Free Arsenic For Tea: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery (A Wells and Wong Mystery) by Robin Stevens Page A

you’re told otherwise. All right?’ He glared at us through his monocle, now back in his eye, and then jerked open Mr Curtis’s door and strode in.
    Daisy was left gasping. ‘I . . .’ she said. ‘I don’t know what’s got into him this weekend! He
never
tells me to go away!’
    I thought back to those strange, worrying things that Uncle Felix had said to Mr Curtis in the maze.
Was
he simply behaving like a grown-up? Or . . . like a suspect?
    ‘What do we do now?’ I asked Daisy. ‘Go upstairs, like he told us to?’
    ‘Obviously not,’ she said. ‘That big Spanish chest over there opens, and there are some lattice bits that make perfectly good air-holes. If we hide in there we can stay and listen.’
    I didn’t want to do that at all – but I
did
want to find out what was going on. ‘All right,’ I said.
    We climbed in. Our elbows and knees bumped in the dark, and I felt very hot and claustrophobic. But Daisy was right – there were small holes in the side of the chest that we could breathe through, and almost see out of (if we squinted). Thunder rumbled and boomed, the rain lashed down against the windows, and Mr Curtis groaned and groaned.
    And then his bedroom door opened and someone came bursting out. It was Lady Hastings, and she was simply howling. She held a handkerchief to her face, which had tear-tracks all down it, and ran into her room, sobbing. And a few minutes later, just as I was beginning to wonder if I should ever move about freely again, two more people came out after her.

8
    It was the doctor and Uncle Felix, and they weren’t running or crying, but they did look very solemn. Uncle Felix pulled the door of the room to behind them, and they stood close together, facing each other. Daisy elbowed me in the ribs, and I held my breath.
    ‘It is serious, Mr Mountfitchet,’ said the doctor. ‘Very serious indeed. I wish I didn’t have to be the bearer of bad news, but I would say that now is the time to . . . to begin preparing for the worst. I have seen several of these cases before: as soon as this stage is reached – the purgings, the convulsions – there is very little hope left.’
    ‘
Several
of these cases?’ Uncle Felix repeated. ‘You have a diagnosis, then, Dr Cooper?’
    ‘Dysentery, I should say,’ Doctor Cooper replied. ‘A fairly clear-cut case. The loss of fluids, the stomach pains. As I say, I have seen—’
    ‘Dysentery? You’re sure?’ asked Uncle Felix, his voice sharp.
    ‘As sure as I can be without a closer examination of the matter – er – evacuated. Anything else would be pure speculation. After all, this is a reputable household.’
    Uncle Felix’s shoulders tensed – and next to me, Daisy suddenly went stiff, as though they had both heard the same invisible sound.
    ‘
What?
’ I whispered, as quietly as I could.
    ‘Shh! Wait!’ hissed Daisy.
    ‘Humour me,’ said Uncle Felix. ‘Take some samples. I can take them up to the laboratory in London tomorrow.’
    ‘Tomorrow?’ said Dr Cooper. ‘I doubt that very much. Fallingford and the surrounding countryside is flooded – and you know that this sort of flood isn’t liable to die down for days. And anyway – forgive me for being blunt, but I doubt whether this man has even a few hours left. I simply can’t get fluid into him as quickly as he loses it. Any tests will be quite irrelevant.’
    ‘Nevertheless, I want you to take them, and give them to me. Is that clear?’
    ‘Yes indeed,’ said Dr Cooper. ‘I only meant . . . Forgive me – I must get back to the patient.’
    ‘All right,’ said Uncle Felix. ‘Thank you. Now – please excuse me.’
    He strode off towards his bedroom, and Dr Cooper ducked back into Mr Curtis’s. As soon as the doors had closed behind them, Daisy burst up out of the chest like a jack-in-the-box. The air opened up above me and I took a grateful gasp. But I couldn’t think what Daisy was doing. What if someone came out and caught