by Beth Byers
“What’s wrong with Violet?” Father leaned back with tea that Kate had poured for him. Had they really been getting tea and watching her? She blinked rather stupidly at them and realized things were worse than she had thought.
“She’s not sleeping,” Lila told the earl. “It might be time to travel to the sea again.”
“After all this is over, she can curl up in her childhood home and find some peace.” Father adjusted his jacket while everyone else paused and stared at him. He cleared his throat as every set of eyes dropped.
“Father,” Victor said as delicately as possible, “the sea might be a better choice.”
“Mmm, the sound of waves is relaxing,” Violet added, to let her father escape his mistake with grace.
She stepped back, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes in sheer joy at the Turkish coffee. Just what she needed. She noted her brother’s addition of chocolate liqueur on the cart and poured a little into her cup as well. Victor winked at Violet, and they both sipped from similarly doctored coffees.
Violet’s gaze flicked over the group.
“Isolde?”
“She’s distracting her mother,” Victor said.
“Jack?”
“He’s working with Inspector Wright, but he said Kyle and Sir Rosens have alibis for the time of the murder but not with each other. Sir Rosens had his man with him. Kyle and Theo were playing billiards.”
Violet’s expression made Victor laugh. “Jack had Theo brought to a local inn. He can’t leave the area for now, but he won’t be staying here.”
“Why can’t the boy stay here?” Father demanded. None of them answered, and he snorted a little, letting out a low grumble, but as a group, they abdicated explaining.
Chapter Seventeen
Violet paced in front of the chalkboard while Denny and Victor considered who had the greater reason to murder. She had replaced her slim gold band with her engagement ring. Violet rubbed her thumb over the stones, letting the sign of Jack’s love comfort her while she paced.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Violet announced.
“Murder often doesn’t,” Father said.
She barely kept from shooting him an irritated expression. Murder didn’t make sense to people who would never kill, but there was still a logic to it. There was a reason why someone killed. Even if the reason was never something that others would act on.
She went to the board and crossed out every name but Celia and Leopold. “Only these two make sense. At least these two who don’t have alibis. You saw Celia with Leopold and Melrose?”
She turned to Geoffrey. The inner wart was hidden with Father present, and the boy nodded. He really did need to spend more time with Father, Violet thought. Her gaze flicked over her friends again. Denny was grinning like a loon while Lila seemed a bit bored.
Kate, on the other hand, looked as though she were trying not to sick up and Victor was watching his love like a hawk. Just how ill was she? If she was so very sick, why hadn’t they sent for a doctor?
Father was watching Violet closely, as was—to Violet’s surprise—Geoffrey.
“What doesn’t make sense about Celia doing the killing?” Geoffrey asked. “If she can be believed, those brothers were playing games with her.”
“Why didn’t she attack them while she was in their home? She’d stolen the key. If she was so upset about their behavior, why didn’t she poison their gin and then leave? No one would have ever expected her for such a crime.” Violet paced, playing with her ring.
“I wouldn’t have killed over that,” Lila said, sipping her tea. She glanced at Violet and added, “You wouldn’t either. If you realized that Jack was playing some sort of point game with you, you’d renounce him publicly, tell his story to that woman reporter, then catch a ship to somewhere exotic. I would have thrown a fit that left their ears ringing for decades and slapped them soundly, but murder?” Lila shrugged. “I can’t see it. Kate, the mildest of us, would probably have said something scathing and then bought a new book.”
Kate laughed, then placed her fingers over her mouth as though laughing had been a terrible mistake. Victor took her hand, weaving their fingers together. His eyes were dark with concern, and Violet realized her twin was hiding something from her. Why hadn’t he said that Kate was ill? The murder? Concern for Vi and her lack of sleep? Whatever was going on?
“Well, murderers don’t act like other people, right?” Geoffrey asked, glancing among them. “If deciding to kill someone were a regular sort of action, there would be a whole lot more bodies lying around.”
There was enough of mockery in his tone to show that he felt they were missing all of the obvious clues.
“So Celia did walk out with both of them?” Violet asked the boy.
Geoffrey glanced at their father, flushed a little, and said, “I saw her with both brothers. Both brothers kissed her rather—ah—fervently.”
The earl didn’t react, but Violet had no doubt that he was displeased to know his son was lurking in the bushes and at windows, watching people. Violet returned to pacing, playing with her ring.
“Poisoning someone is something you plan,” Violet said. “I wonder if they’ve figured out what poison it was. Even if they know, discovering where it came from will be difficult if they aren’t sure who did the poisoning.”
“Why?” Geoffrey demanded.
“Because,” Victor answered, “our guests came from all over. It’s much easier to trace one person and the purchases they made than all of us and where we’ve been. For example, if they believed it was me, they would interview Violet, Mr. Giles, and all the places I stopped on the way to the homestead. They would check the chemists around my house in London. They could even put my picture in the newspaper and ask for information from chemists who may have sold me arsenic or whatever poison was used. They’re only finalizing the case that way.”
Violet listened to her brothers while she paced. She stopped in her tracks as she stared at the chalkboard.
“There’s always a reason,” she said. “Strong feelings like love or hatred. Greed. Self-defense. Even an accident.”
She looked at Denny, who laughed. “You don’t accidentally poison and stab someone.”
“Agreed.”
“You can rule out self-defense with the poison.”
Violet nodded.
“These brothers aren’t ones who love. Not with the games they play. I doubt they even love each other. Celia—maybe she loved them or maybe she avenged the way they played with her heart.”
Violet turned to Geoffrey. “Did you lurk in the drawing room at all before we got here? Did you witness how they acted before the murder?”
Geoffrey shrugged.
“Speak boy,” Father ordered without his composure slipping.
“A little.”
“Did you see Melrose ever come into the room after everyone had left?”
“He liked to walk at night.” Geoffrey glanced at his father again. “One time he got a book of poetry and was reading it aloud—as though he were practicing. I did hear them arguing once. The brothers were arguing about money. One of them hadn’t paid a bill he should have or something.”
Violet nibbled at her lip. She tilted her head at the board, but her mind was buzzing. She needed to sleep. She needed to curl up on her bed and let her mind hover over the possibilities. She was rather afraid, however, that she’d close her eyes and see Jeremiah Allen floating in the water again. Or perhaps she’d see Danvers’s dead and staring eyes.
“Why did the other killers act?” Geoffrey asked. “That article made it seem like you were involved in a lot of cases.”
Victor answered while Violet continued to pace. “Greed, hatred, obsession, pride, revenge.”
Father finally rose. “I would like to finish my book. Victor, you should take your Kate back to her room before she gets sick all over Violet’s. Later today, you should come and speak to me.”
Vi
ctor nodded, his jaw clenching, and Violet blinked stupidly at both of them.
“I need to sleep,” she announced. “I feel like my mind isn’t even working. This is going to have to be a case solved by Jack and Inspector Wright. I’m useless.”
Lila rose and dragged a complaining Denny from the room. “I wanted to watch her pin down the villain.”
“She’s not pinning down anything but her pillow,” Lila told him. “Oh laddie, track down Jack and see if he’ll tell you anything.”
“He never tells me anything,” Denny whined. “I might as well ask Vi’s and Victor’s dogs for information.”
Violet lay down on her bed after her bedroom cleared. She stared towards the chalkboard, trying to sleep and failing. She finally got up and pulled out her journal to read over her thoughts from previous cases. She flipped back to the first case when she’d lost Aunt Agatha and read about when Violet had been an attempted murder suspect when someone had poisoned Aunt Agatha’s regular nightly drink.
Violet sniffed, her fingers tracing the pages. Her worries for Aunt Agatha had been so intense at that moment. She’d wanted nothing more than for her aunt to escape the house and find safety somewhere else, anywhere else. Violet would have been happy to have had Aunt Agatha abandon the twins at that time to keep her alive.
Her wants, however, had not been taken into account, and Meredith had succeeded in poisoning their aunt. Violet curled onto her side, reliving the memory as she slipped into sleep.
“Violet?”
She slowly sat up. She hadn’t expected to sleep, and she felt as though she could have slept for twenty minutes or two days. She blinked rapidly, rubbing her brow, and cleared her throat. “One moment.”
She found Jack peeking into the bedroom. She rose, making her way to the bath, and splashed her face with water.
When Violet left her bath, Jack and Victor were standing in her bedroom.
“Shall we walk?”
Violet nodded, taking Jack’s arm and going with him down the back stairs. “Inspector Wright arrested Celia Rosens.”
Violet stared at Jack. “What?”
“She had arsenic in her bedroom.”
Violet blinked and sniffed, laying her head against his arm. “That doesn’t seem right.”
“It seems unlikely that she’d have stabbed her former lover with an ice pick.”
“What does Inspector Wright believe?”
“He believes that she was caught attempting to poison him and he attacked her. She was forced to defend herself.”
“What about blood on her clothes?” Violet shuddered with the recollection of the blood she’d gotten on herself. There had been so much blood that Violet had been soaked. She didn’t see how someone could have stabbed Melrose Nelson without getting it on themselves.
“Some of her things had been found burned.”
Violet frowned. That—well—she supposed they must need to get her clothes out of the way. “But she didn’t leave fingerprints on the ice pick?”
“It was wiped clean.”
“I—” Violet shook her head. Celia had been thoroughly abused by Leopold and Melrose Nelson. Why then did only Melrose die? Violet would love to ask Celia and hear her justification, but Vi guessed it was a matter of being caught before she could finish the crime. Or perhaps it was simpler. Celia might have imagined that with Melrose gone, Leopold might stop his games. “They took her away already?”
“Her father and brother went along. They’re interviewing her more thoroughly. I believe he’ll be able to eventually get a confession even though she was swearing that she was innocent.
Violet rubbed her brow, remembering the certainty she’d felt that Celia wouldn’t have been able to stab Melrose. Perhaps Violet had gotten too used to guessing the end of these crimes. She truly was baffled.
“Did Victor go talk to Father?”
Jack shook his head. “He seems genuinely upset by Kate being ill. I suspect that he’s avoiding your father to hover over Kate.”
Violet took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I suppose it’s time to let this go.”
“Tell me what’s happening with you, Violet. Why am I only now hearing of your bad dreams?”
“I didn’t want you to worry,” Violet told Jack, knowing he’d hate the answer. “I am going to claim that I would have told you if I were thinking more clearly.”
Jack pulled her to a stop. “The murderer has been found. What can I do to help? Do you want to go to the sea?”
Violet shrugged. “I think I might have to do the things that worked for Tomas. He walked a lot and wrote in his journal and focused on good things. Maybe I should increase my activity so I’m more likely to sleep hard.”
Jack and Violet made their way to the stone bench where Violet had spoken to Celia. The dinner hour was approaching, and Violet was sure that she’d have to change and be kinder to her stepmother this time. It was important that she build bridges there if she could, especially after the argument in the hallway.
“I feel like I wouldn’t have reacted as I did with Lady Eleanor if I weren’t so tired. I feel like I would have seen that Celia could have killed Melrose if I’d be able to focus on her more. Why did she talk to me at all?”
Jack shook his head. They sat for a time and finally returned back inside to dress for dinner. He kissed her under the eaves near the door before they stepped an appropriate distance apart and went to their bedrooms.
Chapter Eighteen
Violet let Beatrice pick her dress, so when she placed her hand on the railing and let her dress float around her, it was a long swathe of red that matched her red lipstick and the light layer of rouge on her cheeks. Her eyebrows were penciled in, her lashes were darkened, and Violet was wearing her strand of black pearls and diamond bangles.
Jack waited for her at the bottom of the stairs with Kate and Victor next to him. Kate glowed with health, and Violet blinked at her. Her skin seemed to be shining and her eyes were alight with a sparkle that shocked Violet.
“I take it that I am not the only one who slept the afternoon away while Inspector Wright was solving the case?”
“I did indeed,” Kate said. “Darling Beatrice woke me, and I felt like a whole new woman.”
Violet kissed the air next to Kate’s cheek to avoid leaving a smear of lipstick and then squeezed Victor’s hand before taking Jack’s arm.
“I should confess before we go into dinner that Lady Eleanor and I argued in the hall like fishwives fighting over the last fish.”
Kate’s head tilted and she frowned. “Do fishwives fight over fish? Surely they don’t. I feel like they must fight over the non-fish parts of their lives.”
Violet grinned. “If fishwives do battle over fish, my dear stepmother and I re-enacted their fierce combat this morning. Keep your distance, darlings.”
“Never,” Kate swore.
Victor sighed. “We did miss out, my darling,” he told Kate. To Violet, he said, “Perhaps tonight is the night we heavily indulge in my creations to dull our other senses.”
Violet laughed and followed Victor to the bar in the parlor where they were gathering before dinner. Leopold Nelson had already arrived with a black armband tied on his bicep. With the Rosens family and Theodophilus Smythe-Hill no longer staying with them, the parlor was nearly entirely family. Leopold and Devonsly were the only remaining fortune hunters, but Violet wouldn’t object to spending another weekend with Devonsly for a house party.
“Victor, my friend,” Devonsly said cheerily, not putting on the more appropriate solemnity. “I wonder if you could make a drink for me too. I suppose the bottles were all examined? We’re safe enough?”
Victor frowned. “Well actually—” He pulled out a bottle of gin, checking the seal. “Looks like every bottle is new.” Victor ran his fingers over the bottles, pulling them out here and there to see what was available. “We’re working fresh here, lads.” He pulled out a familiar bottle of rum.
“Vi, love, Ka
te was wanting a rum cocktail. You?”
Vi nodded and watched as Devonsly and Leopold walked over to join Victor and Jack while the cocktails were made. Lila and Denny had yet to arrive in the parlor, so the first round of cocktails went to Devonsly, Violet, and Kate. Father watched carefully as Victor easily made several rounds of cocktails.
“I’ll take an El Presidente as well,” Jack told Victor. “I was thinking about our trip to Cuba this afternoon when the local boys took away the old bottles. One of the lads hadn’t had rum before.”
“More of a gin man, myself,” Leopold said. “I find a good G&T to be just the thing before bed. Heard you had bad dreams, Vi. Maybe you should try my sleeping method.”
Violet smiled and sipped her drink. She didn’t reply. Celia may have committed the murder, but Vi did not care for Leopold. He and his brother were ultimately responsible for what had happened.
“Always best to try new things,” Victor told Leopold, handing him an El Presidente. Violet was sure her twin had pushed the cocktail on Leopold simply because he wanted a G&T. Leopold frowned as he took the glass, sniffing at it like Victor might be attempting another round of poisoning.
“You sure you want a policeman?” Leopold joked as he faced Violet. “Jack here seems all right, but I wouldn’t mind a rich wife.”
“She’s sure,” Jack said flatly.
Leopold grinned while everyone else was trying to hide their shock. “I suppose my lot isn’t so bad now that I don’t have to share with Melrose, God rest his soul, but I say Wakefield, you’re a lucky man to catch such a wealthy fish.”
Violet looked at Kate to see if she’d misheard, but Kate was staring in shock at Leopold as well.
“That’s an entirely inappropriate comment,” Father told Leopold. “I imagine that you’re struggling with the loss of your brother, and we can all appreciate your pain. Let me remind you that something terrible occurred here last evening, a young woman has been taken away for a terrible crime, and my poor wife and daughter are so bothered they are unable to leave their rooms.”
