The Violet Carlyle Mysteries Boxset 1

by Beth Byers

  Violet would never care for Boutet after seeing him watch his sister as she struggled. If only that made him a killer. Violet wondered if Boutet had been in the room when Bettina attacked Juliette. If so, why hadn’t he helped his sister? If not…where had he been?

  JULIETTE BOUTET— attacked by Bettina directly before the murder. She was a strong woman. She’d held the enraged Bettina off, a feat Violet wasn’t sure she’d have been able to duplicate. She was strong enough to have killed Bettina. But would she have? Why?

  Violet shuddered as she wrote the next name.

  THEODOPHILUS SMYTHE-HILL — A fiend. He was in town. It would have been possible for him to be on the property. Where had he been? What possible reason could he have to kill her?

  Violet twisted her wrist. It was hurting since Tomas had taken hold of it and squeezed too hard. She was very much afraid if anyone saw her bruises, they’d assume that Tomas was capable of far worse. Hopefully, the dress and the bracelets would be enough to hide what had happened.

  She just needed Jack to give Tomas a chance. To try to find a different killer. She just needed Jack to not assume that it was Tomas because he seemed obvious. Violet glanced her list over and knew that there was another name that she was certain of, but where had Victor been? Why hadn’t he been in the room and why hadn’t he already said? Why was he so angry last night?

  Violet wrote the last name on the list with a pang.

  VICTOR CARLYLE. Not the killer. But what was he up to?

  She decided she needed to find Jack. It was nearly 8:00 a.m., and she was betting he was either in the house or would be soon. Even before Jack, however, she rather needed to speak with Victor. Violet tucked her journal under her arm and left her bedroom.

  The hallway was deserted, and she hurried to Victor’s door. She felt very exposed since one of the guests in this hall was almost certainly a killer. She knocked on his door quickly and when he responded she stepped inside.

  “I knew you’d be here,” he said. He smoothed his jacket sleeves and glanced her over.

  They very rarely fought, so it was hard for them to make up. They had so little practice with it. They stood there, like fools, uncertain of how to handle what they were thinking.

  Violet spoke first. “Why were you so angry with me last night?”

  “You were supporting Jack instead of Tomas.” Victor tapped his hand against his leg.

  Violet stared at her brother. He normally felt like an extension of herself, but at the moment, she didn’t understand him at all. Why did she have to choose between Jack and Tomas? Why couldn’t she know Tomas wasn’t the killer and yet still feel as though Jack had perfectly good reasons to feel the way he did?

  She tried to think of how to convey her thoughts and felt as though words were abandoning her. Finally, she asked, “You know how Tomas talks about Ben?”

  “The kid who lied to join the battle? Yeah. He’s the worst of the stories.”

  Violet nodded. “Him.”

  “What about the kid?”

  “What would have happened, do you think, if Tomas’s memories were of Ben dying again? What if it seemed like he could save Ben?”

  Victor’s jaw ticked. “I don’t think anything would have happened. Because that isn’t the way the memories hit Tomas. You just don’t want Jack to be wrong. You love him, so you are blind to him being wrong.”

  “I would lay a bet with the entirety of my fortune, even now, that Tomas didn’t kill Bettina.” Violet tucked her hair behind her ear and searched Victor’s face. His anger was still present, and she wasn’t sure how to get him to leave it be.

  “You could have fooled me,” Victor snapped.

  Her eyes burned with tears. Violet didn’t know how to handle him this way. Why was he acting like she was somehow not on Tomas’s side? Didn’t Victor realize that the whole of yesterday with Tomas and what Jack had seen was poisoning the growing love?

  She didn’t know how to reconcile that the two people she cared most about were both angry with her—and possibly worse—with each other.

  “I need you to be on my side,” Violet told him.

  He snapped again at her. “Don’t cry. It won’t get me to abandon my friend.”

  “What is wrong with you? I have not asked you to do that!”

  “And when Jack arrests Tomas?”

  Violet began pacing Victor’s room, pausing to arrange a stack of papers near Victor’s typewriter and to put his cufflinks back in the box. “Jack is investigating because we asked him to.”

  “He’s playing at it. To assuage you.”

  Violet had to swallow back a shriek of fury and instead answered as calmly as she could. “You know he isn’t. Jack is an honorable man. He told us he would investigate as though Tomas was not the killer, and he will.”

  Victor ran his hand through his hair. “We can’t count on that, Vi. Tomas needs us to be on his side.”

  Violet frowned at her brother. Why was he being like this? Her gaze searched his, and he looked away, but not before she saw the panic in it. The panic and the guilt.

  “Sit down,” she told him. “I need you, Victor.”

  His jaw clenched again.

  “I want to show you something.”

  He glanced at her. She knew he read her tone—that he wasn’t going to like it—but he sat down. She sat across from him and started pulling off her bracelets. Slowly she revealed the circle of bruises around her wrist.

  “Did Jack do this to you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Who did?” Victor demanded. His hand was careful with hers as he looked at it. “You need to tell me, Vi.”

  “It was Tomas. While I was talking to him, last night.”

  Victor’s mouth slowly opened, and his gaze searched hers. He was shaking his head, but he knew she’d never lie to him. Not ever.

  She took her hand from him and put her bracelets back on.

  “I was right there. I would have freed you.”

  “Jack wouldn’t have understood. I couldn’t let him see because it would have put Tomas at risk. None of this is our fault, Victor. But it’s not Jack’s fault either. He was here, someone we know died, of course he’d end up being assigned to this case. Of course, he’d be the one. We’re lucky it’s Jack. If it wasn’t, some other investigator wouldn’t have any reason to look beyond Tomas. Jack is investigating because he’s trusting our assessment of Tomas. At least enough to give it a chance.”

  Victor’s mouth snapped shut at that.

  Violet shook her wrist before Victor. “These bruises are proof that Tomas can hurt people when he’s lost to the memories, and I won’t have Tomas not getting a full chance because Jack is enraged. The problem is…” She lifted her brows and waited for Victor to fill in the rest. She knew he saw it.

  He leaned forward as he said, “Tomas didn’t know what he was doing.”

  Violet pressed her lips together and nodded.

  “Bloody hell.” Victor stood, pulled Violet up and squeezed her tightly. “I’m sorry.”

  Vi nodded against his chest, the panic in her own chest easing. She could get through anything as long as she had Victor on her side.

  Chapter 14

  “Where were you? During the party, I mean.”

  Victor glanced at Violet. “When I warned Theo off of Tomas’s house the other day, Theo was furious. He made some threats against you, me, even Algie. I asked the servants to keep an eye out for him. Right after the first couple of dances, Mr. Hull came and found me. Said that one of the daily servants in for the party had seen Theo skulking around. I went to remove him before he could act on those threats he’d made.”

  “Did you find him?”

  He held out his hand. His knuckles were bruised again, his middle one split worse than before, and she was surprised she hadn’t noticed it. Emotions were too fraught. They were missing things that would never have passed them by on a different day.

  “What if it was Tomas?” Victor asked, soun
ding broken. “By Jove, Violet, I don’t think I can see him hang for something he can’t remember doing.”

  “I don’t know,” Violet admitted. “We asked Jack to trust us and investigate as though Tomas wasn’t the killer. I think we need to do the same and keep in mind that it might, perhaps, maybe could have been Tomas.”

  Victor nodded. “Until this killer is found, you need to be extra careful. You stay with me or one of our people—and that doesn’t include Tomas. Not until we’re sure.”

  “I think that John is going to take Gwennie back to London if Jack doesn’t object. I am convinced we can get Lila and Denny, however, to stay.”

  “I’ll talk to them about it later,” Victor said.

  They rose and left his bedroom. The breakfast room contained only Algie. He saw the two of them and laughed nervously. “Been a bit afraid to get comfortable since there is a murderer in our midst.”

  Algie shuffled his teacup around the table, but he hadn’t yet made a plate.

  “Tell Victor that you owe Theo money again.”

  Victor’s head tilted and the look he shot Algernon was a nasty one. “This is why Theo was lingering here?”

  “I don’t owe him that much. Just fifty quid, but I don’t have it right now. I don’t know why he’s still here for the money. It’s not like I haven’t paid him far more. The fellow should trust me. I’m not going to stiff him.”

  The breakfast room door opened. Jack and Mr. Hull entered. Jack wore a simple brown suit with a blue shirt under it. The colour set off the tan of his skin and made Violet ache. This was not how their reunion was supposed to go.

  “There you are,” Jack said.

  “Good morning,” Violet said to Mr. Hull.

  The tension was so thick that Algie giggled nervously.

  Victor made Violet a plate while she stretched her neck. She was achy and tired. She wanted to sleep but knew if she lay down, she’d find herself remembering the feel of blood drying on her skin. There wasn’t going to be good sleep until this case was solved.

  Victor didn’t need to explain to her why he was serving her. He was doing it so she didn’t have to put pressure on her wrist. It was kedgeree, toast, and fruit, and Violet tucked in with a bit of relief. If only she could go back to worrying about telling Tomas ‘no’ to his proposal. It had seemed so stressful, but now…murder was so much worse. Violet asked Mr. Hull for aspirin and Victor followed up with a cup of tea.

  Jack’s gaze took in everything, but Violet didn’t have it in her to try to prevaricate at the moment. She needed to just eat and let the painkillers work on her head.

  Jack made himself a plate, sitting across from Violet rather than next to her. She tried, and failed, to not be hurt by his placement.

  “Are you ready to tell me where you were during the party last night?” Jack asked Algie.

  Algie sniffled. “Well…you know….I…”

  “You’re a suspect until you speak up, Algie,” Violet said softly.

  “Is that true?” Algie asked with a bit of a squeak, casting a worried gaze towards Jack.

  Jack nodded.

  “I’ll…I’ll…I’ll tell Jack when you two aren’t around. You don’t need to know. Already turn your noses up at me, don’t you? I don’t need it worse.”

  Victor ignored Algie, who got up and left before he could get manipulated into explaining where he’d been. The look he cast at the twins said he expected just that. Injured and then longing when he turned to the buffet full of breakfast, but he left all the same.

  “Are you well?” Jack asked, his gaze on Victor pouring Violet another cup of tea. The twins looked after each other, but this wasn’t normal even for them.

  “Just a bit of a headache,” Violet said, not quite a lie. “We’re all worried about what happened.”

  “On the surface, the answer is obvious. Your friend Tomas killed the woman.”

  “And under the surface?” Victor asked.

  Violet took the aspirin with her tea and closed her eyes.

  “You’ve been traveling with a clutch of vipers.”

  Violet didn’t bother to reply. She was tired. Her heart hurt. Not just for Tomas but for her. She had fallen in love, and it was all coming apart. She could barely even understand why this was happening. She could feel Jack’s gaze on her, but she didn’t bother opening her eyes.

  “We know,” Victor answered. “Tomas knew. Tomas asked Violet to get rid of them. He hasn’t been feeling well, so—”

  “You mean he has been struggling with his memories of the war?”

  “When Tomas came home,” Victor explained, “he hid it pretty well for a while. He threw himself into things. Family stuff. His mother passed away during the war but his father and his older brother survived the war, along with his little sister. Tomas was so glad to have time with them. At first, Vi and I just thought he was getting through grieving his mother, you know? Then the flu hit and everyone was getting sick and Tomas lost both his dad and his brother within days of each other. Tomas was suddenly in charge of his family estate when he’d never expected anything of the kind. He and his brother were close. His father too. It was devastating.”

  Violet shuddered.

  “We couldn’t reach him after a while. He just disappeared. You have to understand, from the first time I went away to school, Tomas was my best friend. He was my temporary Violet when she and I were in different schools. So, I took Violet with me and we came here to find out what was happening with Tomas. He was a mess.”

  Violet squeezed her eyes shut. That was a time she didn’t want to go back to.

  Victor continued. “Violet could reach Tomas when no one else could. She could talk to him, and he’d slip out of the memories.”

  “Is that why he wants to marry her?”

  Victor nodded and Violet glanced away. Jack was utterly expressionless, but she could feel his gaze on her.

  “He always thought he loved her,” Victor said. “Even when we were little. I’d tell him stories of her, and he was infatuated before they ever even met. Tomas doesn’t really love Vi, though. I’ve seen what it looks like to love. Tomas doesn’t care for her in the way he thinks he does. He adores her, but he doesn’t love her like a wife. He just wants the peace she brings.”

  “And you want that for her?”

  Violet cleared her throat and finally looked up, watching the two of them.

  “No. Not at all. Violet won’t be happy marrying for the sake of being married, and Tomas would never be that great of a spouse for her anyway.”

  “You said you love him like a brother,” Jack said. “Don’t you care that she can help keep him away from his ghosts?”

  “It’s complicated,” Victor said. “Tomas is complicated. But, no. Very simply, no. Violet’s wants are more important to me than Tomas’s wants. If Violet told me she was going to marry Tomas, I’d do my best to talk her out of it. The good news, however, is that Violet has never needed my help to know what she wants. It’s usually the reverse, in fact.”

  “Why did you call them a nest of vipers?” Violet asked, finished with talking about possibly marrying Tomas with the only man she could imagine marrying.

  “I don’t like them,” Jack said simply. “I’ve talked to them. That’s all it takes. Not one of them told me the complete truth. Each of them could have done it. I’m not sure anyone was actually attending the party, Violet. Even you weren’t, Victor. Where were you?”

  Victor held out his hand to show Jack the split knuckles. “I was helping Theodophilus Smythe-Hill re-evaluate why he was unwelcome.”

  Jack frowned. “How long did that take?”

  “Long enough to make him hurt, then haul him back to the auto, deposit him inside, send a servant for my man, Giles, and send Theo to London.”

  “London?” Jack demanded.

  Victor nodded. “Algie admitted to me that Theo had made some threats against Violet. He said the same to me. Therefore, Theo can’t be near Vi. I wasn’t going to ris
k her out of some misguided attempt to be forgiving.”

  Jack nodded. “So you were with Theo until your man showed up and then you were with Giles.”

  “Then I saw a girl running out of the house. She was crying. I heard her say something about blood, and I went running in. What if something happened to Violet? I found her covered in blood. I took her up to her room, stayed until Beatrice was with her and Violet was starting to act normally. Then I found you with Tomas.”

  The door to the breakfast room opened and Mr. Hull stepped inside once more.

  “I had the servants bring breakfast trays to everyone else. I have your policemen here.”

  Jack nodded. “They have their orders. If you could facilitate their work?”

  “Of course, sir. If I may…” Mr. Hull focused on Violet and then back to Jack. “I have taken care of Mr. Tomas in his episodes since he came home from the war. I’ve seen him cry, I’ve seen him scared, I’ve seen him curl into a ball and rock. But I’ve never seen him become violent. Not ever. I am certain that Mr. Tomas did not hurt that woman. The worst she had to worry about from my master was him weeping on her shoulder.”

  Jack leaned back in his seat. “That does help, Mr. Hull. I have your word of honour on that?”

  “Yes, sir. You do. But you don’t have to take just my word for it. Mrs. Newstone along with Mr. Tomas’s man, Higgins, would all tell you the same.”

  Violet placed her bruised wrist into her lap. “Do you believe Mr. Hull?”

  “I was upset last night,” Jack said. “I was upset about all of it. When I got to my father’s house, I told him about what you said. He told me to man up. To recognize you as the honorable people we know you are. Honorable people don’t keep a killer out of prison because they love the person. You loved Meredith, and you helped catch her.”

  “Man up?” Violet asked, and then the absurdity of it hit her all at once and she giggled. Both Jack and Victor stared at Violet as she laughed, but she couldn’t stop. She laughed until she wept. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “You are the one crying and laughing at the same time, darling,” Victor said.