“Do you know, your Lady,” said Lewis, “that this man here,” he pointed his finger at Major Moss, “robbed me of twenty five thousand pounds on a so called business venture.”
Major Moss shook his head vigorously.
“Outrageous lies!” he exclaimed.
Lewis pushed back his chair.
“Damn liar!” he said. “You asked me for the money so you could start a tavern. A sure thing, you said it was. Well, how come the tavern hasn’t even opened yet, let alone, have you made an effort to even start development.”
Spittle was stretching up and down between Lewis’ lips as he spoke angrily at Major Moss. It looked like a worm doing squats.
“Listen,” said Major Moss, “this is not the place to discuss it. There have been delays. That’s all. We’ll be opening the tavern soon.”
Evan came back into the dining carriage. Major Moss saw him. He raised his hand and started clicking his fingers like he was a flamenco dancer. Evan saw him, winced a smile and came on over.
“For two years, you pompous arse, you’ve been telling me that same story. Like I wrote to you three months ago. I demand my money back,” said Lewis.
“I don’t have it,” said Major Moss. “We’ll work something out.”
“Yes, sir,” said Evan.
“Get me another Scotch and make it a double,” said Major Moss.
Evan left.
“I’m tired of trying to work something out. You’ll get me my money back when we get to York,” said Lewis.
“Sorry, I can’t do that,” said Major Moss.
“Why not?” asked Lewis.
“I don’t have it at the moment.”
Lewis gritted his teeth. Inhaled deeply and shook his fist at Major Moss.
“You’ll get it for me, or else,” Lewis said.
Captain Houghton and Ethel came back into the dining carriage and took their seats. Ethel looked around and saw her flustered father.
“I see you’ve been making friends again,” she said to him.
“Don’t you start,” he said to her.
Evan came back and slammed the Scotch on the table.
“While we’re all airing our grievances,” said Evan nervously, “I want to know why you had my father killed in the first war?”
“Good God,” said Major Moss, “not you, too? I have no idea who your father was.”
“He was a good man and a brave soldier,” said Evan, “and you had him killed. His name was Ewan Cross.”
“Oh yes, him,” said Major Moss.
“Yes, him,” said Evan. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“As I told Captain Houghton, you make the best decisions you can in war, son, but sometimes you make the wrong decision. It’s regrettable, but that’s the truth about war,” said Major Moss.
Evan Cross was shaking his head and leaning through his white gloves on the table.
“Not true,” Evan said. “I heard from several of my father’s soldier friends that you ordered them up that hill, where they were slaughtered like animals, because you wanted to go home, and more than that, you were drunk. Even the army had to slap your wrist.”
“That’s not how I remember it,” said Major Moss. “And if you continue with this aggressive interrogation I’ll have your job.”
“You’ll have my job, will you,” said Evan. “I only took this lousy job so I could confront you and see if you had any remorse. But now I can see that you’re a heartless bastard. I should kill you myself for killing my father.”
Evan turned and stormed off in anger.
“You all heard that didn’t you?” asked Major Moss. “He threatened my life. That little weasel. I’ll have him fired before this trip’s done. Mark my word, I will.”
Captain Houghton shook his head.
“I’m afraid I didn’t hear anything of the sort,” said Captain Houghton.
“Me neither,” agreed Lewis.
Major Moss looked around the table at his daughter and then at Lady Marmalade. She nodded her head.
“Yes,” she said, “I did hear him threaten your life.”
“Bless you,” said Major Moss.
“Although I find this whole dinner environment very upsetting,” said Lady Marmalade, in her quiet but confident way.
“Me, too,” agreed Ethel.
The table fell silent and moments later Winnie came back in and sat across from Major Moss. Ethel could tell she had been crying.
“He didn’t start in on you too, did he?” she asked Winnie.
Without giving Winnie a chance to speak, Major Moss spoke first.
“She seems to think she’s your sister,” he said with a chuckle.
Ethel looked at her father then at Winnie. She didn’t see any resemblance.
“Nonsense,” said Ethel.
“It’s true,” said Winnie, looking at Ethel. “He met my mother, Yvonne Koehler, in Frankfurt during the war. She sent him plenty of letters letting him know about me and he just ignored most of them, except this one.”
Winnie pulled out a letter. It was one page. She unfolded it and read it.
“Dear Yvonne,” the letter said. “Please stop writing to me. I have no interest in your child which you assume is mine. And even if it is, I shan’t be blackmailed into giving you even one penny. You should have thought about that before you had relations with me.”
It was unsigned.
“May I?” asked Ethel, reaching for the letter.
Winnie passed it to her. Ethel read it and then looked up at her father.
“This is your handwriting,” she said to him.
“So what, this woman is not getting a penny from me either,” said Major Moss, finishing up his Scotch.
“You are just incredible. Cheap, unkind and selfish,” Ethel said to him. “This is the last time I’ll be going anywhere with you, ever again. To think you are my father.”
Evan came back carrying a tray with three meals on it. He took the first one and placed it in front of Lady Marmalade. It had her fish.
“Thank you,” she said to Evan.
Next he placed a plate with chicken in front of Winnie. She smiled at him. Lastly he took a plate with rare steak and all the veggies and placed it in front of Ethel.
“Enjoy ladies,” he said, trying his best to sound cheery.
Evan left, taking the tray, and headed back into the kitchen carriage. Lady Marmalade waited. Ethel and Winnie started in on their meals. Both of them were using steak knives with their meat. A minute later, Evan reappeared with another three plates on the large tray he was carrying.
The food was hot, the meat tender and juicy and the scent intoxicating for those who were hungry. Woody, herby tarragon from the chicken mixed with the lemon and butter from Lady Marmalade’s fish and the thyme and black pepper from the steaks.
The chicken and the fish had accompaniments of carrots and mashed potatoes. The steaks were accompanied by a baked potato, green beans and carrots. Evan placed another fish dish in front of Captain Houghton who was closest to him, sitting as he was to the Major’s right. Then Evan walked around and placed a dish of chicken in front of Lewis. Lastly he casually tossed the steak in front of Major Moss.
Major Moss pushed his thumb into the steak and turned it over, examining the sides.
“This is medium rare,” Major Moss said, “and I specifically asked for rare.”
Evan shrugged.
“Too bad,” Evan said, “I guess you’ll go hungry then.”
“Why, I never,” said Major Moss, stammering around for words.
“Could I have a steak knife, please?” asked Captain Houghton. “It’s easier to cut up my fish.”
“Certainly,” said Evan disappearing before anyone else could ask anything of him.
Lady Marmalade picked at her fish and veggies. She had lost her appetite with all the infighting at the table. Ethel hadn’t, she was tearing away at her steak as if she hadn’t eaten all day. Winnie picked at her chicken and vegetab
les much like Lady Marmalade. Major Moss, shrugged his shoulders and started eating. Truth be told, the food was fine. And if you asked ten diners whether his steak was rare or medium rare you’d likely get half of them suggesting it was rare. The other one with an appetite seemed to be Lewis who took his fork in his right hand and speared piles of carrots onto it and ate them all first.
Evan came back with a steak knife for Captain Houghton which he placed on the table. He asked if Winnie wanted anymore wine and she nodded for another glass, as did Ethel. Captain Houghton ordered another Gin and Tonic and Major Moss asked for another double Scotch, more politely this time and Evan begrudgingly agreed to get him one.
It was just a couple minutes later when Evan came back with the drinks. He left again to stand by the bar, several feet away.
Major Moss was a noisy eater, his mouth mostly open while he was chewing. Quite uncouth, Lady Marmalade thought. That dining carriage was very quiet other than the ambient noise of the train clickity clacking on the track.
“How’s your steak?” asked Winnie to Ethel, trying to make some conversation.
“Just delicious,” she said. “How’s the chicken.”
“Very good,” replied Winnie, nodding at her plate.
It was coming on fifteen minutes after nine, and most of the plates were half empty by this point when the lights in the carriage went out. There was quite a strong lurch in the carriage, too, as the train took a turn on the tracks.
“Oh my!” exclaimed Ethel.
Nobody else said anything. There was the noise of clanging plates and glasses. And Major Moss sitting next to Lady Marmalade seemed to grunt at some point. Lady Marmalade sat still, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dark. It was hard. There were barely even shadows that could be seen.
At one point they passed quickly by a lamp beside the train track and it shone some dim light into the carriage like a flashlight going by. Lady Marmalade thought she saw movement in Major Moss’ chair. Winnie’s arm was reaching out for something. Captain Houghton was standing up leaning in towards Major Moss, Evan was between Winnie and Ethel, lurching towards Major Moss, too. The steak knife in Ethel’s hand glinted brightly for a brief fraction of a second and looked quite menacing and not pointing at her steak.
It was hard to rely on such a brief moment of light, especially with the train lurching through this particularly winding part of the journey.
After what seemed like several minutes, but was probably in all likelihood less than two or three minutes if that, the lights came back on. Lewis was leaning backwards in his chair, almost tipping onto the two rear legs. He was clutching at the tablecloth with his left hand as his right reached out for it, knocking his steak knife to the floor. There appeared to be a small cut on his right index finger. Evan was stumbling between Winnie and Ethel, with his hands out to steady himself on the table. His white gloves had a couple of red stains on them.
Ethel’s right hand was outstretched in front of her on the table with what looked like her steak knife just outside of reach. Winnie was looking around, trying to get her bearings, having been slightly jostled by Evan. She was leaning in towards Major Moss.
Captain Houghton was standing and trying to push himself away from Major Moss, using his left hand and Moss’ right shoulder. His steak knife was nowhere to be seen on the table in front of him. Major Moss was slumped back in his chair. His belly was bulging in front of him. His head was tossed backwards at an awkward angle and his mouth was slightly agape. Protruding from his chest, slightly to the right was the end of a steak knife.
“My God!” exclaimed Captain Houghton, getting his bearings and the first one to see the knife. “Someone’s killed the Major.”
Winnie and Ethel brought their hands to their faces and covered their eyes. Then they dropped their hands from their faces again, and stared in disbelief at the brown wooden handle protruding like a polished wand from the Major’s chest.
“Who did that?” asked Winnie.
“Yes, indeed,” said Lewis, steadying himself back down on all four chair legs, “who killed the Major?”
Lewis looked at Evan who was now trying to push himself away from the table where he had been angled in towards Major Moss.
“What do you know,” was the best that Evan could manage.
Captain Houghton came up to reach for the knife stuck in the Major’s chest.
“No!” exclaimed Lady Marmalade. “Leave it, that’s evidence and it might contain the fingerprints of the killer.”
Captain Houghton nodded.
“Yes, right… good idea,” he said.
A line of wet blood had trickled down the Major’s chest from the handle which was sticking out sideways, to his belly where it had started to curve down his left, around his belly.
Lady Marmalade stood up from the table and looked around at the somewhat shocked dinner guests she had just dined with.
“I’m going to have to figure out who killed Major Jasper Moss, and all of you have motive. Which means that I will have to stay amongst you in order to ensure that the killer or killers don’t try to get rid of the evidence,” she said.
“Well,” said Lewis, exasperated, “how do we know it wasn’t you? You are, after all, sitting right next to him.”
“Yes, indeed,” agreed Captain Houghton.
“Because,” said Lady Marmalade, “I didn’t know the deceased and all of you had a reason to kill him. I am also a part time sleuth.”
“I agree,” said Winnie, “she hardly spoke a word the whole time. All of us, including me, I’m afraid, were angry with Major Moss, my father.”
She looked down into her lap again and bit her lower lip. She fiddled with her napkin. Captain Houghton leaned down and picked up his napkin, which lay off to his right.
“Mr. Cross,” said Lady Marmalade, “would you be so kind as to get the Train Conductor and have him call ahead for the Inspector in York?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Evan said, rushing off to find the conductor.
“Why did you let him go?” asked Ethel. “You saw him leaning in towards my father when the lights came on. What if he’s the one who did it?”
“That doesn’t matter, dear,” said Lady Marmalade. “He can’t get off this train before York, and there’s no reason for him to hide until then because Scotland Yard’s man in York will not let anyone off this train unless I’ve given him convincing evidence as to who did it.”
Ethel looked away. She didn’t like it. She stood up.
“Well, I find all of this very upsetting,” she said, “I’m going to go and have a cigarette. Anyone care to join me?”
She was looking at Captain Houghton. He nodded at her.
“Quite,” he said, “this is very upsetting indeed.”
“It’s not all that upsetting,” said Lady Marmalade, “considering that all of you couldn’t seem to stand the man.”
Captain Houghton and Ethel didn’t look back at her as they left for the smoker. Lady Marmalade looked after them. Then she turned back and looked at the knife sticking out of Major Moss’ chest. It was stuck in deep, right up to the hilt.
“Perhaps it would be more comfortable if we sat over there,” said Lady Marmalade pointing at a table with four chairs around it in the far corner of the dining carriage.
Lady Marmalade led the way and the three of them sat down together around the table. The dead body was now left alone, in peace and quiet. Perhaps the first peace that Major Moss had enjoyed the whole evening.
Evan came back in and stopped for a minute when he only saw Major Moss by himself. Then in the far corner he noticed Lady Marmalade and Lewis Bryan and Winnie Smith talking together around one of the tables. He came over and sat down with them.
“I’ve called the conductor, he’s just finishing up the telegram to the Inspector in York,” said Evan.
Lady Marmalade nodded at him.
“Thank you, Mr. Cross,” she said. Turning to Winnie she continued speaking to her. “I couldn’t
help but notice that your steak knife has gone missing. Do you have it?”
Winnie shook her head.
“No, I don’t have it,” she said. “It was by my plate, I was using it. I just put it down when the lights went out. I didn’t want to cut myself with it.”
Winnie looked at her purse and opened it up. She rifled through it, looking for the knife. She wasn’t sure why it would be there, but in the deep recess at the back of her mind she thought maybe that’s where it could be.
“It’s not in here,” Winnie said. “I don’t know where it could be.”
“It’s in Major Moss, dear,” said Lady Marmalade.
Winnie looked over at the Major with her knife sticking out of his chest.
“Oh, no,” she said, “you don’t think I killed him do you?”
“I don’t know who did it, dear, but it doesn’t help you that your knife is stuck in his heart,” said Lady Marmalade.
Winnie looked like she was on the verge of tears again. She took a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. The Train Conductor came into the dining carriage and pulled up a chair on the far end of the table the four of them were seated at. He looked at Lady Marmalade.
“Inspector Warrick of York, told me to offer you any assistance necessary and requested you do a thorough job,” said Joseph Shipton the Train Conductor.
“That’s very kind,” said Lady Marmalade.
“She thinks I killed him,” said Winnie, bursting into tears, speaking to Joseph and meaning Lady Marmalade.
“I didn’t say that,” replied Lady Marmalade. “But you must admit that you did have strong words with Major Moss just before dinner, didn’t you?”
Winnie nodded her head as she finished dabbing at her eyes. She then blew her nose before speaking.
“Well, yes,” she said, “you were there, you heard me. But I had come to introduce myself to him, not to murder him.”
“You did show Ethel that letter you’ve kept all these years. That’s a long time to hold a grudge,” said Lewis.
“I did have that letter, but I was hoping to confront him with it and get a confession. I thought he might be a better man than my mother made him out to be. I really did come here wanting him to be different, not wanting to kill him,” said Winnie. “And what about you? He owed you twenty-five thousand pounds. He didn’t owe me any money.”
Four Red Diamonds (A Lady Marmalade Mystery Short Story Collection Book 1) Page 10
