English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier Read Free Book Online Page A

get out,” said Rachel.
    “They used to put the heads of people they executed on top of the walls,” continued Dr. Cope. “A grim reminder of the price of treason.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “And in those days, treason was whatever displeased the king.”
    “This is a terrible, evil place,” said Jennifer, drawing the lapels of her pale blue jacket together with a delicate, ringed hand.
    “Not really,” said Rachel, who was studying her guidebook. “It says here it’s like a little village. People actually live here. The Yeoman Warders—those are the guys in the funny red outfits—live here with their families.”
    “That’s too cool,” said Autumn, breaking her usual bored attitude to express a flicker of interest. “Look at that bird!” She was pointing to a super-sized crow, perched above the entry gate.
    With its feathers fluffed out, it reminded Lucy of Autumn’s spiky black hairdo and she smiled.
    “That,” said Rachel, “is a raven. The legend is that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, the kingdom will fall.”
    “I’d be worried if I were Prince Charles,” said Sue.
    Rachel smiled. “They’re taking no chances—their wings are clipped.”
    “Seems like cheating to me,” observed Lucy as they passed through yet another dank and chilly portal to emerge into a spacious green, grassy court. The gleaming White Tower, a large square fortress with a domed and turreted tower at each corner stood before them.
    “It was built by William the Conqueror,” said Rachel, amazed.
    Lucy didn’t know many dates but she did know this one. “In something like 1066?”
    “Yeah. That’s old,” said Pam.
    “The Hallett House, the oldest building in Tinker’s Cove, was built in the eighteenth century,” said Sue. “That White Tower is nearly a thousand years old.”
    “This is really something,” said Rachel. “So where shall we start?”
    Sue didn’t hesitate. “The jewels, silly. Where else?”
    A short line was already forming at the building housing the crown jewels, but the group happily joined it. Once inside, they discovered it was a bit like Disney World with a convoluted route that hid the length of the wait. The queue snaked past a flickering old black-and-white newsreel of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, where she was decked out in a crown and ermine robe, as well as a number of other jewels, and carried an orb and scepter. Eventually they found themselves in a darkened room where a moving pathway carried viewers past the illuminated glass cases containing crowns and scepters glittering with thousands of diamonds, pearls, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies.
    It all left Lucy rather cold, except for Queen Victoria’s dainty little diamond topper, which looked like a miniature crown designed for a doll, but Sue was enthralled. When she came to the end of the people mover, she quickly ducked around and hopped on for another viewing.
    “Pardon me,” she said to the startled gentleman she stepped in front of.
    “Not at all,” he replied with famous British politeness.
    But when she tried the same trick a second time, one of the Yeoman Warders stepped forward. “Madam, if you wish to see the jewels again, you will have to go to the end of the queue.”
    “Busted,” announced Autumn, who was waiting with Lucy at the end.
    “I don’t care. It was worth it,” insisted Sue. “If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, the queen sure has a lot of friends.”
    Dr. Cope and Jennifer had drifted away from the others and were standing by a plaque embedded in the pavement, near a small stone church building, gazing at a withered bunch of roses that had been placed there. Lucy and the others went over to join them, and she realized the plaque marked the spot where the scaffold used for royal executions had once stood.
    “Only very important prisoners were executed here,” Dr. Cope was saying. “Or more controversial ones. It was more private since the public wasn’t allowed