Murder at the Mayfair Hotel (Cleopatra Fox Mysteries #1)- C.J. Archer Page 0,95

led her onto the dance floor. I glanced at the large clock. Fifteen minutes until midnight. The excitement for the countdown to the new century had started to build in my absence. The dancing was more vigorous, the music seemed louder, and the chatter too. A woman nearby squealed with delight over something her companion said, and a couple twirled past me on their way to the dance floor without looking where they were going. Guests had to quickly step out of their way or be barreled over. Girls without partners danced with one another and drunken men watched on from the sidelines.

I searched for a friendly face but couldn’t find Flossy, Floyd or their friends. I moved away from the wall into the throng where the air felt hotter, closer.

“Dance with me, Miss Fox.”

I turned to see Mr. Hookly standing very near, his hand extended. My heart leapt into my throat and beat a warning rhythm.

“Dance with me,” he commanded. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all evening.” His lips might be smiling, but the cold gleam in his eyes told another story.

He wrapped his fingers around mine and pulled me onto the dance floor, leaving me with no doubt.

He knew.

Chapter 14

Mr. Hookly’s grip on my hand loosened as we settled into a waltz. I could have got away, but there seemed no point. We were in the middle of the dance floor. He couldn’t harm me here.

I wasn’t sure he wanted to anyway. “I need to explain some things to you,” he said. “I think you have the wrong idea about me.”

“What idea is that, Mr. Hookly? Or whatever your name is.”

He looked unsurprised that I knew. “My name isn’t important. Truly, it’s not. It never has been. Not to me or to anyone else. Because I wasn’t important.” We twirled for a few steps before he continued. “I was a footman in Hookly’s household. That’s how I knew him.”

“Is that where Mrs. Warrick recognized you from?”

“No. She knew me from a prior engagement as the footman in the household of one of her friends. I was surprised to learn she recognized me. Usually people like her look right through the staff. We’re as insignificant as a chair or vase. I don’t expect someone like you to understand, Miss Fox.”

I ignored the taunt. I didn’t care if he thought I was as wealthy as the Bainbridges. “Mrs. Warrick confronted you on Christmas Eve, didn’t she? She asked why you were in the hotel, and how you could afford a room here when you are a mere footman.”

His fingers tightened at my hand and waist. “She could have ruined everything.”

“You mean your plan to live off credit for as long as possible here at the hotel? To use the letter you stole from a dead man’s desk to secure the trust of a banker? You learned the banker was attending the ball so you needed to remain at the hotel even after you killed Mrs. Warrick so you could speak to him.”

He smiled. It wasn’t cruel. It was the smile of a content man who thought himself safe. “You can’t jeopardize this opportunity, Miss Fox. Not now. He’s gone.”

“The banker?”

“He left early as he suffers from gout, but not before he promised to give me the loan. I have a signed agreement from him in my pocket. I can take that to any branch as soon as the banks re-open after the holiday.”

“You won’t get away with this. The police are almost here and they know everything about you.” Well, they would once I told them.

His smile widened. “I’ll be sure to set them straight at the first opportunity. You see, I didn’t kill Mrs. Warrick. My hands are clean. I don’t know who did it, although I have my suspicions. A word of advice, Miss Fox. Don’t trust the staff here. They’re a bad lot.”

“I know all about Edith,” I said, just as benignly. “You needed someone with a key so you courted her. What did you promise her? A life out of servitude? Love?”

A muscle in his jaw pulsed and his breathing quickened. He hadn’t known that I knew about Edith. He merely thought I suspected him, and he meant to shift the blame onto her as we danced. But I’d drawn a connection between them, and that worried him. It confirmed what I’d suspected—that Edith had gone to him after I’d spoken to her about my concerns. She’d told him that I suspected he was the