A Murder at Oxford: A 1920s Historical Cozy Mystery (The Kitty Worthington Mysteries Book 6) by Magda Alexander

Author:Magda Alexander [Alexander, Magda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943321193
Publisher: Hearts Afire Publishing
Published: 2023-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

RETURN TO OXFORD

The next day Hollingsworth had a matter to attend to that would take up most of the morning, so we would not be returning to Oxford until the early afternoon. Taking advantage of the time available to me, I accompanied Lady Emma to the agency. I not only wished to become familiar with any matters that had come up but assure myself my absence had not placed an undue workload on her and Lady Aurelia. Although if the latter were true, I had no idea what I could do about it.

As it turned out, the opposite was true.

“Do you mean to tell me business has dried up?” I asked. “How could that be?”

“It’s the papers, Miss,” Betsy piped up. I’d invited her to join our discussion since she was as much a part of the agency as we were.

Lady Emma found issue with Betsy’s comment. “Betsy, maybe we better not—”

“No. I want to know,” I interrupted. “What about the papers?” Betsy kept copies of the popular London newspapers, mainly so we could refer to them if there was need.

She handed me several issues of The Tell-All, as well as other gossip rags. The headlines were explanation enough. In Love with a Murderer, one read. The article detailed my courtship with Robert, ending with the latest accusations against him. Lady Detective Flouts the Law. That one alleged I’d somehow gotten Robert to break the law on behalf of my clients. The last one was the most lurid of all. Its headline screamed Detective’s Love Child.

Unable to read further, I slapped the newspaper against the desk. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. When exactly did I have this love child?”

“It’s not yours it’s screaming about, Miss. It’s Detective Crawford’s.”

“Of all the— How dare they? What love child?”

“It claims he got Ellen Clarkson with child. She fled to Plymouth in shame so she could have their babe in secret.”

“There isn’t a scintilla of proof of such a thing.”

“It doesn’t stop them from printing such lies, Kitty,” Lady Emma said.

“So our business has suffered because of these monstrous falsehoods?” I asked.

“That’s what we’re guessing. We still have the looky-loos, and the press, of course. But clients have pretty much stopped coming.”

Just then there was a knock on the door.

Betsy walked over to see who it was.

“Is Miss Worthington here?” A masculine voice asked.

“No, she’s not.”

“Who is it, Betsy?”

“A reporter, Miss. He’s been here before.”

“Have him come in.”

“No, Kitty,” Lady Emma urged, panic in her voice.

“Don’t, Miss Worthington,” Lady Aurelia seconded. “No good can come of this.”

I crossed my arms across my chest. “They want a quote. I’ll give it to them.”

The reporter took a seat on the settee across from the three of us. Betsy stood sentinel to our right.

“Adam Ridgwell, reporter for The Tell All.”

“Was that your piece in yesterday’s paper?” I asked. “The one about the love child?”

“No, ma’am. Donovan Croft wrote that.”

“You may tell Mister Croft—”

“Kitty,” Lady Emma cautioned.

“That article is a pack of lies,” I spit out.

“May I quote you on that?”

“Yes.

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