“It’s not! It’s not!” Lillian tugged on Cecily’s sleeve. “I saw him just now. I did! I did!”
“Shut
Cecily straightened, and patted Lillian’s head. “It’s all right, my precious. If you say you saw an elf, then I believe you.” She smiled at Daisy. “Lots of children have imaginary friends. I don’t think it will do any harm.”
“He’s not a friend.” Lillian sounded belligerent. “He’s a Christmas elf and he brought us a present.”
At that moment a small group of guests entered the lobby, their voices raised in laughter. Cecily bent over to hear the child better just as James gave Lillian another shove, sending her into Cecily. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone. Now Father Christmas won’t come!”
“James!” Daisy stepped forward and grabbed the boy by the collar of his coat. “How many times do I have to tell you? Do not push your sister like that. You’ll hurt her.”
Lillian began to whimper, and Cecily pulled her close. “Daisy’s quite right, James. It isn’t nice to be so rough with your sister. Now tell her you’re sorry.”
James kicked the carpet and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“There.” Cecily gave Lillian a little push away from her. “You see? James is sorry.”
For answer, Lillian gave her brother a hefty shove, and received an ear-splitting howl of protest. Heads turned, and Daisy hastily grabbed the hands of her charges. “I think it’s time we got out in the cold fresh air.”
“Good idea.” Cecily hugged each of the children again. “Have a good walk, my dears. You need to be really tired so that you can go to sleep early before Father Christmas comes.”
“
“He will. I promise.” Cecily watched them leave, thinking wistfully of how magical Christmas was to children. How wonderful it would be if everyone, young or old, could feel that same magic.
It was a little hard, she thought as she climbed the stairs, to keep up the Christmas spirit with so much on her mind. If only she could get everything resolved before the end of the day. That didn’t seem very likely at present.
In fact, she was really beginning to worry about Gertie. If something didn’t turn up in the murder case soon, her chief housemaid might very well find herself escorted down to the police station under suspicion. Somehow she had to find out what happened, before the last hours ran out.
CHAPTER 21
Kept busy with the extra work, the next hour flew by after all for Gertie. After helping Pansy make the beds, she dusted all the rooms while Pansy swept the carpets.
She was in such a rush for the day to go by, she actually finished her chores early, and decided to sneak a few minutes with the twins before she had to start getting everything ready for the midday meal.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, however, Clive ambled toward her, his cap in his hands. “I was hoping to catch you,” he said, as she paused in front of him. “There’s something I’d like to show you, if you have a moment or two.”
Slightly irritated at losing the chance to see her children, she glanced at the clock. “I only have about ten minutes.”
“I’ll be as quick as I can.” He paused, then added, “It’s rather important.”
Curious now, she nodded. “All right. What is it?”
“It’s outside.” He gave her an anxious look. “You’ll need your shawl.”
She shook her head. “Nah, I don’t have time to get it. I’ll be all right. Where outside?”
“I’ll show you.” He led the way to the door, and, thoroughly intrigued, she followed him.
She couldn’t imagine what it was he wanted to show her. It hadn’t snowed in the last four days, so it couldn’t be a snowman. Which was just as well, since she wasn’t too fond of snowmen.
Stepping out onto the porch, she shivered. The wind was blowing directly off the ocean, bringing a salty chill she could feel in her bones. Before she could take another step, she felt a warm weight on her shoulders.
Taken by surprise, she hugged Clive’s jacket to her. It covered her knees, and still held the warmth of his body. “Thank you!” She looked up at him, concerned to see him in shirtsleeves. “But now you’ll be cold.”
“I’m used to it. Come.” He beckoned her to follow him and she obeyed, trudging behind him as he strode ahead around the corner of the building and across the lawns.
He kept up such a pace she was out of breath by the time they reached the edge of the woods. The dark skies made the shadows even deeper among the trees, and a damp mist cloaked the trail.
Gertie had kept expecting Clive to halt long before they reached the woods. Instead, he kept up the steady pace, charging ahead through the trees. She followed more slowly, doubts beginning to creep in. She couldn’t imagine why he’d brought her all this way to show her something. Only then did she remember about Ian.
She remembered Clive that night, skulking across the yard long after he was supposed to have left for home, and soaking wet, like he’d been out in the rain. If Clive had killed Ian, then he had been the one to leave that candlestick under her bed in the hopes she’d be blamed for the crime.
A pang of fear dried her mouth. What if he was going to arrange some kind of accident to get rid of her? Then no one would know for sure that she hadn’t killed Ian, and Clive would be in the clear.
She thought back, trying to remember if anyone saw her leave the building with him. Philip must have been behind the reception desk, but that didn’t mean he’d seen her. It was Christmas. No one was coming or going, and Philip would sit on a chair and read when it was quiet.
Gertie gulped. She’d been pretty stupid to trust Clive so completely. He could have lied about Ian being gone when he got to the coal shed. He could easily have bashed Ian on the head and shoved him in the pond, then brought the key back with no one the wiser.
Heart pounding, Gertie came to a halt. She was too far from the club for anyone to hear her, and she had no doubt that Clive could easily outrun her.
From up ahead Clive’s voice drifted back to her, muffled and strangely high-pitched. “Here it is! Over here!”
Torn with indecision, Gertie hesitated. Clive had protected her so many times. She found it hard to believe he would hurt her now. Then again, if she was wrong about him, she could be making the biggest mistake of her life.
Nevertheless, she felt compelled to find out what it was he was so anxious to show her. Praying that she wasn’t walking into a trap, she started forward to the clearing where Clive waited for her.
Seated in her office, Cecily glanced at the clock. Another two hours before the midday meal would be served. Plenty of time to go into town and back. By now Samuel would have the carriage ready for her. With luck she would be back long before Baxter returned.
Several minutes later she was on her way down the Esplanade. Mabel lived in a boarding house on the edge of town, and Cecily felt a stab of apprehension as Samuel brought the carriage to a halt outside the drab looking house. Until now she hadn’t considered the possibility that Mabel might have an accomplice, in which case, her meeting with the maid might be a little more dangerous than she had anticipated.
“Perhaps you’d better come with me,” she told Samuel, as he opened the door of the carriage. “I think I might need your protection.”
Samuel looked alarmed. “I thought you were just going to visit Mabel.”
Cecily sighed. “I am. I should have told you all this before. There’s a possibility that Mabel has been stealing from the guest rooms and I don’t know if she has an accomplice.”
Samuel’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you think it might have been better to let the constable handle this?”
“P.C. Northcott isn’t here, Samuel, and I really don’t want to call in the inspector or the Wellercombe police.”
Samuel looked as if he would like to turn the horse around and leave as fast as possible. “Very well, m’m. Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you.”
Cecily smiled. Samuel could always be relied upon to help her in an emergency. “Come, then. I’m sure I’m worrying about nothing, but it doesn’t hurt to lean on the side of prudence.”
