Death of a Mad Hatter (A Hat Shop Mystery) (15 page)

Dotty rose to her feet. She looked even more pale and pinched than when she’d entered the room, but her eyes blazed with heat as she glared at her daughter.

“You are being beastly!” she declared. “In front of guests, no less. I am appalled. Ginny, Scarlett, I am so sorry. Lily, please take me back to my room.”

Viv and I rose with Lily. I glanced at Daphne to see her raise her chin in defiance while Rose hissed at her to behave herself. She shrugged her off.

George glanced around the room in bemusement as if he wasn’t quite sure how he could be related to these people. I didn’t blame him a bit on that one.

“Really, sister, I think you need to go to your room as well and calm down,” Lily said.

“She’s right. You’re going too far,” Liam hissed between his teeth. “George, let’s get her out of here.”

Daphne glared daggers at her son. “Why? Because I spoke the truth? Here’s a little more for you. Not only is our dear brother dead, Mother, but it quite possibly could be someone in our family who murdered him.”

The room was silent. No one was making eye contact. I couldn’t tell if it was guilt, shame or embarrassment blanketing the room, but either way I’m not very good at awkward pauses and generally feel compelled to fill them with mindless chatter.

I suppose it’s the pleaser in me, but I can’t help but try to get everyone to a happy place, and if happy can’t be achieved, then I settle for a diversion.

“But I assumed the most likely person would be Cara Whittles,” I said. “I mean, she had motive and opportunity.”

Viv looked at me with both eyebrows raised as if she couldn’t believe I was going there. But given that Daphne had just accused someone in her own family of killing their brother, I really didn’t think what I had to say was that bad.

“Who is Cara Whittles?” Dotty asked.

Ah, and this is where I open my mouth and enjoy a nice shoe-leather sandwich. What exactly was I supposed to say here?
Why, darling, Cara Whittles was your husband’s lover of thirty years, who was left nothing, crashed your tea party and threatened your son’s life—you remember, the party where your son was murdered.
Yeah, not even the threat of electric shock could make me say that sentence.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Dotty said. She sniffed as if she was about to cry, causing both Viv and Lily to give me dirty looks.

“Geoffrey is a charming, hardworking boy. He’s away on business and he’ll be back when he’s done. You’ll see.”

There was a heartbreaking plaintive note in her voice that made my throat close up. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Dotty clung to her belief that her son was away on business because the reality of his death was too much to bear. It seemed criminal to take the escape away from her.

“Of course, you’re right, Mum,” Lily said. She put an arm around Dotty’s shoulders. “Daphne is just being dramatic. You know how she gets.”

Daphne looked like she would argue, but I honestly thought Lily would punch her in the mouth if she said another word. Daphne tossed her hair and stomped across the room to stand by the piano.

Rose hadn’t moved. I suspected she was doing what she always did when voices got heated and tempers flared. She sat perfectly still and quiet as if she could blend into the wood of the piano and remain unseen and unengaged. These were some crazy family dynamics at work.

Lily led Dotty from the room. Viv nodded at me and we began to move to the door, making awkward good-byes as we went. We were almost there when the door to the suite opened and Tina came in. She looked pale and shaky and when she took in Viv’s and my appearance, she looked wary and startled.

I didn’t want her to think I had betrayed her confidence, so I snatched the hatbox from Viv’s hands and handed it to Tina.

“Here,” I said. “This is for you.”

I could feel George’s eyes on me, but I figured I’d explain, okay, yes, I’d make something up later. For now, I just wanted Tina to know that her secret was still safe with me and that I hadn’t come here to blab her secrets.

“Oh, how thoughtful,” she said. Her eyes met mine and I saw an imploring look in them. I gave her a tiny nod to let her know we were okay.

“It’s just a little something from the shop,” Viv said. She glanced over her shoulder at where Dotty had gone. “You know, in case you might need a black hat for some reason.”

Daphne made another derisive sound and Liam frowned at her. “Not now, Mum.”

“What do you mean, not now?” Daphne said. “Is there a better time for me to show my contempt?”

Tina flinched and Liam took his mother’s elbow in an attempt to lead her away while George stepped up and stood beside Tina. This show of support was obviously too much for Daphne.

“What’s the ruckus now?” Lily asked as she returned to the room. “Daphne, you really need to get a hold of yourself. Mum isn’t well and blasting her with reality is not helping. Oh, hello, Tina. Are you all right? You look peaky.”

“No, she’s not all right,” Daphne said. She turned her angry gaze on Tina. “You’re finally figuring it out, aren’t you? You’re his widow, not his heir, you know. Once his funeral is over, you’ll need to leave the estate, since you won’t be getting a pence from it.”

“Surely, she is provided for,” Lily said. She sounded aghast at the thought that Tina would be tossed to the curb.

“No, I’ve already spoken to the solicitor. Geoffrey had no will,” Daphne said. “He never got around to it, so as things stand, the entire fortune will go to Liam.”

Liam turned a ghostly shade of white and then a hot shade of red. He glowered at his mother.

“This is neither the time nor the place to have this discussion,” he said. He cast a glance at the door to Dotty’s room.

Tina had paled as well, as if the reality of her situation was becoming clear to her. She leaned heavily on Liam.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Tina shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I’m not.”

“Help her to a seat,” Lily said.

George stepped forward and both he and Liam guided her into the padded chair I had vacated. She sat down on shaky knees.

“What is it, dear?” Lily asked. Worry lines creased her brow with concern as she gazed at her sister-in-law.

When Tina spoke, her voice was faint but unmistakable.

“I’m pregnant.”

“Liar! You’re lying!” Daphne shouted.

“Sister, control yourself!” Lily said. She looked appalled by Daphne’s behavior.

“Control myself?” Daphne roared. She spun around, staring at everyone as if daring them to challenge her. “I’m not the one who is lying, trying to get my hands on our fortune.”

Tina looked miserable, but her gaze was steady when she met Daphne’s accusing glance. “I’m not lying. You can call my doctor if you want.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Liam said. “We believe you, and both you and your child will be cared for, just as Geoffrey would have wanted.”

He put his hand on her shoulder. I glanced at Viv to see if she was getting this. I thought this spoke very well of Liam and wondered if she was thinking the same.

Rose left the piano and went to sit in the chair beside Tina. She didn’t say anything but patted her sister-in-law’s hands where they were clasped in her lap in an obvious show of support.

I glanced at Daphne, who looked like she was frothing at the mouth. I have to admit I was a little bit afraid of her.

“Well, we can see you have some personal business to mind, so we’ll just carry on back to our shop,” Viv said.

“But it’s just getting interesting,” George whispered in my ear.

I glanced at him and saw the mischief sparkle in his eyes. I refused to smile and encourage him and tried to give him my best censoring glance, but he didn’t appear hampered at all by it. Clearly, I needed to work on that.

Viv was out the door and I scooted right after her, calling a general good-bye over my shoulder. I saw Lily kneel beside Tina and put a comforting arm about her shoulders. This made me feel better. I didn’t want Tina to feel abandoned, but between Liam, Rose, Lily and George, she looked to be in good hands. Hopefully, they would all run interference and shut Daphne down.

“Well, if that wasn’t the equivalent of dropping a bomb, I don’t know what is,” Viv said as soon as the elevator doors closed behind us.

“Poor Tina,” I said. “Here Geoffrey was giving her such a hard time about getting pregnant, and now she is and he’s dead.”

“I suppose they’ll keep her in the family until they know whether she’s having a boy or a girl,” Viv said.

“Well, I think if Liam has anything to do with it, he’ll make sure she’s provided for,” I said. “He seemed very solicitous of her, didn’t he?”

“Yes, yes, he did,” Viv said. She glanced away from me and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Very irritating.

The elevator doors opened and we crossed through the opulent lobby to outside. The streets were crowded with people and the sound of car engines as they growled their way through the traffic.

I could hear smatterings of different languages as I followed behind Viv. It was too crowded to walk side by side. It reminded me a bit of market day on Portobello Road, crowded and noisy as people worked their way to their various destinations.

We hurried down the entrance to the Underground. Viv scanned her Oyster card and I followed behind her in the turnstile. The white brick tunnel led us down several flights of stairs until we got to our platform. In minutes the train arrived and we hopped on board.

We only had a few stops and then we switched trains and were soon jostling our way back to Notting Hill Gate on the Cental Line. The Underground train stopped and we both lurched forward. There had been no seats available, so we were standing.

The automated female voice of the Underground announced the next stop, which was ours, and we took our positions by the door. We hadn’t talked much and I wondered if Viv was thinking about the Grisby family as much as I was or if she was designing hats in her head. She did that a lot.

When the doors opened, we rode the two escalators up and then climbed the stairs to Notting Hill Gate. It was a bit of a walk back to our shop, but the day was sunny and warm with a cool breeze. I matched my steps to Viv’s as we cut through Pembridge Mews. I knew Harrison lived somewhere along this stretch of row houses, but I refused to look for him.

“Who do you think killed Geoffrey?” I asked, more to distract myself than for a real answer.

Viv stopped and turned to look at me.

“What?” I asked. “Come on, you must have someone in mind.”

“Actually, I was thinking it was probably a freak accident,” she said.

“Formaldehyde in his hat, an accident?” I asked. “How do you figure?”

“Well, if I knew that, I’d be a detective, now, wouldn’t I?” she asked.

“He was murdered,” I said, ignoring her question.

“Now, why do you say that?” she asked. “It could have been an accident.”

“The police don’t seem to think so,” I said. “Don’t you find it suspicious that his father’s mistress threatened him and hours later he’s dead? Or how about Daphne? She’s practically psychotic about the whole inheritance situation.”

We turned off Pembridge Road to Portobello Road. The sidewalk was narrow and our shoulders brushed as we walked. Viv’s high heels made her a bit taller than me, and I remembered that when we were girls I was always trying to be as tall as she was. I was an inch taller than her when we finally topped out, but she always wore high heels, which kept her even or taller. Today she was a smidge taller. I felt a flicker of the old competitiveness about height, which was ridiculous, but cousins, like siblings, I suppose, always have a teeny bit of competitiveness amongst them.

“Inspector Finchley is just being thorough,” Viv said. “I bet they discover that a cleaning lady accidentally doused his hat in some chemical that had formaldehyde in it and that’s what has caused the whole hullabaloo. Perhaps it was just a severe allergic reaction.”

“You’re not serious,” I said.

“Of course I am,” she said. “Listen, I grant that his sisters certainly have motive, but I don’t believe that they did him in, not even Daphne, who is the most vocal about her bitterness toward the terms of the estate. In fact, it is her very loud complaining that makes me think she is innocent. If she had done him in, she’d be playing the grieving sister, not the bitter daughter.”

The road sloped down and we continued on our way, passing Andre’s studio shop and several others until we reached Mim’s Whims. The door was unlocked and Fee was behind the counter, helping a stout-looking woman with a wide-brimmed bucket hat in a startling shade of fuchsia.

“Well, if you follow that logic,” I said, “then the person who is grieving the most, Tina, would be the likely suspect because she seems so wrenched by the loss of her husband.”

“Yes, her lying, cheating and possibly abusive husband,” Viv said. “A real tragedy for her, I’m sure.”

With a chipper hello to Fee she kept walking toward the back room, but I stood in the center of the shop, feeling stunned.

Could Viv be right? Was it an accident? And if it wasn’t, could Tina be guilty? I hated to even think it, but I couldn’t deny that since she was pregnant her motive was hard to beat.