But first, she needed to speak with Reginald about the phone call that wasn’t.
Reginald Moorecliff was at his wit’s end. He didn’t know what to do. He’d tried to get the money he needed, but he’d still come up short. He was going to suffer for it, he knew, and there was still the matter of his father’s funeral to deal with. And with his sister coming back this afternoon, it was all bad timing.
He thought about his situation and scrubbed his face and hair with his hands. His father would have been so disappointed in him, and what would it do to Daisy? He had to admit that he was reluctantly growing fond of her. At first, he hadn’t liked her at all. He and Stephanie had seen right through her intentions. Or so he thought. But after a while, he’d seen how she doted on his father, how she didn’t spend money excessively, and how she had a generous streak and was kind to everyone, even treating the servants as if they were members of the family. He had to admit that he might have been wrong about her. Convincing his sister about that, though, was another story.
He couldn’t tell Daisy about his predicament. No, he couldn’t tell anyone. He would just have to continue what he’d been doing. He had a couple of days left to come up with the money. If he couldn’t, he would speak to his stepmother then and explain everything.
But for now, he needed to do what he had to do to survive. That was his excuse for slipping into the dressing room of the suite that his father and Daisy—now just Daisy, he realized with a pang of sadness—slept.
A twinge of guilt hit him as he carefully swung open the doors of her jewelry armoire. He would take only a few of the lesser pieces. The ones he knew held sentimental value were the ones he definitely wouldn’t touch.
He dug deep into the box and lifted a necklace of onyx and ruby. It looked about a hundred years old. He tried to recall whether he’d ever seen her wear it. He didn’t think he had. Surely it was worth more than a few goblets encrusted with gems and gold. Would she even miss it? After a quick glance over his shoulder, he tucked it carefully into his coat pocket.
He hurried across the room then opened the door and slipped outside. If anyone were to find out what I’ve been doing…
“There you are, Reginald,” his aunt called.
He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the door closed.
“I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Pasting on a fake but genial smile, he turned to his aunt. “Aunt Minta! You’re looking lovely today. Is that a new shade of neon you’re wearing? The color looks positively smashing on you.”
Araminta’s expression remained bland, though the sparkle in her eyes told him his praise of her fashion sense gave her a twinge of satisfaction. “Thank you, sweetheart. You’re the only one who noticed. But come. I have a few questions for you.”
Reggie followed along slowly, his footsteps weighted with dread, as she led the way to his quarters on the second floor then waited outside his room. At least she hadn’t questioned what he had been doing in Daisy’s room.
“Maybe we should chat inside.” She nodded toward his door. Maybe she did have questions about where he’d just been. He decided to play dumb, until she said, “I’ve noticed you’ve become quite a collector of things, and I thought you might want to keep the why between the two of us.”
He still said nothing, mostly because he was finding it rather difficult to breathe at the moment, as the knowledge that he’d been caught out with no recourse but to tell the truth sank in.
She arched an eyebrow and snapped, “Or I could phone to ask Detective Hershey to stop by with a few of his police department friends, if that’s what you’d prefer.”
Reggie’s jaw dropped, and he closed his eyes as he blew out a breath in defeat. “We should talk inside, if you please, Aunt Araminta. I would ask most respectfully if you would please keep your voice down too. But first, I want you to know I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
Pushing open the door, his aunt pointed at the five gold-encased, jewel-encrusted goblets now lying on his bed. “You can start by explaining why those specifically are here and what you’ve done with the other one.”
Reginald stepped around her and into the room. Knowing he had no other choice, he nodded and gestured toward the goblets he had stolen. “I took them because I needed the money they would bring, but I couldn’t make the sale because there were only five. Apparently, the full set contained six of these lovely beauts. But where the sixth one that completes the set might be?” He spread his hands wide, shrugged, then shook his head. “I honestly haven’t a clue.”
Chapter Nine
“So, you’ve been the one taking vases, teapots, and bronzes from the manor? If you needed money, why not go to your father?” Araminta asked.
Reginald cast his gaze to the floor. “I didn’t want Father to know I have a problem with gambling. Can you imagine what he would have thought of smearing such a blight upon our family tree?”
Araminta had to concede the point to him on that. Archibald would have been devastated. “But he would have done what he could to help. Daisy too.”
Reggie shook his head. “Not with this, Aunt Minta. It’s been going on too long, and I’m afraid I’m in too deep. These people to whom I owe money… they aren’t the banker or investor-in-a-three-piece-suit type.”
Araminta’s eyes widened. “Loan sharks?”
He nodded. “I didn’t figure the family would miss a few knickknacks,” he said, waving toward the goblets. “The house is full of them. So… while the family may not miss a couple of ancient doodads, I will surely miss the use of my legs when word of my default gets round to Tony ‘The Fist’ Romano.”
Araminta looked at the goblets. “That’s what you were planning to do with these? Sell them?”
Reggie crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the door, and nodded. “But Jed down at the pawn shop wouldn’t take them. He said there should be a set of six. No one wants to buy just five goblets. But when I swiped them from the butler’s pantry, there were only five. It’s just glasses. How was I to know one was missing?”
Araminta knew the sixth was sitting on the shelf in the china cabinet downstairs in the dining room, but she didn’t mention the goblets again. It would be easy enough to put in a call to Jed to confirm Reggie’s story. “There is one other thing. You were in the butler’s pantry last night when Trinity was called away before serving. Do you know why she was?”
“Yes. She had a phone call. Harold told her there was a call for her upstairs. Neither of them realized I was there, but I heard everything.”
“Did he say who the call was from?”
Reggie considered the question. “I don’t recall that he did. He just informed her she had a call and offered to do the serving for her.” Reggie eyed his aunt skeptically. “Why all the questions, Auntie? I mean, I understand I’ve been caught stealing red-handed, but there must have been a reason you were here in my room besides just checking up on me.”
Then his eyes grew wide. “Goblets. The poison! You thought I put the poison in the goblet, didn’t you?”