Chapter 6 #2
I gave up and headed out again. The walk to Mr. Armitage’s office did me good and allowed me to gather my thoughts. Not that there were many to gather, but I at least felt as though I was making progress.
Mr. Armitage’s office door was locked but there was a handwritten note pinned to it that said he could be found in the Roma Café next door.
I entered the café and was greeted with a hearty welcome from Luigi and nods from each of the two old men sitting on stools at the counter. They were the same men as last time.
“What a pleasant surprise!” Luigi said, throwing his arms wide. “It’s good to see you, Bella. Come, sit with Harry and I’ll bring you coffee.”
Mr. Armitage watched me approach with a scowl. He’d been reading the newspaper but he now folded it up and tossed it onto a nearby table. “Let me guess,” he said. “The beak-nosed man is stealing jewels from the guests’ rooms.”
“No, and I don’t think you should joke about it. It might very well be true.” I sat and placed my purse on my lap. “I see you’re working hard.”
“I don’t have any work yet, so I might as well come here for the company and coffee.”
I eyed the elderly men on the stools and Luigi grinding the beans behind the counter. “You were reading the newspaper, keeping your own company. And what if someone comes to your office and finds you not there?”
“That’s what the sign is for.”
“It’s not very professional.”
“Is there a point to your visit, Miss Fox, or are you just here to find fault with me?”
I tilted my head to the side and gave him an arched look. “It’s very difficult to find fault with you, Mr. Armitage.”
He blinked rapidly back at me and his mouth opened and closed without uttering a word. It seemed I’d caught him off-guard.
“And well you know it,” I added.
He laughed softly. “I knew you complimenting me was too good to be true.”
I smiled back, pleased with his reaction.
There weren’t many ways to disarm him, but I was learning how to crack his frosty facade whenever he put it up.
I still had some way to go before he’d forgive me completely, however, and treat me with the same open friendliness from before the debacle that saw him dismissed from the hotel.
“I need your help, as it happens,” I said.
His gaze narrowed. “Is this your way of getting me to agree to share the murder investigation?”
“Of course not. I’m not offering to share with you anymore. You made it quite clear that you were offended by the idea.”
His gaze narrowed further. “So…?”
“So I’ve come to ask for your help but am not giving you a thing for it in return. Except my company over a cup of Luigi’s excellent coffee, of course,” I added with a smile for Luigi as he set a cup down in front of me.
“Excellent coffee? Ah, Bella, you make me a very happy man to hear you say that. Very happy indeed.”
“I’ll even pay for the coffees today,” I said to Mr. Armitage, once Luigi left us alone. “So what do you think? Will you help me?”
He sighed and sat forward. “How can I resist such an offer? So how can I help?”
I removed the photograph from my purse and slid it across the table to him. “Do you know this man?”
He studied the photograph and nodded. “It’s Lord Wrexham.” He passed the photograph back. “He and Miss Westwood were lovers?”
“I think so. What do you know about him?”
“Very little. He came to the New Year’s Eve ball two years in a row, but that was at least two years ago.
He was never a guest at the hotel. That either means he stayed at another hotel when he was in London or he has his own townhouse.
I’m going to assume the latter. If he’s a regular guest at another hotel, he’s less likely to come to the Mayfair’s ball, although it’s not unheard of. ”
I studied the couple in the photograph again. Pearl looked so fresh faced and beautiful and Lord Wrexham’s skin was clear. “Did Lord Wrexham have lesions when you saw him?”
He frowned. “No. Does he now?”
I told him about seeing him at Pearl’s funeral and indicated where on his face he sported warts or sores. “I’m surprised he hasn’t grown a beard to cover them up.”
He sipped his coffee thoughtfully. I studied him over the rim of my cup, and allowed myself to be distracted from the task at hand by his handsome face.
Good looks didn’t last, so Mrs. Larsen told me.
Beauty might not last forever, but it certainly helped a woman in Pearl’s line of work get ahead, although I wasn’t sure it mattered as much for men.
In my experience, powerful and wealthy men got what they wanted.
Sometimes the clever and enterprising ones did too.
It didn’t matter what they looked like. Being handsome was more likely to make a man complacent in his youth and enjoy the attention too much, but it rarely had a long-term effect.
Mr. Armitage was not the usual sort of man, however. He might not be powerful and wealthy, but he was enterprising and clever. His good looks could be an asset in gaining business from wealthy women if he coupled it with his charm.
“I wonder when they were together,” he said, setting down his cup. “Before Pearl was with Rumford or during?”
“And was he upset enough to kill her out of jealousy,” I added.
“What will you do now?”
“Question Lord Wrexham, I suppose.”
He humphed.
“You have something to say?”
“Good luck with your questioning.”
“Thank you.” I finished my coffee and rose. “And thank you for your help.”
He stood too and buttoned his jacket. “My uncle could have answered these questions for you.”
“I couldn’t find him. I did try. I would certainly rather speak to him in the warmth of the hotel than come all the way over here in the cold.”
He smirked.
I decided not to ask him why he was smirking, as I suspected that was what he wanted me to do.
What I needed was another reason to call on Mr. Armitage that would convince him I had to come here and not wait for Mr. Hobart.
“There was one other thing, as it happens, and this is something I couldn’t ask your uncle.
It’s a somewhat awkward matter. Also, your uncle is not at the hotel overnight, but you were when you lived there. ”
“Are you going to say something to make me blush, Miss Fox?”
“That depends on how delicate your sensibilities are.” I glanced towards the counter where Luigi spoke in Italian to the two customers. I lowered my voice so they couldn’t overhear. “Did my cousin Floyd often bring back…women to his suite without my uncle’s knowledge?”
Mr. Armitage leaned down a little and matched his tone to mine. “You hesitated before saying women. Are you not sure?”
“I was about to say whores, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“Whores?”
“Overt ones, not the elegant mistresses like Pearl or the one on that Russian count’s arm.”
“Ah.” He straightened. “While I can’t be certain of everything your cousin got up to in private, I’m sure he didn’t entertain women of any description in his suite. I would have heard about it if he had.”
It was my turn to humph. “Surely the footmen and night porter didn’t tell you all the comings and goings.”
“Of course they did.”
I rolled my eyes. “All managers think their staff confide in them.”
“In my case, they did. You might find it hard to believe, but they actually liked and respected me. I had a good relationship with the staff.”
I thanked Luigi and smiled at his customers who nodded back. Mr. Armitage followed me outside to the pavement. He hadn’t finished with me yet.
“Is Floyd’s nocturnal adventures relevant to anything?” he asked.
“No.”
“So you’re just being nosy.”
I opened my mouth to protest but had no defense. He was right. “I want to know everything about the people I’m related to. I still have so much to learn about them.”
“Be careful, Miss Fox. If you snoop too much, you might learn something you wish you hadn’t.” He removed the key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock for his office door. “Let me know how you get on with Lord Wrexham.” He sounded amused.
It would seem he doubted I’d get anywhere with Wrexham. I hated to admit it, but he was probably right about that too. I had to try, however.
Finding where Lord Wrexham lived wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be.
Mr. Hobart had the address on file so he could send him invitations to balls and other events held at the hotel.
Since I was investigating on behalf of Lord Rumford, he was happy to assist me and handed over the address readily.
“How is the investigation coming along?” he asked.
“Slowly, but I have a suspect now.”
He glanced at the card for Lord Wrexham. “Him?”
I nodded. “Out of jealousy when she left him for Lord Rumford. That’s my theory, anyway. I might change my mind after I question him.”
He returned the file to the cabinet and closed the drawer. He removed his spectacles to look at me. “He wasn’t a guest here, so I never really knew him. But please be careful, Miss Fox. Men of standing like Wrexford think they don’t have to answer to anyone. He won’t like being questioned.”
“Then he can just refuse to see me. There’ll be no danger involved.”
I called at the Belgravia townhouse after luncheon, but the butler who answered the door said his lordship was not at home. He could not tell me when he would return but he did agree to give my calling card to his lordship.
Since I didn’t have calling cards, I quickly penciled my name on one of the hotel cards I carried in my purse and handed it to him. “I’m Sir Ronald Bainbridge’s niece,” I told the butler.
The butler showed a spark of curiosity but it was quickly dampened. I didn’t enlighten him as to the nature of my visit.
I headed back down the steps and glanced over my shoulder as the butler closed the door. The curtain in one of the front windows fluttered. Someone had been watching me.