“I work in historic houses, you know… and if I get in his way I could be… could be next…” Gerald slurred. “Oh, I appear to be a little tipsy. I think I’ll go… down lie. Lie down, I mean. Of course, that’s it.”
Gerald stumbled off. I watched him make his way over to Hannah and the other Brontë Society members.It’s interesting that he’s been drinking heavily all night, and looking nervous and upset, too, even though I didn’t find Hathaway’s body until a few minutes ago.
Something tapped at the window above my head. A dark shape silhouetted against the moonlight. “Quoth!” I cried. I lifted the latch and swung the window outward to admit him. Quoth hopped on my shoulder, croaking in concern.
I heard screaming and commotion,he said inside my head.And the police are here. Is something wrong?
“That scream you heard was mine,” I whispered to him. “Professor Hathaway was murdered. I found him in the antechamber. Someone stabbed him with his own sword.”
As discreetly as I could, I moved to a table in the corner of the room and set Quoth down on the back of a chair. Morrie and Heathcliff made their way over to me, and together we filled Quoth in on what happened.
I’ll fly around the grounds, see if I can spot where the murderer got away. He unfurled a midnight wing.
“Don’t bother,” Heathcliff growled. “All the alcohol and quail breast has gone to Mina’s head. She’s forgotten that we’re not actually detectives and we’re not getting mixed up in this.”
I sighed. He was right. Just because there was a murder at the Jane Austen Experience didn’t mean I had to jump in and try to solve it. In the last two murders, I’d had a personal reason for getting involved – the police blamed me for Ashley’s murder, and my friend Mrs. Ellis was in danger. But this time, I didn’t have any skin in the game. Judging from the horror I’d just seen, this murderer was one of the most dangerous I’d known. I didn’t want to come face-to-face with him or her any time soon.
“Please, everyone, if I may have your attention!” Cynthia stood behind the microphone, waving her arms about. “We’ve had quite a nasty surprise tonight, I’m afraid. We need you all the cooperate with the police detectives and answer their questions. They’re going to keep us in here while they secure the scene and conduct their interviews, and then we’ll all be allowed to go to our rooms.”
“I’m not staying in this house another moment!” cried one lady. “Not with a murderer on the loose!” A chorus of agreement cascaded through the ballroom.
“Unfortunately, it’s not possible for anyone to leave just yet, but the police will do their best to finish the interviews quickly. Of course, Grey and I understand that this is not how anyone expected the first annual Jane Austen Experience to go! If anyone wishes to leave tonight, my staff will be on hand to help with your bags and to arrange transportation and alternative accommodations. However, we do hope you will stay. Tonight’s incident looks to be a crime of opportunity undertaken by the Argleton Jewel Thief – a known criminal who the police assure me they are close to apprehending. We’ll be putting on extra security – there’s nothing we care about more than the safety of our guests. I know our dear Professor Hathaway would want the Jane Austen Experience to continue. With that in mind, we shall forgo the morning’s lecture program and instead host a memorial garden party tomorrow in the orangery in his honor!”
“This is ridiculous,” Alice said. “A man was just run through with a sword. The murderer is probably someone in this room, and all they can think about is tea parties and country dances.”
“What makes you think the murderer is in this room?” I asked.
“Professor Hathaway had a lot of enemies,” she whispered. “More than anyone here realizes.”
“Do you think this has to do with your story?” I asked. “You’re going to tell the police, right?”
“I’m not sure. But I can’t tell them what I know,” her eyes flashed at me, and she gripped my hands in hers. “Please, Mina, don’t mention the fact that I was talking to Professor Carmichael or planning a story about Hathaway. Someone else’s life is at stake if the information I have gets out.”
“Um…” That’s a weird thing to ask someone who’d just seen a dead body.
I was saved from answering by Hannah, who bustled past me and fell into Heathcliff’s lap. “Oh, it’s a tragedy! Heathcliff, please hold me. Hey, why is there a raven in here?” She reached out a hand to stroke Quoth’s back. He stiffened as she pawed at his feathers. A prickle of rage traveled up my spine. I knew Quoth wouldn’t like her touching him.
“Go on,” Morrie urged. “He particularly loves it when you quote Poe’s famous poem.”
“Croak!” The raven warned, darting from Hannah’s grip and settling on the chandelier above our table.
“Do you mean, ‘The Raven’? I know all the words, of course.” Hannah straightened her back. “Listen, Heathcliff. ‘Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—’”
SPLAT.
“Argh!” Hannah leaped up and clawed at her head. “He shat in my hair. That filthy bird defecated in myhair.”
“In that case, you should thank it,” Lydia called out. “It has improved your hairstyle.”
“Aeeeeeeeee!” Hannah screamed, clutching her head and fleeing the table.
“Croak!”
Chapter Twenty
Since I was the one who found the body, Hayes and Wilson interviewed me first. I gave them as true an account as I could remember, shuddering as I had to recall the details of the blade stuck deep in Hathaway’s chest, the hilt quivering in the brisk breeze blowing in from the window. I also told them about Gerald and the stain on his jacket and the tear in his cuff. Beside me, Morrie’s hand never left mine.
After they dismissed me, and Morrie and Heathcliff had given their statements, we had to walk back through the antechamber to get to our rooms. They’d roped off three-quarters of the room with crime scene tape, leaving the guests a narrow strip to walk. Morrie and Heathcliff flanked me, Quoth on Heathcliff’s shoulder, keeping up a steady barrage of insults to each other as a way of distracting me as we walked past the fireplace. It didn’t work, but I appreciated the effort.
