Cream Caramel and Murder Read online

  “Same here. Although I did appreciate learning how to convert all the different measurements for baking. Otherwise you get in a muddle when it comes to imperial, metric, and measuring spoons.”

  He shrugged and his gaze went to the table where I’d placed the book. “Hey! Is that an old Eton yearbook?”

  I rested a hand on top of it. “Yes. Lord Rupert mentioned a friend who died when you were younger. I was curious about him.”

  He lifted his chin. “Oh, that’s right. Sebastien. I haven’t thought about him for ages.”

  “Do you mind me asking what happened?”

  “I guess not. It was just one of those sad things. We were fooling around like idiots, and Kendal dared Seb to swim to the middle of the lake and dive as far as he could. It was such a Kendal thing to do, and Seb was always trying to impress him, so he went along with it.”

  “Was Kendal the leader of your group?”

  He shrugged again. “He probably liked to think he was. We warned Seb not to do it. He wasn’t a great swimmer, but he got riled up. He said he could easily swim that far. So we let him. In fact, we stood at the edge of the lake and cheered him on. Kendal was the worst. He kept yelling that he was a coward, and he’d never do it. The last time I saw Seb alive was when he shot us a rude hand gesture and then dived beneath the water. At first, we all cheered him on. Then he didn’t surface. Thirty seconds and we were still cheering. Then it became a minute. That’s when we panicked.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “The paramedics reckon he got caught in weeds on the bottom of the lake bed or got a cramp. He could even have swallowed water and become confused and been swimming the wrong way. Nobody knows for sure.”

  “Did you try to get him out?”

  Tony shot me an irritated look. “Of course. We dived in while Rupert called for an ambulance. At first, I thought Seb was joking. I imagined he’d resurfaced on the other side of the lake and was laughing his head off at us idiots trying to rescue him. But he never came up. We didn’t find him. It was only after the paramedics turned up and called in the police dive team that they discovered him. By then, there was nothing anyone could do. He’d been underwater for a good hour.” He shook his head and looked away.

  “That’s tragic.”

  Tony nodded. “It’s almost as if this group is cursed.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Two of us dead. We’ve even joked about that ourselves. Two eligible young bachelors dead before the world saw everything they had to offer.”

  My heart lurched. Could these two deaths be connected? Maybe it was nothing, but now I’d caught hold of the idea, I couldn’t let it go. Sebastian dead from a tragic accident, an accident Kendal was involved in, and now Kendal had been murdered. Had his past come back to haunt him?

  “Were you close to Kendal?” I asked.

  “Not particularly. We ran into a spot of bother when it came to a business deal six months ago. Things between us soured after that.”

  “I heard that you lent him money, and the investment didn’t work out.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Did you now. It happens. It was my own fault for losing that investment.”

  “You weren’t angry with Kendal that the business never took off?”

  “Sure I was.” He jiggled on the balls of his feet. “I let our friendship blind me. Kendal was often coming up with ridiculous business ideas and then never seeing them through. I was impressed when he came to me with some initial financing in place and a business plan. That’s where I slipped up. I didn’t look at it properly. If I had, I’d have seen it was simply a copy and paste job. He’d taken a load of ideas and outlines from other plans and put his name to them. It was a rookie move, and I fell for it because we were friends. I wanted to give him a break.”

  “How much did you lose?”

  “Half a million.”

  “That’s a lot of money.” And it gave him the perfect motive for murder.

  Tony’s eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer. “Why are you asking all these questions about Kendal? You didn’t know him. He’s nothing to you.”

  “That’s true, but he did die in the place I live.”

  Tony sneered. “Don’t go getting ideas above your station. You work in the kitchens at the castle. You’re hardly going to be the next duchess. Have I got a little snoop on my hands? What did you think you were going to do, figure this murder out so you could get in Rupert’s good books? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way he looks at you.”

  My eyes widened. “I don’t know what you mean. He doesn’t look at me in any way.”

  He smirked. “He was always a sucker for a sad story.”

  “My story’s not sad. I have a really great life.”

  “What did you tell Rupert to get him to go all goo-goo eyes over you? That you’re an orphan and nobody loves you?”

  “I have plenty of people who care about me. I’m not deceiving Lord Rupert about anything. I’m simply curious about what happened to one of his friends. It seems that there are a number of people who wanted Kendal dead.”

  “Are you including me in that?”

  I licked my lips. “He did lose you a lot of money. I’d have been angry if a friend cheated me out of all that cash.”

  He lifted a hand before dropping it. “Don’t go pointing the finger at me. I didn’t kill him. I’ve got plenty of money. Giving some to Kendal was simply a waste. I’ve learned my lesson. And it looks like Kendal’s learned his lesson as well. He can’t cheat anyone else now.”

  Here was another person who clearly had no fond feelings for his dead friend. “Remind me again where you were when Kendal died?”

  Tony took another step closer. “No. That’s none of your business. Why don’t you scuttle back to the kitchen like a good girl?”

  I looked around as worry flickered through me. We were alone.

  “Don’t go spreading some nasty little rumor that I had anything to do with Kendal’s murder. We all know it was Izzie. She’s behind this. You don’t need to cause trouble for me.”

  “I’m not causing trouble. I’m trying to get to the truth.”

  “Everyone knows what the truth is. Leave this alone.”

  I backed away and bumped into a chair.

  The library door opened. The Duke strolled in, holding several books. “Oh! There are people in my library.”

  “My apologies, Your Grace.” I turned and hurried to the door, grateful for the distraction. “The Duchess said I may use the library to do research on my recipes.”

  He squinted at me as if he’d never seen me before in his life. “Very good. I always enjoy a feast from the kitchen.” His gaze drifted to Tony. “Are you here to repair the chandelier?”

  “Oh, no. I’m a friend of Rupert’s. We’ve met before.” Tony strode over and held his hand out to the Duke.

  The Duke simply peered at him before nodding. “One of his school friends, no doubt.” He wandered off to the bookshelves.

  Tony glared at me one more time before striding out of the library.

  I waited for a few seconds before hurrying out myself.

  Tony’s behavior was suspicious. And even I might be tempted to kill someone if they lost me all that money. No matter what he said, it must have stung to lose so much and be deceived by a friend.

  Why did he want to keep me quiet? If there was no reason to doubt his innocence, then he should have no objections to me asking questions.

  I knew it. I should have listened to my gut instinct. This mystery wasn’t over yet.

  Chapter 18

  “Phew! What a day.” Louise grinned at me as she pulled off her apron. “I’m going home and putting my foot spa on for the evening. My feet feel like they’ve swollen to twice the size, I’ve been on them so long today.”

  “Mine too,” I said. “The sunshine brought out so many visitors today.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” Chef Heston strode in with an empty cake st
and in his hand. “Lord Rupert has requested afternoon tea. And he wants you to take it to him.”

  I glanced at the clock. “It’s six o’clock. Shouldn’t he have dinner now?”

  “You’re questioning Lord Rupert’s request?”

  “Absolutely not! He can have afternoon tea for breakfast if he wants.”

  “Choose a selection from the fresh pastries in the chiller. And hurry up about it,” Chef Heston said.

  I nodded. I’d hoped to get finished on time this evening so I’d have a chance to think about my talk with Tony and what my next move should be. That wasn’t going to happen now.

  I said goodbye to Louise, then hurried around the kitchen and prepared the afternoon tea. I selected fresh scones with a pot of clotted cream and strawberry preserves, mini chocolate eclairs, dark chocolate brownies, and a selection of crustless sandwiches. I brewed tea in Rupert’s favorite china teapot and placed everything on a trolley. I wheeled it through the castle toward Rupert’s private quarters.

  I slowed as raised voices came from the great drawing room. The door was slightly open, and I crept over and peered through the gap.

  It was Chris and Simon. Chris stood with his hands clenched, and Simon’s face was bright red and his hair stood on end as if he’d been running his hands through it.

  “You need to keep quiet.” Chris glared at Simon. “There’s nothing to worry about. This will blow over soon.”

  Simon paced around the room. “I’m not so sure. I don’t think she was involved.”

  “Of course she was. Izzie was obsessed with Kendal. She’s been like that since we were teenagers, chasing after him like some lost puppy. It was humiliating. I even pulled Izzie aside and told her she needed a new hobby. She wouldn’t listen to me. She was determined to have Kendal to herself.”

  I bit my bottom lip. They were discussing Kendal’s murder.

  Simon shook his head. “Izzie’s different now. She’s changed.”

  “She hasn’t changed. Otherwise, why was she hanging around outside the castle the night Kendal was killed? She was hoping to get a glimpse of him. That’s pathetic.”

  Simon strode toward Chris. “I’ve already told you, it can’t be her. She was with me the night of his murder.”

  My eyes widened, and I clapped a hand over my mouth. Izzie was innocent!

  “Listen, mate, she may have been with you for some of that evening, but she was still into Kendal. I haven’t told you this until now, because I know you like her, but when I picked Kendal up for this weekend, Izzie was at his apartment.”

  “Huh? What was she doing there?”

  “Looking unhappy. I didn’t expect to find her there, but Kendal said she’d turned up unexpectedly, demanding to see him. He let her in because he didn’t want the neighbors complaining about her shouting in the street and causing another scene.”

  Simon dropped into a seat and rubbed his forehead. “Izzie said she liked me. She never mentioned that she was still seeing Kendal.”

  “Which goes to show you can’t trust her.” Chris settled in the seat next to Simon and thumped him on the back. “There are far better girls out there for you. More stable ones. Ones less likely to jerk you around, and you can take them home to the family without causing a scandal.”

  Simon’s shoulders slumped. “But ... I like her.”

  “She’s bad for you, mate. She was cheating on you with Kendal.”

  “Maybe you’ve gotten things wrong. Did Kendal actually say they were still together?”

  “She wanted to be with him. For all you know, Izzie could have been seeing you to get closer to Kendal. Or maybe she thought she’d make him jealous if he figured out you were dating. Whatever was going on in her head, it wasn’t normal. She’s guilty.”

  “She can’t be guilty of Kendal’s murder. She was with me.”

  “You want to keep quiet about that,” Chris said. “For all we know, the police don’t have the timings right for when Kendal died. They can never be a hundred percent sure of the exact time of death. It’s all guesswork.”

  “It’s a bit more than guesswork.”

  “Sure, but it’s a couple of hours either way. Izzie could have slipped out in the night and met up with Kendal. She might even have been to see him after she’d spent time with you.”

  “I can’t believe that,” Simon said. “She was with me when he died.”

  “If you change your story now, it will look suspicious. It’ll also look bad for me. You’re my alibi. We’re covering for each other.”

  Simon was silent for a moment. “You ... didn’t do it, did you? I mean, I know you had a few problems with Kendal.”

  “Of course not! I don’t want to go to prison. Kendal’s not worth that sacrifice. Mate, we’re best buddies. Don’t forget the code of honor we’ve had since school. Friends first. Our friendship will last forever. Girls come and go. They always will. We’re in this for life.”

  Simon chuckled darkly. “It’s almost as if we’re married.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Chris slapped him on the back again. “There’s no chance of getting a divorce from me. It’s the friendships that are important. We look out for each other. None of us killed Kendal. Sure, he could be a massive pain in the behind. He messed with us all with his dumb jokes. None of that mattered. He was a part of the group. We don’t stab each other in the back.”

  “What about Izzie?” Simon asked. “I can’t let her go to prison for something she didn’t do.”

  “You have to move on from this girl. She’s bad for you. Don’t do anything stupidly heroic and claim you killed Kendal,” Chris said. “That won’t solve anything.”

  “I wasn’t planning on doing that. But I could give the police an anonymous tipoff.”

  “Which would drag you straight back into this whole mess. Izzie cheated on you. If she’s not guilty of murder, then she’s guilty of that. Good riddance to her. You don’t want someone like that in your life. She’d drag you down if you associate with her and her bad reputation.”

  Simon sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I mean, she should have told me the truth about being involved with Kendal.”

  Shock filtered through me. He couldn’t go along with this. Simon knew that Izzie was innocent. And since Simon had been with Izzie when Kendal was killed, that made them both innocent, but what about Christian? Was he the killer?

  I’d picked up nothing suspicious about him when we’d spoken. He’d seemed like a decent guy. Had he deceived me? Had he deceived everyone and was trying to pin the murder he’d committed on Izzie?

  “Who are we listening to?”

  I jumped and spun around. “Lady Philippa!” It was the first time I’d seen her out of her rooms. “What are you ... I mean, how are you here?”

  She chuckled. “I tested your theory. The door to my prison was unlocked. It must have been an error on the part of my jailer. I saw an opportunity to escape and took it. So, come on, who are you eavesdropping on?”

  I pressed a finger to my lips and then realized how disrespectful that was and blushed. She was, after all, a proper lady with a capital L. It wasn’t my place to shush her.

  She waved a hand in the air, dismissing my impropriety. “Tell me everything. This has to do with the murder, doesn’t it?”

  Before I had a chance to speak, the door to the great drawing room was pulled open. Christian stood there, glaring at us. “Lady Philippa. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” He caught hold of her hand and went to kiss the back of it, but she pulled it away.

  “There’s no need for that. What are you two doing in there?” She peered past Christian.

  Simon hurried to the door and joined him. “Lady Philippa, always a pleasure.”

  “I’m sure it is. You still haven’t answered my question. We’re very interested in your conversation. Discussing murder, are you?”

  I shot her a startled look. Lady Philippa might be immune to the attentions of Christian and Simon, but I wasn’t. I didn’t have t
he back up of an elite private security team looking out for me if things went the wrong way.

  Christian wrapped an arm tightly around Simon’s shoulders and hustled him out of the door. “Murder! Nothing like that. We were talking about... sport.”

  “And women,” Simon stammered.

  Lady Philippa arched an eyebrow. “You need to refine your topics of conversation, or you’ll never keep a lady interested. We need stimulating conversation.”

  “Absolutely. We’ll get to work on that right away. Come on, Simon.” Christian dragged him away.

  “Girl, we need to talk.” Lady Philippa grabbed my arm with surprisingly strong fingers for such a tiny woman, and we headed back to her rooms.

  She let out a sigh of relief as she settled in her chair. “That’s quite enough escaping for one day. So, tell me everything you heard those two boys say. I know they weren’t talking about sport and ladies.”

  I was still trying to pull my thoughts in order after everything I’d just heard. “There’s a problem.”

  “With the murder investigation,” she said. “So my prediction tells me.”

  I nodded, still not certain about her prediction’s accuracy. “What did it reveal to you?”

  “That no one is safe. A killer is still on the loose, despite the police arresting someone.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “No thinking needed. I know I’m right. That young girl they’ve arrested is innocent.”

  “And I know who really killed Kendal,” I said. “During their conversation, Simon admitted that Izzie was with him at the time Kendal was killed. Christian was doing his best to convince him to keep quiet. Simon is his alibi. If he reveals the truth to the police, Christian has no one backing him up.”

  “And he could easily have taken Kendal outside for a cigar and a brandy and whacked him on the back of the head. He wouldn’t have thought twice about going for a late night stroll with an old friend.”

  “The police have the wrong person. Izzie didn’t do it.”