Murder During the Bitter Night (A Lillian Crawford Murder Mystery Book 5)

  MURDER DURING THE BITTER NIGHT

  BLYTHE BAKER

  Copyright © 2022 by Blythe Baker

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  CONTENTS

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About the Author

  When Lillian Crawford is approached by a potential client with an unusual and dangerous request, Lillian and her brother are drawn into another game of shadows and deceit.

  With Lillian pining for the elusive Eugene Osbourn and Felix struggling with secrets from the past, will the Crawford twins be too distracted to stop a murder before it occurs?

  1

  Thunder clapped.

  I sat up straight, cold sweat clinging to my forehead.

  Lightning flashed, casting long shadows across the floor. For a few seconds, brilliant white light as bright as day glowed through the windowpanes. The glass trembled as another roll of thunder came through, the sound filling the room as if a collision of giants was happening right outside.

  My heart slammed against my chest, my breath came in shallow pants as the room was plunged back into the pitch black of darkness.

  I blinked against the shadows, as thick as velvet in front of my eyes.

  Where am I?

  What day was it? What was the last thing I remembered?

  Felix. Eugene Osbourn. Cousin Richard.

  …A lifeless corpse.

  I clapped my hands over my eyes, and rubbed them furiously, as if I could scrub away that last, unpleasant memory.

  What had woken me? Thunder? No…it had been something else.

  A scream?

  I tried to swallow, but my throat was as dry as parchment. Light splashed into the room again, like the flicker of a candle that was quickly snuffed out. My desk stood along the back wall. My wardrobe stood with one of the doors slightly open. A dress lay across an ornate chair near the door.

  I was in my room at Cousin Richard’s estate.

  Thunder rumbled outside again a moment later; the storm had begun to move away.

  I shifted underneath the quilts and sheets, stretching my legs out as I willed my heart to slow, my mind beginning to clear.

  We were at my cousin’s country house near London. My dreams, however, had been filled with the long, broad corridors of my childhood home, back in New York.

  Why had I briefly thought myself there again? It had been over two months now since Felix and I had taken ship all the way to England. I had not dreamt of home the entire time we had been here. I had barely even thought about New York, loving my time in England. Why had I dreamt of it now?

  Wait…why did I awake? Something disturbed me. What was it?

  Had it really been a scream?

  I sat for a moment, listening hard, which was difficult given the wind whipping against the glass, the rain spattering the roof overhead. More lightning, more thunder…but no other sound outside of the usual bumps in the night.

  It must have been in my dreams…

  That was not terribly surprising, as I considered it. Life had been less than glamorous as of late, what with all the dangerous situations I seemed to keep finding myself involved in.

  I lay back down in the bed. With the storm moving away, it would be easy enough to fall back asleep…if my thoughts would only settle down again.

  Worry had fueled my mind into sharp focus, trying to understand the danger it had perceived me to be in. The thumping in my chest from my heart might have eased, but the tension it had created remained behind. I could have run full laps around the house right then and not even broken a sweat.

  Well…not any more of a sweat than I already had endured.

  Calm yourself, Lillian. Everything is fine.

  I was safe, I was all right.

  I told myself to relax, forcing my muscles to release the tension. I wouldn’t sleep otherwise, I knew.

  Everything had been quiet over the past few days, a relief after all that the members of our household had recently been through. During a short stay on the estate of some acquaintances, who were relatives of my friend Eugene Osbourn, a violent crime had occurred. Although the culprit had ultimately been apprehended by my twin brother Felix and me, it had been a distressing business for everyone.

  Afterward, we had decided to end our stay early, despite our hosts’ insistence that we could remain. We felt as if we had overstayed our welcome, and we knew that the whole trip was tainted by the ordeal. It was all anyone could think about. Eugene had reluctantly agreed with me, and I knew that even though his aunt and uncle had apologized for doubting me, they all needed time to heal after what had happened.

  And so, my cousin Richard, his children, my brother, and I had returned to Richard’s estate, and while Felix and I were quite relieved, our young second cousins were anything but. Gloria and Marie had done everything they could not to remain in the same room as me, and had taken to calling me the angel of death so that I might hear it. Marie may have just been going along with her older sister, trying to remain on her good side, but I doubted she wholly disagreed with her; the frightened look in her eyes told me as much.

  Richard, likewise, had taken a cool attitude toward Felix and me, despite the fact we had solved the recent case. It seemed as if his thoughts were not too far from his daughters’, and he wanted nothing more than for life to return to normal.

  I wanted the very same, I had assured him, but it was as if he did not believe me.

  He even went so far as to mutter something under his breath about understanding “our parents’ frustrations,” or some such nonsense.

  Regardless, we had been back in Richard’s home for some days, and life appeared entirely uneventful now. Felix had picked up his classes again, and I agreed to continue my art lessons with Gloria and Marie.

  The only person who acted halfway interested in treating my brother and me the same as always was William, who seemed to think Felix was some sort of hero. There was hardly a moment in the day when William did not ask to tag along with my brother if he could, often simply appearing as if from thin air.

  Felix liked the boy’s attention. I suspected it was because William reminded him of our younger brother Daniel in a way.

  At least, the way that Daniel might have been, had he not harbored such inner darkness…and had he not died many years ago.

  I closed my eyes, some of the worry beginning to ebb away. Richard would soon set aside recent unfortunate events, as would Marie and Gloria. Soon, our usual banter would return, as would the parties and the social obligations. Life would begin again, and Felix and I could move on.

  It did sadden me, in a way, not to be as close to Eugene as I had grown accustomed to during our visit to his relations. I found I rather missed knowing that I would run into him at breakfast, or perhaps have a stroll with him through the gardens along the swimming pond. I would no longer need to care so much about how perfectly my black, bobbed hair had been
combed, or if the dress I had chosen for the day flattered my figure well enough.

  Well, if the rumors I heard during our visit were true…perhaps a certain conversation will be happening soon enough.

  But how could I be certain whether he meant to propose marriage? And why had he decided to take as long to do so as he had? If he had made up his mind, why would he delay in speaking with me about any future plans we might wish to make together?

  I wrinkled my nose, and rolled over onto my side as light briefly shimmered against the opposite wall from the lightning, like the reflection of sunlight glinting off the surface of a lake. At first, I had been annoyed to hear gossip of such a union between Eugene Osbourn and me. Now, I was annoyed that he had yet to approach me about it.

  I allowed myself one guilty moment to consider him, his handsome face, his lithe form. He had long, narrow fingers, the perfect sort for playing piano as he did so well. A small smile spread across my face as I thought of the few nights before the tragedy, wherein Eugene would play and entertain us all, while his cousins sang along. Music did run in that family, and it seemed to be a dominant trait.

  Perhaps I could telephone or even send a note to him…just to inquire after him and thank his relatives again for allowing our visit.

  I frowned, counting the days we had been apart on the tips of my fingers.

  Was it too soon? Would that not seem desperate?

  Maybe not desperate…maybe he would see it as confirmation that I am as interested in him as he is in me.

  What might his uncle say, though? I knew that his family would have a lot of sway in whether or not Eugene would pursue an engagement with me. I might have redeemed my reputation with Mr. Pearl in regards to investigating murders, but would that also ensure that he would encourage his nephew in any proposal?

  I chewed the end of my fingernail. It seemed as if Eugene and I walked on a knife’s edge, and one good push could cause our entire relationship to go one way or the other. His uncle had told him to reconsider, and I had seen some of the worry in Eugene’s eyes afterward. Had he truly thought it over once more?

  I thought back to his attitude toward me the last day or two we had been at the Pearls’ manor, whether or not he had changed toward me.

  No…I would not say that he did.

  In fact, before Felix had interrupted one conversation of ours, Eugene had been close to telling me something, hadn’t he? He had begun by saying that he knew we had met for a reason. I agreed. But there had been something else…something more he wanted to say that he never got the chance to before my departure.

  What was he going to tell me?

  Maybe I would send him a letter, first thing in the morning. Surely I could find some excuse to write.

  If there truly was something there between the pair of us, and it was not entirely an invention of my mind, then no one would think anything of it, would they? Everyone else seemed to be talking about it around us, everyone else seemed to see it…but we just kept having to put the conversation on hold, didn’t we?

  Perhaps it was time to address it.

  Determination filled my mind, but I urged it to settle down as I closed my eyes once again. There, now, there will be plenty of time for all that come morning. I can spend half the day writing the perfect letter, if I so choose –

  Another scream pierced the night.

  This time I was certain it was not a nightmare. I sat straight up again, my heart pounding.

  I leapt out of bed, my skin tingling, the tips of my fingers going numb.

  The cry had come from a man. That much was certain.

  I hurried to the door, yanked it open, and flew out into the darkness. Only then did I realize the scream had come from the other side of the hall.

  Felix!

  I dashed across the hall, the tip of my toe catching on the edge of the rug that ran the length of the corridor. I threw my hands out in front of me to catch myself –

  My palms collided with the door, and pain shot up the length of my arms. I winced, but stood upright and fumbled for the door handle.

  It gave easily, thankfully unlocked.

  I rushed inside, just as a lightning strike outside the window sent blinding light flashing across the room…revealing Felix’s still form splayed out across his bed.

  He wasn’t moving.

  Thunder echoed through the whole manor, making the very walls tremble. It seemed another cell of the storm had come through, and with double the strength of the first one.

  I took a nervous step into the room, my heart somewhere behind me on the floor of the corridor. I watched his chest. I could not see any movement.

  Not another death…no…

  Standing in the doorway would do me no good, would do him no good, so I made my way to him.

  A horrendous snore nearly made me jump out of my skin. I grabbed one of the bed posts for support, my heart trying to beat out of my ribcage.

  Felix let out a long breath, and rolled over onto his side.

  I slumped down onto the bed beside him to catch my breath.

  Felix grunted, and drew his arms in but didn’t wake.

  Restless, again…

  It was a wonder the storm didn’t disturb him, but growing up in New York, we had our fair share of thunderstorms in the summertime. In truth, it wasn’t the storm that had woken me, but his screams.

  I sighed, shaking my head. The nightmares seemed to be plaguing him more frequently as of late, and it did not seem that we could do anything to stop them. We had tried everything; drinking warm milk before bed, staying awake reading until he could no longer keep his eyes open, trying to do some light exercise just before dinner. Nothing helped.

  Not that I had ever really expected it to, because what we were working against was much stronger than what most people would have to fight against when it came to battling nightmares. We had recently dealt with another murder, after all.

  I glanced at Felix, who seemed to be sleeping soundly now. I could not entirely relax, however, worrying that he might let out yet another yell; they came so sporadically.

  My heart had begun to slow again, but now I wondered if I would ever be able to get back to sleep. Two frights in one night…and I didn’t even know what time it actually was.

  I lifted the heels of my palms to my eyes, rubbing them vigorously. Given how my eyes ached and the stiffness in my shoulders, I could only assume it was three or four in the morning. Still too early to rise, yet plenty of time to lie awake in the dark.

  Maybe I should just sit with him for a while…make sure he’s all right.

  It was something I’d done frequently enough as a child. When Felix had nightmares after Daniel’s death, I would sit up with him until he fell asleep. I often couldn’t sleep, even now, until I knew that he had done so. Only then could I relax fully.

  I wondered if he would ever grow out of these.

  Not likely until the dangers around us stop.

  …But would they?

  I could see how much it tormented him. He might be willing to stand with me, and help me solve crimes…but it was clear that they stuck with him more than they did with me.

  For me, detective work had brought a great deal of opportunity. Not only to further myself and my reputation, but also it had brought people into my life that I likely never would have met before. More than that, it had brought a new sense of confidence and purpose, a realization that I did not have to live as some silly creature flitting from one party to the next in the season’s most fashionable attire. I had intelligence and skill, and I could use them to find answers for people whose lives had been torn apart by violence, and to make the world a slightly safer place for others. I could do something that mattered.

  There was no denying the fact that I had a knack for investigating crimes. I understood people, as did Felix. We made a great team. Even Eugene Osbourn and I worked well together.

  And I had survived thus far, hadn’t I? Even finding myself in the most dangerous o
f situations, I had made it out alive. It might have been close a time or two, but here I sat, still living.

  Felix drew in a deep breath, and I looked over, wondering if he was rousing. He simply adjusted, rolling over onto his stomach. I took hold of the corner of the quilt, and pulled it back up over his shoulder.

  If unearthing people’s darkest secrets and capturing killers had turned out to be a good line of work for me, I was less sure it was good for Felix. Such situations forced him to face the shadows of his past, to wrestle with his memories of the long ago night our younger brother Daniel had died.

  Felix might have come to a place where he had been able to forgive himself for what happened all those years ago, but the most recent murder we had investigated had seemed all too familiar to him, rooted in the darkness brooding inside the members of Eugene’s family. Our deceased brother, too, had possessed a dark side.

  It was something I never would have imagined for our family. I had always known that Daniel could be devious, even nasty when he did not get his way, but to have gone so far as to try and lure Felix to his death? What must that have done to Felix, all these years, recalling how he had been forced to kill or be killed in self defense? I could hardly imagine.

  Well, that’s not really true anymore, is it? I have faced down my share of deadly situations of late.

  Perhaps my twin and I were more alike now. Maybe he was not such a stranger as I had begun to fear.

  Felix had settled down enough, it seemed.

  Thunder growled in the distance; it sounded as if we really had come to the end of the storm. Rain tip-tapped on the window, slow and steady, the perfect sound for sleep.

  I wandered back to my own room, taking care to go quietly so as not to wake Felix on my way out. I considered telling him about the nightmares, but knew that come morning, I would choose to leave him in blissful ignorance. He did not need to be reminded of it if he could not remember it himself.