Northcott drew a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his brow. “I’m never going to get away for Christmas at this rate. I might as well tell the missus to go without me.”
Personally, Cecily thought, the constable was entirely too concerned with his holiday, but she refrained from saying so. “Don’t give up just yet, Sam.” She stood, forcing the constable to leap to his feet. “Our killer has committed four murders now without being detected, or thinks he has, and sooner or later he will make a mistake and give himself away.”
“I hope you’re right, m’m.” Northcott bent down to retrieve his helmet. “And I certainly hope it’s sooner rather than later. The inspector is going to find out about all this any minute now, and he’ll be breathing fire down my neck, make no mistake about that.” A light tap on the door turned his head. “Would that be the brandy, by any chance?”
“No doubt.” Cecily crossed the room and opened the door. Pansy held a tray containing a brandy bottle and two glasses. “Your carriage is on the way, m’m,” she announced, bending her knees in a curtsey.
“Thank you, Pansy.” Cecily reached for the tray. “I’ll take this. Go back to the foyer and watch for the carriage. Let me know the minute it arrives.”
“Yes, m’m.” Pansy disappeared, and Cecily carried the tray to her desk and set it down. “Help yourself, Sam. I must go up to my suite and get ready for my visit to the Bellevue mansion.”
“You don’t have time to join me, m’m?”
He didn’t look too disappointed when she shook her head. “Not this time. I think perhaps Mrs. Chubb might have some mince pies in the kitchen, if you’d like to call in there on your way out.”
“Yes, m’m. Much obliged, I’m sure.”
She was about to leave when he added, “Thank you, Mrs. B. I’m really glad of your help. This is a nasty one, to be sure. Just be careful, all right?”
“I will, Sam. You must be careful, too.” She closed the door and walked slowly down the hallway, deep in thought. This latest murder would seem to exonerate Basil. He could hardly have committed the crime while he was working at the factory.
Whether or not he was responsible for Jimmy Taylor’s death remained to be seen, but that was not her concern right now. The murders were piling up at an alarming rate. Her immediate objective was to find this diabolical monster and halt his terrible rampage.
If she and the constables couldn’t apprehend the killer, the news would be all over London, and Inspector Cranshaw would waste no time in getting to Badgers End.
Not only would Sam Northcott be in deep trouble, the Pennyfoot’s Christmas season could be a total disaster. Even she would think twice about spending a week or so in a village with a murderous maniac on the loose. The Christmas Angel had to be stopped, and there was no time to lose.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going on the sleigh ride,” Gertie said, wrapping a scarf around Lillian’s head. “I was so blinking sure the snow would all be melted before we could get out there.” She smiled at Daisy. “Now you can have some time off to spend with Doris.”
Daisy bent down to button James’s coat. “Doris is really busy with the pantomime. I think I’ll take Essie out for a walk in the pram. She looks like she needs some fresh air. Her skin is as pale as a lily.”
Gertie laughed. “That’s because she lives in London. You can’t get fresh air with all that smoke and dirt.”
Daisy patted James’s head and stood. “Yeah, I know. You’re lucky the twins live down here at the seaside. It’s a lot better for them.”
“Don’t I know it.” Gertie glanced in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes seemed to be sparkling. It had to be all that rushing around to get out. “I was lucky Lizzie didn’t have nothing to do today. She swapped her afternoon off with me. I promised her I’d bring her back some mistletoe, so I hope we find some.”
“What about the pantomime rehearsal this afternoon? Aren’t the twins supposed to be there?”
“Yeah, but it won’t hurt for them to miss one. I told Pansy to tell Mrs. Fortescue that I had an urgent appointment and had to take them with me.”
“Well, you’ll all have fun, I know,” Daisy said, sounding just a little bit envious.
Gertie gave her a sharp look. “Don’t you ever get tired of taking care of other people’s kiddies?”
Daisy shrugged. “What else would I be doing? It’s a lot more fun than being a housemaid. I never did like that job. Too much like hard work.”
“Well, I mean, don’t you ever wish you could meet someone and get married and have children of your own?”
Daisy’s face clouded over. “Not anymore. I did meet someone once, but I didn’t fit into his world, and he didn’t fit into mine.”
Gertie felt a pang of sympathy. “I remember. He was a toff, weren’t he? A bloody lord, of all things. Of course it wouldn’t work. Poor sods like us can’t mix with the toffs. That’s why I couldn’t go to London with Dan. He was used to all that high-society stuff. I’d have been bleeding miserable, just like you would have been, married to a lord.” She grinned. “Lady Daisy. Just doesn’t sound right, does it.“
“No, it doesn’t.” Daisy bent over to kiss Lillian’s cheek. “Be good, little ones. Behave yourselves this afternoon, and be nice to Mr. Russell.”
“We will,” the twins sang out together. Lillian grabbed hold of Gertie’s hand. “Come on, Mama. We don’t want to be late.”
James rushed to the door. “No! Mr. Clive might go without us!”
Daisy raised her eyebrows. “Mr. Clive?”
“They’ve heard me call him Clive for so long,” Gertie explained as she allowed her daughter to drag her to the door. “I’m surprised they remember to put the mister in front of it.”
Daisy laughed. “Have a lovely afternoon.”
She planned to do just that, Gertie told herself, as she hurried down the hallway after her children.
Clive was waiting for them in the lobby, nervously twisting a fur hat around and around in his hands. He grinned when he saw the twins and held out his arms.
Both children rushed forward and were swept up to his chest, each receiving a kiss before being set down on the floor again.
Clive turned to Gertie and swept her a deep bow. “Your carriage awaits, madam.”
Hearing Philip’s snort of derision behind the reception desk, Gertie sent him a glare before smiling at Clive. “We are ready, sir.”
James let out a howl of protest. “A carriage? I thought we were going riding on a sleigh!”
“We are,” Clive hurriedly assured him. “We have to go through the kitchen to it, though. I had to harness it up in the courtyard and leave it there. We’ll go out the back way.”
Gertie felt a little letdown. She would have loved to leave from the front of the country club, driving away from the entrance in high style with everyone watching her.
She soon forgot her disappointment, however, in the excitement of climbing aboard the sleigh. Touching the red leather seats, she thought it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Made of strong oak, the sides had been painted white with a wide red stripe curling along the sides.
Shiny brass fittings sparkled in the frosty sunlight, and the chestnut impatiently stamping its feet at the front wore red ribbons in its mane. Clive had even provided blankets-thick red fluffy ones to wrap around their knees.
The whole thing looked like it had been plucked from one of the twins’ picture books. James’s and Lillian’s faces glowed with excitement, and Gertie felt like hugging Clive for giving them such a special treat. She sat with an arm around each of her children as he climbed aboard.
“It’s good that we’re going today,” he said, gazing up at the clouds. I think the thaw is just about ready to settle in.”
“Then we’re going to enjoy the snow while it’s still here, aren’t we?”
The twins answered her with an enthusiastic “Yeah!” as the horse took off, dragging the sleigh behind him.
It was a bit bumpy, but once they got onto the Esplanade the sleigh ran smoothly over the packed snow. Gertie pointed out the Christmas goods in the shop windows as they sped by, and to her great delight, people on the street turned to wave at them.
