part0030

“ P oor Bicky. I suppose he will now have to agree to a divorce and find himself a proper wife.”

Evie felt too dazed to bother looking up to see who had spoken.

“To think, if he’d had an heir none of this would have happened…” someone else remarked.

“Were the sandwiches safe to eat?”

“And the tea…”

Evie settled down with a cup of tea. Scotland Yard Detectives had taken Alexander Fleshling into custody. The police had Miss Shard’s confession but Evie wondered if that would be enough to put Alexander behind bars.

According to Miss Shard, Alexander had approached her the previous Christmas when he’d stayed at Yarborough Manor. The plan had been to poison the food.

Elizabeth’s face looked pale and her voice sounded strained when she said, “To think, we should all be dead now.”

Evie shook her head. “I cannot believe the lengths he’d been prepared to go to in order to cover his tracks.”

“What do you mean?” Bicky asked.

“Why else poison food we were all going to eat unless he wanted to cover his tracks?” It made sense to Evie. Killing everyone reduced the risk of suspicion falling on Alexander. If Bicky had been the only victim, as the heir, the police would have questioned Alexander Fleshling. However, with everyone dead, only one person would have been held accountable. The most susceptible one. Miss Shard. “Who knows what Alexander had planned for her.”

“But Miss Shard insists she didn’t poison Penelope,” Bicky said.

Evie got up and strode around the drawing room. “Penelope went to see Alexander. Perhaps he delivered the poison.” Turning, she looked at Dr. Higgins who’d been called back to attend to the Dowager who had felt faint. Evie told him what time Penelope had caught the train and Bicky confirmed her time of arrival at Yarborough Manor. “She complained of a headache. Would the time it took to travel from London be enough for the poison to take effect?”

Dr. Higgins nodded. “Yes, but it all really depends on the dosage.”

The Dowager pressed her hand to her throat. “Miss Shard has been in this house for days. She might have been slowly poisoning us.” She looked at Bicky. “Either you produce an heir yourself or you let anyone who thinks they stand a chance fight it out among themselves. Monarchs have died without naming an heir. Why not you?”

“We’ll be setting out for the police station this morning,” Evie said as she helped herself to some bacon and eggs.

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Tom asked.

“Absolutely. Although, I doubt it will make any difference. Alexander must have taken precautions. He’s not likely to have dealt with the shooter himself.”

“And yet he enlisted Miss Shard’s help,” Tom reasoned.

“I wonder if he had plans for her.” Evie took a sip of her coffee. “I trust the police will be able to prove he poisoned Penelope. Surely, there is no such thing as a perfect crime. Someone procured the poison. Speaking of which…” She looked at Tom’s plate. “Have you lost your appetite?”

“I had some toast. The butler assured us the bread had been freshly baked early this morning.”

Evie laughed. “I’m sure the eggs were cracked today.”

Tom looked toward the platter. “You have a point.” Getting up, he helped himself to some scrambled eggs.

“I suppose the others have decided to fast.” She set her fork down. “Oh, heavens. Has anyone checked on them?”

Bicky nodded. “At the crack of dawn. Everyone made it through the night.”

She couldn’t help noticing Bicky’s tone lacked his usual convivial chirpiness. Then again, one of his close friends had been killed and his heir had tried to kill him and all his friends.

“I suppose you should know,” Bicky said, “I have decided to go ahead and begin divorce proceedings. I can’t help but feel partly responsible for poor Penelope’s death.”

“Nonsense,” Evie said.

“If I hadn’t been so stubborn, then Clara would not have dragged Lord Hammond into this mess.”

“If not Clara then someone else would have done the deed,” Evie said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to discover Lord Hammond has been straying for quite some time. But then, that’s guesswork on my part.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your guesswork,” Tom remarked.

Bicky picked up his newspaper. “At least there’s no mention of this nasty business in today’s newspaper. But I suppose I’ll have to brace myself.”

Smiling, Evie said, “We shall have to see if we can pick up some newspapers from home. I’m ever so eager to read the sports pages.”

“I didn’t realize you were interested in sport,” Bicky said.

“Oh, not usually but as I recently informed Tom, I am partial to the Yankees.” Smiling at Tom, she said, “I’m ready when you are. On our way back, we’ll have to stop at Marceline’s Salon de Beaute. I’d like to pick up some more of their lovely soap before we leave.”

“Are you sure you want to do this? Going to the police station is not for the fainthearted… I don’t mean to imply you’re faint of heart, but you don’t have to.”