before dark. Besides, the major’s probably asleep by now.”
Elizabeth stared at the clock. “I had no idea it was that late.” She rushed over to the telephone and grabbed it off the hook. “I’ll ring the hospital and ask how he is.” Her fingers busily dialed as she spoke.
Violet said something she didn’t hear, but she paid scant attention. All her thoughts were on Earl now, and as she waited for someone to answer the urgent ringing of the phone, she prayed she would hear good news.
It took some time before she could persuade the nurse who answered to allow her to speak to someone in charge. When the sister finally came onto the phone, she was obviously annoyed.
“I must advise you, your ladyship,” she said stiffly, “that it’s past visiting hours. I must ask you to ring us back in the morning.”
“I just want to know the condition of Major Earl Monroe,” Elizabeth said stubbornly.
“The nurse could have told you that.”
“I didn’t want a carefully worded stock answer. I need to know his real condition.” Elizabeth waited a beat, then added, “Or should I just come in person to find out what I want to know?”
“The major is resting right now.” The sister hesitated, then added, “He’s over the crisis, and is expected to recover.” Elizabeth’s cry of joy made her pause, then she added, “I must warn you, however, it’s likely to be a long process. It’s better that you talk to the doctor in the morning. He can tell you more than I can.”
Elizabeth hugged the telephone to her cheek. “Thank you, sister. I’ll be there first thing.”
She hung up the receiver and turned to find Violet dabbing away at the corner of her eye with her handkerchief. “He’s going to be all right,” she said and, in a burst of joy, hugged Violet’s scrawny body. “He’s going to be well!”
“Thank the good Lord.” Violet patted Elizabeth’s hand. “Now sit down. I have something to tell you about Martin.”
Elizabeth sat. No matter what trouble Martin was in, they could take care of it. Now that Earl was on the mend, she could take care of anything.
“I think Martin has gone completely off his rocker,” Violet said.
Violet nodded. “I heard him talking to someone on the telephone. I think someone is pretending to be from the War Office and they’re humoring him. I wouldn’t be surprised if two men in white coats turn up at the door one morning to take him away.”
“Why? What did he say?”
“Not much. He just said his name, and the gentleman on the other end told him he’d done an excellent job and his country was grateful to him.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Elizabeth ran a hand over her hair and winced as her fingers came in contact with a large bump on her head.
“Let me look at that.” Violet jumped up and began parting Elizabeth’s hair.
“I do know Martin was involved with the government in some way in the first world war. Something to do with breaking codes, I believe. Apparently Martin taught the Morse code to sailors at the turn of the century and was an expert at breaking codes. Ouch!”
Her yelp of pain stilled Violet’s probing fingers. “I’ll get a cold cloth for that.” She hurried over to the sink and turned on the tap. “Well, that explains it, then. You know how Martin is, always getting confused. He must have thought it was World War One again and offered his services. The War Office must have got a good laugh out of that one. Can you imagine Martin trying to break a code nowadays? Half the time he doesn’t know where he is or what he’s doing.”
“Well, it’s nice of the War Office to humor him.” Elizabeth shook her head, then wished she hadn’t when pain sliced through it. “I must call them and thank them for being so understanding.”
Violet held a cloth under the water, then squeezed it out. “Well, they certainly went to a lot of trouble, picking him up in that fancy motorcar and all. I asked him about that and he said it was a chariot and it took him to the stars.”
Her hands stilled, and she stared at Elizabeth. “Funny about that motorcar. You don’t suppose…”
They stared at each other for a long moment, then in unison shook their heads, muttering, “No, of course not. It couldn’t be.”
“That’s what I thought,” Violet said, sounding relieved. “Barmy, he is. Completely barmy.”
And if it made them more comfortable to believe that, Elizabeth decided, then who was she to question it.
The night seemed endless, with Elizabeth tossing and turning, dozing fitfully until at last she could pull back the blackout curtains and allow the morning light to creep into the room.
An hour later she was on her way to North Horsham, riding her motorcycle at a reckless pace that had her arriving at the hospital in record time. After a frustrating wait for the doctor to finish his rounds, she was finally allowed in to see Earl.
She found him propped up on his pillow, his face still drawn and pale, but his eyes now open. The covers were still tented over his legs, and now she noticed the thick bandages strapped around his upper body.
His eyes lit up when he saw her, and, mindful of the nurse hovering over him, not to mention the dozen or so other patients in the ward, she had to restrain her impulse to rush over to him and throw herself on the bed.
Instead, she had to make do with small talk while the nurse bustled about the room, drawing curtains, straightening bedclothes, tidying the bedside table, until Elizabeth wanted to scream at her to leave them alone.
At long last, the nurse drew the curtains around the bed to give them some privacy, reminded Elizabeth she had only a few minutes, and left.
“Come here,” Earl said softly as the curtain swished closed behind the nurse. He held out his hand, and Elizabeth took it, concerned to find his fingers so cold.
“You had us all quite concerned,” she told him as she bent over to drop a kiss on his cheek.
Taking her by surprise, he turned his head and her mouth landed on his. She kept it there for a few satisfying seconds before seating herself again.
“Sister told me you were here a couple of days ago.” His gaze probed hers. “I guess I was asleep. I was kinda hoping you’d stop by yesterday.”
“I intended to, but-” She paused, wondering how much to tell him.
“Something more important turned up, huh?”
“Of course not.” She clasped his hand tighter in hers. “Nothing is more important to me than you. I thought you knew that.”
He didn’t answer her, but kept his gaze steadily on her face.
She sighed and looked down at their clasped hands. “I was… detained on my way to see you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Elizabeth, just what aren’t you telling me?”
In the end she told him all of it. From the beginning, when she first suspected Clyde Morgan had been murdered, to her visits to the three people she thought had motives for murder, to her narrow escape the day before.
As she talked, his expression gradually grew more serious, until he was actually scowling at her. “You promised me you would be careful.”
“I really didn’t expect Iris to attack me.” She shuddered at the memory. “I just wanted to confirm my suspicions. I couldn’t make up my mind what to do about it until I was sure. I had those children to think about… I was afraid that Iris had become unbalanced and that the children were in danger.”
“Why didn’t you take George along with you?”
“I couldn’t convince him it was murder and I needed proof.”
“So you risked your life. If it hadn’t been for that boy…” He shifted his body and grimaced in pain.
“I know, I know.” She felt terrible causing him this much distress. She wanted to take care of him, take away the pain, make him forget his injuries and see him smile again.
“So what’s going to happen to them all?”
“I talked to the inspector last night. He thinks the boy will have to go into a remand home for a while. Katie has an aunt who is willing to take her until the family can be together again. I’m afraid Iris will have to pay for her part in concealing what happened and for attacking me. I spoke on her behalf, however, and considering the
