Authors: Elisabeth Crabtree
Grace,
so focused on keeping Kyle from wandering off at a moment’s notice, quickly lost sight of Rupert and the others. Of course, it would have been easier to keep up, if Kyle hadn’t been so bound and determined to get them both lost. It wasn’t until he pulled her into a beautiful glass-enclosed gazebo tucked away in a corner of the maze that she realized his true motives.
Laughing
, she grabbed his inquisitive hands and dragged him back out into the maze.
“Are you sure this is the way we came?” Grace
said, rounding another corner and coming up to another dead end.
“
Trust me,” Kyle said none too concerned, “we’ll be there any minute now.”
Grace crossed her arms. “You have no idea how to get to the manor, do you?”
Kyle pressed a hand to his heart. “Would I lead you astray?”
Grace nodded.
“I know exactly how to get there.”
“Prove it.”
Kyle pivoted around on his heel. He made a left, then a right, then two more lefts, never once hesitating or faltering until they came up to a large iron gate. He smugly pointed to their group standing on the other side. With a flourish, Kyle pushed open the gate. “And you doubted me.”
“
Oh, I never doubted you.” She walked past him and hurried toward the house. “I just wanted to catch up to the others.” She caught up to Molly just as the group rounded a large fountain standing in front of the manor.
Rupert was in the lead. Outraged anger radiated from him as he stomped toward the house. “And that’s why Creeping Charlie is a vile, noxious weed that must be eradicated from the Earth.”
Grace leaned toward Molly and whispered, “Did I miss anything?”
Molly stifled a yawn before whispering, “Not unless the various types of
weeds located around the manor is a clue.”
As soon as
Rupert reached the porch, he turned around, threw out his arms, and addressed the group with his fake British accent back in force. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your home away from home for the next few days.”
“So, this is murder manor,” Jerry said with a sardonic smile.
The house itself appeared to be quite unlike its moniker. Standing before them was a colorful three story, gigantic Victorian gingerbread, with hunter green, cross-gabled roofs, large turrets, enormous bay windows, stained glass windows, delicate white and yellow trim, bubblegum pink siding, and a large wrap around porch.
“
Clearly a house of horrors,” Kyle said in amusement.
Jerry snorted. “
Well, it is a rather startling shade of pink.”
“I like it,”
Sabrina said with a defiant shake of her head.
Laura rolled her eyes.
“You would.”
Caroline brought out her
smart phone and snapped a picture. “I think it’s charming.” She slid the phone open and began texting.
Standing at the door, Rupert cleared his thr
oat. “Miss Ivy has been eagerly waiting for your arrival. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. Not too comfortable, of course,” he added with a creepy smile.
Sabrina
was the first to reach the steps. She quickly pivoted around and held up a hand. Once everyone’s attention was fully focused on her, she slowly unbuttoned her coat, smiling as Jerry gave her a wolf whistle. When the last button was undone, she stood still for a few seconds, before dropping her coat to reveal a French maid’s costume, which could almost be classified as lingerie.
Jerry’s mouth dropped open
, while his wife stopped texting long enough to roll her eyes.
“H
ow do you do?” Sabrina asked with an exaggerated French accent. “I too wish to welcome you to Murdock Manor. I am Miss Ivy’s domestic assistant.”
“
Oooh,” Jerry said, “what’s your name?”
Sabrina
’s pretty features clouded in annoyance before grounding out, “Hazel.”
“Hazel?”
Kyle and Jerry asked simultaneously.
Sabrina attached
a small black and white lacy headpiece to her jet-black hair. “Oui, Monsieur.”
“I keep telling Sabrina tha
t her character’s not French, but she won’t listen,” Laura groused.
“If there is anything you wish
, you only have to call, and I will be happy to serve you,” Sabrina said, ignoring her sister.
Laura shook her head. “Hazel
the maid is not French. Hazel was born in Kansas before coming to work at the manor for Miss Ivy in 1952.”
Sabrina
waved her hand dismissively. “Obviously a mistake. I told Miss Ivy that I was born in Cannes, but she misunderstood,” she said, eliciting several chuckles. Even Caroline’s face broke a smile. Of course, Grace thought, she could have just been smiling at whatever was on her phone, because she hadn’t looked up since Sabrina dropped her coat. “We host a small film festival every year. Perhaps you have heard of it, no?”
“
That’s not even how you pronounce the city. The two words don’t even sound alike,” Laura countered. She turned to Rupert. “She isn’t taking this seriously. For all we know, her place of birth is an important clue and she’s changing it.”
Rupert nodded sympathetically
, as he held open the door and motioned for everyone to enter the two-story foyer with its elegant black and white marble floor, floor to ceiling mahogany paneling, and gigantic crystal chandelier. “Your luggage has already been delivered and is awaiting you in your room. I suggest you all get settled in and take a moment to relax before tonight’s activities. Miss Ivy is very excited. She wants everyone’s full attention. She has an important announcement to make.”
* * *
Grace attached a purple rhinestone hair clip to her long red hair and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Despite multiple text messages from Kyle to hurry up, she had taken her time getting dressed. As much as she wanted to play the game, she wanted to make an impression tonight. For once, she was going to be at an event properly attired. She was just adjusting the straps to her vintage purple pleated dress around her neck, when someone knocked at her door.
“Grace?” Molly called from outside the door.
Turning, Grace reached for the door and allowed the younger woman to enter.
Molly, complete with a white cashmere sweater, pink poodle skirt, bobby socks and
ponytail, ran into the room. “I think I know who the killer is,” she said excitedly.
Grace shut the door. “How? No
one has died, yet.”
Molly ran to the mirror and checked her makeup. “I overheard Laura, wait no
, what’s her name again?” she asked, snapping her fingers.
“I don’t remember. Doctor something or other, I believe.” Grace walked over to the writing desk in the corner and picked up the list of characters
she found in her room when she arrived.
Reading from the list, she said,
“Laura is playing Doctor Nightshade.”
“Right. Well,
I overheard Dr. Nightshade tell Hazel that she was going to kill her tonight.”
“
Are you sure they were in character. I have a feeling Laura says that to her sister all the time.”
Molly smiled. “Probably
, but I do think one of them may be an actor.”
“Why?”
“Just a feeling.” Molly turned back around. “Are you ready to go? Kyle’s downstairs anxiously waiting for you.”
Grace slipped her feet into her high heels. “Did he send you up here?”
Molly nodded as she opened the door. “I think he misses you.”
G
race grabbed her purple cashmere shawl and followed Molly out into the hallway. “Have I missed anything?”
“Not really.
Ivy hasn’t even made an appearance, yet. We’ve all just been downstairs, getting into character.” She hesitated at the top of the stairs. “I’m a bit confused by Laura. She’s acting more like a hard-nosed detective than a doctor. Before I had a chance to say hello to anyone, she came up to me and asked me if I would go with her to the dining room so we could talk. I thought we were just going to have a pleasant chat, but she started berating me over my watch. Apparently, the company that manufactured my watch wasn’t in existence in the fifties. After she had finished lecturing me about that, she spent a good ten minutes grilling me about my life—well, Daisy’s life. She was even taking notes. Then she got so upset when I couldn’t tell her who Daisy’s parents were. She actually accused me of purposely being deceptive.”
Spotting Kyle standing at the bottom of the stairs, Grace smiled before whispering to Molly, “I
think she’s a bit competitive.”
Molly’s ponytail swung behind her as she descended the stairs.
“I don’t know what she wants me to say. Daisy Murdoch’s biography was only a paragraph long, and it didn’t go into any genealogy. Any time I tried to break character and explain that I just wasn’t given that information, she would close her eyes and hold up her hand, as if she didn’t want to hear it. The girl is strange.”
Close enough to overhear, Kyle said, “
Are you talking about Laura?” At Molly’s nod, he added, “You better have your character’s bio memorized and have done a thorough job researching their jobs. She asked me for legal advice.”
“You didn’t give her any, did you?”
Grace asked.
“I wasn’t sure if it was for her character or her
. I’m not sure she knows.” Smiling, he took her hand. “You look absolutely beautiful, Rose.” He leaned his head forward. When his lips were mere inches from hers, she smiled and leaned her head back.
Adopting a disinterested pose,
Grace said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Cheatum, but obviously you are unaware that we have a very antagonistic relationship with one another. It said so in my bio.”
Smiling, Kyle leaned back against the bannister. “Oh, come on, Rose,
why don’t you love me?
Everyone
loves me.”
Grace’s eyebrow rose. “Really?
And just who has been loving you, Mr. Cheatum?”
Kyle grinned.
“It would be easier to tell you who hasn’t,” he said sliding away, as Hazel entered the foyer carrying a serving platter of drinks.
CHAPTER THREE
Gra
ce sighed. She had spent the last twenty minutes fielding Laura’s questions about Rose Murdock, starting with her birth, her childhood, which Grace made up as she went along, her love of gardening, which Grace also made up, before finally segueing into Rose’s difficult relationship with her mother. “Who says I hate Ivy, Dr. Nightshade?”
“Well, for one you call her Ivy. Most daughter’s call their mother,
Mom.”
A bit weary of playing the suspect of the week to Laura’s Joe Friday act, Grace smiled tightly
as she took a step to the side. “Well, I guess you caught me. Now, if you would excuse me.”
Laura stepped in front of her. “It must really burn you up that Ivy favors Daisy over you.”
Deciding it was time to turn the tables, Grace crossed her arms in front of her chest. “What about you, Doctor? Why exactly are you here? Is Mother not feeling well?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t really discuss my patient with you
, especially since you seem to loathe her. Why is that? Is it because Ivy stole Mr. Hunter from you?”
Grace,
who was now frantically trying to signal Kyle from across the room, dropped her gaze back down to Laura. Her brow furrowed. “Mr. Hunter? Who’s Mr. Hunter?”
“Oh, don’t play
coy. You must have been furious. Did you love him?”
Dropping character
, Grace lifted up her hands. “Laura, I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. There wasn’t a Hunter mentioned in my bio. Who’s is he?”
Laura pinched the bridge of her nose under her eyeglasses
and sighed dramatically. “My name is Doctor Bella Nightshade. Not Laura.”
“If you want me to answer the question, you’re going to have to tell me who
you are speaking about.”
Shaking her head, Laura pointed to the
back corner of the library and the man sitting on the floor. He was partially hidden by the circular staircase that led to the second floor of the library, and the several towering piles of books stacked on the floor next to him. Grace’s eyebrows rose. She had been so distracted by Laura that she hadn’t even noticed someone new had joined their group, and was apparently building a small fort. He had emptied most of the shelves in front of him and was methodically stacking them around his body. He must have felt someone watching him, because he suddenly looked up. Catching Laura’s eyes, he made a small little grimace before bowing his head. To Grace’s amusement, he seemed to sink in on himself as if trying to hide.
Grace tilted her head.
“That’s Mr. Hunter? Who is he?”
“
His name is Fortune Hunter. He’s Ivy’s new husband and your ex.”
Grace shook her head. “Not according to the bio I received in my room.”
Disgusted, Laura groaned. “I’m working with amateurs. Can anyone stay in character?” Glancing down at her notepad, she muttered, “Let’s see. Who haven’t I interrogated, yet?” She turned away and surveyed the library. Setting her sights on her target, she stalked across the room and dropped into the chair next to Caroline.
Grace glanced around the room
. Noticing Molly near the bar furtively looking over her shoulder, Grace tiptoed up to the other woman and peered over her shoulder, as Molly poured a can of soda into her glass. “What are you doing?”
Startled, Molly jumped, spilling her drink over the countertop. She
gave Grace a rueful grin as she held up her glass. “Does this look like scotch to you?”
“
I guess so. Why?”
“Daisy’s an alcoholic, remember?
I started with the scotch, but decided that unless I wanted to spend the night passed out on the sofa, I should just
pretend
to be an alcoholic. I’ve been chugging these,” she said as she held up her glass of soda, “for the last hour. I don’t think anyone’s noticed.” She looked over and glared at Laura, who eyed them suspiciously. “Well, anyone normal, that is. How did you manage to get away from Laura?”
“I couldn’t answer one of her questions.”
“Which one?”
“She wanted to know how I felt about
Ivy stealing my ex-boyfriend and current step-father.”
Molly looked at her in surprise.
“Who?”
“Some guy named
Fortune Hunter. Laura must be going off a different script than the one I have, because I don’t have that character in my bio.”
“Maybe
she made a mistake,” Molly said.
“I don’t think so.” Grace turned around and started for the
back of the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To talk to my new step-father.”
Molly smiled. “How are you going to do that?
We don’t have a Fortune Hunter playing.”
Grace shook her head.
“Yes, we do. Turns out he’s sitting on the floor behind the circular staircase.”
Molly looked at Grace curiously before following her toward the back of the room.
Grace cleared her throat when they reached the man on the floor. Noticing the two women standing behind him, he jumped up, knocking over one of the stacks of books. He quickly bent down and began placing the books back on the shelves.
“Oh
.” Molly blushed as she gazed down at the man through her lashes.
Grace
hid a smile as she looked from Molly, who was practically salivating toward the man kneeling at their feet. Like Kyle, he was young and obviously fit and trim, but unlike Kyle, he wasn’t what she would have considered classically handsome. Although, she had to admit that he did have a certain kind of appeal with his thick, dark hair, penetrating brown eyes, and sharp cheekbones. She smiled politely as the man rose to his feet and towered over the two women.
Molly was the first to
speak. “Hello,” she said a bit breathlessly, “I’m…um, Daisy.”
“Oh, yes, Daisy. I’m William.
” He brought his hand up to his forehead and sighed. “No, sorry, I mean, I’m Hunter, Fortune Hunter,” he said with an embarrassed shake of his head, “Ivy’s new husband. Call me Hunter. I don’t think I could get used to answering to Fortune.” He glanced at Grace who introduced herself as Rose Murdock.
“Where did you come from?” Molly asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“I mean, well, you weren’t with our group.”
Molly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before nervously taking a sip from her glass.
“And you weren’t here when we arrived,
” Grace added.
Laura suddenly appeared
next to them. “Hey, she’s right.”
Startled,
Molly jumped, accidentally spilling the soda in her glass onto her fingers. She looked down in irritation, checking to make sure that none of the liquid had stained her poodle skirt.
Laura, meanwhile,
glared at their new arrival suspiciously. “You weren’t here when we arrived.” She glanced down at her notes. “I began a search of the house the moment we walked in, and I didn’t see you.”
Glaring at Laura, Molly shook the soda off her hand.
She brought her glass up to her lips and took a drink.
“In fact,
” Laura said, “I didn’t see you until you suddenly appeared in the library while I was testing the bottles of liquor for poison.”
Molly choked on her drink.
“That was at least an hour and a half ago,” Laura continued. “I should have realized you had arrived late when I questioned you then.” She shook her head in irritation. “What did you do, just sneak in so no one would notice? In any case, where did you come from?”
A sudden wariness coming into his eyes,
he quickly said, “Cambridge,” before excusing himself and retreating to the opposite side of the room.
Undeterred, Laura followed
him with her red leather notebook and pen at the ready.
* * *
“Where are you going, sweetheart?” Jerry called out to his wife.
Caroline made a
shushing noise as she crept out of the library and entered the foyer, where Kyle and Jerry were talking. “I’m trying to escape,” she hissed, “don’t ruin it.”
Kyle and Jerry exchanged
amused glances. Dropping his voice to a stage whisper, Kyle asked, “Escape from whom?”
Caroline glanced over her shoulder to the open
library door. “
Her
,” she said with a shake of her head as she climbed the steps.
Bewildered, Jerry leaned forward and looked through the door.
Kyle tapped him on the shoulder. “I think she’s talking about Laura.”
“Really? I don’t know why she would want to get away from her.”
Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Have you spoken to Laura, yet?”
Nodding, Jerry
smiled. “The doctor and I had a good ole chat. I picked up a lot of clues.” He chuckled. “Eh, Laura’s a good egg. That’s fifties lingo, by the way.”
“Thanks, I got it.”
“She’s just having fun.” Jerry laughed. “To tell you the truth, so am I. I love this.” He waved his arm about the foyer. “I love this type of thing. I’m so glad we came here.”
“Have you and your wife ever done this before?”
“No, this is our first time.” Jerry grimaced. “Caroline’s not really into games. She thinks games are for children. Her idea of a good time is attending a boring conference, or baking on a beach somewhere.”
“How did you convince her to come along?”
“Bribery,” he said matter-of-factly. “I told her that if she would agree to do this, I’d stop trying to entertain her employees. Poor souls. All they do is sit in a cubical day in and day out. Sad.”
“What does
she do?”
“She’s
in human resources.”
“And you?”
“I’m a jack of all trades,” he said proudly. “Lately, I’ve been concentrating on extermination. My buddy, Fred Day, and I have just started our own company.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card in the shape of a roach. “Knight and Day Extermination. ‘Whenever you get the creepy crawlies you can rely on us to be available Knight and Day,’” he responded automatically as he handed the card to Kyle. “My real passion is mysteries, though. What about you?”
“
I’m a private detective,” Kyle said with a slight shrug.
Jerry’s eyes went wide. “A detective?” He grinned. “Well, that’s an unfair advantage if you ask me.”
Kyle shook his head. “If it’s any consolation, I haven’t been a detective for very long.”
“What are you doing here? I’d think you’d be out there investigating
who killed that woman they found in the pond.”
“
How do you know she was murdered? Like Grace said, the woman could have fallen and hit her head.”
Jerry shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe.”
Kyle tilted his head. “Why are you so convinced the lady was murdered?”
“I spoke to one of the
bellhops at the hotel. Nice kid. Name’s Billy. He’s saving up money to go to college. Anyway, he knows the guy who found the body. His buddy called him, and Billy ran down to the pond to check it out before the police arrived. He said there was no doubt about it. She was murdered. He’s convinced it was the work of a serial killer.”
“What made
him think that?”
“
Just the way the body looked, I guess. All he could really tell about her is that she had red hair. Her face was…” with a look of distaste, he glanced up the stairs, “kind of makes me nervous being here like this. The more I think about it…” He shook his head before smiling grimly. “Of course, Billy’s young and probably a bit prone to sensationalism. After all, the body had been in the water. I’m sure it wasn’t a pretty sight.” He waved his hand. “Ah, your girlfriend’s probably right. The woman probably went out for a stroll, bumped her head, and fell through a crack in the ice. It was New Year’s Eve, after all. Everyone was doing a fair amount of partying.” He smothered a yawn. “I didn’t get to sleep until five this morning. That Sabrina. She’s something. At about three o’clock last night, she organized this huge scavenger hunt. She was still at it when Caroline dragged me back to our room.”
They turned to watch as
Sabrina walked through the foyer carrying a plate of hors d’oeuvres.
“Look at her. She looks like she slept like a baby.”
Jerry glanced over at the ornate mirror above the hallway console table. “I look like the walking dead. I’m just not as young as I used to be.” He smiled as Sabrina approached.
“
Monsieur.” She held out her tray of appetizers to Jerry, who smacked his lips loudly.