Murder Under a Black Moon by Abigail Keam

Author:Abigail Keam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery
ISBN: 9781732974395
Publisher: Abigail Keam
Published: 2021-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

16

Mona was resting in her bedroom before dressing for dinner.

Monsieur Bisaillon had thrown a little temper tantrum about the lack of decorum at Moon Manor and insisted that he be allowed to serve more ceremonial dinners as all great houses did. The possibility that Mona might become a duchess with her engagement to Robert Farley had thrown her staff into a tizzy. Windows were washed, floors buffed, silver polished, rugs aired, hedges trimmed, fences painted, and Mona was expected to do her part.

It was true that Mona had been dressing less and less formally for dinner as she was hoping that she could ease out of that tradition. Sometimes she felt like rummaging the refrigerator with Violet and eating in the kitchen. She found the European tradition of formal dinners every night to be a huge time suck. She had better things to do with her evenings, but Mr. Thomas gently explained that the servants felt standards were slipping. In other words, the help was embarrassed by Mona.

To keep peace in the house, Mona agreed to five nights of formal dining and two nights of eating in regular day clothes. It was a compromise everyone could live with, but Mona felt Bisaillon was a tyrant. Although it did open her eyes that her employees, especially those who worked at Moon Manor, expected Mona to act as a grand lady.

In keeping with tradition, Samuel rang the gong every night at seven giving Mona an hour to dress, and the servants time to eat their dinner before serving hers.

The house telephone rang. Mona picked it up. “Yes? I see. Tell him I’ll be down in a moment and have him wait in the front drawing room. Do we have any sandwiches left over from afternoon tea? Bring him a tray of some of those, a piece of coconut cake, and lots of hot coffee. I imagine this is not a social visit. Thank you, Mr. Thomas.”

Mona hurriedly dressed in a long-sleeved, high-necked, blue velvet dress. The bodice sparkled with diamond-shaped glass beads, reflecting the light. In addition, Violet had laid out a diamond brooch and bracelet.

After slashing on lipstick, Mona checked herself in a full-length mirror. “Goodness! I look like a Christmas tree.” Resigned that Violet thought she needed to step up her game like the rest of the house staff, Mona unlocked her bedroom door and went downstairs with Chloe at her side.

“Good evening, Detective McCaw.”

Popping an egg salad sandwich into his mouth, McCaw stood while simultaneously chewing and wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Excuse me, Miss Moon, but I haven’t eaten anything since lunch. This tray was very good of you.”

“Think nothing of it. I don’t like to see food go to waste. My chef always makes more than enough.”

“So it would seem.”

Chloe whimpered and wagged her tail at the Detective.

“Please don’t give Chloe any food. I’m trying to teach her not to beg and, as you can see, she needs to lose a pound or two.”

Detective McCaw reached down and petted her.

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.