ON MY WAY TO THE STUDY, I passed the dining room. I could see Constable Triply closing it off. He was attaching tapes across the door with large magnets, clamping them to the wall on either side and locking the tapes in place with a small key. I slowed as I passed by. He glanced up and smiled at me, but didn’t tell me to hurry along, so I stopped to watch him as he finished securing the crime scene then went inside the dining room and begin collecting samples from the plates and glasses left on the table. That was boring detail work, so I quickly lost interest and went on to the study where the guests were gathering.
~ * ~ * ~
When I arrived in the study, Mr. Sharma was speaking to Mrs. Delford, trying to calm her down it seemed. Miss Carrollton was sitting beside him, trying to get his attention whenever there was a pause in the conversation. Mr. Warland was hovering behind them, being ignored by everyone.
Most of the guests had brought their tea with them from the library, but there was no tea service in the room. I was going to slip out and get another pot when Mr. Carrollton came into the study with Inspector Hamilton. Inspector Hamilton was carrying the remains of the tea tray from the library, which he left on the small table near the door. Clearly the business discussion hadn’t taken very long. I moved into the shadows so I wouldn’t miss anything.
But it didn’t quite work. Mr. Carrollton noticed me as he crossed to the empty chair by the others.
“Addie, serve that wine. It will settle our nerves.”
I assumed I was Addie and went to the desk. At least I hadn’t been told to leave yet. The only wine there was a bottle of Burgundy that hadn’t been decanted, but I didn’t think anyone would mind under the circumstances. I poured the wine and brought the tray to Mr. Carrollton first, then to Mr. Sharma and Mr. Warland. As I crossed to Inspector Hamilton, Mrs. Delford grabbed the last glass from the tray and slid into a corner to drink the wine in private.
Inspector Hamilton looked down at the empty tray I was holding.
“I’m sorry, Inspector. I’ll get you another glass.”
“Don’t bother. On duty and all.” He smiled a little. “But I wouldn’t say no to a cup of tea.”
“Right away, sir.” I put the empty tray back on the desk where Ross was trying to get something out of the drawer without being noticed and got a cup of the tea from the table by the door. I took my time preparing it so I could listen.
Inspector Hamilton went to the fireplace and leaned against the mantle. “I believe I have addresses for all of you. It is just a formality, but until we have narrowed our focus, I must ask that none of you leave town at this time.”
Mr. Carrollton started to cross the room. “You can’t mean my guests are suspects.”
Inspector Hamilton pretended he hadn’t heard. “I may need to ask more questions once the medical examiner has given me a report, so I will need to contact you again. Unless any of you have more information you’d like to share with me, you’re free to go.”
Everyone got to their feet and milled around Mr. Carrollton to say goodbye. Ross was sober enough to realize he’d be needed in the front hall and joined me at the study door.
Inspector Hamilton followed him. He was looking at me when he said, “Mr. Ross, I still need to speak to the servants. I am going to go over the dining room again; then I will come down to the kitchen. Please make certain everyone is present.”
“Right, sir.” Ross almost saluted then remembered where he was.
I nodded. Inspector Hamilton smiled a little then went back to Mr. Carrollton. He knew that, while Ross might be in charge as butler, I would make sure we were all there. Not that that would be a problem; Mrs. Albright and Mrs. Pomeroy were probably going mad waiting for more information from the case.
None of the guests spoke in the front hall as Ross and I helped them into their coats. Mr. Warland was the first one out the door, almost pushing Mr. Sharma aside in his rush to get his coat.
As I was helping Mrs. Delford with her things, I remembered she had come with Mr. Ainsworth. “Do you have a way home?”
She hesitated. “A cab. I’ll be taking a cab.”
Mr. Sharma was buttoning up his coat. “Allow me to find you one. In fact, where are you traveling?”
“Sedding Street.”
“I’m staying nearby. What a coincidence. Let us share a cab, then.”
“If you’re sure it won’t be an imposition.”
“Nonsense. It will be on the way.”
I knew Sedding Street was near Sloane Square, almost halfway across London from Westminster, but Mrs. Delford didn’t seem to be in any condition to get home by herself.
Mr. Sharma buttoned his coat and offered Mrs. Delford his arm. I watched from the front window until I saw Mr. Sharma hail a cab and help Mrs. Delford inside.
Ross was poking around in the closet, probably looking for the mackintosh. I wished I’d thought to hide it when I’d been getting Mrs. Delford’s coat. But it was too late to worry about that. I knew Inspector Hamilton would have to pass through the front hall on his way to the kitchen, and he seemed more than capable of herding Ross along with him, so I left Ross poking around the closet and went downstairs.
~ * ~ * ~
Mrs. Pomeroy and Mrs. Albright were seated at the kitchen table with a fresh pot of tea and the strawberry trifle that should have been dessert between them.
I took the chair beside Mrs. Albright's. “Inspector Hamilton is going to come down and talk to us when he’s finished looking at the dining room.”
“And Ross knows?” Mrs. Pomeroy asked.
“He was there when Inspector Hamilton told us. I left him in the front hall. Inspector Hamilton will have to go that way when he comes down, so he can give Ross a nudge if he needs it.”
“That should do then. Did Mrs. Delford make it home?”
“Mr. Sharma is sharing a cab with her.”
“That’s good. Have a cup of tea and tell me about this inspector.”
While I fixed myself a cup, Mrs. Albright and Mrs. Pomeroy were staring at the trifle. “Do you think we can eat this?”
Mrs. Albright fingered the serving spoon. “It seems a shame for it to go to waste.”
I looked at the bowl. The cream was already looking a little tired. “We should probably ask the inspector before we do, just to be certain.”
Mrs. Pomeroy took one more look at the dessert, then pushed it to the end of the table. “I suppose so. There are some chocolate biscuits in the pantry. Would you get them, Agnes?”
While Mrs. Albright went to get the biscuits, Ross stumbled down the stairs and collapsed into the nearest chair. I slid a cup of tea over to him. He glanced at the china cupboard.
“Don’t even think it,” I murmured. “That inspector’ll be down here, and he’ll question all of us. Do you want to be drinking before that?”
Ross looked at me again, then grabbed one of the biscuits Mrs. Albright brought back.
Mrs. Pomeroy put a plate for the biscuits on the table. “What do you think he’ll ask us?”
“I don’t really know. He asked the others what they saw when it happened.”
“What did happen?”
Inspector Hamilton hadn’t told me not to say anything, so I started telling them all about the questioning I’d seen.