Jolly Foul Play: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery (17 page)

Pudding plates were cleared away (apple crumble and custard), and Betsy’s distraction began. I saw Daisy nod at her, and Betsy nod at her year – and then they all went quite wild. They began shrieking at each other like monkeys, chasing about the Dining Room in breach of the rules, and Margaret and Lettice could not cope.

‘Stop that!’ Lettice screamed, and Margaret put her hands up to her face in distress. They did not even notice the five of us slipping out of the room.

As we crept up the stairs (avoiding the creaks), Daisy turned to us. ‘There are rather a lot of us,’ she hissed, ‘so we must be extra careful.’

‘Isn’t it a good thing, though?’ I whispered back, as shouts echoed below us. ‘We can each take a sleeping area. There are five of us, and five of them. The search will be over quicker.’

‘Yes, thank you, Hazel,’ said Daisy, and we glared at each other. I hated it. We were so far apart, and it hurt so much.

We climbed another flight of stairs, and another one (as I have said, the Five’s dorm is right at the top of House). It felt quite wrong to be so high. It is drummed into us all that you cannot go up to the top of House unless you are a Big Girl.

But finally, there at the end of the dim corridor was the door to the Five’s dorm.

‘Golly!’ whispered Beanie. ‘Are we really going to do it?’

‘Of course!’ snapped Daisy. ‘And quickly. We’ve got to be in and out by the end of lunch break!’

And she pushed open the door with all her usual confidence.

It felt very odd, being in the Five’s dorm – not only because it was
theirs
, but because it was so similar to
ours
. Their five beds were laid out just as ours were, and they each had their little chest of drawers and tuck boxes under their beds, just as we did. The only difference was that their furniture was all rather newer (the Big Girls get things first, and then, as they become older and more worn-down, they are brought down to the younger girls’ dorms), and there were more personal touches allowed in their areas: a patterned throw on Una’s bed, a little glass ornament on Lettice’s chest.

‘Split up,’ hissed Daisy. ‘One bed each. Lavinia, you take Margaret. Kitty, take Una. Beanie, Lettice. I’ll take Florence. Oh, and Hazel, I suppose you can have Enid. Remember, you are looking for evidence of their secrets, and also for any indication that one of them is the murderer. A bloody glove, or a burned scarf, any small thing may give us the crucial clue.’

I felt the sting of being the afterthought. I did not look at Daisy. I only made myself think how interesting it was that she was giving herself Florence now. Did that mean her suspicions had moved on?

‘I don’t like this!’ whispered Beanie. ‘What if they come in and find us?’

‘Enid, Una and Florence are out searching, and Margaret and Lettice are distracted. And if you’re still worried, you must just hurry and not get caught,’ said Daisy. ‘Come on, then!’

I moved over to Enid’s bed. I was looking for stolen test papers, I reminded myself. For proof that Enid was a cheat.

Enid’s chest of drawers was tidy, the clothes neatly folded. I lifted them all up carefully, but there was nothing hidden beneath them.

‘Got something,’ said Lavinia gruffly from beside me. ‘Under Margaret’s mattress. It’s all ripped, but I think it used to be a letter. It’s signed
A
. That must be
Astrid
. Ugh, it’s all goopy and romantic. They really
do
like each other.’

‘Ooh, I’ve got something as well!’ cried Beanie. ‘Here – it’s a diary! Oh no, it isn’t. How funny, it’s a sort of log book. She’s recording … oh dear, she’s recording her weight, and what she eats every day. It starts in July this year, and at the beginning it says “At the request of Doctor Forel of Prangins Psychiatric Hospital, I am writing this record …” Oh, this isn’t very nice. I don’t want to read it any more.’

So it really was true! Lettice had spent her summer in a hospital, not a finishing school. If it was discovered that her head was not well, she would never find a husband at all – and I knew that was all she hoped for.

I moved on to Enid’s tuck box. I had a wormish feeling in my stomach. Going through suspects’ things is never very nice, but this felt particularly awful. These were secrets that the Five were desperate to hide, that one of them had killed someone for. And we were pawing at them, pulling them out into the open. It felt wrong.

‘Hah!’ said Daisy suddenly. ‘Here, look at this. A bottle of pills in Florence’s tuck box.
Digoxin.
’

‘What’s that?’ asked Lavinia. It sounded as though she had stood up and stopped her search.

‘I’m not entirely sure,’ said Daisy. ‘But I know how I can find out. I’ll telephone Doctor Cooper back at Fallingford and pretend to be Mummy so he’ll tell me what they’re for. Matron isn’t in her office because she’s chasing shrimps, so I can creep in quite easily. This is all excellent. Kitty, anything from you?’

There was a shuffling noise. ‘Perhaps,’ said Kitty. ‘She’s got some pictures hidden under her blouses of some old people. On the back it says, er, “Oma und Opa, Juni 1934”. That’s German, isn’t it? They must be her grandparents, but I can’t see why … they don’t look Jewish, do they?’

‘Let me see,’ said Daisy. I stuck my head inside Enid’s tuck box and dug. There were piles of paper, all revision notes. I began to look through them.

‘
Kitty!
What do you mean,
not Jewish
? D’you see that candelabra thing behind them? That’s a menorah. It’s part of what Jewish people have instead of Christmas.’

‘Why don’t they have Christmas?’ cried Beanie, horrified. ‘Poor things!’

‘Beanie, they don’t— Oh, never mind. The point is, Una’s got Jewish grandparents. Excellent work! Now Hazel. What have
you
found?’

She sounded accusing, and I was cross, because I had not found anything.

‘Here,’ I said, snatching up the first document that came into my hands and thrusting it at her. ‘Here you are!’

Daisy and I locked eyes, and she glared. I could feel that I was glaring too. ‘This, Hazel,’ she began, ‘is quite—’ Then she stopped. ‘This appears to be a letter from Enid’s father,’ she said.

‘Ooh, is it important?’ asked Beanie.

There was a pause. ‘Yes,’ said Daisy at last, quietly. ‘I think it is. It’s from a few weeks ago. Mr Gaines is talking about universities. He says, “I was sorry to hear of your latest History mark. Remember, Enid, that your mother and I expect to hear that you have been accepted by Oxford at the end of this school year. You are clever enough, if only you apply yourself. We have put so much into your education, and expect to get proper returns. Your sister sends her regards. As always, she wishes she could be with you, but of course finances will not allow it. I hope you are putting in the study that we discussed.” Goodness, it goes on like that for simply ages.’

She looked up from the page, and I caught her eye. I knew what she was thinking. I could suddenly see from that letter how exam marks
might
seem like life or death to Enid. If she failed to get into Oxford, after her parents had spent so much money on sending her to Deepdean – why, they would not forgive her. Cheating would seem like a sensible answer.

My parents have never had to worry about money, but all the same I know what it is like to be expected to do well. I have to prove to my father that I deserve Deepdean, now that he has given it to me – that I ought to be here, and that it is worth sending my first little half-sister, who is eight, here when she is old enough. I am the first, and that is sometimes a difficult thing to be.

I opened my mouth, but Daisy turned away.

‘Well,’ she said to Kitty and Beanie. ‘There we have it. Now, shall we go, before we’re caught? I have a doctor to telephone.’

Down we went to the main hallway. The shrimps and Betsy were still doing a marvellous job of running riot, and the door to Matron’s office hung open, with no one inside. We had heard her shouting at them somewhere on the first floor, so we knew we were safe. But the clock on the wall gave us only ten minutes until we had to walk down for afternoon school. We had to work fast.

‘All right,’ said Daisy. ‘I’m going in to use the telephone. You four, stay out here. If you see Matron, or one of the Five, do your best to distract them, as loudly as you can. I only need a few minutes –
if
Doctor Cooper is in his office. We must bank on that.’

‘Good luck!’ whispered Beanie nervously. I did not say anything at all.

‘Thank you,
Beanie
,’ said Daisy, and then she whisked away into Matron’s office with one glance back at me that, if it had been from anyone else, I would have thought was full of hurt.

A moment later, we heard her voice, sounding very crisp and grown up. ‘Hello? Operator? Fallingford 214, please. Yes, Doctor Cooper’s practice. Yes, I can hold.’

There was a pause. Then Daisy’s voice again: ‘Oh, good afternoon, Doctor Cooper! No, no, you must have been given the wrong number. This is Lady Hastings, and I just have a
little
query for you—’

‘Fourth formers!’ said a voice. ‘What are you doing here?’

We all whirled round. We had been paying attention to Daisy, and had forgotten to watch out, as she had told us to. But the front door of House had opened, and now Enid was standing before us.

Kitty coughed, I cleared my throat, and Lavinia stuck out her chin and said, ‘What are
you
doing here?’

‘I was looking for the missing girl,’ said Enid coldly. ‘I was sent back. There are branches covering the path and I’m not strong enough to lift them. Why are you all standing about? Are you waiting for someone?’ Her head turned towards Matron’s office.

‘Yes!’ said Beanie suddenly, so loudly it was almost a shout. Enid started, and we all stared at her. ‘We … we were waiting for Matron! Because … because’ – we all heard Daisy’s voice again – ‘BECAUSE I’m so terribly UPSET! POOR ELIZABETH, and all the HORRID things that have happened since then. It’s AWFUL!’

‘Oh, it IS!’ cried Kitty, sniffing and wiping crocodile tears off her face. ‘DREADFUL!’

They were making such a lot of noise now that Daisy was quite drowned out. Enid looked nervous, and when Beanie stepped forward, holding out her arms to be comforted, she backed away in horror. She was too preoccupied to notice the moment that Daisy slipped out of Matron’s office, looking very cheerful. She was beside Lavinia before Enid noticed her, and then she nodded her head in greeting and said easily, ‘Leaving a note for Matron. After all, it’s time to go down to school now, and she isn’t back yet.’

Enid looked uncertain for a moment, but then the bell did ring, and she had to let us go. She was still standing in the hallway when we rushed out of the door, feeling as though we had had quite a few lucky escapes for one lunch time.

‘What did you discover?’ whispered Kitty to Daisy as we walked down to school in a fine drizzle. ‘Did you find out what Dig— whatever is?’

‘Yes!’ said Daisy. She was glowing with excitement. ‘I pretended to be Mummy, and told Doctor Cooper I’d found it in my cabinet and wondered whether I could take it for my headaches. He got most dreadfully upset and told me absolutely not, that it was heart medication, for people with
very serious heart diseases
.’

‘No!’ cried Kitty.

‘Yes!’ said Daisy. ‘Oh, it was the easiest thing in the world. And there you have it. Our last motive, confirmed! Florence really is ill, and hiding it. If this got out, she’d never be allowed to go to the Olympics. Isn’t this marvellous?’

‘But we still haven’t ruled anyone out!’ I said. I suppose I was trying to needle Daisy – but all the same, it was true. All our hunting for motives did not really seem to have got us anywhere.

‘That,’ said Daisy airily, ‘will come.
If
you have faith in the Detective Society. Do you, Hazel?’

There was nothing I could say to that.

In History I scribbled down our escapades at lunch time, and then I settled down to read my letter at last.

Weston School, Thursday 7th November, morning

Dear Hazel,

I’d only just sent that last when I got your second letter. Things are moving so quickly. I wish George and I were there. Has the handyman been arrested? Or do all the grown-ups still think it was an accident? And have you found out any more about who is spreading those secrets, and why? Have the Five’s secrets been shared yet? Who was the person running away into the woods?

I’m sorry for all these questions, but this is the most exciting thing that has happened to us all term. Nothing has happened here, you really do have all the luck. We ought to come to Deepdean, then we’d have some fun. Although they’d never let boys in, which is a real pity.

George and I have been putting our heads together to think about how we can help from where we are. We’ve not been much use. All I can say is, don’t worry too much about the motives. You know all your suspects had them, and that’s enough. The important thing isn’t why, it’s
how
, isn’t it? They all could have done it, but only one of them did. It’s a simple logic problem – who was in the right place at the right time. Maybe a re-creation would help you work it out. Have you done one yet?

Don’t give up, Hazel. Of course I know you never would, not like most of the people I know. Perhaps that’s not very British of me to say, but sometimes I think that’s what makes us good detectives – that we’re not quite British. Funny that, of the four of us, only Daisy really is English. Perhaps that’s why you work so well together, and why you’re such good friends.

Alexander

I had gone shivery all over, with something that felt halfway between excitement and illness. I was glad to read the letter, of course, but it was not just that. There was something very important in what Alexander had said, something that exactly answered the question I had asked on the way down to school. He was not on the spot, so there was plenty about the case that he could not see (and he was working from my second letter on Wednesday, he was hopelessly out of date).