Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson Read Free Book Online

remain quiet. “Um, sorry, but why do you say that?” she asked, wishing very much that she had either a writing tablet or Pensive’s enormous memory to store the information in.
    Viola cleared her throat. “Since moving to Hollingsworth Hall, the Countess has given five thousand pounds a year toward hospital care for injured constabulary workers across England, from city police to small village watchmen and parish constables. And the funds were marked only to care for the fiercest of injuries—manglings, blunt force wounds, slashed appendages, things like that. I don’t know how much money she gave before she came to the Hall, because mother could only find donation records for the DeMoss name starting when the Countess moved there. But research shows that a consistent hospital donation of that size probably indicates some sort of traumatic injuries to an individual close to her.”
    â€œAnd why the police, do you think?” Tabitha felt a flush come over her. Stop asking questions! This isn’t the time to play Inspector. Take Mum and Daddy’s advice and just stop talking altogether.
    But Viola didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Her lips twisted in thought. “Perhaps because they made proper inquiries. I overheard bits of conversation at a fund-raiser,” she added. “Two ladies were discussing how best to appeal to the Countess’s sensitivities, and one mentioned her moving to Hollingsworth Hall with only her son and sister. And apparently early staff members overheard the Countess speaking with her sister about their husbands’ deaths. A double murder. ”
    Tabitha patted Pemberley gently, but he didn’t appear to be trembling. Tabitha had read enough Pensive novels aloud, she supposed, that the word murder didn’t carry too much of a shock with it. And the Times article she’d read had hinted at the possibility.
    Oliver clucked his tongue, opening and closing items on his pocket tool. “That’s awful.”
    â€œYes,” Viola said. “No wonder she wasn’t ready for another marriage after that.”
    Edward shrugged. “Though I suppose none of the gossip ruled out the Countess and her sister doing the husbands in themselves. Seemed they came into enough money to buy themselves a Hall. Ha! Not too shabby, I say.”
    Viola gave a good-natured harrumph, followed by an affectionate smile. “Oh, Edward, you’ll never be a romantic.”
    Edward popped another chocolate into his mouth and grinned. “Never planned on it.”
    Vaguely, Tabitha wondered what it would be like to have a close friend to trade barbs with, rather than a mouse. Not that there was anything inferior about a mouse.
    A man in formal driver dress stepped into the lobby, straightened his coattails, and cleared his throat. “Transportation to Hollingsworth Hall, ladies and gentlemen. Children in the first carriage, adults in the second and third, please.”
    Lined up were three splendid black carriages, each with a driver and a footman. The dark veneer contrasted dramatically with the white horses set to pull them along. Even the horses seemed formal, stamping their feet with strength and dignity, trying to keep warm in the early afternoon air, which was growing colder by the hour.
    They shuffled outside, the parents scrutinizing the children as they exited one by one. Mrs. Dale kissed Viola’s forehead, and Mr. Appleby shook Oliver’s hand in a mock-serious way. Frances Wellington had brought a trunk and two cases and made herself busy by ordering an attendant to be careful.



“Doesn’t even feel like there’s anything in this one,” said the man, lifting one of her cases. “A nice surprise and change from the heavier loads,” he added, reddening under the influence of Frances’s cool stare.
    â€œDo hurry, please, children,” said another attendant.
    â€œWhy don’t you hurry,”