English Trifle (28 page)

“We aren’t certain just yet,” Dr. Sawyer said, walking over to the bed and taking his stethoscope from around his neck and putting the earpieces in his ears. A blood pressure cuff was already attached to the earl’s arm. Dr. Sawyer took the bulb used to inflate the cuff in one hand and began pumping. “But we’re guessing that he’s been overmedicated—in a kind of drug-induced coma, if you will.”

Sadie was shocked. “Really? But why?”

“That part is still unclear,” Liam said, watching the doctor at his father’s bedside. “Dr. Sawyer arrived this morning—no one knows he’s here but you, me, and Breanna. That’s why I didn’t argue when Austin sent the inspectors back to the police station to finish the investigation. When you add this to the missing family Bible and Austin’s overall attitude—it makes everything going on at Southgate look very suspicious and I think it all comes back to the fact that my father is being kept in a vegetative state for some reason I can’t figure out.”

“But why not tell the inspectors all this?” Sadie asked. The police had been here all morning and telling them would be the best way to ensure care for his father—right?

Dr. Sawyer looked over his shoulder and raised one eyebrow, indicating that he was wondering the same thing. The blood pressure cuff hissed slightly as he turned his attention back to the gauge on the earl’s arm.

Liam let out a breath. “It’s complicated,” he said. “Austin seems to have the police in his pocket and . . . well, I just want to make sure my father’s taken care of before I get them involved—just in case.”

“Things will become even more complicated if we don’t get your father to a hospital,” Dr. Sawyer said. He released all the air out of the cuff and took the stethoscope out of his ears. He even moved nicely, Sadie noticed as the doctor continued speaking. “I need to find out what he’s been taking if I’m to give him the proper care without making his condition worse. I’ve reduced the flow rate on the IV as much as I dare and his blood pressure is rising. I need a full line of tests and the equipment necessary to properly monitor him while we figure out what’s been going on. I need another IV bag.”

Liam scowled and went to the armoire. He opened the door, revealing shelves of medical supplies, including several bags of IV fluid. “There’s something in these bags that isn’t on the labels,” Liam explained to Sadie as he pulled one off the shelf. “I believe Austin and some of the staff are involved too—John Henry couldn’t have done this all by himself.”

“That’s it!” Sadie said, putting a few pieces together. “That’s the conspiracy—that’s what Mrs. Land was in on and what had Austin acting so strange.”

Liam suddenly looked nervous, instantly reminding Sadie of the note Mrs. Land had left her. There was more going on than the conspiracy against his father and his mystery illness. Sadie considered that Liam’s own secrets were probably the real reason he hadn’t talked to the inspectors about his suspicions—he knew he’d be implicated in John Henry’s murder if they knew the whole story. Would he really come clean once he knew his father was safe? With so many secrets going around, it was hard to say.

She took a step back, looking at Dr. Sawyer and then at the earl—at least they lent credibility to Liam’s story. This part of it anyway. “Where’s Breanna?”

Liam didn’t meet her eyes; he handed the IV to the doctor and then shoved his hands into his pockets. “She went down to get something for us to eat—neither Dr. Sawyer nor myself has had anything to eat since Dr. Sawyer arrived this morning. Austin dismissed the security personnel, and then said he had to take care of some things in Exeter. I’ve told Grant to have the staff ready to leave as soon as possible as well—I want the house cleared before I call an ambulance, hopefully before Austin returns.”

Sadie noted that she would have a hard time getting Manny his macaroons now that the security team had been dismissed, but she didn’t allow herself to dwell on it right now.

Dr. Sawyer was shaking his head. “He needs medical intervention, now,” he said again. “Your staff is the least of my concerns.”

“Wait—Dr. Sawyer arrived this morning?” Sadie asked, looking back to the doctor who was writing down some notes in a small notebook. She’d been in the kitchen all morning, and staff had been everywhere once she was let out of the cooler—how did they get the doctor up here without anyone knowing about it? “What time did you arrive, Dr. Sawyer?” She refused to look at Liam, but felt him tense at her question.

“A little after six-thirty a.m.,” Dr. Sawyer said, fiddling with the IV line as he hung the new bag. “I was on call until midnight and unable to leave London before then.”

Sadie gasped slightly as her eyes slowly moved back to Liam, who was staring at the floor, his hands still pushed into his pockets. She looked back to the doctor. “How did you get past security?”

Dr. Sawyer looked at Liam. “I didn’t see any security,” he said. “But we came through the kitchen. Perhaps security was elsewhere.”

Dr. Sawyer had come through the kitchen during the exact time Sadie had been locked in the cooler. Her heart sank as she turned her eyes, once more, to the man her daughter had fallen in love with.

“Liam,” she said in a low whisper as her heart continued its slow descent. What kind of man does a thing like that? He’d not only moved the body, but he’d removed the poker from John Henry’s chest, and then locked her in the cooler with the body? She didn’t even know how to verbalize the shock and disappointment and fear she felt as the realization seeped through her skin and began swimming through her veins. She took a step back, watching the understanding blossom into Liam’s eyes as well—he knew what she was putting together. They turned fearful and somewhat desperate. She was suddenly glad not to be alone with him right now.

“It’s not what you think,” he said slowly, taking a step toward her, which caused her to take another step away from him. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

“Lord Martin,” Dr. Sawyer interrupted, “if you don’t call an ambulance, I will have no choice but to do so in your place. Your father is in need of serious medical intervention—decreasing the rate of his medication can have serious complications. Time is of the essence.”

A knock caused all of them to look at the bedroom door. Liam hurried toward it, leaving Sadie to stay where she was, though she pivoted to keep him in sight.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s me,” Breanna’s muted voice said from the other side. Liam opened the door and Breanna came in holding a tray. She smiled at Liam as she entered the room, but when she saw Sadie she stopped mid-stride, stumbling slightly. Liam put a hand out to keep her from falling. Sadie tried to ignore the smell of sausage and pastry coming from the tray Breanna held, but even though Sadie had eaten just a couple hours ago, she was suddenly famished. Good food does that to a person—convinces them they’re hungry when they have no reason to eat.

“She knows,” he said softly. Breanna looked at him with a questioning expression.

“How much?” she whispered back as if Sadie couldn’t hear every word.

Liam shrugged apologetically. Breanna looked back at Sadie with guilt and fear in her eyes. Sadie put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side as if to say, “Explain your way out of this one, young lady.”

Before they had a chance to talk, however, Liam asked Breanna a question. “The staff, are they gone yet?”

Breanna shook her head. “Mrs. Kinsley said some of them were already gone, but I know she and Grant are still here. Her daughter brought in a lot of food and Mrs. Kinsley was finishing up these sausage rolls when I got there.” She dared a glance at Sadie, perhaps to see if her mother’s steely look was softening. It wasn’t, so she looked back to Liam. “She was working on some soup we can heat up for dinner tonight. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s gone in another half an hour.”

“And Austin?” Liam asked, setting the tray on the dresser top and setting out the plates so he could dish up lunch. “Is he back?”

“No, and Mrs. Kinsley hasn’t seen him either,” Breanna said, shaking her head. “Maybe you should call him and see where he is.”

Liam scowled, but nodded as he began pouring the tea. He glanced at Dr. Sawyer who was taking the earl’s pulse, looking at his watch so as to properly calculate it. Liam leaned into Breanna, lowering his voice. “I don’t want to call an ambulance until everyone’s gone.”

Breanna shrugged, indicating that she didn’t know when that would be.

Sadie cleared her throat rather loudly and gave Breanna a pointed look. She’d been ignored long enough.

“Um,” Breanna said, looking around the room as if searching for help. Her eyes settled on the tray of food and she waved her hand toward it with a shaky smile. “Mrs. Kinsley says she makes the best sausage rolls in Devonshire, Mom—want one?”

Easy Sausage Rolls

1 pound sage sausage (Liam likes onions and green peppers mixed into his)

1 package puff pastry—defrost according to package directions

Mustard

1 egg yolk

Brown sausage in skillet,; drain well (rinse, if desired). Lay sheets of puff pastry on counter and cut into 12 rectangles (6 per sheet of pastry) using a pizza cutter. Spread each rectangle with mustard. Spoon 1/12 of sausage into the center of each pastry rectangle. Fold over and pinch edges together. Beat egg yolk and brush over the tops of the rolls. Place rolls 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before eating, but best served warm.

Serves 12 .

~ ~ ~

Well, that was a dirty trick.

Sadie had come to know and appreciate sausage rolls very much during their trip. It was all she could do to pull her eyes away from the succulent sausage wrapped in flaky pastry. There was also a plate of fresh fruit and cut-up vegetables, as well as tea and more of those yummy lemon cookies from the library.

Must . . . focus . . . must . . . be strong.

She forced her eyes away. “We need to talk,” Sadie said, watching Breanna’s shoulders slump as she realized her attempt to deflect Sadie’s anger hadn’t worked.

“Um, how about we go into the sitting room,” Breanna said. “That way we won’t disturb anyone.”

Sadie nodded before leading the way out the door into the earl’s sitting room. After she heard the door shut behind Breanna, she turned and faced her, not the least bit interested in wasting any more time—relieved to have a door between her and the distracting sausage rolls.

“Liam moved John Henry and then locked me in the cooler so he could sneak the doctor into the house, didn’t he?”

“Oh, Mom,” Breanna said—almost wailed, really. She brought her hands up to her face as if she could hide behind them. Sadie wanted to comfort her, but reminded herself that Breanna had been lying all this time. Breanna’s chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath and then she lowered her hands, looking at Sadie with a tortured expression. Her shoulders fell in surrender. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah,” Sadie challenged, putting her hands on her hips again—it made her feel powerful. “You’re sorry? I’m horrified! I can’t believe you’re still willing to have anything at all to do with him—I mean, moving the body is bad enough—but locking me in the cooler? I can’t believe you’re okay with that.” She’d hoped Breanna hadn’t known, that she’d been an ignorant participant, but she knew from Breanna’s reaction that it wasn’t true.

“I’m not okay with any of it,” Breanna said. Her voice was thick and Sadie noticed tears rising in her eyes. “But it wasn’t Liam.”

“What?” Sadie said, her hands falling from her waist. If it wasn’t Liam, then who was it? And why was Breanna reacting to it so strangely?

“Liam called my phone this morning to tell me you were in the kitchen. I didn’t know the extent of his concerns about his father or the arrival of Dr. Sawyer until then, but he needed my help to get the doctor upstairs without anyone seeing them. He’d already managed to distract the security guard posted outside the kitchen door—but Liam needed me to distract you. He told me to take the servant stairs in our wing so that none of the other security people saw me. When I got to the kitchen, you were just walking into the cooler.”

Sadie felt her mouth drop open, but it was barely processing in her mind. “You locked me in there?” Her entire world tilted on its axis.

Breanna swallowed before continuing. “I was right outside the door when you opened it and shut it again—totally freaked me out. All I knew was that Liam needed me to help him keep Dr. Sawyer a secret. Since I didn’t understand everything that was going on, I didn’t see how I could explain it to you and I knew you’d ask me a million questions. I put the pen through the place meant for a lock, then helped scout ahead of Liam to make sure no one saw us taking the doctor upstairs. Once Dr. Sawyer was with the earl I totally freaked out on Liam—demanding he fill me in. So he told me everything about his father and why the doctor was here.

“I ran down the stairs to let you out as soon as Liam finished telling me what had been going on behind the scenes, but by the time I got back to the kitchen, Austin was talking to security in the foyer and there was the banging, and I was scared to death about getting caught, and by the time I found Liam to go back with me, Austin was already there and then you were accusing him and then you . . .” She stopped to catch her breath. “Then you said John Henry was in there. I couldn’t believe it, Mom. I—I just—”

“You locked me in a cooler with a dead man,” Sadie said, feeling completely betrayed and not knowing what to do about it. She reviewed how strongly Breanna had reacted to the news that Sadie had been locked in. It hadn’t been out of concern for her mother, but guilt at what she’d done. Maybe some of both.

“I didn’t know Liam had moved the body and I had no idea John Henry was in there,” Breanna said, a tear escaping. She reached out and put her hand on Sadie’s arm. Sadie was tempted to shake it off, but this was her daughter. Breanna continued, “That’s what I talked to him about before coming back to help you with breakfast—I could tell by the way he reacted that he wasn’t surprised that John Henry was in there—horrified at what had happened, but not surprised. And so all the weird things he’d done and said started to click together. I confronted him and he admitted to finding John Henry in the sitting room, panicking, and putting him in the vegetable cooler until he could decide what to do next.”