“Please come in and show us. Our thought is the book may give us clues as to why she died when she did.”
Jebus, followed by Josiah, came into the cabin. Without speaking, they went to either end of the rug on the floor and rolled it back. They carefully pulled up a board.
“I thought there might be a loose board, but I didn’t consider it would be so far under the rug,” Cecilia said quietly to James as they stepped closer to see what the twins did.
Jebus reached into the hole and pulled out a light-brown leather bag tied with what looked to be a drapery cord. He frowned as he shook it. He looked at his brother. “It’s not here,” he said, the most words Cecilia or James had yet heard him speak.
“May I?” Cecilia asked, reaching out for the bag. Jebus handed it to her, then reached down into the hole again. Cecilia saw him frown and sit back on his heels when he pulled out his hand, not finding anything else in the hiding place.
The bag was fairly light and soft. It crinkled when squeezed, releasing the scent of a kind of odd mint. She wrinkled her nose. It was not a scent she favored.
She loosened what looked like an old gold drapery cord holding it closed and opened it. Her brow lifted slightly at the sight of the contents. She passed it to James to look inside. She didn’t know for certain; however, she’d wager the bag held enough pennyroyal for a grand, murderous tea party. A shiver went down Cecilia’s spine.
Josiah stood up and looked in the bag. “Is that the stuff she wanted?”
“I believe so,” Cecilia said.
“Huh.” Josiah turned to look at his brother. “It’s no wonder that apothecary said he were runnin’ low and could only give us a small amount.”
“Which apothecary was that?” James asked.
“Thorne’s in Maidstone.”
“You and your brother tried to buy pennyroyal for Miss Inglewood?” James continued.
“Yeah. She begged us, ya see. But he didn’t have much left. We took what he had,” Josiah said as Jebus rose to his feet to stand beside him.
“Sold out,” Jebus added.
“Did either of you ask who else had purchased the plant?”
“Yes, sar,” Jebus said, surprising Cecilia. “He wouldn’t say.”
“As would be proper,” James said, nodding. “An ethical apothecary.”
Cecilia nodded. “Ethical, but disappointing for our purposes.”
James looked at Cecilia. “We may need to go to Maidstone,” he said solemnly.
“Have you any other ideas where Miss Inglewood may have hidden the book?” Cecilia asked. “I have looked in all other places I could think of, including under the bed linens and under the bed.” For some reason, she couldn’t answer for herself, Cecilia did not want to reveal to the twins that she may have found the book. She wanted James and her to review the book first before others. She had a feeling that what Miss Inglewood wrote would not be complimentary to most of her associates.
“We’d best get back,” Josiah said to Jebus. “Pa will be lookin’ fer us.”
Jebus nodded.
“Sorry we didn’t find the book,” Josiah said to Cecilia and James.
“That is quite all right,” Cecilia told him. “You did lead us to something that is perhaps more interesting.”
They both nodded, then left.
Cecilia watched them walk down the path away from the cottage, then she shut the door.
“I presume you do know where the diary is?” James said to Cecilia. She smiled up at him.
“Help me move the bed away from the wall.”
As they pulled the bed away, they heard a thunk. Cecilia ran around to the back of the bed. “When I picked up the mattress to look under it, I thought I saw a book caught between the bed and the wall.” She bent over to reach down between the wall and the bed and pulled out a book.
