M
onday morning arrived with cloudy skies with a forecast for rain. What a surprise.
Liam and I both woke up early. We were both showered and dressed by eight o’clock. Gran joined us shortly after in the kitchen, where we were making breakfast. Well, I was making breakfast. Liam was battling with the toaster.
“Good morning, Gran.” I poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her. “Breakfast will be ready shortly.”
She nodded toward the four pieces of burned toast sitting on the counter. “Liam, what are you doing to that poor toaster?”
I glanced over to see him going at it with a screwdriver. “Yes, what are you doing?” I went over and took the screwdriver out of his hand.
“You need a new toaster.” He set it down on the counter.
I poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. “Why don’t you go keep Gran company. I’ll make the toast.”
He accepted the cup and he and Gran left the kitchen. I put four more slices of bread in the toaster and checked the setting. It had somehow switched from lightly brown to dark brown. No wonder he’d burned the first four slices. It was nice to know Liam wasn’t perfect at everything.
Noah came down as I brought out the food and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Gran looked more like herself today, and even mentioned going to the Manor today to see her children before they left town later that evening.
Liam said, “I don’t think you should drive yet, Colleen.”
I looked at her. “Per doctor’s orders, she’s not supposed to be.”
“How about I drop you off on my way to the station?”
I looked at Liam, my eyebrows raised.
He smiled. “I forgot to mention the drug unit successfully raided the garage owned by Bud Tyson, and both he and his son are under arrest.”
“That’s wonderful,” said Gran. “I can relax now.”
I felt the same way, then I looked at Liam. “Noah came up with a good idea. I think I’m going to go to the castle this morning. Back to where it all began and see if I can come up with any ideas on Herb’s murder.”
Liam looked at me. “You don’t think Bud Tyson had anything to do with it, do you?”
I shook my head. “I’m hoping when you talk to him today, he’ll confess, but until then, I’m going to keep working at it.”
Liam took my hand in his. “Do me a favor?”
“If I can.”
“You’ll let me know if you find out anything?”
“Of course. You do the same.”
“And Molly? Please be careful.”
“Aren’t I always?” I smiled.
It would have been a perfect moment if they wouldn’t have all burst out laughing.
# # #
I called Suzanne to see how she was. She said she’d taken five showers to get rid of the jail smell and thanked me again for the solicitor. Figuring she wasn’t at work today, I asked if it would be okay for me to poke around the castle without her being there. She surprised me by saying she was already there. I finished getting ready and left right after Liam and Gran.
As I drove toward the castle, my stomach buzzed with anticipation. I was certain this was where I would find the clue to break this case wide open. If not, Suzanne just might go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit. I’d tried to get a hold of Callum to find out where they were on the case, but he was at the station and couldn’t talk.
I arrived in the parking lot a few minutes before they opened and looked at the immense building. Whatever I was looking for would not be easy to find.
I left my car and walked past the ticket booth and up to the concrete archway, glancing up at the heavy spiked portcullis that loomed ominously above me and walked through the courtyard. I pushed open the heavy wooden entry door and walked in.
Martin, dressed in his historical butler’s costume, greeted me. “Back again, aye?” He smiled, showing his crooked teeth.
“Good morning. I’m here to see Suzanne. She’s expecting me.” Then a thought struck me. “Actually, may I ask you a couple of questions?” I smiled back.
Standing behind the podium, he asked, “What can I do ya for, lassie?”
“How long have you known Herb?” I pulled my coat off and placed it over my arm.
His face fell. “Since I moved here ten years ago. He was quite the character, our Herb.” A sad smiled came over his face.
I rubbed my hand over his upper arm. “How are you doing with all this?”
“Tis alright. I just hope you catch the person who did it.” He pulled out an old-fashioned handkerchief and wiped his nose, then stuck it back in his pocket. “He loved this place, he did.”
I looked around at the pictures of people who lived here in the past. “I can understand why. It’s amazing.”
“You’re making an old man get misty eyed,” he smiled, then nodded behind him. “If Suzanne’s expecting ya, go on back. Do you know where her office is?”
I shook my head.
“Go down this hall, turn left. It’s the second office on the right.”
As I walked away, I heard him say, “Molly?”
I turned around and walked back toward him.
He kept quiet as more customers entered and gave him their tickets. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the glorious castle people were interested in, or the murder that occurred a few days ago that brought them all here.
He waited until they’d left the foyer area before answering. “You know the police arrested Suzanne for the murder, and then let her go?”
I nodded, but he stayed quiet.
“Martin? Is there something you want to tell me?”
He leaned in close and whispered, “What if she did it?”
I leaned in as well. “Why would you think that?”
He looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Herb would come in here before Suzanne got off work, and she’d let him wait in the library until closing, then she’d meet him there.”
“Is that unusual?” I asked.
“You’re not supposed to be in the castle unless you have business here, like you do.” He smiled. “I usually leave by two, but one day I’d forgotten my phone and had to come back. I came in the back way and passed the library. The two of them were arguing.”
“When was this?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“Thanks for telling me, Martin. I appreciate it.” I walked away, then stopped, feeling like an idiot as I asked, “And Suzanne’s office is where, again?”
Martin handed me a map. An “X” marked an unlabeled room.
I smiled at him. “Thank you!”
The map made Suzanne’s office easy to find, but she was on the phone, but motioned me inside. Her office wasn’t very large, but nicely furnished. I stood looking at all the artwork on the walls as she finished her call.
“Molly, I’m sorry. I have to take care of something. If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll only be a few minutes.”
I looked at the map in my hand. “Actually, I’d like to visit the library if that’s okay.”
“Oh. Go ahead. I’ll meet you there when I’m finished.”
I opened up the brochure, and after a few false starts, found the library. I made sure no one was looking as I ducked under the velvet rope and snuck in the door, closing it quietly, and looked around. Books lined every wall where there wasn’t a window. I leaned back on the door and took a deep breath. This was my happy place. The aroma of old leather and dust affecting me like catnip.
However, I wasn’t there to peruse the books. Although I might have to speak to Suzanne about letting me come in here someday. There had to be thousands of books in here. Where do I look for a clue? And what am I looking for?
My eyes fell on the gorgeous writing desk I’d noticed before. It’s too bad we’ve lost the art of letter writing. I wonder how old it is? I sat down on the antique chair, hoping it didn’t break, and ran my fingers over the smooth wood. Gorgeous. I opened the center drawer and found promotional brochures for the castle. There were two smaller drawers, both empty. I stood up and walked around the room, noticing the two couches and several comfy chairs. I sat down on one of the overstuffed couches, then looked around. Herb—what am I looking for?”
A few minutes later, a door opened. Not the one I came in, but another one I hadn’t noticed before. I turned to see Suzanne wheel in a tea cart. I jumped up to help her as she attempted to close the door with her foot.
I stood up to help her. “That looks wonderful. And just what I need.” I smiled.
“The cafeteria does a wonderful tea. She rolled it as close as she could, then took the tray off the cart and set it down on the coffee table.
“And that cake looks delicious.” We both sat down on the couch, and she served.
“Thank you for seeing me, Suzanne. I’m sorry to be such a bother.” She handed me a cup of tea and I added sugar to it and stirred, then she cut us both a piece of the chocolate cake.
“Not at all. I’m just thankful you’re trying to help.” She smiled down at the cake. “I hope you don’t mind cake so early in the day. After the past few days, I feel like I deserve it.
“No problem. I love chocolate cake any time of day.” The first bite was heavenly. “I’m glad Jack Webber could help you.” I took another bite of the decadent dessert.
“I can’t thank you enough for hiring him, but I feel awful about not paying for it. He’s been so helpful. I’m sure that’s the only reason the police released me. I don’t know why DI Elliott thinks I did it.”
“Don’t worry about the money, and as far as the case, well, I’m working on finding out who did it.” I took another bite. “You mentioned you and Herb broke up. Was it here in the castle by chance?”
Her head jerked back. “How did you know that?”
“Martin mentioned he’d heard the two of you arguing, and that it was about a fortnight ago. I just put two and two together.”
“Yes. It got quite ugly.” She set her teacup down on the saucer.
“If Herb came in here and waited for you every night, the excuse of him not having time for you makes little sense.” I put my cup down as well and turned toward her. “What’s the real reason the two of you broke up?”
She got up and paced. The rust colored, form fitting dress she had on was loose on her already thin frame.
I watched her pace for a few minutes. “Suzanne, please?”
She came and sat back down. “I’m going to tell you something that I probably should have told you before, so please don’t get mad at me.”
“Go ahead.” I picked up my tea and took a sip.
“I’d found out a few days before our argument that Herb was blackmailing people.” She looked at me. “You don’t seem very surprised.”
“I’m not. We found out about it almost from the start.”
“It disgusted me. When I found out, I told him I needed a few days to think about whether we should continue to see one another. That’s why he was there that night. For an answer.”
“And you broke up with him.”
She nodded. “He even tried to convince me he was going to stop. He said he would come into some big money soon, and would never do it again.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I thought he was talking about the tour business.”
I eyed the cake, thinking about another piece. “But he wasn’t?”
“No. He was talking about one last pay off. That this was,” she held up her fingers in quotes. ‘The mother lode,’ and we would have all the money we’d need.”
I put my hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry, Suzanne. Did he give you any kind of clue who it was he was blackmailing?”
“No. And I didn’t want to know.”
“Do you have any idea where he may have kept his blackmail information? Did he have a bank deposit box or anything of that sort?”
“Not that I know of.” She refilled her teacup, and we both stayed silent for a couple of minutes. She looked around the room. I thought maybe she was daydreaming, so it surprised me when she said, “This room is my favorite of the entire castle.” She held the cup in her hands and she continued to glance around the room lovingly.
I smiled. “Me too. So much history. I was just thinking about how I could spend hours and hours in here looking at all the books. And that desk!” I nodded toward it. “How old is it? It’s gorgeous.”
“We’ve had it appraised, and it’s about a hundred-fifty years old. When we had the fire in here, we had to find more furniture. Luckily we have a room upstairs we use for storage.” She took a sip of her tea, then set the cup down. “Let me show you something.”
I set my cup down and followed her slim figure across the room.
She set the lamp and stationery aside, and pulled the desk away from the window, to where we could stand behind it.
Suzanne looked at me. “Looks like a normal desk, doesn’t it?” She smiled. She slipped her finger on the ridge of the desk and I heard a series of clicks.
I looked closer. A small drawer popped out. I raised my eyebrows. “A secret drawer?” I smiled. “How cool.” Then I thought of something. “Did Herb know about this?”
She rolled her eyes. “It obsessed him. He would come in here for hours and make sketches, determined to figure out how it worked and make one for himself.”
My mind went back to Herb’s house. “Suzanne, there was a desk that looked very similar to this one.”
“He finished it? He’d been working on it for almost a year.”
I pulled her into a big hug. “Thank you! You may have solved Herb’s murder.”
I grabbed my coat and left the room. Thankfully, there were exit signs hanging from the ceiling and I found my way back to the front entrance. I practically flew past Martin when I heard him ask, “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
I turned and looked at him. “I know how to find out who killed Herb. I have to go!”
Next stop. Herb’s house.
I headed back downtown to Herb’s cottage and parked two blocks away. I grabbed my lock picking kit and gloves from the glove compartment and smiled. This was probably one of the best Christmas gifts I ever received.
I texted Liam to let him know where I was, but knew he’d try to stop me. So, instead, I texted Fiona. Chances are she’d text Callum, who would then text Liam, leaving me extra time to see if there was in deed a secret drawer where Herb kept his blackmail information.
I walked up the sidewalk, past the garage, and to Herb’s back door, slipping on my gloves as I did so. As I went to insert the tools into the lock, the door slowly opened.
I put the tools into my back pocket and bit my lip. Someone else has obviously been here since Gran, Reanna, and I had. I stood silently and listened. Not only did I not hear anything, no bells were going off in my head, telling me there was impending danger. Who am I kidding? I never listened to them anyway. I walked in, closing the door with my foot.
What happened here? Every drawer of every kitchen drawer and cabinet was open. I had to step carefully as to not step on knives, forks, spoons, rubber bands, batteries, a torch, and other paraphernalia people keep in their kitchen drawers.
I shivered from the cold as I walked from the kitchen to the living room. It was a mess in here, too. Curtains were blowing in from a window on the back wall. I went and closed it, guessing that’s how the prowler got in.
Whoever had been here hadn’t missed the desk. They’d pulled out the middle drawer and dumped the contents on the floor. The one file drawer was open, but empty, file folders spread all over the place. My heart raced as I ran my fingers around the edge of the desk, looking for the secret latch. I couldn’t feel one, so I pulled the desk away from the wall and crawled underneath it, but it was too dark to see anything. I crawled out from underneath and went back into the kitchen. I was sure I saw… there it is. I bent over and picked up the torch from the floor, and went back to the desk and turned it on. Ah, much better.
It wasn’t long before I found the latch. I flipped it and a drawer popped out, almost hitting me in the head. It was a lot deeper than the one at the castle.
“Yahoo!” I stood up and pulled the contents out of the drawer. I sat down on the chair and set the items on the desktop. There was a six by nine notebook, a file folder, and an envelope.
The envelope was full of pictures. I flipped through them, stopping at one in particular. It looked familiar. I set it aside.
I opened up the notebook and began to read. The first page was dated ten years ago. It read like a journal at first. Ramblings of a bored taxi driver. Six months later, though, it changed. “Saw Cecil Green’s car in the driveway of Grace Wilcox’s cottage at one in the morning. I doubt they were taking dictation. Remember to bring camera next time.”
Then the entries had amounts next to them. A hundred quid, fifty quid, a thousand quid. He definitely made some money the past few years. She skipped to the back, and her eyes widened. Oh, my God. She picked up the picture. That’s why it looked familiar. It was a copy of the one Mayor Wilson had shown her. She tucked it into the book and stood up.
“Hello, Molly.”