After getting their luggage secured, and then getting Lloyd, Ann, Judith, and Cooper settled into a carriage, Arthur joined Eunice in a carriage with Ivan and Georgette, tapping on the ceiling after he found his seat, which had the carriage surging into motion. They soon found themselves on Main Street, Eunice shifting on the seat to peer out the carriage window.
“You’re right. Muchhaschanged since I was last here,” she said, looking out at a three-story brick building. “Does that sign say Mason Mercantile?”
Arthur nodded. “It does, and you’ll find other Mason establishments all the way down Main Street until we reach West Granite. Your family now owns numerous businesses, including a photography studio, an apothecary, a feed store, a candy store, and a dress shop, to name a few.” He leaned forward and gestured out the window. “All the sidewalks are now constructed from wooden planks raised six inches off the ground, which helps keeps the perpetual mud from the spring thaw in the mountains out of all the businesses.”
“Dare I ask who was responsible for the improvements?” Eunice asked.
“I believe Hazel is behind the majority of the town’s renovation. She thought it was past time the Mason family did something beneficial for Butte besides being one of the main sources of employment for the residents.”
“I’m surprised Uncle Raymond was agreeable to that.”
Arthur grinned. “I believe that might be one of the reasons Hazel moved into the big house with Raymond and his wife, Clarice. Hazel seems unusually adept at badgering, and Raymond probably agreed to her renovation plans simply to put an end to that.”
“Hazel was always more cunning than anyone gave her credit for, including my father,” Georgette said. “Which is why I believe she belongs on our list of possible suspects, even though I’m not certain she would have had it in her to frame Eunice for my father’s murder.”
“Speaking of suspects,” Ivan began as he pulled a satchel from the floor, riffled through it, and then pulled out a sheaf of papers, “we need to go over our list of prime suspects one last time, just in case we’ve forgotten anyone.” He glanced at the papers. “I’m still convinced that Raymond, James’s only brother, seems the most likely suspect, which is why he’s at the top of my list. It was well known that he loathed the fact James never included him in the family business, as James believed Raymond lacked business acumen.”
“And while I agree that Raymond had cause,” Eunice countered, “he’s in his eighties now, which means he was in his seventies at the time of Grandfather’s death. He’s also never been athletically inclined or good with a pistol. I don’t know how he’d have been capable of taking Grandfather unaware, let alone shooting him.”
“That’s a good point,” Ivan conceded. “But because Raymond immediately moved into Mason Manor after James died, a house he always coveted, he’s still a viable suspect. Envy is a powerful motivator for violence.”
“And don’t forget Uncle Raymond got his hands on that telegram I sent to Aunt Hazel,” Georgette added. “He knew from thattelegram that I was staying in New York, but he never reached out to me. Instead, he decided to have me declared dead, which means”—her brows drew together—“perhaps I need to move Howard, Uncle Raymond’s son, up on my list. He had reason to resent Father because I’m sure he felt he deserved, being the only male Mason descendant, an important position within Mason Mines, something he was denied.”
Ivan wrote something down before he lifted his head. “Does that mean we want to move Howard’s wife, Hester, up the list?”
Georgette frowned. “That’s hard to say. Hester was always very socially motivated and felt her social ambitions were stifled with my father as the head of the family. He abhorred society and cautioned Hester about the inadvisability of her pursuing what he saw as a frivolous desire to rule Butte society. Clearly, Hester was loathe to procure Father’s displeasure, which had her scaling back her social ambitions. I imagine she resented that since she and Howard have two daughters, Doris and Alice, and her inability to climb the Butte social ladder affected her ability to secure advantageous marriages for her girls.”
“Did Howard and Hester also move into Mason Manor after James died?” Ivan asked.
Arthur shook his head. “They sold what Hester claims was a modest house on Broadway and moved into Raymond’s original house on West Granite.”
“It’ll be interesting to see how Hester reacts if Uncle Raymond and Aunt Clarice want to move back into their old house after they realize they have no right to Mason Manor,” Georgette said.
“I would think Hester would insist Howard build them an even nicer home,” Arthur said. “He’s become one of the leading businessmen in Butte, building up a tidy fortune he’s made through the profits at all the stores the Mason family now owns.”
“Where are Doris and Alice living?” Georgette asked.
“With their parents,” Arthur said. “Neither is married, much to Hester’s chagrin. She has, as I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear, turned into one of Butte’s leading society matrons. She hostsnumerous events at the Mason house on Granite Street as well as two balls a year at Mason Manor, taking over the responsibility of hosting from her mother-in-law, Clarice. She uses those events to showcase her daughters, but they’ve yet to settle into wedded bliss.”
Georgette frowned. “If memory serves me correctly, Doris and Alice were darling girls, which makes it surprising they’d become spinsters if they’ve been out and about at all those society events.”
“I don’t think they lack interested gentlemen, but their reluctance to settle on one of those numerous gentlemen may be a result of the time they spend running the Mason candy store, Doris and Alice’s Sweet Shop. It’s a highly successful business, and I know they spend a lot of time whipping up new candy recipes.” He nodded as the carriage rumbled past a storefront with a green-and-pink striped awning, the glass front window displaying numerous delectable-looking confections. “It’s right there.”
Eunice considered the shop until the carriage left it behind before she turned to him. “It looks like a delightful shop, and how fun for the town to have access to what I’m going to assume are mouthwatering treats. Perhaps I’ll find that I actually like my cousins after all these years, because it sounds to me as if they’ve turned very entrepreneurial over the time I’ve been gone, and that entrepreneurial spirit is very likely responsible for their unmarried state.”
“Is that why you’re still a spinster?” Georgette asked. “You’re too busy running your agency to set your sights on any of the gentlemen in New York?”
“I think my hiding underneath widow’s weeds has more to do with my unmarried state than any entrepreneurial spirit.” She caught Georgette’s eye. “However, do not under any circumstances decide you need to turn into one of those matchmaking mothers at this stage of my life. I’m far too old to have you take me in hand.”
“It’s never too late for a mother to turn an eye toward matchmaking or take a daughter who clearly needs assistance in hand. Besides, it’s not as if you’re ancient.”
“Something mothers always say when they don’t want to draw attention to their own age.”
Arthur turned a smile on Georgette, who was looking suitably disgruntled. “Don’t mind Eunice. I’m sure you know you don’t need to worry about your age because you don’t look a day over forty.”
Georgette’s disgruntlement disappeared in a flash. “You are adelightfulgentleman, and you would have made awonderfuladdition to the family if you and Eunice had decided to marry, and that’s not simply because we know you don’t want to murder us.”
Eunice laughed. “That’s one of the most unusual reasons I’ve ever heard given for wanting someone to join their family—that they’re not out to murder us.” She directed her attention out the window again as the carriage veered from Main Street and onto the gravel road that would take them to Mason Manor. “We’re getting closer.”
