“And everyone was there when you brought in dessert?”
“I think so. Alex had received a text or phone call earlier and said he had to go outside and take it. I remember because Miles gave him a hard time and said they weren’t supposed to have their phones with them during these dinners. But he was back when I served dessert.”
“He didn’t say who the call was from?”
“He did not.”
“Then what happened?”
I put up my hands helplessly. “Half an hour later, I went to check on them, and there was nobody in the room but Randolph. And he was sound asleep on the table.”
“Where did the others go?”
“I didn’t hear them, but Randolph said they went down to play billiards.”
I took a deep breath. This was the hardest part. “I was clearing the table when I heard the yelling.”
“And Randolph was the only one in the dining room?”
“Yes.”
“And then exactly what did you see and hear?”
“It was absolute chaos, as you can imagine. I ran toward the sound, which was coming from a floor below. Rafe came running down from upstairs and pushed in front of me and told me to stay where I was.”
“And knowing you, you didn’t stay put,” Ian said. He knew me pretty well.
“No. I thought I might be needed. So I followed him downstairs. And when I got there, everyone seemed to be in the billiard room.” I had to swallow and take a moment. Seeing someone I had known for such a long time murdered like that wasn’t easy to think about, never mind picture again with every detail I could bring up. As though I wasn’t going to be doing that every time I woke up in the night. “Pamela was on the billiard table. I think the first thing I remember thinking was how strange that it was a red, felt table. I’ve always been used to green ones. And then the strange way she was lying. I thought at first she was meant to be imitating the crucifixion.” I showed him with my own arms outstretched.
“But then I saw the belt.” I felt a coldness creeping up the back of my spine. I wanted to cry and scream and preferably throw myself under the covers of my bed and hug my sweet Nyx. But instead I had to hold it together and try and stay calm. “Well, you saw her. She was laid out to imitate the emblem of the Knights of the Garter.”
“Why do you think that was?”
“How would I know? I was just a waitress here.”
He only looked at me, and then I said, “It is St. George’s Day today. And St. George is the patron saint of the Knights of the Garter.”
“You seem to know a lot of history for someone who was just here as a waitress.”
“Rafe told me.”
“Ah, yes. Rafe. Who, I believe, was also a Gargoyle back in his time here.”
“Since he was wearing that fancy dress, I guess so.”
“Do you have any idea who would want to kill Pamela?”
“I really don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but Pamela had a habit of making enemies. I know it sounds awful to say something so cruel about someone who has recently died and someone I’ve known so long, but when she stole my boyfriend when we were teenagers? I think she was just practicing. I think that Pamela was a woman who was always looking for the next step in her ladder.”
“And you’re saying she used men as rungs in that ladder?”
“I think she’d use anyone. Women who were friends, men who were lovers, it was like she was oblivious to the damage she caused. Or she just didn’t care.”
“Did you get the idea that anyone here tonight had bad feelings toward her?”
“No. I mean, we were all so busy. I mostly noticed how lazy she was. She never seemed to be there when there was food to be taken out or a table to be cleaned. Oh, I did see her talking to Alex, though. In a way that seemed a bit more intense than, “Are you finished with your soup?”
“But you didn’t hear what they said?”
I shook my head.
“Thank you very much, Lucy. I can get someone to drive you home.”
“That’s okay. I’ll find a ride.” I doubted William would have left without me. And, if I knew Rafe, and I did, he’d be waiting to take me home.
Chapter 9
I was right. Rafe was waiting for me. He’d told William to go on ahead with Violet. I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised, however, to find that Lochlan Balfour was grabbing a ride back to Oxford with us and that he was staying with Rafe.
“Quite the evening you invited me to,” the blond vampire said in his soft Irish accent.
“I can’t pretend I didn’t suspect there’d be trouble but nothing as bad as this.”
“No. I believe you asked me here to prevent drunken rampages and vandalism.”
“Anything that would give Gargoyles an even worse reputation, yes.”
I didn’t say anything, but I was pretty sure murder wouldn’t help their reputation.
“According to the housekeeper, Pamela claimed Alex was her boyfriend.” I related the story Shannon Briggs had told me about Pam putting herself naked into Alex’s bed.
“Yes. His father threw that at his head, too, while we were sitting in the library being called in one by one to be interviewed by the police.”
Lochlan chuckled softly. “I’ve an idea that Hugo Percival Brown isn’t a man who enjoys being ordered about by anyone, especially not the police. He’s one as likes to do the ordering.”
“Did Hugo suspect Alex of deliberately inviting her so he’d have some female companionship?”
“Or to goad his da perhaps. I’d wager Mr. Percival Brown expects a great deal from that son of his, including the right marriage.”
I didn’t like Pamela, but she wasn’t completely unworthy. “She was studying at Oxford,” I reminded Lochlan. “You have to be very bright to get in.”
“Even to study the history of art?” Lochlan sounded
