Arsenic For Tea: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery (A Wells and Wong Mystery) by Robin Stevens Page A
Authors: Robin Stevens
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suppose,’ said Kitty, crossing her arms.
‘All right,’ said Beanie. ‘I don’t want to be tortured, please!’
‘Good. Now, I’m going to say the pledge, and then at the end you have to say
I do
. Ready? Listen carefully.
‘Do you swear to be a good and clever member of the Detective Society, and to logically detect the crimes presented to you using all the cleverness you have, not placing reliance on grown-ups, especially the police?’
She nudged Kitty, and Kitty jumped and said, ‘I do.’
‘I do,’ said Beanie, half a beat behind.
‘Do you solemnly swear never to conceal a vital clue from your Detective Society President and Vice-President, and to do exactly what they say?’
‘You’re making this up now!’ cried Kitty. ‘Oh, all right, I do.’
‘I do too!’ said Beanie.
‘Do you promise never to mention this to another soul, living or dead, on pain of medieval tortures?’
‘I do,’ chorused Kitty and Beanie.
‘Excellent,’ said Daisy, satisfied. ‘Now we can tell you about the case.’
7
‘So what have you discovered, then?’ asked Kitty.
‘Mr Curtis
didn’t
die of dysentery,’ said Daisy dramatically. ‘He
was
murdered.’
‘Well, we knew that,’ said Kitty. ‘Your mother said so.’
‘Yes, but we’ve proved it,’ said Daisy. I could tell that she was cross about Kitty’s response – she hates to have her thunder stolen by anyone. ‘We overheard Uncle Felix talking about it to Dr Cooper, and then we did some research to confirm it. Mr Curtis was poisoned, at tea time – we have deduced that someone gave him arsenic from the rat poison tin in the hall cupboard.’
‘I don’t see how you can have proof of any of that,’ said Kitty, who was turning out to be a not very obedient assistant. ‘You might just be imagining things.’
‘We are not!’ said Daisy. ‘Just listen. We crept down to the dining room last night to look for Mr Curtis’s teacup – and someone had already got in and stolen it, and his watch as well! In fact, they nearly caught us. We had to be very quick.’
‘But why would anyone murder him?’ asked Beanie. ‘Poor Mr Curtis!’
‘Lots of reasons!’ said Daisy. ‘But the really important one is this: he was here to take our things. When he died, Hazel and I were already investigating him – we saw him creeping about, ogling all the nice things in the house and muttering about how valuable they were, and then he lied to Mummy and said that they were hardly worth anything at all. Then we saw . . . well, we saw something that made it clear he was trying to weasel his way into Mummy’s affections, to trick her into selling him our things for a song.’
‘Oh, were they kissing?’ asked Kitty. ‘I wondered.’
I winced. ‘Lord Hastings, Uncle Felix and Bertie knew what was going on between them too,’ I said quickly. ‘So they were all angry at Mr Curtis. That’s why everyone was so cross yesterday.’
‘Not the only reason,’ said Daisy, nodding, ‘but a very good one. Look, before we go any further, we might as well make this a formal meeting of the Detective Society. Hazel, you’ve got your casebook, haven’t you? What have you called this case?’
‘The Case of Mr Curtis,’ I said, taking out the book.
‘Very good,’ said Daisy. ‘Present at this meeting: Daisy Wells, President, and Hazel Wong, Secretary and Vice-President. Also present: Katherine Freebody and Rebecca Martineau, Assistants and temporary Detective Society members.
‘Victim: Mr Curtis. Cause of death: arsenic poisoning – although this can only be a very good guess, as we don’t have access to the body –
again
! Honestly, why does this always seem to happen to us?
‘Time of poisoning: tea time. It couldn’t have been any earlier – the book Hazel and I read told us that arsenic usually only takes fifteen minutes or so to begin to work . . . Oh, just
think
, we really
saw
the murder happen!’
I shivered, and Beanie
‘All right,’ said Beanie. ‘I don’t want to be tortured, please!’
‘Good. Now, I’m going to say the pledge, and then at the end you have to say
I do
. Ready? Listen carefully.
‘Do you swear to be a good and clever member of the Detective Society, and to logically detect the crimes presented to you using all the cleverness you have, not placing reliance on grown-ups, especially the police?’
She nudged Kitty, and Kitty jumped and said, ‘I do.’
‘I do,’ said Beanie, half a beat behind.
‘Do you solemnly swear never to conceal a vital clue from your Detective Society President and Vice-President, and to do exactly what they say?’
‘You’re making this up now!’ cried Kitty. ‘Oh, all right, I do.’
‘I do too!’ said Beanie.
‘Do you promise never to mention this to another soul, living or dead, on pain of medieval tortures?’
‘I do,’ chorused Kitty and Beanie.
‘Excellent,’ said Daisy, satisfied. ‘Now we can tell you about the case.’
7
‘So what have you discovered, then?’ asked Kitty.
‘Mr Curtis
didn’t
die of dysentery,’ said Daisy dramatically. ‘He
was
murdered.’
‘Well, we knew that,’ said Kitty. ‘Your mother said so.’
‘Yes, but we’ve proved it,’ said Daisy. I could tell that she was cross about Kitty’s response – she hates to have her thunder stolen by anyone. ‘We overheard Uncle Felix talking about it to Dr Cooper, and then we did some research to confirm it. Mr Curtis was poisoned, at tea time – we have deduced that someone gave him arsenic from the rat poison tin in the hall cupboard.’
‘I don’t see how you can have proof of any of that,’ said Kitty, who was turning out to be a not very obedient assistant. ‘You might just be imagining things.’
‘We are not!’ said Daisy. ‘Just listen. We crept down to the dining room last night to look for Mr Curtis’s teacup – and someone had already got in and stolen it, and his watch as well! In fact, they nearly caught us. We had to be very quick.’
‘But why would anyone murder him?’ asked Beanie. ‘Poor Mr Curtis!’
‘Lots of reasons!’ said Daisy. ‘But the really important one is this: he was here to take our things. When he died, Hazel and I were already investigating him – we saw him creeping about, ogling all the nice things in the house and muttering about how valuable they were, and then he lied to Mummy and said that they were hardly worth anything at all. Then we saw . . . well, we saw something that made it clear he was trying to weasel his way into Mummy’s affections, to trick her into selling him our things for a song.’
‘Oh, were they kissing?’ asked Kitty. ‘I wondered.’
I winced. ‘Lord Hastings, Uncle Felix and Bertie knew what was going on between them too,’ I said quickly. ‘So they were all angry at Mr Curtis. That’s why everyone was so cross yesterday.’
‘Not the only reason,’ said Daisy, nodding, ‘but a very good one. Look, before we go any further, we might as well make this a formal meeting of the Detective Society. Hazel, you’ve got your casebook, haven’t you? What have you called this case?’
‘The Case of Mr Curtis,’ I said, taking out the book.
‘Very good,’ said Daisy. ‘Present at this meeting: Daisy Wells, President, and Hazel Wong, Secretary and Vice-President. Also present: Katherine Freebody and Rebecca Martineau, Assistants and temporary Detective Society members.
‘Victim: Mr Curtis. Cause of death: arsenic poisoning – although this can only be a very good guess, as we don’t have access to the body –
again
! Honestly, why does this always seem to happen to us?
‘Time of poisoning: tea time. It couldn’t have been any earlier – the book Hazel and I read told us that arsenic usually only takes fifteen minutes or so to begin to work . . . Oh, just
think
, we really
saw
the murder happen!’
I shivered, and Beanie
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