would be back ready to arrest Gertie and take her into custody.
There was one question hovering around in her mind to which she would like an answer. She would very much like to know how Archie Parker knew that the murder weapon was taken from the hallstand in the foyer.
All in all, there was a great deal of information being passed around the Pennyfoot, and she would give anything to know who was doing the talking.
Gertie finished polishing the last wineglass and stuck it on the shelf in the cabinet. Mabel had given her the message earlier that madam wanted to see her, and Gertie was anxious to get it over with. Any time someone wanted to talk to her she got nervous now. She couldn’t forget that the constable thought she’d killed Ian, and she was really hoping madam was going to tell her that the killer had been found and arrested and that she had nothing more to worry about. But it was almost three o’clock, and she wanted to spend a little time with the twins before getting the ballroom ready for the pantomime that evening. The way things were going, it looked as if she’d get no more than five minutes with them.
Pansy had already disappeared, probably gone looking for Samuel. Mrs. Chubb was in her room and Michel was out somewhere for a walk. This was the quietest time of day for the staff, and Gertie always tried to make the most of it.
Hurrying along the corridor to her room, she thought about how she’d get the twins to make paper chains so they could hang them on the walls. It would keep their minds off Father Christmas and how soon he was coming.
She could hear their voices as she reached the room, arguing again. Pulling a face, she opened the door and looked in.
Daisy sat on the bed, reading as usual. The twins were playing tug-of-war with a toy boat, Lillian insisting it was her turn to play with it and James loudly arguing that it was his boat.
Gertie rolled her eyes. “James! Let Lilly play with that for a while. I have to go and talk to madam but I’ll be back in a little while and we’ll make paper chains, all right?”
The twins went on wrestling with the boat.
Daisy looked up. “Will you be long? I wanted to go into town to get some knitting wool.”
Gertie blinked as James raised his voice even higher. “I’ll only be a minute or two,” she said, raising her own voice above her child’s. “Try and keep those two quiet until I get back.” She shut the door on the noise and fled back down the corridor to the stairs.
She reached the main hallway and was halfway across the foyer when someone called her name. Turning, her stomach dropped when she saw Ian’s wife, Gloria Johnson, walking toward her. The last thing she needed was a fight with her. Clenching her fists, she waited for the other woman to reach her.
Gloria stopped a few feet from her, her face full of hostility. “I wanted to talk to you,” she said, her voice low and angry.
“What about?”
“About my husband, of course.”
Gertie glanced around the empty foyer. Everyone was taking a little time off or a nap in their rooms. Though it wouldn’t be long before someone would come in and disturb them. “What about Ian?”
“I want to know why he came to see you the night he was killed.”
“He didn’t come to see me. He came to see the twins.”
“That’s what he said.”
Gertie sighed. “That’s what he meant. There was no love lost between me and Ian. We hated each other.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“Well, then you heard wrong.” Gertie made a move to leave, but Gloria’s next words stopped her.
“Do you know who killed him?”
Taking a deep breath, Gertie turned around. “I haven’t got the faintest idea who killed your husband. The last time I saw Ian Rossiter he was alive and kicking. You can bloody believe that or not, I don’t care.”
“I think your boyfriend killed him.”
Gertie blinked. “What? Who? Are you talking about Dan Perkins?”
“If that’s his name.” Gloria kept looking over her shoulder as if she were afraid of being overheard. “All I know is that he was punching the daylights out of my husband down at the pub the night he died.”
Gertie felt her jaw drop. “My Dan was fighting with Ian? What for?”
The front door opened suddenly, making Gloria jump. She sent a scared glance at the door then seemed to relax as an elderly couple strolled in. Moving closer to Gertie, she lowered her voice even more. “I don’t know what it was about, but yes, he was fighting with Robert. Where do you think my husband got that black eye? If you don’t believe me, ask them down at the pub. They’ll tell you. Lots of people must have seen them going at it.”
Gertie stared at her for a long moment, then said quietly, “I never pay any attention to gossipmongers. I have to go now.” This time she didn’t wait for Gloria to answer. Turning her back on her, she strode purposefully toward the hallway and didn’t stop until she reached madam’s office.
CHAPTER 13
Seated at her desk, Cecily raised her head at the sound of Gertie’s knock. “Come in!”
Gertie appeared in the doorway, her cap askew as usual and strands of hair falling across her forehead. She barged into the room and shut the door with a resounding thud. “You wanted to see me, m’m?”
Noting the two bright spots of red on Gertie’s cheeks, Cecily waved at a chair. “Sit down, Gertie.”
The housemaid sat, her chest heaving as if she was having difficulty breathing.
Cecily waited a moment to give her time to calm down, then enquired gently, “You seem to be upset about something. Do you want to tell me what happened?”
Gertie pressed her lips together, then let out her breath in an explosive sound of exasperation. “Gloria. I just bumped into her in the foyer.”
“I see. I assume the exchange was less than cordial.”
“She wanted to know if I knew who killed Ian. She told me she thought it was Dan Perkins.”
“Oh, dear.” Cecily closed her ledger and set it aside. “I hope you set her straight.”
“You bet I bleeding did… sorry, m’m.”
“Quite all right, Gertie.”
“Yes, well, that weren’t the worst of it.”
Eyeing her warily, Cecily waited for her to continue.
“She said Dan was fighting with Ian down the pub that night,” Gertie burst out at last.
“Oh, I see.” Cecily paused, wondering how much to tell her. “Actually, I had heard that from someone else.”
“Who?” Gertie leaned forward, eyes blazing. “Well, they was wrong. My Dan wouldn’t-” She broke off, her eyes growing wide. “Oh, bugger.”
Cecily waited.
Gertie fidgeted around for several seconds, before saying carefully, “If I tell you something, m’m, can you promise not to tell the constable?”
“I wish I could.” Cecily sighed, “I’m sorry, Gertie. We are dealing with a murder here. After all, someone brutally hit Ian over the head and killed him. I can’t promise to keep important information from the police. I think you’d better tell me what you know, or you could end up in a great deal of trouble.”
“If I’m not already.” Gertie stared gloomily at her knees. “It’s just that, well, I was out with Dan last night and he had this graze on the side of his face. He said he had an accident in the car, but I couldn’t see no mark on the car but he said he’d rubbed it out, but then Gloria said he was fighting and…” She paused for breath.
“You think he might have got the graze from the fight,” Cecily finished for her.
Gertie nodded, her face a sea of misery. “That doesn’t mean he killed him, though, does it. I saw Ian later that night and he had a black eye. Gloria said Dan gave it to him. But then if I saw him after the fight was over it could