Manor House 04 - Dig Deep for Murder (23 page)

Violet gritted her teeth. "George, I don't need any of your sarcasm. Lady Elizabeth's motorcycle has been parked outside the church since early this morning. No one has seen her since then. She wouldn't just go off and leave that motorcycle, and she wouldn't miss a meal without letting me know. She's never been gone this long without me knowing where she is."

"There's a first time for everything," George said.

Sid's voice rang out in the background. "Ain't that the truth."

Violet closed her eyes and prayed for patience. "George, I'm telling you, something is wrong. If you don't start looking for her ladyship this minute, I'm ringing headquarters in North Horsham and complaining to the inspector."

"All right, all right, keep your hair on." George sounded irritable now. "Did she say where she was going?"

"Just to the funeral. She was supposed to come home for lunch."

"All right. We'll look. But if she's sitting in someone's parlor supping on tea and biscuits, Sid and I are not going to be too happy. It costs money to use the services of the constables, you know."

"Just find her, George." Violet replaced the receiver, hesitated for a moment, then looked up the number of the American air base. It took a moment or two for her call to go through, but finally Earl's deep voice came on the line.

"Major Monroe here."

"Major, I'm so sorry to bother you." Violet lost her voice for a moment, and pressed her lips together.

"What is it, Violet? Is Elizabeth home?"

For once she didn't correct him for his lack of a proper
title. "No, Major, I'm afraid she isn't. I've rung the constables. They're looking for her."

There was a slight pause, then Earl said sharply, "Look, I'm almost done here. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Briefly closing her eyes, Violet hung up the telephone. There were times when having a man around the house could be quite comforting.

Earl arrived less than an hour later, by which time Violet had fed the girls and helped Sadie make up beds for them in one of the spare bedrooms. Sadie volunteered to read them a story from one of Elizabeth's childhood books, and having settled them for the night, Violet returned to the kitchen.

There she found the major pacing restlessly around the table while Martin sat recounting his experiences when he first arrived at the Manor House more than fifty years ago.

One look at Earl Monroe's face told Violet that he took Elizabeth's disappearance very seriously. "I've talked to the police," he said, as soon as she walked in the room, "and they're conducting a search. I offered to round up my officers and help. Your constable said something about contacting Rita Crumm?"

Violet made a face. "Under the circumstances, I suppose it might be a good idea. Not that her mob are much use at anything, but they'll be extra pairs of eyes."

"Right. Well, I'd better get on it right away."

A sudden vision of Lizzie lying hurt and alone somewhere froze Violet's blood. "I'll come, too. I can't just sit around here worrying about her."

"Where are we going?" Martin demanded. "Is it the invasion? Are we being evacuated? What about the master's daughters? We can't leave them here." He struggled up from his chair. "Where is my blunderbuss? I'll take the blighters' heads off."

"Sit down, Martin," Violet said sharply. "We're not being invaded. We're just looking for someone, that's all."

Earl nodded his head in Martin's direction. "Someone
had better stay here, in case Elizabeth should return home. You'll need to get the word out."

Violet sighed. "I suppose you're right." Earl started to turn away, and she grasped his sleeve. "Please find her, Major. Bring her home to me."

His bleak expression deepened her fears. "I'll do everything in my power to find her and bring her back with me."

She could ask no more than that.

The door closed behind him, leaving her alone with Martin.

"If anyone can find madam, that gentleman will do so," Martin said quietly. "He cares about her."

Startled by his unexpected moment of coherence, Violet muttered, "We all care about her, Martin. If anything's happened to her . . . . "

"Now, now, no point in going on about it." Martin tapped his long, bony fingers on the table. "I have to talk to the master. He'll know what to do."

For once, Violet didn't have the heart to argue with him.

Long into the night, Earl and his men searched for Elizabeth. Disregarding the rules for blackout, they used torches to probe through the bushes and undergrowth in the thick woods at the edge of the manor's grounds. Fanning out, they worked their way over the downs as far as the cliffs, and along the coast road to the village.

George and Sid started going from cottage to cottage, and at each one they were joined by the tenants, until most of the villagers were out in force, all looking for signs of the missing woman. Rita and her band of housewives, armed with kitchen knives and heavy saucepans, searched the High Street and its narrow alleyways.

As the dawn lightened the sky, George finally called a halt to the search and insisted everyone go home. Even Earl had to admit defeat. His officers were needed at the base, and they had lost a night's sleep. He could not keep
them from their duties, much as he hated to give up.

When he returned to the house, Violet fed him breakfast and brewed a pot of coffee for him. She sat with him at the kitchen table, sharing a mug of the coffee with him. "You must be exhausted," she said, gazing with concern at the heavy shadows under his eyes.

He nodded. "Tired and defeated. This isn't a big town. I can't think where she could be."

"Maybe someone took her away," Violet said, voicing her worst fears.

Earl looked at her. "Don't even think that."

"I don't want to, but—"

"We'll find her," he said fiercely.

Now that she'd accepted the worst, Violet thought miserably, she might as well say the rest. "What if she found out who buried Reggie Stewart? What if he killed her and buried her?"

Earl groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Don't you think I've thought about that? How many times did I warn her to stay out of that mess? Why couldn't she listen to me?"

Violet struggled hard to keep her voice from breaking. "When it comes to helping out her people," she said unsteadily, "her ladyship won't listen to anyone but herself."

"So I noticed." Earl lifted his head, his eyes red-rimmed. "I've got to find her. Somehow, damn it, I've got to find her."

Violet's heart went out to him. He was a good man, after all. "Get some rest, Major." She got up wearily from her chair. "Get some rest, then we'll decide what to do next."

His next words filled her with a cold dread far worse than anything she'd ever felt before.

"The worst of it is," Earl said heavily, "I have this awful feeling that if I don't find her soon, it may be too late."

CHAPTER

17

"What's going to happen to our evacuees?" Sadie asked, as she packed tins of cleaners and rags into a large leather shopping bag. "Where are they, anyway?"

"They're in the office with Polly." Violet swished the dishes around in the soapy suds. "We'll have to wait until Lady Elizabeth comes back. She'll decide what to do about them."

"What if she doesn't come back? What if they never find her?"

"They have to find her." Violet smacked a wet bowl onto the draining board. "We just can't manage without her."

"But what if they don't find her? What about the Manor House, then? If she doesn't come back, who will be the next lady of the manor? Her ladyship doesn't have any heirs, does she? Will there be a new earl, or what?"

Violet crashed a handful of spoons on the board so
violently that one of them bounced off and clattered to the floor. "For Gawd's sake, Sadie Buttons, stop talking about her ladyship as if she were dead already. Go and tell Polly to bring those children down here, and then she can get down to the village. They'll need her to help with the search party."

Sadie pouted. "Why can't I go and search with them? Why do I have to clean that old cottage today?"

"Because her ladyship ordered you to, that's why. It was the last order she gave, and when she comes back she'll expect it done. There's enough people out there searching for her. They won't blinking miss you. So get on with it."

"All right, all right, I'm going." Sadie heaved the bag into her arms. "But if she doesn't come back, it'll all be a waste of time, won't it?"

Violet turned on her, her fear fueling her temper. "If I hear you say one more word about her ladyship not coming back, I swear I'll box your ears until your head rings."

Sadie lifted her chin. "It's not my fault she's missing."

"It'll be your fault if I throw this plate at you." Violet lifted her hand.

"Temper, temper!" Sadie smiled sweetly and darted out the door as Violet pulled back her arm.

Muttering to herself, Sadie stomped across the courtyard in search of the bicycle Violet said she could use. Just her luck to land a job like this, only to have the boss disappear. If her ladyship was a goner, she'd probably have to go back to the Smoke. Or maybe she could get a job at the local boozer. She'd do all right pulling pints for the Yanks. Be more fun than cleaning bathrooms. 'Course, she'd have to find somewhere else to live. And she wouldn't get free meals. She'd have to pay for gas and electricity. And she liked having the Manor House as her address, even if it was big and creepy. So her ladyship had better come home.

Spotting the rusty bicycle leaning against one of the stalls in the stables, Sadie wheeled it out into the warm
sun. It had been a while since she rode a bicycle, and with the heavy bag swinging from the handlebars, it took her a few moments to get her balance. Finally she felt secure enough to start down the driveway, and managed to reach the end of it without falling off.

Her wobbly descent of the hill raised the hairs on the back of her neck, and the brakes weren't working too well when she reached the bottom, but she made it to the cottage in one piece.

The key she'd been given was hard to turn in the lock, but she finally got the door open. Walking into the living room, she wrinkled her nose. The place smelled funny, and she couldn't see a thing with the black curtains drawn at the windows.

She dropped her bag in the middle of the floor and hurried across the room to draw back the thick, dusty curtains. Sunlight flooded the room and, looking around, she groaned out loud. The place was filthy. Thick with dust and grime. It would take her all day to get it clean. Muttering to herself, she got to work.

Elizabeth lifted her head, blinking hard to stay awake. Something had disturbed her fitful sleep. She wasn't sure what it was, but she strained her ears, hoping to hear a sound—any sound that would tell her someone was in the cottage and would get her out of this awful blackness.

When the sound she was waiting for finally came, her heart leaped with hope. Above her head she heard the stairs creak, one at a time. Someone was in the house! It had to be Sadie.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. Her throat was so dry she could barely swallow, and her mouth felt like the bottom of a chalk quarry. She was certain her tongue was swollen, and she was terrified she might choke to death. One thing was very clear: She was incapable of even a whisper, much less of enough noise to alert Sadie that she was there.

Judging from the bangs and creaks overhead, Sadie was
attacking the housework with unusual vigor. There was no point in wasting her energy now, since any sound would be impossible to hear above the noise Sadie was making. She would have to wait until she heard the maid come downstairs, and then find a way to attract her attention.

The door was on her left. If she could get close enough to it, perhaps she could rock the chair against it. She could feel no sensation in her hands and feet. She could only pray that she had the strength to move the chair.

Concentrating all her thoughts to that end, she pushed down on her feet and shoved hard.

It was as if she had pushed through a cloud. She could feel the muscles in her thighs straining, but her legs might have been cut off at the knees for all the use they were. Again and again she stamped on the floor, hoping to get the blood circulating enough to give her momentum.

Aware of the time slipping away, she gritted her teeth and stamped harder. After what seemed like hours, she began to feel an unpleasant tingle in her calves. Heartened by the small sign, she rocked back and forth, back and forth, stamping as hard as she could.

A door slammed overhead. Then followed the sound she had dreaded. The stairs creaked again as Sadie stomped down them. Frantic now, Elizabeth rocked harder. She managed to tip the back legs high enough to hit lightly on the floor.

The creaking stopped midway, as if Sadie had paused.

Hope driving her on, Elizabeth rocked and rocked. Faster and faster she bounced, while she summoned every last bit of air in her lungs to cry out.

Her throat stung with the effort, and her back felt as if it were breaking in two. In a final desperate effort, with all of her strength, she threw her entire body forward and then back. The chair poised precariously on two legs for a breathless moment, then crashed backward onto the floor.

Elizabeth's head met the wall with a resounding crack. The last thing she heard was Sadie's scream as she rushed down the rest of the stairs.

"Here you go, then, eat your soup." Violet placed two steaming bowls on the kitchen table in front of the two youngest girls, then returned to the stove for the third. The feeling of dread that had been with her ever since last night made her entire body feel heavy, slowing her down. In an effort to shake off her fear, she concentrated on the girls again. "If you're good, I'll let you take the dogs out onto the lawn this afternoon."

"Can we play tennis?" Patsy eyed the bowl of soup being set in front of her. "We saw the tennis court this morning, and Martin said he'd ask the master if we could play."

Jenny started dropping pieces of bread into her soup. "Who's the master? Is he going to eat with us?"