A Haunting Reprise by Amanda DeWees

Author:Amanda DeWees
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, Victorian historical romance, historical mystery, Victorian era, romantic ghost story, romantic comedy, women sleuths, traditional mystery, Victorian England, paranormal mystery, poltergeist, amateur sleuth, mystery series
Publisher: Amanda DeWees
Published: 2018-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

DETECTIVE INSPECTOR Strack had a weakness for the fair sex. It was clear as soon as he entered and caught sight of me, for in what looked like an automatic reflex he smoothed down his drooping moustache with one knuckle, first one side, then the other.

I had dressed for the occasion in a charming but relatively demure gown of lilac glazed cotton trimmed with gauzy flounces of robin’s-egg blue, more appropriate for springtime but not incompatible with this mild autumn. More important, it might remind him of the innocent bloom of English womanhood and awaken any chivalrous impulses that might reside within him.

The inspector himself was no fashion plate. His dark suit was certainly not modish, and it showed wear at the edges of the sleeves and trouser hems. Perhaps he liked to stretch his pennies—or was forced to do so. His hair and moustache were iron gray, and he squinted a bit as we introduced ourselves, as if he needed spectacles... or as if he wished to give the impression of being shrewd and observant.

He certainly was observant of me. He scarcely glanced at Roderick after greeting him. Well, that was all to the good. A bit of flirtation and flattery from me, and soon he would be revealing every useful thing he knew.

“I come with excellent news,” he announced as he took his seat. “The case is closed.”

“What?” I exclaimed, thrown off balance.

His smile, perhaps understandably, had a touch of self-satisfaction. “I made the arrest myself early this morning.”

“Well, that’s a relief, to be sure,” Roderick said. “Who is it?”

“Why, Mr. Ivor Treherne, of course.” Seeing the surprise on our faces, he explained with a touch of condescension, “It’s as clear as daylight that he’s our man. He and Mr. Atherton had been fighting for weeks over money troubles, the Crystal Palace engagement, the casting of Miss Holm—practically everything two business partners could wrangle over. Then came that final argument, overheard by practically everyone. When you showed up, Miss Ingram—looking quite lovely, by all accounts—and forced Treherne to realize that Atherton was entirely to blame for the troupe’s financial woes... well, he simply snapped.”

Somehow that felt wrong to me. “Treherne certainly was angry,” I said, “and taken aback when I challenged Atherton’s story, but I wouldn’t have thought he would resort to violence.”

“It’s true he had no history of violent behavior,” the detective conceded. “Unlike your husband here.”

I wondered if that was a reference to the duel in Roderick’s past. That might put my husband in a difficult position if the case against Treherne fell through, since it could be argued that Roderick did have a motive for the murder.

Fortunately, as Strack continued, I realized he meant something much less serious. “It’s the meek ones you have to watch,” he told me. “After a lifetime of reining themselves in, when they reach the breaking point, it’s quite an explosion. Whereas someone like Mr. Brooke finds a vent for his anger by simply punching the man in the nose and being done with it, someone like Treherne would be unable to stop there once he got started.

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