“Much better, thank you. I’m still a little unsteady on my feet, but I’m getting there, slowly but surely.”
“Once the drugs that Ransom was feeding her are out of her system, she’ll be fine,” Elizabeth said. “Do take a seat, Jill. I’ll go and make a cup of tea.”
Elizabeth disappeared out of the room, and I took a seat next to Caroline.
“It’s a pity I didn’t listen to Elizabeth earlier,” she said. “She told me she suspected that Ransom was behind all of this Mulgrave business, but I didn’t want to believe it. He’s always been a bad lot, but I never thought he was capable of something like this. What about you, Jill, are you alright? I’m surprised you managed to overpower him. Ransom is a big man.”
“I’m fine. I can handle myself. How is Ransom? Have you heard?”
“He’s out of hospital and in police custody. He has some bruising to the head, but no permanent damage.”
Elizabeth came back into the room, handed out the tea, and then joined us at the table. “I have a few questions for you, Jill, if that’s alright?”
“Sure. Fire away.”
“How did you find the secret passageway that leads out under the back garden?”
“I’d love to be able to tell you that it was great detective work, but the truth is, it was pure luck. I sneaked into the house on Friday night, to check on Caroline. On my way back out, I saw Ransom, and curiosity got the better of me. I followed him, saw him open the wall that led into the secret passageway, and managed to slip in behind him.”
“What do you think actually happened between Ransom and Mulgrave?”
“Unless Ransom decides to confess everything, we may never know. I’m pretty sure Mulgrave had known about the secret passageway and vault for some time, perhaps even years. Since he discovered its whereabouts, he’s been trying to open the vault, but without the combination, it was a hopeless endeavour. That’s the reason he went for a walk most evenings. He didn’t want to use the entrance inside Tweaking Manor in case he was seen, so he used the one at the far side of the grounds. That would also explain why he didn’t leave your employment when you cut his wages. A butler, with his wealth of experience, could easily have walked straight into another job, but he didn’t want to leave Tweaking Manor while there was still a chance that he might get his hands on the treasure in the vault.”
“How did Ransom get involved?” Caroline asked.
“It all started on the night of your birthday when he was playing billiards with Dominic. He’d had a few drinks and knocked the goblet onto the floor. The base dislodged and Ransom saw a series of numbers engraved inside. He obviously thought it was the combination to the vault. He must have heard the rumours that Mulgrave knew the whereabouts of the vault, so he approached him and struck a deal. Mulgrave would take Ransom to the vault, and Ransom would use the numbers he found to open it. But once Mulgrave had shown him the vault, Ransom no longer needed him.”
“So he killed him and made it look like suicide?”
“I believe so. Then he planted the goblet in Mulgrave’s room to provide a motive for him taking his own life.”
“The whole affair is beyond dreadful,” Caroline said. “I feel terrible about what happened to Mulgrave. He was wrong not to tell us about the vault, but he didn’t deserve to die in that way.”
“What will you do now that you know the whereabouts of the vault?”
“There’s not much we can do without the combination,” Elizabeth said.
“Couldn’t you bring in someone to crack it open?”
“We’ll definitely investigate that possibility, but given its whereabouts and construction, it would probably cost a small fortune to get inside it, and neither of us believes there’s likely to be anything of value in there. Our current financial situation is bad enough without spending money on a fool’s errand.”
***
I’d asked Jack to take Buddy for a walk so that I could be alone with Florence when I magicked us over to Candlefield for the first time. Needless to say, Buddy had shown the usual degree of enthusiasm for the walk, and Jack had practically had to drag him out of the front door.
“How do we get to Candlefield, Mummy?” Florence said. “Do we catch a bus?”
“No, darling, we have to use magic to get there.”
“But, Mummy, you haven’t shown me that spell.”
“That’s okay, darling. I’ll magic us both over there.”
“How?”
“It’s very simple. Just hold my hand and the next thing you know, we’ll be there.”
“Will it make me dizzy?”
“No, you’ll be fine. Take Mummy’s hand.” She hesitated for a moment, but then put her little hand in mine. “Okay, I’m going to count to three, and then we’ll go. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“One, two, three. And here we are.”
Florence looked around. “Is this Candlefield, Mummy?”
“Yes, darling, this is Cuppy C. Look, the twins are over there, behind the counter.”
“Hi, Florence,” Pearl shouted.
“Yoohoo.” Amber waved.
The twins’ daughters appeared from behind the counter.
“I’m Lily.” She gave Florence a hug.
“I’m Lily too.” Lil joined in the hug-athon.
I shot Amber a puzzled look.
She shrugged. “Lil has decided to call herself Lily.”
“Right.” That wasn’t going to be at all confusing.
“Would you like something to drink, Florence?” Pearl said.
“Mummy said I could have a strawberry milkshake.”
“In that case, I’d better get you one.”
“What about something to eat, Florence?” Amber pointed to the display in front of her. “We have lots of tasty buns.”
Florence stuck her nose on the glass and studied them. “Could I have the pink one, please?”
“The strawberry cupcake? Of course you can.
