Murder Games (15 page)
Authors: Elisabeth Crabtree
* * *
“I won’t stand for this.” Ivy stood at the head of the table. She glared down at Grace, Caroline, Molly, and Austin. Controlled fury radiated from her body. “This has never happened before.” She threw up her hands and began to pace in front of the others. “I just don’t understand how anyone could be so rude.”
Rupert shook his head. “People just don’t have respect anymore.”
Ivy continued her pacing. “In all the years we’ve done this, we’ve never had this happen.”
The front door banged shut.
Ivy looked past the others to the dining room door. Kyle and Jerry stood in the foyer removing their coats and scarfs. Laura, while not seen from the dining room, could be heard complaining. “Absolutely nonsense. I was perfectly fine.”
“Finally
.” Ivy gestured to the dining room table. “Please have a seat.”
Kyle threw
a questioning glance at Grace who just shrugged helplessly.
Ivy had called this little meeting shortly after Kyle and Jerry had left in search of Laura and
Sabrina. Rupert had refused to go, insisting that the maze was perfectly safe during the day and that the girls would show up eventually. He added that if they didn’t show by nightfall, he would be more than happy to aid them in their search. Jerry, easily persuaded by Rupert’s stirring argument in favor of sitting back and doing nothing, immediately began to remove his coat. One look from Caroline, however, sent him out into the snow with Kyle.
They couldn’t have been gone more than twenty minutes when Rupert rounded up the rem
aining guests and instructed them to go to the dining room. There, they discovered Ivy walking around in a tizzy ranting about the ills of society and how she wasn’t going to take it—whatever it was—anymore.
Once Kyle, Jerry
, and Laura were seated, Ivy took her place at the head of the table with Rupert standing just slightly behind her.
Ivy carefully folded her hands on the table. “Now that we have everyone
. . .” She paused and shook her head, “where’s Sabrina?”
Jerry glanced
at Caroline. “We couldn’t find her,” he admitted reluctantly. He quickly pointed to Laura. “But we found her.”
“I know that most people take a look at my sister and think that just because she’s beautiful that she must be an idiot
, but I assure you that she is not. She is perfectly capable of navigating that maze,” Laura said in annoyance, “any fool could find their way back to the house.”
“Then where is she?” Grace asked. “You two have been gone for more than an hour. It only takes fifteen to twenty minutes to get through the maze.”
“Knowing Sabrina,” Laura said, “she’s probably at the hotel having lunch or shopping. I think maybe you are taking this far too seriously, Grace.”
Grace
, surprised that Laura was addressing her by her name and not her character, snapped her mouth shut.
“I completely agree,” Ivy said. “Someone is taking this far too seriously.”
Grace immediately began to protest that it certainly wasn’t her when Ivy held up her hand. “I’m not accusing anyone, but I think you all are getting a little too excitable. People, this game is a social game. Meaning, you talk to one another. You share secrets and clues. That’s it. You don’t scare one another and you certainly don’t damage property that doesn’t belong to you. Do I make myself clear?”
Feeling chastised,
heads began automatically nodding at once. Only Grace leaned forward and addressed Ivy. “Wait a second. What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to go into any details,” Ivy said. “I’m sure the guil
ty party understands that what he or she did was wrong, and will make sure it does not happen in the future. Now, let’s put this unpleasantness behind us—”
“No
, Grace is right,” Laura said to Grace’s surprise. “If you’re going to accuse us of something, then you need to tell us what it is.”
Ivy glanced back
at Rupert who nodded. “Someone cut up one of the cushions in the sunroom.”
“Cut up?”
Caroline asked.
“Sliced it to ribbons,” Ivy said mournfully.
“Someone also knocked a few holes into the walls of the nursery,” Rupert said.
“The dolls!” Grace reached out and grabbed Kyle’s arm in a panic. “Are the dolls
, okay?”
“You’re
as bad as Allen,” Kyle whispered in her ear. “You realize that, don’t you?”
“L
uckily, nothing else was damaged,” Ivy said.
Grace released a sigh of relief.
“Hmm, interesting,” Laura said. “Have you taken a look in the study?”
Ivy reached a hand up to her throat. “No. Why?”
“I noticed some stuffing on the floor and on the loveseat, so I turned the cushion over,” Laura said, “someone had cut open the seam.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Grace asked.
“I thought it was a clue,” Laura said with a shrug.
“Why would someone
knock holes in the wall?” Molly asked.
“Maybe someone’s looking for Ivy’s diary,” Caroline said.
Jerry made a face. “No way. No one is dumb enough to destroy this place looking for her diary. Come on, I think everyone here understands this is just a game.”
“Then how do you explain it?” Laura asked.
Jerry fell silent.
“Rupert,
” Ivy called out imperiously, “fetch the diary. We’ll take care of this right now.”
Nodding, Rupert walked out of the room. He returned no more than a minute later carrying a book on poisons.
“Where was it?” Laura asked.
“In the
study, next to some gardening books.” Rupert opened the book to show that a rectangular hole had been hollowed out of its pages, and inside the hole, laid a small, floral, cloth bound book. A brass plate, with the words,
Ivy’s Diary
etched into the brass, was fixed to the cover. He dropped the diary on top of the table and snapped the hollowed out book shut.
“I was going to search there next,” Laura said in disgust
. Her hand shot out, quickly snatching the diary before anyone else could.
“Y
ou now have the next piece of the puzzle, so I hope that will end this nonsense.” Ivy glanced at the watch on her wrist. “It’s ten o’clock. We’ll all gather back here at seven for dinner, where you all will give your denouncements. Good luck.” Her chin held high, she rose from the table and glided from the room.
Kyle
whispered in Grace’s ear. “I don’t believe they were searching for Ivy’s diary.”
Austin
, who was seated on the other side of Grace, leaned forward. “Neither do I.”
“
But what could they have been looking for?” Grace asked.
“Maybe they were looking for
buried treasure,” Molly said with a small smirk.
“Or a secret passageway,” Jerry said. “These old house
s have secret passageways don’t they, Rupert?”
Austin
shook his head. “Not this one.”
“
Quite correct,” Rupert said. “Thankfully, this house doesn’t have any passageways or secret rooms for some fool to get lost in.”
“Oh,” Jerry said disappointedly. He pushed his way from the table and walked over toward Laura.
He pointed to the diary. “Care to share?”
Shaking her head no,
Laura pressed the diary to her chest and dashed from the room.
Jerry looked at the others
. He made a twirling motion with his finger to his temple before following Laura.
Slowly,
one by one, they filtered out of the dining room until only Grace and Kyle remained.
Kyle stood. He
looked down at Grace’s smiling face. “What are you so happy about?”
“Secret passageways.”
“What about them?”
“Apparently
, there aren’t any.”
“And that makes you happy, why?”
“I think that’s what they refer to as a clue. Just how does Austin know that there aren’t any secret passageways? There’s just something very strange about him,” she said before telling him what Caroline had witnessed.
“
So, he was here New Year’s Eve fighting with Erica.”
“Or Belinda.”
Kyle thought about it for a second before holding out his hand. “Let’s go talk to him. Maybe we can find out why he’s really here and what he wanted from Erica.”
Grace put her hand in his. “Last time you tried to question someone
, you almost confessed to Ivy and her husband’s murder.”
“You’re right.” He pulled
Grace up to her feet. “Perhaps we should grab Laura and let her do the questioning.”
CHAPTER fourteen
Austin
stood next to her, practically breathing down her neck. “Do you know what she could have done with it?”
Realizing that
neither Austin nor Molly heard them enter the room, Kyle and Grace stopped at the door. They waited to hear Molly’s answer; each wondering what
it
was that Austin was so interested in.
“I don’t know. It’s probably in the library. That’s where it’s supposed to be.” Molly plucked another dead leaf. She dropped it on the floor before pulling out a couple of live leafs.
Austin shook his head. “It’s not there. Did she say anything else to you?” When Molly didn’t answer, he dropped his hand on her shoulder. “Please, Molly.”
Molly jerked her shoulder away.
“Molly?” Austin asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She plucked
out another healthy green leaf. “What do you want with it?”
“It
. . . it has great historical value,” Austin said with a stutter. “I need it for my research. I plan on writing an article about the robber barons of Colorado. It has great historical significance.”
“Oh,
of course. And I’m sure your interest in it has nothing to do with the treasure hidden in the manor.”
“Treasure?” Kyle blurted out.
Surprised, Molly and Austin whirled around.
Irritated that they had lost a prime opportunity to discover more information, Grace threw a dirty look toward her partner in crime. “Nice going.”
Kyle didn’t bother looking abashed. Dollar signs now flashing before his eyes, he strode forward eagerly. “What treasure? Where is it? How much is it worth?” He would have asked more questions if Grace hadn’t interrupted him by grabbing his elbow and bringing him up short.
“
Don’t frighten them away.” Grace looked toward Molly. “You were saying?”
Molly crossed her arms and took a step away from
Austin. “There is no treasure.”
“Right.” Kyle nodded his head. “So exactly what are we talking about here? Gold? Jewels? Cash? Spanish doubloons?”
Austin held up his hands. “I don’t know or care about this . . . treasure.”
“No, of course not,” Molly said sarcastically. “You’ve practically ignored me all day
, but the moment I said the words
buried treasure
in the dining room, you suddenly couldn’t wait to get me alone.”
Austin looked hurt.
“I didn’t ask you about any treasure, Molly.”
“No
, you didn’t,” Molly confirmed, “you didn’t ask about the treasure. You just asked about Lucinda Grave’s diary. The same diary that just so happens to talk about a buried treasure. I’m sure it’s all just a coincidence.” She whirled around to face him. “You know if you had just asked me about it, I would have happily told you what I knew.”
“Can you tell us?” Kyle asked
.
Grace thumped him in the stomach with the back of her hand.
Molly ignored them. “If you had just asked. But no, you tried to sweet talk me all of a sudden. You tried to pretend that you were suddenly interested in me.”
“I am interested in you, Molly.”
Molly turned away. “Ha!”
Austin
looked appropriately apologetic. “Molly, if I hurt you, that wasn’t my intention. I do like you. It’s just . . . I really need to find that diary.”
“So you can write some type of paper?” Molly asked.
Austin opened and closed his mouth. He suddenly looked down.
Kyle held up his hands. “Can we just focus here for a
second? Is there, or is there not a treasure?”
“No!” Molly said emphatically.
Austin looked up and sighed. “Yes . . . there is.”
“Get out!” a voice suddenly cried out.
All eyes swung to the corner of the room. Laura’s head popped up from behind the back of a floral settee. “I don’t believe it. There really is a treasure buried here?”
* * *
“I’ve been working here for the last five years. I assure you, there is no treasure.” Ivy chuckled in amusement. “Where in the world did you ever get an idea like that?” She looked around at the dining room table where everyone, but the still missing Sabrina had gathered. Grace had hoped to keep the information about the treasure as quiet as possible, but Laura and Kyle obviously felt differently. When neither one could badger Molly or Austin in saying anymore, they had decided to go to the only authority on the house and its occupants that they knew. Before long, everyone had gathered in the dining room to hear about the treasure.
Rupert scratched his beard. “There is no treasure, much like there is no secret passageway
or secret room.”
“
Speaking of which, how did you know that, Austin?” Grace asked.
“I have the house plans.” He wa
ved his hand before bringing it up to rub his eyes tiredly. “There was a secret room in the back of the house on the first floor at one time, but when they renovated this place five years ago, they turned it into a pantry.”
“Which
proves,” Ivy said, “that there is no treasure. If there was a treasure, they would have found it in the secret room.”
Austin
brought his hand down. “No, it doesn’t prove any such thing. All it proves is that the treasure wasn’t in that room. We need to find that diary.”
“Why?” Caroline asked. “Do
es it contain a treasure map or something?”
Molly shook her head.
“You’ve seen the diary?” Jerry asked.
Molly shrugged. “I glanced through it.” She pointed toward Ivy. “So has she.”
“That’s right,” Ivy said, “and there was no map. Last time I saw the diary, we had it on display in a glass case in the library.” She sighed heavily. “It went missing two weeks ago.” She looked over at Rupert. “I knew that little . . . thief ran off with it. We should have fired her right then.” She addressed the others. “I don’t remember reading anything about a treasure.”
Rupert narrowed his eyes.
“There was something about a ruby.”
Everyone leaned forward.
Noticing everyone’s attention was suddenly focused on him, Rupert puffed out his chest. “Hundreds of rubies. As big as your fist, it said.”
Ivy’s face twisted. “Oh baloney.”
“That’s what it said,” Rupert responded hotly.
Ivy rolled her eyes. “No, it didn’t.
You’re just making things up.”
“
I am not,” Rupert sputtered. “I ought to know what’s in it. I’m the one who found it hidden in the glass gazebo last year.”
“That doesn’t prove that you read it
,” Ivy said.
“I read some of it.” He shrugged slightly. “I
read that part about the rubies.”
Grace looked at
Austin. “Well, you seem to know more about this than anyone. You want to share with the group?”
Austin
took a deep breath. “Rupert’s wrong. Lucinda didn’t mention hundreds of rubies as big as your fist. She mentioned one ruby. That one,” he said pointing to the portrait of Annalise Graves and her ruby necklace. “I believe the ruby Annalise wore and that Lucinda wrote about is in actuality, the Prussian Blood Ruby. It has a long and storied history that I won’t bore you with right now. The condensed version is that it belonged to the Royal House of Prussia for several centuries, before it was liberated in 1770 by a lady in waiting to one of the royal princesses. It passed through several hands before being liberated once again in the late 1880s by a train robber here in Colorado. It disappeared from history shortly after.”
Kyle reached for his smart phone and began searching for information on the
Prussian Blood Ruby.
“What makes you think
Annalise’s ruby is the Prussian Blood Ruby?” Grace asked.
“I was here several weeks ago participating in the
murder mystery game when I noticed the portrait. I recognized the ruby immediately.” Austin smiled slightly. “Prussian history is one of my passions and I had come to Colorado specifically to do research on the ruby. The robbery occurred nearby and the U.S. Marshals suspected that the robbers had fled to this part of the mountain after the holdup. I was able to pin it down even further to this general location. I knew I was close, but you can imagine my surprise when I realized just how close I actually was. Erica Powell saw me admiring the portrait, and then when I told her that I was a historian and was interested in learning more about the Graves family, she referred me to Lucinda Graves’ diary.”
“So, if you read the diary why didn’t you find the ruby then?” Grace asked.
Kyle made a guttural sound deep in his throat. Still staring at his phone, he raised a hand to his mouth.
Caroline
, Molly and Laura immediately reached for their own phones and began searching.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have time,”
Austin continued. “I didn’t learn of the diary until the game was practically over. I asked Erica if she could make copies of the pages and send them to me, but . . . she didn’t get around to it. So, I came back to search for it myself. We need to find that diary.”
“I completely agree.
” Kyle turned his phone off and slipped it into his pocket.
“What makes you think it’s still here?” Grace asked. “Surely, one of Annalise’s
descendants inherited it when she died.”
Austin shook his head. “No, the ruby was hidden away. It’s still here,” he said confidently.
“People,” Ivy said, “there’s no treasure here. If there were, we would have found it by now. We’ve been inventorying this place for months.”
“Why?”
Grace asked.
Rupert and Ivy exchanged looks.
“The hotel’s planning on demolishing the manor in two weeks,” Austin said.
“Demolishing?” Grace asked in surprise. She couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to destroy this beautiful old house.
“That was supposed to be a secret,” Ivy said. “Management didn’t want anyone to know yet. They’re going to expand the old time village. Add in some new shops and a few more restaurants.”
“They also want to get rid of the maze,” Rupert said. “
Kids keep sneaking in there at night and getting lost. It’s becoming a liability. Some old man had a heart scare in there last summer. It took the emergency crew over an hour to find him. Turned out it was just heartburn, but management didn’t like it.”
“That’s why we need to find
the ruby now,” Austin said, “before it ends up underneath a pile of rubble.”
Laura
suddenly gasped. She quickly showed her phone to Jerry, whose eyes widened.
Molly
leaned over and looked at the screen. Her phone fell from her hands and clattered against the top of the table. “How much?” she whispered. They each glanced at the portrait and then back at the phone.
Rupert rolled his eyes.
“I promise you that there’s nothing here, but a bunch of old junk.”
“Not all of it is old junk,” Ivy said irritably. “I keep telling you that crystal in there—”
“That crystal isn’t worth a plugged nickel,” Rupert snapped.
Ivy crossed her arms. “Just wait until the appraiser gets here.”
“I don’t have to wait for the appraiser. I know what I’m talking about. I watch that antique roadshow on Sundays and I’m always right. I know it’s junk before that fancy appraiser says anything.” He tapped a yellow-chipped fingernail against the tabletop. “All the good stuff was removed when the owners bought this place five years ago. If it was here, they would have found it then.”
“No, they wouldn’t have
,” Ivy said as a shrewd look came into her eyes. “I was here at the time. They were far more interested in getting the hotel up and running. They were going to tear this place down then, but I convinced them that it would make a wonderful bed and breakfast for guests that wanted something a bit more intimate.”
“You convinced them?”
Grace asked.
Ivy nodded. “
The people, who bought this land five years ago, were old dear friends of mine.” She looked around the dining room and beamed. “I just fell in love with this place the moment I saw it. It had been closed up since the previous owner had died in the seventies. It was like a time capsule. I insisted that nothing should change. I handled everything personally.” She shrugged slightly. “I may have missed a few things when getting this place ready.”
“So, you’re not just an actress hired for these events?” Grace asked.
“Oh no, acting has always been my first love, but we work for the hotel, too. For instance, I manage this place.” She inclined her head toward Rupert. “Rupert and I met through the community theater twenty years ago. When my friends were planning on opening the hotel, I insisted that they hire him.”