Free Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell

I’d bet my best hatpin it wasn’t Clara Parker.”

Chapter 5
    J esse and I returned to the house, where he instructed Aunt Alva’s guests not to leave Newport until further notice.
    “Good heavens, are we suspects?” Roberta Spooner reached for her sister’s hand and the two women drew together as though against a common enemy. Even Jesse’s reassurances didn’t smooth the alarm from their brows.
    “No, no, it’s merely a precaution, ladies. I might have more questions for you. But if you wish, the two of you may return to your own home.”
    “But you said not to leave Newport,” the shorter, frailer-looking Edwina said. “And Sister and I live in Portsmouth. Though I must admit, it would be ever so comfortable to be amongst our own things. Not that it hasn’t been splendid staying at Marble House, mind you,” she added hastily with a startled glance at Aunt Alva. “Then again, perhaps splendid isn’t quite the proper term under the circumstances.”
    “Oh, Edwina.” Roberta slipped an arm around her sister’s waist. “I’m sure Detective Whyte meant we’re not to leave the island. Since Portsmouth is on the island, our going home shouldn’t pose a problem. Isn’t that correct, Mr. Whyte?”
    Jesse seemed to be fighting a grin. “Quite right, ladies. We’ll know where to find you if we have further questions for you.”
    Hope Stanford brushed off the sisters’ concerns. “I for one have no intentions of running off. I’ve got important business in Newport and I’m not about to let a little thing like a murder deter me one bit.”
    A little thing like a murder? I bit my tongue to keep from retorting. Instead, I said, “I’ll drive you back to town now, if you like, Jesse.”
    Downstairs in the main hall, he drew me aside, out of the hearing of the footman attending the front door. The ladies had all retired to their guest rooms. I assumed Aunt Alva had likewise gone to her room, or perhaps she was with Consuelo. The house had grown quiet, and Jesse spoke just above a whisper. “Would you mind if I borrowed your carriage to get back to town? I can have it returned to you in an hour or two.”
    “Well, yes, but why go to the trouble of having someone return it when I can take you?”
    “Because I want you to stay here, Emma.” His voice dropped lower. The clinking of someone putting away china in the serving pantry drifted from across the large expanse of the dining room. The footman standing by the door looked straight ahead. We might have been invisible for all he registered our presence, but for a slight pricking of his ears.
    Jesse ran a hand through his bright auburn hair and flicked a glance to the top of the staircase. “I’d like you to talk to your cousin and ask her the questions I can’t. Would you do that, Emma?”
    I couldn’t help chuckling. “Do you really think I have more authority over my aunt than you do? After all, you have the law on your side.”
    “Challenging Alva Vanderbilt is not worth the trouble that would inevitably follow. But you’re Miss Vanderbilt’s friend as well as her cousin. Will you please talk to her for me, and let me know what she says?”
    The word friend pricked my conscience, but I said, “Of course I will. I’ll go up and see her now, and I’ll call you later from home if there’s anything you need to know.” I grinned. “That’s if I’m allowed to go home. I’m not under house arrest here, am I?”
    “As if you would stay put if you were.” He smiled ruefully, then took my hand. “Thank you, Emma.”
    “You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you later.”
    He nodded and continued holding my hand a moment too long, long enough to become more than a friendly gesture. This wasn’t the first time he’d made such an overture, albeit a subtle one, and now, as then, a sense of awkwardness flooded me. Gently I slid my hand free, careful to keep a smile on my face as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. As if I hadn’t just