In the Still of the Night

old-fashioned laments were being sung. Mr. Prinney had given up for the evening and Lily sat quietly with Mrs. Prinney and the sleeping babies.
    “Have you enjoyed yourself, dear?“ Mrs. Prinney asked.
    “Oh, yes.“
    “I met Mr. Prinney at a Fate, you know,“ she said, pronouncing it as the locals did. “I was a slim girl then if you can believe it, and a fine dancer. I wore my best pink dress that year and it was the first time he’d noticed me. We married six months later.“
    “How nice,“ Lily murmured. She was so tired she was on the brink of falling asleep. “This is the first time I’ve really felt that I’m part of Voorburg. That people just accepted me as a neighbor.“
    “The Fate does that to people,“ Mrs. Prinney said softly, stifling a yawn.
    Young women were starting to come to gather up their babies and Lily helped them for a while before going inside. She wanted more than anything to take a quick bath and go to bed, but as hostess she had duties to perform before she could indulge herself.
    She went from room to room slipping cards under bedroom doors that gave the menus, times of meals and possible activities for the next day. It was supposed to have been the last full day, but she feared she’d be stuck with a houseful of guests who would have to be fed while Howard Walker continued his questioning.
    She really wanted more than anything for them all to leave, so she could sleep soundly for two days, then count up the profits. Next time they tried this, if they did it again, she wouldn’t let herself get so weary before anyone arrived.
    As she left the notes, she tapped on the doors, taking “roll“ once more. Bud Carpenter answered the door and she caught a glimpse of Julian West crossing the room in his stocking feet.
    Rachel was already in her nightclothes with cold cream on her face and looked clownish. Too bad Robert wasn’t around to see her this way.
    When she tapped on Raymond’s door, he called out, “Who’s there?“ suspiciously and she merely slid his note under the door.
    The music from outdoors faded to merely one banjo and she could hear automobile doors slamming and motors starting up. She went to Cecil’s room and received no response. Thinking he might have fallen into a deep sleep after his exertions on the lawn, she peeked in the door. No sign of him. That was worrisome.
    But as she headed back down the stairs, she met him limping up them.
    “I was looking for you,“ she said.
    Cecil winced. “I haven’t gotten that much exercise in one day for the last ten years at least. I seriously considered crawling up the stairs instead of trying to walk.“
    “Where did you learn to dance that way?“ Lily asked.
    “I grew up spending summers with my grandmother in Virginia. They do a lot of dancing in Virginia.”
    Lily handed him his note and remembered something she’d meant to discuss with him earlier. “Have you told anyone but me about your secretary having so much of your manuscript in carbons?“
    “No, I don’t think so. Maybe I mentioned it to Miss Twinkle.“
    “If you don’t mind my advice, I’d suggest you keep it to yourself,“ Lily said.
    “Wh-“
    “I’m not sure. It’s just that it appears that someone stole the original for some reason—“
    “—and might try to steal the carbons,“ Cecil finished her sentence. “Very sensible of you, Miss Brewster. That should have occurred to me as well.“
    “And have you see Robert, Phoebe or Mad Henry?“
    “I passed Robert in the kitchen. And Phoebe was helping Mrs. Prinney pass out the last of the babies when I came in. I haven’t seen Henry for hours.”
    Henry wasn’t in his room. He wasn’t in the yellow parlor. He wasn’t in the kitchen with Robert.
    “He’s probably in the basement again,“ Robert said through a jelly sandwich he was polishing off. He yelled down the steps, but there was no answer. Lily went down and the basement was dark and silent. She turned on the light to be sure, but Henry wasn’t there.
    “I’m worried,“ she told Robert when she came back up.
    “I am, too,“ Robert said, gulping down the last of his sandwich. “I’ll find Howard Walker. He must have had people watching all of us.”

    Howard Walker wasn’t happy to hear that Henry was missing. He called a couple of his “watchers“ over and it appeared that nobody admitted to having been assigned to keep an eye on Henry in particular.
    “Miss Brewster, will you ask all the women in