Mistletoe and Mayhem (13 page)

Gertie stacked the last dish on the draining board and reached for the soggy tea towel. It had taken her twice as long without Pansy, but she knew, only too well, what it was like to be late on a day off. When you only got one afternoon a week, every minute was precious. Especially if you were spending it with someone you really liked.

Gertie sighed. She used to long for her afternoon off so she could spend it with Dan. That was when they were first getting to know each other and every moment with him was exciting.

Nowadays, all they seemed to do was argue with each other. She knew that Dan missed living in the city, and was getting bored with the sleepy little village of Badgers End. He kept telling her there was nothing to do down there, and the winters were too long.

Twice he’d asked her if she’d move to London with him, and both times she’d refused to consider it. She didn’t want her twins growing up in London. She’d seen what the city could do to people, and she wanted none of that for her children.

Besides, everyone she knew and loved lived in Badgers End. She’d miss them all, and her job. She loved working at the Pennyfoot, meeting new people every week or so.

She loved living across the street from the ocean and all that fresh air. Not like the black fog from the coal fires that choked the streets of London. They didn’t call it The Smoke for nothing.

No, she wouldn’t give up her life again for a man. She’d done it once, moving to Scotland to be with Ross. How she’d hated it up there. The bitterly cold winters, the strange customs and accents that were impossible to understand. Much as she loved Dan, and she loved him far more than she’d loved Ross, she wouldn’t do it again. She and her twins belonged in Badgers End and that’s where they’d stay.

“I want to give Harriet a bath.”

The high-pitched voice piping behind her startled her out of her wits. She spun around, the bone china plate slipping through her fingers. It landed with a splintering crash on the floor, making the little girl in front of her jump back in horror.

“You dropped the plate!”

Gertie scowled. “Now how on earth did you find out about that?”

Adelaide drew her brows together. “I didn’t find out. I saw it.”

Obviously sarcasm was wasted on the child. Gertie stooped to pick up the pieces. “What are you doing in the kitchen anyway? You’re not supposed to be in here. Does your mummy know where you are?”

Adelaide shrugged. “She’s sleeping.”

“What about your nanny?”

“She’s reading in the library. I crept out when she wasn’t looking.”

“And your brother?”

“He crept out, too. I don’t know where he went.”

Some other lucky blighter being bothered by him, no doubt
, Gertie thought darkly. “Well, you’d better go back to the library before your nanny sees you missing and decides to raise the alarm.”

Adelaide ran her finger down the edge of the table then licked it. She pulled a face, and stuck the offending finger into the pocket of her apron. “What’s an alarm?”

“It’s a loud bell that tells people something is wrong so they come running.”

“The bell can talk?”

Gertie muttered a word under her breath so the child wouldn’t hear it. “No, it can’t talk.”

“Harriet can talk.” The little girl held the doll’s face up to her ear, frowned in concentration, then announced, “Harriet wants a bath.”

“Then you’ll have to take her to the lavatory. There’s no bath in here.”

“She wants a bath in there.” Adelaide pointed to the sink and held the doll over it as if about to drop it in.

Abandoning the scattered pieces of china, Gertie surged to her feet and grabbed the doll. “No! You’ll spoil all its clothes. They’ll get all wet and stained.” She fingered the delicate silk and lace in awe. “She has such beautiful clothes. Better than I’ve ever seen. I wish I had clothes like this to wear.”

“Mommy will buy me more clothes for her. She buys me anything I want.” Adelaide stretched out her hand for the doll but Gertie held it up out of reach.

“You’re not getting her back until you promise not to give her a bath. Or at least, take her clothes off before you get her wet.”

Adelaide pouted, and just then the door opened and Mrs. Chubb bustled in. She took one look at Adelaide and her eyes widened in dismay. “What on earth is that child doing in the kitchen?”

“Causing a lot more trouble than she’s worth,” Gertie muttered.

Mrs. Chubb gasped. “Don’t tell me that’s one of our best china plates all over the floor. Who did that? Did she do that?”

Adelaide promptly opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream. “No, I didn’t! She broke it, and she’s hurting Harriet! She’s going to drown her in the sink!”

“Don’t be daft.” Gertie thrust the doll at her. “You was the one that wanted to drop her in there. Besides, you can’t drown a doll. She’s not alive like a real baby.”

“She is, she is!” Adelaide hugged the doll to her chest, her cries drowning out Mrs. Chubb’s next words.

The housekeeper sent Gertie a murderous look, then ushered the sobbing child out of the kitchen, muttering, “There, there, precious.”

Gertie rolled her eyes as the door closed behind them. As if she didn’t have enough to put up with, what with all the extra work that Christmas brought.

She stooped again to pick up the pieces of the shattered plate. Fine bloody Christmas this was. She missed the twins. It wasn’t Christmas without them. Sighing, she dropped the broken china into the lap of her apron. Soon they’d be home, and then maybe she’d feel better about things.

She climbed to her feet, then holding the corners of her apron up, walked over to the back door. Stepping outside, she looked up at the sky. Dark clouds scurried overhead, driven by the brisk winds from the sea.

Shivering, she trudged over to the dustbin and opened the lid. The broken pieces of china clattered as she dropped them in, and she closed the lid with a bang. As she turned around to hurry back inside, a man appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and stepped in front of her.

Startled, she drew back with a gasp. “Lenny! You made me jump. Where did you come from?”

“The gate.” His eyes glittered with anger. “I’ve been waiting there half an hour. Where’s Pansy? She was supposed to meet me there.”

Gertie looked around as if expecting to see her turn up any minute. “I don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Lenny looked about ready to explode. “Well, you tell her from me, I don’t like being made to look like a fool. No one does that to me and gets away with it. You tell that little bitch I’ll be seeing her.”

With an angry punch in the air with his fist, he spun around and marched off, banging the gate so hard behind him Gertie was sure it had come right off its hinges.

She was shaking as she hurried back to the kitchen. She didn’t like the look in Lenny’s eyes one little bit. She’d have to warn Pansy to stay out of his way. Nasty temper that young man had, and she for one wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of it. She pitied Pansy if he ever caught up with her.

She shut the door, feeling a little safer now that she was back inside the kitchen. Even so, the uneasy feeling hovered in her stomach for the rest of the afternoon. She couldn’t help worrying that Pansy was in for trouble, and there didn’t seem to be any way to avoid it.

Cecily was relieved to find her suite empty when she returned. Baxter, it seemed, had found something to occupy his time. Thankful she didn’t have to answer any awkward questions, she took off her coat and hung it in the wardrobe.

Having missed lunch, she decided to ask Mrs. Chubb to send up a sandwich and a pot of tea. She was about to pull the bell rope when a sharp tap on the door stayed her hand.

Opening it, she saw at once that her messenger had brought bad news. Samuel’s face was pale and drawn, his mouth a tight line. “Come in,” she said sharply, and closed the door behind him. “Tell me. What’s happened now?”

Samuel opened his mouth, swallowed, and then cleared his throat.

Cecily moved over to her chair and sat down. “It’s Ellie, isn’t it?”

Samuel nodded. He sounded as if he had a bad cold when he finally spoke. “I’m sorry, m’m.”

“Where is she?”

“Buried in the woods. Tess found her.”

“Tess?”

“My dog. We heard her barking and I went to see what was upsetting her. I…” Samuel’s voice wavered and he cleared his throat again.

“Take a moment, Samuel.” She needed a moment as much as he did. “Sit down and take your time.”

He glanced at the chair she’d pointed to but made no move to sit down. “I saw her hand, sticking out from a pile of leaves. I brushed them all away and she was lying there with her eyes open, staring right up at me.” He gulped, and grabbed his throat. “Sorry, m’m.”

“Quite all right, Samuel.”

“I knew she was dead. Covered in what looked like coal dust she was. All over her. She must have been buried in the coal shed or something.” He shook his head. “Who would have wanted to kill her? She was such a sweet girl. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. I can’t… I don’t…”

He turned away, and Cecily rose swiftly and went to him. Laying her hand on his shoulder she said gently, “You must pull yourself together, Samuel. I know this has been a terrible shock and I don’t blame you for being upset. But now we must find out who did this and bring them to justice.”

Samuel nodded. “Yes, m’m. Do you think whoever killed her killed Charlie, too?”

“I don’t know.” Sighing, Cecily sat down again. “That’s something we will have to find out. I will have to ring the constabulary, of course. Dr. Prestwick will have to examine her.”

“They will go right away, won’t they?” Samuel dashed the back of his hand across his eyes. “I didn’t want to leave her out there all alone. I covered her up again, in case someone else came along. It seemed the right thing to do.”

“Very good, Samuel. Now please try to put it out of your mind as best you can. We have our jobs to do and we can’t let something like this get in the way of our duties, no matter how much pain we are suffering.”

“Yes, m’m. I’ll be off, then.” He moved to the door, pausing to look back at her. “You will let me help you find Ellie’s killer, won’t you, m’m? I’d like to see whoever did this get his just desserts.”

“Of course, Samuel. You know I’d appreciate the help.” She smiled, more out of habit than because she felt like it. “Thank you.”

“Yes, m’m.”

The door closed quietly behind him, only to open a moment later. Cecily rose to greet her husband as he stepped into the room. “Baxter, darling! I wondered where you were.”

“I was wondering the same thing about you.” He waited for her to sit before sinking onto his favorite chair. “I had to eat alone. You know how I hate that.”

“I’m sorry, dear. I had some errands to run. You know how it is this time of the year. Always something else one must buy.”

“Ah, yes.” He laced his fingers across his chest and regarded her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you telling me you went Christmas shopping?”

“Among other things.”

“And would these other things involve an investigation into Charlie’s death and that little maid’s disappearance, by any chance?”

She sighed. “I’m afraid Ellie didn’t simply disappear. Samuel’s dog found her body this afternoon.”

His entire face seemed to crumple. “Oh, God, no. Not another one.”

“I’m afraid so, dear.”

“This is utterly intolerable.” He sat for a moment, contemplating the news, then said heavily, “I suppose you’ve summoned that idiot, Northcott?”

“Not yet.” She plucked a piece of lint from her navy skirt. “I was rather hoping you would do that for me. As well as Dr. Prestwick. They both will have to be notified.”

“Of course.” He sent her a curious look. “Is there a reason you don’t want to do it? You are usually so determined to handle such things yourself.”

She laid a hand on her stomach. “I haven’t eaten since early this morning. I’m afraid I’m feeling a little light in the head.”

“Good Lord, why on earth didn’t you say so.” He got to his feet, and was halfway to the door before he spoke again. “I’ll have the kitchen send up a tray, and then ring the constabulary. You stay there and rest, and when I come back, we’ll discuss your part in all this.”

She pulled a face at the closing door. She adored her husband, and wouldn’t change him for anyone else in the word, but there were times when he could be an insufferable nuisance with his concerns over her safety.

He should know by now that no matter how much he worried, she was honor bound to hunt down a person who had taken the life of someone close to her. Her heart ached for the two young people taken so early in their lives.

No matter how brief their acquaintance, Ellie and Charlie had been members of her staff, the next best thing to family, and she would not rest until their killer, or killers, had been brought to justice.

The thing that really frightened her was that two of her staff had been struck down in close succession. It was imperative she find out the motive behind the deaths, since the possibility existed of an insane murderer intent on wiping out the entire Pennyfoot staff. As far as she could see, that was the only link between the two victims.

Such a disaster seemed impossible, yet she had seen enough in her years at the Pennyfoot to know that anything and everything was possible, no matter how bizarre.

She must summon Madeline again, she decided. If anyone could help her gain insight into the reason behind the murders, it was her friend and her remarkable powers.

She started to rise, just as a loud rap on her door announced a visitor. Hurrying to the door, she threw it open, to reveal Pansy standing there, eyes red rimmed and face paper white, holding a tray in hands that shook so violently, tea slopped out of the teapot’s spout.