figured that anyone looking for the file wouldn’t bother looking through all the crates. When they came looking, this crate was on the bottom of three crates. My butler loves his soda pop. As you can see, he has gone through an entire crate on his own and now this crate is on top.”

  Lady Lindsay put the file in a leather portfolio she brought with her. “Thank you, Mona. I hope we can put this unpleasantness behind us and move forward.”

  When Mona didn’t respond, Alice took the hint. “I see that there is some more damage control to be done here, but let’s leave on a positive note. Come, Elizabeth. We’ve taken up enough of Mona’s time.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Alice said, “Go on, dear, I’ll be along in a moment.”

  Samuel appeared out of nowhere. “Lady Lindsay, may I escort you to the elevator?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She turned to Mona and mouthed, thank you again, before following Samuel out of the kitchen.

  Alice waited until Lady Lindsay was out of earshot before she turned to Mona. “Lars Dardel’s funeral will be tomorrow. Bring Violet along and see if she recognizes anyone. I want the fiend who pummeled my Bucktooth Becky punished.”

  “Violet would be touched about your concern of her welfare.”

  Alice scoffed. “We can’t have hooligans roughing up the lower classes. How ever shall we keep maids if this continues?”

  Mona flashed a wide smile. “Alice, you are a burnt marshmallow—crusty on the outside and gooey on the inside. You are fooling no one. I’ll tell Violet that you are worried about her.”

  “I am not! It’s just that good help is hard to find.” Alice swung the tail of her fox stole around her neck and stormed off with Mona’s laughter ringing in her ears.

  20

  Mona and Violet silently crept into the church moments before the funeral began. Sitting in a side aisle of the large cathedral, they were able to see the faces of most of those attending. Mona recognized Ambassador Boström from his pictures in the newspaper. He took a seat close to the front with other official looking people after saying a few words to Mrs. Dardel who was standing near her husband’s coffin.

  “Should we pay our respects to the widow?” Violet asked.

  “I might speak to her after the funeral, but I want to see who talks to her.”

  “Let’s sit closer. You might recognize the two assailants if you heard their voices again.”

  “Part of me would rather not, but another part of me wants to see them go to jail.”

  “That’s the spirit, Violet.” Mona clasped Violet’s hands and gave a quick squeeze before returning her attention to the crowd.

  Violet smiled at Mona. Nothing seemed to keep Mona Moon down. Not even the fact that Lord Farley had arrived safely in Great Britain and had not seen fit to call or even send a telegram. Mona never asked if he had called or even mentioned his name. Violet wished she could be more like her.

  They inched their way closer to the main huddle of mourners. They sat on the very left of the nave. Mona casually took out her powder compact and fussed with her hair looking in the mirror, in order to see who was sitting behind her.

  She closed it when the redheaded ingénue from the British Embassy party sashayed into the cathedral. She caused quite a sensation with her brightly colored yellow coat covering a blue serge dress and an orchid wrist corsage. The woman looked like she was going to a party and not a funeral. Noting she was causing quite a stir, the actress took her place among the mourners.

  Mona and Violet quickly looked to see how Mrs. Dardel reacted to the captivating starlet. Disappointingly, the widow was conversing with the priest, who was about to deliver the eulogy.

  “Who is that dreadful woman?” Violet asked.

  “She’s a British subject on way her to Hollywood. She was at the embassy’s party. Dardel danced with her.”

  “What’s her name?”

  Mona thought for a moment. “To tell you the truth, I can’t remember. I’m surprised she is here. Dardel overreached himself when he danced with her. He put his hand on her derriere. She seemed to be very angry about it at the time.”

  “Maybe that’s why she’s smiling now. She wants to make sure he’s dead.”

  “Hush, you two, and move over.”

  Mona and Violet looked up to see Alice Roosevelt Longworth hovering impatiently over them. They moved over to allow her a seat in the pew.

  “Why are you sitting all the way over here? This is not where the action is.”

  “So we can observe without being observed ourselves.”

  Alice grabbed Violet’s face and twisted it toward her. “Let me see what those monsters did, Bucktooth Becky.”

  Violet tried to pull away but couldn’t.

  “Oh, goodness, they really did a number on you,” Alice complained.

  “Looks better than it did. I’ve got makeup on.”

  “You need to apply it more thickly. Didn’t do much for you. The purple shows through.”

  Mona wanted to groan at Alice’s intrusion but
it was too late. People were already turning in their seats trying to gauge who was causing all the racket. As soon as they saw Alice, they waved and turned back in their seats. No way were they going to scold her. Not Alice Roosevelt Longworth. They’d rather set their tongues on fire.

  Mrs. Dardel sat in the front pew with an older woman who Mona assumed was Dardel’s mother. The priest began the service. Wanting to get a better view of who was at the service, Mona maneuvered across Violet and Alice into the side aisle and hid behind a massive column. Upon hearing soft footsteps behind, she was too late in turning.

  As a hand clapped tightly across her mouth, Mona heard, “It’s just me. Didn’t want to startle you coming up behind.”

  Mona clamped down on a tiny bit of flesh on the palm with her teeth.

  “Wow whee,” the man hissed as he jerked his hand away.

  Mona pulled out her powder compact and checked her lipstick. It was smeared. “You’ve mussed my face.” She took out a handkerchief to fix her lips and then put on a fresh coat of lipstick. “Want do you want?”

  Scott bowed. “My apologies, good lady. It was not my intention. We need to talk.”

  Mona took off her shoes before heading to the foyer of the cathedral. She made sure she softly closed the main door behind her.

  Scott followed.

  Once outside, Mona leaned on Scott to put her shoes back on.

  “That was thoughtful of you.”

  “I certainly didn’t want the mourners to hear the clicking of my heels on the marble floor during the service.”

  “As if there are any mourners in there,” Scott said, thumbing at the sanctuary.

  “His wife seems torn up.”

  “Perhaps the only one.”

  “I’m surprised that Dardel was a Catholic and not a Lutheran.”

  “His wife is Catholic. I’ve always thought that’s why Dardel took such chances. His wife’s religion didn’t go down well with Dardel’s bosses, and he tried to increase his prospects of a promotion by taking risky assignments. The problem was he was so terrible at being a spy.” Scott gave a short chortle.