Murder in the Reading Room by Ellery Adams

Author:Ellery Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2019-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Sinclair offered to stay with the body while Jane carted the twins back to Storyton Hall. With a potential murderer on the loose, she wasn’t about to leave them unguarded. As Sterling wasn’t needed to drive guests, he offered to watch the twins while they tossed a football on the great lawn. Jane headed for the garages.

When Butterworth exited the door leading to the basement room where Parrish was being held, Jane was momentarily paralyzed. Butterworth was such a formal, formidable man. He was her unflappable protector. How could she find the words to tell him about Archie? How could she hurt him so deeply?

“Miss Jane? What’s wrong?”

There was no use delaying. Above all else, Butterworth appreciated directness and candor. Jane would give him both.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Archie is dead. Sinclair and I just found his body on the battlefield.”

Butterworth’s eyes widened a fraction, and the muscle in his jaw tensed. “Are you quite certain? By what means?”

How can he be so calm? Jane wondered.

“A head wound. I’m so very sorry.”

Butterworth raised a single finger. “Miss Jane, your sympathy might be misplaced. I spoke with Archie not too long ago. Unless he was on his way to the field . . .” He frowned. “There’s no sense our standing here, conjecturing. Would you take me to him, please?”

Jane gestured at the Gator, which she’d left parked just outside the garages, and Butterworth climbed into the passenger seat. It was a strange role reversal to be driving Storyton Hall’s head butler over the grounds he knew so well. He’d been custodian to the estate for as long as Jane could remember. Like Sinclair, Butterworth was one of several men who’d helped raise her. They’d been her teachers, her confidants, and her family. But she was a grown woman now, and she wanted to give back to them. She wanted to be a shoulder to lean on. A friend. A surrogate daughter.

Some of them have real families, she reminded herself. Families they never see because of the oath they took to protect my family and the treasures housed within Storyton Hall.

“Would you fill me in on Parrish as we drive?” she asked Butterworth. She knew he wouldn’t find the question insensitive but would welcome the distraction.

“If possible, the man was more complacent than usual.”

Jane shot Butterworth a worried glance. “Could he have orchestrated Archie’s death?”

Instead of replying, Butterworth said, “Tell me about the day’s event. What details stand out? I spent most of my time watching the field from the starting position of the Central Powers. You had a midfield viewpoint.”

“What struck me most was the noise,” Jane said. “It was easy to believe that what we were seeing was real. Not a Great War battle, but a genuine conflict. I found the soldiers very convincing—even those pretending to die.” Regretting this phrase, Jane hurried on. “Three things interrupted my complete immersion. Seeing Bob wave at Betty, hearing the children in the twins’ class cry, and watching Ajax pitch his rider.

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.