Miss Verity Takes the Case: A Verity Investigations Mystery by C.M. Turner

Author:C.M. Turner [Turner, C.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 47

Verity decided to speak with Lucretia Pickering next—what better way to collect information on her four suspects? Supposedly, Lucretia was nursing a sprained ankle in one of the women’s lounges.

Verity had assigned Caroline a separate plan. She was to enlist Mr. Balfleur’s help. Because Antonin Balfleur was on the ship when Jeremy fell, Verity was certain he was in the clear. Plus, she knew the men would be more forthcoming being questioned by Balfleur because of their shared business background. And he could prevent Caroline from getting into trouble. A bonus.

Now on her own, Verity headed to where Lucretia and her female friends usually gathered to gossip and gamble. It was a fact that when on a cruise, passengers commonly took inordinate pleasure in the tiniest morsels of shipboard gossip. They held court in sheltered areas or in the ladies' retiring lounge, a haven of feminine taste and decoration. Luxuriously furnished with a plush carpet, emerald velvet sofas and footstools that encouraged reclining. The wall decorations were bright and more subtle than in the manly smoking room. In fact, a man could only enter if given permission by a woman.

Upon opening the lounge’s door, the penetrating voices of multiple women talking over one another assailed Verity’s ears. The women were playing a game of hearts, and it appeared they’d been at it for a while. Seeing the pile of bills in the center of the table, Verity understood the stakes were for real money. At the center of this group sat the Widow Pickering propped up on a bounty of pillows, and fortified by an enormous box of Balfleur Delites. Inwardly, Verity smiled. Mr. Balfleur must be traveling with enough boxes to supply a department store.

Verity found Lucretia’s ability to make the most of a bad situation impressive. It was clear she was enjoying the extra attention.

“I came to check how the ankle is doing,” Verity declared.

“That’s so sweet of you, my dear. Well, I’m bearing up. After all, what choice do I have?” Here she reached for a chocolate and offered Verity one.

“You took quite a tumble,” said Verity sympathetically.

“That Mr. Cannon is such a brute!” Lucretia looked petulantly at her bandaged ankle, which was propped up on a footstool. “Call me suspicious minded, but I swear he spooked that beast.”

Alice stood and fluffed the pillows that her aunt rested on. She soothed, “I’m sure he did no such thing, Aunt Lucretia.” To which the aunt looked severely at her niece.

“Alice, I don’t understand how you can defend that man.”

“He’s not a very agreeable person,” another woman chirped.

No one in the room had anything positive to say about Hiram Cannon. Mrs. Anne Kilpatrick, a large marshmallow of a woman, whose white hair sat piled atop her small head like a mound of whipped cream, was very forthcoming. According to her husband, Hiram Cannon had made his fortune with an invention that extracted coal from mines. However, the dead inventor’s family recently accused Mr. Cannon of swindling their father. Recent news reports confirmed Mr.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.