In the Still of the Night

ten-fifteen. My room is closer to the stairs, so I didn’t actually see her go to her room, but I assume she did.“
    “And you didn’t think to check on her until an hour ago?“ Walker said disbelievingly.
    “She didn’t come to breakfast, but we didn’t know her habits,“ Lily said, trying not to be defensive. “Lots of people don’t like breakfast. Two of the guests went for a walk through the woods with me this morning. Mr. West and his valet went to their rooms, I believe, and my brother took the others to town. It wasn’t until lunchtime that she was missed.“
    “And who discovered that?“
    “Our housekeeper, Mimi Smith, brought it to my attention.”
    Robert said, “As soon as we realized no one had seen her all morning, we went to her room. I found her dead.“
    “The room was unlocked?“
    “Nearly everything here is unlocked except this office, the pantry, Mr. Prinney’s safe, the wine cellar and the bookcases—for some unknown reason. Before we had guests here, we installed simple latch locks on the inside of the guest room doors. But her door wasn’t locked when Lily and I went to her room. We did tell everyone that there was a safe in the house where any valuables they were worried about could be put.“
    “And the latch lock showed no sign of forcing,“ Walker asked.
    “I didn’t notice,“ Robert replied.
    “Was she friendly with anyone here?“ Walker asked.
    “Not to say friendly,“ Lily said. And deciding that honesty was the best policy, she added, after a heavy sigh, “Mrs. Ethridge claimed that another of our invited guests, Miss Addie Jonson, had urged her to come. But Addie denies it and I believe her.“
    “That must have been awkward,“ Walker said with a glance that could only be called hooded.
    “You’ll have to ask Miss Jonson about that,“ Lily said. “It wasn’t awkward for us until we found out she was here under false pretenses. Except for Mr. West and his valet, these are all paying guests, Chief Walker. We needed another to make money on the venture and were originally glad Mrs. Ethridge wanted to come.“
    “You need to make money on guests?“ Walker replied with surprise.
    “Are you suggesting that’s illegal?“ Mr. Prinney put in quickly. “Mr. and Miss Brewster are not idle sloths on the fabric of society,“ he said and paused, wondering why he’d made such a mixed metaphor. “Why should they not wish to make their home available to paying guests?”
    That took Walker down a notch. “It isn’t illegal. It’s just odd. And it’s the odd facts that often unravel a crime.“
    “Has there, in fact, been a crime?“ Mr. Prinney asked.
    “Oh, yes. Your unwelcome guest was strangled quite efficiently,“ Howard Walker said.

Chapter 12

    “She was murdered?“ Lily asked weakly. “Are you sure?“
    “Quite sure,“ Howard Walker said.
    “But who—?“
    “That’s the important question, isn’t it? You said one of your guests knew her. Did any of the others?“
    “Mrs. Ethridge claimed to have known Julian West when they were young, although I couldn’t be sure he remembered her,“ Lily said. “And Raymond and Rachel Cameron talked to her a bit about mutual friends, but I didn’t have the impression that they’d ever met her.“
    “What was your feeling about her?“
    “I have to admit I didn’t much like her,“ Lily said. “She’d apparently lied about Addie asking her to come. And she was a...“ Lily paused, trying to find the right word. “She was a manipulator. In the very sweetest way.“
    “Explain that, please,“ Walker said.
    “Just little things. She arrived too early and she knew it, but claimed to have a good excuse. She had to rest, she needed to eat ‘just a little some- thing’ and had to have it brought to her room even though our staff was all obviously busy getting ready for the rest of the guests. She asked for a tiny dab of caviar with her snack. It was all very polite and helpless and feminine, but she seemed to me to be quite accustomed to charming people into doing exactly what she wanted. I may be being unfair to her, and might have liked her if I’d gotten to know her better.”
    Walker shook his head. “First impressions are often the most accurate. What was her relationship to your friend Miss Jonson?“
    “It’s not my business to talk about that,“ Lily said firmly. “I heard two entirely different versions of their relationship and I believe Addie’s. You need to question her