Fire When Ready (Manor House Mystery) (15 page)

Elizabeth let out her breath. "Perhaps," she said. "I'll look for it." She thanked him and replaced the receiver in its cradle. No key. The question was, if the office door was locked, where was the key now?

If McNally had locked the door himself, which Elizabeth seriously doubted, and the key wasn't found on him, then it should still be in the office. There was only one way to settle that question. She would have to go to the factory and look for it herself.

Having decided that, she made her way down to the kitchen. Martin was already seated at the table, and he dragged himself to his feet as Elizabeth entered. Polly and Sadie were deep in discussion, while Violet stood at the stove busily stirring the source of the tantalizing fragrance Elizabeth had smelled earlier, which turned out to be a lamb stew.

The meal was a lively affair, with Sadie recounting her night out with Joe. "He took me out to a social at the base," she told Elizabeth. "It was fun but I felt so sorry for poor Joe. The lads were all teasing him something dreadful, they were."

"What for?" Polly asked.

"Because he's so backward in coming forward.'' Sadie uttered her raucous laugh. "If I didn't grab him and plonk one on his lips, he'd never kiss me goodnight."

Seated next to her, Violet glared at Sadie, while Martin choked on his stew. Polly giggled, earning her own glare from Violet.

Sadie shot Elizabeth a sheepish glance. "Didn't mean no disrespect, m'm."

"That's quite all right, Sadie." Elizabeth laid down her
spoon on her empty plate. "I hope you both managed to enjoy the evening."

Sadie nodded, her eyes glowing. "We had a smashing time. Joe's a really good dancer, though he don't say much. I have to drag everything out of him. He's frightened of saying the wrong thing. I don't think he's had a real girlfriend before. I'm his first one."

"Heaven help the poor blighter," Martin muttered.

Sadie ignored him. "Know what he told me, m'm? He said that Major Monroe is back and moving into the manor."

Elizabeth did her best to sound unaffected. "Yes, that's right. I believe the major moved in last night."

"Bet you're head over heels about that, m'm." Sadie grinned happily.

"That's none of your business, my girl," Violet snapped, saving Elizabeth the embarrassment of answering.

Sadie shrugged. "I was just thinking that now Polly's got a new boyfriend and the major's back and I've got Joe; everyone's got someone now." She smiled sweetly at Violet. "Except you, Violet. When are you going to get hooked up with a nice man?"

Violet's thin face turned the color of a beetroot. "What impudence! If you can't keep a decent tongue in your head, Sadie Buttons, you will be taking your meals in your own room in the future."

"I was just trying to—"

"Never mind what you were trying," Violet interrupted her. "None of this is your business and I'll thank you to keep a still tongue."

Martin sniffed. "You might as well ask the earth to stop revolving around the sun."

Violet gave him one of her lethal looks. "I don't remember asking for your opinion, neither."

Thankfully, just as Elizabeth was trying to think of a way to change the subject, Polly came to the rescue. "Me and Sadie came up with a terrific idea," she said. "We're going to organize letters for the soldiers overseas. I wrote and asked Marlene to give me the names of soldiers who don't have anyone to write to them, and we're going to ask everyone in the village to write a letter to every one of them so they won't feel so lonely anymore."

"Oh, what a lovely idea!" Elizabeth beamed at the two girls. "I'm quite sure the soldiers will appreciate that very much."

Even Violet seemed impressed by the idea, though she refrained from making a comment. She merely rose to gather up the empty dishes. Her silence on the subject indicated her approval, however.

"I asked Ray if he'd help us make posters that we could put up around the village," Polly went on, obviously caught up in this new venture. "We was wondering, m'm, if you had some paper we could use."

"Of course." Elizabeth handed her empty plate to Violet. "I have half a ream of full-sized sheets. They're on the shelf by the window. Just help yourself to what you need."

Polly nodded, her cheeks warm with excitement. "I know where they are. Thank you, m'm. Ray is looking forward to making the posters."

"Hope you'll have one ready by tonight," Sadie said. "We're supposed to go down the Arms to put one up on the wall, remember?"

"Ray said he'd make one up for us this afternoon." She looked at Elizabeth. "Would it be all right if I take the paper down to him? I'll be really fast on me bicycle."

"I'll drop it off for you," Elizabeth told her. "I'll be going right past there this afternoon."

"Oh, thank you, m'm." Polly turned to Sadie and grinned. "Looks like you and me will be putting up our first poster tonight."

"Your young man seems very nice," Elizabeth said, as she rose from the table.

Polly shrugged. "He's all right. He's nice enough, I s'pose."

"Give it time," Sadie told her. "From what you say he seems like a good bloke. You'll soon warm up to him and then you'll forget all about Sam."

"I'm never going to forget Sam," Polly said. "But Ray makes me laugh and he doesn't mind spending a bob or two. I suppose that's good enough for now."

Martin grunted, and everyone looked at him. He'd been struggling to his feet ever since Elizabeth had got up from the table, and only now was he upright, his gnarled hands resting on the table.

"Did you say something, luv?" Sadie inquired.

Martin scowled at her. "Even if I had been granted the chance to get a word in edgewise, I would not have lowered myself to address you, young lady. I have never heard such unmitigated piffle in my entire life. All this talk about consorting with men makes me quite ill."

" 'Ere," Sadie hotly protested. "What'd you mean, consorting? I hope you're not suggesting that I've been up to any monkey business, because I haven't. Not that it's any of your business if I had."

"It's all right, Sadie," Elizabeth said soothingly. "Consorting simply means socializing, that's all."

"Oh, well that's all right, then." Sadie eyed Martin with
suspicion. "I just don't want anyone getting any nasty ideas, that's all."

"Then perhaps you should reconsider your conversation at the dinner table," Martin said huffily.

"I think you girls should consider getting back to work." Violet looked pointedly at the clock. "The afternoon will be over before you get anything done."

Both girls promptly departed, leaving Elizabeth alone with Violet and her butler, who showed every sign of dozing off before he made it back to his room.

"Why don't you take your nap, Martin," Elizabeth suggested gently.

The old man nodded. "Thank you, madam. I do believe I shall. Please wake me in the event of an invasion. Or if we should have another bombing raid on the village."

"We haven't had any bombing raids on the village yet," Violet said sharply. "And if we did, the bombs would wake you up soon enough."

Martin peered at her over his glasses. "If we should become overrun by the Germans, Violet, I trust you will stand guard at the gates. One look at you and no doubt they will lay down their arms, turn tail, and run. If they have any sense at all, that is."

Violet rolled her eyes but wisely kept quiet as Martin shuffled from the room. Once the door had closed behind him, however, she muttered, "Silly old goat. He makes no sense at all."

Elizabeth smiled. "He thinks he does. And that's what counts." She headed for the door. "I shall be back before dark, as usual."

"Lizzie?"

Something in Violet's voice alerted Elizabeth, and she warily turned to face her housekeeper.

Violet actually seemed apprehensive as she stood wringing her hands, a frown wrinkling her brow. "I know this is none of my business," she said, "and you can tell me so when I'm done. But I've got to say this."

Anticipating what was coming, Elizabeth said quietly, "If this is about Major Monroe, Violet, I should warn you it's a sensitive subject."

Violet appeared to wrestle with indecision, then blurted out, "I just don't want you to go hoping for things that can't be, that's all. After what happened with you and Harry, I don't want to see you hurt like that again."

Violet meant well, Elizabeth reminded herself. The housekeeper had taken it upon herself to protect her employer after the death of Elizabeth's parents. At times that had been comforting, and at others, a little annoying, as it was now. Even so, she supposed she owed some kind of explanation to Violet. And now was as good a time as any.

"I'm not saying, at this point, that anything has changed between myself and Major Monroe," she said slowly. "But since you will find out eventually, you might as well know that he is getting divorced. It should be official in a few months."

Violet's mouth dropped open. "Does that mean," she said, after a long pause, "that you and the major . . . ?" She let her voice trail off, apparently unable to put the unthinkable into words.

"I don't quite know what it means right now," Elizabeth said truthfully. "Obviously the fact that Earl will no longer be married won't be the only consideration. I'm not going to pretend that I have no feelings for him. That would be pointless, anyway, since you know better."

Violet nodded, but the fear was naked on her face. "You
know I only want what's best for you, Lizzie. I just hope you know what that is."

"So do I." Elizabeth turned back to the door. "All I can say now is that no matter what happens, I shan't abandon you and Martin. I give you my promise. There are many hurdles to cross in the future. Right now I'm just taking things one day at a time. That's all any of us can do, really. There's no telling what the future might hold for us."

"Just be happy, Lizzie. That's all I ask."

Elizabeth gave in to the impulse and quickly crossed the room. Putting her arms around the frail figure of her housekeeper, she gave her a hug. "Happiness is such an elusive luxury, Violet," she said softly. "Let's just hope we get this war over with as quickly as possible, and that we all survive. I'll be happy enough with that."

"Amen." Violet sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Now get off with you, or you'll never be home before the blackout."

Elizabeth's first stop was the Tudor Arms, and Alfie looked most surprised to see her walk in. "I was about to close up, your ladyship," he told her. "I"m sorry, but it's past two o'clock."

"Oh, I know it's past closing time," Elizabeth assured him. "I just came to deliver this paper to Ray Muggins. He's making posters for Sadie and Polly, I believe."

"Oh, you just missed him." Alfie held out his hand. "I'll take them, if you like. I'll give them to him when he comes in."

Elizabeth handed over the roll of paper. "Thank you, Alfie." She hesitated, aware that this was none of her business, but she couldn't ignore the opportunity to find out more about the young man Polly was dating. Although Polly lived
with her mother, she spent more time at the Manor House than at home these days, and Elizabeth had always felt a strong sense of responsibility for the girl's welfare.

"Ray seems to be a nice young man," she said casually, as she fastened her wooly scarf a little more securely around her neck. "Polly gets along very well with him."

"He's all right, I suppose, m'm. Can't say as though I know much about him. Keeps himself to himself, if you know what I mean."

"It must be difficult for him to live in such a small village after being in London. Such a drastic change for him."

"Aye, that it is." Alfie started wiping down the counter with a wet cloth. "He seems to like it all right. He was really cut up about Douglas McNally's death, I do know that. His face were white as a ghost when he got back from the fire. Never seen a young bloke like him that upset. I thought he was going to cry when he told me about the firemen finding the body. I didn't realize he were that fond of his boss."

"From what Polly says, I think they were on very good terms. Apparently Ray recently lost his father and he regarded Mr. McNally as a substitute father. He certainly does seem to be a sensitive young man."

Alfie shrugged. "Like I said, m'm. I don't really know him. Deep. That's what I'd say. You never really know what he's thinking."

For some reason, that disturbed her, and she left the pub feeling that she'd like to know a lot more about Ray Muggins before she felt comfortable about Polly spending time with him.

Before she ventured out to the ruined factory, she needed to have word with Jack Mitchum. She had known the burly butcher for a good many years, and she couldn't imagine
him committing cold-blooded murder, but he certainly had a motive.

She found him trussing chickens in the back of the shop when she entered. Fortunately there was only one customer in the shop at the time, and she was on her way out.

Recognizing one of Rita Crumm's league members, Elizabeth reluctantly exchanged greetings. Any time the lady of the manor took it upon herself to visit one of the local shops, it aroused speculation, whether deserved or not. This was one time when Elizabeth would have preferred to keep her visit quiet.

Millie Mitchum was behind the counter, and she greeted her visitor with obvious surprise. "Fancy seeing you here, your ladyship," she gushed. "This is an unexpected pleasure."

Elizabeth had planned on speaking to the butcher alone, but because Millie was indirectly involved, she decided she might as well talk to them both. Since she could be interrupted by another customer at any time, she came directly to the point.

"Shortly before his death, Douglas McNally received some rather nasty letters," she said, drawing one from her handbag. She handed it to Jack Mitchum, who hastily wiped his hands on his apron before taking it. "I was wondering if you recognized this."

"We heard about the letters, m'm," Millie said, sounding worried. "Nasty business, that."

The village grapevine had been working overtime, Elizabeth thought ruefully.

"What you're really asking," Jack Mitchum said, as he scanned the letter, "is if I wrote them."