English Trifle (24 page)

Sadie hadn’t thought of that, but wished she had. “I see,” she said. “And how long will that be?”

“I would guess it will take most of today,” the inspector said. “I know it’s an inconvenience. We’ll let you know when you’re cleared to leave.”

Sadie couldn’t help but smile and just hoped the inspector didn’t misinterpret it. “That’s fine,” she said. “I just wanted to be sure I understood.”

She headed back into the kitchen quite pleased. There was still the possibility that the answers she wanted wouldn’t be discovered at all—she knew that happened sometimes—but she was encouraged by the fact that there was no way Liam or Austin could have her and Breanna shipped out. At least not yet. She was committed to using the time she had as wisely as possible.

~ ~ ~

Charlotte helped serve breakfast, and each time she entered the room Sadie considered talking to her, trying to see if she would help fill in the blanks Mrs. Land and Austin had left behind. But each time she tried, Grant’s lecture from the night before would come to mind and Sadie knew she’d feel horrible if Charlotte was sent away like Mrs. Land or, worse, fired. And then she’d think of how Charlotte had confided in Austin about Liam and John Henry’s argument; she’d hate to have Charlotte take whatever they talked about back to Austin. Therefore, she just smiled and thanked the young girl each time she went about another task.

Sadie had pulled the last of the breakfast casseroles from the oven when she looked up to find Austin standing in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. His sudden arrival startled her, though she tried to hide it as best she could. He glared at her, and she glared right back before determining to ignore him completely. Breanna was speaking to the inspector in the staff dining room.

“You’re relieved of your kitchen duties,” Austin said bluntly as she put the final ceramic dish on the butcher-block table. Charlotte had already taken half a dozen of them upstairs to set on the buffet, which also held Sadie’s crumpets, a variety of fruit and cheese Sadie had found in the refrigerator, and tea brewed by Grant—apparently tea was the responsibility of the butler. Thank goodness. Sadie had no idea how to go about it since the tea was loose-leaf.

“I have breakfast to clean up and lunch to get started,” Sadie said in an impassive tone, refusing to let him know how much he bothered her.

“You are not the cook,” Austin said. “And you are to leave immediately.”

Sadie let out a breath and turned to face him. “We can’t leave,” she said arrogantly. “The inspector said we have to stay until they have finished their investigation, so although I completely understand why you would love for us to disappear, we aren’t going anywhere.” She held herself back from tacking on a “So there.”

Austin’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, which only served to make Sadie feel victorious. “I didn’t mean leave the estate,” he said, a slight hiss to his words since he didn’t seem to part his teeth much when he spoke. “I meant, leave the kitchen.”

“Like it or not, you need a cook,” she said. “You have three maids and their hands are full. I suppose you could keep ordering in, but without a single kitchen worker who knows how to prepare, warm, and serve the plates—you’ll all be eating out of Styrofoam.”

“Well, like it or not,” he said, copying her own words, “I have a cook, a real cook, on her way to Southgate. She will be working in the kitchen until it’s time for the staff to leave.”

Sadie was stunned. “You found a cook? On New Year’s Eve?”

Austin nodded, obviously thrilled by Sadie’s disappointment. “Just for a few hours. She’s bringing some things in from town and will take care of lunch. You may now go to your room and work on that needlepoint.”

He quit the room while Sadie fired silent curses at his retreating back. She had no intention of leaving in the middle of the meal preparation, and turned back to the breakfast casseroles. Because staff ate after the family was served their meal, Sadie moved the casseroles to the warming oven and set about putting out the other items. Mrs. Land had given the impression that the staff didn’t necessarily eat the same thing the family did, but that didn’t make much sense to Sadie so she’d worked on setting out the same meal for them as had been set out upstairs. She was in the process of arranging the pineapple—from a can, unfortunately—with the grapes and cantaloupe she’d found in the fridge, when Austin’s voice startled her for a second time.

“I told you to leave,” he said from behind her.

She spun around, knocking the tray in the process, which required her to steady it before she could return his glare. “And I am not done with breakfast yet,” she nearly yelled. “When I’m finished, I’ll leave.”

“You’ll leave now,” Austin said.

“I will not,” Sadie returned.

“Mom?”

Sadie was thrown off guard by Breanna’s voice, and looked over her shoulder. Breanna and Inspector Kent stood there watching them.

“What’s going on?” Breanna asked, looking between the two of them.

Austin and Sadie were both quiet for a few seconds, then Austin spoke, his tone completely professional. “We have a cook coming in to prepare the kitchen for the weekend and take care of the rest of the day’s meals. I have asked Mrs. Hoffmiller to please return upstairs since she is, after all, a guest.”

Sadie hated how reasonable he sounded. “And I’m not done with breakfast,” she said. “I would like to finish it.”

“I thought Charlotte took breakfast upstairs already,” Breanna countered.

“Well, yes, she took up the family breakfast, but the staff still has to eat.”

“And they can take care of that themselves,” Austin added. He looked at Sadie, his face soft, a slight smile on his lips. “We so appreciate all your efforts in our behalf, Mrs. Hoffmiller, but it is no longer necessary for you to shoulder this burden.”

“Is this cook you’ve hired aware of what’s transpired here?” the inspector asked.

Austin answered with an easy nod, “Yes, she is. She’s a former cook here at Southgate, so she’s someone we can trust. I told her she would likely need to speak with you when she arrived.”

“Very good,” Inspector Kent said. “I’m finished with the dining room and will conduct the remainder of my interviews upstairs. I’ve posted an officer here to preserve the crime scene until we are finished with it.”

“Good,” Austin said. “We can all go upstairs, then.”

Sadie was thoroughly miffed. “I’d still like to see that the staff gets their breakfast.”

“Not to worry,” Austin said in his kind, Lord-of-the-Manor voice. “Charlotte will be down shortly to oversee it and the cook will be arriving momentarily.”

With three sets of eyes watching her, and no further argument coming to mind, Sadie felt she had no choice but to give in—no matter how badly it burned to do so.

“Fine,” she said, untying her apron. She hung it on the hook she’d retrieved it from a couple hours earlier and headed out of the kitchen behind Breanna and the inspector.

“Is that your jacket?” Austin asked, nodding toward her Colorado State University jacket hanging next to the aprons. Sadie had hoped no one would notice it was still there from last night. Even though she was offended to be kicked out of the kitchen, she realized that having Austin bring in a former employee could possibly give her access to even more information. But not unless she had an excuse to visit the kitchen again. So much for that idea. She picked up the jacket, avoiding Austin’s eyes so that she wouldn’t see the triumph in them.

“Is there anything else?” Austin asked from where he stood in the kitchen, turning so as to watch her every move. “Mrs. Kinsley is rather territorial about her kitchen.”

Pompous, arrogant, patronizing nitwit, Sadie thought to herself as she shot another glare at Austin and then began putting her arms in the sleeves of her jacket. Austin gave her a smug smile before turning toward the door. Breanna and the inspector pushed through the swinging doors ten feet before Sadie reached them. She was adjusting her shoulders into her jacket when she realized the right side of her jacket felt heavier than the left side. Not recalling if she’d put anything in her jacket pockets recently, she reached her hand into the pocket and wrapped her fingers around what felt like a set of keys.

“Keys?” she muttered to herself as she pulled them from her pocket. Why on earth would she have keys in her pocket? She’d left her car keys at the Park ’n Fly by the Denver Airport so they would change her oil while she was gone. She opened her palm, looking at the ring of keys in her hand. She’d never seen them before.

“Mom?”

Sadie looked up, closing her hand on the keys and lowering her arm. “What?” she asked, realizing she’d stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“Are you coming?” Breanna said, standing five steps above her. The inspector stood at the top of the stairs, his hand on the knob of the open door Austin must have already passed through.

“Oh, yes,” Sadie said, casually putting both hands into her pockets as she started up the stairs. Where had the keys come from? What were they for? A thrill of adventure exploded in her chest. Someone was trying to help her. Someone recognized her pursuit for justice and, though for whatever reason they couldn’t find it themselves, they wanted to help her find the answers.

Who had given them to her?

Austin had pointed out her jacket on the wall, but the last thing he would give Sadie was a set of keys—unless, of course, he was trying to get her in trouble somehow.

Once in the foyer, the three of them rounded the Christmas tree to find Austin already gone and Grant standing at the base of the stairs. Sadie wondered if he’d been adequately chewed out for being unavailable during the more dramatic moments of the last couple of days and was now overcompensating. She walked toward the stairs, deep in thought about the significance of the keys now in her possession.

“Aren’t you going to eat breakfast with me?” Breanna asked. The inspector was talking to another officer outside of the sitting room door.

Sadie turned around to look at her daughter. “Oh, well, I—”

“You worked so hard on those crumpets,” Breanna said, looking at her mother with a slightly pleading look on her face. It wasn’t the crumpets Breanna was interested in, Sadie realized, but the fact that she didn’t want to eat alone.

“I am looking forward to those crumpets,” Sadie said, fingering the keys before removing her hand. She could wait ten minutes before she examined the mystery keys more thoroughly.

Sadie was relieved to find the dining room empty. The inspectors were in the hallway, Liam was probably with his father, and Austin was likely off somewhere gloating about having won the battle over the kitchen. However, as far as Sadie was concerned, the war was still on. She picked up a plate from the sideboard and served herself some fruit, one of the casseroles, and toasted a couple crumpets before taking a seat at the extra-long table.

“You’d think they’d invest in a breakfast nook or something,” she said as she spread the napkin over her lap and buttered the crumpets before they got cold. “Don’t they get tired of all this fancy-schmancy stuff?”

“It’s what they know,” Breanna said, sliding her plate onto the table and taking a seat next to Sadie. Sitting next to one another, they both had several empty seats on either side of them. Such largess made Sadie feel rather small and insignificant.

“And we’re underdressed,” Sadie said, picking up a grape and popping it in her mouth. Her orange Crocs looked downright gaudy against the polished hardwood floor. “Maybe I do understand why you don’t want this life,” she said thoughtfully. “It would be rather exhausting to try to keep up with it all.”

Breanna didn’t reply, but the comment seemed to weigh heavy on her, making Sadie worry she’d said the wrong thing. Was Breanna still considering her options? “But I’m sure you’d get used to it if you decided to take that route.”

Breanna still didn’t say anything.

“Or not,” Sadie offered, feeling like she couldn’t say anything right.

“Just leave it,” Breanna said quietly.

Sadie picked up one of her crumpets, examining it for a moment. It didn’t look like the other crumpets she’d had during their trip, but then again it had been made with canning rings. She hoped that was the reason for its poor presentation. She took a bite, fully intending to enjoy every bit of the experience, but after chewing twice, she stopped. The texture was rubbery and the flavor was bland, despite the butter. With no other choice, she finished chewing and swallowed, scowling at the remaining crumpet in her hand. She told herself to take another bite, give it one more chance, but after a few seconds, she returned the offending crumpet to her plate.

“Not good?” Breanna asked. She’d buttered her own crumpet but had yet to take a bite.

“What a waste of my time,” Sadie said, thinking about all the effort she’d put into the crumpets. Her mood was decidedly soured.

Breanna took a small bite so as to verify Sadie’s pronouncement, then chewed just as carefully as she returned the crumpet to her plate and wiped her fingers on the napkin in her lap. “I think it would be better with jam,” she said, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was just trying to be polite.

Sadie grumbled and took a bite of the casserole—it helped to soothe her battered ego. “At least the casserole is good,” she said after her third bite. Breanna nodded her agreement and they continued eating in silence for a few minutes, both of them seeming to be lost in their thoughts.

“Mom?”

Sadie looked up at Breanna, who had stopped eating and was staring at her plate. “What?” Sadie asked when Breanna didn’t continue. She took another bite of her breakfast casserole—it really had turned out quite well. The sage was a perfect touch.

“Um, there’s something I need to—” Breanna was cut off by the opening of the door that caused both of them to look toward it.

Inspector Kent walked in while Sadie chewed as fast as she could, so she could speak if he was here to ask her more questions.