Mistletoe and Mayhem Read online

  Baxter made a choking sound. “Wait just a moment. If he’s here under an assumed name, it’s quite obvious he doesn’t want people to know who he is, which explains the hat over the face and the hiding in his room. He won’t thank you for gushing all over him, asking for his autograph and such.”

  “Gushing?” Cecily folded her arms and gave her husband a hard stare. “I do not gush. I shall simply wait for an opportune moment when we are quite alone and quietly murmur my request. I, of all people, respect the privacy of our guests. You should know that.”

  Obviously chastened, Baxter nodded. “I do, my dear, I most certainly do. I was merely concerned for the gentleman’s privacy and spoke without thinking.”

  Mollified by his attempt to placate her, Cecily relaxed. “The only problem is that now we can rule out our esteemed guest as a murder suspect, I have to look for another suspect.”

  Baxter frowned. “But what about the handkerchief? You said you found it outside the Danvilles’ suite. If it does belong to Mortimer, or Doyle, whichever it is, what the devil was it doing there?”

  “The suite is on the same floor as Sir Arthur’s room. He probably dropped it while passing by the room.” Cecily gave him another triumphant smile. “I think I know why he’s carrying it around. He recently lost his wife, which is most likely why he is here in Badgers End for Christmas. He is getting away from the memories, which can be so awfully painful this time of year. I think the handkerchief belonged to his wife, and he’s carrying it to keep her with him.” Her smile faded. “In which case, he’s probably devastated by its loss.”

  Baxter’s frowned deepened. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand. If Mortimer is actually Doyle, why would the initials be R.M.?”

  It took a moment or two for his words to sink in. Then she let out an explosive sigh of disgust. “Of course, how thoroughly stupid of me. It wouldn’t be, of course. I was so caught up in the romance of it all I completely ignored that point.” She picked up the handkerchief and studied the embroidery. “Which means I have to find out to whom this handkerchief belongs. It’s back to square one.”

  A sharp tap on the door brought up her head. She hastily tucked the handkerchief in her sleeve as Baxter got up to answer the summons.

  She heard Pansy’s voice in the hallway and relaxed her tense muscles. She had half expected a hysterical outburst announcing yet another death.

  Baxter closed the door and returned to his chair. “Mrs. Prestwick is here and waiting for you in the library.”

  “Oh, good heavens. I completely forgot Madeline was bringing fresh greens this morning. This dreadful business is completely muddling my head.” Cecily rose and hurried to the door. “Madeline will be joining us for the midday meal, so we’ll meet you in the dining room.” She waited just long enough for his nod of agreement, then darted out the door and down the hallway.

  Reaching the library, she found Madeline busily fastening miniature candlesticks on the Christmas tree among the green and gold glass balls and red heart-shaped sachets.

  Upon seeing the tiny candles, Cecily’s heart skipped a beat. “What are you doing?”

  Madeline turned with a guilty smile. “It just didn’t look right without the candles. Don’t worry, Cecily dear, we won’t light them.”

  Cecily took a deep breath. “I certainly hope not.” She glanced around the room. “Where’s the baby?”

  “Over there.” Madeline nodded at the deep armchair facing the French doors. “She’s sleeping, so I thought I’d leave her there while I run into the ballroom and change over the greens. The ones I put in there a few days ago are looking extremely dried up. That’s the problem with them being out of water. I wish there were some way to keep them watered while they are hanging on the wall.”

  “I’ll keep watch over Angelina.” Cecily glanced at the tree again. “I’ll put the rest of the candles on while you’re in the ballroom.”

  Madeline smiled. “That’s a very good idea. It will help you overcome that awful phobia you have.” Her smile faded. “I don’t suppose you found out who killed that lovely honeymoon couple?”

  Cecily shook her head. “P.C. Northcott was convinced it was the Mayfair Murderer, but he’s been caught now, so I don’t know if the constable will decide to continue the investigation or wait for Inspector Cranshaw.”

  Madeline studied her face. “You’re not going to pursue it yourself?”

  “I don’t know that I can.” Cecily picked up a candlestick and fastened it to the branch with unsteady fingers. “I have an idea who it might be but there doesn’t seem to be any way to prove it.” She frowned. “Yet that little voice that always tells me I know more than I think I do is starting to make a noise in my head. I need to concentrate on what I know. Perhaps I can think of something useful.”

  “Excellent idea.” Madeline picked up the huge basket crammed with holly, cedar, and fir. “Meanwhile I’ll get these greens hung up in the ballroom.” She flipped her hand in farewell and disappeared through the door.

  Sighing, Cecily picked up another candlestick. Somewhere in all the muddle in her head lay the answer. She was sure of that now. All she had to do was go back to the beginning, and try to remember everything that had happened, and all she had learned.

  Hopefully, something would jump out at her and she could go from there.

  Deep in concentration, she fastened the candlesticks one by one, her mind focused on her conversations with Mick Docker and Stan Whittle. Barry Collins had said that he couldn’t remember seeing Mick Docker for a while the night Ellie died. She needed to talk to Mr. Docker one more time. Stan Whittle, too, since he had left the pub well before closing time.

  Samuel said he heard Mick Docker arguing with Ellie that night. It was possible, however, that Samuel had mistaken Stan’s Scottish accent for Mr. Docker’s Irish accent. Then again, how had either one of them been able to get into the Pennyfoot to kill the Danvilles, and why?

  Unless her theory was right about wanting to make it look like the work of the Mayfair Murderer. After all, everyone was at the pantomime that night. In that case, it wouldn’t have been quite so difficult to enter and leave the building without being seen.

  Hearing a slight sound behind her, Cecily turned her head. Thinking Angelina was waking up, she waited to see if the child would cry. She could hear no further sound, however, and turned back to fasten the last candlestick.

  What if it wasn’t either Mick Docker or Stan Whittle? She had concentrated so much on those two, she really hadn’t considered anyone else. Who else would have wanted to kill Ellie? That’s what she needed to know, for that’s where it had all started. Find the motive behind that murder and she’d find the clues to the rest. She was sure of it.

  For some reason, the handkerchief she’d found kept popping into her head. She reached into her sleeve and drew it out again. It was a very pretty handkerchief, edged in fine French lace, with the initials embroidered with a deep purple silk thread.

  She raised it to her nose to see if she could detect a fragrance and was rewarded with the smell of rosewater. She was about to unfold the handkerchief, when the door opened and Madeline floated into the room, her floral frock swirling around her bare ankles.

  At the same time Cecily felt a distinct draft-more like a blast of cold air. She glanced over at the French doors and was stunned to see them standing open.

  Madeline came to a halt, her gaze fixed on the armchair. For a moment she looked like a statue, her face white and set in stone. Then, in a strangled voice Cecily hardly recognized, she spoke one word. “Angelina.”

  With a harsh cry of disbelief, Cecily rushed across the floor to the armchair. The baby’s fluffy pink blanket lay on the seat, with a little pink bonnet lying on top of it. A wave of nausea made Cecily clutch her stomach.

  Inconceivable as it seemed, Angelina had disappeared.

  Pansy had just begun to lay the tables for the midday meal when Gertie rushed into the dining room, hair flying out from u
nder her lopsided cap. “Quick,” she said, breathless and panting, “go and find Samuel.” She held out a pink baby’s bonnet, the ribbons dangling almost to the floor. “Give him this and tell him to shove it under his dog’s nose.”

  Pansy frowned. Gertie was always playing tricks on her, but this was really stupid, even for her. “What for?”

  “Ms. Pengrath… I mean Mrs. Prestwick’s baby. It’s been stolen!”

  Still unsure if this was a joke, Pansy shook her head. “Go on with you.”

  “Pansy, it’s true. The baby’s gone and madam wants Samuel to look for her. She said the dog might help if it smells the bonnet.”

  Staring into Gertie’s face, Pansy thought she saw tears glistening in her eyes. Gertie never cried. Not even when her husband died. Her heart beginning to pound, Pansy took the bonnet. “All right, I’ll find him.” She started for the door, then paused. “What about the tables?”

  Gertie threw a hand up in the air. “Never mind the flipping tables, just go! Everybody’s going out to search for the baby. I have to find Clive and tell him. Come on!” She rushed past Pansy and flew down the hallway faster than Pansy had ever seen her move.

  Picking up her skirts, Pansy raced after her. No one was in the foyer when they ran across it, and they both burst out onto the steps together. Gertie went one way, toward the rose garden, while Pansy ran as fast as she could to the stables.

  Samuel was cleaning one of the motorcars when she dashed inside. He looked up in surprise as she skidded to a halt. She was so out of breath she couldn’t get out the words, and she gulped air into her lungs as she shoved the bonnet into his hand.

  He looked down at it as if he expected it to bite him. “What’s this?”

  “It’s Mrs. Prestwick’s baby’s bonnet.” Still gasping for breath, Pansy held on to her side. “Someone stole her. Madam wants you to give it to Tess so she can find the baby.”

  Samuel looked from the bonnet to her and back again. “Give it to Tess?”

  Pansy puffed out her breath. “You know, make her smell it so she can follow the scent.”

  “Oh!” Samuel nodded. “But if someone is carrying the baby, how can Tess follow the scent?”

  Pansy felt like crying. “I don’t know! Just try it. That poor little baby is missing and heaven knows where she is and we have to f-find her…” She didn’t realize she was crying until tears started rolling down her cheeks.

  Samuel dropped the rag he was holding and put his arm about her shoulders. “Hold on, hold on. Oh, God, don’t tell me the killer has that little baby. This is real then?”

  “Yes, of course it’s real!” Pansy sniffed and lowered her voice. “Gertie said everyone is out looking for the poor little thing. Oh, we have to find her, Samuel. Where is Tess?”

  Samuel dropped his arm, turned his head, and uttered a shrill whistle. From somewhere outside a rough bark answered him, and a moment later the dog came bounding into the stable.

  “Here, girl. Good dog. Come here.” Samuel held out his hand and Tess eagerly bounced toward him. He held out the bonnet, and she sniffed, then looked up at him, tail wagging, waiting for further orders.

  Samuel looked at Pansy and shrugged. “I don’t think it’s going to work.”

  Pansy wiped her nose on her sleeve. “It has to work. Show it to her again.”

  Samuel bent over and held the bonnet to the end of Tess’s nose. “Here, find her, girl. Find the baby, Tess. Let’s go and find her.”

  Excited now, Tess barked and ran out into the yard.

  “Come on!” Samuel grabbed Pansy’s hand and tugged her almost off her feet. “We have to follow her.”

  Pansy held back. “I can’t go! I have tables to lay.”

  “What’s more important? Laying tables or finding a lost child?” He tugged again. “Come on. Four eyes are better than two. Don’t you want to find that little baby?”

  Pansy hesitated another second or two, but then Tess barked again, more urgent this time. Putting the tables out of her mind, she followed Samuel out into the chilly air.

  CHAPTER 17

  “It’s all my fault.” Cecily sank onto a chair in her suite and buried her head in her hands. “I should have been watching. How could someone have come into the library and taken that baby without me hearing? I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “It’s all right, Cecily.” Madeline’s soft voice carried across the room. She stood by the window, peering out at the bowling greens that stretched down to the woods. “Please don’t blame yourself. It would have happened just the same had I been there instead of you.”

  “No, you would have known that someone was in the room.” Cecily shook her head. “I should have known.”

  “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”

  Cecily raised her head, brushing tears from her cheek. “How can you be so calm? Your baby is missing!”

  “She will be all right.” Madeline turned, her face strangely composed. “Please, Cecily. Don’t worry.”

  Cecily gulped. Madeline had to be in some kind of catatonic state, her mind incapable of accepting the reality of what had happened.

  Madeline knew about the words scribbled on the wall of Geoffrey Danville’s suite. All who kiss beneath the bough will not live to kiss again. She had kissed the baby beneath the kissing bough, not once, but twice. And now the baby was gone. She could not, would not, let her mind dwell on what might happen to the child if the murderer had taken her. The consequences were too unbearable to contemplate.

  Glancing again at Madeline’s unruffled countenance, she couldn’t believe that her friend hadn’t considered the outcome of this deplorable act. Her baby, the child for whom she had yearned for so many years, was in the hands of a mad killer. How could she not be wailing and howling, or lying in a dead faint?

  The door opened at that moment and Dr. Prestwick hurried in, his face drawn in agony. Now here, thought Cecily, was the look of suffering. The dreadful look she expected to see on her friend’s face.

  Madeline’s smile was somewhat fragile as she greeted her husband. He clasped her to him, burying his face on her shoulder. His voice, choked with emotion, brought fresh tears to Cecily’s eyes. “How could this have happened? What in God’s name have we done to deserve this horrible torture?”

  Madeline patted her husband’s head. “Hush, dear, try to calm down. I know this is worrying but I’m sure that everything will be all right in the end.”

  Kevin raised his head, his words raw with his pain. “How can you say that? How can you possibly know that?”

  “Because I do.”

  He drew away from her. “No, you don’t. All your devilish visions are not going to return our baby to us. Can’t you understand? She’s in the hands of a vicious killer.”

  Madeline flinched, then said softly, “No, I don’t believe that.”

  Kevin turned away and rubbed a hand across his eyes. “She’s in shock. May I ask for brandy to be brought up here? She needs something to stimulate her brain.”

  “Of course.” Trembling, Cecily reached for the bellpull. She gave it three tugs and let it go. “Madeline, come and sit down by the fire.”

  “Thank you, Cecily, but I’m quite all right here.”

  Cecily exchanged a worried glance with Kevin. “Do you think perhaps it’s better to let her go on believing that everything will be all right?”

  Kevin shook his head. “It will only make the pain so much worse when she learns the truth. We must force her to accept what is happening, so she can be prepared.”

  Madeline turned, her voice sharp. “Please don’t speak about me as if I am not here. I know you, Kevin, do not believe in my powers, but Cecily, I should have thought you would know better. I am dreadfully concerned about my daughter. Of course I am. But I do not believe that whoever has taken her means her harm. Quite the opposite. So let us all calm down and wait for events to unfold.”

  Jolted, Cecily stared at her. “Are you sure?”

  “Quite sur
e.”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  Kevin made a guttural sound of disbelief, and Madeline sent him a wary glance. “No, not at present. I only know she is safe.”

  It was true, Madeline had an uncanny ability to sense certain events and situations, but in this case, Cecily found it difficult to share her friend’s faith in Angelina’s welfare. She felt more attuned to Kevin’s skepticism, and could quite understand his impatience with his wife.

  She was about to comment when the door flew open and Baxter strode in. “I’ve got every footman searching the entire building,” he announced. “If that baby is anywhere on the premises we will find her.”

  Madeline merely nodded and turned back to stare out the window.

  Baxter inclined his head toward her and raised his eyebrows at Cecily.

  Recognizing her husband’s signals, Cecily nodded to assure him Madeline was fine. “Thank you, dear. I’ve sent Samuel out with his dog, and Gertie went to ask Clive to search the grounds as well.”

  “Then we have the Pennyfoot covered. I’ll notify the constabulary and they can start a search in the village.”

  He sounded tired, as if he’d already given up. Cecily held out her hand to him, but Madeline spun around, saying, “There’s no need to contact the constable. Angelina will be found close by.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Madeline.” Kevin bounded over to her. “We need everyone available out searching for her.”

  “No, we don’t.” She faced her husband, defiance flashing in her dark eyes. “I would never risk my daughter’s life if for one moment I thought she was in real danger. Trust me, Kevin. Just this once, have a little faith in my powers.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Are you aware of something that you’re keeping to yourself?”

  “Of course not.” She turned away from him. “All I can tell you is that Angelina is somewhere close by and she’s safe. I shall be as relieved as you are when she is found.”