Death of a Bacon Heiress by Lee Hollis

rooms.”
    â€œI suppose. . . .” Hayley said, her voice trailing off as she saw not the slightest similarity between this seacoast Maine mansion and Highclere castle in the English countryside.
    The next few minutes were a detailed rundown of why Peggy loved Downton Abbey . How she never missed an episode. How she modeled her life after the fashionable and proper Lady Mary, which Hayley found amusing because in her opinion, the haughty character of Lady Mary was self-absorbed and spoiled.
    Who would want to be like that?
    Peggy continued prattling on about how now that Red was going to be inheriting his mother’s estate, she would be living a parallel life to her fictional heroine, and how marvelous it all was.
    Red sat back in a chair next to the love seat his girlfriend was occupying and watched her with a tight smile, indulging her for the moment but ready to intervene if she said too much.
    â€œThis place reminds me so much of how Lord and Lady Grantham lived during that time. Except their servants were a lot nicer ,” Peggy spit out as Caroline entered with a tea tray and set it down on a small antique coffee table between them.
    Hayley noticed the corners of Caroline’s eyes were wet with tears. Either she had been in the kitchen crying over her late employer or, more likely, over the fact that she was now beholden to this crass, gold-digging harpy.
    â€œThank you, Caroline. That will be all,” Peggy said in her most lofty, obnoxious tone.
    Caroline cringed and got out of there as fast as she could without being too obvious.
    After just a few sips, Red was clearly bored. This was Peggy’s little tea party and he wanted no part of it. He set his cup down and stood up. “I have some things to do.”
    Details to handle regarding my mother’s passing . . .”
    â€œOf course, I understand. I should go. . . .”
    â€œNo. Please, stay. Keep me company,” Peggy begged.
    â€œFinish your tea. It would mean a lot to Peggy,” Red said as he walked out.
    Peggy put on a frown for full effect. “He’s really bummed out by his mother dying.”
    Bummed out?
    Lady Mary would never say anything like that.
    And on the surface, at least in Hayley’s eyes, Red did not seem the least bit upset by his mother’s grisly murder in the garden.
    â€œWere they close?”
    Peggy let out a spurt of giggles. She put a hand over her mouth when she noticed Hayley staring at her.
    â€œI’m sorry. That was rude. Just the idea of Red being close to his mother is hysterical. He couldn’t stand her!”
    â€œBut you just said he was . . . bummed out.”
    â€œYes. Because he’s the executioner.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYes. The executioner of the estate.”
    â€œYou mean executor,” Hayley said, gently correcting her.
    Unlike Sergio’s malapropisms, which were born out of English being his second language, this flighty nitwit had no legitimate excuse.
    â€œYeah, I guess. He’s her only child and his dad was paid off and kicked to the curb when he divorced Red’s mother, so now all the annoying details and boring paperwork is on his shoulders.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œMy poor baby. Stuck here for God knows how long handling this whole mess. Just when we were scheduled to go to the Coachella music festival in Palm Springs. But between you and me, if I had a choice of standing in the desert baking in the sun, dehydrated, listening to one obscure band after another for three days or hanging out here in the lap of luxury, I’m happy we had to come here!”
    Such a sweet, sensitive girl.
    â€œHe doesn’t even care about getting all that money. Luckily he’s got me to look out for him and to make sure he gets what’s coming to him. More tea?” Peggy said, lifting the pot from the tray.
    â€œNo, thank you, I’m fine.”
    Peggy didn’t wait for Hayley to finish. She poured anyway,