Masquerade: A Nevers and Moon Mystery - Part III
'I’ll put the tea on and we can all have a nice chat.’
Chapter 7
‘I’ll put the tea on,’ Cleo said. ‘And we can all have a nice chat.’
She went into the kitchen, filled a kettle with water, and set it on the stove. She was still waiting for the water to boil when Mallory entered the kitchen.
'Ms Moon,' said Mallory. ‘Peter’s gone up to his room, so you needn’t make him any tea.’
‘I hope he’ll be down in time for dinner,’ Cleo remarked. ‘For that matter, I wonder if there is any dinner. I’m famished.’
‘I’m not hungry. Anyway, Mom’s a terrible cook so you’re better off without it.’
‘You two don’t get on, do you?'
'Is it that obvious?'
'It's quite common,' Cleo said sympathetically. 'Mothers are always difficult, trust me. And fathers can be… complicated.'
'I suppose.' The girl shrugged.
'Do you miss him?'
'Who? My father? I don't know.' A new look came over Mallory, a heady mix of frustration, despair, and deep sadness.
'I don't think I really even knew my father,’ she said. ‘He kept so many secrets. They all do. Do you know what it’s like spending your whole life with a bunch of people who never bother to get to know you?'
She stopped for breath; her shoulders buckled by an involuntary shudder.
'Can I see your hands, Mallory?' Cleo asked kindly.
'What's that?'
'Your hands, sweetie. Show them to me.'
Cleo took Mallory's hands in hers. They were long and graceful, the hands of an artist. She squeezed her fingers ever so gently and then let go.
'Mallory Ray,' Cleo said. 'You're a fascinating young woman, in more ways than one. It might seem hopeless now, but I believe sooner or later the world will see that in you as well. Do you want to know what I do when I’m feeling all alone and miserable?’
‘What?’
She smiled and said, ‘I make tea.’
TEA-MAKING 101 WITH CLEO MOON
Step 1: Boil water.
Step 2: Add tea leaves to the boiling water. Not boiled, boiling.
Step 3: Let the tea steep until it’s a nice dark colour.
Step 4: Add a dash of milk, stirring as you go. Not too much or too little, just enough to make it a beautiful golden-brown.
Step 5: Serve with biscuits and, if possible, conversation.
When Cleo and Mallory returned with the tea, Frank and Constable Glott were also missing from the living room. Mrs Ray and Mr Granger, meanwhile, had struck up a conversation.
‘So, you’re an archaeologist?’ she asked.
‘Only an amateur,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I find it fascinating. You could say I’ve always been the nostalgic sort.’
‘I heard some interesting archaeology news the other day,’ said Frank, walking into the room and wiping his hands on a piece of cloth. ‘Apparently, they found a bog man near here.’
‘What’s a bog man?’ asked Mrs Ray.
‘It’s a man whose body was preserved in a bog,’ Frank explained. ‘See bodies don’t break down in a bog. They just get slowly mummified. Archaeologists love them.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Mr Granger nodded knowingly. ‘Very useful.’
‘The most striking thing about it though,’ Frank continued. ‘Is that it was a normal adult human, homo sapiens, you understand. But the body was millions of years old, older than any human remains ever found.’
‘Amazing,’ Mr Granger said, his mouth half-open with surprise. ‘That is simply amazing. Did they find anything else with him?’
‘Cats,’ said Frank. ‘They found about two dozen cats mummified alongside him. Same period too. Isn’t that strange?’
‘Speaking of strange,’ said Mrs Ray. ‘I’m sorry Mr Granger but I have the oddest feeling I’ve met you before. You look very familiar, but I just can’t place you.’
‘Of course!’ Cleo exclaimed. ‘It makes sense.’
‘What’s that, Ms Moon?’ Mrs Ray asked.
‘Nothing, nothing. I just need to check something. Is there another telephone I can use?’
Chapter 8
While Cleo was making tea, Frank took Constable Glott to the parlour to show him Dr James’ dead body. The constable took one look at the corpse and said, ‘Sweet mother of Christ!’
‘Steady on,’ Frank said. ‘You’re a policeman.’
‘You’re-You’re right.’ Glott nodded vigorously.
‘Now, if you’ll look closely, you’ll see that her eyes were removed.’
‘Oh, that does it.’
His face turning a startling shade of green, Glott grabbed the empty vase that stood by the dumbwaiter and began to vomit into it.
‘I’ll let you get on with that then,’ Frank said uneasily. ‘I was looking for a cat. Oh no, you got some on my hand. There, there. I’ll just find something to wipe it off.’
Upstairs in his room, Peter tossed and turned in bed. He had much to think about as he lay in the dark, and sleep was the last thing on his mind.
After a few minutes, he got to his feet and opened the wardrobe. Inside was a small safe, which he opened. Then, from the depths of the safe, he retrieved a bloodstained dress and a string of pearls.
He considered these two objects for some time.
Hang it all, he thought to himself. I need to clear my conscience.
Peter reached deeper into the safe and brought out a steel box. Then, box in hand, he left the room, presumably in search of a confessional.
In books and movies, spies always have the coolest gadgets. All Frank and Cleo got when The Department hired them was a handheld Geiger counter for recording radiation levels. It had seemed useless earlier, but Frank decided to give it a try now.
He went up to the guest room where Peter had deposited their luggage and got the machine out of his bag. It was essentially a box with a sealed gas tube attached to it. On the box was a display that would show if there was any radiation around.
Frank turned it on, and, to his surprise, the counter detected a signal. A faint one, but it steadily ticked stronger as he walked out of the room.
He followed the signal all over the first floor, past bedrooms, and an office where Cleo was hard at work, the counter ticking all the way. Then he found a hidden ladder that led up to the attic and climbed up.
The attic was bare and dusty, with spiderweb streamers hanging from the ceiling. Frank was fairly certain the Rays didn't know they had an attic to begin with. Nevertheless, in the centre of this unused and forgotten room was the source of the radiation: a small black cat.
‘You’re not a normal cat, are you?’ he asked.
‘Meow,’ came the reply.
‘Maybe I’m going crazy. But I think you were experimented on, used as a test subject or something. And I think you weren’t the only one. Am I right?’
‘Meow.’
‘I’m definitely going crazy.’
Frank slowly approached the cat. It watched his every move, but the cat didn’t shy away. Taking every care not to spook it, Frank reached out his hand and touched it on its nose. The cat blinked and dissolved into a shower of blue sparks.
Chapter 9
Meanwhile, Cleo’s first call was to the Department, asking them to trace some birth certificates. While they were working on that, she made an international call to the United States Copyright Office.
By the time she was done with that, the Department got back to her. They could only trace one of the birth certificates she asked for, they said. The others didn’t seem to exist, they said. Would she like them to fax it to her? Cleo found a fax machine and watched with bated breath as the machine spat out its message.
As she read the name on the certificate, the final pieces fell into place, and all was revealed.
Frank wandered into the study just as Cleo was wrapping up the last of her inquiries. She hung up the phone and looked up at him with a smile.
‘How did it go with the cat?’ she asked.
‘Exactly as I thought it would. More or less. I think I’m starting to reconsider my lifelong dedication to Sherlock Holmes.’
‘Really? But you love Holmes!’
‘True, and I still do,’ Frank assured her. ‘But I think the old boy was at least partly wrong. You know how he said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth”?’
‘I think I’ve heard something like that, yes.’
‘Well, Sherlock Holmes never met a disappearing cat.’
‘I guess not,’ Cleo shrugged. ‘You know who did though? Alice.’
‘In Wonderland?’
‘Obviously. And you know what that cat said.’
Frank laughed and said, ‘“We’re all mad here.”’
The midnight hour found Peter fast asleep. The torturous thoughts that kept him awake had been dispelled by a glass of hot chocolate, which sat half-drunk on his nightstand. It had been a long time since he slept so well.
So heavily was Peter sleeping that he didn’t wake up when the bedroom door opened, and a shadowy figure tiptoed into the room. He didn’t even wake up when this person tripped on a rug and almost fell over.
Peter snored lightly. The shadow walked up right next to him and softly shoved Peter to make sure he was asleep. Then there was an arc of light, a moonbeam caught on the blade of a knife as it plunged straight into Peter’s heart.
Peter slept, and his sleep was eternal.
TO BE CONCLUDED.
The wonderland / holmes comparison was really fun to read. I like how unshakeable the detectives are. Very interested to read the conclusion.