Aurora North and the Maison de la Mort by Jordaina Sydney Robinson

Author:Jordaina Sydney Robinson [Robinson, Jordaina Sydney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781386388500
Published: 2018-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

11

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked as I pushed the door open.

Professor Prunus was hovering in the corner with the window cracked open, smoking his pipe. Dick was standing in front of the roaring fireplace with his back to the room and both hands resting on the mantlepiece as if he were trying to push it forward. Blanca was sitting in an armchair at the back of the room, a half-empty whisky decanter in one hand and a half-empty glass in the other.

Ruby faced us, arms folded and lips pursed. “Well, Elise is saying I killed Butler. Or possibly Teresa killed him. Give her a moment, maybe she’ll accuse you too.”

“That’s not what I said,” Elise pleaded with Ruby.

“Elise? Are you okay?” I asked.

“Oh, right. Ask her if she’s okay?” Teresa grumbled. “Don’t ask me.”

“Here.” Nevis nudged my arm with a glass of whisky and gestured to Elise. I thanked him and passed it to her.

Elise took it with a sob and a half smile, then drained it in one gulp. “Can I have another?”

Blanca pushed up from her seat as though it were an enormous effort, refilled it from the decanter she wasn’t letting go of and stumbled back to her seat. Elise took a small sip, hiccuped and excused herself.

“Tell us what happened?” I crouched in front of Elise so she’d focus on me and hopefully not worry about everyone else.

“I was in my room. I woke up when I heard people charging around. I thought it was the storm. I looked out of my window and—” She took a sharp intake of breath, her bottom lip quivering, then her eyes darted to Ruby.

I tapped her knee to get her attention back on me. “It’s okay, Elise. Tell us what you saw.”

“Red.” She took a healthy swig from her glass. “I saw red.”

“Why don’t you flat out say it was me?” Ruby snapped, arms folded, posture rigid. “Don’t be oblique about it. Point the finger directly at me.”

“She didn’t say it was you.” Jake inched a tiny bit closer to me as if he was getting ready to physically defend me and Elise. “She said ‘red’.”

Ruby spread her arms wide to gesture around the room. “Do you see anyone else in red?”

“No, but if I wanted to deflect attention from myself, I’d wear something red when killing someone in case anyone saw, because then everyone would think it was you,” I explained, and faced Elise again. “What did you actually see?”

“Three people. They were arguing. One came back inside, one turned to walk down the steps into the gardens, and then the third person followed him down and stabbed him.”

“He wasn’t stabbed,” Teresa said. “Someone hit him over the head.”

“Hit him? With what?” I hadn’t noticed any head wounds when I’d checked him over.

“Of course he was stabbed,” Dick roared as he faced the room. “The man had a dagger protruding out of his chest.”

“I know what I saw,” Teresa snapped. “Maybe he was stabbed afterward.”

“Who hit him?” I asked Teresa.

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