Murder at the Seaside Hotel: A 1920's Historical Cozy Mystery (An Evie Parker Mystery Book 5)

by Sonia Parin

  Tom laughed. “You’re even thinking about it right now.”

  Evie felt her cheeks growing warm so she didn’t see the point in denying it. “Yes, I’ve been thinking about May Fields. Why did she go into the Prentiss couple’s room alone when the hotel imposes a rule against maids going into rooms by themselves?”

  “Because she was pressed for time. She wanted to get on with her free half day.”

  “That’s what I don’t understand. Why not ask the other maid to change the soap?”

  “Because May Fields is hard working and conscientious?”

  Evie glanced at her watch and wondered how Caro had fared. While she’d dressed for dinner, she had asked her maid to follow the Prentiss couple and to keep the task to herself. Although, she had given her leave to share it with Edmonds. But she had made a point of excluding Tom from the plans.

  She sensed he would disapprove of her continued interest in the odd couple. Now, however, he knew she had not abandoned her suspicions.

  Raising his glass to his lips, Tom murmured, “The Addington couple have been shown to a table just to your right. They still look happy. I’m surprised you haven’t included them in your suspicions.”

  “I thought you had decided there was nothing worth pursuing.”

  “The police seem to know what they are doing.”

  “And that is good enough for you?” Evie didn’t bother hiding her surprise. “I thought you knew better by now.”

  “Yes, well… You seem to enjoy dabbling, so I thought you might appreciate having the Addington couple pointed out.” Tom sighed. “Fine. While the police appear to be content with their findings, I believe you have reason to be suspicious.”

  “What changed your mind?”

  “Nothing in particular. I am merely putting my trust in you. While I think it would be better if you left it alone and tried to enjoy your vacation, I can see you enjoy drawing character portraits.”

  “Oh, that’s an interesting way of referring to what we’ve been doing.” Evie studied the couple in question. “But how could I possibly link them to May’s death?” Evie laughed. “While I am prepared to employ my imagination to sketch a theory, I realize there are limits.”

  “I believe the police could learn a thing or two from you,” Tom offered. “As we know, they work with facts, but now I’m thinking it wouldn’t hurt to use some creativity.”

  A waiter cleared their plates and served their desserts.

  “My compliments to the chef,” Evie offered. “That fish was cooked to perfection.” Evie scooped up some ice cream and savored it.

  “Mr. Addington is a banker and Mr. Prentiss is a lawyer,” Tom said. “How difficult would it be to link them together?”

  “Tom, I believe you are teasing me.”

  Tom finished his wine and set his glass down. “Indulge me for a moment.”

  “Great. Now you are going to encourage me.”

  “No, it’s now my turn to sketch out a scenario.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather talk about flint mines?” Evie followed his gaze. The Addington couple were holding up champagne glasses. The wife smiled while her husband murmured sweet nothings. “So, what’s on your mind?”

  Tom leaned forward. “The banker and the lawyer are not here at the same time by accident. They’re in cahoots and… they’re here to work out the details. What do lawyers do?” Tom didn’t wait for Evie to answer. “They deal with estate business. They look after people’s interests. Draw up wills.” His eyes brightened. “Both the banker and the lawyer have information about wealthy widows with no one to leave their money to.”

  Getting into the spirit of the game, Evie suggested, “And they are conspiring to… introduce those wealthy widows to scoundrel gentlemen who will steal all their money?”

  “Or the lawyer could be skimming off his clients and the banker could be helping him hide the money.”

  “In which case, Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss should be in a happy mood, but they’re not.” Evie swirled her spoon around the ice cream. “I think there must be something more wicked going on. The banker could be blackmailing the lawyer.” Evie glanced around the restaurant. “I don’t see the Prentiss couple. Have you noticed if both couples have been in the same room at the same time?”

  “On the first day, we saw them both at the tea room.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember now.” And she would soon know where Mr. Prentiss and his wife had chosen to spend the evening because she knew she could trust Caro with the task of trailing after them. “I think you might be right. They are working together and Mr. Prentiss is not happy about it.”

  “Because he’s getting the raw end of the deal,” Tom suggested. Brushing his finger over his chin, he added, “This might be stretching and pushing the bounds of possibilities but what if they are both working for the hotel owner?”

  “Now, there’s an idea.” Evie straightened. “The hotel owner takes care of luring wealthy widows to his hotel…” Evie took a deep swallow. “I’m a wealthy widow.”

  They stared at each other for long seconds without blinking.

  “They’re in the process of setting me up to extort money from me.”

  “Blackmail,” Tom mused.

  Evie could actually see the possibility taking shape in her mind. Her granny’s worst nightmare and the reason she had hired Tom…

  His eyebrows slammed together. “Here’s a connection. Every time we have been together, one or both couples have been present.”

  Evie scooped up some ice cream only to set her spoon down. “No one could have known we would go to the tea room on the first day.” Seeing the couples at the tea room had been nothing but a coincidence. “It couldn’t be blackmail. I lead a simple life. I do nothing that could be used against me.”

  “You travel around with a man who used to be your chauffeur and is now parading around as your friend. Some people might find that suspicious and worth exploiting for their own nefarious purposes.”

  “Okay, so how does all that tie in with May Fields?” Evie asked.

  “We need coffee.” Tom looked around and gained the attention of a waiter who promptly delivered some hot coffee. “We have already considered the possibility May Fields overheard something or saw something.”

  “And they got rid of her?” Evie glanced at the Addington couple. “If they had conspired to kill May, would they be able to enjoy themselves as they have been?”

  “If they’re cold-blooded enough.” Tom nodded. “I don’t see why not.”

  Evie stirred some sugar into her coffee and studied Mr. Hector Addington. “Would you say he has a prominent jaw?”

  “It looks regular to me. Dare I ask?”

  Evie considered ignoring the prompt. Sighing, she said, “If you must know, before we set off on our trip, I had been reading a book by an Italian criminologist.”

  “Is that a real word?”

  “Yes, he coined it. Anyhow, the author argues that criminals have certain defining physical characteristics.”

  “A prominent jaw being one of them?”

  Evie nodded. “A prominent jaw. Widely separated cheekbones and thick dark hair.”

  They both turned and looked at Mr. Hector Addington.

  “What time did we return to the hotel the day May Fields died?” Evie asked.

  “It must have been around five in the afternoon.”

  Once they had left the tea room, they had lost track of the Addington couple. They could have returned to the hotel, done the deed and then blended in with the crowd or the hotel guests. Evie played around with the idea and realized there was a huge gap in time between the moment May Fields went into the Prentiss hotel room and the moment she jumped to her death from the same room.

  Also, how did Mr. Addington gain access to Mr. Prentiss’ room? Evie shook her head and reminded herself they had decided the two men had banded together.

  Yes, but…

  Had May Fields spent the entire afternoon drinking herself into a stupo
r?

  She stared at her coffee and pictured May Fields wallowing in self-pity because she had been duped by Mr. Prentiss to believe he would leave his wife for her. Seeing the couple returning to the hotel together, she finally understood there would not be a happy-ever-after ending for her, so she decided to end it all…

  That was one theory. Evie switched her thoughts to their other theory. May Fields had overheard something…

  But why would she steal the brandy and stay in Mr. Prentiss’ room to drink it?

  “Motive,” Tom said.

  Abandoning her theory about the brokenhearted May Fields, she focused on their previous theory. “May saw or overheard something that implicated the Addington couple and the Prentiss couple in some sort of conspiracy. They might have been planning to trap a wealthy widow or, as you suggested, they might be stealing money from clients.” Evie’s lip kicked up. “Caro said the maid told her she and May Fields finished cleaning the Prentiss room and then they moved onto another room. Then, May had to go back to the Prentiss room. Now, picture this… The Prentiss couple returned. They found May in the room and Mr. Prentiss decided to use the opportunity to get rid of her…” Evie pushed out a breath. “No. The timing is still not right. May went into the room at midday and she died close to five in the afternoon.” Evie shook her head. “I’ve considered this possibility before and reached the same conclusion.” So, why had she revisited the idea?

  “Cognac?” Tom asked.

  “Yes, I think I need to dull my senses otherwise I will spend the night tossing and turning.” Evie drummed her fingers on the table. “And during my tossing and turning, I will most likely come up with something along the lines of Mr. Prentiss or Mr. Addington killed May at midday, went out to make sure they were seen in public, then they returned to the hotel and threw her body over the balcony at five in the afternoon.”

  “I think Phillipa would love your theory,” Tom said. “You must share it with her.”

  Smiling, Evie thought of her Australian friend. She had traveled to London to work on a play with a group of scriptwriters who had recently stayed at Halton House. Yes, she would definitely enjoy the tale.

  Looking up, she saw Caro hovering by the dining room entrance. Evie signaled for her to join them.

  Caro looked around and then made a beeline for their table.

  Tom surged to his feet and drew a chair out for Caro.

  “Edmonds and I have only just returned from our dinner.” Caro winked at Evie.

  “Should I leave you two alone?” Tom asked.

  “Oh, he might as well know.” Evie’s eyes danced around Tom’s face. “I asked Caro to follow the Prentiss couple.”

  “To what end?”

  Evie shrugged. “Curiosity. They don’t appear to be here to have fun so there must be another reason for their trip to Worthing.”

  “I’m sorry to say I didn’t see them doing anything suspicious,” Caro said. “They barely spoke during their meal. Half the time I’m sure they were not even looking at each other. I don’t think they’re happy.”

  Chapter 12

  When Caro entered Evie’s room the next morning, she found Evie having breakfast in bed.

  Seeing Caro’s surprised expression, Evie said, “I feel I should apologize. While I am not known for lounging around in bed in the morning having breakfast, I am on vacation.” And feeling reluctant to face another day of unanswered questions, Evie thought. Taking a sip of her tea, she murmured, “If you must know, I am lacking motivation and direction.”

  “You need to come up with a solid lead, milady. I am on your side and wholeheartedly agree with you. May Fields did not kill herself.”

  “What makes you so certain?” Evie asked.

  “I’m not sure I can put it into words… but I’ll try. When you go into service, you don’t question it. You simply accept your lot in life. You say to yourself, this is what I can do, so I will do it and count my blessings.”

  “But not everyone who goes into services stays there,” Evie said. In recent times, many people working in service had moved on to take other positions working as sales people and in factories because the conditions were either better, with less working hours, or they paid better.

  Caro paced around the room and stopped. “We are practical. That’s what I am trying to say. Even if May Fields entertained fanciful ideas about having afternoon tea and pretending to be a grand lady, she would have seen that as a temporary escape and then returned to her life feeling satisfied.”

  “So, in your opinion, she would not have gone overboard with her aspirations.” And she would not have allowed herself to be duped by a married man, Evie thought.

  “That’s right. I think she would have remained well grounded. Even if something had happened with Mr. Prentiss, she would have found a way to move past it.”

  Were people in service really a breed unto themselves, made of sterner stuff?

  “Caro, do you think there are exceptions?”

  Caro turned and looked out of the window. “Yes, I suppose there are… Well, so much for trying to give you a better understanding of my world.”

  “Oh, but you did.”

  Caro continued, “As much as I would like to think she didn’t allow her flights of fancy to become her own undoing, it would be silly to ignore the alternative. So, we must be practical and also consider the possibility May Fields was the exception and she meant to do something about changing her life.” Caro gave a firm nod. “But then something happened. Maybe she fell in with the wrong people.”

  “It’s interesting that you should say that. Last night, Tom and I came up with some new ideas. The wildest of which sees the maid being killed at midday and then being thrown over the balcony in the afternoon.” She watched Caro’s reaction to the news.

  “That sounds like a lot of hard work,” Caro said. “Why would a murderer go to all that trouble?”

  “To throw the police off their trail. They would have made sure they were seen in public, thereby providing themselves with a solid alibi.”

  “But they would have needed to return to the hotel to throw the body over the balcony.”

  Evie set her breakfast tray aside and slumped back against her pillow to think. A moment later, she flung the bedcovers off. “That is our task for the day. We must ask simply everyone for help in placing Mr. Prentiss and his wife. In fact, I’d already mentioned this to Tom.” She tapped her chin in thought. “Yes, I said we needed to return to the tea room and ask if anyone had noticed when the Prentiss couple had left. We will map out their progress throughout the day. I specifically want to know when they returned to the hotel. Someone must have seen them. That way, I’m sure we will find a gap, meaning a moment of opportunity, and I am willing to bet that gap will be around the time May Fields fell to her death.”

  “But why? I mean… Why would Mr. Prentiss kill the maid?”

  Evie told her about the new theories she and Tom had come up with the previous evening.

  “Oh, I like this new theory. Mr. Prentiss is running some sort of scam with Mr. Addington and the maid witnessed or heard something she should not have.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Do you think that’s why Mr. Prentiss looks so morose?”

  A knock at the door had Caro rushing to answer it. A bellboy handed her a piece of paper. Closing the door, Caro approached the bed and handed Evie the note.

  “Oh, my man of business telephoned and wants me to return the call. Fabulous. I hope he has some good news. Is Tom up and about?”

  “He had breakfast in the dining room with Edmonds and then he went to the library to read the newspapers. He said he’ll wait for you there.”

  Caro held up a dress for her inspection, making Evie wonder what one should wear when trying to flush out a murderer.

  After making use of the manager’s office to contact her man of business, Evie went in search of Tom. She walked with purpose and, most likely, looked like a woman on a mission. The brim of her
blue and white boat hat sat a fraction above her eyes so she had to tip her head back slightly to see where she was going.

  When she didn’t find Tom in the lobby, she remembered Caro mentioning he had settled down in the library. Stopping a bellboy, she asked for directions. Evie followed his instructions and headed toward the back of the building where a spacious room had been set up as the library. She found Tom sitting on a leather winged armchair.

  The library had a row of windows facing a small garden on a terrace to the side of the building and provided ample natural light. However, there were also several table lamps scattered around. In Evie’s opinion, the dark wood paneling made it the perfect retreat for gentlemen. When she caught a whiff of cigar smoke, she decided some of the gentlemen had taken it upon themselves to claim the room as their own.

  Seeing her, Tom set his newspaper aside and made a point of looking at his watch.

  “My apologies. To be clear, it did not take me this long to dress.” Evie sat down on a chair next to him. Looking around, she noticed another gentleman sitting in a corner. He appeared to be immersed in a book but she didn’t want anyone overhearing their conversation.

  “Let’s take a walk… to the pier.”

  “This must be serious and you must be desperate.” Tom’s eyebrows lifted. “Also, I see you are playing it safe with your hat today.”

  “Yes, I decided to avoid wearing anything that might prove too tempting for the seagulls. It’s a boat hat. Do you like it?”

  He tapped his fedora hat against his hand and then settled it on his head. “I’m glad I don’t have that many choices at my disposal. If I did, it would take me as long as… Never mind. Yes, I do like it.” He lowered his head, “But I can barely see your eyes.”

  “I know. It adds an air of mystery.” Stepping out of the library, she whispered, “Say something amusing.” Before he could speak, she tipped her head back and laughed.