Page 83 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
“I’m already on that,” Harley assured Murphy as he led him out of the room.
When they were going, Harriet quickly closed the bedroom door and ushered them into the bathroom.
“What is it with you and bathrooms?” Finn asked her as she switched on all the faucets. “You’re wasting water.”
“I’ll do something to make up for it,” Harriet assured him. “Murphy taught me to always have a conversation in a bathroom with running water.”
“You think we’re being listened to?” Estelle’s eyes widened. “Oh, no!” Her head shot toward the bathroom door. “It’s probably Leon. If he finds out about me and Murphy…”
“Relax,” Finn told her. “All the suites of Alex’s and the king’s guests get swept a few times a day for bugs.”
“That’s comforting and also very intrusive,” Harriet stated. “Anyway… Murphy can’t talk about anything to do with my uncle while he’s employed in the king’s security detail.”
“That’s why you fired him,” Finn realized.
“For the second time,” Estelle reminded Harriet.
“Okay, you don’t have to rub it in,” Harriet told her. “It was a necessity.” She looked at them. “Murphy is bound by his word to the king if he was taken into my uncle’s confidence. The only way to be able to get him to talk is if he no longer works for the king and in situations like this when the king is presumed missing or likely kidnapped.”
“Then why did you have to fire him?” Estelle asked, still not understanding, which Finn was so glad she had asked so he didn’t look like the stupid one.
“Murphy can’t be employed by the king,” Harriet explained, “to answer confidential questions about him.”
“What would stop him from going to the press and making what he knows about the king public if all it takes to break that oath was to be fired?” Finn asked.
“Murphy can only ever break the king’s confidence by divulging information to the current head of the king’s security,” Harriet told them. “Murphy isn’t even allowed to tell me, my parents, or my grandfather, or he’ll risk jail time or worse.”
“So if your uncle killed someone and confessed it to Murphy, Murphy can’t tell anyone except if he was fired and even then, he could only pass it to the next head of security.” Finn clarified.
“If he was taken in for interrogation by the head of security and the king’s life was in danger,” Harriet added.
“Oh!” Finn and Estelle finally understood.
“That’s an awful lot that Murphy has to carry around,” Finn said. His admiration for the man grew. “It also takes a lot of trust and confidence from the king to bestow on Murphy.”
“Yes.” Harriet nodded. “Murphy is the most loyal person in my uncle’s employ. That’s why I couldn’t understand why he’d let Estelle into my suite or take the linen from an active crime scene.”
“Then you realized there was only one person who had that kind of access to you, and that was Murphy,” Finn guessed. “Only you know how loyal he is to the king, and I’ve seen how he is with you, and even I don’t think that man would harm a hair on your head.”
“No, he wouldn’t!” Estelle clarified and looked at Harriet. “After everything you’ve done to Murphy, he adores you.”
“I know,” Harriet told them. “I’m very fond of Murphy too.” She smiled. “In order to alleviate his crimes for not being honest to the king about his relationship with someone of Estelle’s status, I had to do what I did.”
“Oh!” Estelle nodded in understanding, but Finn didn’t understand, and he frowned. Estelle saw his confusion. “Harriet was the one who found out about Murphy’s failure to disclose his personal status change, so she’s the one that gets to sentence him, so to speak.”
“This is all way too crazy for me,” Finn admitted. “Your royal rules and policies are vast, and I’m never going to learn them.”
“You don’t have to learn them all at once,” Estelle gave him a smile. “You kind of pick them up as you go and through the mistakes you make.”
“Then be thankful we’re living in the twenty-first century and not the dark ages where a slight like Murphy’s and Estelle’s could’ve got them both sentenced to death,” Harriet pointed out with a sweet smile.
A hornet delivering honey flashed through Finn’s mind as he watched Harriet. “Great!” he stated with a nod and wide eyes. “What happens now?” He pointed to the running faucets. “We’re wasting a lot of water here.”
“Harley will interrogate Murphy, but he won’t tell us about what’s said between them,” Harriet warned them. “So don’t even try to ask. But what will happen is that Harley will take over the investigation, and I’ll reinstate Murphy to help him.”
“Thank you.” Estelle breathed a sigh of relief as she looked from Finn to Harriet. “I’m sorry for everything.” She looked at Finn. “I’m sorry you thought I was stalking you and your family. I wasn’t. And hopefully, the phone Harriet gave you will give you all the information you need to see I’m telling the truth.”
“Okay!” Finn nodded.
