Murder Most Unladylike: A Wells and Wong Mystery by Robin Stevens Page A

attempting to send a note. Miss Lappet kept her eyes focused (with a slight effort) on Daisy through the entire lesson. I had no chance to let Daisy know about the argument I had overheard between Miss Parker and The One, and so when we went on to Music I was the only member of the Detective Society who knew that we had a new reason to watch him.
    It was a good thing I did. Wrinkling his handsome brow, The One barely managed to hold a tune on the piano, confused Kitty with Lavinia, forgot to set us prep, fell over a tambourine and then wished us a good evening – at one o’clock in the afternoon. Even Beanie noticed that something was wrong.
    ‘P’raps he’s in mourning for Miss Bell,’ she said to us on the way out of Old Wing Entrance at lunch time.
    Unfortunately, Miss Lappet happened to be passing by, and she was still cross.
    ‘Beanie!’ she snapped. Beanie froze in horror. ‘Enough! If I hear you repeating any more foolish and baseless gossip it’ll be the whole third form in detention for all of next week. Am I clear?’
    ‘Yes, Miss Lappet.’ Beanie gulped. ‘Sorry, Miss Lappet.’
    We walked up to House very quietly, in case we spread any more rumours by mistake, and Beanie stayed with us all the way . . . Yet again, I had no chance to talk to Daisy.
    In a way, though, this was a good thing. I was free to think about The One without any interruptions or contradictions. He had shown exactly the sort of behaviour that you might expect of someone who had just been blackmailed. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that there was no other explanation for the row I had overheard. The One knew something about Miss Bell’s murder – from what I had witnessed, it seemed likely that he and Miss Hopkins both knew something about it – and Miss Parker knew that they knew. But could The One really be a murderer? Perhaps he was just covering for Miss Hopkins’s crime. Was that why she had gone hurrying down to school on Monday night? So much for Daisy being sure Miss Hopkins was innocent!
    I felt quite triumphant about my deductions. At last it was me who had come up with the important clue, and Daisy who would have to follow along behind.
    But it was Daisy who cornered me.
    ‘Come with me,’ she ordered, as soon as we had finished lunch. ‘I’ve got the plan ready at last.’
    ‘Daisy, I have to tell you what I heard at bunbreak. I think Miss Parker is blackmailing The One. Honestly! I think he and Miss Hopkins—’
    ‘Shh,’ said Daisy. ‘Dorm.’
    The dorm room was empty when we arrived. We made straight for my bed and sat down facing one another.
    ‘Daisy,’ I said again, as soon as the door closed on us. ‘You’ve got to listen. I think Miss Hopkins and The One are in it together. We know that he was down at school, and that she came back halfway through hockey practice. One of them could have done it, or maybe it was both of them, and then Miss Parker found out somehow and now she’s blackmailing them! Miss Parker went into The One’s study at bunbreak and I heard them arguing.’
    ‘Oh, Hazel,’ said Daisy. I could hardly believe it. She was dismissing me. ‘How do you know she was blackmailing him? Did you hear her actually ask him for money?’
    ‘No,’ I said. ‘But—’
    ‘Exactly. She’s furious about his past with Miss Bell – we know that already. She must have just gone to confront him about it again. Anyway, it hardly matters. I’ve got something much more important to show you!’
    She dug about in the depths of her book bag and then pulled out a little glass bottle. She waved it at me, beaming as though I ought to be particularly impressed. I wasn’t. I wanted to shout at her. She had to listen to me.
    ‘What is it this time?’ I asked crossly.
    ‘Ipecac,’ said Daisy. ‘I got it from Alice Murgatroyd.’ Then, seeing my look, she said, ‘Oh, honestly, where did you come from? Every nursery has it. Nanny used to make us take it whenever we’d eaten