Crowned and Dangerous (A Royal Spyness Mystery) (31 page)

“So you came and killed him.”

“Me? Hey, I didn’t kill him,” she said. “I might have, if I’d found a way to get into this place. But Lofty must have got to him first.” She frowned. “But I don’t have time to hang around chatting with you. Give me the suitcase.”

She was waving the gun at me impatiently. Darcy passed it to me and I to her. I was trying desperately to think of anything I could do to stop her, but Darcy was trapped behind me in the narrow space and I was holding a lamp in one hand. What was more, my brain was refusing to cooperate. It seemed the only safe thing to do was comply. I held out the suitcase. She snatched the case from me. “Put down that lamp,” she commanded. I put it down. “Get in there.”

Then without warning she shoved me backward. As I lost my footing and staggered she pulled on the lever. The section of wall swung shut and we were in total darkness.

T
UESDAY
, D
ECEMBER
11

I
N
K
ILHENNY
C
ASTLE
.

Darcy flung himself at the section of wall but it was too late. It had snapped shut. We felt around desperately trying to find a latch on our side but the wood appeared to be smooth. If there was a secret way to open the door from the inside, we couldn’t find it.

“I wonder how thick that wood is and whether we can kick our way out,” he said. He tried, then muttered a curse. “There’s not enough room to exert any force. And I can’t straighten my leg.”

“We’ll be all right, won’t we?” I tried to sound more confident than I felt. “Your father and the princess will be back and come looking for us.”

“How would they ever think of looking for us here?” I heard the tension in his voice. “And if they were in this room would they necessarily find the lever that opened the wall?”

“We’d hear them coming and shout,” I said.

“If we haven’t passed out from lack of oxygen by then,” Darcy
said. That hadn’t occurred to me before. We were essentially sealed into a small space. We’d use up the air supply quickly.

“Could we climb on those boxes and see if we can punch our way out through the ceiling?” I asked.

“Good idea.”

We fumbled around in total darkness and I heard Darcy’s ragged breath as he hauled himself up. Then he said, “It’s no use. I can’t reach the ceiling. It was pretty high in this room.”

He slithered down again.

“There must be some way . . .” I began but I couldn’t think of one. “I love you, Darcy,” I whispered. “If I’ve got to die, I’m glad it’s with you.”

He slipped an arm around me. “I wonder why I don’t find that a comforting thought,” he whispered. I rested my head against him, feeling his cheek against mine, and the realization struck me that I might now never know what it was like to be made love to by him. Such a waste. All those times I’d stopped him. And now . . .

“We’ll think of something,” he said. Even through the thickness of the wall we heard an almighty crash. And a scream. Then as we waited, alert and ready, the wall swung open and we blinked in the light. Queenie stood before us, her eyes as wide as saucers, her face a mask of terror. “Blimey, miss, I thought you was a goner,” she said.

I staggered out, breathing hard. “Queenie, what on earth are you doing here?” I demanded. “How did you know?”

“Well, miss, I saw that lady again in the village and she asked me more funny questions about you and Mr. Darcy. Then I saw her heading off in the direction of the castle and I thought I should warn you she was coming so I followed her. And I watched her go after you and sneak into the castle. I didn’t think there was any real danger, mind you, until I saw her take out that gun. And I wasn’t quite sure what to do then, because I ain’t had no real dealings with guns and I didn’t want to get shot. So I stayed well hidden, but I
was standing behind one of them suits of armor, and when she locked you up and was going to escape I thought I might take out the pike the man in armor was carrying and bash her on the bonce.”

“What?” I asked.

“’It her on the ’ead,” she clarified. “But the bloody thing wouldn’t come loose and then when I yanked it hard, the whole ruddy thing toppled over. And the helmet came flying off and bashed that woman on the head as she was going past. She went out like a light.”

We went around the corner and there, in the long gallery, Lola Martinez was lying sprawled on the floor. The gun lay a few feet away from her. Darcy leaped to retrieve it.

“We need something to tie her up with,” he said.

“The cord from the lamp will do for now.” I ran to retrieve it, yanking it from the socket. As I drew her arms together she suddenly came back to life and turned on me like a wild thing, clawing and scratching, going for my throat. Darcy tried to grab her as we rolled over together. Queenie ran to the weapons on the wall and took down a shield. As Lola tried to choke me Queenie brought the shield crashing down on Lola’s head. For the second time Lola slumped forward, unconscious. And around me on the floor I heard a tinkling sound, like the pattering of rain. Darcy dragged Lola off me and helped me to my feet. Queenie stood there, still looking scared and amazed. And the floor sparkled with hundreds of cut diamonds.

Later that day
we assembled together at Mountjoy with Mr. Lennox and Chief Inspector Callahan. Mr. Lennox informed us that a team was being sent over from Washington and Chicago to take charge of the stolen goods found at the castle. Lola Martinez had been taken into custody but was not talking. Mr. Lennox suggested that if she was charged with the murder of Bugsy Barker she might well want to confess to lesser charges, like attempted murder or being an accessory to a robbery. I now suspected it was she who’d killed the taxi
driver, Barney. He had obviously remembered that she came to the area before Bugsy/Roach was killed and was foolish enough to mention this to her. But that crime, I’m afraid, could never be proven when it was all too easy to skid off an icy road in the dead of night. It seemed that Mickey and Lofty had been seen crossing into Northern Ireland and had taken the ferry from Belfast to Liverpool two days back. Since they couldn’t leave England without taking a boat or an aeroplane, Lennox was confident that they would soon be caught.

Princess Zamanska turned to Inspector Callahan. “In the light of all this evidence, Chief Inspector, I think that you have to agree that Lord Kilhenny did not commit the crime with which you charged him.”

Callahan coughed. I could tell it pained him to say what he had to. “It would appear so,” he said. “Of course, I personally need to speak with the purported gang members and with the law enforcement officers who can identify them before I can make a final decision.”

“So my father is free to come and go as he pleases?” Darcy asked.

“He will need to stay in touch as he is certain to be called to give evidence at a trial,” Callahan said.

When the Garda had departed, Oona invited Mr. Lennox to stay to dinner. “We’re all very grateful,” she said.

“It wasn’t me, ma’am. It was your family and friends here who did the hard work,” he said. “You should be thanking them.”

“So what will happen to the castle and stables now?” Dooley asked. “Surely they won’t pass to his next of kin if they were purchased with stolen money?”

“I believe they will become the property of the United States government,” Lennox said. “And the government will put the property up for auction, to recoup some of the money.”

“Then you must bid on it, Thaddy,” Oona said. “Buy back the family home.”

Darcy’s father gave a sharp laugh. “With what?” he said. “I’m still as poor as a church mouse, Aunt Oona.”

“I could ride Sultan in the Boxing Day stakes—it has a handsome purse for the winner, doesn’t it?” Darcy said, his face lighting up with enthusiasm.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lord Kilhenny said, making Darcy flush with embarrassed anger.

“I’m one of the few people who can ride Sultan,” he said.

“You might ride well, my boy, but you’re an amateur,” Lord Kilhenny said, “and you weigh more than a jockey. Besides, the stables and horses do not belong to us. And the purse may be handsome but nothing like enough to buy back the castle.”

“Such defeatist talk,” Zou Zou said. “I know. You could do what Bugsy was going to, and sell off the Burda club and some other family treasures.”

“The club doesn’t belong to me,” Lord Kilhenny replied gruffly. “It went to that despicable man as part of the estate. Something I would never have agreed to.”

Mr. Lennox gave a little cough. “I think we can say that there was never an intention to make personal items part of the estate. We’ll agree the club is yours.”

“Thank you, but in that case I could never sell it. Something that has been in the family since the dawn of time?”

“Father, wouldn’t you want the chance to get our old home back? Isn’t that more important than a stupid war club?” Darcy said. “Do you want to live your life in that lodge?”

“He’s right, Thaddy,” Oona said. “It’s nice to have family heirlooms, but how many times have you looked at it in the past twenty years? And isn’t a home the most important thing? Where will your children live and raise their families one day?” And she looked at Darcy and me.

“I suppose you’re right,” Lord Kilhenny admitted grudgingly, “but surely those odd things are not going to make enough money to buy back the property.”

Mr. Lennox coughed, making us realize that he was still part
of the group. “I think the US government would be only too delighted to get the property off our hands as soon as possible,” he said. “And I think I could arrange it that the auction wasn’t well publicized—say on a cold January day?”

Oona burst out laughing. “Mr. Lennox, you must have Irish roots. You’re as devious as any of us.”

“This calls for a toast. Let’s open the champagne,” Zou Zou said. “Thaddy is free and has a chance to get his home back. How wonderful.”

“I suppose you should fly your contraption back to London while the weather is holding,” Lord Kilhenny said.

“Why is everyone so keen to get rid of me!” she demanded. “Anyone would think you didn’t enjoy my company.”

To my amusement Lord Kilhenny blushed. “It’s not that, but I’m sure you have a busy social life waiting for you at home.”

“Most of the people at home are absolute bores,” she said. “I find it much more fascinating here.”

“You’re studying us as specimens, are you? Going to write a treatise on the strange habits of the Irish?” Dooley asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“I might.” They exchanged a grin.

“I think you should all stay for Christmas,” Oona said. “We haven’t had a jolly Christmas in years, have we, Dooley?”

“We haven’t,” he agreed. “Jolly good idea. So what about it? Will you stay?”

Darcy’s father looked at the princess.

“I don’t see why not,” she said.

The next days
were caught up in trips to Dublin, answering more police questions, giving evidence against Lola Martinez and hoping that Mickey and Lofty would be caught. And against this background the Christmas preparations were begun. The pudding was
stirred for good luck and silver charms were dropped into the batter. Queenie turned out to be a whiz with pastry and made the best mince pies and sausage rolls.

“That girl is a treasure,” Oona said. “I don’t suppose you’d let her stay on with me here? Treadwell is as old as I am and I could certainly do with more help around the house.”

Those words should have been music to my ears. Life without Queenie. No more dresses ruined. No more lost shoes or beds soaked as a result of unscrewed hot water bottles. No more scathing remarks by Fig. But I found myself saying, “I think it would be up to her, Lady Whyte.”

Queenie was called into the room and Oona asked her if she’d like to stay on as cook general. Queenie looked at me. I tried to prevent emotion from showing on my face. Then she shook her head firmly. “I’m sorry, Lady Whyte, but I can’t desert Lady Georgiana after she’s been so good to me and put up with me making a right cock-up of things. My place is with her.”

“Queenie, I don’t want to stand in your way,” I said. “If you want to get more experience of cooking and running a house I think you should stay on with Sir Dooley and Lady Whyte. I don’t even know where I’ll be going after Christmas. I can always call for you if I need you, can’t I?”

She looked at Oona and then at me and gave a beaming smile. “Bob’s yer uncle, my lady,” she said.