“Because you’re a Bainbridge.”
“I’m a Fox,” I said snippily. “I’m also very friendly and accepting of people, no matter who they’re intimate with.”
“You’re also related to his employer.”
She was right. No matter how much I didn’t like it, the fact was, most of the staff treated me differently and always would. Mr. Armitage had been right about that. “Youdon’t seem to care that I’m Sir Ronald’s niece.”
She flashed me a smile as bright as the electric bulb hanging from the ceiling. “That’s because I’m different to most folk.”
“You certainly are, Harmony.”
Her smile vanished and she once again became serious. “So what should we do now?”
“I have an idea, as it happens. Mr. Culpepper the theater manager suggested that Lord Rumford was actually going to end the affair with Pearl because he didn’t believe she loved him completely.”
Harmony screwed up her nose. “Is that a good reason to end it with a lover who’s much younger and more attractive than yourself? I mean, didn’t he already know she didn’t love him and was just with him for the gifts?”
“Perhaps he was blind to her true feelings.”
“Stupid, more like.”
“Whatever we think, if there’s even the slightest chance Pearl could have killed herself, we must consider it. We aren’t positive she was murdered yet.”
Harmony drained her teacup and set it down. “So you think we should ask Rumford if he was going to end it with her?”
I shook my head. “Not ask. Would he even give us a direct answer? He won’t want us to think he was responsible for her throwing herself off the balcony.”
“If Pearl wasn’t in love with him, she wouldn’t have thrown herself off the balcony if he was going to end it with her. She’d be relieved she could move onto someone else.”
It was what I’d thought too. “Mr. Culpepper thinks she liked the gifts too much and if she was having financial difficulty, she might be worried about losing Rumford.”
Harmony sat up straight, putting both feet on the floor. “This is all backward, Cleo.”
If she realized she called me Cleo instead of Miss Fox, she gave no sign, and I didn’t correct her. I didn’t wantto. It felt right that we were on a first name basis. “I still think we need to rule it out if it will prove Mr. Culpepper was lying and deliberately putting the idea into my head.”
She slipped her shoes on and bent to tie the laces. “And how are we going to do that?”
“I’ll enter Lord Rumford’s room when he’s not there and look for clues. There might be some correspondence from Pearl or details about this holiday they’re going to take together in the autumn.”
The idea didn’t shock her in the least. She finished tying her shoes and looked up. “We’ll need his key. I don’t do his room and I don’t want to ask the maid who does. The fewer people who know what we’re up to, the better. We could get Peter to let us into Mr. Hobart’s office and use his spare key.”
I’d learned in my last investigation that Mr. Hobart kept spare keys for all the rooms, as did the housekeeper. I’d also learned that the keys were kept in a locked drawer in Mr. Hobart’s office and he kept that key on his person, and another with the assistant manager. Mrs. Short’s spare keys were also kept in a locked box in her office. There was only one person I knew who could get into all those locks. Victor. There was also just one door that needed to be unlocked.
“We’ll bypass Mr. Hobart’s office and his spare keys and break into Rumford’s room,” I said. “Victor will do it.”
“And be glad to, knowing him.” She frowned. “What do you think he did before he came to work here?”
“I’m not sure. I thought you knew.”
“Something wild, I expect. He’s a no-good character, that one.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It’s written all over his face.”
“If you mean his scars, that’s a little unfair. Without them, he’d have quite a sweet, babyish face.”
She stood suddenly and peered down at me. “Victor is neither sweet nor good, and you should remember that. He’s trouble.”
