Page 84 of Murder at the Dinner Party
Harry and I glanced at one another, but we didn’t rush the conversation. The women asked me questions about living at the hotel and my family, before Mrs. Lund suggested she show us why they asked Harry to come.
Leaving Mrs. Danvers in her chair, Mrs. Lund led us upstairs to the master bedchamber. Like the sitting room, the furniture was simple in design, without the modern opulence of the hotel suites. A portrait of a young gentleman hung on the wall opposite the bed. On the bedside table, a photograph of Mrs. Lund and Mrs. Danvers taken in a studio took pride of place.
Mrs. Lund opened the cupboard door and pointed to a brown bottle on the top shelf, out of her reach. “Be a dear and bring that down,” she said to Harry. “You’ll save me getting the stool.”
Harry plucked it off the shelf and went to hand it to her, but she shook her head. He removed the stopper and sniffed the contents then passed it to me. The bottle label read DR. GOODBODY’S CURE-ALL. The next line claimed it could cure headaches, stomach complaints, and nervous disorders in less than twenty minutes.
“It smells all right to me,” I said.
“The contents are fine, as far as I can tell,” Mrs. Lund said. “That’s not the problem. The doctor prescribed the tonic to Mrs. Danvers for her headaches, but he warned me that too much could be fatal for a frail thing like her. So I keep it up there and give her a dose when she needs it. I don’t want her accidentally taking it too soon after her previous dose. She can be forgetful, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she made a dreadful mistake like that.”
“Very wise,” Harry said. “Some tonics contain hyoscine. It can be poisonous in large doses.”
“Well, that bottle wasn’t on that top shelf yesterday when I went looking for it,” she went on. “It was on the shelf below, pushed toward the back. I know I didn’t put it there. Not only that, it’s nearly empty.”
“Are you sure Mrs. Danvers didn’t take it without your knowledge?”
“The bottle was full when I last saw it. To have taken almost the entire thing would have made her sick, or worse.”
“When did you last see the bottle?” Harry asked.
“Nearly two weeks ago, I’d say.”
Harry and I exchanged glances. The timing fit.
Mrs. Lund frowned in thought. “First the jewelry was moved, and now this. Yet you’ve found no evidence of a prowler and the house has been secured at night.”
I asked Mrs. Lund if I could keep the bottle for a while and she handed it to me. “Was the tonic the only thing that was stolen? None of the jewelry was taken?”
“That’s correct. The jewelry was moved, but none of it is missing.”
It wasn’t a thief then.
Harry had remembered, however. “The jewelry was paste.”
Mrs. Lund nodded. “Mrs. Danvers sold it all off years ago and had some of the nicer pieces replaced with fakes.” She placed a hand to her throat. “Do you think the intruder knew they were paste, that’s why he didn’t take them?”
“I do. When he or she realized each piece of jewelry was worthless, they returned them, but placed them somewhere odd, so you’d assume Mrs. Danvers put them there during one of her forgetful episodes.”
“So we do have a prowler.” She pressed her lips together to stop them trembling.
“Have you given your key to anyone?”
“No.”
I placed an arm around her shoulders. “We’re going to find who did it, Mrs. Lund. In fact, I think I already know.”
She took my hand. “Be careful, Miss Fox. Whatever you do, don’t confront them alone. Take Mr. Armitage with you. He’s very capable.”
I smiled at Harry. He did not smile back. He looked troubled.
After we said goodbye to Mrs. Danvers, without telling her about the intruder, he apologized to Mrs. Lund as she saw us out. “I’m sorry. I should have been more thorough.”
She took his hands as she’d taken mine and shook them as if she were trying to shake sense into him. “Youwerethorough. You cannot stop someone who isn’t here when you come. Now, don’t fret anymore about it. Go and catch the thief and put him behind bars.”
It wasn’t just a thief we were about to catch. It was a murderer, too.
Harry and I discussed our theories as we stood on Mrs. Danvers’ front porch. It didn’t take long. We had the same theory. Forming a plan took a little longer. Harry wanted to go to the Campbells’ residence alone, but I wouldn’t allow it. For one thing, it was my investigation. For another, the plan required both of us to be present. One to catch the killer, the other to explain to the rest of the household in the meantime. I didn’t argue with him when it came to dividing the roles between us.
