Page 93 of Murder at the Mayfair Hotel
The only reason to make the sound was to encourage Mr. Sellen to come out of his room to investigate, and thereby be a witness to Edith delivering a cup of tea at seven AM, a full hour or moreafterMrs. Warrick had been poisoned.
Oh lord. Edith had made the sound that woke Mr. Sellen. She had knowingly been involved in the murder after all.
I thanked Mr. Sellen and raced off, my mind reeling. It was sickening to think that I’d been completely wrong about Edith. I thought back to all the times I’d spoken to her. I didn’t think the mousy act was entirely false. She couldn’t have duped all of the staff so thoroughly. But she’d lied numerous times, and tried to learn what I knew about the police investigation at every turn.
I cursed myself for discussing theories in front of her. Had she passed them on to Hookly?
I paused at the stairs, not sure whether to go up to the fifth floor and find Mr. Armitage or down to the foyer and once again ask Peter to call the police. In the end, I did neither. I stopped the maid coming towards me carrying a dress.
“Do you know where Edith is?” I asked.
“No, Miss. She hasn’t been seen for hours. Mrs. Kettering is furious.”
“What about Harmony? Have you seen her?”
“She’s with Miss Bainbridge in her rooms.”
I thanked her and raced up the stairs. Harmony answered Flossy’s door when I knocked.
“I knew you’d change your mind at the last moment,” she said, smiling. “That’s why I waited here.”
I blinked at her. “I don’t understand.”
“I knew if you changed your mind, you’d come straight to your cousin’s room and ask about a dress. I thought if I waited for you here, I wouldn’t miss you. Everything’s all ready. I’ll get the dress while you tell Miss Bainbridge. She’ll be so pleased.”
I stared at her. “What are you talking about, Harmony?” I shook my head. “Never mind. Just tell me, have you seen Edith this afternoon?”
She frowned. “She seems to have disappeared after she cleaned her rooms. She’s supposed to be helping one of the ladies get ready. I hope she has a good excuse because Mrs. Kettering’ll dismiss her if she can’t give a reason for being absent.”
I swore under my breath, earning a blink of surprise from Harmony. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Now what is all this talk about a dress?”
“Harmony, who is it?” came Flossy’s voice from beyond.
“It’s Miss Fox,” Harmony said over her shoulder.
Flossy emitted a squeal of delight. “Oh, Cleo, do come in! I’m so thrilled you’ve changed your mind.”
Harmony took my hand and pulled me into the bedroom where Flossy sat at the dressing table, a maid behind her, arranging Flossy’s hair.
My cousin put out her hand to me. “We are going to have such fun tonight.”
“I can’t go,” I told them. “I have nothing to wear.”
For the first time since hearing about the ball, I actually wished to attend. Not for the festivities. I wouldn’t enjoy dancing so soon after my grandmother’s death; Icouldn’tenjoy it. But Mr. Hookly was going to be there to speak to the banker friend of Lord Addlington’s, and I wanted to observe him. I also wanted to see the police pull him aside to speak to him about his involvement in Mrs. Warrick’s murder after I informed the inspector how he’d manipulated Edith into giving him the key.
Flossy and Harmony exchanged glances in the mirror’s reflection. They smiled.
“You do have something to wear,” Flossy said. “Harmony and I have been conspiring to make sure you had a suitable gown.”
I stared at her. “When? How?”
“These last few days. I gave her one of mine and she’s been altering it to fit you.”
“We can make some last-minute adjustments if we need to,” Harmony said as she headed for Flossy’s wardrobe. “But I think it should be about right.”
“And don’t worry about the style or color,” Flossy went on. “It’s gray, which I think is entirely appropriate for a young lady in mourning. The hairpiece is jet, as you know.”
I gasped. “You bought that hairpiece from Harrods’? Flossy, that must have cost a fortune!”
