Silver Bells & Murder: A Violet Carlyle Historical Mystery Read online

  Silver Bells & Murder

  A Violet Carlyle Historical Mystery

  Beth Byers

  Contents

  Summary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Sample of Mystery at the Edge of Madness

  Also by Beth Byers

  Summary

  December 1926

  Violet and Jack take the train to Scotland with their friends for the holidays only to arrive and realize that the village has been exposed to scarlet fever. Given the delicate babies in their family, they determine to insulate themselves at the lodge they'd taken.

  Nearly desperate for some peace and holiday cheer, they intend nothing but lolling by the fire, diving into cupfuls of eggnog, and feasting.

  Only, once again, they discover a body. The worst of it is that they were alone at the lodge when the crime was committed. Is it possible that one of them is the killer? Join Vi and friends as they determine their loyalties and hunt a murderer.

  To all of those stuck in the house, missing their usual events, and struggling to meet all of their obligations without help. And with special love to those who are sick or have lost someone they love.

  I wish I could make it easier.

  —Beth

  Chapter 1

  “Where is everyone?” Vi asked.

  The train station looked as though they’d stepped into another realm, perhaps some place like Faerie given the otherworldly feel. The wind whipped snow around the brick building and there wasn’t a single person in view. A lone vehicle had been left just outside of the train station, but it was covered in enough snow to make it doubtful that the truck was even functional.

  Violet shivered and tucked her oversized fur coat closer around her. She was grateful for her fur-lined boots and her ridiculous coat. She had mocked herself about it more than once, especially because there might have been a time or two when she’d worn just the coat and a nightgown. She nibbled on her bottom lip, intensely disliking the eerie feel of the abandoned station. Nervously, Vi adjusted her hat and scarf.

  Jack glanced at the fellow from the train and then at her again. She saw the anxiety in his gaze as though she were going to expire in the snow. She’d be fine. It wasn’t like his coat was lined with sable.

  “Where is everyone?” Jack bit out at the train porter as though the poor fellow who was responsible for unloading their baggage was somehow responsible for this obscure train station being deserted. Jack crossed to the station building and tried the door, but it was locked.

  The train fellow said, “This is very irregular.”

  Violet watched Jack debate silently. Normally, they traveled with their friends, but this time, they were all leaving from different parts of England to reach their joint destination. Vi could only hope the others had fared better than herself and Jack.

  The fellow shook his head. “Someone should be here. I dunno what’s going on.”

  Yes, obviously, Vi thought. But she held back her comments, because she could see Jack was tense.

  The end of his last case hadn’t gone well, and they’d left for the trip late because of it. However, the case wasn’t the real problem. The reason he was tense and irritated was because he missed the ease of helping people through Scotland Yard. Those who hired private investigators were, too often, not pursuing justice, and Jack had little interest in working for someone to discover anything else.

  “Sir, you can get back on the train or you can walk into the town. The village proper is only a bit down. Could be they thought we weren’t going to make it because of the snow.” It was clear the fellow didn’t actually think that, but he spoke while he pulled Vi’s second trunk off of the train and then eyed the station.

  The doors were locked and there was not an appropriate place for their luggage. “Did you want me to re-load up?”

  Jack shook his head when Vi did.

  “You sure about that?”

  Jack simply gestured towards the train station and said, “At least put the trunks under the roof overhang, so we can protect them a bit while we find someone to take them for us.”

  “Are you ready to walk, my love?” Vi asked cheerily even though she knew he wanted nothing less. The late train had been exhausting, and they certainly didn’t want a tromp through the snow. “What an adventure. We’ll be telling this story to ourselves the next time we go somewhere hot and sunny and think how nice it would be to be cool.”

  “Yes,” Jack said simply. He was trying, she could see. Trying to hold back the frustration. His attempt to do so wasn’t successful because his stress was clear, but she hugged his arm closer and laughed. “Why are you chipper?” he wondered aloud.

  Vi kicked a bit of snow ahead and then shrugged. What else should they be?

  “At least it’s just us and not everyone,” Vi said. “How awful would this be with the little ones? Now it’s just an adventure.”

  “Mmm,” Jack agreed.

  She glanced up at him and then reached up and flicked his chin lightly. His gaze fixed on hers, and she grinned. To her surprise his eyes crinkled with humor and his hand snaked around her waist. He pulled her close and kissed her, and as he pulled back she grinned. Snow was coming down again and the otherworldly feel had gone from eerie to quietly magical.

  Jack took Vi’s hand and they started again, only reaching the end of the road when they saw an auto slide through the snow towards them. Jack and Vi backed away from the side of the road as the car slowed and then moved past them to slide to a stop.

  The door opened and Denny and Ham got out.

  “You made it!” Denny laughed. “Would you look at this place? Ridiculous.”

  “Where is everyone?” Vi and Jack asked in unison.

  Jack finished with, “There’s no one at the train station.”

  “Scarlet fever,” Denny said. “The station master got it from his children. Those who don’t have scarlet fever seem to have the influences. The illnesses are running through the village. We don’t even have any help at the lodge. Those who don’t have it seem to be tending those who do. Seems that these folks haven’t had a break out in so long that no one has had it before.”

  “What now?” Jack asked. “There’s no help?”

  “No cook!” Denny said cheerily. “Fortunately, we have Victor, so we’ll have good things to drink. No maids might be a problem. I think I’ve become a bit spoiled.”

  “You were always spoiled,” Ham replied without any humor. “The problem is that none of us can cook.”

  Vi and Jack both glanced back towards the station, but the train had already left. As one, they faced Ham and the inexplicably chipper Denny. Ham opened the back of the auto for Vi, and Jack followed her into the back of the auto. Ham carefully drove towards the station to recover their luggage. The gents strapped the trunks onto the top of the auto while Vi curled into her coat.

  It took a good forty minutes to reach the lodge they’d rented. Vi suspected it would have been far less time if they’d been able to drive at a normal speed, but they had to creep along, doing their best to avoid sliding into a ditch. Ham wasn’t even trying to hold back his curses after they slid on the third curve in the r
oad.

  “Why don’t we head back to our homes in London and give this trip up for naught?” Jack asked as they slid once again.

  “Can’t,” Denny chirped. “Kate isn’t feeling well.”

  Vi gasped.

  Denny shook his head. “Just a bad cold. She got scarlet fever as a child, and we haven’t been around any of the folks who got it, but—”

  “But no cook,” Jack groaned. “Isn’t this something that children get?”

  “Adults too,” Ham said, “though children are more at risk. Our problem is that we have children with us and those who’d we hired have little ones who are ill.”

  “No cook, no maid, no footman, no driver. Ham had the keys thrown at his head and a door slammed in his face when they realized we have children too.”

  Vi leaned against Jack, rubbing her thumb over his wrist as they recognized just how spoiled they were.

  “We’ll have to get our own coffee,” Vi whispered, but she was really thinking about the babies. Did little, little ones get ill? Surely they did? Vi wasn’t sure, and the thought of it was making her sick to her stomach. What about adults? What if they hadn’t had this before?

  Jack snorted and then said, “Vi, do you know how to cook?”

  “Why would I know how to cook?” she demanded, somewhat irritated by the question when her imagination was throwing the idea of tiny coffins at her. She ordered herself to think about something else, took a deep breath, and thought about Jack’s question. Weren’t the great chefs male? It wasn’t as though the brilliant fellow behind the Savoy’s kitchen was some random Donna or Jane.

  He tugged a strand of her hair and said, “I could make an omelet. Maybe. It’s been a while.”

  Violet lifted a brow and then started to realize what he was saying. “Denny can’t cook.”

  “Lila can make some things,” Denny said cheerily. “Back when we were poor and I had to work, she made food. It was all terrible.”

  “Rita could roast something over a fire,” Ham said. “Truthfully, she’s the one who’s lighted all of our fires. I can, but she has the real gift.”

  “For setting things on fire?” Jack laughed. It was a sarcastic sound at first, but it switched to a guffaw when he realized exactly what they were facing. “So Kate is too weak to travel?”

  “Victor won’t hear of it,” Ham grunted. He wasn't upset at Victor. The snow had thickened and they were all silent for a moment when the back end of the auto struggled out of a curve. “He won’t take an already sick Kate into that train station. Let alone the little ones.”

  “Agreed!” Denny laughed.

  Vi paused and then demanded, “Are you zozzled?”

  Denny giggled and Ham groaned, cursed, and then glanced at her for a mere second. “You are tired, aren’t you, Vi? He’s three sheets to the wind.”

  “Have you eaten anything in the last day?” she asked with an idle curiosity. She had seen Denny drunk before, but it had been quite some time since they’d been much more than lightly zozzled.

  “Eaten? What? No one knows how to cook, Vi. I had a breakfast bun. But the baker is sick, so those are done now. We’re down to cheese, tinned biscuits, eggs. The stove is fiddly.”

  “Says the gent who hasn’t ever used one.” Ham sounded like a fellow who was a little angry from hunger, Vi realized all of the sudden. She glanced at Jack and wondered if he’d turn beastly. Somehow, she doubted it. Instead he’d get silently angry, she thought.

  To be fair, she hadn’t made herself something to eat beyond spreading a scone with clotted cream and jam since her Aunt Agatha had died and Vi had been able to afford help. There had been a day when she could do a few things without being entirely useless.

  She considered the skillset of making omelets and warming tins of beans and wondered just what lay ahead for their holiday. Denny started giggling again and Vi found herself joining in. Of all the ridiculous ways to start a Christmas holiday.

  They almost missed the turnoff to the place they’d taken and Ham cursed low as they headed up the road.

  “It’s rundown,” Ham said. “The term rustic was a clever way of saying, you’re scheduling a holiday in a century ago when your grandparents would have been miserable even though things were new.”

  “Fabulous,” Vi said and Denny giggled again. He turned, winked, and passed Jack a flask. Vi sighed at the sight of it and assumed that the piping was rickety. Denny should be carefully considering if he wanted to sick up in a chamber pot.

  Violet closed her eyes as the automobile lurched towards the house. There were just lights coming through the darkness, and Vi could only wish they were inviting.

  “It’s a good thing we let Ginny go with her chums to Rome,” Vi muttered. “She’d remember this too well and bring it up every time we saw her for the next holiday.”

  “Do you remember that visit to Scotland?” Denny trilled. His high-pitched squawk was followed by a high-pitched giggle. “There was no food, too many cocktails, and a mountain of snow? We had to eat Ham when the larder was bare?”

  “Me?” Ham asked and then muttered a curse when the auto lurched again.

  “Jack’s too big. Smith’s too evil. Vi and Victor won’t turn on each other. Lila and I would be easy marks, but this is my nightmare, so Ham.”

  Ham grunted, entirely unbothered with his projected demise in the face of the snow.

  “Why did you come?” Jack asked Denny.

  “To push,” Denny said merrily and then took another pull off of his flask, “should we get stuck. Vi’s useless, you know.”

  “Vi has boots and isn’t floating in gin,” Violet responded starchily.

  “Vi, darling,” Denny laughed, “everyone knows you could save us all if necessary. I’d have felt quite unmanly if I didn’t play at being a rescuer.”

  She laughed as he wanted her to and snuggled into Jack’s shoulder. She wanted more than a bath, a hot cup of Turkish coffee, and a soft bed, but she guessed given Ham and Denny’s state, she’d be lucky for a fire that wasn’t smoking into the room and bread that wasn’t stale.

  Chapter 2

  When the auto finally stopped, the only thing that could be seen of the house was the shadow. It was darkness against the light of a moon with a few inside lights shining. Overall, it felt a little haunted and ominous. But perhaps that was the towering trees, the depth of night, and the feeling of being surrounded by illness.

  Was this supposed to be their sanctuary from what was happening outside? Vi wasn’t quite sure if she’d had scarlet fever. She didn’t even care that much about herself. What about the babies? They were so little.

  Vivi and Agatha were not much more than a year with Lily just behind. Baby Lionel Peter, Victor’s son, was mere weeks old. They were all at serious risk if they got ill and Violet couldn’t stomach the idea of losing one. They’d already lost so many. Her brothers Lionel and Peter, her mother, Jack’s mother, her great-aunt, and too many more. The idea of one of the babies being snatched away when they were healthy today was horrifying.

  Vi had a friend who had a child under six years old when polio hit their village. Neil had gone from healthy on Friday to dead by Sunday. Vi shuddered against the rising fear. Instead, she closed her eyes and told herself that this was not an ill-fated Christmas. It would be what they made of it, and they could avoid the village and their sickness and draw together as a family.

  Certainly the lodge couldn't be that bad. From the picture she’d seen, the house was a beast of a place with thick logs and rough stone edges. It had seemed charming when she’d seen it, but now she was wondering if she’d romanticized it. Perhaps, it was as though no one had thought to finish any part of it before calling it MacCowan Lodge and moving the family inside. It had been ages since family members had lived there, and it had been described as a lovely, remote place.

  Had she made a fairy dream out of what she’d imagined? Perhaps, she thought, wincing. Thinking back, the look on Jack’s face when she’d shown him the
photograph might have been something other than what she’d seen. Should she apologize? But she’d shown everyone the photograph and no one had objected.

  Violet scrunched her nose.

  Jack opened the door and handed her out into the snow.

  “Oh, it’s come down harder than I realized.”

  Ham muttered another dark curse and Vi glanced at him. “Perhaps we should see if we can get some autos and drive home?”

  “Victor doesn’t want to risk the little ones in a potentially exposed automobile,” Denny said. “Once he said it, it was untenable.”

  “Did Denny just use untenable correctly?” Violet asked Jack. “Whatever is happening?”

  “We’re in an otherworld,” Jack told her and she grinned at him, thinking of her earlier thoughts of Faerie. She put her head against his chest for a moment and then Denny’s giggle interrupted them again. They both turned to face their friend and found him lying in the snow.

  He laughed again and then tried to get up. With his flask in one hand, he didn’t get a good balance and slipped back down with a grunt, spilling the contents of his flask down his neck.

  “Oh Denny!” Vi said, putting her hands on her hips and staring down at him. For a moment, she had a flashback of their childhood—when they’d gotten into trouble so many times that even Denny had lost his lazy edge when faced with certain repercussions.

  He groaned and put the lid onto his flask. He set it to the side with a snuffle and then turned over onto his hands and knees, attempting to rise but failing. He tried again and all four limbs splayed at the same time, leaving him face first in the snow.