English Trifle

by Josi S. Kilpack

  1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

  1 cup whipping cream

  Basmati rice, cooked

  Cilantro (for garnish)

  Melt butter in a large skillet, add garlic and jalapeño. Cook 1 minute. Add coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala, and salt. Add tomato sauce and cover skillet. Simmer 15 minutes. Add cream and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Add cooked chicken to sauce; simmer an additional 5 minutes. Serve over basmati rice. Garnish with cilantro.

  Serves 6.

  * Garam masala adds to the traditional flavor of the dish but it isn’t absolutely necessary if it’s difficult to find at your local grocery store. However, the dish is better with it than without it. Garam masala is made up of a combination of different spices and can be mixed at home.

  Chapter 13

  ~

  Sadie’s heart began to pound in her chest. Even though she’d known Mrs. Land was hiding something, to have her admit it was a huge validation. It was all she could do not to shake more answers out of the woman. She was so close but knew that pushing would only force the woman’s defenses back up. In an instant she reviewed what Mrs. Land had said. Rupert. Was he a husband? A boyfriend? Was Mrs. Land protecting him somehow?

  “Is that why you went along with this?” Sadie asked. “For Rupert?”

  Mrs. Land’s eyes filled with tears. “I had to do it for my boy.”

  Her boy, Sadie repeated. Her son. “I know,” she said with a sympathetic nod. “We’ll do anything for our children, won’t we?”

  “There’s just so much I can’t do for him,” Mrs. Land explained. “It’s not easy, raising a boy without a man around—but they promised me he’d be okay if I just did my part—that they’d get him a good lawyer. But you can’t imagine how hard it’s been. I’m not a liar, Mrs. Hoffmiller. It’s been tearing me up something awful. And Lacy, oh, that poor girl, she just didn’t know what she was getting herself into when she came here. I’d hoped she’d come back for dinner, but if she left like you said, oh my, I just don’t know what to do.”

  Sadie nodded encouragingly even while shouting in her mind for Mrs. Land to get on with it. What was Mrs. Land’s part? What did Lacy not know? Who were they?

  “I have to know,” Sadie said, trying hard to be patient so as not to scare off Mrs. Land from talking to her even though it was so hard to know where to start with her questions. “Was John Henry in the sitting room when you went up there?”

  After a moment, Mrs. Land nodded, triggering a hallelujah chorus in Sadie’s mind.

  “You cleaned up the wall, didn’t you?” Sadie offered. Mrs. Land was the only one Sadie could think of who would do it.

  Again Mrs. Land nodded. “The maids keep a few rags and some cleaner in every room to clean up spills and things. I was so relieved that it cleaned the wall so well, even though I felt sick the whole time. This wasn’t supposed to happen—nothing like this. I don’t understand what went wrong.”

  Sadie couldn’t help but ask herself one more time if Mrs. Land could have killed John Henry. But she’d seemed too genuinely surprised when Sadie had burst into the kitchen this afternoon to have known he was already dead, and Sadie had already determined that Mrs. Land wasn’t strong enough to move the body—let alone stab a poker through his chest; an action such as that would take a good deal of strength to pull off. No, the murderer had to be strong, and able to sneak up on a man hiding behind the curtains. She believed that Mrs. Land was telling the truth—but she’d cleaned up the blood, so she must have been aware that someone had moved the body. Sadie was lining up her next question when Mrs. Land continued.

  “I feel right awful about it. It ain’t right and no one told me anyone would be killed or that the police would be involved or nothing like that.”

  “I don’t know how you’ve held up for so long, Mrs. Land,” Sadie soothed. “Can you please tell me who moved the body?”

  A male voice startled her from behind. “Mrs. Hoffmiller?”

  Sadie spun around to see Grant standing a few steps away. With her focus so intent on Mrs. Land and what she was about to divulge, Sadie hadn’t heard his approach. She would have bopped him on the head for his ill-timed interruption if she’d had the chance.

  Grant was watching them closely and although he looked perfectly professional, Sadie could read the irritation in his posture and the set of his brow. He held Mrs. Land’s eyes for a moment, which seemed to communicate something Sadie wasn’t supposed to understand. But then he didn’t know Sadie very well. She wondered how much he’d overheard and her stomach sank. Mrs. Land had hinted she wasn’t alone in whatever deception was going on; it wasn’t hard to imagine that Grant—the butler who wasn’t there when they found the body—would be in on it too. He practically ran the household. Sadie would need to be careful around him.

  He turned his eyes back to Sadie. “May I please escort you back upstairs?”

  Whether it was the tone in his voice or the fact that she might make things worse for Mrs. Land if she stayed, Sadie felt she had no choice but to agree. She’d have to find a few minutes with Mrs. Land later somehow. A quick glance at the table showed that her recipe book was still there, giving her a perfect reason to return to the kitchen and this conversation. In fact, the time between now and then might very well soften the woman up and give Sadie time to plan the best approach and process everything she’d learned. She looked back at the reluctant cook. “Thank you for the snack,” she said, trying to cover up the real reason she had been there. “Dinner smells delicious.”

  Mrs. Land gave Sadie a tremulous smile. Sadie followed Grant back through the dish room, glancing at her jacket still hanging on the hook as she did so. She decided to leave it there as well; now she had two excuses to return later. She followed Grant back to the main floor. He opened the door for her, but then hesitated. Sadie could hear Austin’s voice and a quick look at Grant clued her in to the fact that he didn’t want Austin to know she’d been down there.

  “Go back downstairs,” Sadie said quietly. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  He regarded her for a moment, then shook his head. “I have no reason to hide from my employer, madam. I keep no secrets from him.” He watched her carefully as he continued in the same whisper, “None of us do.”

  Chapter 14

  ~

  Sadie held his eyes for a few seconds, wondering what exactly he meant by that. “But Liam is more your employer than Austin—”

  “Lord Melcalfe,” Grant corrected her. “And Master Liam.”

  Sadie bit back an argument about the ridiculous nature of the title. Lord and Master—how arrogant did you have to be to come up with that kind of thing? But she didn’t want to put the butler off. “Sorry, what I mean is that Master Liam is more your employer than Lord Melcalfe is, and it’s obvious that the staff is keeping things from him.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Grant said, pulling himself up even straighter.

  “Why does Mrs. Land’s son need a lawyer? Who’s blackmailing her? What’s being covered up?”

  He looked at her quickly and she realized that she’d gone about it all wrong. He certainly wouldn’t give up such information that easily. “I’m sure I wouldn’t know,” he said quickly, then turned away from her, took a breath, and stepped around the tree. Sadie scowled at him, but followed all the same. She saw his shoulders relax slightly when he realized that both Liam and Austin had their backs toward them. He would not be reprimanded for having let Sadie get into the kitchen.

  Liam and Breanna were half a step behind Austin who was talking to three men dressed in suits. They must be the security guards Liam had mentioned—they looked a little like the Secret Service in their dark suits. Or maybe more like Men in Black.

  She tried to catch Breanna’s eye for a hint of what was going on, but Breanna didn’t look her way. She was probably still mad that Sadie had set her up to talk to Liam. Sadie hoped Breanna would accept her apology
once she realized how much Sadie had learned from Mrs. Land. She itched for her notebook so she could write down all of the details before she forgot.

  “It would be helpful for us to have a list of everyone on the premises,” one of the three men said. He had a dark complexion, Middle Eastern, Sadie assumed, but spoke with a British accent. His eyes watched Sadie as she approached the group and she wondered if she should continue up the stairs to her room.

  “Grant will assemble that list for you,” Austin said, looking over his shoulder to where Grant stood. The butler inclined his head. “He’ll also assemble the staff below so that the security detail can meet them.”

  “Would it be possible to wait until after dinner, sir?” Grant asked in his formal tones. “Many of the staff members are required to execute the meal.”

  Sadie thought it ridiculous that so many staff members were needed in order for the four of them to eat. Equally ridiculous was the idea that dinner couldn’t be moved back half an hour to accommodate the security team’s meeting with the staff members. One more example of the low priority everyone gave to John Henry’s death. Sadie was amazed security was there at all.

  Sadie looked at Austin, wondering why he’d suggested the security team in the first place. He’d been plenty clear about the fact that he didn’t believe John Henry had been murdered. However, he apparently still wanted to put on a good show of covering his bases. She reflected back on what he’d said about having stayed at the house all this time, purposely not being seen. Even with his being a snob, she couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t at least have introduced himself to them. He was Liam’s cousin and managing the holdings that Liam would soon be taking over. Then again, he also thought Breanna was a gold-digging American willing to tell outrageous stories in hopes of weaseling her way into the family tree. Hmmm.

  “This is the final houseguest,” Austin said, pulling Sadie out of her ponderings as he waved toward her. “Mrs. Sadie Hoffmiller.”

  She stepped forward and shook hands with each security guard. “You can call me Sadie,” she said warmly. “Everyone does.”

  They all nodded and smiled and made polite noises at each other.

  Austin cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to himself. He looked at the security guards. “Would you like a tour of the estate before dinner?”

  The men agreed, and headed toward the west wing of the main level to begin the tour; Liam, a couple steps behind the rest of them, looked like a little brother tagging along. As they walked away, Liam looked at Breanna, a scared, sad, but hopeful look on his face. Sadie was embarrassed for him and wondered if part of Breanna’s decision to break things off was because he wasn’t very assertive. She’d pegged him as quiet and easygoing from the first time they’d met, but over these last few hours, she felt like she was seeing those qualities in a different light. Only dominating women wanted weak men. Breanna wanted a partner, and seeing Liam in this setting did not reflect well on that potential.

  “I’ll, uh, see you at dinner,” Liam said. Breanna nodded and watched him go.

  Sadie and Breanna returned to their rooms where Sadie retrieved her notebook and began filling it full of every innuendo and detail Mrs. Land had shared with her.

  “So how did it go with Liam?” Sadie asked when she finished.

  “How do you think it went, Mom?” Breanna said, flopping onto the bed. “We’ve broken up. I can’t believe you set me up like that.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sadie said, giving her best repentant expression. “But I could tell he was intent on keeping us out of the kitchen. You were the only reason he’d give in. Was it horrible?”

  Breanna let out a breath. “No,” she said. “He wanted to tell me some . . . things.” She looked away, making Sadie wonder what Liam had said that Breanna didn’t want to tell her. “He found flights for Monday morning, but he’s not coming back with us.”

  Sadie was surprised to hear that. “He’s not?”

  Breanna shook her head. “He’s afraid if he leaves he won’t get back before his father passes away. He wants to take over the trustee position and manage his father’s affairs.”

  “What about his job in Portland?” Sadie asked. She simply couldn’t imagine Liam doing what Austin did. Were his father conscious, she felt sure he’d feel the same way.

  “Liam left a message for his boss to call him,” Breanna said, making a face. “It’s going to be ugly. Honestly, even under these circumstances I can’t believe he’s just walking away. I told him I thought he was acting rashly—but he’s determined.”

  “Wow,” Sadie said, imagining what a difficult decision that must have been for him to make.

  “How did it go with Mrs. Land?” Breanna asked, changing the subject and looking at the notebook Sadie held. “Did she tell you anything?”

  Eager to discuss her findings, Sadie took about two minutes to share everything she’d learned from Mrs. Land.

  “Oh, my gosh,” Breanna said when Sadie finished relaying Grant’s untimely interruption. She’d propped herself up on her elbows during Sadie’s recital. She looked decidedly shaken by what Sadie had told her, making Sadie wonder if she shouldn’t be telling her daughter so much. As the day had continued on, Breanna seemed to become more and more fragile around the edges. “Five more seconds and you would know who’d moved him.” Rather than sounding excited by this, she sounded scared.

  Sometimes Sadie had to remind herself that not everyone was as well equipped for a crisis as she was. Not everyone had lost so many people they loved—picked off one by one by twists of fate, circumstance, and just plain mortal tribulation. Then again, at Breanna’s age, Sadie hadn’t lost anyone yet. Within ten years she was a widow and motherless—Neil having died of a massive heart attack and Sadie’s mother killed in a car accident. Just over a year ago, Sadie’s dad had died after a long battle with colon cancer. Understanding that loss was a part of life was as ingrained in Sadie as was the recipe for the Everyday Ganache she required to be specified in her children’s apologies.

  “I was so close,” Sadie reiterated, shaking her head in disbelief. Then she stopped and sat up straighter. “I bet Grant is busy getting the dining room set up about now. I wonder if I could catch Mrs. Land before dinner starts. I left my recipe book down there so I’d have an excuse to go back.”

  “I don’t know,” Breanna said, her smooth forehead puckered with concern. “Maybe you ought to leave it alone.”

  “You told me I could look into things,” Sadie reminded her.

  Breanna shrugged. “I’ve had time to think about it since then, and I think it was a mistake.”

  “Did something happen when you and Liam talked?” Sadie asked, annoyed at the flip-flopping behavior. “It’s almost as if you’re doubting that we saw a dead body at all.”

  “I’m not doubting anything,” Breanna said. “I know what we saw—but I guess maybe I’ve realized how serious this really is. I don’t want us getting too involved or causing any problems. Liam’s going to send us to London in the morning.”

  “London?” Sadie repeated, then immediately shook her head, reminded that they’d overheard Grant saying the same thing. “No way, we can’t just leave. We know what’s happened here—what really happened.” She paused and looked hard at her daughter, wishing for the millionth time that Breanna’s face was more reflective of her thoughts and feelings. Shawn, Sadie’s son, was an open book. Every lie about why he was late for curfew, every denial that he’d eaten the last of the chocolate chip cookies, every assurance that the girl was “just a friend” was betrayed by his eyes, the set of his jaw, the way he clenched his fists. Poor boy couldn’t get away with a thing—Sadie hoped that wasn’t why he decided to go to school at Michigan State. Hmmm, something to think about later.

  Right now, however, she was up against Breanna, who kept most of her thoughts and feelings locked up tight, only offering general moods or emotions up for examination. Right now, she was holding something back, but it was impo
ssible to tell if it was just the stress of everything going on or if it was something else. “What did Liam say to you that’s made you pull back from all this?”

  Breanna made a sound between a growl and a groan as she stood up from the bed and smoothed back her hair. “Fine,” she said with frustration. “Let’s go see Mrs. Land.”

  Sadie couldn’t keep up with the rate at which Breanna changed her mind but she liked this new direction so she went with it. “Good,” she said.

  The notebook was too big to fit in her pocket and it made her look like some kind of auditor, so she put it in the nightstand drawer next to the bed before she and Breanna headed for the kitchen again. This time she didn’t bother with stealth, though they hung back at the top of the stairs while Liam, Austin, and the security team entered the sitting room. Sadie hoped the security guards were ex-cops and would realize the faulty investigation going on. Maybe they could step in. As soon as they were all in the room, she and Breanna hurried down the stairs, around the Christmas tree, and through the doors that led to the kitchen below.

  They slowed their steps as they entered the dish room, then stopped completely when they saw Grant pace into view in the doorway leading to the kitchen. He had the wall phone to his ear, and Sadie and Breanna froze, catching snippets of his conversation. “Yes, please call me as soon as you know their availability. . . . I understand the holiday makes it difficult, but we still need a cook. I’ve a houseful of people. . . . Right. Until then.”

  As soon as he hung up, he turned and noticed them standing there; he straightened immediately when he realized he’d been overheard.

  “I left my recipe book here,” Sadie said. She moved toward the recipe book she could see on the far counter, wondering why Grant was looking for a new cook. She picked up the book and held it to her chest, scanning the kitchen. Grant and Breanna still stood near the doorway to the dish room; other than that, no one else was there. “Is Mrs. Land here?” she finally asked when she saw no sign of the woman. “I’ve been after her all week for that scone recipe and she said she’d think about it. I’m hoping she’s taken pity on me.”