Because someone didn’t want her to reveal what she knew.
A crowd gathered at the edge of the wood. Lydia’s suitors crowded around her, offering her handkerchiefs and smelling salts. I had one better – Heathcliff raced over and mashed my body against his, crushing my ribs with the force of his embrace.
To Cynthia, Morrie said, “Have your security team guard the woods. Don’t let anyone in there, and don’t allow anyone to leave the grounds. You’ll need to call the police. You have another dead body.”
Cynthia sobbed. “How could this be? This will ruin us!”
“I’m sorry, Cynthia, but that should be the last thing on your mind.” I stumbled to my feet, aided by Morrie and Heathcliff. “Lydia, we’re leaving, now.”
“No, we’re not,” she moaned. “I told so many people last night that I’m staying at the infamous bookshop. The murderer will know to look for me there.”
“Bloody hell, Lydia!” I yelled. “This isn’t a game.”
“Don’t yell at me like that,” Lydia pouted. “You’ll stand a better chance of catching the killer if we remain here. I don’t wish to leave until I know this brute is safely in custody. My very life is at stake, in case you’ve forgotten!”
“She’s right. Besides, the police aren’t going to let us leave,” Morrie pointed out.
Quoth swooped in, folding in his wings and settling on my shoulder.I didn’t see anyone fleeing through the wood. There are a few people walking around by the house, including Gerald. But it’s possible the killer returned to the party via the rear of the orangery. There’s an open door there for the kitchen staff.
“You don’t think the killer was after you, Mina?” Lydia asked. “You entered the woods and then the next moment a woman in a similar pale dress is murdered. It’s just too grotesque to think about.” She shuddered.
“No, the killer was after Alice. He wrote the word LIAR on her chest. But there’s no telling what he might’ve done to me if I’d been there a few moments later…” I shuddered. Heathcliff’s body crushed mine again, as though he could someone squeeze the fear out of me.
“I, for one, don’t intend to stand around waiting to be beamed with a croquet mallet. We’ve got one choice,” Morrie declared. “We’re going to have to solve this murder ourselves.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’m in.” I shivered as the memory of Alice’s bloody face and Professor Hathaway’s silent scream flashed across my mind. “Where do we start?”
Heathcliff sighed. “If Mina insists on putting herself in the path of a murderer again, then I’m going to be at her side.”
“Croak,” Quoth added from my shoulder.
“And I guess I’ll help,” Lydia said. “Just as long as it doesn’t interfere with my husband-scouting duties. I believe that with liberal application ofsnogging, I can convince Mr. Grimsby to propose by the end of the weekend.”
Morrie glanced at Lydia as if he was about to say something, then thought better of it. “Very well. First, we need to establish whether both victims were murdered by the same person. If so, it puts the opportunistic killing of the professor to the test.”
Heathcliff pointed to the house. “There’s the windows that look in on Uppercross. Which window was open?”
I pointed. “The fourth on the left – it’s the one located directly behind Professor Hathaway’s chair. Morrie, you have your evil genius face on. What are you thinking?”
Morrie rubbed his chin. “I’m beginning to have an inkling of what’s happened here. Lydia, I require a distraction.”
She gave him a mock salute. “I shall oblige.” She ran off toward the patio.
“Let’s go.” Morrie grabbed my hand.
“We can’t just leave the scene! The police are going to be here at any moment. They’ll want—”
“Exactly. Less jabbering, more running. Heathcliff, hold the fort here for us.” Morrie dragged me across the lawn. Lydia had faux-fainted on the lawn and was busy being revived by the men. The security officers rushed the scene, but they were distracted by keeping guests from entering the wood and didn’t stop us as we raced inside Baddesley Hall.
“This way,” Morrie yanked me across the entrance hall. “Oh, my heart is racing a mile a minute. Mina, I have to tell you something.”
“Can it wait?”
“Not really. I love you.”
My throat tightened. I tried to put the breaks on, but Morrie only ran faster. He didn’t look at me. “Hang on. What did you just say?”
