Page 14 of Murder on Harley Street
I thanked Mr. Hobart and took the stairs up to the fourth floor, where I planned to go directly to my aunt and uncle’s suite. I was accosted by my two cousins in the corridor before I reached it, however.
“Have you both been waiting for me?” I asked.
Flossy shushed me with a finger to her lips. “We’ve all been summoned to their suite. I think Floyd is in trouble.”
“Me?” Floyd’s bellow earned another shushing from Flossy.
“It must be you,” she shot back. “It’s always you. It’s never me.”
“That’s because you’re as dull as a loaf of bread.”
“Are you calling me fat?”
“No! But you are stupid.”
She thumped his arm. Honestly, sometimes they behaved as though they were children, not nineteen and just turned twenty-four.
“If it was about Floyd, we wouldn’t all be summoned,” I pointed out. “It’s probably something to do with Mr. Lombardi. Have neither of you been told?”
“That he’s hosting a presentation here?” Floyd asked. “Yes, I know. I’m organizing it.”
“Harmony is organizing it,” Flossy said petulantly. “You’re merely providing the Bainbridge name.”
“I do more than that, Floss, but you wouldn’t understand, so I’m not going to bother explaining it.”
She planted a hand on one hip and gave an indignanthumph.
Before they descended into a verbal fight, I rapped on the door. “Let’s see what this is all about.”
Uncle Ronald answered my knock and invited us into their suite. The most spacious suite in the entire hotel, it was tastefully furnished by my aunt with a mixture of modern comforts, and antiques that Uncle Ronald had inherited along with the building itself. Aunt Lilian’s keen sense of style was evident in the placement of the furniture, the muted color scheme, and the cluster of family photographs on one of the occasional tables. I noticed a new one had been added of Flossy, Floyd and me lounging in the sunshine on a picnic blanket in the garden at Hambledon Hall.
Aunt Lilian indicated we should all sit on the sofa while she sat in an armchair opposite. Uncle Ronald took up a position behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. They were presenting a united front for what was to come, which was pleasing to see after Aunt Lilian had deliberately distanced herself from her husband in recent times. It was also pleasing to see that she was taking charge of the meeting. It meant she was feeling more confident within herself. The visit to her new doctor was already working wonders.
We exchanged the obligatory pleasantries before Aunt Lilian got to the point. “You all know about the event for Mr. Lombardi’s company that will be held in our ballroom. You know how important it is to the hotel. But you may not know that Mr. Lombardi’s company is the one that makes the tonic I used to take.”
Flossy and Floyd glanced at each other, then at me. “You knew,” Floyd said.
I nodded. “I learned it this morning, as did Uncle Ronald.”
“And he told me,” Aunt Lilian said. “Except I already knew, of course. I recognized the company name when I first heard it.”
“Then why not say something before the contract was signed?” I asked.
“Because I want our hotel to host his presentation. Like your uncle, I believe corporate events could prove lucrative.”
He patted her shoulder.
“But by hosting Mr. Lombardi’s event, it makes it appear that we approve of his medicines,” I said. “How can we approve of the tonic after knowing how it affected you, Aunt?”
Her eyes briefly fluttered closed, as if it hurt to keep them open. She already looked quite exhausted, with the dark circles under her eyes against pale skin. I regretted my vehement tone, but she spoke before I could apologize. “Mr. Lombardi’s company produces other medicines. We can’t make a sweeping judgment based on one product. Especially not when it would be to the hotel’s detriment.”
I appealed to my cousins for support, but neither looked inclined to disagree with their parents. “I think it’s wrong,” I said. “We’re putting profits ahead of our moral duty.”
“It’s not our duty to prove his tonic is ineffective,” Aunt Lilian said.
“It’s more than ineffective. It’s dangerous.”
Her fingers twined together in her lap. “It’s the duty of the medical profession to police such things.Ourduty is to our guests, and Mr. Lombardi is a guest. Please treat him with the respect you would treat others.”
