Mrs Jones answered the door wearing a pair of green rubber gloves.
“Is it that time already?” She checked her watch. “I’m really sorry. I’ve been cleaning the oven and I totally lost track of time. I’ve been meaning to do it for weeks now. I hate that job, don’t you?”
“Yes, it’s horrible.” Not that I’d ever done it. “I do appreciate you sparing me the time, Mrs Jones.”
“No problem, and please call me Lydia. Do come in. My husband has just gone into Washbridge, so we’ll have the house to ourselves.” Just me and Mrs Jones, then. “I’ll just take these gloves off and then I’m all yours. Why don’t you go through to the lounge and I’ll be with you in two ticks?”
The room was fussy, much like Mrs Jones. Every surface was covered with ornaments, all in the shape of weird fish-lizard like creatures. I took a seat on the sofa next to the window and a few minutes later, Mrs Jones joined me.
“I was just admiring your ornaments, Lydia.”
“As you’ve probably guessed, I’m a big fan of the axolotl.”
“Axo—?”
“Lotl. They’re so cute, don’t you think?”
“They’re lovely.” If you like fish with legs.
“I believe you want to talk to me about the missing goblet.”
“That’s right. How long have you worked for Caroline?”
“On and off, it must be nearly fifteen years now.”
“On and off?”
“I did leave for a short time a few years ago.”
“May I ask why?”
“It was that husband of hers. He was a difficult man to work for, very rude with a terrible short temper. On that particular day, the crust on the pie wasn’t to his liking, and he snapped at me for the umpteenth time. I’m sorry to say that I lost my temper and turned on him. He sacked me on the spot.”
“How long was it before you went back there?”
“Just over a couple of months. Caroline came to the house and practically begged me to go back. I wasn’t sure if I should or not, but Caroline said that she’d warned her husband that if he ever spoke to me like that again, she’d kick him out. Caroline is quiet most of the time, but when she gets riled, you know about it.”
“The house and family seem to have fallen on hard times.”
“That’s an understatement. The manor used to be such a happy, lively place. It’s hard to imagine now, but it was once a warm, welcoming house. Now, it’s just a pale shadow of its former self. It’s Caroline that I feel sorry for. She’s doing her best to turn things around, but she’s been landed with a huge tax bill. I’m not sure even she will be able to pull anything out of the bag this time. To be honest, I fully expect to be out of a job soon.”
“How well do you know the other members of the family, Lydia?”
“Some of them better than others. Elizabeth is a lovely woman. She’s always polite and she treats everyone with respect. Her brother is a different kettle of fish altogether.”
“Ransom?”
“Yes. That man is a horror. He always was, and he probably always will be. I heard the two of them arguing on that night.”
“On the night the goblet went missing?”
“Yes. I’d just finished for the day and I was on my way out of the kitchen when I heard them going at it in the hallway. I hung back a while because I didn’t want to walk into the middle of it.”
“Could you hear what they were saying?”
“No, and to be honest, I wasn’t interested. I just wanted to get home. As soon as they’d finished, I left the house.”
“Do you have any idea who might have taken the goblet?”
“None. I’m sure the others must have already told you this, but it’s an ugly thing. Caroline only kept it on display because of its important place in the family’s history, and I know she was devastated when she discovered it had gone missing.”
“Mulgrave told me that there used to be more staff at the manor house.”
“That’s right. At its peak, there were six of us. Now it’s just me and Mulgrave, and I’m surprised he’s still there.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Caroline was forced to cut his wages by almost half.”
“That’s a big drop.”
“I know. I fully expected him to leave. With his experience, he could easily have walked into a similar job elsewhere. There’s a shortage of experienced butlers in this country. I guess he stayed out of a sense of loyalty to Caroline.”
***
I’d just left Mrs Jones’ house and was making my way back to the old watermill, when I heard someone calling to me, “Hey there!”
I turned around to find the werewolf girl’s mother running down the road. By the time she’d caught up with me, she was red in the face and out of breath.
“Thanks for waiting.” She wheezed. “I’m not as fit as I used to be. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Donna. Donna Poulsen.”
“Pleased to meet you. Jill Maxwell.”
“I thought about coming over to say hello on Saturday at the dance class, but I figured it might be better to do it when your husband wasn’t around. For obvious reasons.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, but I could do with a sit down. Are you in a hurry, Jill?”
“Not particularly.”
“How about we go in there and grab a cup of tea?” She pointed to Tweaking Tea Rooms.
“Have you been in there before, Donna?”
“No, what’s it like?”
“The tea is okay, but the owner’s a bit—err—much.”
“I’m still up for it if you are.”
“Sure. Why not?”
As soon as
