Murder On The Menu: A Romantic Comedy Culinary Cozy Mystery (A Celebrity Mystery) (24 page)

CHAPTER TWO

The roads in this part of Cumbria are often narrow and twisting, but the journey between my nearest village Amswick and the holiday area of Delamere necessitates going over Green Beck Fell pass, taking tricky driving to a whole new level. It’s bad enough in good weather but today it’s been snowing, making it even more treacherous. Its narrowness and sharp turns are combined with numerous sheer drops lurking just off the side of the road, making my stomach perform triple somersaults. A far too familiar flicker of anxiety and nausea bubbles up in me as Jack steers his 4x4 towards the top of the pass, changing the gears to cope with the steep incline. After what happened here the other year with Daisy… Well, let’s just say I try to avoid driving up here as much as possible. Daisy is my yellow VW beetle, and I resolutely refuse to get rid of her for something more practical, like Jack’s four wheel drive.

“OK?” Jack asks, reaching across to squeeze my knee.

He knows I’m mentally reliving that dreadful night up here. I nod, paste a smile on my face and squeeze his hand. “I’m fine. Honestly.” It’s something of a little white lie but I don’t want Jack to worry.

I inwardly heave a sigh of relief once we coast safely down the other side of the pass and head into the slate and stone town of Delamere. Popular with hikers, climbers and lovers of the great outdoors in general, it sits on the edge of a pretty lake and is bustling all year round. People are out in their droves today, holiday shopping in the craft shops, art galleries and clothing stores. We queue through the main street, past the traffic lights, and head out of town towards the road which snakes along the edge of Delamere Lake. Soon, the fancy metal gates of the Roseby come into view and Jack pulls in and speaks into the hotel’s security console at the entrance, announcing our arrival. We’re buzzed through and chug up the long driveway towards the parking area. Jack parks the 4x4 amongst the flash sports cars and latest model BMWs without so much as a hint of unease or inferiority, and we head for the Roseby. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of the twenty foot high real Christmas tree which sits centrally in front of the grand entrance. It’s covered with lime green baubles the size of soup bowls, red bows adorning every branch. A perfect gold star dresses the top of it, and the whole thing is criss-crossed with white fairy lights, shimmering in the gathering afternoon dusk.

I want to stand and admire the tree but the Roseby is too efficient for that. We’re immediately met at the door by a waiting member of staff named Roy who hastily escorts us inside. Roy must be a man on a mission because he’s almost jogging down the fancy hallway as Jack strolls along behind him and I break into a little half-run to keep up with both of them. The heels of my boots are sinking into the thick red and gold carpet as I scurry along, glancing all around me and trying to drink in every inch of my gorgeous surroundings. The gilt-edged picture frames, the chandeliers, the high ceilings. I’m inside the Roseby! Yay!

We pass a sweeping staircase with another real fir Christmas tree sitting at the bottom like a glamorous full stop at the bottom of an elegant question mark. This tree must be over fifteen feet high and is dressed beautifully in apricot and purple baubles with strings of gold beads draped perfectly over its branches. It’s breath-taking. I just manage to spot the pretty gold fairy crowning this festive masterpiece before Roy turns down another corridor and the tree sadly disappears from sight. The doors on either side of us now each have brass plaques on them and it looks as though they’re all function and meeting rooms. There’s no sound of raucous Christmas Eve office parties emanating from behind said doors, though. The Roseby’s gatherings are far more sophisticated affairs, I’m sure. We traipse up another stately-home-worthy staircase, and Roy stops outside a room with a Florence Suite plague beside the door. He knocks lightly and a tall older man opens it.

“Thank you, Roy. I’ll take things from here,” he says.

The man beckons us into a luxurious bedroom with a separate lounge area, a dressing area and a bathroom. Wow. This is extremely impressive. I wonder how much one of these rooms cost per night. A frightening amount, no doubt about that, but somebody like Arabella Saunders can easily afford such luxury. Widely regarded as a national treasure, she’s been in every episode of all four series of the TV period drama Compton Abbey. She’s an amazing actress.

The tall man with a harassed look about him introduces himself as Gerald Dickenson, the manager of the Roseby, and then turns to the woman sitting on the room’s red velvet sofa. “May I introduce Arabella Saunders?”

Oh wow. It’s her! It’s really her!

“Mr Mathis.” A hand flutters to her mouth and anxiety flickers in her eyes as she gets to her feet. “I’m so grateful you were able to rush over here, especially as it’s Christmas Eve and I’m sure I’ve dragged you away from far more pleasurable things.” Her eyes flicker to me, then back to Jack. “You were highly recommended by Gerald when I said I wanted somebody discreet and efficient to deal with this…incident.”

“Please, call me Jack,” he replies and turns to introduce me. “And this is my fiancée Lizzie. She’ll be helping me out on this case.”

My fiancée. I’m his fiancée. I forgot – it’s all still so new. Glancing at the stylish silver clock above the sofa, I figure it’s less than three hours ago that he proposed to me on a snowy hilltop and we celebrated with champagne and my first-ever edible baked goods – a frosted carrot cake.

Arabella clasps my hand and beams a smile. I think I’m about to dissolve into a puddle of goo on the floor. I’m having a delirious fangirl moment. “Lizzie, I’m so sorry to be interrupting your festivities like this but the necklace, well, it means the world to me. I hope you can forgive me for the intrusion.”

“Of course.” I can’t believe I’m standing in the same room as her. She’s even prettier in real life - raven-coloured hair hanging loose around her shoulder, English rose complexion and deep blue eyes - and there’s a genuine warmth about her.

“You’d have thought you’d have been more careful with it then, wouldn’t you?” A woman appears from the bathroom, a fierce scowl spoiling her beautiful features. She looks just like an older version of Arabella.

Looking even more angst-ridden now, Arabella forces a weak smile and says through gritted teeth, “And this is my mother, Barbara.”

“I’m hoping you find my necklace promptly and efficiently,” Barbara says to Jack, ignoring me completely.

“Sorry, I thought the missing necklace belonged to your daughter Arabella,” Jack checks.

“It used to belong to my grandmother, not my mother,” Arabella clarifies. “But now it belongs to me.”

“It did until you went and lost it!” snaps her mother.

Arabella spins round and glares at Barbara. “I didn’t lose it, Mum! It was stolen from my room.” She looks close to tears and keeps clenching and unclenching her hands. I want to give her a reassuring hug.

“And you should have been more careful!” Barbara retorts.

I can’t help wondering if tensions are running so high between them because of the missing jewellery or if they’re always at each other’s throats like this.

Jack opens his notebook and prepares to start firing questions. “When did you notice the necklace had disappeared?”

“I was deciding what to wear for dinner and went to the safe in my room to choose some jewellery to try on. After that, I put everything away again and went out for a while. When I got back the safe was open and the necklace gone,” Arabella explains, looking distraught.

Jack scribbles some notes. “How long ago was this?”

“About two hours. I had a thorough search around all my luggage and cupboards before I asked Gerald for assistance, just in case it had somehow been mislaid.”

Barbara gets to her feet and flounces towards Jack, flicking a hand dismissively at his notebook. “There’s no need for you to bother with the questions and spending days and days going over and over everything and wasting all of our valuable time. I can tell you right now who stole this necklace!”

Jack inclines his head in interest. “You can? Excellent, then please do enlighten me.”

“Her fiancé took it,” Barbara snorts derisively.

“MUM!” Arabella gasps and tugs anxiously at a curl of hair.

“Well, we both know he did it, so what’s the point in pretending otherwise?”

“Vincent did not steal the necklace,” Arabella replies, her voice quiet but still insistent.

“He’s a no-good gold digger. I told you that before. I have no idea why on earth you’re marrying him, other than his looks of course!”

The hotel manager meets my eyes and shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other. It looks as though he feels every bit as awkward as I do, witnessing their squabbling.

“Because he loves me, and I love him,” Arabella retorts, her voice betraying her exasperation.

Barba tuts and shakes her head dismissively. “Foolish girl! He loves your fame and your money, oh, and himself. He does not love you as a person. It’s high time you grew up and accepted the realities of life and someone in your position.”

“I know what I’m doing. There’s no way Vincent stole that necklace; he was with me at the time it went missing.”

Barbara sighs as though she doesn’t believe a word her daughter is saying. “Then who did steal it?”

“That, ladies, is what I’m here to find out,” Jack interjects. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, can we get some basics in place?”

Arabella nods, shooting another wary glance at her mother.

“Is there anybody else staying with you at the Roseby besides your mother? I take it your fiancé is here, too, as you just mentioned him,” Jack asks.

“Yes.” Arabella nods and pulls at the edge of her chic black cardigan. “And my sister is here, too.”

“Hannah is not just her sister. She’s also her personal assistant,” Barbara adds.

“OK.” Jack nods. “Anybody else?”

Arabella shakes her head.

“You mentioned how the necklace meant a lot to you emotionally, but was it also worth a lot of money?” I ask.

I know. I know. Strictly speaking, I’m not a part of Jack’s private investigation and security business, which is none-too-snappily titled Mathis Investigations Safety & Security, nicknamed MISS. But Jack did invite me along, and as people have pointed out on many an occasion, I am far too nosey for my own good. Plus, it’s Christmas Eve and I’d love to get to send tomorrow with my fiancé, so the quicker this case is solved, the happier we’ll all be.

“It’s insured for a small fortune,” Barbara answers for her daughter. She stops mid-pace and spins on her heels to glare at Arabella. “I can’t believe you’d be so stupid to let it get stolen. You’ve only had it is your possession for seven months. Before you got it the necklace had been perfectly safe in this family for over thirty years.”

Arabella shakes her head in obvious exasperation. “MUM! Please stop.”

“Perhaps you’d be kind enough to leave us to chat with Arabella?” Jack suggests to Barbara. “Then we’ll come and get your side of things a little later.”

Barbara huffs indignantly but leaves the room, slamming the door behind her. Gerald, who has looked uncomfortable throughout our questioning, makes his excuses and slips out moments after her.

“I’m sorry about my mother,” Arabella says, her voice laced with anxiety, her face tense. “Now, please, what do you need from me?”

The room, with its perfect furnishings, now seems almost overwhelmingly stuffy. I long to open the bay windows and freshen the atmosphere.

“Let’s start with gathering a list of possible suspects, shall we?” Jack suggests. “People who have had access to your room and people who knew of the necklace and that you had it here with you.”

Arabella nods. “Of course. Well, that’s simple enough: my fiancé Vincent Turner, my sister Hannah, and my mother. That’s it for people who know about the necklace. As for people who have had access to my room, well, it’s just room service and the chambermaid, but Vincent or I would have been here when room service delivered things. The chambermaid would have been alone in the room, though.”

“We’ll start interviewing everyone straight away so we can track your necklace down as quickly as possible,” Jack assures her. “So, you said you last saw the necklace about two hours ago. That would have been around one o’clock this afternoon. You went out and when you got back, it had gone, correct?”

“Vincent and I went for a boat trip on the lake. When I returned, the room’s safe was open and the necklace was gone.”

“Just the necklace?” I check.

She nods. “It was the only thing in there of any real value. The only other jewellery I own which is worth anything is my engagement ring, and I was wearing that.”

Jack scribbles some more in his notebook. “So, we don’t know if it was somebody just trying their luck with the room’s safe or whether it was specifically the necklace they were after. Somebody must have been watching and waiting until they saw you leave for your boat trip though, and they knew your room would be empty. Where is your fiancé now by the way?”

“He’s in the bar.” Arabella rolls her eyes. “He can’t stand my mother, and as you’ve no doubt noticed, the feeling is mutual. He thought it best to stay out of the way for a little while.”

“Do you have a photo of the necklace?” I ask. “So we know what we’re looking for.”