Page 110 of A Whisper at Midnight

Clara moved past them toward the back of the house.

Hadrian frowned as he turned toward Tilda. “I am not certain Mrs. Styles-Rowdonisa friend.”

Tilda’s eyes glittered. “On the contrary, I think we must consider that she is a killer.”

CHAPTER 22

“We’ve no choice but to go next door,” Tilda said. “It may be best if we send Leach to Scotland Yard to fetch Teague.”

Hadrian moved to open the door for her. “He’s becoming quite used to that, I think.”

They stopped at the coach to speak with Leach before walking—quickly—to Mrs. Styles-Rowdon’s.

A woman in her middle forties answered the door.

Once again, Hadrian used his status by handing her his card. “We’re here to see Mrs. Styles-Rowdon. We’re friends of Mrs. Chambers. We believe she’s here?”

“I know who you are, Lord Ravenhurst,” the woman, presumably the housekeeper, said. She looked to Tilda but said nothing. Perhaps she did not know who Tilda was. This amused Tilda as it seemed likely that Mrs. Styles-Rowdon would mention Hadrian but not Tilda.

The housekeeper opened the door wide so they could enter. “They are both upstairs. Mrs. Chambers arrived a short while ago and was most urgent in her need to speak with Mrs. Styles-Rowdon. She would not even allow me to fetch her.”

“We’ll just go on up then too,” Tilda said with a smile. She’d no intention of asking, not when they needed to find out what Beryl was doing. She glanced toward Hadrian who gave her a faint nod.

“Thank you.” Hadrian nodded at the housekeeper as he escorted Tilda into the staircase hall. The house was laid out much the same as Beryl’s next door.

They made their way upstairs and paused at the landing. A moment later, they heard voices coming from the back of the first floor.

“I’m not going to allow you to ransack my things,” Mrs. Styles-Rowdon said loudly.

Exchanging glances, Tilda and Hadrian moved in the direction of her voice. The door to her bedchamber was open. Mrs. Styles-Rowdon stood in the doorway to another room—perhaps her dressing chamber—whilst Beryl, her back to Hadrian and Tilda, was in front of her.

“If you’ve nothing to hide, just show me that you don’t have my rubies,” Beryl demanded.

Mrs. Styles-Rowdon’s features were tight, her eyes fixed on Beryl. The woman’s hands were braced on the doorframe, effectively blocking Beryl from entering.

Tilda considered the best course of action. They could force Mrs. Styles-Rowdon’s hand, knowing Teague would be here soon. Unless he wasn’t available. It might be best that they wait for his arrival, in which case they needed to convince Beryl to leave.

Opting for the latter, Tilda stepped into the bedchamber. “Beryl, you are distraught. Please allow Hadrian and me to escort you home.”

Beryl whipped her head around. She appeared even more agitated than when they’d seen her a short while ago. “Of course,I’m distraught. Gillian is not my friend. She has been having an affair with Louis. And she poisoned me!”

“I did no such thing,” Mrs. Styles-Rowdon said with a click of her tongue. “The stress of the past week has finally affected you, my dear. You know that Iamyour friend.”

Keeping her attention on Tilda and Hadrian, Beryl went on. “After I told you about the Epiphany party, I remembered something. I saw Louis try to kiss Gillian that night. She pushed him away. At the time, I was glad to see her reaction and angry that Louis had tried that. But when I thought back to the event itself, I realize Gillian hadn’t appeared upset. She’d been more … furtive, as if she didn’t want to be caught. I know what that looks like because I did that with Louis myself when I was trying to hide our affair from Hadrian.”

Tilda glanced over at Hadrian, but his expression was stony.

Beryl turned back to Gillian. “How could you do that? I thought we were friends. You were so kind to me, so supportive, especially when I said I wanted to divorce Louis.” Beryl sucked in a breath. “Was that because you hoped to marry him?”

Gillian shook her head. “You’ve gone mad, Beryl. I didn’t poison you, and I certainly didn’t want to wed Louis. He was utterly despicable.” She looked past Beryl at Tilda and Hadrian. “I have suspected that Beryl poisoned him. She was desperate to get away from him. I wondered if she may have stabbed him, to be honest, but since she apparently did not, I would wager she was responsible for the poisoning.” She gave Beryl a sad look.

A primal sound erupted from Beryl just before she launched herself forward, pushing Gillian into the dressing room. Surprised, Gillian fell back, stumbling but not quite losing her balance.

Tilda rushed after them into the dressing room. Beryl was at the dressing table, grasping for the jewelry box. But Gillian had recovered and pulled on Beryl viciously.

With a cry, Beryl hit her head on the corner of a dresser and slumped to the floor.

Hadrian was also there. He grasped Gillian by the forearm. His hand was bare, which meant he’d removed his gloves at some point. Tilda glimpsed them on the floor near the doorway.