Murder at the Mayfair Hotel (Cleopatra Fox Mysteries #1)- C.J. Archer Page 0,87

I pulled a face. “It’s not inconceivable, I suppose. She was also very close to Mrs. Warrick’s room on the morning of the murder. Edith says she came across her quickly. She could be the murderer and have stayed close by to watch the aftermath.” I shook my head. “But I can’t believe that old dragon took a lover.”

“Not Mrs. Kettering. I think Edith was having the liaison with Hookly. I think Mrs. Kettering is the silverware thief and she’s hiding the stolen items somewhere on the fifth floor before she smuggles them out of the hotel.”

Chapter 13

“I suspected either Mrs. Kettering or Mr. Chapman was the thief,” Mr. Armitage said. “But I admit I favored Chapman. He has more access to the silverware than Mrs. Kettering, and he’s never liked me.”

It was such an odd conclusion to make that I couldn’t help a bubble of laughter escaping. “Do you suspect everyone who doesn’t like you of theft?”

His gaze narrowed. “It was a reference to his character. Everyone likes me. I’m very likeable.”

“When you want to be.”

“What does that mean?”

“Can we focus on the task at hand? Namely the murder?”

“I think the theft should become our task. We’ve hit a brick wall with the murder since we don’t know where to find Edith. We’ll telephone my father and tell him what we know about her and her possible relationship with Hookly.” He strode off in the direction of the foyer.

I picked up my skirts and raced after him. “I don’t think she had any knowledge of the murder.”

“Why not?”

“Because Edith was outside Mrs. Warrick’s door at seven AM with a cup of tea in hand. If she’d known Mr. Hookly murdered her during the night, would she have gone there at all the following morning?”

“If she wanted to appear innocent, she’d keep to her routine.”

“But the guest in the room opposite who saw her didn’t comment that she acted nervously. Not as far as we know, anyway. We’ve already established that she has a nervous constitution.”

“Perhaps he didn’t comment about her behavior because he wasn’t asked. Or perhaps he did mention it to my father.” He strode into the vestibule, only to be shouted at to step aside. He just managed to dodge a red carpet being rolled out from one end to the other.

“We could ask the witness staying opposite,” I went on.

Mr. Armitage turned to me. “Trust my father, Miss Fox. Ask Peter to call him and tell him what we know about Edith.” He walked around the carpet to speak to Mr. Hobart who’d been watching the unrolling from the other end.

I asked Peter at the front desk to call Scotland Yard and leave a message for Detective Inspector Hobart to come to the hotel. “Also, do you know the name of the guest staying opposite Mrs. Warrick’s room?” I asked when he hung up the receiver.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sellen.” He leaned over the counter. “You haven’t given up, have you?”

“Not yet, Peter. Not yet.”

I met Mr. Armitage at the stairwell after he gave up waiting for the lift to arrive at the ground floor. “You’re coming with me?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.” After a moment, I said, “Where are you going?”

He eyed me sideways. “To tell Sir Ronald I solved the silverware theft. My uncle is too busy to leave the dining room at the moment, so he asked me to do it.”

“I believe I solved it too,” I said. “Without my eyewitness account of Mrs. Kettering on the fifth floor that afternoon, you would still be in the dark.”

“I would have worked it out.”

“How, when you no longer work here?”

“So why are you heading this way, Miss Fox?”

“To join you. I want to see the confrontation between you and my uncle.”

“I see. That’s interesting, since I only just told you where I’m going. You’re not still investigating the murder alone after I suggested you telephone my father, are you?” He gave me a look that implied he knew I was doing precisely that.

“Peter left a message with Scotland Yard for your father. I really am coming with you to see my uncle. There ought to be a witness present.”

He grunted. “I would prefer an impartial one, but you’ll have to do.”

Uncle Ronald looked up from his desk when we entered and scowled. “What are you doing here, Armitage?”

“I know who the silverware thief is.”

Uncle Ronald paused then returned the pen to the inkstand. “And you want your position back in exchange for telling me, is