Murder of the Mysterious Maid Page 3

  I immediately spotted the one perk to having Cal Lloyd at supper. “Do you help him with his investigations?” I asked as innocently as possible.

  Father looked as though he couldn’t imagine why I would be interested, but he blinked at me a few times and said, “We discuss them and I do what I can to help guide him toward possibilities he hasn’t considered. I hope you won’t find our conversations too dull. Neither of us are up on ladies’ fashions.”

  I bristled. Was that all he thought I could talk about? It was insulting. If he took even five minutes to actually learn anything about his own daughter, he would see that there were many topics that interested me.

  Fortunately, Will arrived then, and I was able to keep my snide response to myself. Our butler, Harrison, announced his arrival and then showed him in to the dining room. It was entirely too early for a call, but Will wasn’t the sort to pay attention to the demands of etiquette.

  “I decided to take the morning off of work so we could go for a walk. I did promise to show you the sights, didn’t I?” He winked at me and helped himself to a chair and a muffin, accepting a cup of tea from Harrison as though he’d been invited to join us.

  He hadn’t made me any promise to show me around town, but I understood the ruse for what it was: an excuse to visit Paula Dennis. “Yes, of course,” I replied promptly. “How good of your father to let you have the time off.”

  I glanced at Father to see if he was fooled and read dislike clearly on his face. He was looking at Will as though he was highly affronted by his casual manners. This struck me as strange since Father himself had been little more than a constable when Mother defied her parents and married him. Any refinement that he had come to take for granted was due to my mother’s influence. It rankled me that he had the gall to disapprove of Will who came from an old family.

  Pursing my lips, I reeled my thoughts back in. Here I was, being every inch the society snob that I always said I hated. I always argued that it made no difference what a person’s ancestors did. The only thing that mattered was how that person behaved. How quick I was to discard my principles when in my father’s presence!

  “We should be on our way soon, don’t you think?” I got to my feet, anxious to leave my foolish thoughts behind.

  Will agreed, nodding to my father and following me into the hall. I pinned my hat on and we promptly departed.

  The day was lovely. It was still early enough to be cool but the bright sun promised to warm us all up in no time. Birds chirped and flowers nodded in the breeze as we passed. The houses on my father’s street were all moderately large and most boasted evidence of a paid gardener. There was a line of oak trees that stood guard down the entire length of the street, shading us from the sun’s warm embrace.

  “It’s early for a visit,” I admitted as we walked, concern tinging my words. “They might not see us.”

  “Then we go around back and knock at the kitchen door.” Will shoved his hands in his pockets and his mouth curled up impishly. “I have a real knack with cooks and housekeepers. They can’t resist me.”

  “Oh, really?” I prompted, grinning. “What is so irresistible about you?”

  “I’m devastatingly charming,” he said with a straight face. “I once convinced our housekeeper not to tell my mother that I was caught stealing an entire jar of pickles.”

  “What did you want a jar of pickles for, exactly?”

  “To eat, of course. I love a good dill pickle. The sweet ones I can take or leave, but our cook’s dill pickles are heaven sent.”

  I laughed. “And this is proof of your talents?”

  “It’s widely believed that our cook’s pickles are so good because sourness runs in her blood. She’s destroyed more than one kitchen maid with her biting wit. But I won her over with my charm. Just you wait, Rose Lunceford. I’ll get us into that house, one way or another.”

  As it turned out, he didn’t have to work his wiles. Paula Dennis was awake and extremely grateful that I had returned so quickly. She flushed slightly when introduced to Will who was pouring on the charm to the fullest extent.

  “The police will be returning later this morning,” she explained as she pulled me by the hand into the morning room. “Mother is in bed claiming a headache.”

  “How are you all holding up?” I asked as I sat primly on the edge of the sofa.

  Paula sighed and rubbed at her brow, which told me far more than her words could. Girls like Paula Dennis and me were taught never to fidget in public nor were we allowed to show too much emotion. I knew instantly that she felt very comfortable with me, which warmed my heart some. I hadn’t had a close female friend since leaving school a month ago, and I missed it more than I’d realized. Paula’s actions also showed that the ordeal of having a murdered maid in the house had been exhausting. Just why that would be, though, I wasn’t yet certain.

  “We’re holding up as well as we can,” she said with a small frown and a tired sigh. “Father and my older brother, Karl, both went into the office today. Mother begged them not to go. She said that everyone will think we’re callous, but Father said they have too much to do and that a bank doesn’t stop working even for a murder.”

  I nodded sympathetically and patted her hand. Paula was clearly the sort of girl who disliked family strife.

  Paula’s mouth flashed a grateful smile at my attempt to comfort her and went on, “Mother only gets headaches when she doesn’t get her way. It’s nice to have her sequestered in her room, but she’ll be awful when she finally emerges. I’m sure she’ll be better by the time the police arrive to question us again.”

  “Speaking of questioning,” Will jumped in, apparently growing weary of such talk, “would you mind if we asked your maids a few questions of our own?”

  “Why would you want to do that?” Paula’s forehead furrowed in confusion. She glanced back and forth between us.

  Will looked to me for an explanation and I found that I didn’t really have a good one even after all this time. I felt my cheeks flush a little and I said, “My father refuses to tell me anything about this case. I suppose I’m curious as to who killed Flora Dobson and I don’t know that I’ll find out anything until the case is solved and I can read about it in the newspaper.”

  The silence that followed confirmed my suspicions that this explanation wouldn’t do. I would have to open myself up and expose a bit of the painful parts of my heart.

  I took a deep breath. “You know that I just arrived in Brinkman. I haven’t seen my father more than three or four times since I was five when my mother died. He and my grandparents didn’t get on well. When I left here last night, Father was completely surprised that I might have any interest in this case, even though I’d sat here with you and your mother for almost half an hour. His top detective even told me that it wasn’t seemly for women to worry about such matters.”

  Paula was sitting up straighter, a sparkle of defiance in her eyes. It encouraged me and I added, “I want to prove them wrong. If I can learn something about Flora’s murder that they can’t, then they’ll have to acknowledge that a woman can understand a crime and that they shouldn’t discount me.”

  “Of course,” Paula patted my hand. “I completely understand. I’ll do whatever I can to help. The servants are working right now, but our housekeeper will know where to find them.”

  She then stood and led us through the back of the house to the kitchen where the cook and housekeeper were discussing the evening meal. If either of these ladies found Paula’s request to speak to the maids odd, they kept it to themselves. Soon we were being led to the housekeeper’s sitting room and waiting for the young women to arrive.

  “You can’t imagine how violated we all feel,” Paula said quietly after the door closed behind the housekeeper. The young lady stared blankly at the door and shuddered. “Someone came into our home while we were all here and planned to steal from us. He might have killed anyone he came across! I’m afraid he’ll come back if he didn’t get
what he came for.”

  “Between the police and Rose and me, we’re bound to catch him soon.” Will’s voice was soothing. “In fact, we wondered if the maids would be more willing to speak to a woman than to a policeman. We’re sure to learn something helpful.”

  Paula considered this, frowning a little. “If that’s true, then your being here, Mr. Edwards, won’t help. It’s possible that my being here will keep them from talking, too. They might not want to say something in front of one of the ladies of the house.”

  “That’s not a bad point,” Will mused. “Rose, would you mind if Miss Dennis and I went for a walk in the garden while you interview the maids?”

  “Of course not.” I nodded. “I’ll let you know what I learn.”

  The pair bade me good bye and left immediately. I could tell that Paula was very pleased with Will’s attention, but I wasn’t sure how he felt about her. He was certainly charming. Unfortunately, I was aware that charming men kept their true feelings very private. Paula Dennis was sweet and from a good family. Will would do well to marry her. If her father was a banker, she was sure to be the sort of girl his family would love for him to marry. But was she the sort of girl that he wanted to marry? I didn’t know him well enough to have any idea.

  I put these thoughts aside as the door opened a third time and three girls entered. I was introduced to Annie, Gloria, and Mary who regarded me with polite curiosity.

  “Thank you for speaking with me,” I began as the three took chairs across from me. “I’d like to ask you some questions about Flora Dobson and the events of last night?”

  “Are you with the police?” Mary asked. She was a bright girl who came across a tad too cheeky and I knew that housekeepers would find her difficult.

  “My father is the police chief,” I admitted. “However, I’m investigating on my own. I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention to the police that I was here. Don’t lie to them, of course, but if it doesn’t come up, please don’t volunteer it.”

  The three exchanged looks I couldn’t read. I wasn’t sure if they would help me or not.

  “I understand that Miss Dobson didn’t work here long and that she wasn’t especially friendly.” I dived in and hoped for the best.

  “That’s right,” Gloria said with a nod. “We shared a room and she didn’t have much to say even after the work was done.”

  “We tried to talk to her at meals. We asked where she was from and where she worked before, but she didn’t want to say.” Annie shrugged. “I’ve never known a housemaid who wasn’t friendly with other maids.”

  “None of you had ever worked with her before?” I wondered.

  They each shook their heads.

  “Between the three of us, we’ve worked in over a dozen houses in this town. We didn’t know Flora at all. No one did.” Mary sounded quite put out. Apparently Flora’s recalcitrance had offended her.

  I paused to consider what this meant. Flora was either new to the town or she was new to being a maid. Tucking these possibilities aside, I asked my next question. “What can you tell me about last night? Did anything unusual happen? Other than the murder, that is.”

  “Flora and I worked on cleaning the guest rooms like always,” Annie began. “We change the bedding, dust, and care for the rugs on Thursdays. We had some time before supper and I went to my room to work on a letter to my sister who works in Chicago. I don’t know what Flora was going to do.”

  “You didn’t talk while you worked?” This was surprising. The maids at my grandparents’ house and the ones at school always chattered and giggled as they completed their daily tasks.

  Annie shook her head. “I could talk ‘til I was blue in the face, but she never responded.”

  “Was she at supper?” I asked.

  “No,” Gloria was first to answer. “That’s when we realized something was wrong.”

  Mary snorted. “We didn’t notice she was missing until the meal was half over.”

  I cocked my head and waited.

  “Mrs. Norris, the housekeeper, doesn’t make us wait if someone isn’t at meals on time. We know what time supper is. Since we have to be finished in time to help the cook or dress the family or a dozen other things, we never wait. If it’s time to eat, we start and anyone running late can catch up.” Mary explained helpfully.

  “So no one was concerned when Flora was missing,” I summarized. “Was she often late?”

  “I suppose she was,” Gloria nodded slowly as she thought back. “We started without her a few times. No one thought anything of it until the first of the fellows had finished and she hadn’t turned up yet.”

  “Mrs. Norris asked the footman, Teddy, to go find her since he was done first,” Annie continued. “That’s when he discovered her in the laundry room. He came back yelling and Mrs. Norris and Mr. Earl, the butler, went to look. They went for the Dennises next.”

  “He called the Dennises before he called the police?” It seemed odd to me.

  “Of course he did,” Mary scoffed. “They would have been furious to have the police arrive and them not know that anything was wrong.”

  “It was their decision to call the police, not ours,” Gloria explained more gently. “As it was, Mrs. Dennis was horrified that the laundry room was in such a state. She told me to tidy up the baskets which had been knocked on the floor and Mary had to hurry out to clean up the servants’ hall before the police arrived.”

  My eyes bugged. “You moved things before the police came?” I didn’t know much about the real world of solving crimes, but I knew my Sherlock Holmes and understood the importance of even the tiniest clue.

  Annie’s shoulders hunched and she crossed her arms. “Mrs. Dennis made me clean up the glass from the broken window and when the cops found out, they yelled at me.”

  I wasn’t surprised. Even broken glass helped to tell the story of the crime that had occurred. The untidy room told me that there had been a struggle of some sort before Flora died. She’d had time to call out, but no one heard a cry. Either she’d been surprised by her attacker and the two fought before he stabbed her or he stabbed her first and the struggle came while she was wounded.

  If the window was broken, it suggested that the man was an intruder. No wonder the police thought that this was a burglary. Clearly, the killer had thought the laundry room would be empty while everyone was at supper and had broken the glass and climbed in. He must have been surprised by Flora’s appearance and killed her.

  Of course, there was also the chance that killing Flora had been the objective all along. What if the killer knew her and was waiting for her? Or, he might have broken the window to make it seem that he was an outsider. No, I couldn’t rule out that someone in the Dennis’ house was the murderer.

  “I’d like to know where everyone in the household was before you sat down to eat.”

  The three considered for a while.

  “We were together in our room while Annie wrote her letter,” Mary said. “But other than that, you’ll have to ask around.”

  “Mrs. Norris will know,” Gloria said with confidence. “She knows everything that goes on in this house. We none of us can sneeze without Mrs. Norris knowing about it.”

  Chapter Four

  “Don’t worry,” Mary called over her shoulder as I followed her down the hall to the kitchen, “we won’t say anything to the cops. You can count on us.”

  “Thank you,” I replied automatically. I didn’t know what it was about me that had inspired her confidence, but I was grateful for it. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if my father, or worse - Detective Lloyd, found out I’d been nosing around. All my silly dreams of having secret knowledge of the case would implode. “Do you think anyone else will mention my being here?”

  “Cook and Mrs. Norris won’t say a word if Miss Dennis tells them not to. They’re old fashioned enough to think the family’s word is law.”

  I nodded to myself. Her scorn of the idea that the family was to be obeyed
at all costs was telling. I could tell that Mary was the sort of girl that never stayed with a family for long. She’d have fair references but never glowing ones. I couldn’t help but think that she would do better in another line of work. Bossing patients around as a nurse, seemed to fit. I could also picture the girl keeping a group of unruly school children in order. She should do something where she had some authority and could put her quick wits to better use. Being a maid must be frustrating to a girl like Mary, I mused.

  “Mrs. Norris, Miss Lunceford needs to know where everyone was just before we sat down to supper last night,” Mary said with no preamble the moment we entered the kitchen.

  The housekeeper and cook were enjoying a quiet cup of tea at the scrubbed wooden table. The pair creaked to their feet but I waved them back down.

  “I won’t stay long, but if you don’t mind, I’ll join you here.” These two were hard-working women and they had undoubtedly earned this brief respite. It felt cruel to make them give up even a moment of their well-deserved rest.

  They nodded their assent and quickly poured out a cup for me and deposited sugar and milk in it according to my specifications. Mary was sent on her way and soon the three of us were sipping in the quiet kitchen.

  “What did you need to know, dearie?” Cook asked, her squat fingers holding her cup with a strength that defied her apparent age. The wrinkles around her eyes and gray in her hair were contradicted by the sharpness in her eyes.

  “Mary assured me that you two would know where everyone in the household was when Flora was killed. Annie says they were working together in the guest rooms and then they didn’t see her again until her body was found.” It seemed unlikely to me that these two middle-aged women would know where each and every household member was, but I was curious as to whether or not Gloria was right about the pair.

  “I was working on supper in here,” Cook began slowly. “I saw Flora come through on her way to the laundry room at about half past four. She often went by around then, so I didn’t think anything of it. I supposed she was starching her apron or doing some little chore for someone.”