The Magnolia Palace(99)

“I thought we were friends. Friends wouldn’t do such a thing to each other.”

“Friends? I worked for you. You were my employer.”

“Fine, I won’t quibble with you. I’m here now because I found something. This.”

She took the cameo out of her purse and placed it on the table.

Lillian let out a small breath. “The cameo.” She reached out and gingerly touched it, but didn’t pick it up. “Where was it?”

“In the enamels room, in a secret compartment in the wall.”

“Of all places? How did you find it?”

Miss Helen waved her hand. “These two came upon it while they were sneaking around the mansion after hours.”

“And the Magnolia diamond?”

“We found that as well.” She opened the cameo to reveal the diamond, which seemed even bigger and more translucent in the bright light of day, before snapping it back shut.

Veronica felt Joshua’s eyes rest on her for a split second before he turned away.

“Who would put the cameo in the enamels room?” asked Lillian.

“I don’t know. I’m assuming you didn’t?”

“Of course I didn’t. I didn’t even know about any hidden spot in the enamels room. You know that.”

“I do,” admitted Miss Helen.

“So someone took it and tucked it away,” said Lillian. “But didn’t steal it.”

“Which is odd.”

“They wanted to punish you, maybe?”

“That could have been one of many people, as I’ve never been well-liked,” said Miss Helen. “Something I’m rather proud of.”

Lillian and Archer exchanged a long look. Veronica couldn’t tell what they were signaling to each other, but after they broke it off, Lillian seemed to brace herself before speaking. “What about your mother’s private secretary?”

“Miss Winnie? No. There’s no reason she’d ever go in there, even when it was Father’s study.”

“Really? Never?”

“Well, I don’t remember. Perhaps once or twice. But she was devoted to the family and would have no reason to betray me in that way. Nor Martha, whom she loved dearly.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Is this what you wanted to tell me in your note? That you thought Miss Winnie was some kind of sick criminal? She never abandoned us, even when things were terrible. When Martha was ill, she was by her side day in and day out. Mother said they’d never had a better nursemaid, and that if only they’d taken her with them on that awful European trip, Martha would never have been allowed to swallow the pin in the first place.”

“Hold on,” said Lillian. “Nursemaid? She was your mother’s secretary.”

“She was originally hired as Martha’s nursemaid. Only after Martha’s death did my mother bring her on as her secretary. She couldn’t bear to lose her, after what they’d gone through together.” She paused. “Not that she was much help. The woman became deaf as a doornail. But my mother needed a companion in her grief, and even more so later, as her depression took hold. Miss Winnie is a saint.” She looked over at Joshua. “Well, that was a waste of a trip.”

The story was getting more and more interesting, in Veronica’s opinion. “Is a saint?” she repeated. “Miss Winnie is alive?”

“She is. I visit her every couple of weeks. They take good care of her there, although I still have to remind the staff to look at her while they’re speaking.”

“I don’t think so,” Lillian countered.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you when I wrote the letter. That Miss Winnie can hear better than she lets on. At least she could back then. She wasn’t partially deaf at all.”

“Of course she was. Why would you say such a thing?”

Lillian took one more look at her husband, who nodded. Whatever she was about to divulge had already been discussed at length between them. “One day, near the end, when things were in an uproar, Miss Winnie came to me with reassurance that all would be all right. She said that the accusations were baseless, and that I wasn’t a scoundrel, no matter what Mr. Childs said. I appreciated her thoughtfulness, of course, but only later I realized she was repeating what had been discussed in the library in front of the private detective, with the doors closed. A room where she wasn’t present.”

“What if someone had mentioned to her what was said?”

“I wondered about that as well. So I did a test. I growled.”

“You did what?”

“When your mother and Miss Winnie weren’t looking at me. I made a strange noise.”

“And I’m sure they thought you insane.”

“They both turned around.”

Miss Helen touched her own throat with a trembling hand. “Both?”

“Both.”

She looked down at the cameo, as if seeing it for the first time. “Well then. Off we go.”

“Where to, Miss Helen?” asked Joshua.

“To speak with Miss Winnie. To find out the truth, for once and for all.”





Chapter Twenty-One