Chapter 16
16
The first person Sadie saw when she reached the bottom of the stairs was Rowena. Dressed in a burgundy smoking jacket over a pair of wide-legged satin trousers and sporting a silver turban over hair now dyed to match her jacket, she lit up in delight as she spotted Sadie. ‘Look at you!’ she cried, opening her arms to sweep Sadie into a hug. ‘Don’t you look splendid?’ Rowena stepped back, an admiring smile on her face as she took Sadie by the shoulders. ‘And this cut! Turn around so I can see the back, and I love these highlights. You look like a different woman, Sadie!’
Sadie raised a tentative hand to check the short bob was still smooth. ‘It’s a lot shorter than I usually have it.’
‘It’s perfect! And you have such a lovely swan neck, it deserves showing off.’ She spotted someone behind them and called out. ‘Stevie, come and see Sadie’s fabulous new haircut.’
Sharp heels clicked on the tiled floor and Sadie turned towards the sound. Where Rowena always loved to make a statement, Stevie was understated elegance in a simple black gown that fitted her slim frame to below the knee before flaring out in a stunning ostrich feather skirt. She held open her arms as she took in Sadie’s outfit. ‘That colour is perfect on you, and Rowena’s right, your hair is gorgeous. Tasha told me she’d booked you in at the spa. Did you have a lovely time?’
Sadie held out her hands to show off her manicure. ‘They pampered me to within an inch of my life. Honestly I’m so relaxed I feel like I’ve been here for a week rather than a couple of days.’
‘That’s exactly how we want every guest to feel,’ Stevie said, linking their arms. ‘Shall we go through and find you a drink?’
Sadie was grateful for their company as they walked into the lounge. She was getting better at coming out of her shell but it was still a lot to walk into a room on her own. She needn’t have worried because Charlie, Anna and Jane were waiting just inside and they came over, Charlie handing her the second glass of champagne she was holding. After another round of compliments about her new hair, Sadie felt as though she was floating on cloud nine and was more than happy to pose for photos.
They were standing around admiring everyone else’s outfits when Sadie felt a warm hand against her back. ‘You look beautiful.’
Recognising Dylan’s voice, Sadie turned and found herself speechless as she stared into his blue eyes. He’d done something with his hair, the curls tamed into the sleek waves of a matinee idol. The velvet jacket he was wearing looked so soft she found her fingers straying to his shoulder to brush at an all but invisible spot of lint. Realising what she’d done, she pulled her hand away. ‘Sorry.’
‘You look beautiful,’ he said again, catching her hand and giving it the briefest squeeze before he let it go. ‘Sit next to me at dinner?’
She barely had time to nod before his children bowled up. Trying to ignore the fluttering inside her, she did her best to focus on them, admiring how handsome Theo looked and clapping when Avery did a twirl to show off the fringe of her dress. Their group expanded as first Tara and Jon and then Marcus joined them and before she knew it Dylan was on the other side of their loose circle deep in conversation with Rowena.
An earth-shattering scream pierced the air, and Sadie wasn’t the only one to clutch a hand to her chest as a young woman dressed in a short black and silver dress with a matching feathered headband ran into the room. ‘He’s dead!’ she cried out, gesturing towards the hallway with a hand clutching a long cigarette holder. ‘The duke is dead! Come quick, everybody, there’s been a murder!’
As she ran back out of the room, a ripple of relieved laughter followed her as they realised it must be the start of the evening’s entertainment. ‘I guess we should go and see,’ Tara said to Sadie with a shrug.
‘I guess so!’ They followed the rest of the guests, pausing to deposit their glasses on the trays of the wait staff who had appeared at the edge of the door. By the time they got into the hallway there was a circle of people gathered and Sadie had to stand on tiptoe to see what was happening. The young woman was on her knees wailing at the top of her lungs. Next to her on the large Turkish rug was the body of an older man, the front of his crisp white evening shirt soaked red, a very realistic-looking knife sticking out of his chest. ‘That’ll be the dead duke,’ Sadie murmured to Tara as she shuffled to one side to let her see.
The front doors burst open and a man around his mid-thirties wearing a long dark overcoat and a black hat pushed his way in. On his heels was an older man, dressed in a period policeman’s uniform and sporting a very impressive handlebar moustache. ‘Nobody touch anything!’ the younger man called out. ‘I’m Inspector Turtle and this is Sergeant Dove. Where’s the body?’
‘Here, he’s here!’ The young woman stood and Sadie noticed with a smile that not a spot of her make-up was out of place for all that supposed weeping and wailing.
‘Stand aside!’ Inspector Turtle declared and the guests moved back, widening the circle enough that gaps appeared so Sadie and the others on the outside could see more clearly what was happening. The inspector went down on his knees by the body. ‘My God, it’s the Duke of Nortington, Sergeant Dove, lock the doors! No one is leaving until the murderer has been found.’
The sergeant made a big show of closing the doors and sliding the bolt across. ‘Right then, ladies and gentlemen, that’s enough gawping. Follow me so I can take everyone’s name.’ Weaving through the group, the sergeant led them into the dining room. It had been dressed beautifully, with flowers and candles on every table. A large plan stood just inside the door indicating which tables they’d been assigned to and the guests soon dispersed to take their seats. Sadie had just reached their table when Dylan appeared at her side. He pulled out a chair for her then quickly claimed the one next to hers, sending her a ghost of a wink as he unfastened the napkin on his plate and laid it across his lap. Theo and Avery had already taken empty seats on the opposite side of the table, leaving room for Tara and Jon to claim the chairs to Sadie’s left. ‘Is this free?’ Charlie asked, pointing to the seat beside Dylan.
‘Not any more.’ He rose in one smooth motion, pulling out her chair, before moving to make sure Anna and Jane were also both comfortable in the seats next to her.
That left three empty places at the table. One was claimed by Marcus, who asked Jane if he could sit beside her. A few moments later Stevie arrived and took the seat next to him with a smile. ‘Rowena and I decided we could keep an eye on things and still enjoy ourselves at the same time,’ she said.
‘Who’s missing?’ Sadie asked, nodding to the final chair.
‘You’ll see,’ Stevie said with a secretive smile. ‘Now then, shall we open this wine?’
They’d all got drinks and the wait staff had been around and laid out mixed mezze plates for everyone as a starter when a young man wearing a straw boater and a candy-striped blazer rushed over and took the empty seat. ‘Sorry, I’m late! Took blooming ages to get back from Oxford. Bad news about the old man, what?’ He turned to Theo, who was sitting next to him. ‘Good to meet you, I’m Lord Monckton, but you can call me Dickie, everyone does.’
It didn’t take long to establish that Dickie was in fact the dead duke’s eldest son and heir to the title. The three younger women seemed more au fait at how the evening was meant to go and they peppered him with questions about his background, his relationship with his father, etc. The crying woman they found out was a former showgirl who the duke had taken up with following the untimely demise of Dickie’s mother. ‘Millicent, she calls herself now,’ Dickie said with a clear sneer of disdain. ‘As if any of us are going to forget about Millie the Minx’s speciality act involving a shot glass, a golf ball and a peacock’s feather.’
‘The mind boggles,’ Stevie said, and Sadie wasn’t the only one to turn a laugh into a hasty cough as she caught the look of confusion on Avery’s face. Theo opened his mouth, but thankfully closed it again when Dylan shook his head once.
‘So, your father’s acquaintance with Millicent is a relatively recent one?’ Jon asked, thankfully diverting the conversation away from the anatomical creativity of Millie the Minx. He’d got right into the spirit of things, taking a pen from Tara’s handbag and using the back of one of the menus to scribble down anything he considered might be a clue.
Sadie was happy to let the others get on with it while she focused on her food and the warm heat of Dylan’s leg pressed against hers. The first time he’d brushed against her, she’d assumed it was an accident, but when he’d reached for his fork as she’d reached for her knife, his little finger had touched hers. When she’d looked up at him, he’d held her gaze for a long moment before moving his hand away and turning his attention to his meal. His foot had touched hers beneath the table and when she hadn’t moved away, Dylan had shifted towards her just enough she could feel the heat of him through the thin silk of her skirt.
Not trusting herself not to blush if she looked at him, Sadie concentrated on chatting to Tara, who was happy to have an audience as she described the lovely day she and Jon had enjoyed with their grandchildren. She couldn’t put her mind to anything more serious than that because too much of her attention was caught up in her awareness of the man beside her. What if she was reading something into nothing and his gestures were entirely accidental? She could be sitting there all hot and bothered about something of which he was entirely unaware. How embarrassing, how desperate, if that was the case.
It had taken her ages to get used to sleeping on her own, not that she’d missed Pete all that much, but she’d missed having someone . Waking up in silence had meant lying awake for hours missing the sound of his breathing, the strangeness of all that empty space beside her. It had been better once they’d sold the house and she’d moved into her own place. Buying new furniture might have been a luxury her budget couldn’t really afford but she’d refused to take anything from the old house with her, most especially the bed. Her new double was smaller than the old super-king, but it was hers and hers alone. The first night in her new place she’d made a point of sleeping not on her usual right side but in the middle and now she enjoyed having the space to spread herself out, to seek a cool bit of the bed in the heat of the summer, to roll herself up in the quilt like a sausage in a bun on chilly nights simply because she could.
There was only one way to find out if she was imagining things… Sadie knocked her napkin ‘accidentally’ off her lap and in the ensuing flurry of activity to retrieve it, she took the opportunity to shift her chair further away from Dylan. ‘Okay?’ he asked as she settled back into her seat.
‘Yes, everything’s fine, thank you.’
There was no time for any more conversation as the staff came to clear the plates and Dickie excused himself from the table. His seat wasn’t empty for long as Sergeant Dove sat down. He cast a suspicious look around the table, then took a notebook out of his pocket and began to quiz them about what the young master had had to say for himself.
And so the evening continued: as each course was delivered and cleared a new person came to join the table, dropping hints and casting aspersions on each other with abandon. Sadie had no idea who the murderer was, and honestly she didn’t really care, it was enough to enjoy the atmosphere, the good food and the even better company. When they came around with coffee and dessert, Sadie was too full but, after a quick, pleading look from Theo she accepted the slice of cake she’d been about to refuse and sent it around the table to him. With no more mystery guests to join them, Jon shifted into the empty seat next to Stevie so he could consult with her, Marcus and the three younger women.
‘So what’s your theory?’ Dylan asked her as they settled back in their seats with coffees in hand.
‘I don’t really have one. They all seemed pretty suspicious to me. What about you?’
‘I kept getting distracted thinking about Millie’s stage act,’ he said with a wicked grin.
‘Oh, don’t!’ Sadie set her coffee down on the table before she spilled it. ‘You know you’re going to get questions about that from Theo, don’t you?’
Dylan mock shuddered. ‘I’m already dreading it.’ His smile returned. ‘Have you had a nice evening, though?’
She nodded. ‘It’s been wonderful fun.’
His expression grew serious and his voice lowered so only she would be able to hear him. ‘And you didn’t mind me wanting to sit next to you?’
‘Not at all.’ He stared at her as though expecting her to say something more. Perhaps those touches hadn’t been accidental after all. But how to ask without just blurting it out? God, she was so out of practice with this kind of thing. ‘I like your company very much.’
‘I like yours too. Perhaps we could go for a walk some time? Just the two of us.’
She didn’t have time to answer because Avery was suddenly there between the two of them, whispering something urgently. Quick as a flash, Dylan was up and out of his seat and helping a rather green-looking Theo out of the room, Avery following at their heels.
Not sure if she was feeling relieved or disappointed, Sadie bit her lip as she and the others looked at each other after watching the abrupt departure. ‘I feel awful for giving him my dessert,’ she confessed.
Stevie shook her head. ‘Don’t blame yourself, he had mine too and several of the chocolates that came with the coffee.’
‘It is rather warm in here,’ Tara added, lifting her fan from the table to waft her face. ‘I think I might leave the super sleuths to it and retire to the lounge.’
‘I need to go and check on a few things,’ Stevie said, rising. Marcus stood to ease her chair back and Sadie didn’t miss the brief touch the other woman laid on his arm before she departed. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one finding herself in the middle of a flirtation. That had to be what it was, right? Having someone make her feel attractive again was a heady experience and Sadie felt as if she were walking on air as she and Tara said goodnight to the others and left the ballroom. They parted at the bottom of the stairs, Sadie demurring on the offer of a night cap. She didn’t need anything else to cloud her judgement, she needed to think about what was potentially happening between her and Dylan because they seemed to be heading along a path that both excited and frightened her.