Page 29 of Murder at the Dinner Party
“Not grand enough!” He planted his hands on his hips and paced the floor, shaking his head. He suddenly stopped in front of me. “Is this because of the engagement party? It wasn’t my fault the flowers she wanted couldn’t be delivered on time, and the electrical wiring caught fire. The event was tasteful and elegant, which is more than I can say for Mrs. Hessing.”
I was regretting bringing it up now. “I think that’s the entire point. Mrs. Hessing wants the wedding to be…grand.”
“You mean she wants it to be vulgar, like her. Well, I won’t do it.She’snot getting married anyway, her daughter is, and Miss Hessing has better taste than her mother.”
“Mrs. Hessing is the one paying for it.”
He didn’t seem to hear me as he started pacing again. “I have an excellent reputation. I’ve organized over a dozen balls and countless exclusive dinners for the Mayfair, and they’ve all been a success.” He stopped and wagged a finger at me. “This is about the restaurant opening, isn’t it? Mrs. Hessing wants an ostentatious display akin to that ridiculous spectacle.”
“The opening dinner was the talk of London and will be remembered for years. So, yes, I think that’s what she wants.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “She can’t have it. That was Mr. Bainbridge’s style, not mine. Not that he did any of the arrangements, mind. It was all that upstart maid, getting above herself. Another one who wouldn’t know a fish fork from a dessert fork.”
I suspected he was referring to me as the other. In the household I was raised in, we only had one style of fork and it wasn’t made of silver. “Miss Cotton did an excellent job. Not a single thing went wrong.”
He bristled. “I told you, the problems with the engagement dinner were not my fault.”
They were, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He was riled up enough as it was, and I had no interest in letting the argument continue. I left his office and headed upstairs to my suite. It took me some time before I’d calmed down enough to fall asleep.
* * *
My usual breakfasthad to serve three the following morning. It helped that Victor had stopped in at the kitchen on his way and added more toast and eggs to the tray. He sat beside Harmony at the table in my sitting room and gave his report while spreading butter on his toast. It was very brief.
“We didn’t find any records for the butler. We found the references for the other staff in Lady Campbell’s writing bureau, but nothing for Hardy.”
“If the others were there, it means his have been destroyed.” I frowned as something he said sank in. “‘We?’ Did you go with him, Harmony?”
They glanced at each, giving me my answer.
“You invited Harry along, didn’t you?”
“It was my idea,” Harmony said. “Victor wouldn’t let me go with him, and I didn’t want him going alone. Frank’s right: Goliath is too tall for clandestine activities, and Frank himself isn’t suited, nor is Peter. It requires someone competent, with iron nerves. It could really only be Harry.”
Victor gave me a shrug, as if to ask why it mattered.
I supposed it didn’t. Harry wouldn’t have minded.
But given I’d been resolved not to ask him for further assistance with the case so as not to complicate our relationship even more, I wasn’t sure it was wise to involve him again. Even so, he’d helped me and I ought to thank him. It was the least I could do.
Or so I told myself.
Before heading to the Whitchurches’ house, I walked to Soho. I paused outside the Roma Café, but decided against taking coffees up to Harry’s office. I didn’t plan on staying long.
Out of habit, I entered without knocking. He sat behind the desk, one of Luigi’s small coffee cups cradled in one hand, his sleeves rolled to his elbows. He sat side-on to the desk with his legs stretched out, staring at the wall. I felt sorry for disturbing him. Going by the blank way he blinked at me, he’d been consumed by his own thoughts and it seemed a shame to drag him from them.
“Working hard, I see,” I quipped.
“I’m thinking.”
“What about?”
“Your case, as it happens.”
His admission caught me by surprise. “Oh. Well, that’s what I came to talk to you about.”
He indicated I should sit, but I shook my head.
“I’m not staying long. I’m going to call on the Whitchurches, and simply wanted to drop in on my way to thank you for accompanying Victor last night. It put Harmony’s mind at ease. Mine, too.”
