The Mystery of the Christmas Crackers: A 1920s Murder Mystery (A Lady Darriby-Jones Mystery Book 11) by CM Rawlins

Author:CM Rawlins [Rawlins, CM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CleanTales Publishing
Published: 2024-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

Just as they turned up the long drive into Darriby Hall, however, Lady Darriby-Jones heard some words from Lady Barker, which put the frighteners into her.

“At least,” Lady Barker said, “this disastrous affair has probably solved my financial problems. The life assurance from my husband is pretty sizeable. I don’t know for sure but I expect it will pay the debts and leave me a little pile for the future. I should be able to live in moderate comfort, nothing like how we used to live, of course, and I may still need to sell some jewellery, but at least it gives me a chance to start again.”

These words turned inside Lady Darriby-Jones; could she have been wrong in backing Lady Barker? Indeed, perhaps Lady Barker was the type of criminal who always seemed innocent; what was that expression about butter not melting? She would get everybody of any influence on her side, relying on her sweetness, thus freeing her up to go about her evil machinations.

Could she have been so wrong? The evidence had led her to believe Lady Barker was the murderer, but her instinct had swept that aside.

What was right? Hard facts or instinctive feelings?

As Smith swept the Rolls around in the wider part of the drive directly before the house, she felt a compulsion to find out the truth, come what may.

On arrival, Lady Darriby-Jones sent Lady Barker upstairs under Millie’s control for a bath and an hour or two of sleep in a comfortable bed, not, incidentally, the one that her husband had been murdered in. Fanny was instructed to make up another bedroom in a totally different part of the house so that there wouldn’t be any association in Lady Barker’s mind with the grim recent events.

Lady Darriby-Jones went to the library in search of a stiff pink gin, feeling the various upheavals of the morning left her justified in seeking one out. She found Torino ready to pour, but she also found Mrs Robinson sitting in a rocking chair and waiting for her.

“We still have to ask Alfie about his opinion on Freddie’s solution of the inheritance,” Mrs Robinson said after accepting a glass of sherry from Torino.

“Yes,” Lady Darriby-Jones replied, “and I still need to make up my mind about the stockings at Christmas.”

“Well,” said Mrs Robinson, “I had an idea about that. Based on the fact that Freddie is so enamoured with his box of Christmas crackers, and so desperate to show them to Cess, I do believe there’s still a fairly juvenile and fun attitude to Christmas from that quarter. Perhaps we should capitalise on this aspect, Lady Darriby-Jones.”

“You mean, if we’re going part way down this road, we might as well do it in style? Let’s have a proper Christmas party with a real Father Christmas. We could even do stockings for the little ones.”

“Oh, you mean the Huthwaites?” Mrs Robinson replied, “Yes, that would be ideal. I’m sure they would love such excitement.”

This positive exchange moved Lady Darriby-Jones to ask another question of Mrs Robinson.

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.