Page 29 of Dirty Looks

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I can’t imagine.”

“Aye, ye can’t,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “Died being a hero, he did. Kitty’s pup got tangled in the weeds of the lake and John waded out, thinking to get him free. But it was deeper than it looked and he got tangled. He couldn’t swim, the fool. By the time the men got out there to cut him loose John and the pup were dead. It was a horrible time.

“Kitty was engaged to be married to Robert Lidle and the pup had been a present from him. They married the next year, and Kitty’s mother asked me if I’d go with Kitty and make sure she got settled into her marriage and new home. So I went, and I’ve been with her ever since. I was here when the children were born. Then the grandchildren came.”

She dabbed at her eyes. It seemed the whiskey had loosed the dam of her tears along with her tongue.

“We need to find out what happened to Evie,” Martinez said, trying to get her back on track. “Had Kitty had anything to eat or drink before Astrid brought her the tea?”

“I brought her a piece of dry toast and told her to see if she could keep it down,” she said. “I could tell by looking at her that she was going to be sick. But Kitty has a stubborn streak. Won’t settle in for the night without having a little something to warm her belly.”

“Astrid said Mrs. Lidle has trouble sleeping at night,” I told her.

“Well of course she does,” Molly said. “She’s always had nightmares. Started about a year before John passed on. Terrible night terrors she had. No one could figure out why, and she could never remember them. After Ms. Kitty and Robert were married for a few years he eventually moved into his own bedroom so he could sleep at night. It wasn’t long after that she started lulling herself to sleep with a little whiskey. And who could blame her?”

“Where would she have gotten the whiskey if you or Astrid didn’t bring it to her?”

Molly rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Ms. Kitty has her stashes all about the house. Same as her cigarettes. She likes a smoke every now and then, but likes to think to think no one knows about them. Mr. Lidle does the same. Tis about the only thing the two of them have in common.”

“A secret from the staff? Or her family?” Martinez prodded.

“Ye don’t understand,” Molly said. “Kitty is a brilliant woman. Ye have to be to expand a company that started by making ketchup into owning a majority share of the food market worldwide. I think there are very few people who know the real Kitty, and that includes her family. You would never know she’d been drinking. She could function as well as anyone. Kitty hadher demons to deal with, and I say whatever helped her deal with them is her business.”

“Did all the staff listen to Kitty’s orders and go home?” I asked. “Was anyone still around when you and Astrid left for the evening?”

She hummed a little more as she thought, and then she said, “Astrid was still here when I left. And Rodney. He drove me back to me cottage. We passed Hector out by the pond and I waved to him as we passed by. He’s the head groundskeeper. All the rain is killing some of his more delicate plants, so he’s been a bit short of temper lately.”

“Anyone else?”

“Could have been, but not that I saw,” she said. “Fact of the matter is there’s always people around here and there. The house seems quite open and deserted, but we have staff passages to get to different wings of the house quickly. You get used to seeing people here and there behind the scenes, but there’s also a quietness about the house that can only be achieved by a well-trained staff.” There was pride in her voice as she said it. “We’re not to be seen or heard, and we aren’t. I don’t recall seeing anyone else on my way out, though Alan would have been about, as well as the other guards and anyone down at the stables.”

“Alan Goble?” Martinez asked. “We met him at the gate.”

“He’s head of security,” she said, but the sneer in her voice was unmistakable. “You’d think they were the secret service the way they go about. This house is twenty thousand square feet, and there are more than four hundred acres to keep in check.”

“Do you know his schedule?” Martinez asked.

She scoffed and finished her cookie. “I know everyone’s schedule. We keep a master list of all full- and part-time staff, as well as their hours and contact information.”

Molly opened a drawer in the island and pulled out a laminated sheet, handing it to Martinez.

“I appreciate it,” he said. “I take it you don’t care for Alan?”

“Well, I’m not one to speak out of turn,” she said. Her cheeks were flushed and her brogue was getting thicker with every drink. “But Alan has an eye for the ladies he does. It’s gotten to the point where Astrid has to warn the new female hires to keep their knickers on when he’s around. Thinks he’s God’s gift to women, and more than one woman in this house has fallen on her back because of his charm.”

“Alan doesn’t live on the property?” Martinez asked.

“Has himself a house over in Bowling Green, but everybody knows he likes to diddle with the help out in the stables. And I’ve heard rumors he’s seduced a lady or two in the Lidles’ garage and one of the guardhouses. Likes to pretend he’s lord of the castle, I’m sure. Alex has caught him in the act more than once.”

“His behavior doesn’t bother the Lidles?”

Molly clucked her tongue. “Mr. Lidle cares about resumes, not behavior. And Alan has an excellent resume. But his resume didn’t protect my sweet Evie.”

“I thought Astrid did the hiring and firing?” Martinez asked.

“For everyone but security,” Molly said. “Mr. Lidle has always said the safety of his family is too important not to take care of himself.”

She mopped her eyes again and then reached under the counter for three more glasses, pouring a generous amount of whiskey in each and pushing the glasses toward us.

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