by Shéa MacLeod
I would have told Tom to slow down, but for one thing: we were in a hurry. And for another, I think my tongue was frozen with fright.
At last we plunged through the gates, and it was a straight shot up the hill to the manor. I nearly wilted with relief.
The house loomed in the darkness, stark black against a midnight blue sky dotted with tiny pinpricks of light. The stars were out in full force, but I didn’t have time to enjoy them. I had to get to Toni!
There was only one light on somewhere upstairs. Probably the servant’s quarters. I was surprised Toni would be in bed this early. It was only eleven.
I nearly shoved Jack out of the vehicle the minute it screeched to a halt and dashed straight to the front door. Unfortunately it was locked, so I alternately pounded on it and rang the bell shouting, “Toni! Toni!”
It seemed like forever before I heard the bolt slide back and the door creak open. Johnson poked his nose out, looking every bit the stiff he always did. Apparently, he hadn’t been to bed yet.
“Miss Martin,” his tone was rife with disapproval, “do you know what time it is?”
“Don’t care.” I shoved past him and dashed toward the stairs. “Toni’s in danger.”
“Impossible!”
I ignored his affronted protest and took the stairs two at a time, clutching the rail like a lifeline. If I’d had more air, I’d have shouted for Toni, but I was already panting with exertion and terror. What if the killer had got to her already?
At last I made it to the top and rushed down the corridor, breath heaving from my lungs. Tippy trotted beside me—either Jack or Tom had got him out of the truck—tongue lolling, sides heaving. He looked every bit as concerned as I felt.
Doors on either side of the hall opened. Heads popped out. Voices shouted questions at me, but I ignored them.
I shoved open Toni’s door and froze. A figure loomed over her, bed pillow clutched in its hands. I couldn’t tell if the figure was male or female, but I knew it meant my friend ill. Tippy growled low in his throat.
“You there!” I meant to shout aggressively, but it came out a little wimpy. “Get away from her!”
The figure whirled toward me, dropped the pillow, and ran straight at me. It hit me hard, knocking me into the doorframe before running toward the back of the house, feet thumping heavily on the servants’ stairs. My head reeled from the knock. I wanted to rush after the attacker, but I needed to make sure Toni was okay.
Tippy had no such qualms. He darted after the intruder, barking up a storm. He’d have woken the neighborhood if there’d been one.
I strode over to the bed and snapped on the table lamp. Toni slept peacefully, hair fanned out around her head, mouth slightly open, delicate little snores escaping. Even while she slept, she was astonishingly beautiful. But why was she asleep? All the noise should have woken her up.
I leaned over and gave her a good shake. “Toni, wake up. Toni!”
She stirred a little and muttered something incomprehensible before snuggling under the blanket. Another snore escaped her.
I stared down at her in consternation. What was going on?
An empty teacup sat next to the bed, the dregs of tea coating the bottom. I gave it a sniff. Alcohol. No surprise there. Toni frequently spiked her tea. I dipped a finger in and gave it a taste. Tea, whiskey, and something else... something bitter and not right. I grimaced. Somebody had doctored her tea. She’d been drugged. No wonder she hadn’t woken up.
My blood froze. If I hadn’t walked in her room when I had, she would have never woken up. The intruder would have smothered her to death!
Chapter 9
Tippy returned, looking smug, with Jack at his side. They joined me in the sitting room. Jack flopped into an armchair, and Tippy trotted over to me, something in his mouth.
“What’s this, Tip?” I held out my hand, and he dropped a slimy wad of dark-colored fabric in it. “Cloth. Feels like from flannel trousers. Did you take a bite out of the bad guy? Good boy! Too bad I don’t have a treat for you.”
At the word “treat” his ears perked up. When none was forthcoming, he glared at me before sinking down into a crouch with a whine.
“Sorry, boy.” I gave him a scratch behind the ears. “Maybe Penny will find something for you, but right now she’s taking care of Toni.”
“How is she? Toni, I mean,” Jack asked.
“Still asleep. Somebody drugged her. Johnson has Penny standing guard with a fire poker while he rings the police and the doctor. What did you find?”
“Not much,” he admitted. “A back window was broken. That’s how he got in. Tippy gave chase and took a bite out of him, but he got away.”
“He pushed me you know. Right into the door frame. We were close enough to... well, kiss.”
“Then you saw him!” He leaned forward eagerly.
“Afraid not. It was too dark, and I think he was wearing a mask. In fact, I couldn’t even tell you if it was a man or a woman. All I know is we got here just in time.” I felt my throat thickening, but I refused to give in to my emotions. Time enough for that later. Maybe. “I get that he snuck in to smother her, but how did he know she’d be out cold? He couldn’t have drugged her, could he?”
Johnson cleared his throat from the doorway. “As to that, Miss, Lady Netherford drugged herself.”
We both stared at him. Well, all three of us if you count Tippy.
“What?” I finally managed.
“Her ladyship usually takes a sleeping draft at night,” he explained. “She says she is too light a sleeper otherwise. Prone to bouts of insomnia. Hence the nightly dose.”
“Maybe she got an extra dose tonight.” I frowned. “Who takes the tea to her?”
“Penny or I take her tea, and she stirs in the powders herself.”
“Plain black tea?” Jack asked.
“Yes, sir,” Johnson affirmed.
“Why is that important?” I asked.
“Because there’d be no way to mask the drug in plain black tea. Toni would have noticed right away. Which means it was likely her usual dose,” he explained.
The thought that whatever she took made her sleep that deeply made my skin crawl a little. I couldn’t imagine being so... vulnerable. “Whoever tried to kill her must know her well enough to know she takes sleeping powders every night.”
“Or whoever it was could have just gotten lucky,” Jack pointed out.
The doorbell rang.
“If you will excuse me?” Without waiting for a reply, Johnson made his way to the door with slow, measured steps.
“That’ll be Cobblepot,” Jack murmured.
Sure enough, the detective’s strident tones echoed down the hall. “Hear there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle, Johnson.”
“You could say that, sir.” Johnson’s tone was dry as week-old bread. “Dr. Grey.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Maybe Dr. Grey can do something.”
I’d never met the doctor, though I’d glimpsed him around the village. He was an interesting looking man with sandy hair going gray at the temples and overlarge ears that prevented him from being what I’d called distinguished. Mrs. Johnson had told me he’d grown up in St. Cyres Bay, which I suppose made him more suited to village life than the big city of London.
While the doctor went past the door and up the stairs, Cobblepot made a beeline for Jack and me. Tippy gave the policeman a dirty look and turned his back on him. Corgis, I’ve found, can say a lot from behind.
“Well, you two, at it again, I see.” Cobblepot tucked his hands into the pockets of his pleated suit pants and rocked back on his heels. He’d a pipe clamped between his teeth, but it wasn’t lit.
“You know very well we had nothing to do with this,” Jack snapped, standing to loom over the shorter police detective.
“I know no such thing,” Cobblepot insisted, stretching like he might suddenly gain four inches. “All I know is someone attempted to murder the lady of the house just days after her boyfr
iend was murdered.”
“And Sugar stopped him,” Jack said, not bothering to correct Cobblepot’s misassumption.
Cobblepot turned gimlet eyes on me. “Is that so?”
“Yes, it is,” I replied. “And Lord Winstead was not Toni’s boyfriend.”
Cobblepot heaved a sigh, pulled out a notepad, and sank into the nearest chair and pulled out a book of matches. “Might as well start from the beginning.”
So I told him everything, or nearly everything. I sort of left out Jack and me questioning Juliette, though I did mention our trip to London, and how I’d mulled things over and eventually realized that Toni could have been the intended victim. I concluded with our rush back to the manor, my saving Toni from an early demise, and my run-in with the killer. Or attempted killer.
“And you didn’t see anything? No features?”
I shook my head. “Too dark, and they were wearing a mask and gloves. I don’t know if it was a man or a woman.”
“Got to be a woman,” Cobblepot said.
I blinked. “Why’s that?”
“Men don’t go ‘round smothering people in their sleep.” He sucked on his pipe, a cloud of fragrant blue smoke swirling around him.
I opened my mouth to protest, but Jack interrupted. “Have you found the murder weapon yet?”
“No.” Cobblepot shot him a glare and turned back to me, clearly not to be deterred. “And who would want to kill Lady Netherford?”
“I don’t have any idea,” I admitted. “I don’t suppose it was Lord Chasterly? He could be sore about what happened.”
“Not unless he can be in two places at once,” Cobblepot said. “He’s locked up tight in prison.”
“He could have hired someone,” Jack pointed out, getting up to pour himself a dram of whiskey.
He tilted his head toward the decanter in question, but I shook mine. I needed to stay sharp. What I really wanted was coffee.
“Doubtful,” I said. “Whoever it was seems to know a lot about Toni. I doubt Lord Chasterly would know that much. Same goes for Mary.” Mary Parlance had been his partner in crime and was also currently in prison.
“Well, who else?” Cobblepot was obviously frustrated.
Apparently, I had to do his job for him. “Toni and I are friends, but fairly new ones. She’s never mentioned any enemies. She isn’t currently seeing anyone.” At least not that she’d mentioned, though with Toni it was hard to tell. “I suppose someone could be after her money, but we’ve never talked much about it.”
“You know who her heirs are?” Cobblepot glared at Jack.
“Afraid not. That’s my uncle’s business.”
I hadn’t realized Mr. Woodward was Toni’s solicitor. I supposed I should have.
Cobblepot stood up. “Well, I can’t say the two of you have been very helpful. If you think of anything else, let me know.” And he strode from the room, pausing at the foot of the stairs just as the doctor descended. “Anything, Doc?”
“Best thing to do is let her sleep it off,” Dr. Grey said smoothly. “She’ll wake in the morning as usual. You can question her then.”
“Late morning,” Johnson intoned from behind the doctor. His tone brooked no argument.
Cobblepot grimaced. “Fine. I’ll be back at ten. Make sure she’s ready.” And with that he stomped out.
Dr. Grey paused and gave us a warm smile. “She’s lucky you got here in time.”
“She’ll be okay, though, right?” I asked.
“She’ll be just fine. If you need me, you know where to find me.” He gave me and Jack a nod, then walked calmly to the front door where Johnson showed him out.
I let out a sigh of relief. “I was really scared there for a minute.”
Jack leaned over and squeezed my hand. It was such a shock my brain went fuzzy for a moment.
An even bigger shock was that Tippy set his chin comfortingly on my knee. I stroked his soft, fuzzy ears.
“We’re going to figure this out Sugar. We will,” Jack assured me. “You’re good at this.”
I gave him a dopey smile, then straightened my shoulders. I did not have time to moon over Jack Chambers. “But the stakes are higher. This time it’s my friend in danger.”
I WOKE SLOWLY TO THE singing of the birds outside my window. Well, Endmere’s window. Surprisingly, Johnson had insisted that Jack and I stay over in two of the guest rooms. Neither of us had argued. It was late and neither of us wanted to leave Toni. Just in case.
I’d thought I’d never go to sleep, but I had dropped off faster than I would have thought. Still, I felt a little fuzzy-headed and tired. I’d give anything for a good cup of coffee.
Tippy was gone, but I figured Penny had rescued him for breakfast and a walk. I couldn’t thank her enough for letting me sleep.
I climbed out of bed and stumbled into the attached bathroom to wash my face and make sure my hair wasn’t a total fright. Penny had loaned me a nightgown, probably one of Toni’s or maybe they just had extras around, and a brand-new toothbrush.
Once I’d finished, I hurried back to my room to change. At some point, Penny had freshened my clothes and pressed my dress. The dress hung from the door of the wardrobe, and the cardigan and underthings were folded neatly on the chair, my newly polished shoes placed carefully beneath it.
With gratitude, I quickly dressed and hurried downstairs to the dining room in search of breakfast. It was half-past-nine and Cobblepot would be there soon.
Jerry was the only one at breakfast. He sat reading the morning paper with a cup of tea steaming away at his elbow and a bit of toast half-eaten on a plate.
“Morning, Jerry,” I said breezily as if I wasn’t immediately thinking about how to confront him with the information I’d heard from Juliette. After checking the sideboard for coffee—there wasn’t any—I helped myself to eggs and toast, then I sat in the chair across from him. I reached for the tea pot. “Toni up yet?”
“Haven’t seen her.” He eyed me suspiciously. “You’re looking chipper.”
“I met Juliette Devereux,” I said, pouring myself a cup of tea before slathering jam on a slice of toast.
He cleared his throat and shifted nervously. “Did you?”
“Yes. She told me something very interesting about you and Peter.” I eyed him carefully over the rim of my cup.
His skin went milk white. “Juliette has a tendency to exaggerate.”
“Does she? Funny. She seemed quite sincere.” I took a sip and grimaced at the bitter taste. I dumped extra milk and sugar in it and gave it a stir. “If you’re worried about anyone finding out, they won’t hear it from me.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “Let’s just say I had no reason to kill Peter. I... cared for him.”
“You just couldn’t show it. And neither could he.”
He nodded. “Just so.”
That crossed Jerry off my list.
“Good morning, everyone!” Toni swanned in, dressed in a silky negligee that was more suited to her own boudoir than public. Although I supposed we weren’t actually in public. “What are you all doing here?” She sank into a chair and poured her own cup of tea, but she didn’t bother with anything to eat.
Jack was hot on her heels, wearing the same suit he’d worn yesterday and somehow looking divine anyway.
“Didn’t Johnson tell you what happened last night?” I asked Toni.
“Well, he claims someone tried to murder me, but it’s all nonsense, of course.” She gave a tittering laugh.
Jack and I gave her matched looks.
She blanched. “It’s not true, is it?”
“Afraid so,” Jack said gruffly. “Sugar stopped whoever it was.”
“And woke the whole house doing it,” Jerry muttered. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to... take a walk.” After shooting me a look, he strode from the room.
Toni leaned back, the wind knocked out of her. “I can’t believe it. What happened?”
Once again, I recited the story, only this
time I told her everything about us questioning Juliette. I finished up with, “Cobblepot will be here any minute. Keep mum about the Juliette angle, will you? I sort of didn’t mention that to him.”
Toni gaped at me. Before she could answer, there was a pounding at the door.
Jack and I groaned and in unison said, “Cobblepot.”
As if he’d heard us, the detective appeared in the doorway looking rumpled and irritable, his pipe trailing smoke. So business as usual then. Without asking, he made a beeline for the teapot, then he paused as if suddenly realizing his gaffe. “You mind?
Toni nodded graciously. “By all means. Make yourself at home, Detective.”
“Detective Chief Inspector, if you don’t mind.” With a sigh, he sank into one of the available chairs. Dark bags hung under his eyes, and his cheeks were scruffy as if he hadn’t shaved in a day or two. He poured himself a cup of tea, added a generous amount of sugar (considering Britain was still rationing), and leaned back, eyeing Toni. He took a deep sip, nodding approvingly, then said, “I’m glad to see you’ve come to no harm, Lady Netherford.”
She gave him a grim smile. “As am I.”
“Now,” he patted his pockets until he came up with a notebook and a pencil nub, “I want you to tell me the events of last night as you remember them.” He glanced from me to Jack. “If we could have some privacy.”
“You’re the interloper here, Detective Chief Inspector.” Her tone held an icy bite. “Jack and Sugar will stay and finish their breakfasts you so rudely interrupted.”
His cheeks were crimson, and his eyes snapped with anger, but Cobblepot wasn’t a total fool. Instead of protesting further, he harrumphed a bit before getting down to business. “What did you do yesterday evening?”
“As you well know, I have several guests staying,” Toni said. “We had cocktails at seven. Supper at eight—early, but we keep country hours here—and then port and cards after.”
“And all the guests were here the entire time?”
“Yes. Well, except for the Olivanders who went to bed at eleven. They’re quite elderly, you know.”
He scribbled something in his notebook. “What time did you go to bed?”
