Wedding Vows & Murder

by Beth Byers

  “So she deserved to pay an even more awful person for that?”

  Miss Allen glanced her over, and Violet felt as though her protective layers had been stripped away.

  “I’m not here to help you,” Miss Allen stated flatly, “but I’ll do what I can to help Jack.”

  “Why?”

  “Despite his sudden inexplicable attraction to incurable naiveté embodied by you, I loved him once.”

  Violet found the very claim to be offensive, but she wasn’t going to argue with anything that might help Jack. At that moment, she’d have taken it from the devil himself.

  “You said in your statement that you were in the ladies just after Jack took Theo out.”

  “I found the episode rather…disturbing. He was much more controlled when I knew him, not that—that beast. Seeing that he’d descended to a more animalistic version was personally offensive to me.”

  Violet stared for a moment, trying not to react. Denny started to say something sardonic, but Violet held up her hand. They were not going to fight with Miss Allen and waste their energy on her.

  “Did you see Gertrude Campbell in the ladies?”

  “I was quite alone,” Miss Allen replied. “I believe you’ll see that in my statement. I can assure you I do not lie to constables.”

  “Miss Campbell also stated she’d gone there.”

  “I suppose then,” Miss Allen said smoothly, “that you’ll have to choose who you believe. However, consider this—I wasn’t being blackmailed by Theo, and I don’t have a reason to have murdered him.”

  “What about his string of lovers?” Lila asked lazily. “No woman wants to be thrown over for an international checklist of loose women.”

  Miss Allen turned that way and smiled mockingly. “If I’d wanted a full-time lover, I’d have chosen one. Theo is an excellent dancer, he knows everyone, he can be charming when he chooses, and he no more wanted me long-term than I wanted him. He was, in those respects, a rather perfect lover.”

  Violet shook her head, trying to decide whether she believed Miss Allen. It didn’t, Violet realized, really matter. What she needed was whatever information Miss Allen might have. The horrid woman could possibly shed some light on what happened. Even lies would provide an interesting angle.

  “You’d think you’d be more careful about who you suspect with that list of yours.” Miss Allen laughed mockingly, gazing at the chalkboards. “Is this really how you do it? You make a game board and gossip and find killers? That can’t be right. Jack tells you who the killer is, doesn’t he? You’ve never discovered anything before on your own.”

  Violet didn’t bother sparring with the woman. “Did you know Theo had other lovers?”

  “Yes.” Miss Allen’s mocking smile made Violet want to box her ears.

  “Do you know who they were?”

  “I didn’t care.”

  Violet sighed.

  “You and I both know that the killer is one of the Roche family,” Miss Allen said mockingly. “Did Theo blackmail people? Yes. If you found his ledger, you’ll see he took a little here and a little there. Not enough to quibble too much over. His side hobby added up to dinners and new suits and extravagances he couldn’t normally afford.”

  “That’s true, my lady.” Beatrice looked apologetic for agreement. “It seems he was careful to never ask for more than someone could pay. Kate and I guessed he did that to keep them from being too desperate.”

  Miss Allen smirked before she said, “He was worse with his gambling. He led people into debts that they couldn’t afford for his bigger things, but they were still real debts and he wasn’t nearly so gentle about his sums.”

  “Did he cheat?” Denny asked.

  “No,” Victor sighed. “I looked into it when Algie was caught in Theo’s webs. Theo was good at reading people. Especially the blokes we knew from school. He remembered everything. He’d string together the smallest of asides. Since he paid attention to everything and he knew us from our days in short pants, he just discovered things or knew things that anyone else would miss. Then he used them at just the right moment when you were playing a game with him. Few could face that and not falter in their play.”

  “Perhaps,” Violet said, marking the greed box heavier for Barty. “Perhaps he drew Barty in too far and Barty needed an escape that Clara and Algie couldn’t pay for.”

  “If Theo did that,” Miss Allen said, “I don’t know anything of it, and he tended to be rather chatty with me. What I can tell you is that Gertrude Campbell lied about being in the ladies, and I didn’t kill Theo. Believe me if you want to find whoever is framing Jack.”

  “You were never our strongest suspect anyway,” Violet said with a sigh.

  “More’s the pity,” Denny added.

  A mere breath later, Lila added, “Hear, hear!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Violet looked up when Algie entered soon after Miss Allen left.

  “We weren’t able to get rid of Gertrude,” Algie hissed. “She’s clinging like a poisonous spider. Hargreaves seated them in the other parlor. I told Clara and Gertrude I need the toilet to escape.”

  Victor huffed a laugh while Algie caught Violet’s gaze and crossed to her, taking her hands and squeezing them. “No one thinks Jack killed Theo, Vi. You’ll come out of this. I’m so sorry your preparations are coming to naught, but you’ll still have your happy ever after. I know you will, Vi.”

  Before Violet could cry, Algie hugged her tightly and then stepped away to shake hands with Victor. The movement gave Violet a chance to trap her emotions and box them into the back of her mind again.

  “I’ll take care of this Gertrude,” Kate said, rising and lifting a brow at Lila. “Come, my girl. We need to give Violet time with Clara, so one of us will have to take Gertrude while the other peels Clara away.”

  Violet made a timeline on one of the chalkboards as she waited for Clara to arrive, starting with that first party. Because she was a masochist, Violet counted down to day 1. Her timeline read:

  DAY 7—Party at the Hotel Saffron, first confrontation with Theo. Jack walks off his anger with a cigar, and everyone sees.

  DAY 6—Tea with friends, normal life before all went straight to Hades.

  DAY 5— Party to christen the house. Theo is murdered. Jack is framed.

  DAY 4—Investigation.

  DAY 3— Further investigation—Whoever the killer is, they’ve hidden behind Jack’s broad shadow too well, the bloody devil.

  DAY 2—Jack is taken into Scotland Yard.

  DAY 1—Wedding day.

  Violet frowned at the chalkboard, hating it. It wasn’t the delay of her wedding so much as the fear that it would never happen. She’d never know the safety of sleeping in Jack’s arms again. She’d never meet those children who seemed to haunt her. She’d never grow old next to him and see if he still loved her when she was wrinkled even though she had little doubt they’d have spent the next decades laughing and loving

  The chalkboards that were in use were lined side-by-side. There was the one with the seven suspect names that Beatrice had put together. There was the cross-section of motives and suspects. There was Violet’s personal list of suspects with only four names, showing both Gertrude and Miss Allen crossed out.

  When Clara entered, she joined Violet silently reading the same chalkboards.

  “Do you really think that my father or Barty killed Theo?” Clara’s voice was breathy, as though she couldn’t quite believe it, and Violet realized how hard it must be to see your loved ones’ names up there on the suspect list.

  No, not realized. She was learning from experience.

  Violet shrugged, her ability to empathize severely compromised. Her gaze was still fixated on Day 1. It had been snatched from her now, and she objected strenuously. The next morning she’d wake alone, and when she did, she’d face a room full of people tiptoeing around her because her beloved was accused of murder.

  Before she answered, she crossed to the ti
meline board and wrote out a timeline for the day of Theo’s death.

  1: People arrive at the new house.

  2: Confrontation between Jack and Theo on the floor.

  Vi shuddered to think of that. Theo had screamed about Jack’s previous love affair with Miss Allen. A love affair that had gone farther than Vi’s. Was he just more attracted to Miss Allen? Not, Violet told herself, a problem she needed to give strength to at the moment.

  3: Jack drags Theo out of the ballroom and through the French doors to the garden. He throws Theo off the grounds and then walks out his anger with one of those beloved Cuban cigars. (Just as he had at Algie’s party.)

  “Are you saying,” Clara demanded, “that whoever killed Theo was at my party and watched what happened and then engineered it again?”

  “That confrontation was particularly delightful,” Denny added. “I’d wondered at the time if he’d come to your party, Vi, to say those things specifically. Why come and confront Jack at all? It was like Theo had prepared to hurt you. He had to have known that Jack would win a physical contest. He was willing to risk—”

  Vi paused, staring at Denny. “Bloody hell, Denny, you genius.” Her hands were shaking as she glanced at Beatrice, who was watching it all carefully.

  “Who,” Violet demanded, grabbing Clara’s arm, “who decided among your family that Theo should be invited?”

  Clara’s gaze widened and she whispered hoarsely, “Papa.”

  Algie shook his head. “No, that’s not it, love. Robbie did. You had gone to change when Robbie said to your father maybe Jack and Violet would help if Theo was their problem too.”

  “That never did make sense,” Violet snapped. “Why would Jack confronting Theo somehow solve the blackmail problem? I just assumed your father said that because he was angry and wanted to make Jack and me suffer for declining his request for help.”

  “I—”

  “Your father had to know that,” Violet added. “He might be abrasive and rude and ready to roll over anyone in his way, but he’s not obtuse. This doesn’t add up.”

  “What doesn’t?” Denny asked.

  Violet crossed to Beatrice’s board and erased it as she asked, “What was in the locked case, Beatrice?”

  “Letters between Barty and his first wife. They’re mostly in Spanish, but Kate translated them.”

  Violet turned back. “In the locked case?”

  Beatrice nodded, glancing down at the stack of papers she’d been reading through. “There’s nothing particularly surprising in them. Love letters. Letters about financial issues later. Things about their daughter for a few months before the wife died. Then a few letters between the wife’s parents and Barty. They seemed rather fond of him, but they were furious he wasn’t doing more to help raise the baby.”

  “But those were in the locked case?”

  Beatrice nodded again, staring at Violet as though she’d made a mistake.

  “And they covered the finances?”

  Beatrice’s gaze was wide. “It’s all there, ma’am. They were struggling to even pay their hotel bill when Mr. Barty left to go ask his uncle for help. Barty had lost all of his funds at that point. His wife died while he was gone. The letters after that are about the money he was supposed to send to help the child. Her parents couldn’t afford the baby.”

  “In the locked case?”

  “I opened it for her myself, Vi,” Ham said, adjusting the case. “Why does it matter?”

  “It’s Gertrude’s case.”

  Violet turned back to the chalkboard. “It still doesn’t add up. Why would Gertrude kill Theo to keep Barty’s lies? She was supposedly the only one who didn’t know them, yet she knew he lied to her all the time. She knew he left the hotel. She left after he did. Even if she didn’t follow him, she knew he was out.”

  “It makes sense,” Ham said rising, “if Mr. Roche or Barty killed Theo to keep Barty’s secrets only if they assumed that Gertrude didn’t know them.”

  “Is it possible that Barty killed to hide a secret that Gertrude already knew and yet still wanted him? Of all the terrible ironies.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not quite accurate,” Clara inserted. “Gertrude wouldn’t be allowed to marry Barty if his past were to be known because her parents would end it. She is an heiress, but she does not have control of her funds.”

  “I’m confused,” Violet said, “by all the secrets and who knew what.”

  “Make another board,” Rita suggested. Vi had nearly forgotten she was there, she’d been so quiet. “Look at it from another angle.”

  Violet paused and then started:

  MR. ROCHE — knew that Barty had lost his fortune and had a child. Knew that Gertrude’s fortune was not available if that secret became well-known.

  Did not know that Gertrude was aware of Barty’s past. Did not know that Gertrude snuck out of the hotel at night.

  BARTY ROCHE — knew his own secrets.

  Did not know that Gertrude was aware of his past. Did not know that Gertrude snuck out of the hotel at night.

  GERTRUDE CAMPBELL — knew that Barty was a liar. Knew that Barty snuck out of the hotel. Snuck out herself. (Where was she going?)

  “If she knew,” Clara said under her breath, “why did she want him? He’s not a devoted lover. He’s neglectful.”

  “When he’s around is he attentive?” Violet asked, immediately shaking her head as she remembered the way he treated Gertrude at the first party.

  “He’s not attentive,” Clara said, missing how Violet shook her head. “He’s compliant. Tells her what she wants to hear and then pats her hand and grins at her as though she’s precious. It’s not believable when you see how he behaves later, but—”

  “Well now,” Violet said to Ham. “Compliant is an interesting feature in a man.”

  “What are Mr. and Mrs. Campbell like?” Ham asked Clara, following Violet’s train of thought.

  “They’re awful,” Clara said immediately. “Father, as hard as he is, is a saint in comparison. They control everything. Her dress, her clothes, who she spends time with, even what she eats. She doesn’t seem to mind, but I would hate it.”

  “And suddenly,” Violet said, “it all comes clear.”

  “It does indeed,” Ham agreed. “Now to prove it.”

  “I don’t understand,” Denny whined. “Explain it for the plebeians.”

  Ham glanced at the others. “If you scupper this for Jack, I’ll ruin you.”

  “They won’t,” Victor said. “Algie doesn’t want the Roches without the comfort of the Carlyles. And Clara doesn’t want a murderer for a cousin-in-law.”

  “Especially,” Violet added, “when she doesn’t have custody of the child yet. No one loves the little girl more than Clara.”

  “You would use the child against me?” Clara asked, her gaze wide and horrified.

  “Gertrude would. We won’t. Maria needs Gertrude out of Barty’s life.”

  “Explain the murder!” Denny said, stamping his foot. “I don’t understand.”

  Violet wrote out:

  DAY 7 - Party at the Hotel Saffron, first confrontation with Theo. Jack walks off his anger with a cigar. Gertrude witnesses it and the fury between Theo and Jack. Perfect for getting rid of her burden.

  DAY 5 - Party to christen the house. Somehow Gertrude manipulates things to get Theo invited. Chances are she knew of the blackmail and had—

  Violet paused and turned to Clara. “Would Robbie pay blackmail for Barty?”

  Clara immediately shook her head

  “Would he if he knew that he’d get paid back from Gertrude once she was married?”

  Clara’s gaze widened. “Perhaps. Almost probably with interest or some other incentive. He’s not generous.”

  Violet returned to Day 5 and wrote: —manipulated or offered Theo something to come and ruin things for Vi and Jack. Theo arrives, deliberately incites a confrontation with Jack, and is removed from the property. Theo comes back. Why? For another c
heque? For something else?

  DAY 4- Investigation

  DAY 3- Further investigation. Whoever the killer is, they’ve hidden behind Jack’s broad shadow too well.

  DAY 2- Jack is taken into Scotland Yard because a knife from his office is used to kill Theo.

  Anyone could have guessed there would be some sort of letter opener or object to use for a murder. The knife must have seemed to be god sent.

  DAY 1 - Wedding day.

  Chapter Twenty

  “We need a confession,” Ham said. “I can rush things and get Jack out in time for the wedding if we can get a confession.”

  “How?” Violet asked, rubbing her brow. Her head had been aching for hours, and she was too scared to hope.

  “She’s here,” Denny said. “We lie, we cheat, we…do whatever is necessary. We work together.”

  “We recruit Miss Allen,” Violet said suddenly.

  “Em?” Ham asked, flabbergasted.

  “Get her back here,” Violet said to Victor hurriedly. “Tell her everything. Tell her we need her to lie to Gertrude and tell her that she knows Theo’s secrets because she was Theo’s lover.”

  “She’ll make you pay,” Victor told Violet even as he sent Beatrice running for a servant to get his auto. Perhaps a black cab would be faster?

  “We need to ring up Miss Allen,” Violet said. “I—”

  “I’ll do it,” Ham said. “She owes me a rather large favor, and I’ll be cashing in.”

  “I’ll go with Victor,” Rita added. “She’ll be nicer if she has an audience connected to her ladies club.”

  “Thank you,” Violet said almost absently. She met Ham’s gaze and a swelling of hope filled her. She didn’t have the ability to speak while also swallowing the ball of tears that was lodged in her throat, but he seemed to understand.

  “Make Gertrude stay,” Violet told Clara and Algie. “She’s not leaving, but we want her off her guard as well. We need a confession. Bloody hell! We need Ham to hear it, but she won’t confess if he’s here.”