Chapter 23
I really hoped I was right about JJ being irresistible. I put on my brightest smile and rang the bell. I was on the porch, Sin was on the step behind me, and Joshua had stayed on the sidewalk. We probably looked like we were selling something door-to-door.
An older woman with short white hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and sad eyes answered. “Hello? Can I help you? Oh.” Her eyes lost a fraction of their sadness, replaced by surprise. “You’re Princess Jayne.”
“Yes, ma’am, I am.” I twisted slightly and gestured to Sin. “And this is my husband, Prince Consort Sinclair.”
Joshua cleared his throat.
“And,” I quickly added as I turned to my other side, “our driver, Joshua, who you might recognize.”
“Joshua?”
“Joshua Carol, Mrs. Tinselwick. You were my eighth-grade teacher. Not sure if you remember me.”
“Josh Carol?” She peered around me, so I moved closer to Sin to get out of the way. Elmira’s eyes widened. “Of course I remember you. You’re the boy who let Sugar and Spice out of their enclosure.”
I looked at Joshua. “Sugar and Spice?”
“The class mice,” he explained before looking at Elmira again. “That was purely an accident, Mrs. Tinselwick.” He looked at me. “I was cleaning the cage, and they got out.”
She chuckled softly, her expression kind. “I know, and thankfully, we found them safe and sound, but it certainly made you hard to forget.”
She turned to me again. “What brings you all here?”
I hoped she could see the compassion and sympathy on my face. I felt for her and her heartbreaking loss. “We want you to know you’ve got our deepest sympathies concerning Delton. We were hoping to speak to you about him.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, her smile melting away.
“I’m not here to talk,” Joshua said. “I just drove them. I wanted to say hi because you were my teacher. And also how sorry I am for your loss. And I have a gift for you from their highnesses.” He lifted the box of fudge.
“Thank you, Josh.” She glanced at JJ as if just noticing him. That took some of the gloom from her gaze. She pushed the door open wider. “Why don’t you all come in? I’ll put some cocoa on.”
We wiped our feet and entered. As I passed, she gave JJ a grandmotherly smile. “That’s the princeling, isn’t it?”
“It is indeed,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind us bringing him.”
“Not at all. He’s a beautiful child.” She continued to gaze at him as Sin and Joshua walked in behind me. “There hasn’t been a baby in this house in a long time.” She closed the door. “Not since Percy and Thistle were little.”
“Your children?”
She nodded. “Yes. Percy still lives here, but Thistle’s married.
Her husband is a confectioner, and she’s a bowmaker.
They’re trying for a family but no little ones yet.
Only married a year. I’m sure it’ll happen.
” With a smile as sad as her eyes, she faced us all.
“I’ll just go start that cocoa and be right back. Please, make yourselves comfortable.”
Joshua quickly held out the box of fudge. “Like I said, this is for you, from their royal highnesses.”
She took the box and looked at me, a question in her eyes.
“My aunt Martha’s eggnog fudge,” I said. “It’s one of my favorite things and gives me a lot of comfort. I thought maybe it would do the same for you.”
“That’s lovely, thank you.” Elmira looked about to cry. She took the box into the kitchen as the first sob escaped her.
Sin and I sat on the couch with JJ between us. Joshua stayed standing. He pointed toward the door. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to be a part of this. I’ll just go wait in the crawler.”
“Stay,” I said. “She likes you. But let Sinclair and me do the talking, unless she asks you a question. We need to find out some things.”
“Absolutely.” He looked at the two remaining chairs and took the one that didn’t have a cross-stitch hoop on the table beside it.
Which meant he was probably sitting in Delton’s chair. I hoped Elmira would be all right with that.
She returned shortly, much more composed. She sat in the chair I’d assumed was hers. “Kettle’s on. What did you want to ask me about Delton?”
“Just about him in general.” I figured that was a good start.
Get her talking. “Anything you’d like to tell us, really.
My father has authorized us to investigate his murder and do whatever we can to bring the culprit to justice.
The police are also working on it, but we’re helping.
So if you have any idea who might have done something like this … ”
Elmira shook her head. “Delton was a good man. I can’t imagine anyone who’d want to hurt him this way.” Her voice cracked on the last word.
“I know he was a good man. I interviewed him for a project when I was in school.” I smiled, thinking about those days. “He was very helpful. And no one knew the archives or the history of the North Pole like him.”
She nodded, sniffing once. She pulled a flowered hanky from the sleeve of her sweater. “He tried to get Percy to learn the trade, wanted him to follow in his footsteps. It’s the way of things, you know.”
I nodded but kept quiet.
“The boy went to work with him for a couple of months, but he just couldn’t get interested. He wants to make games, become a tinker.” She shook her head like the very idea was absurd. “It’s a hard trade to get into. I’m sure you know.”
Uncle Kris was the head tinker, but that didn’t mean I was an expert on the subject. I kept the thought to myself and just kept nodding. “It’s very competitive. Is that how Delton ended up taking on Crispin? As his apprentice, I mean?”
“Yes. It got to the point where he had no choice. He needed someone. Percy didn’t want to help, and to be honest, there aren’t people coming out of the snowbanks looking to work in the archives. When Crispin applied, it was the first application he’d had in years.”
The kettle whistled. Elmira got up, stuffing the hanky in her pocket. “I’ll be right back with that cocoa.”
Joshua jumped up. “I’ll give you a hand, Mrs. Tinselwick.”
“You’re a grown man, Josh. You can call me Elmira,” she said as they walked into the kitchen together.
I was about to see what Sin wanted me to ask next when the sound of footsteps on the stairs was followed by the arrival of a young man in a fashionably ripped parka, dark snow pants bearing logo patches, and black leather snow boots.
His blue hair was lanky and looked like it hadn’t been washed in a while.
One of his ear tips was pierced. He reached the bottom of the steps and stared at us, recognition hitting him a second later.
“Hello,” Sin said. “You must be Percy.”
He looked in his early twenties. His brow furrowed, making the piercing in his left eyebrow twinkle with the movement. “What are you lot doing here?”
“We’ve come to talk to your mother about your father,” Sin answered. “We’re very sorry for your loss.”
Percy snarled. “He’d still be alive if not for you.” He jabbed a finger toward Sin. “Imagine a commoner thinking he could marry into the royal family. And now your son is going to—”
“Percy, is that you?” Elmira called out. “Do you want some cocoa?”
“No,” he shouted back. “I’m going to that workshop I told you about.” He glared at us. Well, mostly Sin. “You leave us alone. You’ve done enough damage. Your son should never sit on the Winter Throne.”
Then he stormed out.
I glanced at Sin. Inside I was boiling with rage. That ignorant boy was lucky I hadn’t turned him into an icicle. Permanently.
Sin grabbed my hand just as Elmira and Joshua came out of the kitchen. She had a tray with a pot of cocoa and four cups, while Joshua was carrying a plate of butter cookies and a little stack of fancy napkins.
Elmira nervously glanced toward the door. “Percy said something, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “He did. Did Delton feel the same way about my husband and my child?”
Elmira swallowed. “I can explain.”