High Marks for Murder (A Bellehaven House Mystery Book 1) (12 page)

Although it was unlikely, she couldn't help wondering if the drawer might contain a clue as to what Kathleen was
doing that last evening of her life. A clue that could possibly lead her to the identity of Kathleen's killer.

As it was, she had to wait until after supper to satisfy her curiosity. Felicity had chosen to stay late in her classroom to help a pupil understand the meaning of Thomas Gray's immortal "Elegy."

Throughout the meal Meredith's impatience held her appetite at bay, and she was quite unable to enjoy the shepherd's pie Mrs. Wilkins had so expertly prepared. As she was struggling to finish her pear crumble pudding, Felicity rose from her seat across the hall and approached her table.

"I'll meet you outside Kathleen's room," she muttered, her words masked by the hum of chatter from the pupils.

Meredith laid down her spoon and fork. "Ladies!" She waited until she had the attention of everyone at the table. "I have an urgent appointment to attend. As soon as you are finished with your meal, you may leave the table."

She stood up, conscious of the curious glances directed at her. Normally she waited until the last girl had been excused from the table before leaving herself.

Hurrying to the door, she wasn't sure if she was anxious to find out what was in Kathleen's desk, or simply eager to watch Felicity apply the doubtful skills she'd learned in prison.

Chapter 10

Meredith could see no sign of Felicity in the corridor,
and she hurried to Kathleen's room, determined not to miss the remarkable feat.

Upon opening the door she saw her friend at Kathleen's desk, tugging each drawer open until one refused to budge. "Ah," she muttered. "Here we go."

Meredith quickly closed the door and sped over to the desk. "Do let me watch."

"Come around here then." Felicity reached up to her head and pulled a long hairpin from her auburn coils. She straightened out the thin wire, then slightly curved one end. Bending almost double, she peered closely at the lock and poked the pin into it.

After jiggling it around for moment or two, she grunted in triumph. "This should do it." She gave the pin a sharp tug, then pulled on the drawer. It slid smoothly open.

"Well!" Meredith stared at the open drawer. "I don't know whether to be impressed by your expertise or
appalled that you are so adept at such a disreputable practice."

Felicity grinned. "I must admit, it has come in useful at times."

Meredith uttered a shocked gasp. "Don't tell me you have done this before?"

"Of course I shan't tell you. These matters are delicate and should not be discussed, even among friends."

Unsure if her friend was merely teasing, Meredith decided to ignore the comment. "Well, let's see what Kathleen was hiding in her drawer, shall we?" She drew out a sheaf of papers, which appeared to be test scores from the week before. Disappointed, she laid them on the desk. "We must see that Sylvia is given these."

"I still can't think of this desk belonging to that scatterbrained woman." Felicity gazed at the clean blackboard, her expression remote. "It will always be Kathleen's desk to me, and Kathleen's room. No matter who might occupy it in the future."

"In time we shall get used to it," Meredith said gently. She was about to close the drawer when she spied the corner of a slip of paper tucked away in the back. "Wait a minute." She drew it out. "What's this?"

She started to read the scrawled words on the note, which was of the very best quality paper and had a crest embossed at the top of the page. As the meaning became clear, she gasped in horror.

Felicity leaned in to read it out loud over Meredith's shoulder. "Dearest Deirdre, I can hardly bear to wait until I can hold you in my arms again. I shall be waiting at our usual rendezvous tonight. Please don't keep me waiting too long, my precious."

Felicity's voice had grown more strained with each
word, and now she could barely get out the last words. "Your Victor."

Stunned, Meredith studied the crest with the large S inside it. "Silkwood," she murmured. "Of course, so that's who it was."

Felicity stared at her. "Are you saying that Victor Silkwood is meeting with one of our pupils? But that's outrageous! Apart from the fact that the man has a wife, he's at least twenty years older than any of our girls."

"Deirdre Lamont," Meredith said, still staring at the incriminating words. "Olivia saw Mr. Silkwood arguing with one of our pupils in Witcheston the other day. I asked her about it and she described the girl. At the time her description could have fit several of our pupils, but now I realize it had to be Deirdre Lamont."

Felicity sniffed. "Well, I can't say I'm utterly astounded. That girl is far too brazen for her own good. I blame that contemptible man, however. He should know better. Why is it that some men think that having a certain social standing allows them to behave in a way that resembles animals in heat?"

Meredith choked. "Let us hope it has not progressed that far. It's obvious Kathleen has had a word with Deirdre. She must have confiscated the note from her, possibly while Deirdre was trying to pass it on to someone else to read." She pointed to the words at the foot of the notepaper in Kathleen's neat handwriting.
Speak to her parents.

"Apparently she never had time to talk to Deirdre's parents before she died. We shall have to contact them ourselves."

"I'll have a word with Deirdre first," Meredith said quickly. "It may not be necessary to bring her parents into this."

"Well, that I shall leave up to you." Felicity stuck the hairpin back into her hair. "But I tell you, I should love to give that disgusting Mr. Silkwood a piece of my mind."

"I heartily agree. That will not help Deirdre, however, and will only make things more difficult for us, since he is such a prominent member of the board."

"Drat it, Meredith! Can't you use your charm on Stuart Hamilton and have that slimy snake removed? If you tell Hamilton what's been going on—"

"He will more likely remove Deirdre than Mr. Silkwood. You know how these men stick together."

"Yes, I do. Like cow dung to your shoe."

In spite of her concern, Meredith sputtered with laughter. "I don't think Mr. Hamilton would appreciate that."

"Mr. Hamilton fails to appreciate a lot of things."

"Well, he's a busy man."

Felicity grunted her disapproval. "Well, I sincerely hope that whatever Kathleen said to Deirdre, it was dire enough to put an end to her relationship with that despicable rake."

"I suppose that is something I shall have to find out." Meredith did not relish the thought of talking to the young lady about such a delicate subject. She decided it might be better to put it off until the morning, when she would have a fresher mind to deal with it.

As it was, first thing the following morning Tom hailed her as she was crossing the lobby on her way to morning assembly.

"Young Davie didn't turn up for work this mornin'," he told her, twisting his panama into a tight roll between his gnarled hands. "He weeded them flower beds like you asked. I noticed last night they need attending again. I was going to clip his ear this mornin' as a reminder, but he ain't here."

"He's most likely overslept." Already late, Meredith backed away. "I wouldn't concern yourself too much."

Tom shook his head. "No, m'm, I don't think that's it. Davie's mum always gets him out of bed at the proper time. Real stickler, she is, about him getting here on time."

The increasing murmur of voices down the hallway warned Meredith the students were getting impatient. "I'm sorry, Tom, but I'm in a rush. If Davie isn't here by the time assembly is over, please let me know."

Tom's shoulders sagged. "Yes, m'm. I'll be sure 'n do that."

"Also, I need to talk to you about something else just as soon as I am free." Meredith hesitated for an instant, and then sped down the hallway to the assembly hall. Whatever the problem was with Davie, it would have to wait.

She had barely begun her morning address when the first niggling worry surfaced. Davie might be withdrawn and oversensitive but he was usually reliable. What if something had happened to him, too? What if he'd seen something he shouldn't have seen and had to be done away with, so to speak?

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that something dreadful had happened to poor Davie. The moment assembly was concluded she rushed out of the hall without so much as a word of explanation.

She would have to placate Felicity later, she told herself, remembering that lady's shocked expression as she'd flown past her. Right now, however, it was imperative that she speak with Tom again.

She found him in the flower beds, pulling the new weeds. A light drizzle had begun pattering on the leaves and blossoms of the foxgloves and lupins, dampening the soil. The enhanced fragrance reminded Meredith sharply
of Kathleen, and she half expected to see her misty shape forming beneath the trees.

Tom straightened as she approached, and she concentrated on the matter at hand. "Has Davie arrived yet?" she asked him, and was dismayed when he shook his head.

Removing his hat, he muttered, "I don't know what's got into the lad lately, m'm. Honest I don't. Used to be a good worker, he did, but ever since we found Miss Duncan lying dead like that, our Davie has been in a thick fog. Don't hear a word I say to him, and he don't seem to know whether he's coming or going these days."

It was a long speech for Tom, and Meredith nodded sympathetically throughout, barely able to contain her impatience until Tom had finished speaking. "I should like the carriage made ready," she said, when Tom finally paused for breath. "Tell Reggie to have it at the front gate in half an hour."

Tom looked surprised, as well he might. The ladies rarely left the school building, except to walk to church or into the village. Using the carriage was reserved for the most special of occasions. "Going into town, m'm?"

Meredith hesitated, reluctant to alarm the gardener unnecessarily.

He must have taken it as a silent rebuke, as he dipped his head and mumbled, "Sorry, m'm. None of my business, I'm sure. I'll go and tell Reggie to get the carriage ready."

"It's all right, Tom. I just want to pay a visit to Davie's house, and it's a little far for me to walk. I don't want to be away for too long, since I have a class in an hour."

Tom's weathered face crinkled in dismay. "You think there's trouble for our Davie? Per'aps I should come with you, m'm. Don't like to think of you going alone."

"That's quite all right." Meredith waved a hand at the
flower beds. "I'd rather you see to these weeds. Miss Duncan won't be happy until they are all gone."

Seeing Tom's puzzled stare, she realized too late how ridiculous that sounded. She uttered a light laugh. "Do listen to me. I'm afraid I'm having trouble believing she's gone from us. I keep forgetting she isn't here to scold us for neglecting her precious flower beds."

"I reckon Davie is happy about that much, m'm," Tom said, digging his hoe into the soft soil. "Took it hard, he did, when she shouted at him."

Meredith mulled over his words as she hurried back to the building. It seemed odd that Davie was in the vicinity on at least two occasions when Kathleen had made her appearance. She could still hear his pitiful sobbing among the trees.

Kathleen had seemed agitated on both those occasions. Meredith slowed her step. Could it be possible that Kathleen had been pointing, not at the flowers in the flower beds, but at Davie standing a few feet away? Was Kathleen trying to tell her that the young lad, reacting in anger at being scolded, had slammed that tree limb at her head?

If so, then Meredith had more than one question to ask when she got to Davie's house.

Olivia heaved the carpet sweeper up the stairs,
banging it against the bannisters with intensifying fury. "Two weeks without a day off. That miserable cow. It should have been her what got bashed over the head, not Miss Duncan. What bloody right does Mona have, taking away our time off?"

Grace trailed up the stairs behind her, a bucket in one
hand and mop in the other. How she hated it when Olivia got into one of her snits. It usually ended up in trouble for both of them, and they were in enough trouble right now as it was. "I s'pose it could have been worse," she said, hoping to soothe her friend's temper.

Olivia reached the top of the stairs and turned on her. "How could it be worse? How is anything worse than being stuck in this rotten building day after day for two whole weeks? I'll miss buying me magazine and sweets in the village. You know how I get when I don't get sweets to eat."

"You could always steal some sugar from the bin." Grace started walking down the corridor to the windows at the end. "It's better than nothing."

Olivia slammed the sweeper down on the carpet, jarring the fragile base so that it rattled. "I'll tell you what's better than nothing. Getting even with that sourpuss Mona, that's what."

Grace spun around in alarm. "Olivia Bunting! Don't you dare! You could lose us our jobs."

"Nah. They'd never get maids to work out here in the middle of nowhere, with only a bunch of toffee-nosed debs for company. In any case, we'd have more fun working in the village. We'd at least see some blokes now and then."

"I thought you was off blokes." Grace turned back. "Isn't that why we went protesting and got into trouble in the first place?"

"That's different. That's not messing up me personal life. I was just getting to know that new bloke at the ironmonger's in the High Street and now some other floozie's going to get his attention and he'll forget all about me."

"No he won't." Grace laughed. "How could he forget
you falling over your own two feet walking in the door the other day?"

"I didn't see the coal scuttle stuck out there, did I." Olivia rattled the sweeper some more. "Anyhow, I'm going to get back at Moaning Minnie, so there."

Thoroughly unnerved now, Grace carefully lowered the bucket of hot water. Still clinging to her mop, she faced her friend. "How are you going to do that, then?"