“He needs us!” Teddy said, but Jack wouldn’t let her get away.
“Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s go downstairs and wait.” Jack led her down to the small sitting room and got her to sit on a couch. When Byon came in, leading Nadine, he put her beside her daughter.
Everyone watched the two women. Would their animosity hold through this?
When the two women clasped each other, they all let out a sigh of relief.
Mrs. Aiken came to the door. “All this ruckus! I guess I’m supposed to serve—”
Jack got to the door in two steps and pushed the woman out. “Get out of here,” he ordered.
She stuck her nose into the air. “Well I never!”
“Too bad,” Jack muttered. “Somebody should have.”
Mrs. Aiken angrily went down the hall. Behind her was Puck. They hadn’t seen her since the morning, since they’d seen the skeleton.
“Tea,” Sara said to Jack and Kate, then headed to the kitchen. As she passed, Kate motioned for Puck to join them.
It was quiet in the kitchen, and Puck got out the big teapot while Kate filled the electric kettle.
For a while, they were silent.
“He didn’t kill himself,” Jack said. “He was telling me how much he likes American action movies. We laughed about how he used to be busy all the time and now he could sit and watch a movie. We talked about cars. We...” He trailed off, looking down at his hands. “He didn’t kill himself,” he repeated.
Sara was pouring boiling water into the pot. “Who had the time to do it? Who left during dinner?”
“Everyone,” Puck said.
They looked at her. “I was in the kitchen with Mother. She was angry about the tray Jack took upstairs.”
“Why the hell—?” he began, then clamped his teeth together.
“Puck is right,” Sara said as she handed out mugs full of tea. “Everyone left the table at one time or another.”
“Nadine was on the phone,” Puck said. “She was angry about something. She was there when I took the potatoes in, but when I came out, she was gone.”
They looked at Jack. He had sat between Nadine and Teddy. “Yes, they were gone for a while. Separately. Bathroom.”
“I could believe Nadine is bulimic,” Sara said. “You can’t gain a pound when you’re husband hunting.”
“Byon left,” Kate said. “He rubbed his stomach and asked to be excused. He was gone for at least fifteen minutes.
“And Clive,” Sara said. “His phone buzzed and he said it was work and he had to take the call. Said it was from Zurich.”
“I liked Mr. Howland,” Jack said. “Wish I could have met him when he was in the car business.”
“Did he hurt you?” Puck asked. “Mother said he ran at you.”
Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “He got mixed up for a moment, that’s all. He thought I was Sean and said he knew Teddy was my daughter. Honest mistake.”
“What did he say?” Puck asked.
Kate knew but didn’t want to repeat it.
Jack didn’t answer so it was left to Sara.
“Mr. Howland said ‘I’ll kill you. I did it before and I can do it again.’”
“He didn’t mean it,” Jack said.
“It’s possible,” Sara said slowly, “that seeing Sean again... I mean you, Jack...awakened memories in him. He used to be a man of ambition and he wanted to overcome his origins. He wanted his daughter to marry an earl and live in an ancestral mansion.”
“But she fell in love with the stableman,” Kate said.
“She was going to have his baby,” Puck said.
They looked at her. “We couldn’t help overhearing.”
“What else did you hear?” Sara asked. “Or see? Or intuit? What?”
They stared at her.
“Willa is different. When people are looking, she seems to like Clive, but one time, she... I don’t think she’ll write him any more love letters.”
“Byon?” Kate asked.
“Something has hurt him.” She looked at Jack. “But you are charging him.”
“You mean like a dead battery?” Sara said, and Puck nodded. “I agree. Tonight he was quite animated in his storytelling.”
“All his stories were old,” Kate said. “In every one, he said, ‘Of course that was before cell phones.’ What’s he been doing for the last few years?”
Jack and Sara looked at each other. When Sara lived in New York, they often went to Broadway plays, but that was years ago. What had Byon written lately?
Sara looked back at Puck. “How is Nadine different?”
“I think she’s afraid.”
“Of what?” Kate asked, but no one answered. “If someone did kill Mr. Howland... Why? Who? Think Nadine knows something?”
All three women looked at Jack.
“I think you guys should leave. Go home.” He looked at Puck. “You need to go with them.”
Puck sat down on a stool. “Whoever killed Sean is here. In this house. If you leave, they’ll know why.”
“I think she’s right,” Sara said. “I don’t believe in coincidence in book plots or in life. I don’t know why Mr. Howland was killed, but I truly believe it has something to do with Sean’s death.”
“And Diana’s,” Kate said. “She could be, uh, hidden somewhere.”
“I think—” Jack began, but stopped when they heard voices. “The police are here. Are we agreed on this? You’re all going to leave?”
“No,” Sara said. “We’re a threesome, remember?”
“Maybe I should tell the police that I found the—” Puck began.
“NO!” they shouted at her.
“You know nothing,” Jack said. “Understand me? I don’t want to see you with a plastic bag over your head.”
“Or shot and poisoned and strangled,” Sara said.
Puck looked shocked.
“Agreed?” Sara said.
Puck nodded.
There was a single knock and Clive opened the door. “They want everyone downstairs.” He gave a quick glance at Puck. “You too, I guess.” He shut the door.