Page 14 of Peril in Piccadilly
“I didn’t plan to threaten anyone,” I said lightly. “Besides, I’m not likely to ever come across him, am I? I don’t own anything worth stealing—unlike Laetitia, I don’t have an engagement ring, and my pearls are paste—and besides, I live with Christopher, with Evans downstairs in the lobby. No one is likely to try to make it inside my flat to raid my jewelry box.”
“Miss Marsden was surrounded by servants,” Finchley pointed out, “and Cummings House had a full contingent of staff as well. It didn’t matter.”
No, I suppose it hadn’t done.
“Out of curiosity,” I asked, “what did he get away with in the Cummings robbery? Here, Laetitia startled him by waking up, it seems, so he only got away with the few pieces on her toilet table. Did he do better at the Cummings’s?”
Finchley hesitated.
“You can tell me,” I said persuasively. “Laetitia or Crispin probably know the answer already, and will tell me if I ask. And it’s not as if I’m going to talk to anyone else about it.”
Finchley relented, as I figured he would. “In the Cummings household, the jewelry was all kept in a safe in the study. The thief got away with all of it, as well as quite a bit of money. Nobody even realized he had been there until hours later, the next time they opened the safe and realized it was all gone.”
“Ouch.”
Finchley nodded. “On the positive side, nobody was frightened out of their wits that time. Back in August, Lady Latimer’s butler died when Latimer House played host to this character.”
My eyes widened. “That’s terrible. What happened?”
Had the burglar committed murder? If so, Laetitia truly was lucky to get away with her life.
“Heart attack,” Finchley said. “He was nearly as old as Lady Latimer, who’s eighty if she’s a day?—”
I nodded, I was familiar with Lady Latimer.
“—and he must have come upon the chap either coming or going. Or so we assume. Lady L found him in a heap in the foyer when she came home from supper.”
“How awful.”
Finchley agreed. “There were no marks on him, so we don’t think it was deliberate, but it’s still death during the execution of another crime. But at least this bloke doesn’t seem inclined to violence unless it’s absolutely necessary. Hopefully that won’t change.”
Hopefully so. “Do you think this will happen again?”
“No reason for him to stop now,” Finchley said cynically. And added, “And now, if you don’t mind, Miss Darling, I should get on with my job.”
“Of course.” I took myself off towards the door. “I’ll be downstairs with the others. It was nice to see you again, Detective Sergeant.”
“You, as well, Miss Darling,” Finchley said politely. He had already turned back towards the toilet table and the fingerprint powder. I headed back down the stairs to where the others were gathered.
ChapterFour
They were clusteredaround a small table in the parlor when I came down the stairs. And instead of the tea I had requested, someone must have asked for coffee, because that’s what everyone was drinking. I suspected that at least Laetitia’s beverage was laced with something stronger, even if the others’ probably weren’t.
Tom and Christopher were sitting on one side of the table, with Laetitia and Crispin on the other. She was plastered to his side. There was an empty cup and saucer on one of the short sides, and I headed for that. Perhaps it would fall to me to referee.
“Tea or coffee?” Christopher asked as I made myself comfortable in the green velvet chair.
“Tea, if you don’t mind. Thank you.”
Tom watched as Christopher poured and doctored a cup, and then handed it to me. I balanced it awkwardly in my bandaged hands.
“What happened to you?” he wanted to know.
“I fell down a flight of stairs at the underground last night.” I leaned back and attempted to cross one knee over the other, and remembered, only when it was too late, why that was a bad idea. Instead, I took a sip of the genial beverage and flapped a hand. “Don’t let me interrupt the conversation.”
Tom watched for a moment, but he didn’t comment, just turned back to Laetitia. “So you don’t know what woke you. But when you opened your eyes, he was already in the room with you.”
Laetitia shuddered delicately. “Yes. He stood beside the toiletries table. I think he had the ring, or perhaps the earrings, in his hands. Something that sparkled.”
