“Miss?” The herbalist indicated her appointment book. “Will you come back in thirty minutes?”
“Not today,” I said.
I left, waited five minutes, then returned to the shop. There was no sign of the herbalist or her client. I quickly slipped behind the counter, pulled out the appointment book, and scanned the column of names. There was no mention of Lady Wrexham so she’d probably just returned to replenish her supply of the herbalist’s cure.
I flipped back through the pages until I came to the fifteenth, the day of Pearl’s death. Lady Wrexham’s name appeared with the time of three-thirty written next to it. The exact time Pearl was pushed over the balcony at the Piccadilly Playhouse.
Lady Wrexham couldn’t have killed her.
Something slapped the back of my head, pushing my hat forward over my forehead. I swung around and caught the broom before the bristles smacked me in the face. The herbalist pulled the broom free from my grip and aimed it at my chest like a shotgun.
Her face took on an even more witchy appearance with her sneer. “I knew there was something strange about you. Get out! Get out of my shop before I put a curse on you!”
Keeping the counter at my back, I slipped out of her reach and hurried from the shop. I raced to the street and didn’t stop until I was safely inside a hansom, heading home.
While the ordeal hadn’t been pleasant, I’d come away with a new appreciation for our kindly family doctor in Cambridge and a vital clue that eliminated Lady Wrexham from my list of suspects.
It wasn’t much, but it was something.
But I’d given up the case, of course. Striking Lady Wrexham off my list didn’t make me want to resume.
It bothered me leaving the matter unfinished, however. Lord Rumford was right to be upset with me for giving up. I just wished I could see a way forward.
“Cleo, there you are!” Flossy cried when she spotted me inthe hotel foyer. “I’ve had Harmony looking all over the hotel for you.”
I shrugged out of my coat and slung it over my arm. “Why?”
“It’s time to get ready for the Caldicotts’ dinner, silly.”
“Is that tonight?”
She gave me an exasperated look. “Yes! And we both need to get ready.”
“But it’s just gone five.”
She grabbed my arm and dragged me to the lift. John the lift operator waited with a smile and took us up to level four.
The door to my suite was unlocked and Harmony was inside, arranging things on my dressing table.
“I found her,” Flossy announced. “She was out.”
They both scowled at me as if I were a naughty child who’d dodged her chores.
“Do your best with what time you have, Harmony.”
I watched Flossy leave then turned to Harmony. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. We have over two hours before we have to leave.”
“Miss Bainbridge wants me to wash, dry and arrange your hair. She told me to make sure you look your best tonight.” She frowned. “Will there be gentlemen there?”
“I believe so.”
“Then it’s no wonder. We’d best get started.”
“It takes hours to dry my hair completely in winter. We won’t wash it tonight.”
Harmony waited for me to bathe then helped me dress in a black evening gown with pearlescent beads arranged in swirls and clusters across the bust and down the front. It was very elegant and appropriate mourning-wear. Despite Flossy urging me to set aside my dark mourning clothes, I wasn’t yet prepared to do so. My grandmother hadn’t even been gone two months.
While Harmony curled my hair with the tongs, I told her what I’d learned about the Wrexhams and their illness, and about Lady Wrexham’s visit to the herbalist.
