The Lady Is Innocent (The Star Elite Series) (5 page)

“Does Dexter want his money back?”

Florrie nodded. If Tabatha was happy to accuse Florrie of owing the money then Florrie had to protect herself. That meant telling the men everything they needed to know. After all, Florrie had no idea if the body in the churchyard was a warning from Dexter. If it was, Archie needed to know what Tabatha had brought to his future brother-in-law’s house. Her thoughts turned briefly to the children upstairs and she shuddered in horror at the thought of their little lives being blighted by Tabatha’s sordid lifestyle. Florrie owed it to everyone to ensure that the Star Elite had all the information on her aunt they needed to enable them deal with Dexter and any threats he brought with him. She could only hope that Jamie wasn’t going to do something stupid like pay Tabatha’s debts off for her when he found out about them.

“
Tabatha can’t pay all of the debts off, the money isn’t there. She has a few items of furniture left but I think she has plans to pawn those too. Unless she is prepared to sign the house deeds over, there is very little left except the pouch of coins she has brought with her.”

“Is it one
repayment of many?” Pie demanded, trying to keep his voice casual.

“It is part payment
, I think. One of several instalments, but I cannot be sure.” Florrie turned to the man before the fire and met his green gaze directly. “I have tried to keep out of Tabatha’s problems, but I have been aware of various items around the house disappearing and my aunt going out until all hours of the night. At first I wondered if one of the staff was a thief, but then Tabatha began to lay them off one by one until there is only one scullery maid left. But items of furniture have still been going missing. I caught sight of a set of plates that used to sit in Tabatha’s dining room, in a pawn broker’s shop window one day and knew that she was selling the house contents off. She didn’t deny it when I asked her about it, just told me to mind my own business. When the strange men began calling at the house, I started to wonder.” At first Florrie had wondered if her aunt was being rather promiscuous and the men were her lovers. However, after overhearing a few heated arguments, it became apparent that her aunt had gotten herself out of her depth financially and the men were calling for their money back.

“They could be lovers,”
Archie sighed, rubbing his hands wearily down his face and wished he was with Portia. He had managed to share a meal with his future wife, who was more than sympathetic and understanding but, right now, he just wished he could hold her.

“They threatened her,
Pie. One of them said that they would be back for the rest of the money if Tabatha didn’t meet the repayments.” Florrie sighed and gazed absently into the fire.

“Did they threaten you at all?” Pie asked, feeling his temper surge at what her aunt had dragged her niece into.

“Not directly, but I am afraid I am guilty by association. Although I haven’t run the debts up myself, I am in the house I share with my aunt and was there when these men called for their money. I don’t mind telling you that they unnerve me.”

“Have they approached you for money?”

“No. Tabatha wants me to speak to them for her, but I keep refusing. This isn’t my problem and I don’t see why I should get dragged into it because of Tabatha’s selfishness.”

“Was the body
in the churchyard familiar to you?” Pie really wanted to demand if she had killed him, or if she knew if her aunt had killed the man, but wisely kept quiet.

“I have never seen him before in my life and that is a promise. I wouldn’t cover for
Tabatha if she was likely to commit murder either. She may be a self-centred and reckless gambler, but I can’t see even her being cold blooded or ruthless enough to deliberately take a man’s life.”

“But she is out of her depth,”
Archie sighed.

Florrie
nodded. “Even if she sells what is left in the house, she cannot hope to repay the sums of money involved. I don’t know the full extent of her problem because I am trying to keep my distance from it, but I have overheard conversations and there are large sums of money being discussed.”

“How did she manage to secure such a debt in the first place though? I mean, money like that isn’t just handed over,” Pie reasoned, moving to sit beside
Archie on the chaise. “Was there something, anything, that she could have used as collateral? Anything she could have offered that would be valuable enough to persuade the creditors to allow her to run up debts of that size?”

Florrie
felt her stomach church with sickening dread. She realized then that she had done the right thing in purchasing her cottage and leaving what was left of her available funds in Silas’ care. She knew that Silas and Tabatha had never got along very well. Tabatha liked to consider herself better than everyone else, and had frequently locked horns with Silas, who had no patience with such pretentiousness and had told her so on many occasions.

“Unless she has a hidden stash of wealth somewhere, I cannot conceive of anything that she could use
except for the house, no.”

“This morning in the churchyard,” Pie began. He hated to watch the paleness appear on her cheeks but needed to get the answers while she was willing to talk. “Did you see anyone else or notice anything unusual, apart from the body that is?”

Florrie frowned blankly at the rug on the floor and mentally ran through the events of the morning. “I can’t think of anything, no.”

“Why did you sneak out of the house?”

Florrie opened her mouth to instinctively deny sneaking anywhere but then mentally winced. She had snuck out of the house. She realised then that someone must have been watching her. Was it Pie?

“I just wanted some time to myself. The wedding and celebrations were wonderful, but after all of the food, drink and constant flow of people, I just wanted a few moments to myself to gather my thoughts.” She glanced ruefully at Pie, then Archie. “This house is wonderful but it is impossible to get a moment to oneself.”

Pie glanced ruefully at Archie whose lips twisted wryly. He nodded in silent understanding and couldn’t find fault with her argument.

“Can you remember seeing anybody in the area, or the
churchyard, before you arrived at the church? Think carefully, Florrie,” Pie growled. He caught himself silently willing her to come up with anything that would confirm her innocence.

“I can’t remember seeing anybody. I saw
Portia and Harriett walking across the gardens but I am sure that I didn’t see anyone else,” Florrie whispered with a frown. She searched every detail of her moment and was bitterly frustrated when she came up with nothing that would help.

“I think
that for now, you need to sleep on it. If you remember anything then you must tell us at once, Florrie. We can’t help you if we don’t have all of the facts.”

“I didn’t kill the man,”
Florrie whispered, fighting tears. She suddenly felt so very tired that she wasn’t sure how much longer she could remain sitting in the chair. Her head ached and she was so confused about the myriad emotions tumbling through her that she didn’t know what to make of them.

“I am not saying that you did, but if there is anything you remember then you need to let me know.” Pie’s eyes met and held hers for several long moments. He tried to convey everything he couldn’t say in that steady look and hoped she understood that he wasn’t there to judge, or condemn, he simply wanted the truth.

The way the fire lit the bronze strands in her hair and made them shimmer was captivating. Again her hair was pulled back in a rather severe style and his fingers itched to pull the pins out and see if the curls that framed her face ran through the rest of her auburn tresses. But now wasn’t the time or place. With a mental shake of his head he rose and moved toward the fire to stare down absently into the flames.

Archie
bid her a quiet goodnight, clearly dismissing Florrie from further questioning for the day.

“
Florrie?”

She paused on the threshold of the door.

“For now, don’t speak to anyone about what we discussed, not even Tabatha.”

Florrie
nodded. She wished that she could tell either Archie or Pie everything she knew, but her cottage was the one thing that she knew she had to keep a secret for now, if only to protect her future.

“I’ll go with her,” Pie drawled, relieved when
Archie made no move to protest.

Florrie
and Pie arrived at her bedroom door in total silence. She was about to push open the door to her room when the flurry of movement at the end of the corridor announced the determined arrival of Tabatha, who strode angrily toward them.

Pie heard
Florrie’s sigh and was disturbed by the brief flicker of dread that appeared on her face at the sight of her aunt.

“I want a word with you,
Florrie,” Tabatha demanded, her gaze cold and hard.

“Not now
, Tabatha,” Florrie snapped, refusing to be cowed by the woman. She instinctively moved slightly closer to Pie’s commanding presence. Although she was no wilting flower, having his reassuring strength beside her bolstered her courage to face the woman down. Tabatha had gotten them both into an awful mess and Florrie resented the woman’s persistence, especially after this morning.

Her gambling and the debts she had run up were
Tabatha’s problems, and she had to be the one to deal with them as far as Florrie was concerned.

Florrie
knew that the time had now come for her to distance herself from the woman who had never been an aunt in the first place, and behaved like a caring relative even less.

“
You can’t avoid me forever, I am going to speak with you and that’s final.”

“We have nothing to talk about,”
Florrie snapped. She glared at the older woman in disgust and wanted to shake her aunt for her selfish recklessness.

Pie, sensing an argument was brewing, placed his solid bulk between the two ladies. He stared down at
Tabatha who drew to a halt and glared at him in defiance.

“I do believe that I told you to keep yourself to your room,” Pie
drawled menacingly and nodded at her room. “I suggest you get back in there.”

“You cannot keep me a prisoner here.
You have no authority over me. Unhand me this instant!” Tabatha protested, trying to tug her elbow out of Pie’s relentless grasp as he marched her back down the corridor. Once at the doorway he lowered his head until they were standing eye to eye. He kept his voice low for Tabatha’s ears only.

“You have dragged her into enough and it is going to stop right now,
Tabatha.”

Pie knew he had hit on some hidden nerve by the sickening dread that was quickly replaced by wavering bravado. He knew that there were more surprises lurking and wondered just how
Florrie was involved, and if he would have to shake the truth out of Tabatha, but in the end drew himself up to his full height and stared coldly down at her.

“You are not to approach
Florrie, or talk to her unless I am present. Do you understand? If I have to arrest you to interfering in an investigation, I will.” He ignored her sputtered protests, opened the door behind her and shoved her roughly into her room. The sense of satisfaction he felt at slamming the door on her indignant objections eased his temper somewhat, until he turned around and caught sight of a maid standing hesitantly outside of Florrie’s room. She was holding a note.

“A note
has arrived for you ma’am,” the maid said, holding out the missive in a quivering hand.

“
You have a note for me?” Florrie frowned down at the parchment and hesitantly took it from the maid. “Who is it from?”

The maid looked apologetic and shook her head. “I don’t know ma’am, a man brought it and just left.” She didn’t wait for further instruction.
Florrie stared at the empty doorway in consternation before staring blankly at the unfamiliar handwriting on the parchment.

She looked up at Pie who appeared in the doorway.
He lifted his brows in silent query and entered the room. Pushing the door closed behind him he moved to study the note in her hand.

“Lover?”

Florrie looked aghast at him and rolled her eyes. She didn’t even deign to answer him.

“You won’t know what it says unless you open it,” he prompted when she continued to stare down at it.

Florrie carefully unfolded the note:

Florrie Seabrook, The first payment is overdue, 12 noon at the village green tomorrow. Don’t be late or I will come and find you.

At first she was nonplussed, then confused, then horrified as she stared at the barely legible scrawl on the rough parchment. It had been written by someone who was barely literate but the meaning of the note was abundantly clear.

“Seems that the man wasn’t his money back,” Pie drawled, feeling somewhat disappointed that all fingers of blame were pointing toward
Florrie.

“I don’t owe anybody any money,”
Florrie whispered. “Why has he sent the note to me? It isn’t my debt, it is Tabatha’s.”

Pie stared deeply into her eyes but could see nothing but honesty and confusion staring back at him. He had a vague feeling that he knew what
Tabatha had done, but then discounted the notion. Surely her aunt wouldn’t be that duplicitous, could she? Pie puffed out his cheeks and studied the note carefully.

He dropped the missive on the blanket box beside them and turned to stand directly in front of
Florrie. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him, waiting patiently until she tipped her head back to stare up at him.

“Tell me the absolute truth,
Florrie,” Pie demanded in a voice that was nothing short of a husky growl.

Florrie
stared up at his green eyes and shivered. There was a hard determination there that left her under no misapprehension that he would get to the truth, even if she wasn’t the one tell him.

“Are these your gambling debts? If they are
, Jamie may be able to help you but, if they are Tabatha’s, he won’t do anything except keep you safe.”

“They aren’t my debts, Pie,”
Florrie whispered, fighting bitter frustration that he wasn’t prepared to believe her. “I don’t gamble and never have. Tabatha has, of late, become like a voracious monster with a thirst for gambling that is never appeased. Nothing stops her. I have begged and pleaded, threatened and cajoled, yet she persists in selling everything out from under us to feed her need to gamble. She is gone for hours and, more often than not, comes back empty handed, Pie. How have these people gotten hold of my name?”

“I think that if things have become desperate for her and she ran out of credit in her own name, she could very well have given your name
to get her hands on funds.”

Florrie
gasped and stared up at him in horror. Her immediate denial was snatched by the relentless grasp of betrayal and she knew that Pie was right. She stared down at the note in horror. She felt sick. Surely Tabatha wouldn’t sink this low, would she? But a small part of her warned her that her aunt would indeed stoop so low as to give a false name in order to continue gambling.

“Oh God, Pie, what am I going to do?” She whispered, staring down at the note as though it were going to pop up and bite her. Her immediate wild surge of panic was replaced by determination to uncover the truth and prove her innocence. “Surely, when they see me, they will realise that the debt isn’t mine. That it is
Tabatha’s and they need to chase her.”

Pie sighed and wished he could reassure her. “I suppose they could,” he didn’t try to hide the doubt from his voice.

Florrie glanced at him. Her stomach sank to her toes at his steady gaze and she knew that he didn’t believe it possible. “They won’t care, will they?” She whispered, blinking away the salty tang of tears.

Pie slowly shook his head. “People like this don’t care who they get the money they are owed from, as long as they get paid.”

“But I haven’t taken any money from them,” she wailed, holding her arms out wildly. “Why should I be the one who has to pay them?”

“Does your aunt have the money on her?”

Florrie paused and looked at him blankly. “I am not sure. She seems determined to speak to me but, frankly, I don’t care what she has got to say. She has tried to get me to speak to Dexter for her but I have refused to get involved. This isn’t my problem, or hasn’t been, until now.”

“You both
recognised the man in the churchyard yesterday. Do you think that she was trying to get you to make the payment there?”

“
I wouldn’t put it past her but she looked scared rather than expectant. I don’t want to get involved, but it doesn’t look as though I have much choice now, does it?”

Pie wished he could drag
Tabatha out of her room and force the truth out of her, but he knew the woman was better off staying out of sight. He was so angry with her that he was struggling to keep control of the urge to stomp down the corridor, kick the door down and demand answers from the wretched woman before frog-marching her to the village green tomorrow to make the payment herself and set her creditor right as to her true identity.

“Does
Tabatha have access to your personal papers and finances?”

Florrie
shook her head. “The papers are held by my uncle, Silas. He dealt with the sale of my parent’s house when they passed away and has been supervising my trust fund. My uncle Archibald was the one who provided me with a house to live in. Between them, I was adequately cared for, I suppose.” She was very grateful that Silas had been the one to take over responsibility for Florrie’s financial welfare. He had also been the person who had overseen the purchase of Florrie’s new home, and had shown her the financial statements confirming that Florrie had enough to live off without needing to struggle or watch the pennies too much.

“So,
Tabatha doesn’t have access to any funds of yours?”

Florrie
shook her head. “I think she has tried to get more money out of Silas. He has been paying Tabatha a regular amount of money to provide for my upkeep but Tabatha has complained of late that it isn’t enough. Silas has refused to give her any more funds though.” She didn’t add that Silas knew that Florrie’s presence in her aunt’s house was coming to an end because of the increasing gambling addiction, and had refused to accommodate the older woman’s greed at Florrie’s expense.

“Good,” Pie sighed, picking up the note again. “I am going to find out if
Tabatha has the funds to pay the first instalment on her. If she does, then she is going to have to hand it over. If not, then we will have to come up with something.”

“But I am not going to be the one who takes it,”
Florrie protested. She could see no reason why she had to get involved.

“I think you are going to have to be,” Pie argued with a sigh.

He hated the thought of Florrie going anywhere near Dexter, but if Tabatha had secured debts in Florrie’s name, the man needed to see that Florrie wasn’t the person he thought she was. To do that though, she had to get close to him to confirm her identity and explain Tabatha’s deception.

Pie wondered where his colleagues were and what they were planning on doing tomorrow.
There were enough of them in attendance at Crompton to ensure that Florrie was well protected while she made the payment at the specified point and time. They could find out who the creditor was, and catch up with him to reveal a few home truths. They would also take the opportunity to find out if he had any connection to the body that was found in the churchyard. Pie relished the prospect of getting to the truth.

“Get some rest for today
,” Pie murmured, trailing a gentle finger down her pale cheek. There were dark smudges beneath her eyes that hadn’t been there before; a testament to how hard the day had been on her. He frowned a little and wondered where the tenderness had come from. He was about the least tender person he had ever come across. Giving himself a mental shake, he threw her a brief smile and quietly left.

Florrie
was dreading the next day. She glanced around and realised that Pie had taken the note with him. She was glad that it was gone from her room. Having the wretched thing near her made her feel a bit sordid and she was glad to be rid of it. She didn’t need to read it again; the words were indelibly printed on her brain. It was still early yet and her stomach rumbled hungrily. She contemplated the bell pull for a moment but didn’t really have any appetite for anything.

Instead she quietly made her
way to the door and turned the key in the lock. After closing the shutters and curtains, she clambered into bed with a sigh. As she settled down under the blankets she heard the rattle of the knob and knew that Tabatha was trying to get in again. She briefly contemplated getting out of bed and giving the wretched woman a piece of her mind, but Pie’s words floated back to her. She had to stay away from her poisonous aunt now, especially if she was trying to implicate Florrie in her sordid schemes.

One thing was
certain, Florrie wasn’t going to be able to return to Tabatha’s house for any length of time. She would have to go back, but only long enough to collect her belongings before she left for good. Then, as far as Florrie was concerned, Tabatha could gamble her heart away.

A small voice asked her how she hoped to stop
Tabatha from using Florrie’s name to amass debts once she had left. A tendril of fear snaked up her spine at the thought of losing her beloved cottage in Norfolk through no fault of her own. She wondered if Pie, or Jamie, would be prepared to have a word with Tabatha and try to prevent her aunt from fraudulently running up debts and putting Florrie in danger. If not, then Florrie needed to make enquiries about the legalities of ensuring her aunt met with justice.