We entered the sitting room that connected the Snows’ guest rooms. The three of them went into Richard and Lila’s room, but I lingered in the shared space. Derrick was right: we needed to be meticulous, and in doing so, we had to keep an open mind.
The sitting room was luxuriously appointed with mahogany furniture, heavy velvet drapes, and a plush carpet. Walking the perimeter of the room, I paused to search a small writing desk. A bottle of ink was nestled in a drawer along with a stack of notepaper. I wondered if the ink was the kind used in the ledger, but that would probably be too easy.
Just to be safe, I collected it as evidence.
The parchment also caught my eye. It was an odd size, more geared to a notecard that would be sent as an invitation. Something about it tickled the back of my mind, but I couldn’t place it.
Closing the drawer, I knelt to look under the desk. There wasn’t anything there, but on the floor, against the wall, a piece of silver gleamed. I reached for it, stretching my arm until my fingers closed over the object.
It was a silver cigar cutter, and on the back, it was inscribed with the letters “EC.”
Didn’t Mae mention Edward had misplaced his cigar cutter? In fact, lots of objects had gone missing. Cynthia had lost her brooch, and even though she seemed to have found it earlier, she wasn’t wearing it now. Mae had lost her haircomb only for that object to appear at her murder scene, and I was still missing the lucky medallion Vivian had gifted me. What if the missing objects all had something in common?
What if—?
“Tessa, you need to come see this,” Derrick called to me from the other room.
I found him beside a travel trunk. The lid was thrown back, and a pile of men’s clothing had been removed and placed on the carpet. But it wasn’t the clothes he was interested in. At the bottom of the trunk was a layer of felt lining, and Derrick had peeled it back to reveal a false bottom with a leather quiver and three arrows nestled inside.
Instantly, I recognized the fletching, marking the arrows as the ones used during my attack in the woods. It was also the same feather I’d seen blow across the ice before I fell through.
Had Richard been the shooter? Had he waited above me while I struggled beneath the water, running out of air, and thought enough time had passed that it would be too late to save me?
Cold fear spread through my chest. He wasn’t the hero who’d pulled me from an icy grave; he was my tormentor.
“It was Richard who attacked you in the woods, wasn’t it, Tessa?” Derrick touched my arm, and I flinched. “Why would he want you dead?”
My voice sounded strained. “I have no idea.”
“Well, we’re going to find out.” Derrick’s hands balled into fists, and he stood, charging toward the door. “This ends now.”
Chapter 14
We knew something was wrong before we’d even made it down the staircase. Smoke billowed from the parlor, filling the great hall with an acrid haze. Servants raced by with buckets of water, and shouts echoed into the high ceilings.
I covered my mouth and nose with my sleeve as I ran toward the commotion.
Inside the parlor, flames engulfed the brocade drapes and licked up the sides of the wood paneling. A fabric-covered chaise lounge had also caught fire and threatened a nearby sofa.
Andrew reached for the curtains, jerking his hand back before getting a hold and ripping them from the wall. One of the housemaids helped him try to stamp out the flames, and another beat them back with a wet cloth. Gerard and Harold tackled the furniture while the rest of the staff organized more water and tried to keep the fire from spreading.
As the flames died down, the smoke thickened, and everyone piled into the hall, choking and coughing. My eyes watered as I squinted through the dense haze.
Harold opened the front door, and a blast of icy wind spread through the room.
“What happened?” Derrick shouted over the chaos.
His father wiped a sleeve across his brow. “Someone knocked over a lamp near the window. The flames lit the curtains on fire. We didn’t notice right away, and it got out of control.”
“Who knocked the lamp over?”
Harold coughed and took a deep breath of the air flowing through the door. “Not sure. It happened so quickly, and it was on the other side of the room.”
I searched the faces in the hall, looking for one in particular. “Where’s Richard?” I asked when I didn’t find him standing with everyone else.
Harold furrowed his brow. “He was in the parlor when the fire broke out. Maybe he went to get water?”
Derrick set his jaw, impatience evident on his features. “Damn it. Everyone else is accounted for. He must have slipped away during the confusion.”
