Sonnet to a Dead Contessa (22 page)

bottle of expensive perfume

wrapped sweet

page from Macbeth with notes in Dylan’s handwriting

picture of Joan of Arc

queen of hearts playing card

collection of combs and hair pins

Matthew and Serafina spent the next two hours going over the room. They thought that they had seen everything, but finally Serafina straightened up.

“Look at this, Matthew.”

He came over at once. “It’s a single hair. Is it yours?”

“No, although it’s almost the same colour. A reddish blonde.”

“It’s from someone else. It could be one of the maids.”

“I suppose so, but we’ll keep it just in case.”

They both fell silent for a minute, and finally Serafina said, “There’s a clue to the identity of the killer in these poems and also to the next victim, but I can’t figure it out.”

“He’s a maniac toying with us!”

At that moment the door opened, and a man came in. “My wife!”

Immediately Serafina and Matthew went to block his entrance. She knew him immediately as the Marquis Reis. “Marquis,” she said, “you shouldn’t be here. You don’t want to see her like this.”

“Let me see her!” he cried. He was a smallish man with sleek black hair and black eyes. His eyes were filled, it seemed to both Matthew and Serafina, with agony. Matthew came to help, and they took him out of the room. “Please, sir, you can see her later but not now,” Matthew said.

“Who could do a terrible thing like this? She was not always a kind woman, but she didn’t deserve this.”

“Did you hear any sound at all, Marquis?”

“No, I did not. How could a thief get in?”

“He had to come in through the window,” Serafina said quickly. She had already checked all of these details.

“But it’s straight up, at least twenty-five feet. You’d have to be a fly to climb up that side.”

“He must have been a very agile man. I saw him come down.”

“You saw him? Who was he? Why did he kill my wife?”

“It was very dark, and I couldn’t see his face. All I saw was a hooded figure in the darkness.”

“You must find him!” the marquis called out in anguish.

They led him away, and as soon as the local doctor came, he was given a sedative and put to bed.

“He seems broken up over her death,” Matthew said, “but it might be an act.”

“You suspect him?”

“I don’t know who to suspect,” Matthew said sourly. “I’m sick of this case! If I ever catch that fellow, I’m not sure he’ll have to stand trial. I might be judge, jury, and executioner.”

“You couldn’t do that, Matthew.” Serafina shook her head.

“No, I suppose not. Well, let’s get started working. We’ll have to analyse all this, but we still don’t know who we’re looking for. Perhaps we never will.”

“We’ll find him. We have to. He killed my best friend and two other women. We’ll find him, and he’ll hang for what he’s done!”

Dylan smiled down at Meredith as she bubbled over with excitement. “Do you think I really have a chance to get a part in a play, Dylan?”

“There’s always a chance.” The day was bright, and the sun accented Dylan’s rugged good looks. He looked down to where Meredith was holding tightly on to his arm and said, “You don’t have to hold me so tightly, Meredith. Nobody’s going to run off with me. They’d be more likely to run off with you.”

“I can’t thank you enough for trying to do this for me.”

“You may not thank me. The theatre is hard work. Not the fun that people think it is. I suppose work is work no matter what form it takes.”

“But it’s so exciting. The curtain going up, and going out on the stage. I know I can do it.” Her eyes were shining, and her face glowed with an inner excitement that could not be hidden.

“We go in here. The producer’s name is Browning. He owes me a favour, and I happen to know he needs someone for a small part.”

Dylan felt Meredith’s hand tighten on his arm as he led her inside the building. They went to the office that was backstage at the theatre and found John Browning waiting for them. “Come in, Dylan.”

“Thanks for seeing us, Mr. Browning. This is Meredith Brice. Mrs. Brice, this is Mr. Browning.”

She smiled at him, and Browning suddenly laughed. “Another starstruck young woman, Dylan?”

“Oh, come now, Mr. Browning. I’ve never asked you a favour like this before. You know that full well.”

“I know it.” He looked at Meredith and asked, “Do you have any experience at all?”

“No, sir, but I know I can do it.”

“Well, we do have a small part. It’s just two lines, and I’m looking for someone who can do that part and help our costume mistress.”

“Oh, I’m very good with a needle, sir, and I’m perfectly happy to do it.”

“It doesn’t pay much.” He mentioned a sum, and at once Meredith beamed. “That would be very fine, sir. I’d be more than satisfied to come for that.”

“Just be here this afternoon at two o’clock for rehearsal. If you’ll wait just a minute, I’ll get you a sheet, and you can practice on your lines.”

After Browning disappeared into an inner office, Meredith turned and said, “Isn’t it wonderful!”

“You think so, don’t you?” He studied the rich, racy current of vitality within this woman and saw that she had a way of laughing that was extremely attractive. Her chin tilted up, and her lips curved in pretty lines. He noticed a small dimple at the left of her mouth and admired the way that the light danced in her eyes.

Browning came back and handed her a few sheets of paper. “Your character is simply called ‘the maid Mary.’”

“I’m so excited.”

“I hope Dylan told you that being an actress is a hard, demanding task.”

“Yes, I’ve told her, Mr. Browning, but she doesn’t believe me.”

“Well, she may after a while.”

“Thank you, Mr. Browning. I appreciate the favour. Call on me if you ever need me.”

“I’ll be calling on you, all right, but not for a small favour. I want you to star in something for me when your run is over with
Macbeth
.”

“I’ll be happy to talk with you about it, sir.”

The two left the theatre, and Meredith talked unceasingly all the way home. She was so excited that people turned to watch her on the street. As soon as they reached her house, she said, “Come in and teach me how to say my lines.”

“Well, I suppose a lesson wouldn’t hurt.” He entered, and she made tea, and soon the two had gone over the simple lines that she had to memorise.

“I want to do this just right, Dylan.”

“We’ll find some way. It’s a very mundane line. It’s really to move other actors around, but maybe we can put a little something extra to it.”

Dylan stayed for over an hour. They had tea and cakes, and Dylan had exhausted himself trying to find something new to put into the lines that Meredith had read.

They sipped their tea, and he said, “Did you get along well with Lewis’s family?”

“Oh yes. His mother, Lucy, she was a charming woman.”

“You don’t mean Lucy. You mean Alice.”

“Oh yes, of course. Aren’t I a silly thing? I can’t even keep my mother-in-law’s name straight. My own mother’s name was Lucy, as you know.”

“I suppose it’s a natural mistake,” Dylan said doubtfully. He was wondering how anyone could mistake the name of one’s mother-in-law, but his thoughts were broken when a knock sounded on the door.

“I’m not expecting anyone,” Meredith said. She got up and went to the door, and when she opened it she found Sergeant Kenzie there. He asked at once, “Is Mr. Tremayne here, ma’am?”