Home > Dead In The Dining Room(7)

Dead In The Dining Room(7)
Author: Leighann Dobbs

Araminta digested this information. It seemed Mary would have been the only one with access to dose Archie’s dinner, since Trinity hadn’t even brought the tray of food up from the kitchen last night because of the phone call.

“Do you often get calls around dinnertime?”

Trinity shook her head. “Only once, but that was years ago, when I was notified of the passing of my aunt Hattie. Usually people just leave me messages on my cell, but we’re not allowed to have those at work. I would never be derelict in my duties, though. When I had to go upstairs last night, Harold offered to serve for me. He’s very nice like that, not wanting any of us to get into trouble.”

Araminta reflected on what Trinity had said as she studied the silverware Trinity was polishing. One fork sat apart from the rest. “What’s wrong with that one?” She pointed at the lonely fork.

“It doesn’t match the others, see?” Trinity placed the fork in her hand alongside the one she’d been polishing. The handles were different. One had embossed roses, and the other was plain with a scroll design on the sides. “We have several sets, and I don’t tolerate mismatches. It’s my reputation on the line, you see. Ms. Daisy pays attention to detail. So do I, and she appreciates that. I even heard her saying just that to Mr. Bernard the other day.” She picked up another piece of flatware and started polishing.

Araminta still had questions about the call. “Last night… the call…”

Trinity looked a bit annoyed. “If you need to verify it, perhaps you should speak with Reginald. When I rushed upstairs to take it, I saw him skulking about in the butler’s pantry.”

The butler’s pantry? Now, why in the world would Reginald be in there? Araminta left Trinity to her polishing and headed off to find Reggie.

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

 

Arun skulked along the edge of the hallway toward Reggie’s suite in the east wing.

“Did you smell that hair? It smelled like hair gel,” Sasha whispered as she followed close behind him.

“Indeed. The exact hair gel that Reggie uses.”

“It seems he shed it in the very spot where that fancy silver vase used to be. I don’t think that’s any coincidence.”

Arun’s tail twitched as he led the way down the hall. “Yes, it was in the circle where the vase had been. Meaning it came after the vase was taken.”

“Or during,” Sasha said. “That vase has been in that spot ever since we were kittens, so I don’t think it was under there before. Unless someone moved it to clean it.”

Arun stopped and looked back at her. “Clean it? Are you serious? Did you see all the dust around it? No one gets that picky when cleaning around here.”

“True. Considering what Araminta found out about the water in vases containing lily of the valley, it does cast suspicion on Reggie. I tried to warn her, but I don’t think she understood the significance of the hair.”

“She doesn’t have our keen sense of smell, so it’s up to us to follow that lead.” Arun stopped in front of Reggie’s room. The door was cracked open, and he pushed it gently with a velvety paw.

They both crept in, bodies low to the ground. Reggie wasn’t in the room, but the cats still wanted to be as discreet as possible. They rarely came in here, but it wouldn’t be a huge problem if they were discovered. They roamed freely around the big old house, and who would ever suspect two cats of snooping?

The room was done in masculine tones of blue. A thick royal-blue-and-gold Aubusson carpet covered the floor. Deep-blue velvet drapes lined the tall windows. The drapes matched one of the colors in the fleur-de-lis-patterned wallpaper, which was in two shades of blue on a white background. The headboard was tall and upholstered in tufted velvet in a luxurious shade of cobalt blue. A matching chair sat in the corner. No wonder Reggie still lived at home, even though he was an adult. It all looked very comfortable, and Arun resisted the urge to rake his claws on the soft fabric of the headboard then curl up for a nap in the chair.

Despite the wonderful decor, the room was a mess. Arun and Sasha had to refrain from batting around the shoelaces of several pairs of untied shoes that lay here and there and playing hide-and-seek under the piles of clothes.

Sasha pawed open the closet. “I’ll look in here.”

Arun trotted to the tall mahogany-paneled door on the east wall. “I’ve got the bathroom!”

The bathroom was just as messy as the bedroom. The white subway tile was clean, but clothing was strewn about. Toiletries littered the double-sink vanity. At least the bathtub didn’t have dirt and hair—Trinity had cleaned it, no doubt.

Arun searched behind the toilet, in the laundry basket—which was empty because all the dirty clothes were all over the floor—and in the shower but didn’t find anything of importance.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Sasha asked when they met again in the bedroom.

Good question. “Anything suspicious.” Arun eyed the bed. It was unmade, but a human wouldn’t hide anything suspicious in the sheets.

Sasha hopped from the arm of the chair to the tall bureau. She sat on the marble surface, her dark tail hanging over the side as she leaned over the front edge to look at the drawers. She snaked a paw out through the handle of one and pushed so that the drawer slid open. “It’s going to be hard to get all these drawers open, but if I can push the top one far enough to get inside, we can make our way down each row.”

“Maybe we should try the easy places first.” Arun pushed the blue velvet bedspread, which was hanging over the edge of the bed, aside and then crawled under. Underneath the bed was not much different from the rest of the room. There were dust bunnies galore, some old magazines, ten mismatched socks, and a bottle of whiskey. Finally, he hit pay dirt.

“Ahhh. Sash, I think you should check this out.”

He heard the soft thud of her paws hitting the rug, then she was beside him, her pale eyes growing wide as she looked at what he had found—five gold goblets, just like the ones they’d used for dinner.

“We’d better get Araminta.”

 

 

Araminta made her way upstairs with more questions than answers. Why was there no one on the phone? How had the poison gotten into Archie’s food? What was Reggie doing in the butler’s pantry?

Sasha and Arun met her at the top of the stairs. Sasha raced over and pushed her head against Araminta’s leg. Araminta bent to pet the cat, something she was grateful she could still do at her age. Arun strutted around, tail straight in the air.

“Here now, what is it? Do you want to show me something?”

Both cats trotted off toward the east wing, and Araminta followed. She’d learned over the years that the cats had an uncanny ability to dig up clues, so it was always a good idea to follow them. They stopped in front of the door to Reggie’s room, their blue eyes blinking up at her expectantly. What a coincidence—Reggie was the very person she’d set off to talk to.

The door was cracked open, but she didn’t want to just barge in, so she lifted her hand and gave the thick wooden oak a sound knock. Silence. She gave a little push then wrinkled her nose in distaste.

Reginald Moorecliff definitely showed signs of being born to privilege—his room was a mess. Poor Trinity, Araminta thought. As the household’s only maid, she would be the one tasked with sorting through Reggie’s room, and she didn’t envy the girl her chore. Maybe she should take up the task of trying to teach Reggie how to pick up after himself. His future wife—if he ever found one—would certainly thank her.

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