AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Up the stairs.
There were more noises on the top floor.
A struggle.
I started when someone touched me, looked and saw Lady Jane had joined me.
She took my hand.
I held it tight.
And then, at the landing at the top of the steps, I saw Ian in jeans and one of his long-sleeved T-shirts, and Daniel, wearing the same, shoving a man I’d never seen in my life toward the stairs.
They wound their way down, keeping him moving by pushing him, and Stevenson came out of the hall on the second floor.
Down farther, and more people emerged from the shadows. Richard. Christine. Bonnie. Jack. Rebecca, Harriett. And Laura.
“What on earth?” Lady Jane breathed.
“Go. To the Diamond Room,” Ian ordered us.
I didn’t quibble. Neither did Lady Jane.
We took off down the steps, and turning lights on along the way, we dashed to the Diamond Room.
Soon after, they all came in, sans Daniel, and Ian shoved the man to sitting on a couch.
He seemed to make a movement to get up, but stopped when Ian snarled, “Give me a reason.”
He sat back.
“We’ll wait until Daniel fetches Portia,” Ian announced. “I believe everyone in this house deserves your explanation.”
The man opened his mouth.
But when he did, Ian lost control, lunged at him and growled a ferocious, “Shut it!”
The man shut his mouth.
And boy, my guy was definitely hot when he got pissed. So much so, I had no idea what was going on, and I still didn’t miss it.
It seemed an interminable wait, but finally, Portia, wearing one of Daniel’s sweaters over her short nightie and some slippers, came in, her gaze darting around and landing on the man.
Ian started it immediately.
“As we’re all gathered here, in Dorothy’s favorite room, let’s begin. You saw the light on in the Sherry Room, and since we were all leaving tomorrow, you decided tonight’s the night, hmm?”
“I don’t have to answer your questions,” the man sniped.
“You don’t have to, but you’re going to,” Ian said in his dangerous voice.
The man swallowed.
But he didn’t say anything.
“Allow me to start,” Ian said expansively. “You bribed one of our cleaning girls to pay attention to things, like what I drank, and what Portia drank. Something she couldn’t see herself, but she could ask the others. This she did. Also to fetch things you couldn’t get your hands on because the staff corridors didn’t lead to them, and you couldn’t risk being seen in the main house. Like David’s pen. By the way, she’s being arrested right now. It’s frowned on by the police when someone is drugged without their knowledge.”
I gasped, even though I knew this, I just didn’t know who did it.
